By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
WOODLAND — It was a full house for Woodland’s Town Meeting in the gymnasium of the community school and while there was lively discussion on a number of topics, all of the meeting’s 31 articles passed except for two.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Woodland Selectpeople, from left, Peggy Espling, Brian Ostlund, and Tom Drew listen to the audience with Town Clerk Amber Moutinho and Administrative Assistant and Registrar Carl Grant during the Woodland town meeting.
Residents did not pass article 5, which set the 2012 discount for taxes paid early and set the interest rate on abatement taxes, and article 23 could not be voted on as it determined the amount appropriated by the town for discounts and abatements for the next year; article 23 was tabled until the next town meeting.
Article 5 determined what percentage discount Woodland residents would receive for 2012 taxes paid in full by July 31 of 2012 and what percentage of interest rate would be applied on abated taxes; as it appeared in the Annual Report, the article proposed a 3 percent discount on taxes paid early and a 7 percent interest rate on overdue taxes.
Discussion on article 5 was polarized; some found the 3 percent discount too low while others thought any discount was appealing; a motion to approve Article 5 was defeated in a 13-14 vote by show of hands.
| Appropriations |
| For the 2012-13 fiscal year, the residents of Woodland appropriated the following amounts during their town meeting on March 19: • $125,552 for general government; • $320,200 for public works highway department; • $47,500 for solid waste disposal; • $13,039.75 for ambulance services; • $49,531.40 for fire protection; • $2,304.70 for the Central Aroostook Humane Society; • $2,085.32 for Northern Maine Development Commission 2012 membership dues; • $4,026 for social services; • $20,000 added to the road maintenance reserve account; • $25,000 to be added to the highway equipment reserve account; and • $7,000 to be added to the building repair reserve |
Other articles scrutinized by the audience included authorizing the selectpeople to sell and dispose of any real estate acquired by the town for non payment, appropriating $320,000 for the Public Works/Highway Department, appropriating $47,500 for solid waste disposal and, to a lesser extent, the time the selectpeople chose to meet for their monthly meetings.
Article 8, which authorized the selectpeople to sell and dispose of any real estate acquired by the town, generated a bit of discussion as the community asked why the selectpeople weren’t required to automatically put all acquired real estate out to bid.
The board gave two primary examples as to when it’s not feasible to put a property out for bid: such as instances where the piece of land is so small it wouldn’t be worth anything to anyone but the abutting property owners and instances where the property isn’t worth anything (like when the town acquired a trailer that was extremely unsafe and needed to be torn down).
Discussion on Article 15, which appropriated $320,000 for the public works/highway department, began with a question as to why the fuel line of that budget doubled from its current $2,150 to $4,500 for the fiscal year 2012-13.
The selectpeople explained that it’s anticipated the department will use more fuel, as the town has hired Steven Dumais as Woodland’s road commissioner.
“He’s worth every penny,” commented one man in the audience.
While more than a handful seemed to oppose the expenditure, the selectpeople explained that having a road commissioner for the town would mean safer roads.
“We’re not going to make everyone happy, but I think the safety of our [residents] has been addressed,” said Selectperson Tom Drew.
Though Article 17 regarding solid waste yielded many convicted comments, the community seemed to resolve the issue surrounding the article’s opposition through discussion.
Historically, the town paid a tipping fee for residents who brought their own garbage to the landfill, but recently the town’s been billed for every trip the do-it-yourselfers were taking to dispose of solid waste.
The $47,500 the town appropriated for solid waste disposal no longer covers that tipping fee; tensions eased once the conclusion was drawn that the $10 tipping fee itself is new for Woodland residents (regardless of whether the additional bill is foot by the individual or the municipality) and the only way around the every-time fee, so to speak, is to contract individual household’s solid waste management services with a licensed garbage hauler.
The last article of the evening, Article 31, also drew discussion from the crowd pertaining to what time the selectpeople meet. While initial concerns were that the time and date would fluctuate every month, the selectpeople clarified that they only wanted to change the time the board met from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. every third Tuesday.
Despite requests from a couple audience members that the meeting be held later at night, the selectpeople maintained their previously proposed 4:30 p.m. time slot.
The next meeting of the Woodland Selectpeople will be Tuesday, April 17 at 4:30 p.m. at the Woodland Municipal Building.
