PATTEN, Maine — Negotiations are continuing between the town’s board of selectmen and its manager following a March 19 annual town meeting where efforts to renew the terms of service failed.
Ray Foss, who has served as Patten’s municipal leader since Feb. 19, 2016, said Thursday that he is currently working on an interim deal after his regular contract expired on March 19 without a renewal.
A special board meeting was held Wednesday evening, but no decision was made on Foss’ contract at that time. The matter was tabled and will be revisited Wednesday, April 3, at the board’s next regular monthly meeting.
Foss said he and the board are continuing their negotiations and he hopes to have a new deal in place soon. The town manager declined to comment on the negotiations until after a new deal is completed.
“There has been a lot of activity in fairly short order,” Foss said. “My contract ended on the day of the annual town meeting.
The following night, at a special selectmen’s meeting, he was given an extension to April 5.
Lora Ryan, who was elected to the board at the March 19 meeting and now serves as chairman for the board, declined to comment on the contract negotiations, citing the confidentiality of personnel matters when contacted by the newspaper March 28.
At the annual town meeting, residents approved a municipal budget of $883,627, according to Foss, which is down considerably from last year’s figure of $988,802 that was approved by voters in March 2018. The municipal budget was adjusted upward in July of 2018 to $1,027,802 to cover additional expenses associated with a large, town-wide road improvement project and also to increase the salary of the town’s code enforcement officer, Foss said.
The municipal budget thus is down $144,175 from the total appropriation last year.
“This year, we are approving $136,113 for roads, and included in the warrant was authorization for the board to roll up to $100,000 into fund balance should they decide not to buy blacktop (asphalt) to resurface roads,” Foss said.
Lana Tucker was re-elected to the town’s board of selectmen with 51 votes, while Ryan was newly added to the board with 57 votes. Rebecca Boone was re-elected to the RSU 89 school board with 83 votes.
