Limestone welcomes new librarian

By Theron Larkins
Staff Writer
    LIMESTONE, Maine — The Limestone Selectpeople met on Wednesday for their regular meeting, however, the March 5 meeting included a special announcement, which attracted an uncharacteristically large crowd.    Members of the Limestone community, as well as a large presence of officials from the Robert A. Frost Memorial Library crowded into the town office boardroom to hear the formal notification as to who would soon be replacing longtime librarian, Rea Caldwell. Jessica Givens was the applicant chosen to fill the vacant librarian’s role. Town Manager Donna Bernier estimates Givens will begin her new part-time position in the upcoming week.
During the Town Manager’s report the recurring issue of summer maintenance for the Water and Sewer District was once again addressed. James Cote, who is currently serving a three-year term as Trustee for the Water and Sewer District, was in attendance on Wednesday and was able to clarify exactly what they would be doing about the summer maintenance position. Originally, a cost-share idea was proposed for the town and district enabling both to share the town’s current summer maintenance worker. However, as there are simply not enough workable part-time hours for this to be a feasible solution, on both ends. Cote explained the department will fill the position with a part-time hire, who will work for roughly 10-15 hours per week to keep up with the department’s landscaping needs throughout the spring and summer months.
Also during the Town Manager’s report Bernier announced Limestone Police Chief, Stacey Mahan had recently contacted her, in regard to the full-time officer’s position, recently left vacant by Ivan Maizus. The proposed hiring of Sean Guerrette was then approved unanimously by the board. Guerrette will be working as a full-time officer, but will most likely not have to go through the official police training course, as Chief Mahan believes it will be possible to receive a waiver for the training course, due to Guerrette’s prior experience in Florida, as a law enforcement officer.
The final item on the agenda was the topic of the upcoming meeting to discuss union negotiations with the Maine Municipal Association (MMA) in regard to the public works department and upcoming negotiations for the fiscal year beginning on July 1. The meeting with the MMA will require in-depth negotiations regarding the department’s union and is expected by board members to be a lengthy process, inevitably spanning more than one meeting.
The establishing of a date and time for the meeting has, in itself, been a prolonged process for Bernier, who is currently in discussion with MMA officials, who recently informed the board that statutes state the meeting has to be set at a “reasonable time.” The board of selectpeople had originally proposed to schedule one of their regular meetings half an hour earlier than usual, moving the meeting’s start time to 6 p.m. This would allow for a strict allotted time slot of one hour, enabling the two groups to begin union negotiations by 7 p.m. and meet no later than 8 p.m. The selectpeople’s meeting, as well as the meeting with MMA would have to be set to run for no longer than an hour.
With these pre-established time regulations the board hopes their meeting time proposal will satisfy those from the MMA and the statute stating the meeting must be held at a “reasonable time.” By limiting both meetings to an hour the board of selectpeople hopes an 8 p.m. finish will fall into the category of “reasonable.” Various reasons prevent the board from being able to meet earlier during the work day. Town Manager Bernier stated on Tuesday that she had sent the proposed time for the meeting to the MMA via email, but has yet to receive any word either confirming or denying the proposal.
The next Limestone Selectpeople’s meeting will be held Wednesday, March 19, at 6:30 at the Limestone town office.