LIMESTONE, Maine — The Limestone selectpeople met March 19 for their regular meeting. The agenda was thin, but there was some old business needing to be addressed before a busy upcoming month for the town of Limestone
. The first announcement of the night was unfortunate news regarding the ladder-truck the Limestone Fire Dept. was hoping to purchase at auction. Limestone’s Fire Chief Jon Poitras, claims he was vigorously outbid by the future buyer, after Poitras’ bid peaked at $8,000. According to the fire chief, he was consistently one-upped by the rival bidder, almost imediately after all bids Poitras placed.
With budget season in full-swing there is also still the issue of conducting a joint meeting with the Limestone Local 220 Council 193 union and the board’s budget committee. As of Wednesday, the issue of a meeting to discuss union contracts is one that still has not been resolved. With May quickly approaching, the next few weeks will be when the board establishes an important build-up for the marathon that is the budget process.
“Next week is May 1st and we still need to meet with the budget committee, but we can’t do much more than we already have without the new revenue figures,” said Town Manager Donna Bernier.
While Bernier and the town’s selectpeople wait for the official revenue numbers to be released, the next step toward completing the budget process will involve a budget workshop the board members have decided to hold of their own volition.
The budget workshop will be held at the next regular meeting on April 2. The meeting/budget workshop would normally be held at the regular 6:30 p.m. time slot, however it was proposed on Wednesday’s meeting that it may be beneficial to move up the time to 6 p.m. This would give the board more time to discuss the budget, while also having sufficient opportunity to navigate the regular meeting’s full agenda.
Bernier replied to the suggestion of a time-change by explaining it will depend on how busy the regular meeting’s agenda turns out to be and whether or not both can be accomplished by a reasonable hour. As of Tuesday, March 25 the Limestone town manager is anticipating the meeting will need to be bumped up to a 6 p.m. start time.
According to board member Jesse Philbrick there is a lack of confidence that the workshop alone could be completed in less than the time of a full-length meeting. Philbrick does have experience with similar matters, as he has been through several budget processes during his time as a selectperson.
The final decisions on both the time of the meeting/workshop and the set date of the budget committee meeting with the union are still very much up in the air. It was, however, the overall consensus of the board that it is more appropriate for the union to work around the board members’ schedules, simply because selectperson meetings are held during the off-hours for working board members, while the meeting to discuss union contracts is a work-related duty the union is obligated to fulfill.
Another point brought up by Philbrick, and seemingly agreed upon by other like-minded board members, was the fact the union is stipulating the mandatory meeting with little flexibility. Despite the prolonged process it is not quite become a situation of finger-pointing, but simply an instance involving posturing and an unwillingness on both sides to completely bend to the will of the opposition. With the hard-nosed nature that can often accompany something like a union-related budget meeting, it is certainly not surprising to see both parties looking to initially gain the upper-hand.
“We’ve tried to move the meeting up half an hour, but they haven’t been willing to budge,” said Philbrick. “This is just my opinion, but if we have to attend a mandatory meeting I feel it should be during our regular meeting time.”
The meeting with Limestone Local 220 Council 193 union is still a hot-button topic that will inevitably continue into the next regular meeting, where the board will officially delve into the budget, while working to adjust some of the budget’s finer points.
The time for the next regular selectpeople’s meeting is still subject to change, however, it is currently scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2 at the Limestone town office. The meeting is anticipated to include both the budget workshop and the full regular agenda.
