Rangeley’s Annual Town Meeting is scheduled for June 8, 2021. Voting will be by written ballot (also referred to as secret ballot) as it has for the last five years. The written ballot format has proven to be popular with Rangeley voters. Voter participation has increased by more than 300% when compared to previous in person attendance voting at the school gym. This year voting will take place at the Rangeley Town Office or by absentee ballots which are available now.
An absentee ballot may be obtained from Rangeley Town Clerk Marti Belt. Call Marti at 864-3326 to obtain a ballot. The Town Office Covid 19 appointment only policy is still in effect. Absentee ballots are beneficial to voters who may not be in town on June 8th or for those who prefer to look the ballot over and ask questions from home prior to checking the box that casts their vote.
The 2020 Annual Town Report is also available at the Town Office. For those who have not been following the Selectmen and Budget Committee meetings this document is a “must read” for informed voting. The Annual Town Report includes a copy of last year’s Warrant articles and their corresponding votes. It also includes this year’s Warrant articles with information on the underlying details of the Articles and a 2021 sample ballot. Reading the Annual Town Report prior to the June 8th meeting will give voters an opportunity to get their questions answered. Warrant Article B20 asks voters if they want to vote on all Warrant articles by secret(written) ballot at the 2022 Town Meeting.
The Rangeley Board of Selectmen resumed meeting in person at their May 3, 2021 meeting. The public was still required to attend via Zoom. These meetings are recorded and available to review on the Town’s website.
A dump truck/plow truck replacement was put out to bid earlier this spring. The Selectmen accepted the low bid from Daigle and Houghton at $178,199.00. This price includes a $28,000.00 trade in reduction for the 2010 truck that is being replaced and a seven year extended warranty. This truck was scheduled to be replaced last year according to the Highway Department Capital Plan.
The Selectmen discussed two financial matters concerning the airport. The first matter involved the sale of material from the Town owned Chick Hill property to the contractor for the airport runway extension project. A total of approximately $1,000,000.00 in revenue was realized by the sale of material. About $400,000.00 was placed into Rangeley’s Undesignated Fund (surplus) and $631,000.00 was placed into the Airport Reserve account to cover the Town’s original 5% share of the Project’s cost. An Omnibus Grant was then given to the Town to cover 100% of the project which relieved the Town of its 5% share. The Town received a letter from the FAA in January 2020 stating that the $631,000.00 was not required to be in the Airport Reserve account due to the Omnibus Grant and the fact that the material did not originate from airport property. The $631,000.00 became the property of the Inhabitants of the Town of Rangeley but has not been removed from the Airport Reserve account. Selectperson Cynthia Egan believes that the $631,000.00 belongs in the Undesignated Fund (surplus) so that the taxpayers can utilize it for other Town expenses. The Town Treasurer has been resistant to the idea of moving the money out of the Airport Reserve account. Town Manager Joe Roach asked for more time to look into the history of these funds before making a recommendation as the Project occurred before his time here.
The other airport financial matter concerned the five change orders totaling $746,000.00 that were part of the runway extension project. The FAA recently informed the Town Treasurer and Town Manager that the change orders would not be eligible for Grant funding. Town Manager Joe Roach has been gathering information to better understand what happened.
The Town Manager confirmed that the airport project was 100% funded by the Omnibus Grant, however, the deadline for amending the Grant was September 20, 2020. Four of the change orders totaling $723,153.67 were dated in 2019 but were not submitted before the deadline disqualifying them from being covered by the Grant.
Chris Farmer, a member of the public and Selectperson Cynthia Egan both asked who was responsible for missing the deadline. The project overseers responsible for the Town of Rangeley’s best interest were Stephen Philbrick and Rebekah Carmichael. These two attended all of the airport construction project meetings where the change orders were agreed upon. The construction meetings were held during normal work hours. The Town Treasurer and Airport Manager are paid positions. All of the funds received and paid out on this Project passed through the Treasurer’s office. The Town was required to keep accurate records for the Stand Alone Grant audit they knew would occur at the end of the Project.
The Treasurer/Former Airport Manager has indicated that the sole responsibility for submitting the change orders in a timely fashion lies with the Town’s consulting engineering firm Dubois and King. The Town Manger asked the Selectmen for more time to gather additional information for increased clarity.
The Selectmen have received Town issued tablets for the purpose of conducting Town business. These tablets will help keep Town business separate from the Selectmen’s personal business. The public can correspond with their Selectmen by email. They would appreciate more feedback from their constituents.
The addresses are as follows:
Chairman Steve Philbrick [email protected]
Vice Chair Cynthia Egan [email protected]
Shelly Lowell [email protected]
Ethan Shaffer [email protected]
David Haley [email protected]
The next Selectmen’s meeting is Monday, May 17 at 6:00pm.