Guilford selectmen set warrant deadline date

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    GUILFORD — The Guilford Board of Selectmen have set Tuesday, Feb. 4 as the deadline for articles to be submitted for the 2014 annual town meeting, according to Town Manager Tom Goulette.

    The date will meet the legal requirement for posting as well as the printing deadline for the annual town report, he explained.
    Following last month’s public hearing on a proposal to either restrict or ban fireworks in the community, the Guilford Planning Board is expected to prepare two separate articles for the town warrant. “Although the majority of opinions expressed (at the hearing) were against the use of fireworks, the group was evenly split between an outright, total ban and an ordinance with reasonable restrictions,” Goulette said.
    If voters decide not to take any action on fireworks regulations, then residents would only have to comply with the state laws on the sale or possession of pyrotechnics.
    At last week’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting, the upcoming meeting of the Municipal Review Committee (MRC) on Dec. 11 was also discussed. The MRC is a non-profit organization that represents 187 Maine communities, including Guilford, that handle solid waste through Penobscot Energy Recovery Company (PERC).
    The association’s contract with PERC expires in 2018, but many municipalities want to plan far enough ahead just in case contract provisions change dramatically, Goulette said. “MRC only owns a small percentage (23 percent, according to the MRC website) and there are many ‘for-profit’ parties involved,” Goulette said. “Some of these companies may be more concerned about profit than energy recovery.”
    The town of Guilford sends its trash to the Mid-Maine Solid Waste facility in Dexter and pays 18 percent of its operating cost. But some of that trash eventually winds up at PERC.
    Goulette also reported that the MT Series 5 municipal sidewalk tractor had been sold to the town of North Yarmouth and that they were pleased with it. The $35,000 proceeds from the sale will go towards the cost of the Bobcat compact track loader previously purchased.
    Also at the Dec. 4 meeting, Dodie Curtis, on behalf of the Guilford Library Board of Trustees, outlined proposed revisions to the library director’s job description and requirements and discussed the process to replace the current director, Linda Packard, following her spring retirement. Goulette said he will check with the Maine Municipal Association on proper protocol to fill the position and will meet with trustees as part of the selection process.
    Selectmen approved Clayton Griffin for the position of alternate member of the Guilford Planning Board; set Feb. 10 for the budget committee meeting date; and voted to solicit bids for some tax-acquired property: two small lots on Blaine Avenue, both “owner unknown”; and a residence on Grove Street, formerly owned by Peter and Wanda Drummond.