The Monday, February 25 Boothbay Harbor Board of Selectmen's meeting was short on selectmen but long on just about everything else. A full house, full agenda and some unexpected topics made for lively discussion. Selectmen Louis Burnham and Brian Schutrumpf were absent.

Margaret Laughton, Lincoln County Economic Development, Jon Ziegra, BRWD, and Joe Jackimovicz, Boothbay Harbor Shipyard, provided an update on the proposed water and sewer upgrade from West St. to Sea St. and part of Commercial St. The 1850s era water pipes will be replaced with a new waterline that can provide adequate fire flows to the area. Laughton explained that a state Coastal Development Block Grant is being sought to pay for 50 percent of the project. She said that the project met the grant criteria since it would create jobs, help business expansion, and improve the town's infrastructure.

Jackimovicz explained that in recent years the shipyard has expanded and has taken on more high-end boats, which require increased fire protection. When the shipyard investigated installing a water sprinkler system, they found that the town's 4" water main was inadequate. He noted that the 4" main provided inadequate firefighting capacity for the whole area.

Ziegra said that BRWD had identified the need for the proposed upgrade in its 1999 capital improvement plan. He explained that the town would serve as a conduit for the grant money.

The board voted unanimously to approve the project and the grant application.

Code Enforcement Officer Dabney Lewis reported that as a result of a meeting between him and several local contractors, a second downsized version of the proposed blasting ordinance had been developed. He said the downsized ordinance is more geared to simply collecting data that may be useful to abutting homeowners. Another meeting to discuss this ordinance is planned for February 28 at 3 p.m. at the town office.

Selectman Tom Carbone said that the revision appeared to be a "watering down of the original" and noted that "the contractor's got everything they wanted."

Selectman Robert Splaine asked Lewis to detail the differences between the two versions of the ordinance. Lewis replied that the new version removed maximum seismograph limits and only required that seismograph levels be recorded. The notification range was also cut back to the industry standard. He said the original ordinance would probably have cost a contractor from $1500-$3000 per project, and the new version "just about wiped out any costs."

Elbridge Giles pointed out the fallacies in the justification for the ordinance, and noted "there are 22 requirements . . . hoops that a blasting contractor has to jump through, which are being overseen by somebody who knows nothing about blasting." Giles noted that Damariscotta and Boothbay have no such blasting ordinance and that everything in the new ordinance is already governed by the state or insurance companies.

Selectman Bruce Engert requested a copy of the state ordinance for comparison purposes, and asked the contractors to list their concerns with the proposed ordinance. The selectmen present agreed to attend the February 28 meeting.

Mike Tomacelli suggested that the town should look into the history of blasting and any damages in Boothbay Harbor and see "what's justifying the creation of this ordinance."

Alan and Ruth Watts expressed concerns that the downsized version of the ordinance would not provide adequate protection to homeowners. Ruth Watts noted, "It sounds like you started out with an ordinance to protect the unprotected. Now what you're doing is downsizing a blasting ordinance to appease contractors so they can go ahead and do what they were doing in the first place."

Engert assured the Wattses that the board would work to develop an ordinance that protects the townspeople without unnecessarily driving local contractors out of business with uncontrollable costs.

Splaine requested an executive session to discuss personnel matters. Town Manager Tom Woodin interjected that he had received several complaints about executive sessions that occur during meetings rather than at the end. After some discussion, Splaine said that since the personnel matter concerned him, he was willing to discuss it publicly.

Splaine then recounted an incident in which a town employee came to his home and demanded a letter that Splaine had received in the mail. Splaine said that the employee was angry and that he was in fear for his own safety. Splaine said he immediately met with Woodin regarding the occurrence but "Unfortunately no one, including the town manager, police chief, or any other employee of the town of Boothbay Harbor, has offered any resolution or apology for this rather serious incident." Splaine requested that the board conduct a full investigation and noted that "I would like a letter of apology."

Selectman Tom Carbone responded, "This is serious. We need to meet with the town manager and all selectmen in executive session to find out exactly what happened. We need to take appropriate action." Engert asked Woodin to contact the town's legal counsel and noted that further discussion without legal guidance would not be appropriate.

Denise Griffin questioned Woodin and the board regarding the town's current budget, noting that in a typical year money for town budget areas that exceed the amount approved in town meeting can be taken from the town's undesignated fund. "If we don't have an undesignated fund, then we can't spend more that the town approved, right?" she asked. Woodin agreed and noted that he is currently projecting that the budget would be about $28,000 in the black at year end.

When further questioned by Griffin, Woodin stated that the budget approved at town meeting was about $7.2 million and the current working budget is $7.36 million. "That's over what the town's residents approved," concluded Griffin, " . . . We need to be very careful . . . If we are not really going to pay attention to . . . what town residents vote on in town meeting then the whole process is a farce." Woodin and Engert noted the managerial problems in previous years, and stated that the budget process would be more accurate and straightforward in the coming year.

Allen Barter noted concerns in an earlier board meeting about the proposed town budget starting too high. He asked whether the town should really be planning for reevaluation when house prices are falling. "Should we really be looking to reevaluation given little change in the housing market?" he asked. Engert agreed with Barter's comments, noting that the state requires reevaluation at 65 percent valuation and the town is currently at 70 percent. With the downward market trend, the town's assessment percentage will increase.

In other business, the board approved liquor license renewals for Kaler and Sons and Captain Fish cruises. They appointed Michelle Farnham as a regular member of the Planning Board, and Mike Tomko as first alternate.

Woodin informed the selectmen that any referendum questions for town voters would need to be completed by March 18 and that a public hearing would be necessary. The board asked Woodin to place this topic on the next meeting's agenda.

Woodin also notified the board that he had received the 120-day notification for renegotiating the police department's contract and asked how they wished to proceed. Engert and other board members agreed to table this discussion until the full board is present.

Next board of selectmen's meeting is scheduled for March 10.