St. Albans board reorganizes, takes aggressive role

ST. ALBANS – It was a baptism by fire Monday night for the newly elected Board of Selectmen in St. Albans.

Almost immediately upon convening, the brand new board was presented with a wide array of issues they needed to research, review and take under consideration, including a Freedom of Information request that had been ignored by the previous board.

Chester Morse Jr., elected chairman at the beginning of the meeting, signaled early that it wasn’t going to be business as usual for the three new selectmen.

In contrast to previous boards, the new members courteously dealt with those in the audience, spoke loud and clear so all could hear the and took an aggressive approach to the business of the night.

Morse vowed that the Freedom of Information request, submitted by residents Gary Jordan Sr. and Dennis Smith, would be reviewed and honored if possible.

Town Manager Larry Post said that only one of the seven document requests cannot be fulfilled. That request deals with current litigation and is therefore not considered public information.

As soon as that issue was dealt with, Jordan and Smith presented a letter questioning several actions by both Post and other town officials in the past.

Smith charged that in 2001, Post wrote a deed transferring land from Charles Brine to the town when Brine did not own any land. The deed also included a five-year lease on an adjacent parking lot, an action never authorized at town meeting.

Smith also charged that in 2002, the town voted to accept construction of a boat ramp by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Again, no money was appropriated for that ramp, yet the town provided labor and equipment to install it.

“Please look this over and check what was done,” Smith asked the new board.

Jordan then presented the board with a two-page summary of some of his disagreements with Post. “I don’t expect you to digest this all at once,” Jordan told the selectmen. “Could I get some answers at the next meeting?”

“We’ll do our best,” promised Morse.

Post did not respond to any of the questions about his actions.

The board also opted not to rubber stamp the sexton’s reappointment but instead voted to put the job out to bid.

Post told the board that traditionally a sexton has been rehired annually as long as he wanted the position. But many in the audience complained about the current sexton, Mark Stanley, and the quality of the care of the cemeteries.

The board also tabled action until April 19 on a funds disbursement policy that would have given Post the authorization to pay expenditures between warrant signings. Post said the policy was routine and had been in place for a number of years.

However, Selectmen Dan Hanson and Wolfgang Fasse both said they had a number of questions and concerns about the policy and needed more time to come up with alternative suggestions.