DIXFIELD — The Board of Selectmen voted 3-2 by ballot to re-elect Mac Gill as chairman at Monday night’s meeting.
Bob Withrow made a motion for Gill to be chairman, while Hart Daley made a motion for Scott Belskis to be chairman.
After Gill was elected, Daley made a motion for Belskis to be vice chairman and the board unanimously approved.
In other business, the board heard a request from Jim White, head of the Water Department, to spend $2,500 of his budget to bring a company from Wisconsin to clean the town’s reservoir tanks by skimming the bottom of them.
“I have the money in my budget to do this,” White said. “The divers come in, dive down to the bottom of the tank and, using a pump outside of the tank, they go across the bottom and vacuum the stuff up off the bottom.”
White likened the task to “skimming the bottom of a pool.”
“It’s normally recommended that we do it every year, and it’s been about 10 at this point,” White said. “My board has already approved the expenditure, so we’re just looking for approval to begin work on the project.”
Selectmen unanimously approved White’s project.
The board later discussed the current rules of order during selectmen meetings, with particular focus on the public comment section of the agenda.
Daley said he agreed with the current policy, but believed the board should have the ability to adjust the five-minute speaking limit in place.
“I don’t want to limit a citizen if they stand up, ask a question, and in the interim of us answering that question, five minutes goes by,” Daley said. If they want to follow up on something that the board says, the conversation should be allowed to continue, he said.
Gill agreed.
“Five minutes is just to give them an idea that there is a time limit in place,” he said. “I mean, there’s a hockey game tonight. Let’s go watch it.”
The board and those in the audience laughed.
The board also set selectmen meetings for July 15, Aug. 12, and Sept. 9 and 23, with tentative dates of Nov. 4 and Dec. 9.
mdaigle@sunjournal.com
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- Dixfield Selectman Hart Daley, right, discusses the issue of time limits for public comments during Monday night’s selectmen meeting, while Town Manager Linda Pagels-Wentworth listens.
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