LIVERMORE — Selectpersons on Tuesday night, by consensus, increased the amount of excise tax revenue to $400,000 when determining the tax commitment.
“We have consistently gone over our goal of $375,000,” Selectperson Scott Richmond said before asking if the amount should be raised.
Chairman Mark Chretien noted the excise tax revenue figure was used when the tax commitment is determined.
When Richmond first joined the Select Board, the number was $300,000. He said it went to $325,000 then $350,000, has stayed at $375,000 for several years.
“We probably could have changed it last year,” he said. “Excise tax in July last year was $50,000. We took in $54,000 this year.”
Cars aren’t getting any less expensive, Selectperson Brett Deyling said.
In other business, selectpersons voted to amend the Building Ordinance to comply with state mandates and put it to voters for approval at the Nov. 7 elections.
In May 2022, selectpersons first discussed L.D. 1981, a bill passed in 2020 regulating tiny homes. “The statute allows for a smaller footprint than what our ordinances say,” Aaron Miller, the administrative assistant said at the time. “We can’t be more restrictive than what state law says. I will be doing some more research on this.”
In June, the board discussed proposed changes to the Building Ordinance being drafted by the Planning Board.
“We do not have a choice on this,” Deyling said Tuesday.
“It has to go to a town vote,” Chretien noted. “The state overrides town ordinances, it is still going to happen.”
September would be the earliest a town vote could be scheduled and it would cost the town money, Richmond said.
Also under new business, Selectperson Jeremy Emerson said he had a few people call him about having a mirror put up on Federal Road near the turn onto Waters Hill Road. He asked if that is something the town does.
That would have to be discussed with the state, Chretien said.
“The state needs to trim around the corner there,” Richmond noted.
Under old business, purchasing four signs for Brettuns Beach was approved. They will feature black lettering on a yellow background. The signs will be 5 feet wide and 7 feet tall or whatever size needed to include all the rules now in force at the boat launch and beach area.
“Do we really have to write ‘no bathing’ on the sign?” Emerson asked.
Several responded that it does.
People have been seen in the early morning with bars of soap, it was noted.
Deyling suggested four signs: one near the boat launch, one on the far side of that parking area and two for the back parking area.
Chretien thought one sign should be placed at the boat launch and two for the back parking area near Keith Street. Purchasing four would allow for a spare, he said.
The signs should be taken down over the winter and put back up in the spring, Deyling said. “That way it’s kind of like a different thing, it will be new,” he said.
Taking them down will save the signs, make them last much longer, Chretien added.
Administrative Assistant Carrie Judd noted it would cost about $29 to create laminated 8- by 10-inch beach passes. The passes can be put in vehicle windows of residents and taxpayers now that beach use is restricted to them, she said.
Selectpersons also agreed the Town Office would be closed Thursday, Sept. 21, when two office staff will be in Augusta attending an all-day training class on voting.
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