CANTON — Fire Chief Shane Gallant was appointed as Emergency Management Agency director Thursday night by selectmen.
He succeeds Jason Vaughn whose resignation was accepted by the board at the meeting.
Gallant said his term as selectman is up this year and he will have more time time to devote to the position. Many towns have the fire chief also serve as the EMA director because some of the same training is required, he said.
The board also set the town election for Tuesday, June 10. There will be three vacancies on the board. The three-year terms for Lisa Cummings and Shane Gallant will be up, and the one-year term left by Jackie Conant’s death has to be filled.
The annual town meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 12, at the fire station. There will be a vote on the budget.
During open session, Chris Dailey said the complaint policy does not address what action will be taken. Selectman Brian Keene said that would be addressed.
Selectman Robert Walker reported that 17 of the 45 streetlights in town would be turned off. He said anyone in the lights-out area could request the light to stay on at their expense and should come into the office and make arrangements with Central Maine Power. Walker said seven of the 17 were not working.
The board discussed the revised personnel policy, and Cummings asked several questions about it. Under the heading of disciplinary action, the board removed the statement on a written warning and replaced it with a verbal warning.
The board will view the final revised policy at its next meeting and vote on it.
The media-use policy was discussed at length. No posts about the town will be allowed on social media such as Facebook. It was decided that personal use of Facebook is OK, as long as the posts do not involve the town.
Keene said the policy should be in place to prevent misuse of social media.
Walker said it was put in place for safety reasons and so complaints don’t circulate through town.
Gallant said he was not in favor of the policy.
Cummings said the Recreation Department could use social media to coordinate transportation for games and it was necessary to post these requests to Facebook.
In another matter, Gallant is still asking for support for a woods vehicle for the Fire Department. Apparently, the department’s reserve fund is under several sections in TRIO software, and the exact number has not been confirmed.
Administrative Assistant Scotty Kilbreth said he was quite sure the amount is $10,371.97.
Keene said he would not approve any expenditure for the vehicle until they had a firm number.
The accountant will be called Monday to get the correct figures.
Gallant said Canton is 60 to 70 percent wooded.
“We have to have something to access these areas to fight the fires,” he said.
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