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Cape Elizabeth Town Council Agenda
Monday, September 14, 2015
7:00 p.m.
Cape Elizabeth Town Hall

AGENDA

00:01 Convening by Town Council Chair Katharine N. Ray

00:40 Roll Call by the Town Clerk

01:00 Town Council Reports and Correspondence


02:03 Finance Committee Report: Link to    August 31, 2015 Financial Reports  and Dashboard  

04:33  Citizen Opportunity for Discussion of Items Not on the Agenda

04:57 Town Manager’s Monthly Report

05:30 Review of   Draft Minutes of   August 10, 2015  meeting.  



05:55 Public Hearing: License for the Spurwink Road and Gun Club

01:09:12 Item # 105       Recommendation from the Firing Range Committee
The town council has set a public hearing for this meeting on the report of the Firing Range Committee which submitted a recommendation and findings  in July  relating to the permit of the Spurwink Rod and Gun Club.  At the August Town Council meeting, the council heard from  Rick LaRosa who conducted a safety evaluation of the firing range.   Additional information may be found at this link.   Draft findings may be found here and a related letter from the town attorney to Firing Range Committee Chair Caitlin  Jordan.  

02:31:19 Item # 106       Report of the Solid Waste and Recycling Long Range Planning Committee
The Solid Waste and Recycling Long Range Planning Committee has completed its report (Caution- Large 23 Mb file)     and submitted it to the town council.  Thank you to Chairman Jessica Sullivan, Members Bill Brownell, Jamie Garvin, Anne Swift-Kayatta and Charles Wilson, Consultants Randy Tome and Megan McDevitt and Public Works Director Robert Malley for all your time and talent devoted to the analysis and the report.  The committee met 20 times this year and received survey input from over 800 residents.  Committee Chairman Sullivan will introduce the report which is recommended to be referred to a future workshop meeting of the town council. See this link for all committee documents. 
The report is a very large document and may be challenging to download so an excerpt from the executive summary is provided below:
One of the Town Council Goals for FY15 was to complete a comprehensive review of the Town’s 37 year old transfer station and Recycling Center. After a fatal accident at the Center in November 2014, the review process was accelerated and a 5-person Solid Waste and Recycling Long Range Planning Committee (SWRLRPC) was appointed to begin a study of all aspects of the current Recycling Center and to recommend “long term solutions for the handling of solid waste” in Cape Elizabeth.
The Recycling Center has evolved dramatically since 1978 when the Town’s burning dump was closed and the current transfer station was constructed. Although the Town’s overall population has barely changed since then, there have been two significant developments which challenge operational safety and use: the growth of the Town’s aging population and the increase in all types of refuse and recycling activities at the site.
Currently, not only household trash (municipal solid waste or MSW) is brought to the facility, but bulky waste and demolition materials, hazardous waste, universal waste, and yard waste are also deposited. The popular Swap Shop and Bottle Shed were added in the 1990s. In addition, recycling has dramatically increased since the single-sort “silver bullets” were added in 2008. Cape’s Recycling Center has become a hub of constant activity.
The Committee took a hard look at safety, level of service, ease of use, and costs. Over eight months of extensive study and research, and while keeping both community desires and needs in mind, the Committee’s overall focus stayed on the following:

 
Early during the review process, the Committee realized that the 37 year old compactor and building were in need of repairs or replacement. The Town’s engineering firm Woodard & Curran (W&C) determined that just to continue to use the current building and equipment, with no improvements in service or safety, would cost the Town $471,000 (not a good use of tax dollars, the Committee felt.) Given this determination, the Committee decided to explore how to use such an investment as a down payment toward creating an improved and safer operational plan.
The Committee agreed on several overriding principles as future design options for the Recycling Center were studied. Specifically, site plan designs must, as much as possible, keep all traffic moving forward, eliminate the need for vehicles backing up, enhance pedestrian safety, and promote ease of use for the Town’s aging population. Given these principles, and, in an effort to balance safety, level of service, ease of use, and costs, the Committee recommends a redesign of the Recycling Center’s traffic patterns and a change from using the current hopper/compactor building to using outdoor stationary compactor units for MSW disposal. The proposed “Recommended Design” incorporates multiple drive-forward-only lanes for both recycling and MSW disposal at the outdoor stationary compactors, providing a tremendous safety improvement for both residents and employees. There is a bypass lane for citizens who want to use only other ancillary services. To reduce unsafe congestion near the Swap Shop, traffic islands separate Swap Shop and Bottle Shed patrons from other users wanting to exit the site. The existing compactor building will be re-purposed to hold electronic waste as well as to house the office, the required electrical panels, and the Town’s radio communications system.
The majority of the Recommended Design’s costs relate to site work and alterations in traffic patterns. Not only will these changes best serve Town residents now and in the years to come, but they will also prove to be a more efficient use of taxpayer dollars. The Recommended Design requires no expansion of the Recycling Center, no costly retaining walls, and no new buildings, thus eliminating significant potential costs.
Importantly, going forward, the recycling and MSW outdoor compactor units will save over $50,000 each year in hauling fees. The proposed new design will result in a total annual cost of only $13,799 more than the current operation would cost after required repairs. It will also provide substantial safety and service improvements over the next twenty five to thirty years.
The Solid Waste and Recycling Long Range Planning Committee is pleased to give to the Town Council its strong and unanimous endorsement for its “Recommended Design” proposal for the future of the Cape Elizabeth Recycling Center.

02:40:30 Item # 103       Proposed Lease Agreement of Space at Office Building at Front of Community Center  
Tabled on 8/10/2015
Wagner Law is requesting a renewal of its lease of space at 343 Ocean House Road for its law offices. The lease would be for three years until July 31, 2018.  The rent is now paid up to date  and a new lease form has been provided from the town attorney. The town manager recommends that he be authorized to sign the new lease.

02:51:28 Item # 107       Ordinance  Committee Report on Proposed Land Use Amendments and Updated Sewer Service Area  Map and Transfer of Development Rights Map 
The ordinance committee has completed its review of the planning board’s proposed land use amendments    and amendments to the sewer service area map and the transfer of development rights map. Ordinance Committee Chairman Jamie Wagner will provide an update on the report from the ordinance committee.  The council may refer this to a workshop or may set a public hearing for October 6, 2015.

02:56:44 Item # 108       Capital Stewardship Plan FY 2017-2026
It is recommended to acknowledge receipt of the FY 2017-FY 2026 Capital Stewardship Plan

03:00:05 Item # 109      Draft Personnel Code Amendments  
It is recommended to approve draft amendments  to the Personnel Code.

03:05:18 Item # 110       Updated Agreement with Opportunity Alliance for General Assistance Program
It is recommended to approve an updated agreement with the Opportunity Alliance for their assistance in providing our general assistance program and for social worker services.  Through their earlier iteration as PROP, and now as the Opportunity Alliance, this service has been provided to us since 2008.

03:07:11 Item # 111       Sewer User Charge Collection Agreement Update
It is recommended to approve an updated agreement with the Portland Water District relating to their collection of sewer fees.  The Portland Water District has been providing this service to us since the initial agreement on December 29, 1978.

03:08:27 Item # 112       Loan Agreement  for 2nd Order Fresnel Lens
It is recommended to approve an updated renewal agreement  with the Mystic Seaport Museum for a 2nd order Fresnel lens on display at the Museum at Portland Head Light. 

03:09:06 Item # 113       Maine Incorporation of Museum at Portland Head Light
 It is recommended to approve a new incorporation  of the Museum at Portland Head Light with the Maine Bureau of Corporations.  The earlier incorporation has expired.

03:12:17 Item # 114       Warrant for November 3, 2015 Municipal Election  
 It is recommended to approve the warrant for the November 3, 2015 election. 

03:13:24 Citizen Opportunity for Discussion of Items Not on the Agenda

03:13:36 Adjournment