Regional Education Task Force/Transition Team

September 24, 2007-Minutes


Present: C. Garrison, D. Barber, J. Rice, W. Shuttleworth, T. MacDonald, J. Flink, Eloise Vitelli, D. Miller, K. Malin


Others Present: J. McIntire, Barbara Bastion, S. Crehore, P. Johnson, Alex Lear, Bob Kalish


1.0: Chet Garrison called the meeting to order at 5:09


  1. Opening Remarks: Chet wished William a Happy Birthday

  2. Adjustments to the Agenda: David Miller asked that we add the proposal to abolish the Transition Team be added to the agenda.

  3. Old Business:

4.1: Financial Update: William indicated that he is still trying to get Jim Rier to address the loss to some of our communities and address need for equity. He also said that forecasting a budget into the future is difficult because we may not be able to reduce positions during the first year. William indicated that he attended the Drummond and Woodsum conference today on reorganization under LD 499 and the general message was that this law will require considerable legal counsel to implement.

4.2: Campaign literature and strategy: David M. passed out a handout that he has been using as a reference point. Chet said that he liked the idea of a tri-fold brochure like the prototype that David had shown to the TT in previous meetings. William encouraged that we continue to ask Walter Briggs to help us out since this is his area of expertise. Elosie said that the brochure should have some budget numbers on it, indicating that this is a complex issue and some information on this may be useful to the public. Jean Flink added that Tom Watson suggested we make sure the date of referendum be on the brochure. How to distribute a brochure was discussed, but the general consensus was that the public needed to have as much information as possible.


4.3: Legal Issues: The last date for inserting amendments to next legislature is October 3. William and Jay will work on an amendment and send to our legislator to as a placeholder bill, knowing that the content can change when it is time to address the amendment.


4.4: Public Information and Update:

David Miller indicated that he has a meeting scheduled in Woolwich with the selectman next week. He stated that the Woolwich board voted 4-1 to support LD 910, In West Bath, the board endorsed LD 910 in a 5-0 vote. Julie Rice said the Bath board endorsed the bill by a 9-0 vote. K. Malin indicated that the Georgetown board and the selectman voted unanimously to support it at this time, but deferred final support until mid-October after obtaining more information. There are two formal hearings scheduled, one in Bath and one in West Bath. David Miller said he feels we need to do a second round of presentations in any and all towns to answer specific questions.


    1. W, WPI, Alna Update: Jay indicated at this time that these towns could join up by July 08 even if they wanted to. J. Rice stated that we need to focus on LD 910 at this time and not move forward with the RPC until after the November vote, stating it creates too much confusion. William indicated that the Commissioner wants to meet with the TT to discuss the status of W, WPI and Alna.


  1. Old Business:

5.1: Tom M, moved to accept the minutes of Sept 17, J. Rice seconded. Sandra wanted her last name spelled correctly. D. Jewett noted that she reminded the TT to have handouts for all public meetings. Minutes passed with this correction, unanimously.

5.2: Other: David Miller addressed the question about the continuation of the TT. David indicated that we have less than 6 weeks to referendum day and we need to continue our work and all of the planning to create a new RSU. David made reference to a comment that Kristin may have made suggesting the termination of the TT at this time and Kristin indicated that she only wanted to discuss the status of the TT. Jean F. pointed out that the RTF report clearly spells out the duties of the TT and Chet added that it was his opinion that the work of the TT ends when the new RSU members take office. T. MacDonald said he thought it would send a poor message to the communities if we abandoned our work before the new unit was created. He added that the individual boards should carry the message forward and not discuss disbanding the TT at this time. Eloise added that it is good to review the role of the TT, adding that the TT was the creation of both boards and has some responsibility to both boards. It was discussed that we should spell out the responsibilities of the TT as we move forward.


6.0: Public Comments: None


  1. Closing Comments: The RPC meeting will at least have one formal first meeting on October 4 at 5:30 p.m. We will need to address how to add/replace members if needed on this committee. It was indicated that it would be helpful if we could get the Commissioner at this meeting or her representative.


  1. Next Meeting: October 2, 2007 at 5:00 p.m.


  1. : Meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m.