Wells Select Board advances public safety bond, retires police K-9

[0:08] Select Board member (public safety facility advocate):...run with the Wells Police Department, but it's time to hand over the badge to the next generation. [0:25] Police Chief (K-9 handler, retiring Sobacus): Sobacus is going to be retired. That is one of our announcements, one of the announcements that we have. Sobacus has served for, he's ten and a half years old right now. He has served since he was nine months old. That's when I first got him. I was nine months old when I went and picked up the gun. Nine months old is when Bacchus started working with the police department. He was certified pretty quickly. Before he was one year old, he was certified in narcotics. And then he went on to get certified in tracking soon after that. Through his career, we've done some good stuff. We had a motorcycle that ran on the York Police Department. We went, we tracked both people. We tracked the passenger, and then the person that he was trying to jump through the woods, basically. So he, we wouldn't track, the passenger couldn't get through the woods. Told the sergeant that was on duty, hey, you're gonna want to watch that area. We went down the track with, ended up being the driver. We went down into a service, it was like a lawn care service. He went up to one of the trucks, puts his paws up on the truck, and they looked in, the pretty guys on the floorboard, he's like, I didn't do anything. Well, he didn't make it up then. Once we had that person, then the sergeant that was watching the wood line walked up to the wood line and screamed out into the woods, hey, we have your boyfriend under arrest, you might as well come out from the woods. You hear? Okay, she came out as well. So ended up getting both people there. Another kind of highlight is there was an attempted murder up in Bitterford after third, they, the suspect ran out back through the firearm into the woods. After 13 hours of it being in the woods, they called us. We came up, and 13 hours they was in the woods for 13 hours, in four minutes he had located. So I always say like, we're a team. Yeah, we're a team. I just follow the tail. I try not to be, I try not to overthink things on that. So, but he's ten, happy, so ten and a half years old, been here for nine of them, basically working for us and enjoying the Harbor Fest, always has a great time down at that. He loves getting pet, so all those types of things, which you'll enjoy in his retirement. He slowed down a lot [3:02] Speaker C (unidentified): Which is, I'm not smart enough, and that board you're elected to become the chair by your peers, and I think that speaks volumes for how he is respected in the law enforcement community. He is led and currently still does the your county or the Cumberland County Sheriff's department, over 200 members strong, 34 million dollars. And back in December they asked the board to do some due diligence about absorbing that service under the umbrella of the town. That effort has been underway for close to a year. In evaluating that and Wells needs a proactive long-term solution to ensure emergency services remain uninterrupted. The solution the town plans to renovate. [4:03] Select Board member (public safety facility advocate): Efficiency and ensure response vehicles are sheltered and ready 24-7. A permanent home for Wells EMS protects our communities emergency medical services and cuts emergency response times across the town. Attend the upcoming public hearings, review the plans, and cast your vote this November. Visit our website to learn more. [4:32] Select Board member (bond referendum presentation): Investing in our community's safety, the proposed public safety facility improvements and bond referendum. So I broke it down so some people might not even know what a municipal bond is. So a municipal bond is a bond is a formal in the annual operating budget. Bonding provides predictable repayment schedules and stable interest costs, and it helps the town maintain essential services without creating sudden impacts on annual tax rates. How is the bond repaid? The town repays the bond over time. Bonding allows the town to avoid dramatic tax increases and distributes the cost over decades. This project will renovate, expand, and equip the existing fire station located on Logcat $.5 million general obligation bond. So the general obligation bond is backed by both faith and credit of the municipality. We're going to secure the lowest possible market interest rate at the time. And basically, the real big thing is that $5.5 million project, currently we went out and looked at a 30-year term. When we did our initial looking, it was a 4% interest rate, an 89-cent increase on your tax bill. So, five months, it's up. [6:16] Speaker C (unidentified): Talks about, and kind of dovetails with what we just talked about. [6:19] Select Board Chair (presiding officer): Seeing none. I move to close the public hearing. Second. Second, all those in favor. Next up, a public hearing on the General Assistance Ordinance. Second, all those in favor. Five-zero. For those, next up we have good news. [6:44] Speaker C (unidentified): I've offered as much as I can right now. [6:53] Select Board Chair (presiding officer): Next up we have open the public. This is a 12 minute period where we ask you to limit your comments to three minutes. Open the public twice during the evening to right here now and then later on during the meeting. Anyone from the public wish to comment at this time on any? Seeing none. I'm sorry. You [7:21] Speaker F (unidentified): know what that was all about and what we basically said is just like in Wells, we have a, well, it's on the, it's not, I don't know, I turned my bell on today, so I don't have it. We'll see it. You'll see it. [7:36] Select Board Chair (presiding officer): It's on the, it's $5,577.52. Second. Second. All in favor? Five-zero. Next up, we have update discussion action on committee's projects, issues, purchases, and personnel. NOW, TONIGHT WE HAVE THE PLEASURE OF ACKNOWLEDGING A VERY GENEROUS GIFT OF LANDMADE TO THE TOWN OF WELLS BY BETH SALUNO. [8:09] Speaker G (unidentified): HE SAT WHERE YOU'RE SITTING FOR MANY YEARS. HE LOVED HIS ADOPTED TOWN OF WELLS AND GAVE MANY YEARS TO ITS SERVICE. ONE OF HIS CONTRIBUTIONS, HE WAS MOST PROUD, ESPECIALLY HIS GRANDCHILDREN, AND HE LOVED his little slice of heaven in Wells he would be delighted to know that we are adding a piece of that to of that property to the Wildlife Commons in his name for his grandchildren and everyone else to enjoy for years to come. [8:42] Speaker H (unidentified): What Tony contributed not just as a select person but protection of our land more than 30 years ago the town faced a crisis a huge wealthy corporation from away, planned to build in Western Wells, the largest lipofied natural gas storage depot in New England. It would have an underground facility larger than the stadium strengthened, and eventually the planned construction went away. It was not defeated by the town's legal process, which was helpless, but it was opposed long enough by dedicated citizens that the wealthy corporations realized they could make more money somewhere else. This is an instructive bit of history for us to remember going forward I believe because we may be facing similar kinds of problems in Wales with immense money coming to change the use of our land. Tony and other activists later were elected to the select board as leaders with strong convictions about the value of the land we live on. The Towns Conservation Program flourished for [10:04] Speaker F (unidentified): the roadway approach and unfortunately [10:06] Town Engineer / Public Works official (sewer main project): Just where this sewer main is in a kind of a six foot peat layer, so it's very organic soft material. The mitigation measures we planned on it became evident that it likely was too big of a risk and there was going to be something that happened. So we, I might not have all the terms correct, they described that even that work required a permanent easement, which is a lengthy process to review and approve. So that's when we decided that between these two issues, it was too uncertain to proceed and we were from now, but they would be starting construction later in the fall and in bids [10:44] Speaker C (unidentified): next year. Any other questions? Yeah. [10:48] Speaker F (unidentified): What happens? [10:50] Town Engineer / Public Works official (sewer main project): If we get a particular forward there if the bridge were to completely fail is [11:00] Select Board member (public safety facility advocate): there a chance that we wouldn't get a permit so what he described what Phil [11:06] Speaker J (unidentified): described is the easement with the National Wildlife Refuge they've been a great part of the town so far in our communication with them they're still very supportive of the project so our contacts with them they are doing everything they can to basically assist us with assisting the town to get this permit so as of right now I don't see any reason why the permit wouldn't move [11:31] Select Board member (public safety facility advocate): forward well I thought it said that there isn't a chance that we would have [11:36] Town Engineer / Public Works official (sewer main project): to move the sewer the sewer that's a separate issue basically we just have impacts on these properties that are regrading the road and so that's what requires a permanent easement so yeah we expect that the refuge has supported the project I don't think we've lost that support and that's just dealing with the process of getting this easement and the time it takes to do [12:00] Speaker C (unidentified): that there's a back road and Adam you may know better than I 've walked it [12:09] Town Engineer / Public Works official (sewer main project): But yeah, it is a road. Yeah, but it's work, but it goes through the refuge [12:13] Speaker H (unidentified): It wouldn't be ideal so hopefully it doesn't come to that [12:27] Town Engineer / Public Works official (sewer main project): So yeah path forward is to certainly keep the easement process going as quickly as we at our last public [12:37] Speaker F (unidentified): hearing on this a number of people spoke and one thing hundred dollars of costs that should be taken out as well so Kathy and I have been working on this costing project together and we talked about it yesterday and it was suggested that I redo the numbers to see what that would amount to me five to cover the cost of a new license and so if you look at that total column the first number on the top is an average base fee for new campground license and the calculations for new license licensing processing costs came out to eleven [13:30] Select Board member (public safety facility advocate): Hundred and seventy, right, because they didn't have all the information either. [13:32] Speaker F (unidentified): The towns, we took the total amount that the town pays out of pocket. It's not reimbursed. Divided that by the number of calls. And then we figured out where the calls came from. Those that came from campgrounds were included. And those that came from hotels, motels, and cottages were included. And quite frankly, every EMS call, we should schedule the public hearing for this. And then I think from a timetable standpoint, we would implement it for this coming season. [14:13] Select Board Chair (presiding officer): Kathy, can you just explain to me? [14:16] Select Board member (public safety facility advocate): The services in town, the people that are coming there are not part of that. [14:21] Speaker K (unidentified): The argument that I heard for recouping police, that was the second point I was going to make. Even if these places didn't exist, I don't believe that these folks wouldn't come to Wells. As long as we have a seacoast, these folks are going to come to Wells, whether they're boarding in Wells or not, or they're going to stay at an Airbnb, or they're going to rent a house. [14:41] Speaker F (unidentified): Property taxes pays a relative share of the public safety items. [14:47] Speaker K (unidentified): The public safety apparatus portion of it. [14:50] Select Board member (public safety facility advocate): So you're not happy with the $68 on the $17? [14:53] Speaker K (unidentified): Not the $68, no, I'm not. [14:55] Select Board member (public safety facility advocate): Okay, so what would you be happy with? I [15:01] Speaker H (unidentified): don't know, I first of all, I mean, [15:09] Speaker F (unidentified): that's the problem that I have with it is putting though that additional cost [15:16] Select Board member (public safety facility advocate): on the residential taxpayers to the town that the residents before that isn't covered by their I think it is I don't think it is ordinance to temporarily restrict increases in mobile home park rents and charges until the town meeting determines whether to enact an ordinance to stabilize mobile home lot rents. Second. [15:39] Select Board Chair (presiding officer): Second. All those in favor? Five-zero. Next up, we have discussion and action to schedule a public [15:44] Select Board member (public safety facility advocate): hearing to consider extension of the emergency. Yeah. Okay. We'll just schedule a public hearing on October 20th, 2026 at 6 p.m. 208 Silverfield Meeting Room on the beach parking permit policy. [15:56] Select Board Chair (presiding officer): Let's see. Second. Second, all those in favor? [15:59] Speaker K (unidentified): The things they're concerned about might seem minor, but it was brought up that, you know, labeling requirements, for example. You have to put your home address on a label on a day's day and age if, you know, if you have kids at your house or whatever, that would be something that would concern somebody. So that's one of those things that might seem small. But the other thing is, you know, I included a memo in the packet, which I'm sure everybody read. That was wrong. [16:22] Select Board Chair (presiding officer): I'll read my statement now. [16:24] Speaker C (unidentified): It's probably a good time. Me too. All right. [16:29] Select Board Chair (presiding officer): Today's October 6th, 2026. Thankful manager searches in my time here on the board. And I don't know in what quality candidate wants. No offense to anyone that we selected, but we had to go outside that community. Very nice. Very nice. On [16:51] Speaker K (unidentified): that note just to think you know I have to clarify piggyback on what [16:55] Select Board member (public safety facility advocate): what today and I'm very impressed it's very it's very nice very fortunate that we have you to tap [17:02] Police Chief (K-9 handler, retiring Sobacus): on so thank you for being here great setup he's he's set it he set me up very nicely as well so I'm not going to minimize that aspect of it he's got to learn some of your things well she said talent I thought that's what she was talking about but I appreciate that I said it was my other chance, but no, thank you. I appreciate it. [17:22] Select Board member (public safety facility advocate):...and send a letter of thanks for his service. Second. Moving second. [17:26] Select Board Chair (presiding officer): All those in favor? Five-zero. Discussion and action to accept. [17:30] Speaker F (unidentified): The third time during COVID because of two resignations from that committee, actually out and about, John applied to that committee, who had a more diverse background, and this select board did not select them. That's a fact. You know, I think that's unfortunate that you're saying that. And I will say this. I don't remember that. I spoke at that podium. [17:56] Select Board Chair (presiding officer): I remember you, but I don't remember the other people. [18:00] Speaker K (unidentified): Okay. I mean, I think that's a conversation for another time. I just, I think we need to, we're sort of under the gun right now, so does 1829 in terms of its implementation date, and I just think it would be wise that we look at that and potentially try something prior to the June warrant if we could. I just think that's critical and Jim if you want to revisit the conversation [18:26] Speaker F (unidentified): Revisited a couple of times, but it just seems to get dropped. We talked about going through the employee manual The volunteer manual I talked about it at that point