KINGFIELD -- The first order of business at the selectmen's meeting last Monday March 23, was to hear details from Danny Pinkham about an automatic generator proposal.

The proposal includes a power transfer switch and automatic power on should there be a power outage at the town office building. The board agreed to proceed with the proposal which should come in under $8,100. Selectman Merv Wilson agreed to look into the model type and warrantees.

The new 700-pound unit will be permanently mounted outside the building and offer additional options for emergency management relief for area residents as well as a positive benefit for the town office staff.

"There will be no excuses if the power goes out," Pinkham explained.

"I like the fact that it will be permanently mounted," Selectman Neal McCurdy said. "It would look similar to what's beside Tranten's Too," he added.

Pinkham explained that the new generator

would not only go on automatically with a power outage, it will also automatically cycle on once a week to ensure proper working mechanics.

Members went on to hear a proposal from resident Jack McKee. McKee wants to form a committee to look into the possibilities of restructuring the time and date of the Annual Town Meeting.

McCurdy demonstrated his opinion regarding towns that hold municipal elections the night before. "If the next day after an election only has 40 people show up, it's much easier to get a majority if someone has an issue," he warned.

"The other day we had 140 people here (at Town Meeting) and you don't swing a majority that easy with that many people," McCurdy said.

"There are many options," McKee countered stating that one suggestion was to have it later in the month. McKee acknowledged a Letter to the Editor recently published in the Irregular that pointed out the number of people who miss the meeting because they have to work during the heart of the ski season. "I just want to put this out on the table and let people thrash it around," McKee noted. By forming a committee to look into the many ways will do just that, he said.

Another thought he said was to consider even a revolutionary change by changing the fiscal year so it's aligned with the schools' budget year allowing town meeting to occur during the warm summer months.

"I like what Jack's suggesting," Board chairperson Heather Moody added. "It makes it open for a small group to get out there and talk to people," and make it a decision of what the majority wants and not what we think, she added.

Members tossed around different times and dates before McKee said, this debate is exactly the reason why a group should form.

Selectmen agreed that they wanted to pursue this committee and mentioned that resident Scott Hoisington may be a valued asset and asked Administrative Assistant Greg Davis to pursue new members down the road.

The selectmen agreed that good communication with the board and "common sense" was needed as a policy when determining if the town office should close due to inclement weather.

Town Clerk Leanne Targett also updated the board with updates and requests for electronic state communications, and better service for town residents.

The board agreed to allow the clerk to pursue accepting credit and debit card payments for town business. They also allowed her to set up a system to allow on-line dog licensing.

Members went on to hear several other requests from Targett which ranged from no money allocated for this year's spring cleaning contract at the town office to no longer having town employees deal with payments for the Kingfield Water District. "They insisted on being their own entity. I don't think we should be paying a secretary to take their payments. We always try to listen to the auditor and the auditors recommendations," McCurdy said. His suggestion was to not continue with business as usual and perhaps a drop box for payments could be established.

Based on a request of Wilson, Davis stated that he received a positive response from Dr. Dana Humphrey, Dean of Engineering at the University of Maine, Orono. Wilson wanted to see if senior engineering students were interested in developing a design for a multi-purpose bridge to span the Carrabassett River.

In a conversation before the meeting, Wilson had stated the economic benefit of allowing snowmobiles to get to the downtown community easier and more often without waiting or being denied access due to open water on the river.

He also was requesting to see if engineering students wanted to look at the feasibility and design of re-creating a hydroelectric power station at the Kingfield dam and to see what benefits it could have for the people of Kingfield.

"The senior engineering students may choose these design projects this coming fall," Davis reported.

Members discussed a group called the Revitalization Committee and its desire to become an official entity of the town. Members acknowledged that receiving grants might be easier if they were an official entity of the town.

The board expressed that they were not ready to form such an entity at this time but deeply expressed their appreciation for the group's effort thus far and Moody pointed that that they'd "keep an open mind" in the future.

Lastly the board agreed to set up a list of town projects so that any Mt. Abram students could work toward their 40-hour graduation requirements of community service.