The Dresden Board of Selectmen anticipated some fiery opposition to a no-smoking policy on the grounds of all town facilities, including the fire department, but the matter sailed through with no challenges during the board's regular meeting at Pownalborough Hall July 30.

Only two members of the fire department, Fire Chief Gerald Lilley and his wife, were present for the meeting. Neither made any comment on the new policy.

Smoking was already prohibited inside the buildings, but the new policy prohibits smoking on the campus of the village station and the new Pownalborough firehouse, Board Chairman Phil Johnston said.

The policy will take effect Sept. 1 to allow for at least a month’s notice. The policy includes the parking lot at the Pownalborough station, selectmen said.  

Another issue handled by the board regarding employment background checks could have also been controversial, members thought, but the board decided to specifically include checks for substance abuse for new applicants for town jobs. 

Selectman Allan Moeller spoke strongly about including the check as part of the application process for any prospective employees.

 Appointees

In other business, the board appointed several new people to two boards to fill existing vacancies. Members unanimously voted to appointed Hope Douglas and Dan Hanley to the Dresden Planning Board, each for five-year terms.

Other appointments include Carol Fackler for a three-year term on the Dresden Conservation Commission and Bill Matthews for a three-year term representing the town on the Bridge Academy Board of Trustees.

Other vacancies still exist, including one on the Dresden Board of Appeals, one on the Conservation Commission, and two on the Dresden Budget Review Committee.

Other business

The board decided to seek bids for painting the exterior of the town office in the Dresden Village. Selectman David Probert suggest drafting simple specs for the job of scraping and painting, which will include removal of any past layers of paint that contain lead.

Because the town replaced the clapboards on the building a few years ago, no lead paint would be found on them, according to the board. Administrative Assistant Trudy Foss said there could be lead in paint for anything painted before 1979.

At its June annual town meeting, Dresden voted to raise and appropriated $5,000 for the painting project.

Regarding solid waste facility issues, Probert said the town should clean up and bush hog the plots on the grounds formerly used for community gardens, because no one has requested the use of them this year. The town originally offered free use of the raised beds to residents for planting. The cleanup will include disposing of the compost pile there. 

Probert also proposed cutting the attendants' hours by the 15 minutes after the facility closes. He said the employees are supposed to arrive 15 minutes earlier than opening time to ready the facility for users but regards the additional 15 minutes at the end of each shift as unnecessary. The board agreed to the recommendation with the provision of a two-week notice for the board’s decision to go into effect. 

The board also decided to meet Saturday morning with the employees to talk over the time cut, as well as the new smoke-free campus policy for all town grounds.

Leveling of the ground for a skating ring on the transfer station grounds also came up for discussion. The board decided to move ahead with the project using recreation funds. Members also agreed to Probert’s suggestion for new concrete pads for the recycling bins and to obtain a price from contractors.

Before closing the meeting, the board also decided a non-agenda item, which concerned a town right of way, where members said David Popp put up a sign stating “road closed for season.” The board decided send a notice to Popp stating he cannot block the road, because it is a public right of way even though it is not a town maintained road.