The Dresden Board of Selectmen expressed concern over a report from the KIDS Regional School Unit (RSU) 2 superintendent’s office that the town has a $128,000 shortfall in its balance due for the formation of the regional school unit 3 years ago. 

Now the town and Regional School Unit 2, which manages schools in Dresden, Farmingdale, Hallowell, Monmouth and Richmond, will have to decide the ultimate figure. Superintendent Virgel Hammonds said his office wants to examine that figure. 

“We’re going to look into that. We’ve always worked well together,” he said. “We just want to see if we are on the same page.”

Hammonds said the towns that joined Regional School Unit 2 all agreed to hand over their fund balances at its inception 3 years ago to help with Regional School Unit 2's expenses. 

Members questioned the correctness of the figure, which Chairman Phil Johnston termed a “heads up” during the regular selectmen’s meeting scheduled last Thursday, Oct. 4 due to the holiday this Monday.

Johnston said he met with Hammonds earlier in the week last week when he told him about the alleged shortfall. At the same time, he said Hammonds reported the unit will be taking over the $16,000 the town has been paying for a school nurse and librarian at Dresden Elementary School.

“All of this shortfall comes down on the taxpayers,” Johnston said. “Enough is enough.”

Administrative Assistant Trudy Foss said the shortfall figure Hammonds gave for the town’s share in the cost of the regional school unit came as a surprise. She said the town has made several payments over the past several years, and it was her understanding the town owed only about $80,000 a couple of years ago.

“I still don’t know where they got the figures from,” Foss said.

In the interview this week, Hammonds said the town has been making payments all along and that the report was only an initial discussion on the matter. When the various towns joined Regional School Unit 2, most of the towns agreed to pay the full amount over a 5-year period. 

“Dresden has definitely been paying,” Hammonds said. “Dresden has always been great with us.”

Johnston said he agreed with Hammonds to have the town’s auditor and the school unit’s auditor resolve the question of the alleged discrepancy.

During the discussion, selectmen made several comments about the town’s involvement generally in Regional School Unit 2, including a member of the fire department present. Firefighter Gorham Lilly said, “What’s the sense of having an RSU when we’re going to end up paying everything anyway.”

Johnston himself questioned the basis for the cost sharing, which the Maine Dept. of Education sets up. “It’s not based on student cost but on valuation,” he said.

Selectman David Probert said, “I don’t think it’s fair. We have no industry here.”

Other business

Other business agenda items at the meeting last week included decisions about bids opened September 24, one for the painting of the Town Office and the other for snow plowing. The board voted to give Tom’s Painting, the low bidder, the paint job. Clarke Painting of Portland submitted a bid of $24,000.

The board voted unanimously to give the snow plowing work this winter to Josh Watson for $6,800, since he has done satisfactory work for the town and has three vehicles despite the lower bid of Mike Christy of $6,500. Selectman Allan Moeller abstained from seconding the motion but voted with the other two selectmen for Watson. 

Johnston said he would like the board to consider a policy for bids in the future including bid differentials.

During the meeting, Selectmen Moeller and Johnston voted to appointed Probert to the Conservation Commission for a 3-year term and Ann Miller to the budget review committee.

Selectmen said they walked the property of Robert Gleason toward the town’s consideration of purchasing his land adjacent to the transfer station property for possible future expansion of the facility.

Gleason said after the meeting he has offered the town the property before putting it on the market.

Once the town has the property appraised, the town’s prospective purchase will have to go before the town for a vote, according to selectmen.

Selectmen will hold their next regular meeting Monday, Oct. 22 at Pownalborough Hall at 6 p.m. and the next workshop Monday, Oct. 15 at the Town Office at 6 p.m.