FARMINGTON — Selectmen set the date for the annual Town Meeting, entered a short term employee agreement and discussed other staffing at the town office during their meeting Tuesday night.

The annual Town Meeting will be 7 p.m. Monday, March 27, 2023, at Mt. Blue High School’s gymnasium. Voting for seats on the Select Board and Regional School Unit 9 board of directors will take place at the Community Center on Middle Street, with time to be determined.

Nomination papers for positions on those boards will be available Dec. 19, and must be returned by Jan. 26, 2023.

Town Manager Christian Waller said holding the meeting at the high school worked well last year.

Selectman Stephan Bunker suggested having another person checking in voters before the meeting. There was a line waiting for the A through H section of the alphabet but no one at X-Y-Z, he noted.

“We will try to have at least five or six,” Waller said. He also noted Twila Lycette had spent time updating voter records so IDs wouldn’t have to be checked.

Lycette was named interim deputy town clerk, interim deputy registrar of voters and warden last month to help with the elections after Town Clerk/Treasurer Leanne Dickey resigned. In March, Lycette retired from the town of Lisbon after 35 years.

Selectmen also authorized entering a short term agreement with Lycette, with most of the work expected to be completed mid-December. Waller said she was working on several major post-election activities, could be contracted with for consulting, using her skill set ahead of the Town Meeting. Lycette cleaned up some things, will make the next election that much faster, he added.

“We are lucky to have found her,” Bunker said.

A decision on setting the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for 2023 was tabled. Waller said it had been a unique year with the economic conditions and level of inflation. He estimated a 7.1% increase based on current figures. The COLA amount is needed for determining next year’s budget, which is going on now, he noted.

Bunker suggested waiting another month to see if the numbers would go down next month.

Select Board Chairman Matthew Smith said he was more comfortable waiting.

Consumer Price Index numbers are released on the tenth of each month, and should be available for the Dec. 13 meeting, Waller said.

Farmington has openings for middle management positions at the town office. Waller said he has promising candidates he would like to offer positions to: one has experience as a treasurer, the other is trained in Human Resources. He suggested looking at current job descriptions and possibly reorganizing and cross training staff to minimize future impacts should staff leave or if someone is out unexpectedly.

“When our prior treasurer left, Human Resources fell upon individual department heads,” Waller said. He has heard it is imposing, a bit of a burden, and prevents them from getting to other things. He is trying to fit in a Human Resources person within the current budget and will bring it back to the board if necessary.

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