SKOWHEGAN — Transparency was one of the top topics as Skowhegan’s Board of Selectmen met Tuesday for its annual workshop to discuss guidelines and goals.

Skowhegan, after all, is a small town. All five selectmen own businesses that operate in Skowhegan. Several have contracts with the town to provide services.

To address concerns from the public, the board agreed to add an agenda item toward the beginning of each meeting for selectmen to disclose conflicts of interest for upcoming topics at the meeting.

Amber Lambke Contributed photo

In recent months, selectmen have begun to identify their conflicts of interest more clearly. Since Selectwoman Amber Lambke was elected to the board in June, she has stated whether she had a conflict at each meeting.

Selectman Steven Govoni, whose engineering firm is contracted as clerk of works for the Skowhegan Community Center Athletic Complex project, now stands up from the board’s table and moves to the audience when discussing that project.

“Why not try to be the most transparent board possible?” Selectman Elijah Soll, also elected in June, said Tuesday as the board discussed its code of ethics.

Chairman Paul A. York agreed with the need to be transparent, but said some Skowhegan residents might complain about a lack of transparency without any reason.

“A lot of these people that are saying you’re not being transparent, they’re not involved,” York, who has served on the board for more than a decade, said. “So, they’re thinking that we’re hiding something, which we’re not.”

Any perceived lack of transparency is not intentional, York said.

Lambke also recommended Tuesday that the town’s code of ethics include a section on bias, which is included in the Maine Municipal Association’s similar code of ethics.

The board discussed where to draw the line on what could be perceived as bias or a conflict of interest versus an actual issue. Ultimately, the board can vote whether a selectman has a conflict and is obligated to record that discussion and decision, Lambke said.

The board can also consult the Maine Municipal Association, or MMA, and should do so sooner rather than later in cases of possible conflict or bias, Vice Chairman Charles Robbins said.

Paul A. York Contributed photo

Skowhegan recently received an opinion from the MMA about York’s voting in some matters involving the town’s Parks & Recreation Department. York has an immediate family relationship with the department’s director, Denise LeBlanc, and York’s landscaping company has a mowing contract with the town.

York said he requested Town Manager Dawn DiBlasi seek the opinion from the Maine Municipal Association in response to concerns from some residents about what they see as a conflict of interest.

Even so, the advice, written by Rebecca McMahon, the MMA’s director legal services, said York’s relationship to LeBlanc is not a conflict of interest because York “has no direct or indirect pecuniary interest in the matter.”

Regarding other questions, such as the mowing contract, McMahon wrote that more information was needed. In general, even if no real conflict of interest exists, but there is appearance of bias, York can recuse himself from decisions regarding family members employed by the town or the Parks & Recreation Department, according to the opinion.

“I think we’re moving positively in the right direction,” York said Tuesday.

The workshop then turned to a brief discussion of the Board of Selectmen’s goals for the year. The five selectmen listed these goals:

• Determine future use or sale of the old fire station at 16 Island Ave.

• Resolve issues with the Hilton Bridge, which connects Skowhegan and Canaan on Red Bridge Road.

• Shop the town’s insurance policy to different vendors to get a more competitive price.

• Prepare for department head retirements in the near future with a succession plan.

• Consolidate the town’s information technology services to one vendor, rather than two.

• Examine results of parking studies and changing the parking ordinance as needed.

• Consider updates to the sign ordinance.

• Communicate more clearly at the June town meeting on how funding for capital projects is being allocated, and include account balances in information presented to voters.

• Review internal systems among departments, with a focus on technology.

• Create a better system among town employees and officials to resolve conflicts and share feedback.

In the past, selectmen listed their goals in a running list of “unfinished business.” The list was intended to help selectmen remember ongoing goals for which there were no recent updates, York said.

Lambke recommended updating the list more regularly and keeping better track of steps being taken.

“We could treat that more fluidly,” Lambke said.

The selectmen agreed to acknowledge the list more explicitly at each meeting. When possible, the board will attempt to add an update or action step for each item on the list.

York said the system should help selectmen keep track of concerns brought to them by residents, and how they have been addressed.

“We’re trying to be better with that,” he said.