FARMINGDALE — The Board of Selectmen voted Wednesday to hire Matt Guilfoyle, a constable and full-time member of the Richmond Police Department, as chief constable.
He will also be animal control officer until the board hires another person for that position. Guilfoyle has been a Farmingdale constable for many years and has law enforcement experience. He replaces Jeff Ellis, who retired after 18 years of service and held positions both as chief constable and animal control officer.
“Jeff Ellis fully supports Matt for the position,” Board of Selectmen Chairman David Sirois said.
The chief constable is responsible for the department’s budget, schedule and timesheets. Each of the four constables rotates his work schedule, so one is on duty for two hours every night. Constables in town investigate citizen complaints, provide security at events and take care of animal control duties.
In other business, an Easy Street resident complained that he and his neighbors have had problems with water flooding their property and damaging gardens. Russell Hubbard told selectmen the town should have given residents notice that a cross-culvert was going to be installed on Park Street, which runs parallel to Easy Street. He said he and his neighbors were not prepared for the amount of water he said has gushed through since workers installed the culvert in the last week or so.
He also told selectmen culverts in the area have caused problems for a number of years and former boards of selectmen have never properly addressed the issue.
“Over the years I’ve done my own work (to remedy the problems caused by the culverts),” Hubbard said.
Selectman Rickey McKenna told Hubbard voters turned down a proposal to spend money to fix the area at a previous Town Meeting.
And he pointed out the culvert was there before Hubbard and his neighbors bought their homes.
Hubbard said that the area is much more developed than it was when he moved there, and he believes the town should address such issues.
“When you see a problem, I suggest you look at correcting it,” Hubbard said. “Try to be proactive.”
A Park Street resident also addressed the board about a problem that abuts his property. The town had contracted with CH Stevenson, of Wayne, to replace a culvert, fix the road and haul in loam and plant grass seed, which they have not completed.
Sirois told the resident the town is withholding payment until the work is done or turned over to another contractor. Sirois said he expected it to be taken care of within the week.
Assistant Fire Chief Michael LaPlante told the board that someone had swiped several street signs July 24 or 25 off Northern Avenue.
He said a sign and pole each cost between $55 and $60, and he stressed the importance of the signs for emergency calls, especially when the responders are coming from a different town.
Selectmen approved replacing the signs, which LaPlante estimates to be around $500.
Sirois told the board that the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments’ subcommittee, which he is a member of, is getting closer to reaching an agreement with the Kennebec Valley Gas Co. for a tax-increment financing deal to aid a proposed gas line that would run from Richmond to Madison.
The line is still contingent on signing up potential big users, such as Sappi Paper in Skowhegan. Tax increment financing shelters a developer from paying property taxes for a period of time in order to help fund the work.
Joyce Grondin is a Kennebec Journal correspondent who lives in Augusta.
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