By GLYNIS HART
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UNITY – The Unity select board considered several money-saving measures at their Monday night meeting, including changing banks and selecting the best bids for electrical work.
A good part of the meeting was devoted to a visit by representatives of Mascoma Savings Bank, Sheila Jacobs and Pat Butterworth.
Selectman Ed Gregory said the town has been working with Sugar River Bank “for umpteen years” and “maybe it’s time for a change.”
Gregory said the town has a checking account at Sugar River Bank, but they asked Jacobs and Butterworth to come in and talk to them to see if they can make a little money on their money. At the moment, the town gets 0.05 percent interest on their accounts.
“We pay our bills weekly,” said Gregory. “We try to keep our vendors happy.”
Butterworth said her bank can offer ICS, insured cash sweep, a service which keeps liquid assets under the FDIC insured limit of $250,000 by moving them into demand deposit accounts and money market deposit accounts at other FDIC-insured member institutions. Gregory said the town was intrigued by the possibility of earning interest on its accounts: “That’s never come up before.”
Jacobs explained some of the services the bank offers, including loans and remote deposit capture, whereby the town would be able to deposit checks from the office, and savings accounts that reap higher interest but are restricted to six withdrawals per cycle.
Selectman Bill Schroeter asked that the bank’s offers be put in writing. Of Sugar River Bank, he said, “Their service is good, but our job is to take care of the taxpayers’ money as responsibly as we can.”
The select board next considered hiring an electrician.
“We have great need of an electrician in this town,” said Schroeter. Two projects are in the works: the transfer station’s electric wiring needs work, and they want the town hall/fire hall complex to have a backup generator in case of emergencies.
Carl Thresher, of Thresher Electric, and Charles Peabody of Peabody Electric both came in to talk to the selectmen. Peabody was hired.
John Brewer, a property owner, came to ask the select board about a piece of property he’s trying to sell on South Hedgehog Hill Road. He doesn’t own the property anymore, it’s in trust, but he manages it for his daughter.
“It’s already subdivided,” said Brewer. The problem: the property is on a Class VI road.
“All you can really do is put a dwelling on it,” said selectman John Callum. “We’ve got to be careful and make sure we permit it correctly.”
The law prohibits developing a residence on the property because fire and ambulance couldn’t get in.
“Could I put it in writing I don’t require fire and ambulance?” asked Brewer. Discussion revealed that this has been done some times for other properties.
Callum concluded, “We’ll take it under advisement.”
The select board will go out to South Hedgehog Hill road and look around before making a decision.
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