Boothbay Harbor may be getting a new salt and sand shed due to the poor condition of the one off Middle Road. Nov. 18, Town Manager Julia Latter told selectmen the town’s insurance dropped all coverage except general liability for the salt shed after an annual inspection.  

She said salt is being stored in the 20-year-old building, and sand is stored under a “thousand-dollar-a-year-and-we-hope-it-doesn't-tear" tarp setup. She said the insurance companydropped the salt building's coverage due to major structural concerns or anomalies observed during their survey.  

To fix the issue, Latter proposed a new 50-foot by 62-foot by 20-foot building that would store both sand and salt. She said she has an around$175,000 quote for the project that includes everything but the sitework and gravel and comes with a 50-year structural warranty. She said lending terms would be around $28,000 annually for a five-year note and around $58,000 for a 10-year note, at approximately 5% to 5.5% interest. Latter said the project wouldn't be completed this year but needs to be done as soon as possible. “I'm strongly advocating for getting it done,” she said. 

Chair Mike Tomko asked how the building compared to a similar structure considered by Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District. Latter, who is on that board, said Boothbay Harbor’s would be larger and cost less, adding she did not vote in favor of the district's project.  

In other business, selectmen reviewed the town’s investments with First National Wealth Management. Portfolio ManagerGary Stone presented a report on the town's around$371,000 in investments, and said he was pleased with their performance.  

Stone said the town adopted a25% equity and 75% fixed income portfolio in 2015, which was novel for a municipality at the time.He said it is a conservative approach for individuals but, for municipalities, it was prudent to consider more growth potential. He said it was the right choice that weathered interest rate changes and now has an around 3.8% annualized return.   

However, Stone said the board may decide to go in amore cautious direction moving forward. He said some economists are concerned that the new presidential administration will be more inflationary due to tariff matters, which could raise rates. Personally, he did not raise the same flags.“Politics aside, I don't think it mattered a whole lot who got elected relative to market performance,” he said.  

The board did not make any decisions during the meeting butgenerally agreed with a conservative mixed-portfolio approach. In addition, members reiterated that the investments are the town’s reserve funds to purchase vehicles or other equipmentand should be both accessible when needed and invested cautiously.  

“The object of the money is to be there when you need it. End of story,” said Selectman Ken Rayle, who agreed with the strategy.  

“This is a good way to do it. It's not perfect. I don't know that any particular plan would be,” Selectman Mark Gimbel added. “This isn't the way I operate, personally. But this is the taxpayers' money.” 

In other business, Latter said Shellfish Warden Brent Barter recently resigned. She said she would like to appoint Police Officer Garrett French.