SKOWHEGAN — The Select Board tabled payments to the Skowhegan Woman’s Club and approved $17,394.69 to repair the step screen and wash press at the town’s Water Pollution Control Plant during its Dec. 9 meeting.
Treasurer and Town Clerk Gail Pelotte requested a $1,310.90 payout for the Skowhegan Woman’s Club from three trust funds, one dating to 1935. The wills establishing the funds directed that the principal and accrued interest be donated to the local Women’s Aid Society.
Select Board member Amber Lambke questioned the transfer process, whether the money must go to a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, if the Woman’s Club has that designation and how the club distributes the funds.
“I want to understand our responsibility better once we pass these funds off,” she said. “I feel like I need more information before I feel comfortable transferring these monies from year to year, because we don’t know that structure.”
Pelotte disagreed, noting the transfer has been approved annually since she became treasurer in 2009 and even before her tenure. She said the group is well established, distributes funds each year to local residents in need and includes “very prominent ladies who serve on this committee.”
“These funds have been left by people in their wills that were specifically for Skowhegan Women’s Aid Society,” Pelotte said. “I think we’re trying to fix something that isn’t broken.”
The Skowhegan Woman’s Club is one of 14 branches of the Maine Federation of Women’s Clubs. Founded in 1882, it is part of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs and one of two remaining charter clubs in GFWC Maine, according to the group’s Facebook page.
Select Board Chair Whitney Cunliffe agreed with Lambke and made a motion to table the issue until the board’s next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 23.
“It would be nice to have more information,” he said.
He added that the board was not trying to hold up money for those in need, but was seeking to clarify the situation.
“I’m certain they do good things with the money,” Lambke said.
At the meeting, the Select Board voted to authorize Pollution Control Superintendent Donnie Zaluski to pay up to $17,394.69 to Huber Technology for an electric motor brake and a wash‑press gearbox replacement for the Water Pollution Control Plant.
The money is to come from the water pollution control capital reserve account, which has about $104,000.
The step screen and wash press, installed in 2004, is a “premium product” and “super essential” that removes rags from the wastewater inflow, Zaluski said.
“One of the number one problems with wastewater is flushable rags that are not flushable. It’s a nightmare,” he said. “We’ve gotten 20 years out of it, and I want to get another 10.”
The board also approved a liquor license renewal for the Heritage House Restaurant and a games‑of‑chance license for cribbage at the Skowhegan‑Madison Elks Lodge.
The Select Board’s next meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23.
