BC20100913

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BUDGET COMM= ITTEE /= MEETING MINUTES

Monday, September 13, 2010

APPROVED &#= 8211; September 30, 2010

CALL TO ORDER – 7:30pm

PRESENT:

Also Present:

Mr. Larry Hall, Mr. Dan= iel Guimond, Mr. Dennis Viger, Mr. Robert Sherman, Ms. Angele Diack, Mr. John Lavallee, Selectmen Representative Edmund Gleason, School Board Representative Andy Ducharme, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos

Town Clerk Dorothy Mars= den

ABSENT:

Mr. Gregory Farris, Mr.= Ken Dunne

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

2011 BUDGET REVIEW AGENDA

Elections, Town Clerk, Budget Committee, Town Celebrations, Lega= l, Trust Funds

Elections – Town Clerk Dorothy Marsden came forward to discuss the 2011 Elections budget. <= /span>

Elections

2011 Selectmen approved=

2011 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Salaries:

3,456.00

(1,686.00)

Supplies:

6,103.00

(1,434.00)

Salaries – Ballot C= lerks had a decrease due to one election in 2011. Supervisors of the Checklist showe= d an increase. Mr. Gaydos stated t= hat a survey had been done of similar towns and the request seemed modest.

Supplies – Decrease= in ballots and coding due to having one election in 2011. Mr. Guimond questioned why postage= for absentee ballots was being increased from 317.00 (in 2010) to 1,433.00 (in 2011). Ms. Marsden believed p= ostage was increasing as of January 1, 2011. She also informed that per RSA 654:39 the Town was required to verify the checklist; there would be approximately 2600 notices sent out to persons to be verifie= d.

Mr. V= iger questioned how it was determined what went into the default budget. Mr. Gaydos said in this case it wa= s a state requirement/mandate that a purge (of the checklist) be done.

Town Clerk – Town Clerk Dorothy Marsden came forward to discuss the 2011 Town Clerk budget.

Town Clerk	2011 Selectmen approved=	2011 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)
Salaries:	172,270.00	(4,844.00)
Supplies:	17,673.00	6,338.00

Salaries - A Clerk Typist= II left the position during 2010. The position remains in the 2011 budget at a lower hourly rate and longevity.

Supplies – Postage = increase for Tax Bills and Barrington Notices. New line item (5,040.00) Motor Vehicle Renewal for the program that began in August, 2010. Mr. La= vallee liked the service, but wanted to know what it cost to send the notices and = how it was set up to be done. Ms. Marsden said the notices were printed off the computer with the cost for postage, paper and envelopes. Mr. Sherman commented that some towns in Massachusetts were going to send tax bills four times per year and asked if there was any= thing within the Town’s Regulations that prevented quarterly bills. Mr. Gaydos stated that nothing pre= vented the Town, but it would create a lot of expense and cripple the budget. Mr. Viger recalled the department = was going to look into allowing credit card usage and questioned if it had been reviewed. Mr. Gleason said it= had been reviewed, and the initial analysis found that it would be cost prohibi= tive due to the fees. He said the Selectmen had asked Mr. Gaydos to review credit card usage again. Mr. Ducharme commented if the Town started using credit cards they would then be under scrutiny from Payment C= ard Industry Data Security Systems (‘PCIDSS’) for security, which c= ould incur additional charges.

Expenses – It was n= oted that the fee for Notary Public Renewal was taken out for 2011 because there= was no one up for renewal during the year.&nbs= p; Ms. Marsden commented that three people in the office were notaries.

Mr. Hall questioned the s= tatus of tax collections. Ms. Marsden = said they were doing very good.

Mr. Lavallee asked if the= Town had done any foreclosures this year. Ms. Marsden said they had done foreclosure notices; the process then went through the Assessor’s office.&= nbsp;

Mr. Sherman wanted to know if any contracts were coming due this year. Mr. Gleason said it would be coming.

Mr. Gaydos discussed credit card usage, for which there was a charge, and said = they would look into it again. He = said Park & Recreation used credit cards for their programs, but the cost was built into the program charge. He said the Operating Budget would have to be increased to accommodate the fee= s. Mr. Ducharme explained how the PCI= DSS had security requirements that the Town would need to have in place if using credit cards. Mr. Viger asked= if the Town had those security measures in place. Mr. Gaydos stated that Mr. Victor Danevich had taken care of all of it (for the Park & Recreation department); the Town was in compliance with all the security requirements. Mr. Viger asked= if there was an associated cost. Mr. Gaydos was not aware of any ongoing cost.&= nbsp; Mr. Ducharme said there may be a cost associated with IP addresses.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Gaydos will provide a copy of = the e-mail confirming the Town’s compliance.

Budget Committee – There wa= s no change in the 2011 original request / Selectmen approval of 2,235.00.

Town Celebrations – Mr. Gaydos discussed the 2011 Town Celebrations budget.

Town Celebrations

2011 Selectmen approved=

2011 budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Expenses:

1,585.00

530.00

Expenses – Increase= in cost for the Memorial Day monument wreaths and cemetery flags. Mr. Lavallee asked why the cemetery flags weren’t in the Cemetery budget. Mr. Gaydos said the cemetery flags= had always been in the Town Celebrations budget; the Veterans purchase the flags and give the invoice to the Town for payment. Mr. Viger questioned how they were= paid for prior to 2010. He believe= d it was an issue the previous year. It was Mr. Gaydos’ understanding there had always been a line item. He will review the past. Mr. Gleason recalled that the Amer= ican Legion had approached the Town several years ago because they could no long= er absorb the cost. He bel= ieved it was at that time that the Town picked up the cost. Mr. Lavallee recalled the budget h= ad previously been one line item. Mr. Gaydos said the budget had been broken out because there had been questions regarding the specific costs for the picnic, the flags etc. Having the budg= et broken out for each item alleviated confusion.

Mr. V= iger asked if the credit for the fire works in 2009 had been received and applie= d to the bill for 2010. Mr. Gaydos= said the credit had been received; Fire Chief Midgley made certain that it was provided.

Legal – Mr. Gaydos discussed the Legal budget. He stated that the budget (to date= ) was on target for the time of year. There had been a couple of on-going law suits. The Town attorneys had worked with= the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment through programs to improve t= heir education. Mr. Gaydos noted t= hat there had been a number of cases challenged from which the Town was successful.

Mr. Lavallee asked if the= Zoning Board’s legal fees came out of the Legal budget. Mr. Gaydos answered yes. He said any time the Zoning Board = needed legal assistance they went to the Planning Director who in turn came to him= for assistance. Mr. Lavallee ques= tioned where the Town stood regarding the Merrimack Valley Regional Water situation. Mr. Gaydos stated = that the Supreme Court had not ruled on it yet; the arguments had been made. He said the Public Utility Commiss= ion had made a decision regarding the value; the process was moving, but the co= urt system/process was slow. He s= aid Nashua was still v= ery interested in buying it and when the purchase went through the Town would be refunded every dime that it had paid. Mr. Gaydos explained that the funds guaranteed the Town a seat on the board. At present, he was the representative on the board. =

Mr. Viger questioned if t= he Town had any control over Pennichuck having to replace their capital investment; specifically the water line on the street.= He commented that in the last three years there had been four breaks= on his street; Pennichuck had to come out, dig the street up and put a tempora= ry patch. He said every time it = was done it lessened the use that the Town would have from the road. He said the lines should be replac= ed, to which Pennichuck admits to it. Mr. Gaydos said it was the first he had heard of the problem and could speak to= the Highway Road Agent about what impacts it was having on the road. He felt the Town had the ability to approach Pennichuck and find out where the street was on their replacement schedule.

Ms. Diack wanted clarific= ation that the $5000 being paid each year to the Merrimack Valley Regional Water District was considered dues to sit on the board. Mr. Gaydos stated that it was dues= being used to pay some of the legal fees.

Mr. Lavallee wanted to know how much of the money the Town would get back if/wh= en the court made a decision. Mr. Gaydos said the Town had paid for six years, which equaled $30,000 that wou= ld go in as general revenue. Mr. Lavallee believed the initial payment was more than $5000 and would do rese= arch regarding such. <= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

Trust Funds – Mr. Gleason discussed the 2011 Trust Fund budget.

Trust Funds

2011 Selectmen approved=

2011 budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Specials:

145.00

75.00

Specials – Mr. Glea= son said a lot of research had been done regarding the origin of all trusts to ensure that the trusts were being duly handled in terms of payments out and monies coming in. The binder contain= ing all the trusts was electronically replicated.

Mr. Viger questioned if a= ll of the trusts had been located. = Mr. Gleason said all the stocks were located and identified. He explained that the state author= ized the Trustees to go from the Prudent Man Investor to the Prudent Investor Po= licy which states that all the trust funds could be invested into a municipal account managed by a professional (i.e. Citizen’s, Schwab). He said the Trustees had opted to = do so with the Trust Funds to try and recover interest. He said they were projecting at approximately 6%. He said what doesn’t change is all the Capital Reserve Funds would be staying with= the consolidated account at Citizen’s Government Group because they have = to remain “liquid”. = There was further discussion regarding the types of trusts that the Town had.

Mr. Lavallee asked if the Historical Society building was in a trust structure. Mr. Gleason said they didn’t= have any funds for the Historical Society.

Ms. Diack wanted to know = if the committee could have a list of all the funds similar to that provided in 2010. Mr. Gleason said he cou= ld get a copy of the consolidated funds out of the Citizen’s Government Group. He said all they had f= rom the Prudent Investor section of the financial group was a summary of the am= ount of money; they haven’t yet broken them down with the individual trusts. He said as it made mo= ney they would allocate it based upon the percentage that the trust represented= on the overall picture.

Mr. Lavallee questioned w= here impact fees went to. Mr. Gayd= os said they were held by the Town Treasurer in interest bearing accounts separated by purpose.

Mr. V= iger asked how long term it would be until a history of payouts could be done. He used the cemetery as an example= . Mr. Gleason said cemetery didnR= 17;t draw anything out. He said th= at was one of the difficulties with perpetual care and how the state viewed it. He explained that the Town started= a cemetery general fund that could be expended by the Trustees of the Cemetery. A list of each perpetual care grav= e (amount paid and interest) has been documented and will be part of the records back= ed up.

ACTION ITEMS

Mr. Gaydos will confirm the Town is in compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Systems by providing a co= py of the e-mail confirmation and on-going security costs;

Mr. Gaydos will review past budgets to find out w= here the cost for the cemetery flags had previously been placed;

Mr. Gaydos will speak with the Highway Road Agent= to find out the impact to the roads when Pennichuck fixed breaks in their water lines (specifically Vassar Drive);

Mr. Gaydos will provide a list of all Trust Funds held by the Trustees.=

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(Lavallee/Sher= man) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(8-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:20 pm.

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Respectfully submitted,

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Charity A. Landry Willis

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Recording Secretary