BC20100916

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BUDGET COMM= ITTEE /= MEETING MINUTES

Thursday, September 16, 2010<= /p>

APPROVED &#= 8211; September 30, 2010

CALL TO ORDER – 7:30pm

PRESENT:

Also Present:

Mr. Larry Hall, Mr. Dan= iel Guimond, Mr. Robert Sherman, Ms. Angèl= e Diack, Mr. John Lavallee, Mr. Gregory Farris (arrived after the meeting commenced), Mr. Ken Dunne, Selectmen Representative Doug Viger, School Bo= ard Representative Andy Ducharme, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos

Cable Television Coordi= nator Jim Greenwood, Library Director Robert Rice and Library Trustees Francis Garboski, Douglas Fyffe and Diane Chubb

ABSENT:

Mr. Dennis Viger

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

ATTACHMENTS

Attachment I – Spre= ad Sheet titled – “Town of = Pelham, NH – Budget – Selectmen Request – Calendar Year 2011 (five pages)

Attachment II – Pel= ham Budget Committee – School Liaison Sub-committee Minutes – June 17, 2010

2011 BUDGET REVIEW AGENDA

Cable, Treasurer, Assessor, Debt Service, Library

Cable – Cable Television Coordinator Jim Greenwood came forward to discuss the 2= 011 Cable budget.

Cable

2011 Selectmen approved=

2011 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Salaries:

74,754.00

1,300.00

Supplies:

Telephone:

New Equipment:

2,694.00

4,331.00

3,000.00

602.00

2.= 00

495.00

Salaries – Longevit= y increase for Mr. Greenwood and Production Assistant Linda Doherty. Advance Technician (increase) offs= et for an employee that had additional abilities and was a college student rather = than a high school student. It was= noted that the money in the budget for new hires was used when new employees trai= ned along side a regular employee.

Mr. Farris arrived.

Supplies – The $500= allotted for Misc. cables/connectors was used every year on items that needed to be replaced because they either ended up in someone else’s possession, m= isplaced or used by someone else in the Town; the amount was an approximation of the money spent last year as well. Other increases were: M= ini DV tapes, Gaffers tape and Lamps. There was a decrease of $160.00 for Hi8mm Tape bringing the line ite= m to $0.

Telephone – Increas= e of $2 due to a mistake in the spread sheet.

New Equipment – Mr.= Viger asked for the status of the cable equipment and its replacement time frame. Mr. Greenwood said eve= ry year he puts together an inventory of high dollar items showing how long it would last and when it would need replacement. He said he would provide a copy to= the Board prior to their vote. Mr. Greenwood said the budget was increased by $495 to bring the line item up to $3000, which is where he liked to keep the number. He explained that the funds would = be used for new equipment and he would provide back up information to support it.

Mr. Farris wanted to know= if there was a specific plan for equipment replacement. Mr. Greenwood said the inventory l= ist he would submit showed what the equipment was, its lifetime usage and when it would need to be replaced. He= said he may come back when the contract was negotiated in the event he was able = to receive an equipment grant. M= r. Farris also asked that the Board be provided with an update of what equipme= nt was purchased and dropped.

Mr. Dunne asked if the new equipment was separated from that which was purchased new. Mr. Greenwood said if something ne= eded replacement it would come out of repairs; if something was broken beyond repair, the item would be thrown out and he would buy a new one. Mr. Dunne asked if items were docu= mented so numbers could be tracked. = Mr. Greenwood said the information was kept in the financial work he didn’t have a = ledger of everything he purchased. M= r. Hall commented that the schedule of inventory would show what equipment the= re was and it’s useful life.

Mr. Hall asked the status= of the grant. Mr. Greenwood believed= there was approximately $1000-$1500 remaining, which was expected because the contract will run out at the end of the month. Mr. Hall wanted to know the actual amount. Mr. Gaydos asked what= the grant had started at. Mr. Gre= enwood said it started at $70,000 in 2003. Mr. Gaydos wanted to know, if another grant was received, what the m= oney would be used for. Mr. Greenw= ood said he had some ideas. Mr. G= aydos confirmed that the plans for the grant money would be included in the department’s inventory (of equipment). Mr. Greenwood answered yes and exp= lained that the grant money was used as a back up to replace current equipment.

It was noted that the con= tract would be expiring and the grant was being negotiated.

Mr. Lavallee asked where equipment was purchased. Mr. Greenwood stated he purchased equipment at Access Audio/Video in Concord, NH. He explained that there were set p= rices and pretty much every dealer was held with that price. He said he compared prices and fou= nd their prices to be under retail. He said he couldn’t purchase direct from manufacturers only licensed distributors were able to.

Mr. Guimond asked if it w= as a given that the grant for equipment would total approximately $70,000. Mr. Greenwood said they try to get approximately $10,000 per year. He commented that unfortunately it was not ‘free’ money; subscribe= rs pay a line item on their bills. Mr. Gaydos said the 5% revenue was for television only (not internet).

Mr. Sherman asked if Mr. Greenwood was teaching any courses within the schools. He wanted to know if there was a w= ay to add something for teaching when negotiating the contract. Mr. Greenwood said the children we= nt to Salem. He noted that the high school had a television I & II course that he helped them start. He provided as much assistance as possible to the class.

Mr. Ducharme questioned i= f any other companies were reviewed, such as Time Warner. Mr. Greenwood said any cable compa= ny was welcome to come to Pelham, but they would have to build their own plant. It wasn’t worth it for them = to come to Pelham for a portion of 3500 subscribers.

Mr. Farris asked if, duri= ng negotiations, Comcast provided a plan for upgrading the system within the Town. Mr. Greenwood said part= of the contract states they should keep up with technology. He said Comcast had upgraded the w= hole time they had done business in Pelham.&nbs= p;

Mr. Sherman asked if all = the Town buildings (including the Scout lot at Raymond Park and Pelham Veteran’= ;s Memorial Park “PVMP”) were wired. Mr. Greenwood said they weren̵= 7;t wired. Mr. Sherman wanted to = know if Comcast also serviced Dracu= t, MA because there was a new development (near PVMP) that had a road put in from MA. Mr. Greenwood was not sure who ser= viced Dracut; the Town had Comcast cable (a Legacy – Adelphia system) from Londonderry.

Mr. Hall asked if moving = the cable station from the annex to the Municipal building was something to be negotiated. Mr. Gaydos said C= omcast indicated they would front the money for cable to move. He said another negotiation was fo= r when the roundabout is built, because all the utilities would need to go underground.

Mr. H= all said the Board would await the inventory list and replacement schedule. Mr. Gaydos said something would be= put together.

Treasurer – Mr. Gaydos discussed the 2011 Treasurer budge= t.

Treasurer	2011 Selectmen approved=	2011 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)
Expenses:	1,890.00	80.00

Expenses – Increase= due to postage.

Mr. Lavallee asked what t= he bank fees were last year. Mr. Gayd= os said he would find out. Mr. Lavallee asked to find out what interested had been earned in 2010 as compa= red to 2009. Mr. Gaydos added an = action item. He commented that they tried to avoid fees as much as possible by wir= ing payments.

Mr. Farris asked if all the Town’s employees were on direct deposit. Mr. Gaydos answered no. He said it was offered, but it was= not mandatory. Mr. Dunne noted th= at under New Hampshire state law direct deposit could not be mandated; it had to be option only. He questioned if the Town had look= ed into having the pay stubs, for those on direct deposit, be accessible on-li= ne versus mailing them out. Mr. = Gaydos said every employee received a pay stub.

Assessor – Mr. Gaydos discussed the 2011 Assessor budget.

Assessor

2011 Selectmen approved=

2011 budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Salaries:

37,399.00

50= .00

Supplies:

2,327.00

464.00

Expenses: = &nb= sp; = 96,547.00 = &nb= sp; = 39,010.00

Salaries – Increase= due to longevity as part of the contract.

Supplies – Increase= in post cards for notifications, cleaning supplies for keeping computers clean, and laminating pouches for tax records such as maps.

Expenses – Increase= in postage. This is a certificat= ion year with a lot of cards being mailed out.= Increase in consulting fee utility.= Tennessee Gas has been assessed $650,000 and would go up to over five million because they built the pressure plant in Pelham. If there is an appeal, Mr. Gaydos = said he wanted to use the $36,000 to be able to hire the utility assessor to com= e in and redo all of the pipelines. Mr. Lavallee asked where the $36,000 figure came from.&= nbsp; Mr. Gaydos said they got it from a company that only did utilities.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Farris asked where the $650,000 figure came from. Mr. Gaydos = said that was the original assessment done approximately seven years ago. Mr. Hall asked how long they would= have to appeal. Mr. Gaydos said th= ey would have until 2012; the money would be encumbered, but the Town would kn= ow right away of they were going to appeal or not. Mr. Hall asked if they had receive= d the first bill. Mr. Gaydos said t= he second bill would be sent this fall.

Ms. D= iack saw that the back up information indicated that the $36,000 was a place holder. She wanted to know if= the number might change. Mr. Gayd= os believed the number to be good. He said because they weren’t sure they were going to use it, it was being held as a place holder.

Debt Service Interest – Mr. Gaydos reviewed the 2011 budg= et.

Debt Service Interest &= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2011 Selectmen approved &= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2011 budget increase/(decrease)

Debt Interest &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 181,970.00 &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; (19,694.00)

Breakdown as follows:

Municipal Bond Expense: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; (9,800.00)

Spring Street Bond (4.75%= ): &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; (1,156.00)

Conservation Bond (1,335,= 000): &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; (5,395.00)

Fire Truck (4 of 5): &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; (3,343.00)

There= was a brief discussion regarding the Library Trust Fund – Library Handica= pped Access. Mr. Gaydos noted that= the automatic doors were not considered handicap access. He said it would take a vote of th= e Town to eliminate the fund. There = was a question as to where a portion of the fund went – beginning balance $22,000, ending balance $18,077.58 with year to date interest paid 19.79. There was further discussion regar= ding how the trust could be used. =

Library - Library Director Robert Rice and Library Trustees Fra= ncis Garboski, Douglas Fyffe and Diane Chubb came forward to discuss the 2011 budget. Mr. Rice told the Boa= rd that they were submitting a zero growth budget.

Library	2010 Operating budget	2011 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)
Salaries:	188,508.00	1,872.00
Supplies:	4,000.00	(500.00)
Equipment repairs: Specials:	80= 0.00 30,000.00	(500.00) 862.00

Supplies – Decrease= for library cards because they were purchased last year.

Equipment repairs – Decrease in the DVR camera repair line due to no anticipated repairs. Increase of $300.00 in line item f= or Clock Maintenance. Mr. Rice explained that there was a historic (key-turned wind) clock dated 1896 which had been located in the old library building and had been donated.

New Equipment - There were anticipated items needing to be purchased. Ms. = Chubb explained that they would develop a long-term plan for items that may need replacement over time.

Mr. Ducharme asked if eve= ry department had a choice in telephone providers. Mr. Viger said everyone within the= Town Hall complex used one system. He said the buildings outside that area had regular phone bills. Mr. Ducharme asked if it would be = better to consolidate so as to receive a better rate.

Specials (Library books &= amp; materials) – Increase in Adult books, Adult large print books and children’s books. Decrease in Videos. Mr. Guimond asked if there were any trust funds that could be used to purchase books. Mr. Rice said some were designated for the purchase of books and some that could be used to purchase anything. Mr. Guimond asked h= ow much was taken from the trust funds for book purchases. Mr. Rice said when he began workin= g at the library (last October) the allocated money in the budget was gone; the remaining two months came from the trust funds. He commented that he had been work= ing to reorganize the ordering process to save money.

There was a brief convers= ation regarding the trust fund amounts listed and what was available. Ms. Chubb said the information sho= wn on the attached Trust Fund spreadsheet didn’t match any of the records t= hey had. Mr. Garboski informed that he had contacted the Trustees of the Trust Funds for an update of the trust funds and expected to receive clarification. Mr. Lavallee a= sked that there be an action item to find out what money was taken from the trust funds and what it was used for.

Mr. Lavallee asked if the trust fund money the library received was in addition= or part of the budget they received. Ms. Chubb stated it was in addition to. She said they were only allowed to= spend the interest from the trust funds, not the interest. She said the money is earmarked for specific uses/purchases. Ther= e was a discussion regarding the library space and the desire/need to have quiet study space, which the Trustees hoped to address in the near future.

ACTION ITEMS

~~Mr. Gaydos will confirm the Town is in complia= nce with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Systems by providing a co= py of the e-mail confirmation and on-going security costs;~~ 9/16/10 Mr= . Gaydos informed that the Town paid nothing for the security because nothing w= ent onto the Town’s computer. It was set up like that so as to not have security problems. COM= PLETED

Mr. Gaydos will review past budgets to find out where 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); as of 9/16/= 10 Pennichuck is investigating the Town’s complaint on Vassar and w= hy they take pieces of it up versus replacing the whole line.

~~Mr. Gaydos will provide a list of all Trust Fu= nds held by the Trustees;~~ 9/16/10 Mr. Gaydos provided the l= ist as requested. COMPLETED

Mr. Gaydos will= work with Mr. Greenwood to provide an inventory list of equipment indicating when it would need replacing – along with any back up requested;=

Mr. Greenwood w= ould supply the balance amount figure;

Mr. Gaydos will= find out what the bank fees and interest revenue year to date as compared to 2009;

Mr. Viger will research to see if consolidating the phone system with all departments could help obtain a better rate;

Library Trustee Fran Garboski to clarify the trust funds. What money was taken out and = for what use;

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(Viger/Guimond= ) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(9-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:54 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

= ATTACHMENT II

=

Pelham Budget Committee

School Liaison Sub-committee=

Minutes

June 17, 2010

&= nbsp;

Attend= ees: Dan Guimond, Larry Hall, Ang&egrav= e;le Diack

&= nbsp;

The pu= rpose of this meeting was for the school board liaisons to get organized prior to meeting with members of the PSB, SAU, Principles and/or Administration. The goal was to develop a list of commonly requested items to simplify the budget process and discuss any cha= nges to formatting, etc.

&= nbsp;

Acute questions that were raised:

&= nbsp;

✦     What is the surplus for the end of year?

✦     What line item did it come from?

✦     How much did it cost to demolish the house, remove asbestos?<= /p>
✦     What line item did it come from?

✦     What other items will the surplus be spent on?

&= nbsp;

✦     There is still a vacant seat and a secretary has not yet been verified.

&= nbsp;

The li= st of budget committee meeting dates has been presented and a necessary change has been made. Once meeting times= and places have been verified, a copy will be sent to Adam Steele. Adam will present the time-line to= the Pelham School Board (PSB) on June 23^rd. The budget committee liaisons will= meet with the school around this time.

&= nbsp;

The fo= llowing is a list of items being requested for the upcoming budget season:

&= nbsp;

✦     Payroll – by grade, by building, by account, including the extra-curricular salary schedule.

✦     Salary schedule for current year compared to July 2011-July 2012.

&= nbsp;

✦     Actual cost of each healthcare plan

✦     Healthcare costs per employee, by building

✦     Healthcare contributions by employee, by building

&= nbsp;

✦     Life Insurance costs per employee, per building

✦     Disability Insurance costs per employee, per building

&= nbsp;

✦     Accumulated Sick Time by employee, by building

✦     Accumulated Sick Pool value, by building

✦     Current unemployment rate

✦     The value of retirement incentives due to employees.

&= nbsp;

✦     A Prioritized Maintenance schedule – broken out by school, prior to the School-Walk-Through in September, including what has been completed or when completion can be expected, and what is expected in upcoming year

✦     Book replacement schedule, by building, listing current books and their age, what was bought vs. what was previously scheduled for replacement

✦     Technology maintenance/replacement schedule/ inventory including date purchased, life expectancy and replacement cost

✦     Food Service equipment replacement schedule/inventory including date purchased, = life expectancy and replacement cost.

✦     All other capital equipment inventoried with date of purchase,
life expectancy and replacement costs including leased and purchased items (i.e. copiers, etc.)

✦     Monthly Expenditure Reports and end of year reports sent automatically when becoming available.

✦     Enrollment reports

✦     Audit report and outcomes

✦     Default budget and how it was constructed.

✦     Estimated revenues and anticipated grants.

&= nbsp;

✦     High School Plan -
What was included in previous plans vs. what is included in this plan.=

✦     Modular update – Memorial and High School

✦     A presentation by Food Service needs to be included in the schedule this year= .

&= nbsp;

Other = notes:

&= nbsp;

✦     The budget must be as precise as possible.&nbs= p; Multiple copies sent out prior to each meeting, creates difficulty in managing the process forward.

✦     Same format as last year

✦     No shipping and handling charges

✦     Minimize zeros in line items

✦     No positions, not supported by warrant, listed with zero cost

✦     In last year’s budget books, a recap sheet was in the front of each sect= ion, this is no longer necessary.

✦     Special Ed needs to be broken out separately, by school.

✦     Please use Excel and send copies to Dan Guimond so he may distribute them to the committee

&= nbsp;

Unless= there are additions from the Budget Committee, the next step is to meet with the school administration to review the process and open lines of communication, with the goal of working together through the budget process.

&= nbsp;

Respec= tfully submitted,

&= nbsp;

Ang&eg= rave;le Diack

=