BC20100927

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BUDGET COMM= ITTEE /= MEETING MINUTES

Monday, September 27, 2010<= /p>

APPROVED &#= 8211; October 7, 2010

CALL TO ORDER – 7:30pm

PRESENT:

Also Present:

Mr. Larry Hall, Mr. Dan= iel Guimond, Mr. Dennis Viger, Mr. Robert Sherman, Ms. Angèle Diack, Mr. John Lavallee, Mr. Gregory Farris, Mr. Ken Dunne, Selectmen Representative Edmund Gleason, School Board Representative Andy Ducharme<= /p>

Town Administrator Tom = Gaydos, Police Chief Joseph Roark, Police Department Office Manager Laurette Guay, Park & Recreation Director Brian Johnson

ABSENT:

None.

Information from the Fire Department presentation was provided to the Board; the equipm= ent list, detail and pictures of boat and other equipment that was requested. Back up from the Library was also = received. A folder from the School site walk= was also provided to Board members.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

2011 BUDGET REVIEW AGENDA

Police Department, Park & Recreation, Retirement, Town Insur= ance

Police Department – Police Chief Joseph Roark came forwar= d to discuss the requested 2011 Police Department budget. He said they were tasked to come i= n as close as they could to a zero budget, except for contractual items.

Police

2011 Selectmen approved=

2011 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Salaries:

1,989,504

74,240

Supplies:

Telephone/Pagers:

Gas/Oil:

Repairs:

Rental:

New Equipment:

Expenses:

Misc./ Specials:

39,891.90

17,436

49,248

45,361

6,660

66,870

71,873

&nbs= p; 0

1,380.90

401

(2,117)

300

(628)

&nbs= p; 0

Salaries – Contract= ual increases were reviewed. Ther= e was clarification that no one had more than one step increase; each step increa= se is 5%. The contract was due t= o be negotiated next year. There w= as a question regarding the increase in pay for Patrolman 16 & 17 which appe= ared to have 13% increases. Mr. Ga= ydos said they were getting an 8.1% increase for ¾ of the year; their pay rate changes April 1^st of every year – he didn’t understa= nd where the amount indicated in the budget came from. Chief Roark said the figure includ= ed roll call pay.

Chief Roark noted that a = new item had been added for the D.A.R.E. program in the schools. Information was provided to the Board. D.A.R.E. is a drug edu= cation program that spanned into anti-bullying, anti-violence, decision making etc. The curriculum is much more interactive than in the past. For the ten weeks of the curriculu= m, three officers would be needed to teach approximately four hours per week; which equaled out to 110 overtime hours for a total of $5,365. Mr. Farris asked if the department= was at full compliment. Chief Roa= rk answered yes; there was one officer deployed overseas, so a temporary offic= er had been hired to fill in. Th= ey were not looking to hire additional officers.

Mr. Sherman asked if ther= e was a chance that a School Resource Officer (‘SRO’) could be included= in the Police or the School budget. Chief Roark said he would like to put an SRO on the warrant. If he did, the D.A.R.E. number wou= ld be adjusted.

Chief Roark discussed vid= eo arraignments. He said there w= as no money in the judicial budgets at present; there was no money for technology.

Another new line item was= #23 the NNEPAC meetings for CALEA. Ch= ief Roark explained one of the department’s goals was to become nationally accredited. Accreditation ser= ves multi purposes, one of which was to reduce the Town’s liability. The first step would be state recognition then the department would seek national accreditation. There is a training expense for mo= nthly meetings and annual training dates. Further in the budget an expense is shown for the crediting agency to come down and check the policies. Going through the process will ensure that the Town has the strictest policies and protocols so liability is reduced and they provide the best service that they could. Ther= e are approximately ten to twelve N= ew Hampshire agencies that are accredited.

Ms. Guay went back to the discussion regarding the dispatcher and noted that the item should decrease= by approximately $14,000; the overtime rate is approximately $29.88 per hour.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> She will issue new budget sheets o= nce the figures were corrected.

Supplies – There wa= s a minor increase in office supplies ($489).&= nbsp; There was a significant decrease in K-9 supplies ($986) due to Beaver Valley Farm donating dog food. Weapons/Flares/Ammo showed an increase of $1,877 due to metal and the war effort driving the prices.

Telephone/Pagers – = Telephone service showed a decrease due to a rate adjustment. Increase in Mobile Data Terminal f= rom one being added.

Mr. Guimond questioned if= there were still ‘dead’ spots in Town (for cell service). Chief Roark answered yes. There were two sources for dead sp= ots; MDT’s which are cellular based and a small percentage for their porta= ble radios because of terrain.

Gas/Oil – The numbe= r will be adjusted through the Selectmen’s office at a later date.

Repairs – Since 200= 8 the fleet maintenance amount has dropped 36%.&= nbsp; There was an increase in mobile portable radio repair. Chief Roark said he would make a long-term action item to develop a replacement schedule for the portable radios. Increase in Digital V= ideo Systems (dashboard cameras) will allow cameras coming off warranty to be covered by warranty. Cameras = are in all the marked cars, not the unmarked cars. Chief Roark gave a brief explanati= on of the cameras and their operation.

Rental – Tower rent= al increased $300 – Jeremy Hill, due to a $25 month increase.

New Equipment – Chief Roark informed that this was = the last year of the cruiser lease; next year they will look at starting the process over again. New item = was the lease of an Animal Control Officer truck (five year lease) $539.98 per month; with a 10-year life on the truck.&n= bsp; At the end of the lease the Town has a one dollar buy of the truck.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

Expenses – There wa= s a decrease in Animal Control expenses for non-perishable items. Mr. Sherman asked about the status= of the kennel. Chief Roark said = Donna Clark and the Animal Rescue League had done an excellent invaluable service= in updating the kennel. He belie= ved it was functioning; they would be putting money into doing a drilled well; the= re will be some costs as well as donations toward it. Chief Roark then spoke about= the CALEA recognition program and provided the Board with information regarding such.

Mr. Dunne wanted to know = why the SRO position couldn’t just be filled (without warrant articles) since= the department had the position in the past.&n= bsp; Chief Roark stated he couldn’t afford to take an officer out of patrol. Mr. Gleason said the Selectmen had been wrestling with the SRO issue and believed that it was a safety issue. He asked the Bo= ard to consider having the SRO as a budget item and asked for their input. The Chief was asked to provide num= bers as to what the SRO would cost in the budget. Mr. Dennis Viger said they were requesting a By-Law change because it would be an increase in the department’s head count. Mr. Gleason asked the Board to reconsider the By-Laws because there has been a change in incidents (bullying and drugs) at the schools. He said a category could be assign= ed to it, such as a safety issue, rather than making a unilateral decision. Ms. Diack asked if the Chief could provide data regarding incidents within the schools since the SRO wasn̵= 7;t present. Chief Roark said he = could provide data regarding calls for service that they received, but cautioned = the Board that a great deal of what the SRO did was non-quantifiable. Mr. Dunne wanted to know what woul= d prevent the SRO from being pulled from the position again. Chief Roark said theoretically he had that authority, but hoped the Board would trust that he would make the best decisions for the Town.

Park & Recreation – Park & Recreation Director Br= ian Johnson reviewed the 2011 budget request.&= nbsp;

Park & Recreation <= /p>

2011 Selectmen approved=

2011 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Salaries:

135,637

650

Supplies:

Telephone/Pagers:

Gas/Oil:

Repairs:

Rental:

New Equipment:

Expenses:

Misc./ Specials:

3,792

3,570

97= 3

4,000

5,220

150

19,016

&nbs= p; 2

(1,930)

(69)

&nbs= p; 0

1,920

&nbs= p; 0

2,000

&nbs= p; 0

Salaries – Increase= due to longevity (contractual); additional increase due to new (fill in) employee having a different pay rate than previous person.

Supplies – The depa= rtment cut where they could, such as using e-mail versus regular mail for confirmations of programs etc. Other items reduced were staples, keys, tape, pre-stamped envelopes = and park signs. Porta-Potty= s were moved to the rental line.

Gas/Oil – Reduction= of $69.00 based on last year’s usage.&n= bsp;

Rental – Porta-Pott= y was added to the line in the amount of $1,920.= The increase was due to adding locations within the new fields opene= d at Raymond Park and practice field. There are five porta-pottys in use.= Mr. Viger asked who would be maintaining the road to access the new fields (at Raymond Park). Mr. Johnson said Park & Recreation maintained the road. A local man was hired to maintain Muldoon, Raymond and Pelham Veteran’s Memorial Park.

Mr. Dunne asked if though= t had been given to purchasing weed trimmers versus renting them. Mr. Johnson said because weed trim= mers were only used a couple times per year and renting eliminated ongoing costs= of storage and maintenance.

Expenses - Tree cutting and pruning was added = as a proactive approach to possibly create a maintenance program taking care of trees before they became safety issues.&nb= sp;

Ms. Diack questioned if t= he batteries in the defibrillators were checked and if new batteries would nee= d to be purchased. Mr. Johnson was unsure about the life span of the batteries and would check on it.

Mr. Sherman wanted to kno= w if the Forestry Committee should pay some of the expense for tree cutting. Mr. Johnson welcomed their services. He was unaware that= it was an option. Mr. Gleason be= lieved that the Forestry Committee had a plan/schedule for tree cutting. He said they had an organized appr= oach to cut a forest and recover some of the money. Mr. Farris said they maintained a healthy account on an annual basis. Mr. Gaydos explained that they currently had a lot of money because = they were doing a lot of harvesting; there will be a period coming up that they won’t be doing a lot of harvesting and the funds would dwindle.

Mr. Hall asked if Mr. Joh= nson had a handle on the department’s revenues. Mr. Johnson answered yes. He said there was currently a bala= nce of $40,000 in the revenue account. He discussed some of the work that would be done at the parks. The department’s revenue for= this year was $215,000 from money brought in by programs; there were expenditure= s of $238,000. Mr. Viger asked if = park & recreation was still able to offer the facilities/programs to all the children in Town. Mr. Johnson= said the problem they ran into was that registration for programs stayed open for 6-8 weeks; the last week of registration there are more applications than t= he previous seven weeks. After registration is closed, uniforms are ordered and teams are organized there = are a number of people come in wanting to register. Mr. Johnson said some people get u= pset when he tells them the program is full, but he wanted to keep the number of people on a given team to an appropriate number so it would not affect the playing time.

There was a brief discuss= ion regarding the use of the school fields.&nb= sp; Mr. Ducharme will forward the Board meeting minutes from which a new field use policy was reviewed. There was additional discussion regarding the programs and the enrollment of Pelh= am residents having priority over those who reside out of Town.

Retirement – Mr. Gaydos said there was no good news. The budget request is $300,382. He said the state of New Hampshire legislature doesn’= t want to believe what the actuaries from the New Hampshire Retirement System were telling it. He said the state changed the percent that they would offset and in turn the Town’s por= tion would increase. The numbers in front of the Board were based on the state only paying 25% into the system.=

Mr. Lavallee wanted to kn= ow what the New Hampshire Municipal Association felt about the issue. Mr. Gaydos said they couldn’= t push anything through because they tried to get the legislature to replace the compensation board and the compensation board is made up of a majority of police and fire fighters. He = said they always voted for higher benefits for police and fire fighters. He said the IFF (fire union) was v= ery upset that the New Hampshire Municipal Association tried to get their major= ity voting off the compensation board. They turned around and said they felt the New Hampshire Local= Government Center should have to open all of its books and show everyone everything they̵= 7;re making. And the government sh= ould start telling them how much they should have for reserves. Mr. Gaydos believed this would aff= ect insurance rates. There was fu= rther discussion regarding the situation and the effects it would have on the Town. The state was aware tha= t the Town was not happy with the decisions.&nbs= p;

Town Insurance – There was an increase of $168,956. Mr. Gaydos said the Town had a multi-year agreement through the Local Government Center for the different insurances. He discussed the cost breakdown for insurances offered to employees.

Mr. Sherman said he ran t= he dental program in Nashua and questioned if the Town had considered allowing four dental cleaning. He said the thought was the more a person was seen, the earlier a problem could be picked up. He said by increasing the number of cleanings, they received a decrease in dental rates.

Mr. Gaydos summarized the workman’s compensation cases that had occurred and those still pending. He explained how compensation was paid. The Bo= ard discussed the health insurance costs that had increased $113,134. It was recognized that it was a difficult issue and something needed to be done about it.

ACTION ITEMS – (ongoing)

~~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;

Selectmen Rep. Viger <= /span>will find out what rate is given to a fire fight= er during workman compensation period in the event they were filling in a plus rate when injured.

Fire Chief Midgley to provide the Board with the cost estimate of t= wo defibrillators.

~~Fire Chief Midgley to provide the Board with b= ack up information regarding the forestry truck, thermal imaging, rescue struts, boat, porta-tank and strategic planning.~~ = COMPLETED

Police Chief Roark to verify the salary for Patrolman 16 & 17.

Police Chief Roark will check the figures for the dispatcher salary= .

Police Chief Roark to provide numbers for what the School Resource Officer would cost in the budget.

Park & Recreation Director Brian Johnson will check o= n the life span of the batteries in the defibrillators and find out if new batteries need to be purchased. <= /u>

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(Guimond/Sherm= an) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(10-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:58 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