BC20100930-Not Approved

NOT APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BUDGET COMM= ITTEE /= MEETING MINUTES

Thursday, September 30, 2010<= /p>

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, Selectmen Representative Edmund Gleason, School Board Representative Andy Ducharme

Town Administrator Tom = Gaydos, Conservation Chairman Paul Gagnon, Planning Director Jeff Gowan, Highway = Road Agent Don Foss, Sr.

ABSENT:

Mr. Gregory Farris, Mr.= Ken Dunne

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

MINUTES REVIEW

MOTION:

(Lavallee/Vige= r) To approve the Mo= nday, September 13, 2010 meeting minutes as written.

VOTE:

(8-0-0) The motion carried.

MOTION:

(Lavallee/Sher= man) To approve the Th= ursday, September 16, 2010 meeting minutes as written.

VOTE:

(8-0-1) The motion carried. Mr. Gle= ason abstained.

2011 BUDGET REVIEW AGENDA

Conservation Commission, Highway Department, Planning Department, Town Buildings

Conservation Commission – Conservation Commission Chairma= n Paul Gagnon came forward to review the requested 2011 budget. He stated they were making a flat = (zero growth) request from last year.

Mr. Lavallee questioned w= hy there were two salary items; recording secretary and clerical. Mr. Gagnon said the same person to= ok the Board’s minutes and provided clerical support for the Board.

Mr. Hall asked how much w= as remaining in the Conservation bond. Mr. Gagnon informed there was $1.665million in the bond fund; they h= ave spent less than half the fund. He also informed there was currently just under $400,000 in the current use fund. Mr. Viger questioned if= the committee was looking at any parcels to purchase using the bond. Mr. Gagnon said he was always in conversations with people, but had a hard time projecting which would go forward. He didn’t thin= k they would be doing anything this year with the bond fund.

Highway Department - Highway Road Agent Don Foss reviewed the d= epartment’s 2011 budget request.

Highway Department

2011 Selectmen approved=

2011 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Salaries:

416,745.50

5,192

Supplies:

Telephone:

Gas/Oil:

Repairs:

Rental:

New Equipment:

Expenses:

Specials:

214,945

2,544

44,170

35,500

197,239

1,000

42,927

&nbs= p; 0

48,582

&nbs= p; 84

&nbs= p; 0

7,000

2,125

75= 6

219,000

Salaries: There will be a= warrant article for contractual increases. <= /span>

Supplies: Last year the S= electmen took crack seal out of the budget, but had put it back in this year. There was a question as to whether Pennichuck would give the Town any reimbursement after relaying pipe lines under a road, because it would cut down on the lifetime of the road. Mr. Foss said Pennichuck had come = and fixed roads when contacted to do so.

Mr. Guimond asked how man= y miles of road there were in Town. M= r. Foss said there were 103.339 miles of (approved) Town roads; there were no roads accepted at the last Town Meeting.&n= bsp;

Telephone: There were no questions.

Gas/Oil: Mr. Foss stated = that gas/oil had been level funded. Mr. La= vallee asked what Mr. Foss paid for diesel. Mr. Foss said the last bill was $2.55 per gallon. Mr. Gaydos said they would hold of= f on a final number to see what was going on, but would bring it in at a later time.

Repairs: The number was i= ncreased based on repairs made during the last year. Mr. Gaydos asked Mr. Foss to grade= his current equipment. Mr. Foss s= tated the following – ‘A’ grades were given to the ‘05 Freightliner, Pickup and 2010 International Dump, ‘B’ grades we= re given to Backhoe #2 and 2003 International Dump, ‘C’ grades were given to Backhoe (1997) #1, F-550, L-7 Dump and FL-80 Dump Truck, a ‘D’ grade was given to L-8 dump truck. Mr. Hall requested that an equipme= nt list be provided to the Board. This year the L-7 and L-8 dump trucks were the two most expensive repairs.

Rental: There was a brief discussion regarding the winter rentals; Mr. Foss said the people were committed to the work.

New Equipment: No comment= s were made.

Expenses: The number of w= orkshops (run by the University of New Hampshire) w= as increased.

Misc./Specials: Mr. Foss = said the Selectmen voted to put out a warrant article to do paving. Mr. Gleason said the money was originally in the budget and some of the Selectmen believed where it was an expenditure for roads the people ought to have the ability to vote on it. Mr. Viger reminded the Board that = the Town had gone through the same scenario approximately ten years ago. He said warrant articles didn̵= 7;t get funded, and the Town ended up putting out a bond issue to fix the roads because they were so far gone they couldn’t be done in one year. He hoped the $219,000 could be put= back into the budget to maintain the roads without having to go out to a bond issue. Mr. Foss agreed; he didn’t feel the bank should be paid interest when the money could be spent on doing the hot top. <= /p>

Mr. Sherman asked if ther= e was a capital reserve fund established for a garage. Mr. Foss answered no. Mr. Sherman wanted to know the sta= tus of the Tallant Road and Willow Street bridge funds. Mr. Gleason sai= d he didn’t have the capital reserve information in front of him, but there was a substantial amount of money in it.&n= bsp; He informed that the state’s ten year plan was now a twenty ye= ar plan and didn’t anticipate any money coming from the state in the sho= rt term. There was a brief discu= ssion regarding the Willow Stree= t bridge’s status. Mr. Fo= ss gave the bridge a ‘D’ grade.&n= bsp; It was estimated that approximately 3000-4000 vehicles crossed the bridge each day. Mr. Lavallee= asked if it were possible to have the state review the bridge and provide the Town with a classification of its status. He said the Town may need to bond money to fix it. Mr. Gaydos stated that bridges were inspected on a cycle by the state and could request the latest assessment.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Foss believed it was reviewed = last year. Mr. Lavallee said it may end up a b= ond issue that would have to be funded. Mr. Viger asked Mr. Foss to draft an argument for why the $219,000 should be in the operating budget. &n= bsp; There as further discussion regarding highway funds and how they had been allocated during the recent years.&nb= sp; Mr. Viger asked if the Town could request reimbursement from the sta= te if the Town bonded the funds and had the bridge work completed. Mr. Gaydos understood that the Town could request reimbursement, but didn’t know the particulars. Mr. Lavallee asked that the Board = be provided with figures for any trust being held by the Highway Department. Mr. Gaydos said the only thing he = knew about was the Willow Street Capital Reserve. That was the only thing Mr. Gleaso= n was aware of as well.

Planning Department – Planning Director Jeff Gowan review= ed the 2011 budget request with the Board.

Planning Department

Salaries:

2011 Selectmen approved=

223,007

2011Budget increase/(de= crease)

1,200

Supplies:

Telephone:

Gas/Oil:

Repairs:

Rental:

Expenses:

Specials:

6,500

2,030

1,650

1,776

&nbs= p; 540

23,266

1,503

&nbs= p;

&nbs= p; 0

&nbs= p; 240

&nbs= p; 0

&nbs= p; 750

&nbs= p; 0

&nbs= p; 507

1,000

Salaries – A staff = member will be going on maternity leave. The line was increased to cover the position in by a person who had been trained and was knowledgeable about the department. Mr. Lavallee questioned the differ= ence in the Code Administrative Assistant and Code Enforcement Officer positions. Mr. Gowan said the= Code Administrative Assistant was one of his two full-time office staff position= s. He said the code enforcement offic= er was separate and for the most part only did zoning code enforcement; three days= (20 hours) per week. Mr. Lavallee= asked how many court cases there were regarding zoning violations. Mr. Gowan said there weren’t= any in court right now; the goal was not to go to court. He said most people came into comp= liance working with the department. = Mr. Sherman asked if the code officer could be interchangeable with the fire co= de officer. Mr. Gaydos replied t= hat the positions were two different things; the Selectmen discussed the positi= ons and felt they were unique enough and would be a hard fit. Mr. Viger asked how many code enforcement violations were found during the year. Mr. Gowan said a spreadsheet was d= one on a monthly basis and would provide the numbers to the Board. Mr. Viger understood that pulled p= ermits were listed in the newspaper. He questioned how it was missed that a permit wasn’t pulled for the sept= ic being installed at the Pe= lham Plaza. Mr. Gowan said the electrical insp= ector brought it to his attention. = Mr. Viger commented that the code enforcement officer had passed by the site and asked why he didn’t stop to check that a permit was posted. Mr. Gowan noted that an electrical permit didn’t need to be posted in a window like a building permit. He said he had the code officer fo= cusing on zoning, not building. He s= aid as soon as it was discovered that there was no permit, he contacted the septic designer and the owner of the project to inform of the situation. A permit was pulled and the proper inspections were done. Steps = have now been put in place so that type of situation doesn’t occur again.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Viger said in the past the code officer had issued stop work orders to people building decks etc. and quest= ioned if the job description had changed. Mr. Gowan answered no and discussed the position further. Mr. Viger said he would be interes= ted to know what type of work the code officer was turning in and how many cases w= ere resolved. He still was not un= der the belief that the position was required.&nbs= p;

Telephone – The only increase was in order to meet the contractual obligation for service.

Gas/Oil – Mr. Gowan= added a note in the budget for discussion only by the Selectmen without having an effect on the budget. The ite= m was a proposal to lease (for 36months) a Ford Focus $6000.

Repairs – The Conway copier main= tenance contract increased. Vehicle r= epairs were decreased $1000. Mr. Gow= an said he put $600 in the budget for their plan copier. He said he purchased Hudson’s old copier for $300 three years ago. He felt he should = have money in the budget based on repairs done during the past year. He believed the revenue from the machine’s use would outweigh the requested budget amount. Mr. Hall asked that Mr. Gowan prov= ide information on how much it would cost to replace the plan copier. Mr. Viger asked that information be provided for a plotter. Mr. G= owan informed that they had a plotter from the Nashua Regional Planning Commissi= on, but the department didn’t have the proper engineering software, or the expertise to use the equipment. Ms. Diack asked if all the (copier) maintenance contracts were grouped together= , or done by department. Mr. Gaydo= s said it was done by department; they tried to go with who had the best copier and the best price. Ms. Dia= ck wanted to know if a volume discount could be obtained. Mr. Gaydos didn’t believe so= based on the life of a copier and the companies ‘juggling’ for position.

Expenses – Mr. Gowa= n said the budget was flat with the exception of Munismart maintenance. He will provide backup for the Boa= rd to review.

Specials – Mr. Gowa= n stated that the budget was flat except for funds requested for the Economic Development website maintenance. Mr. Gleason discussed the site’s content and was hopeful that = it would entice businesses to come to Pelham.=

Mr. Lavallee asked if the Historical Society building was considered a Town building. Mr. Gleason answered yes. Mr. Lavallee asked if the Selectme= n had keys for the building. Mr. Ga= ydos said the Fire Department had keys to the building. Mr. Gleason said the only keys the Selectmen had were for Town Hall.

Mr. Sherman asked if the = Planning Board had any plans to expand the commercial zone. Mr. Gowan was not aware of any pla= ns at this time; commercial district #5 was just expanded. In his opinion, they should see wh= at could be developed in that area and in the industrial park before expanding further.

Mr. Viger recalled discus= sing making adjustments on impact fees and asked if a warrant article would be submitted to change some of them. Mr. Gowan said impact fees wouldn’t come in through a warrant article, it would be a Planning Board initiative and an action by the Selec= tmen to officiate the establishment of a new impact fee. He said the most recent impact fee= was a Senior/Recreation impact fee to help the needs of those groups. Mr. Viger asked if there were a ce= rtain number of athletic fields the Town was supposed to have based on its population. He wanted to know= if a development came in that would increase the population if the Town could receive an impact fee, or a donation of land for an athletic field. Mr. Gow= an said there could be an impact fee developed if there was a solid plan throu= gh Park & Recreation. He dis= cussed the information needed to be able to create an impact fee. Mr. Hall asked Mr. Gaydos to provi= de the amounts that were remaining in the impact fee funds for the seniors and the fire. Mr. Gleason said there = were two different things, a $6000 voluntary contribution for the senior fund an= d a $300 senior fund impact fee. = Mr. Gowan said the senior/recreation impact fee was $300 per unit; this year th= ey collected $2,253 which could be expended by a Selectmen vote. He explained that the $6000 senior voluntary contribution came from a senior project that was proposed since t= hey would add to the population that was likely to use the senior center. There was an agreement between the Planning Board and the Boulder Hills developer to have the voluntary contribution. Mr. Gowan told = the Board that they had collected $21,447.24 this year in the fire fund. There was a brief discussion regar= ding how the impact fees could be used. <= /span>

Mr. Lavallee questioned h= ow much land was available for business in the Town. Mr. Gowan said there were approxim= ately thirty plus acres in the industrial park that were not yet developed. He spoke about other areas in Town= that would also be appropriate for businesses.&= nbsp;

Town Buildings – Mr. Gaydos reviewed the proposed 2011 budget.

Town Buildings

2011 Selectmen approved=

2011 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Salaries:

&nbs= p; 1.00

(1,439)

Water:

Repairs:

New Equipment:

15,000

56,339

35,000

(11,150)

1,339

14,122

Salaries – Mr. Gayd= os said they weren’t paying per hour for maintenance any longer; maintenance = work was shifted to an existing employee.

Water – Mr. Gaydos = said there was a well and Pennichuck would be going in. The Police Station, Fire Departmen= t and Library would still be on Pennichuck.

Repairs – Mr. Gaydos provided photographs of the Town Hall roof. An assessment had been done and ru= bber patches were done. The Town H= all side would be the first side needing replacement; pricing will be obtained through bids. Mr. Gaydos disc= ussed the problems that had occurred and how they would be addressed. He reviewed the proposed projects = for the upcoming year that was provided in the backup information. He then discussed how the senior c= enter addition was progressing.

New Equipment – A l= etter from Victor Danevich was given to the Board that outlined suggested upgrades. An inventory list w= as also provided (by Mr. Danevich) of all the Town’s computers and their running systems.

Mr. Gaydos briefly review= ed expenses and the possible changes that would be forthcoming.

ACTION ITEMS – (ongoing)

· = ~~Mr. Gaydos will confirm the Town is in compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Systems by providin= g a copy of the e-mail confirmation and on-going security costs;~~ 9/16/10 Mr. Gay= dos informed that the Town paid nothing for the security because nothing went onto the Town’s computer. It was= set up like that so as to not have security problems. COMPLETE= D

· = ~~Mr. Gaydos will review past budgets to fi= nd out where the cost for the cemetery flags had previously been placed~~; <= span style=3D'color:red'>COMPLETED

· = 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 inves= tigating the Town’s complaint on Vassar and why they take pieces of it up vers= us replacing the whole line. =

· = ~~Mr. Gaydos will provide a list of all Tru= st Funds held by the Trustees;~~ 9/16/10 Mr. Gaydos provided the list 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 would 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 F= ran Garboski to clarify the trust funds. What money was taken out and for w= hat use;

· = Selectmen Rep. Vi= ger will find out what rate is given to a fire fighter du= ring workman compensation period in the event they were filling in a plus rate w= hen injured. =

· = Fire Chief Midgle= y to provide the Board with the cost estimate of two defibrillators.

· = ~~Fire Chief Midgley to provide the Board w= ith back up information regarding the forestry truck, thermal imaging, rescue struts, boat, porta-tank and strategic planning.~~ COMPL= ETED

· = ~~Police Chief Roark to verify the salary f= or Patrolman 16 & 17~~. 9/30/10 Mr. Gay= dos stated there was an in advertent error in calculation; on the chart, a 10% raise w= as given rather than a 5% raise. New sheets will be provided to the Board. COMPLETED

· = ~~Police Chief Roark will check the figures= for the dispatcher salary~~. 9/30/10 Mr. Gaydos stated there was an incorrect ove= rtime rate used; corrected sheet will be provided. COMPLETED

· = Police Chief Roar= k to provide numbers for what the School Resource Offic= er would cost in the budget. <= u>

· = Park & Recrea= tion Director Brian Johnson will check on the= life span of the batteries in the defibrillators and find out if new batteries n= eed to be purchased.

· = Highway Agent Don= Foss to provide an equipment list showing a potential replacement schedule.

· = Mr. Gaydos to get information on the state’s latest review= of the Willow Street bridge status and how much was in the capital reserve fund.

· = Highway Agent Don= Foss to draft an argument why the $219,000 for road repairs should be put back into the operating budget.

· = Planning Director= Jeff Gowan to provide a number showing how ma= ny violations were found during the year.

· = Planning Director= Jeff Gowan to provide an estimate for the replacement cost of the plan copier.

·      =    Planning Director= Jeff Gowan to provide backup regarding Munism= art maintenance.

·      =    Mr. Gaydos to provide the balance of the senior (voluntary) contribution fund, the senior/recreation impact fee fund and the fire impact fee fund.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

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

VOTE:

(8-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:43 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