BC20101021pms-Not Approved

NOT APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BUDGET COMM= ITTEE /= MEETING MINUTES

Thursday, October 21, 2010

CALL TO ORDER – 7:30pm

PRESENT:

Also Present:

Mr. Larry Hall, Mr. Dan= iel Guimond, Mr. John Lavallee, Mr. Dennis Viger, Mr. Robert Sherman, Mr. Gre= gory Farris, Ms. Angèle Diack, Selec= tmen Representative Edmund Gleason, School Board Representative Andy Ducharme<= /p>

Business Administrator = Adam Steel, Pelham Memorial School Principal Catherine Pinsonneault

ABSENT:

Mr. Ken Dunne

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

MINUTES REVIEW<= /p>

MOTION:

(Lavallee/Guim= ond) To approve the Oc= tober 7, 2010 meeting minutes=

VOTE:

(8-0-1) The motion carried. Mr. Duc= harme abstained.=

ACTION ITEMS

Business Administrator Ad= am Steel provided the Board with a letter dated October 21, 2010 which addressed the Action Items requested during the October 18, 2010 meeting. Updated budget pages were also provided to the Board. Mr. Steel reviewed in = detail the items provided to the Board. (see Attached)

2011 SCHOOL BUDGET REVIEW – PELHAM MEMORIAL SCHOOL

Business Administrator Ad= am Steel came forward to review the proposed budget. He noted there were issues with li= fe safety at the building which were out of the district line items. In March he was in receipt of a li= fe safety fire inspection report that was performed by Fire Chief James Midgley and Inspector John Hodge in December, 2009. The report contained significant findings relating to the building’s life safety status. In March, Chief Midgley indicated = to Mr. Steel that there were significant code violations in the building, many of which surrounded the main hallways on both the first and second floors. The hallways contain glass windows= that separate the classrooms from the hallways that created a violation in code requiring a thirty minute separation between classrooms and egress areas. There is wood paneling that makes = up one wall in every classroom that would need to be changed or retro-fitted to be= come code compliant. Because of the nature of the findings, Mr. Steel requested that the state fire marshal ver= ify Chief Midgley’s such, which was done in late May. He found out that when the buildin= g was constructed in 1965 it was not done in accordance with life safety code that was in effect at that time. T= he code books were checked and verified by both the Fire Chief and state fire marshal as well as the school’s independent fire protection engineer hired to review the findings. The options, relative to the problems, were to: 1) replace all the glass in both hallways with 30minute rated glass and refinish all the wood within the classrooms, or 2) install a sprinkler system throughout the building that w= ould reduce the fire/smoke separation between the classrooms and hallways. In terms of cost, the glass alone = would be approximately $95,000 plus an additional $30,000-$40,000 in network wiri= ng; these costs were close to what a potential sprinkler system would be. Tests were performed in terms of w= ater flow coming into the building to determine site costs for installing a sprinkler system; the flow into the building appears to be satisfactory to support an automatic sprinkler system.&nbs= p; Mr. Steel stated they were currently in the middle of a bid process = (with an estimated cost for a system being $250,000) the results to be received within the next two weeks, at which time the definitive cost will be known. Installation would occ= ur July, 2011.

Mr. Farris confirmed if Pennichuck checked the water flow rate and if they would be able to continue providing the requir= ed flow rate to maintain the system in the event the expanded services to priv= ate houses. Mr. Steel replied that Pennichuck indicated they had a flow rate for the main going down Marsh Road = that they were committed to maintaining. He could only assume that the rate would be maintained if additional housing was added; he wasn’t familiar with Pennichuck’s source = or future plans.

Mr. Viger asked if the school’s insurance would be affected because of being out of compliance. Mr. Steel stated = that the Fire Chief, the state fire marshal and the fire protection engineer all said the same thing, that the building was inherently safe, the sprinkler system was typically not as much about life safety, as much as it was about property safety. This was not= a conversation that occurred with the insurance agents. Mr. Viger questioned if insurance = would pay in the event of a loss.

Ms. Diack asked how long = it took students to exit the school. = Mr. Steel said twice per year either he or the Fire Chief would pull the fire a= larm to see how the student did. Memorial is usually out within three minutes; with most children out within two minutes. Ms. Diack understood there was a problem with the sprinkler system in the school due = to the pipes rusting; water is drained out of the pipes and then put back in c= reating rust. She wanted to know if t= hat problem would be resolved with what they were doing at the school. Mr. Steel said the issue reference= d is with the elementary school and went on to explain the problem with the syst= em. They haven’t yet budgeted a = remedy for the problem because they were investigating some legal means to see if there was negligence with the designer or installation. The system will have to be replace= d in the next couple years. Having= a catastrophic failure was not a concern as of yet.

The Board began their rev= iew of the proposed budget. Mr. Hall discussed the salaries for substitutes.&nb= sp; He said if the perfect attendance line and the six long-terms were t= aken out, the budget still showed 2700 days off for approximately 235 employees.= He said it seemed there wouldnR= 17;t be any continuity in the classrooms.

Mr. Guimond saw there was= a line for a new seventh grade teacher and questioned if that teacher was surpassi= ng a warrant article. Mr. Steel re= plied that the position was proposed by the School Board as one that was moved fr= om the elementary school. There = was a discussion regarding retirement and manner in which a teacher/employee, und= er the Collective Bargaining Agreement (‘CBA’) had to give notice. Mr. Steel explained t= hat it was a complicated system spelled out in the CBA. There were two levels of employees= ; a grandfathering clause that indicated one benefit applied to those teachers = who had ten years of service as of June 30, 2007 and any teacher that didn̵= 7;t have ten years of service as of that date would have a different benefit package when they retire. He explained how payment would be made. The Board wanted to know how many people were eligible for the benefit.

Mr. Steel said the bigges= t change in supplies under mathematics was for TI-81 calculators. Mr. Guimond wanted to know why the calculators were being provided. Mr. Steel understood that parents didn’t seem willing to provi= de them. Principal Pinsonneault stated she had put the item in the budget for the last five years; the calculators were for the pre-algebra classes. It was a feeling tha= t the calculators were technology that should be provided by the school because t= hey were needed for the course. Mr. Guimond asked if the students were held accountable to ensure the equipment stayed in good working condition and tu= rned back at the end of the year. Principal Pinsonneault said they would; the calculators would not le= ave the classroom. The calculators would be used by 7^th and 8^th grade classes.

There was discussion regarding textbooks and the replacement schedule. Ms. Diack questioned if there was = a way to track how many were utilizing on-line textbooks. Mr. Steel said there was probably = a way to do so, because the elementary school teachers collected homework through the system. Principal Pinsonneault said teache= rs had on-line links to the on-line textbooks for students which saved on the wear= and tear of textbooks. She didn&#= 8217;t have a way to track the on-line use. Mr. Farris asked if every social studies book was being replaced. Mr. Steel understood it to only be= the 7^th grade books. Mr. Farris quest= ioned why it all the books versus a certain percentage of which. Mr. Steel stated typically they purchased a series and expected to have it for ten years.

Under general replacement, Mr. Steel discussed the proposed auditorium folding chairs. He said the chairs would directly = affect the middle school, they would benefit all three schools for use during activities such as recitals and graduation. Mr. Guimond asked the age of the c= hairs the new ones would replace. Principal Pinsonneault said the current chairs were at least ten plus years old. She said they were= down presently to approximately 146 chairs.&nbs= p;

The Board continued t= heir review of the budget. There w= as a question regarding the replacement tymp/audio machine used for hearing test= s by the nurse. The machine was necessary for the nurse to conduct state required tests, but was over eight= een years old and not in working order. It was believed that the other schools had machines. Mr. Sherman wanted to know the age= s for the machines at the other schools. Mr. Guimond questioned what the school was doing this year to test students. Principal Pinsonnea= ult replied that the school was borrowing a machine from Hudson.

Ms. Diack saw CPR training materials in the budget last year and this year and questioned if = they would be budgeted every year. Mr. Steel explained that some of the materials were consumables and others were= kept in stock during training. He believed there was also a rental piece in the figure for training equipment. Ms. Diack asked ho= w many people were being trained. Principal Pinsonneault said they had to train all of the coaches, cl= ub advisors and anyone conducting an after-school program.

It was notices that t= here had been a salary line for a speech therapist, however Mr. Steel moved the = item to district after finding out that person serviced the entire district. Mr. Viger asked for a breakout of = how many speech therapists there were within the district including how many we= re contracted and how many were full-time employees. Mr. Farris wanted to know where th= ey were budgeted. Mr. Guimond wo= uld like to know how many children they took care of. There was discussion regarding the= air conditioning of certain classrooms, which kept the school in ADA compliance.

Mr. Farris asked if t= he modifications to the school that occurred over the summer were taken from t= he 2010/2011 budget. Mr. Steel s= aid it was, with the funding being replaced by ARRA funding. He explained how the funding was a= llowed to be utilized.

Principal Pinsonneault discussed graduation expenses. She noted the cost had gone down because of purchasing chairs versus renting them. Also the graduation dan= ce was now self-supporting. They fou= nd ways to cut costs in other areas to keep the line item. Principal Pinsonneault said she ha= d a hard time requesting a larger amount for graduation when the school needed books. She said they have tri= ed to keep a low fee and make graduation continue to work.

Mr. Steel discussed t= he reasons for the request to install a modular classroom for the library. They believed space would provide = for greater opportunities for teaching and learning. They were in the process of design= ing a RFP to go out and get pricing for a modular classroom for the library. The space will be approximately 22= 00SF and would not require plumbing or bathroom. Based on preliminary numbers, the = cost would be approximately $200,000. There was a brief discussion regarding the proposed space. Principal Pinsonneault noted by mo= ving the library out, they could bring the chorus room downstairs, special educa= tion would be moved to a centrally located place and allow two of the unified ar= ts teachers to get away from using carts.&nbs= p; Mr. Viger asked if the portable would have one or two rooms. Mr. Steel stated that the portable= would have one large room. Ms. Diack questioned how many years the trailers would= be at the school, because there had been discussions regarding the possibility= of adding onto the school. She w= anted to know if the trailer would create a problem for an addition. Mr. Steel said an addition had bee= n put on the building in the early 1970’s.= He said the challenge with adding onto the building is wherever the addition would be located, the egress could not be extended.

There was a discussion regarding the salaries for custodians.&nbs= p; Mr. Farris asked if the custodians were on a staggered work schedule. Mr. Steel said two = worked first shift and two worked second shift.&n= bsp; Mr. Farris asked if overtime was mostly generated from weekends. Mr. Steel said it was weekends alm= ost exclusively and along with that snow removal.

Mr. Steel informed th= at an item to note was repairs. = He said the current year had $13,000 budgeted, although last year $68,000 was spent. His sense of repairs f= or the buildings was that plans had been met, but not followed through. He looked at it two ways: 1) unanticipated, and 2) known repairs that needed to be done. Mr. Steel said their goal over the= next six months was to develop a comprehensive list of all maintenance items in = the buildings. He noted there wer= e a number of items at Memorial School that could clearly be identified, four of which were: 1) finish replacing locks throughout the school; 2) replace café doors that had rotted; 3) repair partition doors that separate state from gym; and 4) replace old bathroom fixtures throughout the building. <= /p>

Mr. Farris asked what= the maintenance capital reserve fund was used for. Mr. Steel said it was funded the l= ast three years with $50,000 from the ballot.&= nbsp; He knew there was money taken from it this past year, but didn’= ;t know what it was used for; although he was fairly certain it was used to replace the boiler at the high school.&nbs= p;

Mr. Sherman asked if there was a budget for the fire and sprinkler repairs. He also asked where the parking lot (that was done) was noted. It= was noted that the parking lot was a warrant article. Mr. Steel stated the sprinkler sys= tem was out of the district budget under capital item, which is where the parki= ng lot paving had been located. =

The Board completed t= heir review of the budget.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(Lavallee/Guim= ond) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(9-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:50 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