BC20110929

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BUDGET COMM= ITTEE - MEETING MINUTES

Thursday, September 29, 2011<= /p>

APPROVED &#= 8211; October 17, 2011

CALL TO ORDER – 7:30pm

PRESENT:

Also Present:

Mr. Larry Hall, Mr. Dan= iel Guimond, Mr. John Lavallee, Mr. Robert Sherman, Mr. Joe Puddister, Mr. Da= vid Cate, Selectmen Representative Edmund Gleason, School Board Representative Meghan Larson

Conservation Commission Chairman Paul Gagnon, Planning Director Jeff Gowan, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos, Town Finance Director Cindy Kelley

ABSENT:

Mr. Dennis Viger, Mr. K= en Dunne, Mr. Gregory Farris

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

2012 BUDGET REVIEW AGENDA

Conservation Commission, Planning Department, Town Buildings, Selectmen

Conservation Commission – Conservation Commission Chairman Paul Gagnon came forward to discuss the 2012 Conservation Commission budget= . He said the only change in the bud= get was the deletion of funding for water sample test kits ($300) and an increa= se ($50) in dues for the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Commissions= . He said the reason they weren’= ;t doing water samples was because they didn’t have a volunteer to colle= ct and take them to Concord. The state had also unfunded some o= f the programs so it was more difficult to get them to do the testing. Most of the Town ponds had associa= tions that did their own water testing.

Mr. Sherman asked what was remaining in the land purchase fund. Mr. Gagnon provided the Board with a spread sheet that showed all the purchases since the funding began in 2002.= They started with a $3 million bond and it now contained $1.66 milli= on; it hasn’t been withdrawn from in several years because the Current Use Fund had been used for purchases.

Conservation Commission=

2012 Selectmen approved=

2012 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Salaries:

3,047

Supplies:

Expenses:

&nbs= p; 200

&nbs= p; 500

&nbs= p; 0

(250)

Planning Department – Planning Director Jeff Gowan came forward to discuss the 2012 Planning Department budget. The budget showed a 3.86% growth.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

Planning Department

2012 Selectmen approved=

2012 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Salaries:

240,998

3,794

Supplies:

Telephone:

Gas & Oil:

Repairs:

Rentals:

Expenses

Specials:

6,199

2,030

&nbs= p; 800

1,0= 76

5,208

25= ,766

&nbs= p; 4,003

&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p;

&nbs= p; 1

&nbs= p; 0

2,500

&nbs= p;

Salaries – Mr. Gowan said there were a number of contractual increases. There was a brief discussion regar= ding the deletion of the education incentive from the salary line, which was giv= en to employees that had a degree. The new contract signed (prior to January) included compensation for profession= al development. Mr. Lavallee questioned what constituted professional development. Mr. Gowan believed (by the way the contract was worded) it could be schooling, meetings etc. He discussed what he attended duri= ng the past year and didn’t anticipate spending the full budget amount each year.

Mr. Puddister noticed there was funding for a recording secretary for the CIP a= nd asked if it was the Planning Board’s intention to reinstate the CIP.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Gowan said it was their intent= ion to reinstate the process. There = had been discussions in 2011 but no volunteers. However, the intention was to get = it back on track early in 2012. =

Mr. Lavallee noticed that in a few of the budgets new salaries (raises) were sh= own as being effective January through December, whereas in the past they had always been effective after Town Meeting, April 1^st . Mr. Gleason didn’t believe t= hat was true; he believed when there was a new position; it was cost out from A= pril through the end of the year. = He said once contracts were in place, they were effective the first of the year. Town Administrator Tom Gaydos came forward and stated when the Supervisors union dissolved each of the people = had individual contracts; those run January through December. Mr. Lavallee asked if the salaries= would come under the default budget. Mr. Gaydos answered yes (because they had a contract). He said the employee would have th= eir current rate of pay, and if there was a raise (through the contract) April = 1^st would reflect any new salary. Mr. Lavallee asked if the January through December salaries applied only to department head people. Mr. G= leason believed that to be correct. = It was noted that the electrical, building, and plumbing inspector’s salary showed as being effective January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012 although Town Meeting vote wouldn’t occur until March. The point was taken th= at the raises for those employees should begin April 1, 2012 because they weren’t under contract. Mr. Gaydos further clarified that those under contract would maintain their current rate of pay for the whole year; the raises would be decided by the union contract being voted on this year (effective as of April 1^st).

Mr. Guimond asked if there was a lower amount of permits being issued, given the present economy. Mr. Gowan an= swered no; there were permits being issued for lower value items (i.e. pools, additions). Mr. Guimond asked= how many permits were issued in 2011. Mr. Gowan provided information regarding = the issuance of permits in his back up materials.

Mr. Sherman said mention was made that fees may increase. He questioned when the change woul= d be made and wanted to know if it would affect the revenue lines. Mr. Gowan said it would affect the revenue lines; the Planning Board, Zoning Board and Selectmen would discuss= the request for increased revenues in October.= Mr. Sherman asked when the rate increases would be effective. Mr. Gleason said the decision had = not been made because some of the fees were under the purview of different boards. He said when the Sele= ctmen discuss the fees, they will show concern for them being consistent with the ability of the people to pay. Public hearings will be held regarding any fee increase.

Mr. Puddister commented regarding the proposed salary increases for the inspectors. When the date was adjusted to begin April 1^st, it should also be adjusted to end M= arch 31^st to provide twelve months at a new rate.

Mr. Gowan told the Board that the Selectmen had approved (to be within the budg= et) a 3-year lease for a vehicle (Ford Focus) for the Code Enforcement Officer. The gas, oil, etc li= ne had been reduced in half; the new vehicle would use less gas than the current vehicle (Crown Victoria). Mr. Cate questioned why the vehicle would be leased versus purchased. Mr. Gowan said he had originally proposed to purchase the vehicle outright, but it was the decision of the Selectmen to go with the lease opt= ion. Mr. Gleason said the Selectmen bel= ieved the advantages of leasing the vehicle were beneficial.

Mr. Sherman asked if the inspector used their own vehicles. Mr. Gowan answered that the inspec= tors used their own vehicles and received a mileage stipend. Mr. Sherman questioned how many mi= les per year would be put on the new vehicle.&= nbsp; Mr. Gowan said they kept accurate mileage information. The new vehicle would have an esti= mated 9000 miles per year.

There was a discussion regarding the proposed new vehicle and the projection of savings.

Mr. Gowan reviewed the Expenses line. He explained the resources provided by the Nashua Regional Planning Commission. It was noted that= the state currently didn’t have the Willow Street Bridge listed on th= eir ten-year plan. It was not ‘red listed’ to be done. Each year there has been a request on the ballot to set money aside because the project may eventually need to be done by the Town.

Mr. Sherman asked Mr. Gowan if he had any thoughts regarding the status of Pennichuck Water given that they provide water to certain areas within the Town. Mr. Gowan stated he was= not directly involved in the project. He knew that Judge J. Albert Lynch had been involved. Mr. Sherman believed the Nashua group woul= d be taking over the parent company and also the subsidies. Mr. Gaydos said the outcome was st= ill unknown; it was currently at the Public Utilities level.

Mr. Gowan discussed the line for miscellaneous (specials). He said the only increase was due = to the need for reviewing the impact fees. He said the enabling ordinance for impact fees calls out that impact= fee schedules will be reviewed every year and adjusted as needed, which hasn’t happened for a few years.&nbs= p; The estimate (given by Mark Fugere) to review the fees was provided = last year and would be held for 2012. Mr. Cate asked for an explanation of the impact fee review. Mr. Gowan said impact fees were developed based on a lot of number crunching. There was a rational nexus that ha= d to be met when building an impact fee. It was the Planning Board’s responsibility to do the investigation; the review would help determine if the fees were remaining accurate. Mr. Cate questioned= how the impact fees were held and for what they were used for. Mr. Gowan replied they had impact = fees in place for a fire station and senior center use. Impact fees are held by the Treasurer. The Selectmen can = expend out of the impact fees as they deem necessary to encumber the funds.

Mr. Guimond said impact fees were collected for the fire station that had not passed. He asked if there was= any fear that some of the impact fees would need to be returned if the Town didn’t pass the fire station this year. It was Mr. Gowan’s understan= ding (through legal advice of Town Counsel) that the Selectmen were able to encu= mber the fees and expend them. Mr. Gaydos stated legal counsel had answered no; the Town would not have to give impact fees back. Mr. Gleason= noted that the fees had to be spent on the (specified) project. Mr. Guimond asked what amount was currently held. Mr. Gaydos sa= id there was approximately $375,000-$400,000 for the fire station impact fee.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The impact fee review was a valida= tion process.

Mr. Gowan addressed the $1 placeholders in the miscellaneous budges. NRPC assistance for capital improv= ement update – they’ve always had an advisor to assist. Mr. Gowan said there was a process= in place and believed it could be accomplished without having NRPC staff direc= tly involved. Impact fee developm= ent was held for a future impact fee, in the event the Town wanted to develop one. The Master Plan Update w= ould need to be reviewed in the 2013 budget; it was last done in 2002 and had a chapter update done since then. Mr. Gowan hoped to only do a chapter update in 2013. He said the statute recommends tha= t the plans are reevaluated on a 5-10 year cycle.

Town Buildings – Town Administrator Tom Gaydos and Town Finance Director Cindy Kelley came forwar= d to review the Town Buildings budget.

Town Buildings

2012 Selectmen approved=

2012 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Salaries:

&nbs= p; 1

&nbs= p; 0

Supplies:

Electric:

Telephone:

Water:

Heat:

Repairs:

New Equipment:

Expenses:

8,739

101,000

16,000

12= ,000

90= ,000

57= ,466

45,000

196,896 &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp;

&nbs= p; 0

(3,000)

&nbs= p; 0

1,127

10,000

&nbs= p; 0

Salaries – There was a $1 placeholder in the event someone was hired as an employee; the Town usually subcontracts work.

Supplies – Mr. Lavallee said several years ago the Town had discussed possibly making an arrangement with the school to purchase items in bulk. He questioned if anything was done= to that regard. Mr. Gaydos said = they had tried in the past and had difficulty putting something together, and possibly under the different administration the Town could possibly attempt= to do so again.

Utilities – Mr. Gaydos said they would come back to utilities later. He went to NRPC to review a bulk electrical purchase, but hadn’t heard back. There was another company he would request a quote from for electric. <= /span>Mr. Hall asked what buildings were heated under the budget. Mr. Gaydos said under the budget t= hey heated every building the Town had because it was either propane or oil.

Facility/Equipment Repairs: Mr. Gaydos said last year they did alarm upgrades and now had wire= less alarms. He discussed other it= ems that were fixed last year and the plans for the coming year.

New Equipment – Back up information was provided. Mr. Gaydos explained that the prop= osed VM Ware would be able to utilize the space not being used by the individual servers for the various Town departments.&= nbsp; Having the equipment will make it so an additional server won’= t be needed.

Expenses – Mr. Gaydos reviewed the items contained in the line item.

Selectmen – Town Administra= tor Tom Gaydos and Town Finance Director Cindy Kelley

came forward to discuss t= he 2012 Selectmen budget.

Selectmen

2012 Selectmen approved=

2012 Budget increase/(d= ecrease)

Salaries:

263,819

13,689

Supplies:

Telephone:

Repairs:

Rentals:

New Equipment:

Expenses

Specials:

4,444

6,180

2,559

&nbs= p; 660

&nbs= p; 1

95= ,075

105,000

&nbs= p; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp;

&nbs= p;0

5,180

&nbs= p; 238

&nbs= p; 0

&nbs= p; 1

&nbs= p; 0

Salaries – Mr. Gayd= os reviewed the budget. He said = the Executive Secretary had received a raise through a deal made with her a long time ago. He said the secreta= ry of that office was not something that someone could just walk in and do because the person had to develop knowledge of just about every Town department. Mr. Gaydos stated if comparing sal= aries, the Executive Secretary was probably at the level of a Clerk 1. He said they had made a deal with = her if she reached certain plateaus, her pay would be increased. He stated she had reached those pl= ateaus and outlined the areas that she handled for the department.

Mr. Gaydos discussed the non-union wage increase and explained it was an amount that would not be ad= ded to an employee’s hourly rate; it was a one-time bonus (including all department heads and non-union employees).= He said they were performance bonuses. Mr. Gleason said the intent was to= make discretionary awards to people based upon their performance. Mr. Cate questioned if the size va= ried depending upon what an employee does. Mr. Gleason said the Selectmen did evaluations and would determine w= ho should get what amount. Mr. G= aydos said it would be for every department head and anyone who was non-union.

Mr. Hall understood when = the department heads withdrew from the union and created employment agreements there were going to set up goals set up for them to meet. He asked if those goals had been s= et up and established. Mr. Gleason = said Mr. Gaydos was currently in the process of going through evaluations for al= l of the contracts that would be presented to the Selectmen in October. Based upon that presentation, the Selectmen will review and make a determination as to whether the goals were= met or needed to be revised.

Mr. Sherman asked if the recording secretary qualified for a bonus.= Mr. Gaydos believed they could.&nbs= p; Mr. Lavallee asked if the recording secretary position could be unio= nized. Mr. Gaydos replied that he would r= esist any attempt to unionize that position because the day may come that the Selectmen wanted the secretary to be involved in a non-union session. He explained that the recording secretary was a part-time employee. He said the contract states any permanent part-time or full employee, therefore technically the union could request that the recording secretary = be included. He would answer no, because of the type of work that the secretary could be doing. Mr. Hall asked if the recording secretary was eligible for the non-union wage increase. Mr. Gaydos answered yes. Mr. Hall asked if the Executive Secretary was eligible. Mr. G= aydos answered yes. Mr. Hall’s point was that the wage increase was not just for department heads. Mr. Gleason said those eligible we= re Mr. Gaydos, Ms. Kelley, the Executive Secretary and Recording Secretary. Mr. Hall asked if there were goals= set up for the recording secretary and executive secretary. Mr. Gleason said there were no goa= ls set up for the recording secretary. The executive secretary had goals and had expanded her role more than previous secretaries. Mr. Gaydos said = the recording secretary was eligible, but there would have to be some event (be= cause she’s paid for what she does) that she did over and above the duties. He said the standard = for a recording secretary is to produce the minutes in a timely manner, according= to the law. He didn’t feel= she would be rewarded for meeting a standard for which the Town was already pay= ing.

Telephones – Mr. Ga= ydos said the information he had last year was incorrect. Ms. Kelley believed the question w= as if Park & Recreation and Planning were in the Selectmen’s (telephone) budget; last year the Budget Committee was told they were, however they are not. She said they had cut th= e two departments out of the budget, when they weren’t in there to begin with. Mr. Gaydos noted that a= ll the telephone plans had been reviewed and redone.

Mr. Gaydos reviewed the e= xpenses line.

Mr. Hall questioned the $1 placeholder for communications. Mr. Gaydos said in years past the Selectmen had discussed having a communicatio= ns plan. It was not effective, therefore the Selectmen cut the budget, leaving $1 in the line. Currently the Selectmen were tryin= g to revitalize the communication program.

Mr. Gaydos provided an ov= erview of the compensated absence program. He said when contracts were redone with the department heads, the To= wn bought out (eliminated) their earned time. Mr. Guimond asked what= the Town’s unfunded liability was now.&n= bsp; Mr. Gaydos said it was just above $500,000. He said having the 90% buyout was = a way to encourage employees to take their vacation time.

There was a brief discuss= ion regarding the announcement of a grant that the Police Department were awarded. The Selectmen had no= t yet discussed the topic. Mr. Glea= son said once the Selectmen had analyzed the grant and the impact, they would m= ake a determination. Presently th= ere wasn’t enough information to engage in further discussion.

ACTION ITEMS

Highway Department to submit a vehicle replacement schedule;
Highway Department to submit a listing of= all roads repaired in the past two years;
Mr. Gaydos to provide a copy of the Treasurer’s report;
Ms. Kelley to provide the Committee with a copy of the FSLA spreadsheet including what qualified;
Mr. Gleason will review to find out if all dumpsters (Town facilities) were with Allied Waste.
Park & Recreation will provide a spre= ad sheet showing the amount contained in the revolving fund, what came in= and where it went out to.
Mr. Gleason will find out how many old ca= rs were currently in service and if they were included in the vehicle inventory list.
Mr. Gowan to provide the Board with an updated number of building permits issued.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(Guimond/Laval= lee)To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(8-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:30 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