APPROVED
TOWN OF
BUDGET COMM= ITTEE - MEETING MINUTES
Monday, Sep= tember 17, 2012
APPROVED – = September 24, 2012
CALL TO ORDER – approximately
|
PRESENT: |
Mr. Larry Hall, Mr. Dan= iel Guimond, Mr. Greg Farris, Mr. Robert Sherman (arrived 8:02), Mr. David Ca= te, Mr. Ken Dunne (arrived 8:29), Ms. Daryle Hillsgrove, Mr. Greg Smith, Mr. Dave Cronin, Selectmen Representative Doug Viger, School Board Representative Megan Larson |
|
ABSENT: |
None. |
Also Present: Fire Chief James Midgley
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
2013 TOWN BUDGET REVIEW
The Budget Committee then reviewed the proposed 2013 budget requests for the following departments:
Fire Department – Chief Midgley c= ame forward to review the proposed budget. He began with Salaries and explained that the lines were broken out by the individual person’s anniversary date. He summarized the modifications that were made throughout the budget.
Chief Midgley discussed the makeup of the department’s employees. There are 17 full time Fire Fighters th= at were supplemented by 22 Call Fire Fighters. The Call Fire Fighters carry a pager that sends a tone when the stat= ion receives a call. When the tone goe= s off they come to the station to staff additional vehicles and/or the station in= the event there are other emergency calls.
Fire Supplies were reviewed. The Chief explained which items needed replacement either because of age, NFPA requirements or because certain equipment needed to fit specifically to the person wearing it.
Mr. Cate asked how many gear sets the department used. Chief Midgley replied every full timer received one full set of gear and a backup gear; there are roughly 36 employees. The number in the budge= t for Globe Turnout Gear was the projection of what would go out of date. Each year the department budgets for 3-5 sets, however this coming year there were a number of sets aging out. The number will probably drop to 5 next= year, but would be based on what the department has in stock and what fits and employee hired.
Mr. Smith asked why there were two line items for helmets. Chief Midgley said one line was for the contractual helmets contained in the Collective Bargaining Agreement; that = line had no increase. The other line f= or helmets was due to new employees need for a helmet and the department didn’t have their size.
Mr. Farris asked if the station had their own copier. Chief Midgley answered yes. Mr. Viger commented that Executive Secr= etary Marie Maruca had done a good job coordinating printers/copiers/etc. used by= the Town to have their own separate lease agreements, but packaged as one group= to obtain the best rate.
Telephone was reviewed. Chief Midgley told t= he Board once the department moved into the new station his goal was to reloca= te some of their microwave equipment. This would allow them to remove one of their antennas from Jeremy Hill and elimi= nate the phone line. He was currently writing a grant for such, which they believed would be approved. He hoped to have a decrease in the budg= et under Earthlink Business line.
He provided an explanation of how the department’s communications system and connections tied into the community.
Mr. Farris asked if the Town’s new phone system would be reflected in the propo= sed budget. Mr. Viger said the telepho= ne system was strictly for communications throughout the Town buildings. The Fire Departments system was for eme= rgency communication versus regular phone lines. Any changes to the budget for the phone system would be reflected in Town Buildings.
It was noted that the gas/oil final number would be added in November/December= for the Board to review during reconsideration.
Chief Midgley discussed the Repairs budget lines. He said one problem they had was anything that moved with, or was ma= de with petroleum increased in cost significantly. The general maintenance and repairs increased as well. He spoke about the recent pump failure = in the new engine. He said luckily the in= terior components were in good shape. Eng= ine 1 (1997) will need similar types of repairs next year; however, it’s almost certain that internal components will need replacement. Chief Midgley told the Board they had a= good program over the past couple years for preventative maintenance that they w= ould like to continue. They needed to g= et another 6-7 years out of Engine 1 before it was slated for replacement.
Mr. Cronin asked for the ages of the department’s vehicles.
Engine 1 – 1997
Tanker - 2004
Engine 3 – 2008
Forestry vehicles – 2005 &= amp; 2011
Mr. Cronin asked for the life expectancy of a tanker. Chief Midgley replied a tanker (and ave= rage fire apparatus) was slated for approximately 20 years. He hoped to increase that number a few = more years by keeping up with preventative maintenance. They don’t believe this will be the cas= e with Engine 3 because it had significant mileage. It’s the first line truck and it already had higher mileage than Eng= ine 1.
Mr. Hall confirmed that there was a vehicle replacement schedule. Mr. Viger said he would supply copies t= o the Board.
Chief Midgley discussed the Radio Maintenance lines. He explained that Motorola no longer accepted the department’s radios for repair; they’ve been classified obsolete. He said in the next couple years the department’s radios will have t= o be upgraded because they were starting to see failures with them. A similar occurrence was happening with= the Police Department. Ms. Hillsgrove questioned if the department had a backup plan in the event there were radi= os that failed and couldn’t be repaired. He said the radio repair company would try to scavenger parts; the department = had one spare radio that was recently put into use. The new ambulance will have a new radio, so the radio from the old ambulance will become the ‘spare’ radio. He cautioned eventually the department would reach the point of havi= ng no spares to use. He was trying to= work with the Police Department as they decommissioned their radios so the Fire Department would have parts for a little while. Ms. Hillsgrove asked if there would be any compatibility issues with= the current radios and those obtained in the future. Chief Midgley answered no; the systems = all worked off the department’s digital system. He said the difficulty was in swapping out the radios, the process w= as time consuming.
Chief Midgley reviewed the SCBA line and the repairs that were needed. Ms. Hillsgrove asked the life span of t= he unit. Chief Midgley said they maxe= d out at approximately 15 years. However= , the bottle design has never changed. M= s. Hillsgrove questioned if there was increased testing on the tanks as they aged. Chief Midgley stated the tan= ks required testing every 5 years.
Mr. Sherman arrived.
In Equipment Rental, Mr. Guimond wanted to know how many hydrants the Town had. Chief Midgley believed there = were 22 hydrants and 5 were added. Mr. Sherman questioned where the trucks were being filled. Chief Midgley said they filled with wat= er from Pennichuck. Mr. Smith asked h= ow much was spent on water. Chief Mid= gley explained they didn’t pay for the quantity of water, instead they paid hydr= ant fees.
Chief Midgley addressed the Cardiac Monitors line in the Ambulance New Equipment section. They will use the old mon= itors as trade-ins and buy 2 cardiac monitors with full battery support systems.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He explained the significant issues that occurred for almost a year because of a circuit board leaking the battery current. The department was unhapp= y with the present monitor company and decided to work with a local manufacturer Z= oll when replacing the monitors. The technology offered in the Zoll products was night/day from the current prod= ucts being used. Chief Midgley discusse= d the benefits to the department and patients by using the new defibrillation wave form technology in the Zoll products. Mr. Viger commented that the Selectmen discussed how the cost for the monitors would be handled. They made the decision there was no other way to position the monitors in the budget based on what was happening with the current monitors and to maintain a level of service being that it’s a life safety item.
Mr.
Smith confirmed that the budget request for monitors would replace the curr=
ent
monitors. Chief Midgley answered y=
es;
the current monitors would be used for trade-in value. Ms. Hillsgrove questioned if there was =
other
(big ticket) equipment that would need replacing in the next 4-5 years. Chief Midgley noted the radio issue was=
a
surprise to him. He couldn’t think=
of
any other items at present. He com=
mented
further about the Zoll product and told the Board that the equipment would =
have
new lithium ion technology built in to the batteries. He also researched how they serviced th=
eir
products and found they were still supporting monitors they put out in the
1990’s. This shows Zoll’s track re=
cord
of support for their equipment. Mr.
Cronin asked if the monitors were portable or installed in the ambulance.
The
New Equipment lines were reviewed. Chief
Midgley summarized the items contained in the list and their uses. Mr. Sherman asked if the items could be=
put
in order of priority. Chief Midgle=
y said
he couldn’t; the department was trying to stay on a replacement schedule an=
d be
fiscally responsible each year. Mr=
. Hall
recalled in the past the Board was provided with a replacement schedule for
equipment and suggested it might be helpful to submit an updated list. Chief Midgley said the items brought fo=
rward
were items the department didn’t have, or were due to be replaced. Mr. Viger reminded the Board that the
Selectmen had asked departments to hold the line for the past several years=
of
zero growth and absorbing contractual increases within the budgets. Because this has been done for so many
years, it was getting to the point that departments had to replace items.
Mr. Cate questioned if the Fire Department would own the Forestry vehicle after= the lease was up. Chief Midgley said h= ad a $1 buyout for the vehicle. Next ye= ar the line item will remain and shown to be zero. Mr. Guimond asked for the lifespan of the forestry vehicle. Chief Midgley said the weather was the = worst beat on the vehicles. Once moved i= nside, he hoped to get 15 years out of the new vehicles. The 2005 had been out in the elements f= or too long to have a similar lifespan. <= /p>
Chief Midgley discussed Expenses and provided an explanation regarding the dues to the mutual aid district. These due= s are broken into two segments; the first being the basic dues and the second a populati= on based formula. Insurance through m= utual aid was inexpensive. Another benef= it was the access to all the equipment as if it were our own.
Mr.
Guimond asked why there was a decrease in the NFPA Code books. Chief Midgley said only some of the cod=
es
were updated and the department was able to purchase just those updates.
Mr. Sherman questioned where the mutual aid equipment was based. Chief Midgley explained that the equipm= ent was scattered throughout the mutual aid district. There were issues with storing equipment. It was noted that the h= ost town supports the equipment.
Mr. Dunne arrived.
Chief Midgley discussed the education/training both entry level and advanced that= was budgeted for this year. Mr. Farris asked if there were any restrictions on leaving the department once an empl= oyee was trained. Chief Midgley answere= d no; the only time there’s a contractual obligation is for paramedic. He said the department was respected, w= ell paid, had a new fire station and decent equipment. He said they had one full-time employee resign; not to go elsewhere, but because he left the fire service. He commented that education trained the employee to be better in the position they were in.
Mr. Guimond asked that the ambulance revenues (to date) be given to the Board.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Chief Midgley said he would forward the figure, but knew that they were on track to meet or break their highest year based on the call volume and the money being recouped. Mr. Sherman questioned who set the rates. Chief Midgley said a lot of= their rates were set by the insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid. He mentioned to the Board that there wa= s a huge lobbying going on to significantly reduce rates for reimbursements for ambulances. If successful, it wo= uld hurt a lot of departments whose revenue comes back into their department to offset their operating costs. He n= oted Pelham’s went straight into the General Fund.
Mr.
Hall gave Chief Midgley the opportunity to speak about the John Deere Gator
Unit that had been taken out of the budget by the Selectmen. Chief Midgley explained that the vehicl=
e was
dual purpose; there were multiple times over the past ten years that the
department needed some type of a four-wheeled vehicle. The proposed vehicle would be used for
off-road brush firefighting as well as patient removal. The vehicle was going to be set up to b=
e a
four-wheeled gator vehicle with a skid pack on the back containing a water
tank, pump mechanism to off-load the water, and a fashion to pump and
roll. Along with these abilities, =
the
vehicle would also allow them to remove a patient; the skid pack system wou=
ld
have the ability to drop a Stokes System on top to secure a person. A technician could work on the victim f=
rom
the cab on the vehicle (while a driver exited a wooded/trail area). Chief Midgley said if the vehicle had a
single purpose, he would have been hesitant about making the request, but w=
ith
the Gator being a dual purpose vehicle it allowed for the department to per=
form
multiple tasks. The unit would be
trailered to wherever it was needed. He
said the Police Department didn’t have this type of vehicle and there were =
no
other similar vehicles they could use from other surrounding departments.
Mr. Cate asked if the Gator would be put into a warrant article. Chief Midgley said he would evaluate it= after the budget was completed. Mr. Sher= man asked if a plow could be put on the vehicle. Chief Midgley believed it could have a plow. Mr. Hall asked if the number in the bu= dget was for the purchase of the vehicle. Chief Midgley answered yes; it was for the Gator, skid pack and fully equipped. It would also have a windshield and full steel guard around the vehicle.
Mr. Dunne referred back to the requested budget and wanted to know if the IV pu= mps stayed with a patient when they were transported to a hospital and the department got a replacement. Chief Midgley said the emergency team called ahead to the hospital to inform what medication was being dispensed; at arrival the emergency team discontinued (unplugged) their unit and the hospital plugged their unit in continuing the same mixture of medications being dispensed.
Mr. Dunne asked if the department had reviewed the Philips defibrillators. Chief Midgley said they reviewed Philip= s, but they hadn’t really gotten any type of market share throughout the United St= ates because their machine has some issues. He spoke of the benefits by going will the Zoll machines and the size being 66% less in size.
Emergency Management – Chief Midg= ley reviewed the proposed budget. He discussed the difficulties the Town had during the storm of October, 2011 w= hen the Town lost all communications with the state emergency operation center. There was no internet and = they were down to using cell phones, and they were sporadic. The state uses a web based computer pr= ogram that interlinks all of the emergency operation centers throughout the state. As a solution to keeping th= e Town on-line they purchased Verizon Hot Spots; as long as the cell towers work t= he department can access the state through computers.
Mr. Sherman asked if the Police Department had the same problem. Chief Midgley answered yes.
There was a brief discussion regarding cistern maintenance.
Chief
Midgley provided the Board with a status update of the new fire station
construction. The project was runn=
ing
below budget. Mr. Viger told the B=
oard
that there was a budget book in the Selectmen’s office that contained all t=
he
change orders and cost breakdowns. The
budget tracked what was spent and what remained.
ADJOURNMENT
|
MOTION: |
(Sherman/Cate)=
To
adjourn the meeting. |
|
VOTE: |
(11-0-0)
The motion carried. |
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:53 pm.
= Respectfully submitted,
= Charity A. Landry
= Recording Secretary
BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING/Monday, September 17, 2012