APPROVED
TOWN OF
BUDGET COMM= ITTEE - MEETING MINUTES
Monday, Oct= ober 1, 2012
APPROVED – = October 15, 2012
CALL TO ORDER – approximately
|
PRESENT: |
Mr. Larry Hall, Mr. Dan= iel Guimond, Mr. Bob Sherman, Mr. Greg Farris, Mr. David Cate, Mr. Greg Smith, Mr. Dav= e Cronin, Ms. Daryle Hillsgrove, Mr. Ken Dunne, School Board Representative Megan Larson (arrived after the meeting commenced), Selectmen Representative Do= ug Viger |
|
ABSENT: |
None. |
Also Present: Finance Director Cindy Kelley, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos, Acting Chief - Police Lieutenant Gary Fisher and Fire Chief James Midgley
2013 TOWN BUDGET REVIEW – All Budg=
ets
The Budget Committee reviewed all of the proposed 2013 Town budget requests:
Assessor – There were no question= s.
Budget Committee- There were no questions.
Cable – Mr. Gaydos commented that= there had been an additional $11,000 built into the contract. Comcast has been unwilling to forward t= hat check and the Town was pushing for it to be received.
Cemetery – Mr. Dunne asked if the headstone glue was for the old headstones dating back to the 1800’s. Mr. Gaydos believed it was for any head= stones that need repair. Mr. Dunne questi= oned if the requested amount would be adequate. Mr. Gaydos replied that the Cemetery traditionally under run its bud= get; if they felt a need for more they would have requested such.
Conservation Commission – There w= ere no questions.
Debt Service Interest – There wer= e no questions.
Debt Service Principal – There we= re no questions.
Elections – Mr. Guimond asked if = the Ballot Clerk salary was known for surrounding towns. Mr. Gaydos explained that every town ha= d a different method and program. He s= aid Pelham’s ballot clerks worked a decent time and when needed to work longer,= due to recounts, etc. they helped. He believed they were worth every penny they received. Mr. Sherman questioned when the ballot = clerks received a pay raise. Mr. Gaydos s= aid they received a nominal increase last year; however, they prided themselves= on how much they did, not what they made. Mr. Farris recalled that the Town Clerk indicated that with new election procedures, the clerks would have more work involved with their duties.
Emergency Management – There were= no questions.
Ms. Larson arrived.
Fire Department –Fire Chief James Midgley came forward for questions. Mr. Guimond asked if the amount for = turn out gear could be reduced. Chief M= idgley said the gear (which was purchased around the September, 2001 timeframe had reached the ten year point; they needed to replace a significant portion of that gear. He explained what turn = out gear was used for. It is the prote= ctive gear worn into a structural fire made up of numerous components keeping the fire fighter’s safe. When the mois= ture barrier inside the gear becomes compressed from movement (over many years) = it thins out and causes a fire fighter to be prone to burns that could happen within seconds.
Mr. Cate asked if the budget were approved if the Fire Department anticipated a= ny warrant articles. Chief Midgley an= swered no, with the exception of possibly increasing the money going into the Ambulance Fund so as to not end up with a deficit when going to purchase the next ambulance. Mr. Gaydos comment= ed that the earlier that adjustment was made, the lesser the amount needed wou= ld be. Mr. Farris said at the time th= ey began putting money aside for an ambulance the cost was approximately $75,0= 00; that cost has now risen to approximately $205,000. He felt it would be a good idea to incr= ease the money being put aside so the next time an ambulance was due, the amount would be available.
Mr. Sherman wanted to know if there would be a continued need for the existing storage trailer. Chief Midgley sai= d they would have to pay a removal fee (possibly $300-$500); therefore the trailer line item will remain this year and be removed next year.
Mr. Dunne asked if the Department was leasing the staff car. Chief Midgley stated that staff car C3 was a general run around vehicle that was always a hand-down vehicle from the Police Department given to them approximately six years ago. He sa= id C1 and C2 were used by him and the Fire Inspectors. Mr. Dunne asked if C3 (handed down car)= was anticipated to need replacement. C= hief Midgley said they took care of the vehicles with an aggressive maintenance program. He didn’t see any large i= ssues that would make the vehicle non-usable and felt it would make it through at least another year.
Health Officer – There were no questions.
Health Services – Mr. Guimond con= firmed that the Selectmen had reduced the Salvation Army donation to $500. Mr. Gaydos answered yes. He discussed the services provided by t= he various organizations and how beneficial they were to residents.
Mr. Dunne asked if any money was given to Pelham’s Food Pantry. Mr. Gaydos answered no. It was noted that they hadn’t requested money.
Highway – Mr. Cate confirmed that=
the
reduction in salt and sand reflected the savings from the previous mild
winter. Mr. Gaydos answered yes.
Human Services – Mr. Cronin was concerned that the assistance was being limited to ten hours per week. He would like to see the hours and sala= ry increased. Mr. Gaydos replied that essentially they had under budgeted the time, but at the same time had made= it clear that the Human Services Director needed to spend whatever time she ne= eded to spend. Mr. Guimond asked how ma= ny hours (on average) the director worked. Mr. Gaydos said it fluctuated; there were times when there was nothi= ng but possibly two hours, and other times there were sudden increase of up to 15-17 hours. He said it was diffic= ult to predict. Mr. Guimond asked for the= total hours worked in 2011.
Mr. Viger told the Board that the Human Services budget was allowed to be overs= pent so citizens weren’t left unassisted.
Insurance – The number remained a placeholder. Mr. Gaydos understood= that through the Secretary of State’s ruling, the Local Government Center had to refund $52,000,000 to local towns. At this time, Pelham had yet to be conta= cted on how it would occur. He was unsu= re if it would be a combination of cash and a reduction in insurance; the Town wo= n’t know until the end of the year how the process would go. Mr. Hall questioned if the verdict was subject to appeal. Mr. Gaydos beli= eved no one wanted to spend more legal fees than they had to. He also believed that there would be a compromise and discussions with the towns. He said he hadn’t spoken with the Selectmen because he hadn’t been presented with a proposal.
Mr. Dunne asked if the Workers Compensation line reflected what the Town had spent. Mr. Gaydos explained that W= orkers Compensation was a mix over a period of time; each year the Town’s loss modification is recalculated. He s= aid overall the Town had done very well; the worst experience they encountered = was several years ago with the floor at the Police Station. He noted that the floor at the new fire station would be of a different material.
Legal – There were no questions. =
Library – Mr. Guimond confirmed t= hat the staff salary line included both an increase in hours and a 1% increase. Mr. Hall said that was correct.
Parks & Recreation – There we= re no questions.
Planning Department – There was a= brief discussion regarding the stipend increase for the inspectors (plumbing, electric and building). Mr. Guimond asked when they had received an increase last. It was believed that they received their last raise in 2009. Mr. Hall asked if there were other Town employees not represented, that had a 1.5% increase. Mr. Gaydos wasn’t aware of any. Mr. Dunne wanted to know if the inspect= ors had requested a raise. Mr. Gaydos = said they had done a good job and it was recognized. He said he could provide numerous examples of the work the inspectors did, whenever they were called.
Mr. Hall understood there were three full-time employees in the Planning Department. Mr. Gaydos answered yes. Mr. Hall questioned if the of= fice coverage/PT Assistant covered vacation periods. Mr. Gaydos answered yes. Mr= . Hall commented that when one person was out there was still coverage in the office.
Mr. Hall reminded the Board that the vehicle was contained in the budget. Mr. Sherman pointed out that with the n= ew vehicle in the budget there was a savings of $1620 in gasoline and $650 in vehicle repairs. With that amount = being taken off the lease price, the new expense was $2,805 for the vehicle. Further, Mr. Sherman said if that amoun= t was taken off over the three year lease it made the vehicle inexpensive. He knew the Board had a standardized ru= le but felt they had a responsibility to be financially conservative. Mr. Guimond said the problem he had wit= h it was the tax payers voted no last year when the vehicle was on the warrant.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He stated the tax payers have never had the opportunity to vote regarding having a vehicle for the Planning Department. Mr. Cate noted calculating the payback = amount for the three years would pay for the first year of the lease. The life expectancy of the vehicle was = twelve to fifteen years; the department would save (at least) double over the life= of the vehicle.
Mr. Viger said the department received the vehicle as a ‘hand me down’, so there was no initial cost, but it had been budgeted since the day they got it for repairs, fuel, tires, maintenance etc. He said with the voters approving the budget each year, they had app= roved having the vehicle.
There was a brief discussion regarding the existing vehicle. Mr. Gaydos commented if the vehicle bro= ke down and was not worth putting the money into, the Town may as well not hav= e a Code Enforcement Officer. He said = people wouldn’t work for the proposed wage and receive mileage.
Mr. Gaydos spoke regarding the engineering consulting service (#625 – Expenses). He encouraged the Board= to bring that number back to $1. He s= aid when he spoke to the Planning Director it appears as though every instance = was an instance of Town roads; the Highway Department absorbed the cost of the engineer. He couldn’t think of an instance that the Town would pay for engineering costs unless it was a Town road.
Police – Lieutenant Fisher came f= orward to answer any questions the Board may have.
Mr. Dunne questioned if the department had a K-9 unit. It was explained that the Police had eliminated the K-9 program from their budget, but left the associated line items at $1 for a placeholder.
Retirement – The number contained= in the budget was the number it was expected to be.
Selectmen – Ms. Kelley discussed = how by reducing the number of funds the Town had there had been a reduction of cost for the auditor as well as a reduction in time it took to complete the audit.
Mr. Hall asked for the compensated absence number. Ms. Kelley said the amount was $589, 270.16. The number included all employees. Mr. Farris asked for the balance agains= t the amount. Mr. Gaydos will provide t= he number to the Board.
Senior Center – Mr. Hall confirme= d that 32 hours didn’t qualify as a full-time employee. Ms. Kelley said an employee would need = 34 hours for New Hampshire Retirement.
Town Buildings – Mr. Guimond aske= d why the phone system wasn’t a warrant article. Mr. Gaydos said if the current system failed the Town wouldn’t have a phone system which was necessary for the Police and Fire Departments. He noted that the current phone system = was purchase ‘used’ when they moved into the municipal complex approximately ten years ago. The server had run 24/7= and the software was no longer going to be supported by Nortel.
Mr. Farris asked for a breakdown of what the budget consisted of for new computers. Mr. Gaydos said could g= et the information to the Board. He state= d they had an annual replacement program; each year one third of all the pc’s were replaced and in the fourth year the software and upgrades are done. A lot of the computers are redeployed t= o the Library, Assessor etc.
Mr. Sherman asked if the telephones would be replaced at the Town parks. Mr. Gaydos answered no; those telephone= s are not on the system.
Mr. Smith asked if the increase in the power was due to the new fire station, or the increase in power. Mr. Gaydos said the Town was fortunate to purchase p= ower in bulk. He said as the various po= wer companies were being undercut on power purchase, other fees such as line fe= es were increasing. He was also conce= rned with the power costs at the new fire station.
Mr. Dunne asked for an explanation of the snow removal costs. Mr. Gaydos said the cost was for the sidewalks in front of Town Hall, Library and at times the Fire Department.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Dunne asked if there was a contract= for the services. Mr. Gaydos said it w= as contracted with the lawn maintenance.
Mr. Sherman questioned if the Town could bundle utilities with the School, given the School Administrative Unit (SAU) recently split from Windham. Mr. Gaydos believed the SAU bundled wit= h the low cost offer received from the Nashua Regional Planning Commission. He said he would be more than happy to = work with the School anytime.
Town Celebrations – There were no questions.
Town Clerk / Tax Collector – Ther= e were no questions.
Transfer Station – Mr. Sherman as= ked what the salary range would be for the position. Mr. Gaydos said they didn’t advertise a salary; it was believed that the Town would be competitive and still fall within the range of the proposed budget.
Treasurer – Mr. Cate questioned w= hat the bank fees were. Ms. Kelley rep= lied they were service charges on the checking account; the amount fluctuated depending on the amount in the account at the time of the statement. Mr. Gaydos said the bank used a formula= based on the amount of cash in the account on a daily basis. The Town was charged for the number of = checks that were cleared. Most of the tim= e the Town was not charged fees.
Trust Funds – There were no questions.
Ms. Kelley reviewed the items that would be forwarded to the Board.
Mr. Hall told the Board to forward any adjustments they would like to make to Mr. Guimond by Tuesday evening. Mr. Guimond will create a spread sheet showing the proposed adjustments. = The Board will vote on the Town budget Thursday evening.
ADJOURNMENT
|
MOTION: |
(Sherman/Guimo=
nd)To
adjourn the meeting. |
|
VOTE: |
(11-0-0)
The motion carried. |
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:40 pm.
= Respectfully submitted,
= Charity A. Landry
= Recording Secretary
BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING/Monday, October 1, 2012