The Budget Committee Meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. The full Select Board was in attendance to participate in the discussion.
Roll call –Laurie Colburn (Chair), Doug Southard, Beth Downs, Jen Richardson, Justin Dohrn (via ZOOM), Tim McKenna, Marlene Freyler (Select Board ex-officio), Mel Pfeifle, (Select Board), Andrew Pinard (Select Board) and Karen Hambleton (Town Administrator) in attendance.
Receipt of Correspondence:
- No minutes were reviewed.
Review of Budget and Expenditures:
- Pam Bruss – Planning Board – Laurie said the big question is what is driving the continued Planning Board budget increase given that only about 50% of the 2021 budget was spent. Pam said they can decrease it slightly. Pam is proposing to work with the Select Board to hire a Recording Secretary with office hours and duties for all the Boards and to increase the rate. Laurie thinks a plan needs to be put in place for this position. Discussion took place regarding the recording secretary positions currently available and whether it should be made one position to cover all boards. This topic will be revisited in the future.
- Ed Shaughnessy – Police Department – Andrew thanked Ed for his time and effort in preparing his budget. Laurie reported that there is a 1% increase for the next year. Tim McKenna had a concern regarding salaries. Laurie asked if the increase indicated gets the officers to a comparable salary range to other communities. Ed said this increase makes it a bit more competitive. Andrew asked why there was a large uptick in calls. Ed said there were more business checks done. There were a lot of speeding complaints that they needed to address. There was also an uptick on larger investigation such as thefts. Tim asked what a call for service is and Ed explained it is anything that shows activity or record keeping.
- Executive Budget – Laurie noted there is a 7% overall increase. Andrew said this an important to keep salaries competitive to find people to fill these positions.
- General Government Buildings – Laurie said it was 12% increase. The electricity is going up and this is part of the increase. Jen asked why different companies are doing different landscaping jobs. Andrew said he would like to see a spreadsheet with all landscaping jobs listed. Discussion took place regarding supplies and heating costs.
- Cemetery – Andrew asked about the deteriorating entrance/archway at the cemetery on Church Street. Marlene said they will be addressing it.
- Insurances – A short discussion took place on this topic.
- Other General Government – A decrease of 20%. This line includes monitoring of wells at the Naughton properties.
- Rescue Services – Karen said she is conservative on this number. Andrew thinks it is a reasonable number.
- Building & Code Enforcement – Karen said the Code Enforcement Officer submitted this budget. She explained that there was only a CEO for ½ year this year.
- Street Lighting – Laurie went over these numbers.
- Welfare – No questions.
- Community Center – Discussion took place regarding the alarm system and the generator.
- Long Term Notes – Karen said they will be refinancing the Town Hall loan with a bond issue and will save money doing this.
The Select Board reported that there are three candidates that will be interviewed for the Fire Chief position next week.
Additional Business:
- Doug Southard – Big Picture Overview – Doug said a lot of time is spent looking at each line item in each budget, but there isn’t a lot of looking at the big picture. He said he found a website that looks at neighboring communities and their numbers. Doug said he thinks it is the responsibility of the Budget Committee to look at the big picture. Jen said the operating budget is usually more than what is really used, and they should be ready to answer what happens to unused funds. Karen said whatever is left lapses to fund balance.
- Laurie Colburn – Budget Story – This will be revisited at the next meeting.
Future Business:
- Next Budget Committee Meeting is January 13, 2022
- Proposed Additional Meeting Dates – January 27, February 10 (Tentative Public Hearing Date)
- Important Dates
- February 11, 2022 – Last date to hold 1st Public Hearing (must be noticed by February 4, 2022.
- February 22, 2022 – Last date to provide Select Board with annual budget.
Motion: Jen motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 p.m.
Second: Beth seconded the motion.
Minutes submitted by Donna Long, Recording Secretary.