Budget Committee Minutes 11.19.20

Members: Laurie Colburn (Chair), Mark Fournier (Vice-Chair), Marlene Freyler (Select Board Rep), Justin Dohrn, Chris Frey, Doug Southard.

Members Absent: Tim Mckenna

Karen Hambleton (Town Administrator) was present.

The meeting was called to order at 6:31 pm.

Pledge of Allegiance

Old Business: None

Receipt of Correspondence:

Review and consideration of the November 5th, 2020 meeting minutes.

Motion: Mark Fournier motioned to approve the minutes as written.

Second: Chris Frey

Decision: 6-0 in favor

New Business:

Review of the 2021 Budgets for the following departments:

Transfer Station: Unable to attend.

Laurie Colburn explained the various columns on the budget sheet.

Budget amounts for salary and employee related costs are included and assume a 2% increase in wages unless otherwise specified.

Highway Department 2021 Operating Spreadsheet:

Steve Hall, Town Road Agent, presented the Highway Department Budget:

Employee salary and wages were discussed. Steve has made a recommendation to the Board for merit increases in 2021. He will follow up with the Select Board and their support of this proposal.
Part-time wages included an increase of $2,500. With the tenure of the existing employees, an increase would allow him to have a resource to cover work demands when existing employees are utilizing vacation time. It was estimated that the department has about 14 weeks of vacation time annually. Outside services are decreasing due to a reduction in outsourcing plowing.
The overtime budget was decreased by $1,000, in part from the increase in part-time wages as well as lower storm volume trends from 2020.
Health Insurance costs increased by approximately 6 percent. Dental and life insurance remained relatively flat.
An explanation of contract services was given; the services include sweepers, associated costs for mowers which are roughly $20k, and cleaning of the drains and catch basins is an additional $2,500 to $3,000.
Contract Services for Tree Removal and Blasting had low actuals in 2020. Blasting of rocks was done in house so services were not needed in 2020. No future projects are anticipated as of yet. A place holder of $500.00 will be put in the line items for Contract Services – Tree Removal and Contract Services – Blasting.
Telephone costs seem to be trending down, Karen will update November expenses for the next meeting and revisit the budgeted cost.
An increase of $5,000 was noted for the Repairs & Maintenance Equipment line, Chris asked whether the department had dipped into the Town Equipment Repair Expendable Trust Fund. Highway had not used the fund in 2020 although the Fire Department had. The increase was noted because equipment is aging.
The Repairs and Maintenance – Bridges line item was reviewed. An expense of $2,900.00 will be used in the upcoming weeks for bridge rail work on Jewett Road. Steve also mentioned Deer Valley Road has a culvert in need of repair with an estimate between $200k-600k.
The Repairs Maintenance – Roads is a new line item. This line item is to keep track of the costs for engaging resources to support road repair and maintenance.
The Equipment Rental line showed low rental expenses. Steve will follow up with Maureen on what those costs should be. Steve believes expenses for 2021 will be similar to 2020.
A clothing allowance was discussed as an option to uniforms. Steve felt the uniforms related expense was of benefit to the department. Winter Salt and Spring Repairs were budgeted at $25,000.
The road signs line item was discussed; signs are not in compliance with the state and Steve has been chipping away at upgrading signs. Posts have been ordered for the class six road postings for mud season. The estimated cost to bring all signs up to compliance is $7,500 ($2,500 a year for 3 years). This line is budgeted at $2,500.
Culvert repairs were discussed. Large projects were funded from the Road and Bridges Expendable Trust Fund this year.
The gravel budget was reduced by $4,000. Steve does not believe he will need as much gravel in 2021. The department typically tries to get 3,000 yards.
Road Patch expenses in 2020 look like they will come in about $5,000 below the budgeted amount.
The inspection line was noted as being underspent but appears to be missing some expenses. 6 trucks need to be inspected, twice a year, at $100 an inspection.
Equipment fuel goes out to bid; the new locked in rate is what is presented on the budget for the upcoming year. Laurie asked that this line be revisited as actuals seem low compared to the budget.
The Repair and Maintenance – Buildings line item has $3,500 budgeted. In 2020 mold mitigation was done via a separate warrant article. Laurie asked whether any pending maintenance could be done with the available unanticipated revenue fund and whether the Building Inspection report was available. There is no report available but it would be possible to fund some repairs from the unanticipated revenue fund if the Select Board desired. Doug Southard asked that Steve outline what a 2 percent increase range would mean for the department. Currently the Highway Budget request is 5% over 2020.
The Budget Committee discussed the Contract Services. Steve identified these expenses are associated with road sweeping and mowing, catch basins cleaning. The Budget Committee proposed renting the equipment and doing the work in house. Steve explained the cost would be about the same.

Police Department:

Lieutenant Ed Shaughnessy was present on behalf of the Police Department. The Police Department will be moving to four full-time positions. Currently the Police Department has three full-time officers, a part-time Police Chief and several part-time officers.

The driver behind bringing on a fourth full-time officer is shift coverage. While the Town leverages part-time officers, it is difficult to always have coverage and often results in overtime by the existing full-time officers. The department is focused on providing the 24-hour coverage that the Town expressed they desired at the 2020 Town Meeting. While the full-time wages line is increasing the part-time line and on call costs are decreasing.

Ed explained the anticipated costs. The Budget Committee asked for a number of employees in comparison to surrounding towns with a similar number of residents.
The Police Secretary line item is budgeted for 12 ½ hours a week.
The new cruiser will be coming in a couple of weeks. The department has 3 cruisers.
On call wages went down because of the full-timer filling in the gap for on call services.
Administration should not have come down, this probably occurred because the COVID stipends were added to the budget to offset their expense.
Overtime is increasing slightly, court is budgeted for, three sick days are budgeted for.
Hospital blood draw, each charge is approximately 100 dollars.
Retirement is up $23,836. This is an uncontrollable cost set by the State, this is adjusted every two years by the State and is tied to full-time employee costs. This is approximately $16,000 per employee.
Dispatch and cellular service were discussed. In the future mobile access may be able to reduce dispatch costs but that would be offset by mobile air card subscriptions. Today cell coverage does not allow the department to leverage this technology.
The copier replacement was a priority this year.
The Police Equipment line received a grant for night vision gear and we have been reimbursed. Duty ammunition was recently purchased to replenish ammunition.
The budget line for gas is forecasted at pre-COVID rates. While prices are down today there is risk in budgeting at the current lower costs.
The Committee discussed the longevity of the current office space. The location meets the need at this point.
Mark mentioned the engagement of the department with community outreach being well received.
Doug Southard questioned the 11 percent increase on the budget with a 2 percent inflation rate. A detailed response is not needed now. Ed expressed that there is no opportunity to meet a 2 percent increase with the addition of a fourth officer.
Doug would like to understand the traditional percentage of increase of year over year. He wants to become more familiar with the increase seen historically. Laurie will send a link to a State website that has some of this data and Karen will pull together some numbers.

Cemetery:

Marlene Freyler, on behalf of the Cemetery Commission, reviewed the Cemetery Budget:

The overall budget is increasing by $100.
Wages were reviewed, there has been a shift in how the Commission will categorize resource demands. A bid package for landscaping and maintenance is being prepared. The last time this work was bid was 2016.
A warrant article for $12,000 to $15,000 for partial replacement of the water supply system at Sunny Plains Cemetery is being prepared. Marlene Freyler explained that the current system has failed and the last time it was addressed was in 1951.

The Committee discussed the next agenda for December 3^rd. They will determine their next meeting date at that meeting.

Receipt of Information or Proposals:

Department Head review scheduled dates- December 3^rd, 2020: Parks and Recreation, Fire Department, the Town Clerk and Executive and Miscellaneous budgets.
The Library and Planning Board are not yet scheduled.

Future Business:

The next Budget Committee meeting is scheduled December 3rd, 2020 at 6:30.

Key Dates:

Public Hearing target, on or before February 4^th
Friday, February 12^th, last day to hold Public Hearing on the Budget
Wednesday February 17^th, last day to present budget to Selectmen for posting in the Warrant

Motion: Marlene Freyler motioned to adjourn at 8:17pm.

Second: Doug Southard

Decision: 6-0 in favor

Adjournment 8:17pm

Draft Minutes written and submitted by

Katie Olohan and updated by Laurie Colburn