Advisory Committee Present: David Lindsay
January 13, 2009 Burt Shnitzler
Randy Dinjian
Connie Benjamin
Bob Czekanski
Lawrence Delaney
The Advisory Committee met at the Town Hall at 7:15 p.m. Board of Selectmen Chairman Curt Plante was present.
TOWN CLERK
Present: Pamela Powell, Town Clerk
161 Town Clerk: The salary (5101) and wages (5114) line items include a step increase for the Town Clerk and Assistant Town Clerk plus a 2% cost of living adjustment. The meeting expense (5781) line item shows an increase over last year only because a transfer was requested last year which would have equaled the request for FY10. A suggestion was made to improve on expenses including carpooling efforts for conferences attended by both the Town Clerk and Assistant Town Clerk. The meeting expenses will be earmarked for additional cuts to mileage later in the budget if necessary.
162 Election: The $3,956 in the wage (5114) line item reflected expenses to pay the poll workers for an annual, primary and state election. The Advisory Committee reduced this line item to $1,000 with the understanding that if a primary and state election was required they would be favorable to a transfer request for the expenses. A suggestion was made to use the participants of the Senior Tax Rebate Program as poll workers to reduce the cost. The purchase of services (5200) line item was reduced from $3,700 to $3,100 and the supplies (5400) line item was reduced $500 to $200 for a total reduction in the elections account from $8,056 to $4,300.
Ms. Powell and Ms. Gumbart informed the Advisory Committee that the staff has been doing research on permit tracking and record management. They noted that this was a goal of some of the departments and the Board of Selectmen. Flat drawer map files have been purchased to allow for the consolidation of maps to be located in one place. The new photo machine does scanning to allow for the consolidation of information to free up space. The staff is looking at ways to streamline the information so that it can be shared between departments to make the flow better and track information more easily. They have met with vendors to view various programs available to accomplish this task but because of the tight budget process have not budgeted for this and will wait until the spring when a free program
will be available. Additional funds may be needed for MIS.
CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Present: Carol Gumbart, Conservation Commission Administrator and Naomi Martin Conservation Commission member
The wage (5114) line item includes a step increase but does not include additional hours or the cost of living adjustment.
The land maintenance (5240) is budgeted at $8,000 for a project as part of the Bower Springs management plan and for the removal of trees on the dam at Forbush Mill Road. The Advisory Committee reduced this line item from $8,000 to $6,000. The advertising (5342) and vernal pool study (5305) line items were reduced from $500 to $250. The expenses in the vernal pool study line item have been used in the past to restock some of the field kits but they have not had to replace them in the couple of years. The advertising line item is used for publishing of legal notices. The miscellaneous (5780) line item was reduced from $250 to $200. The conservation fund (5963) was reduced from $5,000 to $2,500. It was not clear how this fund was used and Ms. Gumbart will contact Julie Costello,
Town Accountant for clarification. The capital outlay (5800) line item is used for such things as beaver pipes, trapping, etc. The beaver problems appear to be worse and the Advisory Committee agreed to leave this budget at $3,000 as requested. The dues (5730) line item was increased from $350 to $425 because of an increase in the Conservation Commission dues. That total Conservation Commission budget was reduced from $60,243 to $55,268.
Fyfeshire Dam article: The Conservation Commission has submitted an article in the amount of $500,000 for the engineering study associated with a Phase II investigation.
The Fyfeshire Dam is a 31 acre property with a dam that impounds a pond in front of it. The dam is 88 feet in length and is 12 feet high and is on town land gifted to the town. Over the years the dam has had some bandaid approach repairs. The State has identified this dam as a significant hazard dam. A Phase 1 investigation was done and it has been deemed an unsafe dam. The Conservation Commission believes that since the dam has been declared unsafe they must take action to do the engineering and study. They have not made a conclusive decision as to whether they should repair or remove the dam and feel they need input from the townspeople. There are concerns about flooding someone’s property if the dam were to let go. There is also a
concern about a change in the habitat because of endangered species and the cold water fishery that is located downstream on the property of the Clinton Rod and Gun Club. The Conservation Commission is taking the initial approach that the property is highly valued by residents and wildlife as it is and should be kept as Conservation property. A suggestion was made to break down the article of the expenses for the Advisory Committee’s review. Another consideration would be it split the funds into separate articles if all the work was not required to be completed in FY10. Ms. Gumbart also hopes for some funds from the State. Ms. Gumbart is concerned that if the State comes back with requirements and the Town has not allocated any funds we could be fined up to $500/day for not complying.
Ms. Gumbart agreed to provide a breakdown of costs with a timeline of the work.
LIBRARY
Present: Library Trustees Bob Zak, Christine Sterling and Roland Ochsenbein and Library Director Kelly Collins
Mr. Zak reported that a 30 cubic yard boulder was found on the library site.
The salary (5102) and wage (5114) line items reflect step increases for the present employees and the addition of 5 new staff members to be hired just before the opening of the expanded library. The plan included a service point on the 1st and 2nd floor with each floor being staffed by two employees which did not include the Library Director. The Library is open 42 hours per week to the public and it is anticipated that 75-90 patrons will pass through the library per day. Options to reduce the open hours of the library and the number of employees to staff the library at one time were discussed.
The heating (5210) line item was budgeted at $9,000 and reflected a reduction due to the decline in heating oil. The telephone (5430) line item was budgeted at $1,900 which was for two lines. Ms. Collins will review this to see what the reduction would be for one line. Some of the programs (5780) budget was folded into the construction budget and the Friends of the Bolton library will support some of the programs. Supplies (5400) line item showed a $2,000 increase over last year.
Mr. Zak stated that he met with Mr. Brown, DPW Director regarding the custodial position and it was decided that this position would be budgeted for in the DPW budget and the supervision would be provided by the Library Director.
Mr. Zak agreed to look at the electric, telephone and supplies, line items and the staffing issue to see if they could reduce the budget.
BUDGET DISCUSSION
Mr. Plante noted that permitting applications are down statewide and suggested looking at job sharing of positions with other towns as a creative way to offset some of the expenses.
BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE BUDGET SPREADSHEET
Mr. Lindsay provided the Committee with an overview of the budget spreadsheet dated 1-12-09 that showed an increase in the operating budget of approximately $22,358 and reduction to state aid cuts in the amount of approximately $10,000 for a total of approximately $69,373 shortfall. These increases in the operating budget represented the assistant position being deleted from the town administrator budget, the addition of 5 hours for the town secretary position and a 3% cost of living adjustment for non union employees. It also represented increases in the public safety, public works, education, human resources. An article in the amount of $5,000 was added for the school zone flashing lights on Main Street.
Meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Linda L. Day
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