Advisory Committee Present: Terry Abdalian
March 4, 2014 Randy Dinjian
Bob Czekanski
Connie Benjamin
Stacia Downey
Brad Cote
Julie Costello
The Advisory Committee met at the Town Hall at 7:00 p.m.
NRSD CAPITAL ITEMS (300)
Present: William Cleary
Mr. Cleary presented a five-year budget for capital items. He discussed the status of articles that were voted for FY2014. The budget requested for FY2015 is $67,000, a decrease of 70% over FY2014 primarily due to AC for classrooms being pushed off another year and not all previous projects being completed. Timing is an issue because there is only a short window of opportunity over the summer to complete these projects while the school is unoccupied. Due to some projects coming in under budget and extending other projects over 4-5 years the request may be reduced. Mr. Cleary will contact the Town Accountant to discuss options.
COUNCIL ON AGING (541)
Present: Sheila Chmielowski and Panny Gerken
The budget requested for FY2015 is $62,004, an increase of 19.5% over FY2014 primarily due to a request for a program director position for 8 hours a week and My Senior Center software. The money for the software and an increase in to wages for program directing was agreed to however the board did not all agree that a new person should be hired. Some thought the current COA Director could do the work with additional hours. There was no decision made at this time. A straw poll of the committee was taken to add the position of Program Director and the result was a 3-3 tie. (Abdalian – yes, Dinjian – no, Czekanski – no, Downey – yes, Benjamin –yes, Cote – no)
AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION (179)
Present: Janet Johnson and Richard Pelletier
The agricultural commission was invited back at the board’s request to discuss how it planned on spending its money. The budget requested for FY2015 is $1,746, no change over FY2014. They would like to purchase a uniform sign for all agricultural businesses in Bolton at the 495 intersections. There were no changes made to the budget.
HISTORICAL COMMISSION (691)
Present: Martha Remington and Linda Engelmann
The historical commission was invited back at the board’s request to discuss the ramifications if any of classifying a neighborhood as historic. The board was satisfied with the work being done as listed in the Master Plan. The budget requested for FY2015 is $6,250, no change over FY2014. There were no changes made to the budget.
FIRE DEPARTMENT (220)
Present: John Mentzer, Jack Holbrook and Wesley Durant
The fire department was invited back to discuss a lease/purchase option for the fire engine. Due to the low interest rates if the Town were to finance the fire engine and not pay cash for it they believed that issuing a State House Note would be a better option. There was no decision at this time on how to pay for the fire engine.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE DISCUSSION
- Terry handed out her budget summary sheet for discussion. Additions were made for using remaining balances from prior articles to pay for some capital items.
- Police phone line item was reviewed and no change was made.
- A 2% COLA for nonunion employees was agreed upon for parody with unions.
- Whether or not to fund OPEB was discussed.
On a motion by Cote and seconded by Benjamin, the Advisory Committee voted to adjourn at 10:15 p.m. (Abdalian – yes, Dinjian – yes, Czekanski – yes, Benjamin – yes, Downey – yes, Cote -yes)
Respectfully submitted by Julie Costello
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