Chichester Board of Selectmen
Minutes of Meeting
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Members Present: Chairman Jeffrey Jordan, Richard DeBold, Michael Paveglio, Town Administrator Jodi Pinard
Budget Committee Members: Mike Williams, Jason Weir, Don Peterman, Marlene Hammond, Norm Larochelle, Steve MacCleery, Ed Millette
Others present: Alan Quimby, Matt Cole, Donna Chagnon, Ann Davis, Tom Houlne, Fred Shaw, Bernd Reinhardt, Carolee Davison, John Freeman, Stephen Stock, Beth Collins
Call to Order: Chairman Jordan called the meeting to order at 6:06pm
Budget Meetings with Departments for 2014 Budget
Building Inspection – John Freeman presented the proposed budget. There was one requested increase in the 4240-10 line in the amount of $3,104. This is for a wage increase as there has not been one given since the building inspector started work in 2010. Other than that there were no changes in the budget. The board was also informed revenues are up roughly $3,500 over last year.
Consensus was to take the wage increase under advisement as the board would be reviewing wages as a whole later on in the process.
Forest Fire Control – Stephen Stock presented the proposed budget. It contained two increases. Line 4290-42 Equipment with an increase of $500 for the purchase of new fire hoses. Currently 7 hoses did not pass testing and 2 were damaged during firefighting operations. Line 4290-44 Mileage also has a requested increase of $250. This line currently has $2 left for the year and there are still two months’ worth of mileage that has to be submitted.
Cemetery Trustee – Fred Shaw presented the proposed budget. This budget is the same as last year.
Library – Carolee Davison presented the proposed budget. They have requested an additional Library Aide for coverage during the hours the library is open. This would be a part time position working 25 hours per week at a rate of $10.00 per hour. This additional employee would ensure two people are working at the library at all times. They would be able to better assist the patrons as well as no one being alone in the building at any time.
The other increase in the budget is for $1,000 for software maintenance. The library will be purchasing new software with the proceeds of the book sales that they have had. It was stated that if this budget does not pass the library will have to look into cutting services that they are currently providing.
It was asked if the town would look into having a light put on the pole at the end of driveway by the church as they use that parking lot at times and it is extremely dark.
Historical Society – Bernd Reinhardt and Beth Collins present the proposed budget. This budget is the same as last year. The Historical Society thanked the town for all of their support.
Town Clerk/Tax Collector – Evelyn Pike was not in attendance to present the budget but Jodi quickly presented it.
Fire: Chief Quimby and Deputy Chief Cole presented the budget. There were increases from the previous year’s budget. There was discussion of reducing to one ambulance as they seem to be investing a lot of money into both for repairs. This is something the fire department has discussed and is possibly looking into it in the future. Statistics were requested on call volume for the ambulance and fire apparatus.
The fire department discussed the purchase of a subscription to the Firehouse Cloud software. This would give access from any computer with internet and would solve the concern that if power was lost they would still be able to access the software.
Vehicle and building repairs are a major expense and it was felt that the department needs to separate out regular maintenance such as oil changes, tires, batteries, for vehicles as well as normal building maintenance items from the proposed budget. The regular maintenance were the items that should be reflected in the budget. They were asked to remove the large one time repairs from their budget and list those out separately. This way the board could review the larger items and make a decision as to how they would like to proceed.
The board requested the Fire Department return on January 7, 2014 at 6pm with the information that was requested.
Being no further discussion, a motion was made by Mr. DeBold and seconded by Mr. Paveglio to adjourn the meeting at 9:10pm. Motion passes.
Respectfully submitted,
Approved 12/30/13
Jodi Pinard, Town Administrator
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Jeffrey Jordan Richard DeBold D. Michael Paveglio
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