Chichester Board of Selectmen
Minutes of Meeting
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Member Present: Richard DeBold, Jeffrey Jordan, Town Administrator Jodi Pinard
Advisory Budget Committee: Don Peterman, Doug Fisher, Marlene Hammond, Jason Weir, Ed Millette, Stephen McCleery
Call to Order: Mr. DeBold called the meeting to order at 6:00pm.
Appointments:
Budget Meeting
Bonding Roadway Projects – Mr. DeBold stated we asked Mr. Hall to come in and review the reasons why the Town did not bond the road projects a few years ago. He is here to give a short review of the information that he had gathered.
Mr. Hall stated I was on the school board when they bonded a project and I was on the CIP when they looked into bonding. It is my feeling that bonds are an option when you bond at least $2 million. There are both advantages and disadvantages. If you actually look at the charge of the RAC there is nothing in it that says how it the road projects should be funded. I believe this is more in the privy of the CIP and the Selectmen to make that decision.
Mr. Millette asked how many miles of paved roadway do we have?
Mr. Plunkett stated about 20 miles but some of the roads are in maintenance condition and not full reconstructed.
Mr. McCormack stated that conditions of the roads change yearly and that is what the committee assesses.
Mr. Millette stated I am saying for less money annually we could bond $4 million and complete 12 miles of road.
Mr. Jameson stated we as the RAC were not in favor of bonding the roadway reconstruction projects. Some of the other issues are that we do not have a lot continuous miles it would smaller sections here and there.
Mr. DeBold stated you also can not forget about the interest that the Town would pay on these bonds.
Mr. Millette stated I look at the fact that we are already behind and we are only two years into this 20 year plan.
Mr. McCormack stated the sections that we are completing with shorter miles is because the roadways are older and have never been done. We are trying to address the roads in the order they are deteriorating. We are trying to getting the bids up front to give the Selectmen and residents a more accurate number.
Road Advisory Committee – Mr. Weir asked if they could explain what happened last year and how to prevent it from happening this year.
Mr. McCormack stated we are getting the bids ahead of time this year so it won’t happen. Last year as well as years past we did not figure in the 4% increase in cost. This also contributed to the issues that happened last year.
Mr. Weir stated this has passed very narrowly the past two years. I think if the increases continue I am not sure the Town will support the road projects.
Mr. Mayville stated I think we are missing an important point of someone in Town managing the contractors and I believe this is something that could be done and save money.
Mr. DeBold stated that this is not out of the scope it could be done.
Fire/Ambulance – Matt Cole stated there are two points we wanted to touch on tonight. We have already traded in the donated ambulance. The ambulance that we are looking to trade in is the Town purchased ambulance in 2000. We would like to continue with replacing an ambulance every 10 years. The town purchased in this ambulance in 2000. We intend to put a $100,000 down payment and $50,000 payments there after all to be paid out of the Ambulance Special Revenue Fund.
Mr. Weir asked if there was enough money in the fund to purchase the ambulance in full right now.
Mr. Quimby stated no and there was not enough in fund in 2008 when the last ambulance was purchased.
Mr. Cole stated the lease purchase would consist of a $100,000 down and $50,000 payments in the following three years. There is also an escape clause for this lease.
Mr. Weir asked if the paint flaking off diminishes the service ability of the ambulance.
Mr. Cole stated that I do not think it does but if you delay the purchase of a new ambulance it will continue to effect the vehicle replacement schedule the department has in place.
Mrs. Cole stated the paint flaking off is not the only issue. It is inside the ambulance where the patients are cared for that also has some issues. There are crakes in the vinyl upholstery, the seat belts are only lap belts and not shoulders straps. I encourage anyone to come down and take a look at the ambulance for themselves.
Mr. Weir stated I have a hard time supporting this because we do not have the money to buy it outright.
Mr. Peterson has the ambulance reached the end of its usefulness.
Mr. Quimby stated that yes it has.
Selectmen – Mrs. Pinard reviewed the selectmen’s budget touching upon increases in Property/Liability insurance, IT services, electric and heating costs. There was a decrease in Health Insurance due to offering employees a lower cost insurance plan.
Public Input
None
Adjournment
A motion was made by Mr. Jordan and seconded by Mr. DeBold to adjourn the meeting at 9:00pm. Motion Passes
Respectfully submitted,
Not approved until signed
Jodi Pinard, Town Administrator
Richard DeBold, Chair D. Michael Paveglio Jeffrey Jordan
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