Chilmark FINCOM & Selectmen Joint Board Meeting
Budget Hearing FY2012
February 1, 2011 Minutes
Present: FINCOM: (acting Chair) Sarah Mayhew Shipway, Richard Williams, Frank Yeomans, Bruce Golden, John Maloney. Selectmen: Chairman Warren Doty, Frank Fenner,
Jonathan Mayhew. Others: Town Accountant Emily, Administrative Assistant Diana DeBlase,
Keith Emin, David Norton, Brian Cioffi, Sean Slavin, Isaiah Scheffer, Dennis Jason,
Virginia Jones, Ebba Hierta, Janet Wiedner,
6:04 pm acting Chair Shipway called meeting to order in the Selectmen’s meeting room.
Minutes:
Draft Minutes from 1/19/11 postponed till 2/9/11.
Draft Minutes from 1/25/11, Richard Williams moved to approve minutes. Bruce Golden seconded the motion. SO VOTED: 8 Ayes
Highway Department:
Keith Emin presented the FY2012 budget for the Highway department. Accountant Day announced changes to be made in the budget book: the clothing allowance budget line should be $500.00 not $5,000.00 that would change the total sum to $145,346.00, 0.92% increase.
Mr. Fenner asked if the Highway Superintendent Emin was able to find part time help with the new grade pay set for highway laborer. Mr. Emin said he has a very good worker now.
Mr. Fenner would like to take $500.00 from the additional equipment line in the budget. This would leave $1,500.00. From 2008-2010 the highway department has spent an average of $750.00 for the 3 years. This change now brings the sum total for the Highway Dept. to $144,846.00.
Snow & Ice:
Accountant Day added up the bills she has so far and they total $20,997.00
Mr. Doty said the appropriation for snow and ice is set at $7,000.00, he went on to ask where the overage comes from?
Accountant said that it goes onto a recap next year when we set the tax rate.
This is the only category that the Accountant can carry a deficit in. The purpose of keeping the estimate low is for reimbursement possibilities from the State of Ma. Mr. Doty stated that the Governor has to declare a state of emergency before it can be reimbursed.
Mr. Doty would like to discuss the warrant article that the highway department has submitted for resurfacing Tabor House Road. The estimate from White Lynch Brothers is $319,606.00. This is one mile of road surface.
Mr. Fenner pointed out that this estimate did not have a seeding estimate. Mr. Emin said he figures possibly another $2,000.00 to include seeding.
Highway warrant article discussion continued…
Mr. Williams asked, in an effort to reduce the budget could this project be postponed to next year. Mr. Emin said yes, but he was trying to keep with the plan of resurfacing 1 mile per year.
Harbor Department:
Dennis Jason and Virginia Jones presented the Harbor department budget for FY2012.
It is pretty flat with a few increases. The increases are for: computer software upgrades to complete transition to an improved billing system. Another reason for the increase is due to planned replacement of pilings, 4-6 pilings. The cost to the pilings is roughly $1,000.00 per piling.
Mr. Fenner asked if the harbor department would look into the credit card rate and see if we can get a better rate. Mr. Jason responded that this was looked into last year and the best rate they found was with Sovereign Bank and that is who they have now. Mr. Jason said he would check again this year.
Mr. Yeomans asked if the Town of Chilmark is making money on the electrical use at the slips. Mr. Yeomans would also like to know how many meters are on the transient dock. Mr. Jason replied that there is one meter for the transient dock. There is also a meter at the west dock, a total of 2 meters.
Ginny Jones said that the town is making money from the electrical charges, she had reviewed charges and there is a small surplus each year. The Harbor provides electricity as a service to boaters not as a revenue item.
Mr. Doty asked if the harbor department has any warrant articles. Mr. Jason said that he doesn’t have the figures on the cost yet but that the warrant would be for work to be done on the dock at Quitsa landing. Mr. Jason said he still has money available in past warrants that might cover this. His department will look into what funds are available.
Mr. Mayhew asked what the other projects are that the $14,500.00 facilities maintenance is for, other than the $6,000.00 for pilings. Mr. Jason responded that funds will be used to replace additional pilings if available and necessary, and to improve and maintain the 15 foot boat. Mr. Jason has Kent Healy drawing up plans for two different options for repairing/replacing the dock at Hariph’s Creek Landing.
Shellfish Department:
Shellfish Constable Isaiah Scheffer presented the shellfish department budget for FY2012.
Mr. Williams asked if the purchase of seed line would be used this year. Mr. Scheffer said that this year his plan is to purchase steamers. This project could total $3,000.00 if steamer seed is available. Mr. Scheffer plans this for recreational purposes only, for the time being.
Mr. Yeomans asked where this seeding of steamers will be. Mr. Scheffer liked the tidal flat in the Pease Point area and behind the USCG station. Mr. Scheffer plans to test the survival rate prior to a full seeding.
Police:
Town accountant Emily Day made corrections to the line item Sergeant Salary it should read $75,690.00 a 2.6% increase. Also line item On-Call Compensation should read $17,460.00 which is a 0% increase. These changes make the bottom line total $557,759.00, a 6.3% increase.
Chief Brian Cioffi presented the FY2012 budget for the police department.
Chief Cioffi started with an explanation of the addition of a new line item named Security.
This line item was created in an effort to track monies and hours spent on security when VIPs are in Chilmark.
Chief Cioffi made a change to the line item Dues and Memberships adding $100.00 bringing that line item total to $1,250.00 and the bottom line to $557,859.00.
Mr. Williams believes that $17,000.00 seems an awful lot for 5 computers and lap tops.
Chief Cioffi clarified that this is an island wide shared system so that important information is at their fingertips.
Professional development line has been increased 28 .57%, this is to cover in-service basic and specialized training. The training requirements have been increased by the State and Chilmark has to increase this to comply with the State.
Chief Cioffi will be tracking this year potential cost of a new full time position.
Mr. Doty asked for a review of the warrant articles that the Chilmark Police will be presenting for the Annual Town Meeting. Chief Cioffi has three warrant articles. One article is to replace the 2002 Chevy Tahoe 4WD. The police department plans to turn the 2002 vehicle over to the Fire department. $32,165.00 will cover the cost of new vehicle.
The second warrant article is for $2,500.00 to help fund the joint training of the Island Tactical Response Team. This money is to help offset cost associated with training and the purchase of incidental equipment needed for our team members.
The third warrant article is for $2,200.00 to help fund the purchase of 2010 Microsoft Office operating licenses and cost relative to this purchase.
Fire Department:
Chief David Norton presented the budget for the Fire department for FY2012.
The Administrative Assistant budget line is increasing 22.71%. These are the hours that the department has established with the Personnel Board and Selectmen for office help. Martina Mastromonaco is working in this position which is 5 hours per week, 60 minutes a day.
The Fire Chief‘s salary is in the process of Personnel Board review and approval. This line is a 54% increase from last year.
Fire Department continued…
Mr. Williams said he thinks this may be premature to be hearing the salary budget for the Fire Chief since the Personnel Board has not yet approved this. Mr. Fenner said that we will take this under advisement till the Personnel Board has approved the salary and job position.
The budget line item for telephones / modems / pagers has gone up 42.86%. Chief Norton explained that the pagers that they are now using are out of date and they need to be replaced.
Mr. Williams asked why pump out line in the budget is so high. Chief Norton replied that the septic tanks where overdue for a pump out.
Mr. Mayhew asked why the radio repair maintenance line was so low. Chief Norton said that should read $1,400.00. That change brings the total sum to $139,262.00, a 10.72% increase.
Mr. Doty asked for information about the warrant articles the fire department has for the Annual Town Meeting.
Chief Norton started with a sum of $25,000.00 to be placed in the fire department stabilization fund for the replacement of fire apparatus that is 25 years of age.
Second article is for the sum of $220,000.00 for the purchase of a new 2500-3000 gallon tank truck to replace the second hand 1986 tank truck.
Third article is for the sum of $10,000.00 to replace old and out of date turnout gear for the firefighters.
Fourth article is $7,500.00 to start replacing old 2.2 SCBA (air tanks) which are slowly being discontinued.
Library:
Director Ebba Hierta presented the FY2012 budget of the Chilmark Library.
Ebba was pleased to point out a change she did not include in her budget. The change is the assistant library director has 3% longevity increase instead of 2 %. Kristin Maloney has worked for more than 20 years at the Chilmark Library.
The longevity line should now be $1,359.00. The total sum is now $285,672.00, a 6.74% increase.
Increase in budget is for salary to cover an extra after school hour. Along with the State required 20% increase for materials.
Mr. Williams moved to adjourn. John Maloney seconded the motion. SO VOTED: 8Ayes 8:59pm
Minutes respectfully submitted by Diana DeBlase
Minutes approved 2/16/11
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