TOWN OF EAST WINDSOR
BOARD OF FINANCE MEETING
September 20, 2006
REVISED
The Board of Finance meeting was called to order at 7:36 p.m. at the East Windsor Town Hall.
Members Present:
Paul Catino, Chairman
Maria DeSousa
Tammy Sorensen-Duray
William Dove
Jack Manette
Noreen Farmers
Dale Nelson
Members Absent:
Leo Szymanski
Others Absent:
Linda Roberts, First Selectman
Mary Szabo, Town Treasurer
APPOINTMENT OF ALTERNATES
None
PREVIOUS MINUTES
Regular Meeting - May 17, 2006
Motion: To approve the minutes of the May 17, 2006 Board Meeting as written.
Ms. Nelson / Ms. Farmer
Vote: 5-in favor / 1 abstention
Discussion: None
Special Meeting of June 12, 2006
Motion: To approve the minutes of the June 12, 2006 Special Joint Meeting called to order.
Ms. Nelson / Ms. Farmer
Vote: 5-in favor / 1 abstention
Discussion: Regarding the Executive Session of this meeting, the chair included 2 separate issues, finance and then the Executive Session. There is question pertaining to coming out of Executive Session, should there be a motion to indicate what came out of that Executive Session. The answer was yes that there should have been, it was an oversight, technically nothing was done wrong, but it would have been clearer if one had been made.
COMMUNICATIONS
Letter dated July 31, 2006 from the East Windsor Public Schools, a copy of which is marked Exhibit A attached hereto and made a part hereof. The letter provides an update to the Board of Finance on the status of the upgrade to the bathrooms at the Broad Brook School.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Treasurer was not able to attend the meeting, however, did leave a report dated September 20, 2006, a copy of which is marked Exhibit B attached hereto and made a part hereof.
Motion: To approve the Treasurers report as presented.
Ms. DeSousa / Ms. Sorensen-Duray
Vote: Unanimous
REQUESTS/RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN
None
OLD BUSINESS
None
OUT OF ORDER
All agenda items should be addressed to the chair not to the recording secretary and the chair has discretion over what goes on the agenda.
NEW BUSINESS
Request for Guidance-Transition of WHP Library to Town of East Windsor
Noreen will write a letter stating that the work is important and should continue. The Chairman says clearly yes. If we pursue it, its is a big chunk to the Town budget. Ms. Sorensen-Duray and Ms. Nelson are both on the adhoc committee and they indicated that the library has looked at a five (5) year CIP transition.
The Chairman asked if as a member, if they (Ms. Nelson and Ms. Sorensen-Duray) feel we should continue. The response was yes, they should continue and pursue and ultimately end up at a Town vote. The library is so far behind that they don’t even have viable computers. It is something worth looking at and moving forward with. The Key presentation is to identify key points:
Where we’re sending people to get resources (ex: Enfield).
What’s the benefit to the Town?
What are they getting for their money?
Take it over in pieces and the ground keeping should be the first step. The consensus is to continue.
Appropriation of Funding for Retirement Agreement for Bernie Duffy
The question arose about the cost of funding the agreement, is a precedent being set. The same offer was made 1-2 years ago and the terms of that are almost identical to this; the big change is how the accumulated time off is compensated. At the Executive Session it was unanimous to have the Board of Selectman put the agreement in writing and it would be approved. At this point it’s a done deal.
Motion: To authorize the funding for the agreement entered into between Bernie Duffy and the Town of East Windsor with the specifics detailed on June 12, 2006.
Ms. Nelson / Ms. Farmer
Vote: 5-in favor / 1 abstention
Discussion: What is the funding? The dollars to cover this period is covered by the current budget because he is not being replaced. The additional money would be the medical. There is no added appropriation for his pay and no added expense to the Police Department because the position is not being replaced. The only new piece was the accumulated sick time and we would be obligated to pay it anyway.
Police Department Expenditures – FY06 and FY07
Issues were raised about money that was transferred at the end of 2006. The FY06 issue is that there were police officers leaving and there was an added appropriation to include all payments for the money owed to those police officers. The question is how the payout for those officers was made. Due to the expenses for 2007 being very high. One officer leaving wasn’t paid out until FY07 and was of the impression that it would be paid in FY06.
The FY07 issue is the question as to whether or not the request for data has been met? The Secretary says no. There was additional information requested and questions asked and have not received anything to date.
Ms. Nelson is the liaison between the Board of Finance and the Police Commission and she did spend 3-4 hours with the Chief and Maria Root on training, etc.
The Chairman wanted to make it clear that the Salary part is 1 section of the budget and the operating expense is another. The do not get a lump sum budget, they get a line item budget. They do not get to move money around as they see fit. ONLY 2 departments get a lump sum budget and that’s the Board of Education and the Library.
The Police Department is already over spending in overtime at a rate of $23,000 a month instead of at a rate of $13,000 a month. They are spending money beyond their appropriation.
The hired 3 positions, they were 5 officers down. They are still not part of the minimum lateral; the officers are not counted as minimum.
It would be inappropriate to have the police department speak tonight since we did not issue them a memo to come and they are not on the agenda. We need to have a special meeting because it will consume the board’s time at their regular meeting and it was suggested that perhaps we have the Board of Selectman there, as well as the Police Commission.
Once the employee performs the work, the employee must be paid, even if the money is not in the budget for it. The answer is to stop authorizing the overtime.
Down position due to the following:
1 officer in jail
1 officer retired to Florida
1 officer had the tazer issue
1 vacancy prior to all of the above
1 officer not included in the FY06 numbers
Only $9,900 was paid in last year of the added appropriation. $23,900 was paid this FY and was supposed to be paid in 2006. A special meeting is requested to get these questions answered.
Funding – donations, grants coming into the Town, their DWI grants to the police department and the click it & ticket grants, the question was raised if they use these to offset the overtime and how does that fit into their budget. Grants, etc should be put into a public notice to transfer to the police department. Manchester does it and makes it very public, there has been articles in the Journal Inquirer. A board member wants clarification on how that’s done.
The request from the police department be explicit in writing, the Board of Finance provides guidance for the contingency fund set up. We have a special meeting in 2 weeks, the police department should come well prepared, put it in a formal invitation with a specific agenda.
In order to make the police department whole with the money they already spent would be $23,000 moving out of contingency and put to a public hearing. How many quarters released at once will be decided at the next meeting.
Shared Services – Discussion and Volunteers for Subcommittee
One component of the shared services is someone under the Board of Education umbrella and ITS services to the town.
Noreen Farmer volunteered to do it and she is available during the day.
Marie DeSousa volunteered to do it and can meet on days when she is schedule off.
The intent is for six (6) meeting, approximately 2 per month.
CIP -- Volunteers
Capital Improvement Plan – important, it pays dividends and in April it was a big discussion with the budget.
Noreen Farmer volunteered
Dale Nelson volunteered
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: To adjourn the meeting at 9:06 p.m.
Ms. Nelson / Mr. Dove
Vote: Unanimous
Respectfully submitted,
Lori P. Holden
Recording Secretary
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