TOWN OF FARMINGTON
BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING
Wednesday - February 7, 2007
Committee Members Present: Chairman Arthur Capello, Mike Morin, Walter Mills, Joe Pitre, Ann Titus, Debra Cantwell, and Selectman's Rep. William Tsiros.
Committee Members Excused: Gail Ellis
Public Present: Kim Brackett (Parks & Rec. Director), Police Chief Scott Roberge, Fire Chief Richard Fowler, Kathy Seaver (Town Clerk) and Public Works Director Joel Moulton
Meeting called to order at 7:04pm
For the record it was stated by the Selectman's Rep., Bill Tsiros that the proposed town budget sheets include the warrant articles and that the Selectman agreed to a 2.5% COLA increase for payroll, no merit.
Budget Reviews
Parks and Recreation Department: Kim Brackett, Parks & Rec. Director, came forward to present her proposed budget. She explained the following line items.
1. Line 36 (supplies) up $500 because supply needs have risen plus a new $10
delivery charge has been added.
2. Maintenance payroll paid out of Gov't Buildings heading not Recreation.
3. Payroll line shows a remaining balance because they had an employee out in December for medical reasons.
4. Arthur Capello questioned if the Rec. Dept rates reflect any difference for out of town people participating in programs. Kim responded that the after-school and summer daycare programs do.
5. Line 203(Rec Equip.) under Reserves did read $8000 that was to be put away
for van replacement but the Selectman lowered this to $3000.
6. Line 177 (Custodial Truck) under Capital Outlay - The truck will not pass inspection this year so it will need to be replaced. The custodians use the truck to transport items in town like the lawn mower, snowblower, lg. equipment and garbage. The budget shows that $32,000 was expended last year on this line but it was for the Public Works/Highway Dept.
Police Department: Chief Scott Roberge came forward to present his proposed budget.
1. Arthur asked if the department was fully operational with all positions filled.
The Chief responded he is currently down one position but currently has two in the academy.
2. Line 104 description of $20,000 in bonuses is incorrect.
3. Line 103 is a combination of the crossing guard and the downtown traffic cop payroll. Mike questioned if a traffic light downtown has ever been looked into and
the Chief responded yes, but the town would only need one 20% of the time and the cost is well over $100,000.
4. Many Committee members asked about the patrol dog. The Chief stated that he has the dog in training now and he wiill be a drug, tracking and patrol dog after he is certified in a few months. He commented that everything done with the dog so far has been done through donations and the line in the budget for the $500 for the Working Dog Foundation covers all vet visits (emergency and non) and medications. It was also noted that the town has had to pay to use other towns' dogs in the past for tracking.
5. School Resource/Grant line was not fully expended last year because of staffing issues but the officer is full time in the schools now and will continue to be, plus
the SAU reimburses this cost by 80%.
6. The Chief noted he will need $1500 to replace the camera system at the station because it just broke.
7. Arthur questioned if the cruisers have GPS installed. The Chief responded that all 5 cars have GPS with car54 technology but they are not activated because he has to wait for permission from the state police.
8. Chief Roberge stated that all his radios have been updated to the digital system.
9. Animal Control Budget - The Chief stated that the station get 20-30 calls per week for animal control and the gentleman who does it now has already stated he not interested in continuing at his current salary. Chief Roberge is currently working with other towns to see if he can pool together money from surrounding towns to share a animal control officer. He also suggested using the Expedition cruiser that is coming out of use as the animal control vehicle.
10. The police are in need of a new cruiser, the Chief does not believe there is any money in the capital reserves for this. The committee saw $5,970 in the Police
Cruiser Dept. Revenue SRF, they would like to find out what this fund is from and
what it is earmarked for. Kathy Seaver, Town Clerk, joined the meeting later in
the night and informed the committee that the police cruiser fund is not to
purchase a new cruiser but where the money is put from detail done with the car.
Fire Department: Fire Chief Richard Fowler came forward to present his proposed budget. He first reported that the fire and ambulance budgets were combined under one heading this year but that he would keep accurate details of calls and expenditures.
1. Chief Fowler reported that the maintenance for the alarm lines needs to be kept in the budget for another year because all systems have not been changed over to the new digitized system. Plus any monies remaining once cut off for being on the digitized system has been reached will be used to remove the old hard lines.
2. Arthur asked if there is a recommended number of people by the state that
should be at the station. The Chief responded no but that the town decided 40 volunteers was the cap number. Right now the station has 38 volunteers with
three applications in.
3. Under Capital Outlay, with the Selectman's direction the Chief would like to purchase a 2007 Quint (ladder and pump) Truck. The current ladder truck has just been tested and the ladder is very close to not passing again plus it does not meet NFPA standards.
4. The Chief also stated that through a grant he was able to purchase 33 radios
with which his station can communicate with the police department with.
5. It was noted that the budget committee feels it is more responsible to separate
the Fire and Ambulance budgets for tracking purposes
Highway/Bridges/Landfill Departments: Joel Moulton, Department Head, reported on his proposed budgets.
1. Under highway line 66 (winter sand) is a new line so that Joel could better track this cost. This committee asked him to find out what line the winter sand used to come out of.
2. Under highway line 65 (rental equipment) is for the rental of a vibrating roller to keep the roads in better condition so as to not have to rebuild so often.
3. Under highway line 85 (highway equipment/tools) is to purchase a hose press which costs approx. $2025.
4. Under Bridges line 53 (bridges) is for immediate repairs that need to be done to stabilize the bridges.
5. On the landfill, Joel just noted that the fees being generated are being put in a fund to go to the ultimate closing of the landfill.
Meeting adjourned at 10:08pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Brandy Sanger
Recording Secretary
_____________________________ ___________________
Ann Titus, Secretary Date
Budget Committee - - 2/7/07 Workshop Minutes - - Page 3 of 3
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