Town of Greenfield
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday – November 12, 2009 – 6:00 pm
Present: Chairwoman, Karen Day; Selectman, Jarvis Adams, IV; Selectman, Aaron Kullgren,
Minutes: Administrative Assistant, Debra Davidson
Call to order: day called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm
Appointments:
Budgets -
6:30 – Library – Trustee, Eric Leonardi spoke to the library budget. The proposed budget is reduced from the approved 2009 budget. The Trustees all believe it is in line with where it should be, it is a bare bones minimum budget.
Kullgren expressed the importance of not spending any unnecessary money between January – March. Until voters approve the budget in March, the only funds that should be spent are for essential items only.
Leonardi stated they have tried to cut back the requested 5% throughout the year, the budget is as lean as it can be and they are trying to refurnish items that have not been purchased in the recent past.
The roof will be completed very soon, the contractor is busy and has us scheduled for the next week or two. The contractor is working on the water damage at the library.
Trustee, Maryanne Grant asked about incidental maintenance projects and how do they get completed. Administrative Assistant, Davidson explained that there is a list in the kitchen that maintenance items can be written on and Matt will take care of them. Another option is Gail or Chris can contact Deb directly and she will see that the projects get taken care of. Items that are in need of immediate addressing were discussed. Selectwoman Day suggested the Library Trustees invite the new DPW Supervisor to a meeting, once WRB begins working. He may be able to help out.
· Drainage
· Adjust the lay of the ground
Leonardi addressed the line item for programs, though it looks as if only 80.00 was spent, there was far more spent, donations were made to the Library to offset the expenditure. The Trustees would like to keep the line at $500.00, there are some great programs being brought forward in 2010. If the donations were not made the line item would have been spent in total.
Grant explained Gail would like to purchase more periodicals, she did cut back and it is important to keep updated material available.
Budget Committee Chair, Bruce Dodge asked if libraries can cooperatively work to get a volume discount. Leonardi responded that not really, but they can share books.
No further questions, the Selectmen thanked the Library Trustees for presenting their budget.
6:15 – Fire – Acting Chief, Loren White opened by discussing the proposed 2010 Fire Department budget. Kullgren complimented White on what a good job was done on this budget. White thanked Kullgren for the support. White is expecting the communications line to drop, he is waiting for the quote from mutual aid. The service has been very good about seeking outside funding, keeping local costs to a minimum. This line will have follow up.
Regarding Equipment, White stated there seems to be enough turn-out gear, there will not be another Gated Y purchased.
Capital Reserve Accounts were discussed. It was explained that after a CRF has been previously established by vote at Town Meeting, the departments can incorporate the CRF funding directly into their individual budgets without having to have separate warrant articles to put money into the funds. This would avoid voting on several CRF repeatedly. Sandra Rourke from the Department of Revenue informed the Administrative Assistant that other towns do this. Either way is acceptable.
Discussion of utilizing any surplus of various departments for funding CRF’s. This also has been discussed with the DRA, and also is an acceptable practice by the DRA.
White has asked Deb to send him Kevin’s McDonald’s email address.
White discussed the letter received from Milford Area Communication Center. White asked if the Board would be interested in hearing what they have to say. Selectmen would like to meet with them, Administrative Assistant will let White know when the meeting is scheduled.
7:00 – Selectman Kullgren excused himself from the meeting as he had another meeting with the School Board and the ADM Committee.
7:20 – Town Clerk – Dee Sleeper explained there are two elections in 2010, thus the small increase in her budget. The other portion of the budget does have a reduction. She has budgeted for a small raise for the deputy, she did not get a wage adjustment in 2009, she does all the deposits and works very hard.
7:00 - Police – Giammarino explained his budget.
· Gasoline - dropped the line item for gasoline things have stabilized.
· Personal Equipment - Personal Equipment has been reduced $500.00.
· Vehicle Maintenance - Vehicle maintenance will be used, so funds did not decrease. He is not asking for a new car but both Car #1 & Car #2 have high miles and will need some maintenance in the near future.
· Wages - Giammarino requested a 5% raise for Roberge, who was promoted to Corporal and did not get a raise when he was promoted. Based on a good evaluation, Giammarino is asking that Roberge be provided a raise. Giammarino stated that Roberge is on call a lot and that needs to be considered. Day stated other employees are not getting raises and it isn’t equitable to give one employee a significant raise, and overlook other hard working employees.
· Special Detail - Administrative Assistant asked if there was still special detail income to be provided, Giammarino said there are still funds out that will be paid to the town.
· Equipment - Equipment has been removed completely. All officers have great equipment. Two residents have made nice donations, one a bullet-proof vest another a GPS.
Bruce Dodge asked about Kevin McDonald, Adams & Day explained his qualifications and his plans for the future of the DPW.
Dodge asked about the potential for the future DPW location? Day explained currently the project is stalled, we need to have a concrete plan before we can move forward. Karla is working with the DES and the wetlands bureau in order to move forward with our plan.
Loren spoke about another community that during a vehicles lifespan the repairs reaches ½ of the cost of the vehicle the vehicle is replaced. Brief discussion followed
7:45 – In accordance with RSA 91A:3 II (a) personnel – Selectman Adams motioned to enter into a non-public session for the purpose of discussing a personnel matter. Seconded by Day.
8:00 - motion by Day to enter out of the non-public session and to further seal the minutes. Seconded by Adams. No discussion, no decision. Voted: 2-0 – Kullgren was absent. Vote in the affirmative.
Approval of minutes:
Selectmen approved the October 29, 2009 & November 5, 2009 minutes as written.
Sign Documents:
Selectmen signed the following documents:
· A/P invoices
· A/P checks
· P/R checks
· Abatement V1-14; V3-6
· STAG Grant reimbursement
· Town Hall Rental – 11-22-09
· Equalization Data Sheet
Old Business:
Town Office Safety – Chairwoman Day discussed her concerns for the safety of the Town Office staff with Chief Giammarino. Her concern is that with the economic state and what is happening to people, that the staff could be put in harms way either when alone in the building or at night when leaving the building. Lengthy discussion followed, options for security systems were discussed. No decisions were made.
New business:
Miscellaneous Mail was reviewed
Personnel Policy Update – Selectmen updated the personnel policy to read that there will be no overtime until after 40 hours. Overtime must be approved by the Department Head prior to any employee working overtime. If an employee is scheduled to work a holiday they will be paid double time. They will receive their holiday pay as well as their regular straight time pay, however this must be authorized prior to working the holiday.
Decision on assessing services has been tabled until next week.
8:15 Kullgren returned and discussed what recently transpired at the ADM & School Board Meeting. No decisions were made at the meeting.
Adjournment: With no further business the meeting adjourned at 9:15 pm. The next scheduled meeting will be held on Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 6:00 pm.
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