TOWN OF HARVARD
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Minutes
Meeting Date: Sept. 25, 2007
Meeting Place: Hapgood Room, Old Library
Members Present: Steve Colwell, Marie Crowley-Sobalvarro, Terry Mead, George McKenna
Debbie Ricci (Chair) Cindy Russo, Bob Thurston
Others: Tim Bragan, Town Administrator, Lorraine Leonard, Finance Director
Adjournment Time: 9:51 pm
Discussions and Actions
· Minutes of Sept 24 meeting were amended and accepted on a vote of 6-0-0.
· Steve Colwell arrived at 7:44.
· Discussion on the mailing, Should we just pass it out at Special Town Meeting? Is it necessary? It is expensive. Will it make a difference?
Committee decided to substitute a post card with pertinent information of hearing and Special Town Meeting dates and content which will be mailed to Harvard and Devens citizens.
· Lorraine Leonard reported on the up-date of Schools spending. The committee members received a summary of the entire school expenses in FY07 from all funding sources. The report was a summary of the End of Year Report for DOE. $3,008,718 was the final MSBA payment to Harvard that paid off our BAN for the Bromfield School construction project.
· Tim Bragan reminded the committee that the public forum for the Special Town Meeting will be on October 3, 2007 at 7:00.This will be held at the Town Hall. This is expected to be about two hours in length.
· Tim Bragan passed out copies of the Warrant and explained the changes in Article 1 and 7. BOS voted to take funding for Article 7 out of Certified Free Cash. Warrant will be on Harvard Web site tomorrow.
Committee reviewed the Warrant and Tim clarified all of our questions
· Committee made recommendation on Articles.
Our recommendations will be included in the Warrant which will be passed
out at the Special Town Meeting.
· Tim Bragan gave us the draft of Budget Process Schedule and the Budget Report/Request draft for the Town Committees.
· Debbie Ricci presented a draft of the Schools budget format which was developed by Lorraine Leonard and Debbie Ricci. Suggestions to streamline both school and town into one format, as much as possible, were made.
· Bob Thurston will be the FinCom representative for the Special Education Task Force replacing Cindy Russo.
· A draft of the Town Meeting Handout was distributed for individuals to review before our next meeting on Wednesday, Oct.4, 2007 @ 7:00 pm at Town Hall.
Homework: Review Town Meeting handout..
· Lorraine Leonard gave the committee the major components of the F07 Free Cash.
· Steve Colwell shared information from School Committee meeting:
Course listing and enrollments at Bromfield
School Choice/Devens Enrollment.
· Draft of the Town Meeting Handout was distributed for individuals to be reviewed before our next meeting.
· Adjourned 7-0-0 at 9:51pm
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