TOWN OF HARVARD
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Minutes
Meeting Date: Feb 7, 2009
Meeting Place: Town Hall
Members Present: George McKenna (Chair) Steve Colwell, Marie Crowley Sobalvarro, Marie Fagan, Lori Granville, Bob Thurston
Others Present: Associate members Collyn Bradley, Paul Von Loeske; Tim Bragan, Town Administrator; Edward Denmark, Chief of Police; Robert Mignard, Fire Chief
Meeting Time: 9:07 am
Adjournment Time: 10:41 am
Discussions and Actions
l George McKenna opened meeting, FinComm Minutes of Jan 31, 2009 approved as modified; FinComm Minutes of Feb 4, 2009 approved as modified.
l George McKenna motioned to vote: does FinComm agree to pursue the activities needed to design and execute a survey of the Town as discussed in previous meetings? Marie Fagan seconded; motion passed (6-0).
l FinComm expressed gratitude and appreciation to Terry Mead for her service over past two years. George clarified process of replacing Terry: the Town Moderator may replace her position through the same type of open process that is used for selecting new members.
l Library liason role previously held by Terry will be covered by George McKenna and Lori Granville.
l Review of Fire Department Budget:
e provided by our volunteer firefighters, whether or not a burn permit fee is adopted.
align="left" style="padding-left:36px;text-align:left;">Others noted that: there is the existing Tahoe in the Fire Department as a back-up for absorbing costs; that ~85% of the ‘stipend’ expense line is for stipends; that the Community Policing grant does not exist for FY10; that the budgets we’ve seen today don’t reflect the net change of the health insurance increase (or utilities); and that the ‘sustainable’ budget for the police should not reflect the removal of the recurring capital from our tax levy.
l FinComm asked Tim Bragan that the School, Library, Finance Department, and COA budgets be submitted in same format that Rich Nota used for the DPW budget. FinComm realized after review of Police and Fire that the formats in which they were presented were a bit too opaque to get a clear picture of the tradeoffs involved.
l Next meeting Wed Feb 11, 7:00 pm Town Hall.
l Move to adjourn at 10:41 AM.
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