Lenox Finance Committee Meeting
Date: January 16, 2013
Members Present: Lucy Kennedy (LK), Joe Nejaime (JN), John Hillier (JH), Mark McKenna (MM), Colby Lewis (CL), Robert Vaughan (RV)
Guests: None
Absent: None
Meeting called to order at 6:10 PM
LK suggested we start with a re-cap of the initial budget meetings that liaisons were able to attend.
JH summarized his meeting with DPW, which included Jeff Vincent, Ed Lane and Greg Federspiel. Touched on the capital projects planned for the future. Big costs are new water & sewer treatment plant and ongoing road work. Goal is to list the projects in order of necessity (i.e. which projects, or parts of project, can be deferred)?
MM was unable to attend the initial budget meetings with Police and Fire.
LK & CL will be scheduling a meeting with the Library.
JN & RV will follow up with School committee.
We reviewed the draft budget and the general consensus voiced was that we were a little disappointed that there was no significant change in the town’s structure from prior years. JN motioned, and JH seconded, that we should express our concerns to the BOS. Primary comments are:
• We talked a lot about staffing efficiencies in prior meetings and in discussions with the BOS, yet the draft budget does not reflect any effort toward change.
• Capital projects are a large piece of the Town budget, and although it is understood some of these projects have been deferred already, there should be an effort to study what really has to be done in 2014 and create a timeline for the balance, plus a plan needs to be in place on how the Town will pay for each project (besides new taxes and new borrowings).
The BOS have asked the Finance Committee to attend the next meeting on Wednesday January 23, 2013 at 6:00 PM. Additionally, we have a regular meeting scheduled for Wednesday January 30, 2013 at 6pm.
Meeting adjourned: 8:30PM
Respectively Submitted,
Mark McKenna, Secretary
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