Town of Lyme
Budget Committee
December 10, 2003
7:00pm
Lyme Town Offices
Approved: January 5th, 2004
Present at this meeting: Selectmen: Richard Jones and Allan Newton. Budget Committee Members: Gibb Cornwell, Mike Smith, Wayne Tullar, Jeff Lehmann, Josh Kilham, Manton Copeland, Chairman Barney Brannen, Earl Strout, Judy Shelnutt-Brotman. Community members (ad hoc Energy Committee) Claudia Kern, Tom Hughes, Carola Lea. Administrative Assistant Carole Bont, and Scribe Dina Cutting.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Mike Smith.
Mike Smith will be Chairing this meeting until Chair Brannen arrives.
1) Mr. Cornwell moved to approve the minutes of the November19th, 2003, meeting. Seconded by Mr. Jones. These minutes were voted unanimously in favor as submitted.
2) Facilities Committee:
Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman reported to the Budget Committee on the Highway Garage plans. Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman reviewed the changes made by the Committee to reduce the cost of this project to $533,612.30. Followed was a discussion concerning different lay outs for the sight, radiant heat, well, buses, and sources of fuel. Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman informed the Budget Committee that the Facilities Committee would like to go to Town Meeting with this figure. The Facilities Committee was looking for a vote of support on these numbers from the Budget Committee tonight. The Facilities Committee could present various options and add-ons to the base amount at Town Meeting. Allan Newton reported about his and Tony Ryan’s visit to view South Royalton’s new highway garage. This is a nice facility and he hopes our highway employees
will go to visit and talk with their Highway employees. Followed was a discussion concerning the size of doors, snow load for the roof, hydraulic lifts, and square footage costs.
Claudia Kern introduced herself and other soon-to-be Town Energy Committee members. This Committee would like to work with the Facilities Committee to explore different options for saving money on the Highway Garage’s energy sources. Mrs. Kern went on to describe what the Energy Committee could offer the Facilities Committee for information. The Budget Committee encouraged the Energy Committee to bring any proposals to the Facilities Committee at their Friday morning meetings.
4) The Budget Committee will be voting on the following 2004 Line items. These will all be non-binding votes.
5) Line 414: Mr. Smith moved Line 414 at $510,000.00. Seconded by Mr. Jones, voted unanimously in favor.
6) 2004 Budget:
Line 24 Executive: Mr. Jones moved line 24 at $126,313.00. Seconded by Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman.
Mr. Lehmann explained that he would be making a motion to decrease this line to $113,432.00. This figure would reflect a reduction in the Selectmen’s Clerk’s hours to 20 hours at $15.00 per hour and eliminate the benefits for this position. This will also effect the Assessing Clerk’s position later in this budget. Mr. Lehmann feels these positions should be kept separated as two part-time positions instead of one full-time position. Followed was a discussion concerning the difficulty in hiring part-time employees, getting qualified employees, this new wage as being excessive, and trying not to create positions that require full time benefits. Mr. Lehmann warned that if this new position passes it will be a topic for discussion at Town Meeting. The Budget Committee and Selectmen should be ready to defend
these figures at Town Meeting. The motion was voted as moved 5 in favor, 4 opposed (Lehmann, Strout, Tullar, and Cornwell). The motion passed.
Line 40 Elections, Registration & Vital Statistics: Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman moved line 40 at $44,394.00. Seconded by Mr. Smith. Mr. Lehmann noted the addition of benefits as of last year to this section. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
Line 64 Financial Administration: Mr. Strout moved line 64 at $89,665.00. Seconded by Mr. Smith, voted unanimously in favor.
Line 76 Revaluation of Property: Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman moved line 76 at $35,492.00. Seconded by Mr. Smith. It was noted by Mr. Lehmann that this line includes the addition of an Assessing Clerk position. Followed was a brief discussion concerning cost of training, lowering the hourly wage of the Assessing Clerk, and the need for this position in order to get all the work done that the State requires. The motion was voted 7 in favor, 2 opposed (Lehmann & Strout).
Line 78 Legal Expense: Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman moved line 78 at $22,500.00. Seconded by Mr. Kilham, voted unanimously in favor.
Line 85 Personnel Administration: This line was postponed in case of any change in payroll.
Line 101 Planning & Zoning: Mr. Smith moved line 101 at $53,031.00. Seconded by Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman. Followed was a brief discussion of Zoning fees and legal fees for Planning and Zoning. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
Line 112 General Government Buildings: Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman moved line 112 at
$ 6,650.00. Seconded by Mr. Strout, voted unanimously in favor.
Line 129 Cemeteries: Mr. Copeland moved line 136 at $45,892.00. Seconded by Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman, voted unanimously in favor.
Line 136 Insurance: Mr. Smith moved line 136 at $36,882.00. Seconded by Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman, voted unanimously in favor.
Line 141 Advertising & Regional Association: Mr. Strout moved line 142 at $2,300.00. Seconded by Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman, voted unanimously in favor.
Line 162 Police: Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman moved line 162 at $ 134,074.00. Seconded by Mr. Jones. It was noted that this line is about $100,000.00 more than when Mr. Strout first came on the Budget Committee. Could the Town of Lyme look in to sharing a Police Department with a neighboring town? The motion was voted 8 in favor, 1 opposed (Mr. Strout).
Line 164 Ambulance: Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman moved line 164 at $ 30,000.00. The Budget Committee was reminded that there is a revenue line to off set this. Seconded by Mr. Smith, voted unanimously in favor.
Line 195 Fire: Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman moved line 195 at $45,350.00. Seconded by Mr. Smith. Mr. Lehmann noted the group “Those Guys” gave $1,000.00 to the Fire Department so this line may be reduced by that amount. The motion was voted 8 in favor, 1 opposed (Lehmann).
Line 206 Emergency Management: Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman moved line 206 at
$5,675.00. Seconded by Mr. Smith, voted unanimously in favor.
Line 208 Other Public Safety: Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman moved line 208 at $12,000.00. Seconded by Mr. Strout, voted unanimously in favor.
Line 252 Highway: Mr. Strout moved line 252 at $510,946.00. Seconded by Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman. Mr. Newton reviewed the wage and classification information from last year. Followed was a lengthy discussion concerning how the raises were determined from the wage and classification study, the quality of the work our road crew performs, job descriptions, the lack of longevity in our pay scale, and the number of hours for the part-time highway employee. It was noted at this time that the Budget Committee received a memo from Road Agent Fred Sterns. This requested an equal pay raise for all the town highway employees. The Budget Committee reviewed and asked questions concerning this memo. Followed was a discussion concerning the lack of longevity pay within our pay scale. There should be a balanced way to reward new
employees for learning on the job and long time employees for their work. The need to increase the part- time employee’s hours was discussed. Mr. Jones explained that this employee fills in when summer vacations are taken and helps out during winter storms. He noted the Selectmen felt these hours should stay as the Selectmen requested: 200 summer and 200 winter. Following a brief discussion, it was the sense of the Budget Committee to support the Selectmen and keep the part-time employee’s hours at 400 total. The Budget Committee had a lengthy discussion concerning hourly wages in the surrounding area towns, concern over responding to employees not happy with their raises, and the process of implementing the wage and classification study recommendations. Questions were asked and answered concerning what the Lyme highway employees wages were and whether the Selectmen believed the wages were fair. The Budget Committee decided not to give a sense of the
committee on this issue at this time. Mr. Jones asked the Budget Committee to give the Selectmen a figure and let the Selectmen distribute the money accordingly if the Budget Committee felt the wages should change. The motion on line 252 was voted unanimously in favor as moved.
Line 254 Street Lighting: Mr. Strout moved line 254 at $ 1,700.00. Seconded by Mr. Kilham, voted unanimously in favor.
Because of the storm brewing and the late hour it was the sense of the Budget Committee to stop at this time. The Budget Committee will come back next week and finish going through the budget proposal.
Reminder: Next meeting
Wednesday, December 17th, 2003 at 7:00pm.
Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman moved to adjourn this meeting. Seconded by Mr. Jones, voted unanimously in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dina Cutting
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