Town of Lyme
Budget Committee
July 28, 2004
7:00pm
Lyme Town Offices
APPROVED September 15, 2004
Present at this meeting: Selectmen: Judith Shelnutt Brotman & Richard Jones. Budget Committee Members: Gibb Cornwell, Mike Smith, Jeff Lehmann, Josh Kilham, Chairman Barney Brannen, Earl Strout, Freda Swan. School Board Chairman Laszlo Bardos. Staff: Administrative Assistant Carole Bont, and Scribe Dina Cutting. Public: David Caffry.
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm by Chair Brannen.
1) Chair Brannen recommended the Budget Committee move #7 new Businesses up on the agenda in order to address the vacancy on the Budget Committee. Chair Brannen informed the Budget Committee that 4 community members had submitted their names for consideration to fill the open Budget Committee seat. Mr. Lehmann and Mr. Smith the sub committee of the Budget Committee were asked to make a recommendation to the Budget Committee. Mr. Smith moved to elect David Caffry to fill the vacant seat on the Budget Committee, seconded by Mr. Lehmann. The motion was voted unanimously in favor. Chair Brannen introduced Mr. Caffry and welcomed him to the Committee. It was noted that Mr. Caffry could participate in this meeting but could not vote until he signed his oath of office.
2) Mrs. Swan moved to approve the minutes of the February 11, 2004, meeting. Seconded by Mr. Cornwell. Voted 9 in favor, 1 abstention (Mr. Bardos).
3) Mr. Cornwell moved to approve the minutes of the February 17, 2004, meeting. Seconded by Mr. Smith. A correction to Gibb Cornwell’s name was offered. Voted 9 in favor, 1 abstention (Mr. Bardos). The minutes were approved with correction noted.
4) Mr. Smith moved to elect Mr. Brannen as the Chair of the Budget Committee. Seconded by Ms. Shelnutt Brotman. The motion was voted 9 in favor and 1 abstention (Mr. Brannen).
5) The January-June 2004 budget review was presented. Mr. Jones informed the Budget Committee of some formatting changes in his spread sheets. The carry over amounts and grants are listed but do not count towards the total appropriations. Mr. Jones informed the Budget Committee of the problems with the Ford F-450, highway truck. The engine blew and Ford is not warranting this problem. It will be about $17,000.00 to get this truck back on the road. The Town has started investigating the possibilities of recouping the cost of this repair through legal avenues.
Ms. Shelnutt Brotman (Selectmen’s representative to the Budget Committee) highlighted parts of the budget.
A) The web site: This is up and running now. Elise Garrity will be up-dating these pages as part of her responsibilities.
B) The Select board would like to start a new capital reserve fund for Major Maintenance and Repair of Town Buildings.
C) The Select board is examining the pay scale of Town employees.
D) The Select board is examining highway personnel grade & position descriptions.
E) The Select board is proposing minor changes to the personnel policies with no expected budget impact.
F) The Bond was sold and the town received the money on or about July 2, 2004. The money is with Mascoma Savings bank collecting 1.2% interest. The highway garage is projected to come in at $556,330.00. Donations were received for an upgrade to the roof, $5,226.00. Donations were received through the Energy Committee for the wood pellet boiler system: $38,307.00. The project has been hit with increases in the price of steel. The committee is working hard to keep this project on track. They have been very lucky up to now and hope the financial good fortune continues. The project is slightly behind schedule. The projected finish date is now November 9th, 2004. The Committee continues to meet weekly at the Highway garage (town offices if raining). There is a bulletin board in the Town Offices with
pictures as the project progresses.
G) A law suit has been filed by the Bakers, Lock Lyme Lodge. The suit involves the water levels at Post Pond. It is on hold for 60 days. A petition has been filed with DES. The Selectmen hope they can work something out with the Barkers.
H) There will be an increase in the Ambulance costs. The contract with Hanover Ambulance Services is from July 2004 to June 2005. This increase will cost the town about $6,800.00 above and beyond last year’s expenses.
I) The Transfer Station Study Committee has been working hard to gather information concerning the options the town may have. They have been looking at new sites, working on the present costs, policing, and combining containers. We should see a small savings this year.
J) The Selectmen voted to hire someone with the appropriate training and experience to cover the beach and life guards this year. This money will come out of the Recreation Director’s line. No additional money is being used.
K) The parking lot at the Library/Town Offices will not be built.
L) There have been two forest fires this year. One was a lightning stick and the other an out of control un-permitted burn. The State Forest Fire Ranger, Stephen Kessler, will be advising the Town as to whether we can bill the party for reimbursement involved in the out of control un-permitted burn.
M) Ms. Shelnutt Brotman commented how generous and helpful the following businesses have been concerning the highway garage project: Nichols Hardware and Derby Mountain Construction. The highway employees have worked numerous hours to ready the site for construction. This has reduced construction cost.
6) Followed were questions concerning various parts of the budget.
A) The website was discussed. Mr. Jones clarified what can and cannot go on the Town’s official website. The website has a calendar of coming events. Community members can contact Elise Garrity to have something posted. Sample pages of the website were passed around.
B) There was a brief discussion concerning the Ford F-450 and the pros and cons of pursuing a law suit. The cost of the law suit may out-weigh the cost savings on the repairs for the truck. Other towns have had the same problem with there trucks. It was noted Lyme is trying to get other towns to join them in pursuing this problem.
C) Mr. Jones answered questions concerning the ambulance contract and new costs.
D) Comments of concern over the fact that Lyme has terrible reception for emergency radios were expressed.
E) The fire station roof is completed and paid for.
F) The Emergency Management Plan line is overspent, however, the money for the town wide emergency plan has been given in the form of a grant. $9,700.00 is the total amount of the grant.
G) The fire truck is here and paid for with a few hundred dollars to spare.
H) The budget committee asked why the assessing clerk line had no money spent out of this line as of June 2004. It was described that this was just a bookkeeping over sight. The weekly hours had been taking from the Selectmen’s clerk line. It was noted that employees with more than one job title should be keeping track of what they do. It should reflect on their time cards which job they are doing and for what hours.
I) Salary Adjustments: Because we do not give raises based on merit it is hard to get pay equitable. Comments were made concerning the system the Selectmen and the Budget Committee could use to come up with an amount for the budget.
7) School: Mr. Bardos informed the Budget Committee that the school would be looking at a surplus of about $100,000.00 this year. The bulk of this money came from 1 less high school student, a tuition rate lower than expected, a savings of $50,000.00 in health insurance, and $10,000.00 the school board did not spend on maintenance. The rest of the $100,000.00 comes from savings here and there. Any surplus up to $100,000.00 will go into the high school tuition fund.
Questions were asked concerning the construction at Hanover High School. Mr. Bardos informed the Budget Committee that the Town of Lyme will be paying 8% of the debt service based on actual cost of the construction.
Lyme has hired a long-term substitute, kindergarten teacher, first grade teacher, music teacher and they have done it all within the budget. The School Board will be looking into and gathering information on full-time kindergarten programs. Followed were questions concerning Lyme teachers sending their children to the Lyme School, tuition fees, the special education fund, and special education issues.
8) Mr. Jones and Ms. Shelnutt Brotman explained the difference between an update and a total revaluation of the property values in the Town of Lyme. The equalization ratio dropped from last year’s 73% to 68%. The State wants all towns to be between 90% and 110%.
9) The Capitol Improvements Plan was discussed. It is clear at this time that we need to update our Capital Improvements Plan. Followed was a discussion concerning how the plan was developed last time. The Budget Committee requested Dina find this plan and get a copy to all Budget Committee members to look at. This will be discussed at the next Budget Committee meeting.
10) The different high school tuition rates that Lyme pays were discussed. Concerns were noted over the difference in the cost of the high schools.
11) Concerns were noted over the amount of police coverage for the Town. The Fire Department and Fast Squad are directing traffic in emergency situations when they should be doing their fire fighting and life saving jobs.
12) Mr. Jones will prepare the Capital Reserve spread sheet for the next meeting.
13) The Budget Committee requested Carole Bont put together a calendar for the up-coming budget season.
Topics for the next Budget Committee meeting:
Review budget
Template with % increases
Look at the Capital Reserve Funds
Make plans for the Capital Improvement Plan to be done
The Budget Committee expressed thanks and commented that it was very beneficial to have so much communication between the School Board and the Budget Committee and The Select board and the Budget Committee.
Reminder Next Budget Committee meeting: September 15th, 2004 @ 7:00pm.
At 8:50pm Mr. Smith moved to adjourn, seconded by Mrs. Swan. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dina Cutting
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