Town of Lyme
Budget Committee
November 3, 2004
7:00PM
Lyme town Offices
APPROVED: November 17, 2004
Present at this meeting: Selectmen: Judith Shelnutt Brotman, Richard Jones and Peter Blyler. Budget Committee Members: Gibb Cornwell, Mike Smith, Jeff Lehmann, Josh Kilham, Chairman Barney Brannen, Earl Strout, David Caffry, Freda Swan, Wayne Tuller. Road Agent: Fred Stearns. Lyme Center Academy Building Committee representative: Don Elder. Transfer Station Committee Chair: Stephen Maddock. Recreation Commission Chair: Cathy Cramer. Staff: Administrative Assistant Carole Bont, Scribe Dina Cutting.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Chair Brannen.
1) Mr. Cornwell moved to approve the minutes of the September 15th, 2004 meeting. Seconded by Mr. Smith. It was requested to delete the last sentence of the last paragraph on the first page of these minutes.
Voted 7 in favor, 2 abstentions (Swan and Tuller).
2) Chair Brannen explained the difficult job ahead for the Budget Committee this year. With the increases to the school’s budget and the town’s update of property values the Budget Committee is going to have to work hard to hold down the proposed increases to the individual town department’s budgets. Followed was a discussion concerning what the previous procedure had been for departments to present their budgets. Mr. Brannen was under the impression that the Selectmen would tell department heads to hold their budgets to a minimum. The reason the Budget Committee gathered earlier this year was so the Budget Committee could review what information was available and get a sense of what the department heads might have to consider for increases within their requests. It was
apparent that most department heads were not aware of this. The Budget Committee decided to have various department heads present what they were requesting. The Selectmen felt it was necessary to have the budgets presented to the Budget Committee without having it filtered though the Selectmen. The Selectmen will go over the proposed department heads budgets and present their own proposed budget to the Budget Committee. Then the Budget Committee will review and compare department head requests to the Selectmen’s proposed budget and make their decisions from there.
3) Highway:
Road Agent Fred Stearns explained the various increases in the highway department’s budget request. In the highway budget request there are raises for the highway employees, a janitor for the new building, a request for the part-time employee to be increased to full time and various operational increases. Mr. Stearns explained that he did not know the Budget Committee wanted the department heads to keep the budget increases as low as possible. He said he would not have requested the increase to a full-time employee if he had known what the Budget Committee was considering. The Highway budget request totals a 14% increase. Mr. Stearns noted that if he could not have the part-time employee increased to full time he would need the part-time employee’s hours increased by 150-200 hours. Followed was a discussion on
the procedure for the different budgets and who was doing what when. The Budget Committee would like the Selectmen to separate out the employee pay and benefits from the operating budget. The Selectmen did this last year and it helped the Budget Committee see where the increases in the various budgets were coming from. The Selectmen will work on their budget review and come back to the Budget Committee. Then the various department heads will have another chance to come back to the Budget Committee to plead their case. Mr. Stearns did note he would like to keep the janitor for 1 hour, 5 days per week and the part-time position increased by 150-200 hours.
4) Police:
Chief Field described the various staffing difficulties she has been trying to address within the department budget request. The full time officer has 100 hours more for over time. The part time officer has been increased from 100 to 200 hours. The Animal Control Officer has been increased by 100 hours. The increase is to help with coverage and to alleviate the significant increase in overtime the Chief has been working. Chief Field feels she has been very fiscally responsible with her budget. When available she has requested and received various grants. Chief Field knows of an increase of $3,000.00 for records management software. This cost will already make her budget request tight. Chief Field would like to have some money put in the building maintenance repair line to repair the ceiling in the police station, to
remove an air conditioner and, to repair the hole in the wall this will cause. The officers have a cost of living raise included in this request. Chief Fields contract has not been negotiated yet. Chief Field described the cyber crimes the Lyme police department has been investigating. There are some educational training opportunities Chief Field would like to be able take advantage of. Followed was a discussion about the amount of time Chief Field and Officer Roberts spend in the office and on the road. Chief Field also described the incredible amount of time that goes into investigative work. Chief Field believes she can purchase a new laptop for the cruiser within this year’s budget. She would like her office and future laptop computers included in the computer capital reserve fund.
5) Lyme Center Academy Building:
Mr. Elder reviewed the requests for the utilities and various operational charges for this building. Followed was a discussion concerning a request to start a maintenance fund for the Academy Building. From now on, the Town will be charging a fee for the use of the Academy Building and some people who use the building want to make donations for the use of this building. This option will be investigated.
6) Recreation Commission:
The only increase is a cost of living raise for the Recreation Director. The Recreation Commission separated out the position of the Recreation Director and the Chase Beach Activity Supervisor. The total amount between the two positions is the same as last year. The Revolving Recreation Fund is off the regular budget. These funds are an in and out.
7) Library:
Mrs. Eaton reviewed the Library’s proposed budget. The Library Trustees are offering to spend more of the Library Trustee Funds this year to help with holding down the increase to the town’s overall budget. The trustees looked at the Library salaries this year at Mrs. Eaton’s request. The figures this year are more in line with what they should be. The Trustees requested more hours for the staff. The assistant librarians will be at 25 hours for one position and 6 for the other. The Library is open for 36 hours per week. Mrs. Eaton is salaried at 40 hours per week. Mrs. Eaton reviewed the other areas of the Library budget that received substantial increases. The Library is gross budgeting. They present the whole amount to the town, with a portion of this money coming from the Library Trustee’s fund.
The town will pay all Library bills from the general budget. The amount to come from the Library Trustees Fund will be put in the town’s budget as revenue. Followed was a brief discussion concerning the amount of monies being taken from the Library Trust Fund. The Budget Committee is concerned that the Library Trustees Fund may be in trouble in the near future if the Trustees take too much money from this fund. Also discussed was the concept of increasing salaries at an even rate. The Trustees gave smaller raises last year and this has created a catch up situation. This is what the Budget Committee is trying to avoid.
8) Transfer Station:
Mr. Maddock brought the Budget Committee up to date on the work of the Transfer Station Study Committee. The Transfer Station Study Committee has requested more manpower, extended hours at the transfer station, a change in companies to take care of the solid waste and recycling, and the purchase of new containers. The Transfer Station Study Committee would like to initiate a per bag charge for the removal of solid waste. This has been tried before but the Transfer Station Study Committee felt this was a good time to educate the community on the difficult issues associated with policing for Lyme residents only and the potential savings to taxpayers if they initiate the per bag charge. With the new companies we are using for the recycling we should see some savings. The Committee is investigating the possibility of keeping
the site at the highway garage. This will depend on the situation at the highway garage site and the state regulations. Followed was a brief discussion concerning the different possibilities: a new location for the transfer station, the possibility of giving one free bag per Lyme family, the option of purchasing a packer and the need to fence the transfer station area wherever it ends up. The Transfer Station Study Committee will hold a couple of public hearings on the various proposed changes before Town Meeting. The proposed Transfer Station budget was based on the Transfer Station staying at its present site.
The Transfer Station Study Committee received a $4,500.00 grant to help with the cost of the new containers. They are also requesting that $25,000.00 be put in the Town Facilities Capital Reserve Fund. The Budget Committee thanked the Transfer Station Study Committee for all the hard work and the update.
9) Administrative Assistant:
Ms. Bont reviewed various parts of the Town’s budget request. The Budget Committee felt it was best to wait to discuss the individual items within this budget until they received the wage and benefits worksheets from the Board of Selectmen. Ms. Bont briefly reviewed the changes in the following line items: Legal, Insurance, Ambulance, and Street Lights.
10) Cemetery Commission:
Ms. Shelnutt-Brotman noted that there had been some trees taken down by mistake on the bank that divides the cemetery and the highway garage. The Cemetery Commission would like to add $3,400.00 to their original budget request.
11) The Budget Committee will go over the information presented at tonight’s meeting. Mr. Brannen stated that they would need to check with the Fire Department on their expectations for the budget and capital reserve funds. Mr. Smith noted he has worked on the capital reserve sheet for future projections.
12) Chair Brannen informed the Budget Committee that with just what the Town has presented in operating budget increases it is an overall increase from last year’s budget of 9.1%. This does not include the school’s budget increase. The Selectmen will now consider all department requests. They will come to the next Budget Committee meeting with their proposed budget.
List of things for the next meeting:
Worksheet of employee wages and benefits separate from the operating budget.
Fire Department information.
Road Agent’s recommendations to be cut from highway budget if necessary.
NEXT MEETING: November 17th, 2004
Respectfully Submitted,
Dina Cutting
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