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Town of Lyme
Budget Committee
December 20th, 2006
7:00PM
Fire Station Training Room
Approved: January 4th, 2007
Present at this meeting: Selectmen: Judith Shelnutt Brotman, Charles Ragan &
Richard Jones. Budget Committee Members: Chairman Barney Brannen, Mike Smith, Josh Kilham, Elizabeth Glenshaw, Jeff Lehmann, Wayne Tullar & Gibb Cornwell. School Board Representative: Kathy McGowan. Community Members: Barbara Roby & Earl Strout. Treasurer: Andrea Colgan. Transfer Station Committee members: Steve Maddocks & Cynthia Bognolo. Planning Board member: Jack Elliott. Staff: Bookkeeper/Scribe Dina Cutting & Planning & Zoning Administrator Victoria Davis.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Chair Brannen.
1) Mr. Cornwell moved to approve the minutes of the December 13th, 2006 meeting. Seconded by Mr. Kilham. Corrections were offered. Voted 7 in favor, 1 abstention (Mr. Lehmann was not present at this meeting).
2) Selectmen changes to the budget request work sheet:
· Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman explained that the $133,000.00 for the rescue equipment truck should be carried over from the 2006 budget to the 2007 budget. There was a question as to the legality of the contract with the company that is making the truck. The Selectmen have received legal advice that the contract is binding. The $155,000.00 can be taken out of the 2007 budget, lines 404 & 438.
· Line 407 Computer up grade CRF needs to be increased to $7,000.00. The Selectmen thought they could reduce this to $5,000.00 but a new problem has developed and it is clear the extra funds will be needed.
3) Mr. Brannen will update the spreadsheet from last week and send it out to the Budget Committee members. Mr. Jones has sent new information including a 10-year department comparison spread sheet that the Budget Committee should find helpful.
4) Mr. Brannen and Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman reported on the meeting with the Library Trustees, School-School Board representatives, Budget Committee & Selectmen. Mr. Brannen and Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman felt the meeting went very well. The consensus from this meeting was the Library and School need to put their heads together and come up with a vision of library services for the students. It is apparent that the Library and School are not on the same page yet. The 2 groups are hopeful they will be ready to come to the January 4th or January 10th meeting to inform the Budget Committee and Selectmen of their budget plans. Followed was a discussion concerning the increase in the Library-school budget being too high for the town to support. How much input the Selectmen have on the Library programs
and their operation was discussed. The history of the School-Town Library was discussed. When the bond was approved for the school addition, it did not include a library. It was noted that when the 1990 addition was discussed and voted, the message from the Town was that the school bond should not include a new library. A brief discussion on whether the 2 groups would be able to come to an agreement ensued. It was noted that the crosswalk was just repaired to make it safer for the school children to cross route 10.
5) Planning & Zoning: Mr. Elliott and Ms. Davis requested the Aquifer Study money be put back into the regular Planning & Zoning budget. Line 106 for $14,000.00. This study is an important component of the Master Plan. $15,000.00 was in the 2006 budget for this study but the Planning Board didn’t complete the matching grant in time for this year’s budget cycle. Some of the funds from the $15,000.00 were reprogrammed to another project connected to the Master Plan. The Selectmen have voted to carry over the $8,289.91 left from this $15,000.00. Now the grant has been written and approved for the $14,000.00 matching grant for the Aquifer Study to be completed. Mr. Elliot noted it would be more likely for the money to pass if it was not in a separate warrant article. The Planning Board would like
this money to be added back into the regular budget. Mr. Jones explained the Selectmen feel this is a one-time large request and should not be buried with in the budget. Voting a separate warrant article makes this money only available for this project and cannot be used on anything else. Budget Committee members discussed the pros and cons of a separate warrant article.
* Mr. Smith moved to vote a sense of the meeting to incorporate the $14,000.00 into the regular budget lines of the Planning and Zoning budget. Seconded by Mr. Cornwell. Followed was a discussion concerning this money coming before the town on its own for a vote. This is an important part of the master plan. The master plan can be as detailed as the town wants. The Aquifer Study is not mandated and the master plan can be done without it, but the planning board feels this is a critical piece. The Master Plan drives all the town’s planning and zoning. This motion is a non-binding sense of the meeting concerning this issue. *The motion was voted 5 in favor, 3 opposed.
6) Transfer Station: Mr. Maddocks requested the Budget Committee restore the Wage line to $18,000.00. The line has been reduced to $12,564.53. The Transfer Station is requesting a new position for a Transfer Station Superintendent. This position will be responsible for overseeing all operations at the Transfer Station. The Selectmen’s budget allows for 1 more attendant with the same hours as the 2 present attendants. The Transfer Station Committee would like this position to have more hours to handle the daily responsibilities. The Committee and the Selectmen have discussed the possibility of the Transfer Station being open for an additional day. Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman explained that the Selectmen and the Transfer Station Committee are scheduled to discuss the different options and concerns at a Selectmen’s
meeting in early January. Followed was a brief discussion concerning the obstacles the Selectmen have had in hiring for the Transfer Station attendant positions. Mr. Smith suggested the Budget Committee defer this subject until after the Selectmen have met with the Transfer Station Committee. The option of sharing this service with area towns was touched on again. Mr. Maddocks explained that in the past the Transfer Station Committee had talked with Thetford and Orford about this idea. It was noted that the town attitude survey revealed that 60% of the respondents are satisfied with the Transfer Station.
7) Treasurer: Mrs. Colgan returned to reiterate that she requested a decrease in her salary so that the money could go to the bookkeeper’s salary. She understands the Selectmen are level funding but noted that this would not change the bottom line. Mrs. Colgan feels strongly about this and she wants it noted that for 1 ½ years the bookkeeper has not been compensated for a significant increase in responsibilities and workload. Mrs. Colgan commented that it was only fair that if it was worth paying the Treasurer for these responsibilities, then it is worth paying the Bookkeeper to do the same work. Other positions within the Selectmen’s offices have been given significant increases in the past year for no apparent increase in responsibilities. Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman stated that the Selectmen feel they
have adjusted the bookkeeper’s compensation for the increase in workload.
Followed was a discussion on the possibility of creating salary ranges for town employees and using performance reviews to justify salary increases. The Selectmen and Budget Committee have discussed this topic many times. It is a difficult one and they have not found a way to make this work. Traditionally, municipal employees receive lower pay and better benefits than the outside work force. The Town has been giving cost of living raises for years.
8) Followed was a discussion concerning the possibility of sharing some work with area towns. It was noted that this comment is made every year but nothing is ever done about it. Mr. Lehmann suggested a Committee be formed to investigate this. It was noted the Budget Committee does not have the authority to do this; they can only advise the Selectmen. Some of the ideas to share resources on were: Transfer Station services, Police Department, small excavator. The Selectmen could form the Study Committee and ask some Budget Committee members to be on it. This would have to be for the next budget cycle. No vote was taken, but a sense of the Budget Committee was they would like the Selectmen to investigate this after the next budget cycle.
9) Mrs. McGowan passed out the School budget books. The school budget will be presented at the next meeting, which will be on Thursday to allow Mr. Schnare to be present. Mr. Brannen reminded all Budget Committee members to be ready to vote the final budget numbers at the January 17th meeting.
At 8:45PM, Mr. Smith moved to adjourn. Seconded by Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman. Voted unanimously in favor.
REMINDER: Next meeting Thursday January 4th, 2006 7:00PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dina Cutting
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