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BOARD OF SELECTMEN’S MEETING
DECEMBER 4, 2009
Chairman Story opened the meeting at 9:00 a.m. with the pledge of allegiance to our flag. Selectmen Story, Keller, Bulgaris, Russo Walker and Town Administrator Chuck Kostro were present. Also in attendance were representatives of Fire, Police, Highway and Finance.
On the recommendation of Frank Remley (Finance Chairman), Richard Passeri was appointed to the Finance Committee on a motion by Selectman Walker, seconded by Selectman Keller and voted unanimously.
Chairman Story advised this meeting was called due to recent vehicle failures which need to be addressed immediately. Our town vehicles must be reliable and safe. In the fall of 2006, 14 of 16 vehicles in the highway fleet had passed their useful life. Six of these 14 have been replaced using Chapter 90 money and gifts at almost no cost to the taxpayers. The issue is if we use Chapter 90 funds for equipment there is no money for roads. The Police have tried for the past five years to institute a leasing program for vehicles but have been denied due to funding problems. Newbury Fire’s fleet is in rough shape also due in part to funding cuts. Selectman Walker noted that the school and public safety budgets are weighed evenly. The problem being we cannot set town budgets until the school budget is in hand usually February/March and we really have no control over the school process. Remley advised that Newbury’s minimum contribution to Triton changed this year and
while it did not affect this year’s budget, next year we face a $200K increase. The school assessment is 52% of our budget so it is important that we all work together. A discussion ensued and touched on regionalization of police and highway, a debt exclusion or over ride, capital planning to include repairs to public buildings, sale of excess properties and lease programs. Kostro suggested addressing the police cruisers immediately as there were means to do so. The Selectmen voted unanimously to request the Finance Committee transfer from the reserve fund $24K to enter into a lease for two police cruisers as moved by Selectman Walker, seconded by Selectman Bulgaris. Selectman Walker noted this is a last gasp as there are no surplus funds anywhere. The Finance Committee will vote on the transfer on December 15th. A joint meeting with the Capital
Planning Committee will be planned to prioritize needs for the coming years.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 a.m. on a motion by Selectman Walker, seconded by Selectman Bulgaris and voted unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Sirois, Admin. Asst.
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