North Stonington Board of Finance
DRAFT Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
NEW TOWN HALL
40 Main Street, North Stonington, CT
7:30 PM
1. Call to Order Chairman M. Donahue called the meeting to order at
7:40 PM. Vice Chair L. Southwick, Secretary T. Oswald, G. Herbert, E.
Bresette and E. Pavlovics were present.
2. Public Comments and Questions None
3. BOS: Budget Proposal Follow-up Mr. Mullane spoke to the BoF
about several things:
a. The Moody's bond rating came back as an "A3" rating.
b. No clear indication of the undesignated fund balance Moody's
regards as healthy.
c. The walking floor trailer repair came back estimated at $22,350
with the recommendation the trailer be removed from service for safety
concerns.
i. The following alternatives were discussed:
1. renting a replacement for $2,000 a month
2. actually doing the repairs in consideration of the service life
we might expect.
3. curtailing garbage collection to 1 trailer load per weekend
(reducing garbage collection capacity from 200 cubic yards per weekend,
which Mr Mullane advises we often accumulate, to only 100 cubic yards
per weekend)
4. reducing Sunday Transfer Station hours and services
5. using the tri-axle truck in place of the out of service walking
floor trailer
6. Mr. Mullane maintains the best choice is to buy the new $70,000
replacement walking floor trailer.
7. Oswald asked about the possibility of emptying the sole
remaining trailer on Saturday as a regular measure. This would provide
an whole empty trailer available for filling on Sunday. Mullane said
he's look into the idea and report next meeting.
d. Some info regarding the 'land trust' issue.
e. Estimated 'give back' per department as of 4-15-09.
f. A transfer request to cover the May and June life insurance
premiums. From line item BB20.00 Town Insurance to line item BB 20.06
Employee Benefits/Pension of $1,510. This item to be put on next
meeting agenda.
g. Ideas about future budget considerations were discussed. The
expectations are anything but rosy. Funding sources seem to be drying
up and being rolled up alarmingly.
h. The difficulties we face in this budget period may seem easy
compared with outlying years.
i. Concerns were expressed about how the State administration may
curtail the 4th fiscal quarter revenue distributions.
j. Mullane promised to deliver on the item below, from last meeting
minutes, at the next BoF.
Responding to E. Pavlovics inquiry, N. Mullane agrees to provide
the BoF with the Permanent School Planning and Building Committee's
(PSB&BC) proposed project list.
4. BOE: Financial Statements None received - no discussion.
5. Management Reports/Board of Finance as Audit Committee/GASB 45
OPEB.
a. Moody's Review Update Discussion, no action.
b. No comment found in report from Moody's about the GASB 45
funding issue.
6. 2009/10 Budget Preparation Schedule All parties have been
notified the schedule has been pushed out two weeks. May 4th might be
the date the Multi-purpose room would be available - to be confirmed
later.
7. 2009/10 Budget/Budget Spreadsheet
a. Revision A - Appropriations Committee Projected Revenues
Extensive discussion, no specific action.
b. Webpage/Survey Discussion, no action.
8. Town Report (June 30, 2008) Discussion, no action.
9. Previous Minutes Draft meeting minutes of 04-08-09 were
reviewed and found to be needing content and will be submitted for
approval at next BoF meeting on 04-22-09.
10. Correspondence
a. Email from Taylor Somerville about expiration of Minimum Budget
Requirements.
b. Memo from N. Mullane concerning Document Imaging costs, without
mentioning the name of the vendor, or outlining any competitive
procurement procedures.
c. Fax from CT Conf. Of Municipalities re Appropriations
Committee's proposed budget impact on N. Stonington.
11. Future Agenda Items Identification
a. Status update from N. Mullane re accomplishment of the
integration of the new electronic cash register with Quickbooks to
resolve a systemic cash handling shortcoming indicated as a serious
deficiency by Town Auditor M. Marien for two years in a row.
b. N. Mullane's research on managing the Transfer Station over the
weekends with one walking floor trailer and a tri-axel dump truck.
c. N. Mullane will provide the BoF with the Permanent School
Planning and Building Committee's (PSB&BC) proposed project list.
12. Adjournment L. Southwick moved to adjourn and G. Herbert
seconded. The motion carried 6-0-0 and the meeting adjourned at 11:15
AM. The next BOF meeting will be held at 7:30 PM Wednesday, 22 April,
2009 in the New Town Hall.
Respectfully Submitted,
Thomas J. Oswald
Secretary, Board of Finance
| 