North Stonington Board of Finance
Draft Meeting Minutes
of
Wednesday September 26, 2012
New Town Hall
North Stonington, CT
1. Call to Order: Chairman Dan Spring called the meeting to order at 7:32 P.M.
Brent Woodward, Emile Pavolvics, Mustapha Ratib and Peter Nimirowski were present.
2. Public Comments and Questions: Public comments are as follows:
Selectman Shawn Murphy expressed his concern at hearing that the BOS were being asked to reduce their budget by $250,000 and if targets had been established. Dan Spring replied that specific items had been part of the previous week’s discussion and reiterated those items.
Mike Urgo requested that if the transfer station hours were cut that consideration should be given to those who are weekly patrons and need a day other than Saturday.
Richard White suggested that the Board reduce the tax payer burden by taking the equivalent of a mill (approximately $500,000) from the unreserved fund. Lisa Mazzella reiterated her request that the Board consider adding items back to the BOE budget. She provided specifics in a white paper.
3. Budget 2012-2013 Survey Review: In response to budget reduction decisions, First Selectmen Nick Mullane informed the Board that the $60,000 in the budget for radio narrowband upgrades would be used, in part, for repeaters as an interim solution to meeting the State mandate required on January 1, 2013. To fully fund the upgrade will cost in the vicinity of $200,000 and when spent, the repeaters which are about $30,000, will have no use. One approach is to keep the item in the budget and bring the discussion to the public in a Town meeting.
To this end, a motion was made by Emile Pavolvics to reduce line item CC 3.56, VHF/UHF Narrow Band Radio Upgrade, from $60,000 to $1. The motion was seconded by Brent Woodward and failed 2-2-1. Brent Woodward and Emile Pavolvics approved the motion, Dan Spring and Peter Nimirowski disapproved it and Mustapha Ratib abstained.
Other recommended budget actions by Nick Mullane include the following:
Reduce storm damage, line item BB 27.27, budget by $120,000 to $190,000.
Freeze Town Hall personnel salaries for a savings of roughly $20,000.
Restructure debt repayment yielding approximately $82,000 in budget reduction.
Add $10,000 to Town Attorney costs commensurate with current spending.
To account for the estimated cost of $20,000 to process mill rate change notices, line item B6.05 will be added to the budget.
4. BOS; Budget Review: See paragraph 3 above.
5. BOE; Budget Review: Consensus among the Board was that the BOE budget should remain as is.
6. Previous Minutes: No action taken on the previous minutes.
7. Future Strategies: No discussion.
8. Adjournment: A motion was made by Dan Spring to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Brent Woodward and passed 5-0-0. The meeting was adjourned at 12:04 AM on September 27, 2012.
Respectfully Submitted
Brent Woodward
Secretary, Board of Finance
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