North Stonington Board of Finance
Meeting Minutes
of
Wednesday October 3, 2012
New Town Hall
North Stonington, CT
1. Call to Order: Chairman Dan Spring called the meeting to order at 7:34 P.M. Peter Nimirowski, Brent Woodward, Emile Pavolvics and Mustapha Ratib were present.
2. Public Comments and Questions:
Mike Urgo felt that the mill rate itself was not the cause of budget referendum failure and wanted to see overtime funding for police added back into the budget.
Another resident was of the opinion that more people will be getting out to vote in the next round and supported the need for additional police funding because of the perception that crime is on the increase.
Peter Nimirowski suggested that the police hold a seminar for the Town on how best to deter crime.
3. Budget 2012-2013 – Survey Review:
Charles Steinhart, Chief of the Town Fire Department, gave the Board a comprehensive overview of what is needed to be in compliance with the State mandate that coming January 1, 2013 all Town communications run on narrow band frequencies. He stated that spending the $30,000 for repeaters would meet the requirement and once the system was fully installed the repeaters would be used as backup. It became apparent in the discussion that spending an additional $46,000 for phase 2 of the program would improve the performance of the system significantly relative to coverage. As there is already $60,000 in the budget it would only take $16,000 more to fund phase 1 and 2 ($30,000 + $46,000 = $76,000 - $30,000 = $16,000.) The Board agreed to add that to the budget.
4. BOS: 2012-2013 Budget Review:
First Selectman Nick Mullane and Selectmen Mark Donahue and Shawn Murphy were present for the budget discussion. After review and discussion of various budget line items including a confirmation to freeze Town Hall personnel salaries, the following motion was made.
Dan Spring made a motion recommending that the Board of Selectmen present to the Town for their consideration a budget of $18,073,680, consisting of the following:
General Government expenditures of $5,978,398, including the redemption of debt and capital and Board of Education expenditures of $12,095,282.
The motion was seconded by Mustapha Ratib and passed 5-0-0.
Peter Nimirowski left the meeting at 11:10 PM.
To add clarity to the budget organization regarding funding for the Town Hall Bridge and reimbursement from FEMA, Dan Spring made a motion to authorize the Selectmen and Treasurer to repay, from FEMA grants received, Town Hall Bridge borrowing not to exceed $1,481,310.
The motion was seconded by Brent Woodward and passed 4-0-0.
The General Government profit and loss statement for the period July 1, 2012 through October 2, 2012 was reviewed.
5. BOE; Budget Review: See paragraph 4 above.
6. Previous Minutes:
Dan Spring moved to approve the special minutes of September 19, 2012 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mustapha Ratib and passed 4-0-0.
Dan Spring moved to approve the minutes of September 19, 2012 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mustapha Ratib and passed 4-0-0.
Dan Spring moved to approve the minutes of September 26, 2012 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mustapha Ratib and passed 4-0-0.
7. Future Strategies: No discussion.
8. Correspondence: A letter dated September 21, 2012 was received from Suisman Shapiro (Attorneys) forwarding the $18,491.09 settlement from the discovery audit to the Town.
An invoice dated September 27, 2012 was received from Meyers & Company LLC, Town auditor, for $6,500. A motion was made by Dan Spring to accept and pay the invoice. The motion was seconded by Mustapha Ratib and passed 4-0-0.
9. Adjournment:
A motion was made by Dan Spring to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Brent Woodward and passed 4-0-0. The meeting was adjourned at 11:59 PM.
Respectfully Submitted
Brent Woodward
Secretary, Board of Finance
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