North Stonington Board of Finance
DRAFT Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
NEW TOWN HALL
40 Main Street, North Stonington, CT
1. Call to Order: Chairman M. Donahue called the Board of Finance (BOF) meeting to order at 7:34 P.M. Chairman M. Donahue, Vice Chairman D. Spring, E. Pavlovics, and M. Ratib were present. E. Bresette and P. Nimirowski were absent.
2. Public Comments and Questions: There were no public comments or questions.
3. Tax Collector’s Report: The Board reviewed the August 2011 Grand Ratebook Balance Sheet report and noted tax collections to date are ahead of last year’s collection rate ($6,524,491 vs. $6,468,366) and the amount of Prior Year uncollected taxes to date is lower than last year at the same time ($478,718 vs. $486,276).
4. Board of Selectmen:
a. Additional Appropriation Request for DUI Grant: M. Donahue moved to approve the request for an additional appropriation of $12,100.00 to Line Item BB26.04 State Trooper for the funding of the remainder of the 2011 Federal fiscal year DUI Grant. D. Spring seconded and the motion carried 4-0-0.
b. Storm Response Feedback: M. Tate, Director of Emergency Management, and N. Mullane, First Selectman, provided a summary of the feedback received concerning the Town’s response to Hurricane Irene. Formal recommendations to be considered in this year’s budget preparations will be forwarded to the Board of Finance.
c. Status of Main Street Bridge Replacement: First Selectman N. Mullane reported that FEMA must now approve the Town’s request for proposal (RFP) in order to receive 75% reimbursement of expenditures incurred in the execution of a contract resulting from an accepted bid to the request for proposal. Consequently, the RFP has not yet been issued. The Town also still needs a final review by State and Federal Historic Preservation agencies. It is expected that the RFP will be issued within the next 7 days but it will be advertised for 30 days. The Town has still not received a waiver of the September 30 deadline relating to performing construction activities in the river. Failure to receive the waiver will postpone repair/construction activities
until possibly next summer. AT&T has not been responsive in scheduling the relocation of a utility pole near the bridge construction site, therefore a contractor will be used to move the pole and CL&P will move the affected utility lines.
d. Financial Report: The draft 2010-11 closeout summary provided does not include closeout information from the Board of Education. A final closeout is expected for the next BOF meeting.
5. Board of Education Financial Report: The Board reviewed Board of Education Financial Statements for July and August 2011. A question concerning the amount of encumbrance for the Central Office Salaries (Code 0110) will be forwarded by M. Donahue for clarification.
6. Affordable Housing Request for BOF Input: The Board reviewed the recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission regarding the use of three R-40 building lots on the east end of Main Street for three to four affordable housing units that these parcels should be reserved for future municipal use. The consensus of the BOF is in agreement with this recommendation.
7. Board of Finance Strategy:
a. Fire District: The Board determined that more investigation of the impact of a Fire District to the town budget is required. This item should be added to the agenda in a couple of months.
8. Previous Minutes: D. Spring moved to approve the BOF Regular Meeting minutes of September 7th, as amended. M. Ratib seconded and the motion carried 4-0-0.
9. Correspondence:
a. Letter, N. Pukas, Superintendent of Schools, to Board of Finance, Invitation to Final Feasibility Study Presentation, September 21, 2011.
10. Future Agenda Items Identification:
a. Bulky Waste Fee Schedule
b. YMCA Property
11. Adjournment: D. Spring moved to adjourn. E. Pavlovics seconded and the motion carried 4-0-0. The meeting adjourned at 11:04 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mark S. Donahue
Chairman, Board of Finance
| 