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North Stonington Board of Finance
Draft Meeting Minutes
of
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
New Town Hall
North Stonington, CT
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- Call to Order: Chairman Dan Spring called the meeting to order at 7:32 PM. Brent Woodward, Charlie Steinhart, Emile Pavolvics, Tim Main and Mustapha Ratib were present.
- Public Comments and Questions: The following summary of comments was in response to the April 28, 2014 Town meeting held to address the school building project.
- Asking the Town to commit to such a large project with so little in the way of details seemed too much to ask. Breaking the project into at least two phases (design and construction) would better serve the decision process.
- More meetings (Town) on the subject would have provided the public a better chance to be more involved and, therefore, the stakeholders would have had a better understanding of what a “yes” or “no” vote would ultimately mean.
- The recently approved EMS/Firehouse ($6.3M) is already showing signs of financial difficulty with meeting the conceptual design. Should the school project be approved, avoidance of a similar scenario is paramount. The Town should be more receptive to extending a helping hand to new business prospects.
- The school building Adhoc committee responsibility does not end until the last payment is executed. The presentation put more emphasis on the gymnasiums and sports related attributes than on education.
- BOE: School Building Project Proposal Town Meeting, Review: Discussion of the April 28, 2014 Town meeting for the most part occurred during the public comments noted above in paragraph 2 although Charlie Steinhart felt that the benefit to development that would come with school expansion was overplayed.
- BOS and BOE: Budget Prep for FY 2014/2015: First Selectman Nick Mullane submitted a revised budget which represented a cost reduction of $133,267 less than the previous. Dan Spring requested the BOS to evaluate further budget reductions with a goal of $250,000. Nick Mullane agreed to this request.
A revised BOE budget ($12,739,602) representing zero growth from the current year was also submitted to the Board.
Numerous questions regarding budget backup material provided by the BOS were resolved thus clarifying numerous budget numbers.
The effort to date, by all contributing Boards, Commissions and Committees, should result in bringing a sound budget to the Town, for approval, in a timely manner.
- Future Strategies: Fiscal Policies; Alternates: Deferred.
- Previous Minutes: Dan Spring moved to approve the minutes of April 23, 2014 as presented. The motion was seconded by Charlie Steinhart and carried 6-0-0.
7. Adjournment: A motion to adjourn was made by Dan Spring. The motion was seconded by Charlie Steinhart and carried 6-0-0. The meeting was adjourned at 11:04 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
\ BBW \
Brent B. Woodward
Acting Secretary, Board of Finance
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