Board of Finance Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 7:00 PM
Old Lyme Town Hall Meeting Hall
Present: (Regular Members) Andrew Russell, Wayne Devoe, H.P. Garvin III,
Christopher Kerr, Janet Sturges, David Woolley
(Alternate Members) David Kelsey
Nicole Stajduhar, Finance Director
Tim Griswold, First Selectman
Absent: (Alternate Members) Judy Read, Maggie Ward
Guests: Mary Fiorelli (OLPGN Library Director), Bill Ridgeway (OLPGN Treasurer), Jack Collins (OLPGN President), Selectman Skip Sibley
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1. Call to Order
Mr. Russell called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
2. Approval of Minutes – January 19, 2010
The minutes of the regular meeting January 19, 2010 were reviewed. Wayne Devoe moved to accept the minutes as presented, H.P. Garvin seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
David Woolley abstained as he had been absent from the January 19 meeting.
3. Grants to Non-Profits / Other Associations 01-211 (Sturges)
OLPGN Library
Mary Fiorelli, (Library Director) presented the Board with a detailed library budget proposal. The library is requesting $255,000 from the town for the upcoming fiscal year. Last year the town allocated $240,000 to the library. This request represents an increase of 6.25% over last year and the library budget increase is $38,320 (from $550,930 to $589,250) or 6.96%. Mary Fiorelli explained that this increase is due mainly to the fact that the library would like to restore a part-time staff member with a focus on children’s programs and increase the position from 20 to 25 hours weekly. Both Mary Fiorelli and Bill Ridgeway, (Library Treasurer) stated that the use of the library has increased, making the addition of a part-time person important in order to continue to serve
the public in the manner that they are accustomed to. There was discussion about the endowment of the Association. As of September 2009, the endowment was $3.2 million, up from $2.5 million one year ago. There is an ongoing capital fundraising effort in place. Andy Russell thanked Mary Fiorelli and Bill Ridgeway for an excellent presentation, and although he understood their need to increase their request by 6.25%, he reminded them that, due to the present economy, this is a challenging year for the Board of Finance and not a good time to be increasing grant amounts. Andy Russell questioned the 3% raise to library employees and Mary Fiorelli stated that they had not had a raise in two years. She continued to say that staff pay is on the low end, compared to other library staff salaries in the state. Jack Collins, (Library President) stated that it was difficult for the library to ask for this increase, but to his knowledge the
Town of Old Lyme provides its library with less money as a percentage of the budget than most towns do for their local libraries. The board decided to vote on this grant later in the meeting – time permitting.
Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts
A request was made from the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts for a grant in the amount of $10,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. This is the amount that was allocated last year. Janet Sturges stated that she had received a last minute phone call from Joanne Donaghue, (LACFA Director of Development), requesting that this amount be increased to $15,000. This is a 50% increase over last year's request. David Woolley questioned the lack of paperwork from the college regarding the requested increase and suggested that the board wait to vote on this until the back-up information is received. Janet Sturges moved to grant the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts $10,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. Chris Kerr seconded the motion. Discussion followed pertaining to what information
should be submitted by non-profits. It was agreed the town should receive the latest FYE balance sheet and P&L plus a narrative from each non-profit. SO VOTED. David Woolley was opposed. Janet Sturges will speak to Joanne Donaghue for additional detail as to why she requested such a large increase.
Florence Griswold Museum
Andy Russell summarized a letter to the Board of Finance from Jeff Anderson, (Director, Florence Griswold Museum). The letter thanked the Town of Old Lyme for its continued support and requested the amount of $10,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. Andy Russell stated that this is the same amount that was requested last year. Discussion followed, and Janet Sturges spoke of the numerous programs that the Florence Griswold offers, and what a great asset this organization is to the town. Wayne Devoe moved to grant the Florence Griswold Museum a grant in the amount of $10,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. H.P. Garvin seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
First Selectman Tim Griswold asked if the board felt it would be beneficial to ask non-profit organizations requesting grant money from the town for their financials. He suggested the town should standardize what documentation they require. David Kelsey stated that he was in favor of implementing some sort of procedure, because as it stands now a non-profit organization can simply request a grant without providing any documentation. First Selectman Tim Griswold suggested that a profit and loss statement, balance sheet and a town form of some sort would be three necessary items to consider. Discussion followed – no procedure decided on at this time.
Lyme Art Association
The Lyme Art Association requested a grant in the amount of $5,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. This represents an increase of $1,000 over last year. H.P. Garvin moved to grant the Lyme Art Association a grant in the amount of $4,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. Chris Kerr seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
Old Lyme Affordable Housing
Janet Sturges reported that she had recently spoken with Les Reynolds, (Executive Director of Old Lyme Affordable Housing). Les Reynolds has moved from Old Lyme to Chester, CT and mentioned to Janet Sturges that he would like to step down from his position in the near future. Janet Sturges stated that she felt this position should be held by an Old Lyme resident. She continued to say that according to Les Reynolds, Affordable Housing had not been very active of late and no formal request had been made to the town for a grant. David Woolley felt that it was important to continue to award grant money to Old Lyme Affordable Housing in order to show the town's commitment to this organization. Janet Sturges moved to grant Old Lyme Affordable Housing a grant in the amount of $500 for the
upcoming fiscal year. David Woolley seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
Old Lyme Historical Society
Janet Sturges had correspondence in hand from the Old Lyme Historical Society requesting grant money in the amount of $3,500. Nicole Stajduhar stated that she had received a request for $4,000 from them. Chris Kerr made a motion to grant the Old Lyme Historical Society a grant in the amount of $3,500 for the upcoming fiscal year. David Woolley seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
OLPGN Library Discussion of Grant Award
The board discussed the proposed library budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The board members understood the library's need for increased staff, but they did not feel, with our present economy, that they could increase the grant. Chris Kerr stated that it would be difficult to justify giving the library a 6.25% increase, when they are not increasing other town expenses to that extent. Wayne Devoe stated that the board of finance is the custodian of a very tight budget and that they need to be sensitive to the town's needs and be fair to all. Janet Sturges made a motion to grant the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library a grant in the amount of $250,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. The motion was not seconded. David Woolley made a motion to grant the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes
Library a grant in the amount of $240,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. Wayne Devoe seconded the motion. SO VOTED. Janet Sturges was opposed.
4. Other Business
Bid Policy
David Kelsey presented the board members with a draft of the Town of Old Lyme Purchasing Policy. He and Nicole Stajduhar had worked together to create this policy. The draft reads under the heading PURPOSE:
"The purpose of this policy is to create a process for purchasing goods and services what will increase efficiency, promote fairness, accountability and confidence, and provide necessary supplies and services in a timely and cost-effective manner. This policy is directly binding upon all town employees, public officers, officials and members of boards, commissions and agencies. The Board of Finance shall direct the Town of Old Lyme ('Town') audit firm to review and comment on compliance with this policy."
Andy Russell thanked David Kelsey and Nicole Stajduhar for an excellent job. Wayne Devoe thought it would be beneficial to provide a form to all department heads to aid them in this new process. Andy Russell stated that this purchasing policy would help to track expenses across departments, thus allowing the town to make better buying decisions, especially with items such as office paper, where buying in larger quantities from one vendor could allow for cheaper pricing. Chris Kerr inquired if this policy would take into consideration local vendor bidding. Chris mentioned some towns allow a local vendor a 5% higher margin due to the fact that they are local and pay local taxes, etc. David Kelsey stated that this bidding policy provides the latitude needed to hire the best company, not just the
lowest bidder. Chris Kerr asked if the policy would require all vendors to bid, especially vendors that have been working for the town for many years i.e. Shoreline Sanitation. First Selectman Griswold asked if there would be any mention in this policy allowing the Board of Selectmen to make exception to the bid process. David Kelsey stated that he felt that all services should be put out to bid and it is good business to require this.
First Selectman Griswold stated that he would like to have text added in the section of the policy entitled PURPOSE that reads "under state statutes xxxxx". David Kelsey suggested that the bid policy be implemented, and then refined as we go along.
Nicole Stajduhar stated that the biggest fear of department heads is the $20,000 cap on spending over a period of one year from one vendor. Andy Russell stated that this is all a good thing, and as he mentioned earlier, spending can be tracked more efficiently throughout departments, such as his example with office paper. If the town finds that collectively the town departments are spending more than $20,000 on office paper, then the town would benefit by putting this out to bid.
David Woolley asked if the board could be held liable for any lawsuits pertaining to a job being awarded to a certain vendor over another bidder as with the case of the Bus Barn building project. Nicole Stajduhar felt that it would be advantageous to have an attorney review the policy. David Kelsey agreed, and thought it best to ask an attorney with experience in this area, possibly one who had done this for other towns, to do the review. First Selectman Griswold stated that he would find an attorney to review the policy and would inquire of this attorney about the addition of the text regarding state statutes that he had mentioned earlier in the discussion.
Andy Russell asked if once the policy is approved by a legal representative, when did the board feel it should be made effective. The board agreed that it should be effective on July 1, 2010.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Board of Finance will be on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 7:00 PM in the Old Lyme Town Hall Meeting Hall. There will be no meeting the week of February 15, 2010.
5. Adjournment
A motion was made by Chris Kerr to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 PM, seconded by Janet Sturges. SO VOTED.
Respectfully submitted, ~
Mary Ellen Garbarino
Recording Secretary
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