Minutes of the Board of Finance meeting held on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall.
Present: Regular Members: Andrew Russell, Wayne Devoe, H. P. Garvin, III,
Christopher Kerr, Janet Sturges, David Woolley
Alternate Members:~ Anne Coburn, Judy Read
Timothy C. Griswold, Ex-Officio
Nicole Stadjuhar, Finance Director
Skip Sibley, Selectman
Bonnie Reemsnyder, Selectwoman
Absent: Regular Members:~
Alternate Members:~ David Kelsey
Guest: No guests
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Mr. Russell called the meeting to order at 7: 30 p.m.
Minutes of August 16, 2011
The minutes of the August 16th meeting were reviewed.
There being no corrections noted, a motion was made by Mr. Garvin, seconded by Mr. Kerr and passed unanimously to approve the minutes as written. Motion carried.
Chart of Accounts/Financial Reports
Mrs. Stajduhar highlighted the August 2011 Financial Report notes for the Revenues stating the total tax collections for property tax were $313,291 and current levy is at 53.34% collected. The Capital Asset Proceeds of $17,500 were from the sale of two recycling trucks, a 2000 mason dump truck, a nine foot jet sander, miscellaneous steel and the Public Works Ford vehicle. August revenues within the report do not include Town Clerk fees of $13,092, Building fees of $12,475 and WPCA fees of $7,780.
Mrs. Stajduhar detailed the August 2011 Financial Report notes for the Expenditures and highlights include: Treasurer’s Office – Contracted Services, $5,500 was paid to Kostin (auditor) for progress billing. The Assessor’s Legal line paid $1,450 for an appraisal of property. Public Works – Vehicle Fuel paid $13,032 to Hendels for 1,400 gallons of diesel and 2,400 gallon of unleaded gas. Public Works – Chip Seal paid $95,888 to Comer Contracting for the chip sealing of Browns Lane, Flat Rock Hill and Mile Creek Road.
The Parks and Recreation programs paid $4,000for Basketball camp and $2,000 for tennis camp. Under Parks and Recreation, the Rowing program paid $9,050 in salaries.
Budget Process
The 2012 Meeting Schedule was distributed and reviewed. Mrs. Stajduhar stated that she has already sent out budget request letters to the spending agencies with an October 31st return date. It is her hope that the budget sheets will be received by November 1st so that the budget books can be compiled and distributed at the November meeting. Mr. Russell asked members to review their specialist assignments and, if there is another area they would like to be involved with, please make your interest known.
New Business
Hurricane Irene: Mr. Griswold stated that as a result of Hurricane Irene, most of Old Lyme was without power. He commended the utility crews (electric, phone and cable) who worked very hard to get everyone back on line. He stated that David Roberge, along with many staff members and volunteers, worked countless hours making phone calls, preparing meals and door-to-door information, food and water distribution in order to make town residents more comfortable. Mr. Griswold stated that the hurricane generated an abundance of brush from down trees. Initially, it was decided that the brush could be brought to the landfill with a 50% reduction in fees. However, after discussion, the Board of Selectmen agreed that residents can dispose of brush at the landfill at no cost
and that the Town would pick-up brush on Town (not private) roads during the month of September. Mr. Griswold stated that there is going to be a wrap-up meeting tomorrow to review the Town’s response to the storm and decide how things could be improved in the future.
Old Business
Nothing to report.
Other Business
Nothing to report.
Selectman’s Office
At a recent Zoning Commission meeting, the Zoning Commission voted 4 to 1 to eliminate the seasonal classification in the Zoning regulations. Thus, all properties are now considered “year round” from a Zoning standpoint but owners must obtain Building and Health approvals to winterize and live year round. This will hopefully end the R-10 litigation and it will likely increase the workload for Building and Health.
Mr. Griswold reported that the Selectmen had a discussion regarding snow plowing of private Beach Association roads. He stated that, excluding Roger's Lake, there are 13.2 miles of private roads in the Beach Associations: Miami Beach - 2.5 miles, Old Colony Beach - 1.5 miles, Old Lyme Shores - 3.7 miles, White Sand Beach – 1.5 miles, and Point O’Woods – 4 miles. Mr. Griswold stated that, since snow plowing is already included in the FY2012 budget, the private beach association roads will be plowed this year, subject to a review by Ed Adanti, Superintendent of Public Works. The Selectmen must decide how they want to approach this in FY2013. He said that the Selectmen will confer with Ed Adanti when making a decision for fiscal year 2013. There was discussion that
there are other private roads in Town that are not plowed and these roads should be included in any future policies. It is the sense of the Board of Finance that plowing one group of private roads and not another could be criticized.
Mr. Griswold stated that repair work to the Duck River culvert is progressing fine, despite the hurricane and lots of rain in August. The insertion of the liner pipe and the grouting are complete. The masonry head walls have been re-pointed on each end, and the banks along the vicinity of the head walls have been upgraded. The final piece of this project will be to install the wire rope guard rails. Once the guard rails are in place, the town is planning to landscape the area around the culvert.
Mr. Griswold explained that the State of CT seeks to reduce the number of regional planning agencies from 15 to 5 or so. He stated that CT River Estuary Planning Agency (CRERPA) consists of 9 towns. Old Lyme is a member of the Lower CT Valley Selectmen’s Association (LCVSA) consisting of 9 towns and the CT River Council of Elected Officials (CRVCEO), which consists of 17 towns. The 17 towns in the CRVCEO have two planning agencies: CRERPA and the Mid-State Planning Agency (8 towns). Mr. Griswold stated that of the 17 towns want to voluntarily form a Council of Governments (COG) before the State of CT decides to place the 17 towns in COG’s of the State’s choosing. At a previous meeting of the CRVCEO, 2/3 of the CEO’s present voted to request the State Office of
Policy and Management (OPM) to re-designate the two planning agencies as a single regional planning agency. In May, OPM re-designated the two planning agencies as the Lower CT River Valley Planning Agency. By combining the two agencies, new issues, such as, funding staffing, location, etc., must be resolved. There is a steering committee that is investigating this merger. It is unknown what the cost and services will be in comparison to what is presently the case. There will be a meeting of the Land Use Board and Commission members to hear remarks from Linda Krause, Director of CRERPA, followed by a Special Town Meeting to vote on forming the COG.
Mr. Griswold stated that the High School observatory must be removed soon from the roof as part of the construction process and there has been spirited discussion about its disposition. Upon speaking with Betty Osga, it was learned that the high school astronomy class elective does not generate much student interest, so the observatory will not be relocated to another part of the District’s campus. There is possible interest in the dome from an astronomy group in Vermont and there is a group of passionate local citizens who want to keep the dome in town. In the end, the school must decide on the disposition of the dome.
Mr. Griswold stated that there was a meeting at the District 18 Central Office to discuss the problems with the new soccer field at the High School. Discussion focused on the specifications and construction of the field. Initially, the grass looked like it was growing well, however, it quickly deteriorated. Experts have been called in to study if the specifications for the field were correct and, if so, was the field built to the specifications. The school has hired an agronomist to help with the analysis. If this is not corrected soon, it will mean more games and practices will be held on the Town Woods Park fields.
Mrs. Sturges stated that the committee analyzing the senior center took a break during the summer but is now meeting again. She expects the committee’s recommendations will be available during the upcoming budget season.
Mr. Russell stated that the next Board of Finance meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
A motion was made by Mr. Kerr, seconded by Mrs. Sturges to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michele Hayes-Finn
Secretary
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