Minutes of the Board of Finance meeting held on Tuesday, February 07, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at the Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall Meeting Hall.
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Present:~~~~~~~~~~ Regular Members:~ Andrew Russell, Bennett Bernblum,
Christopher Kerr, Janet Sturges, David Woolley
Alternate Members:~ Adam Burrows, Bob Jose, David Kelsey
Bonnie A. Reemsnyder, ex-officio
Nicole Stajduhar, Finance Director
Mary Jo Nosal, Selectwoman
Skip Sibley, Selectman
Absent: Regular Members: H. P. Garvin, III
Alternate Members:
Guest: Resident State Trooper First Class Gary Inglis
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Mr. Russell called the regular meeting to order at 7:00 p.m and stated that Mr. Garvin would not be present this evening. Therefore, a motion was made by Mrs. Sturges, seconded by Mr. Woolley to have Mr. Kelsey vote for Mr. Garvin in his absence. Motion carried.
Salaries
Mrs. Stajduhar highlighted the salary increases and adjustments due to Step grading increases and a general increase of 2.25%. Notable increases include a clerk for the Senior Center Board meetings and minutes, WPCA clerk increase in hours for minutes, Building Official will receive a two step increase, Parks and Recreation Director will receive 15 weeks of 40 hour weeks for the summer months, Police Rangers will receive 100 more hours for the summer months, and Assistant to the Finance Director will be working 100 extra hours annually.
A motion was made by Mr. Kelsey seconded by Mr. Woolley to approve $2,601,396 for salaries. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Mr. Woolley, seconded by Mr. Kelsey to move the Police discussion up on the agenda. Motion carried.
Board of Finance February 07, 2017
205 Public Safety
205-0580 Resident State Police
Mrs. Stajduhar highlighted the Resident State Trooper expense stating the the FY 17/18 contract is estimated by Trooper is $174,000. Resident State Trooper Gary Inglis stated that the Town is paying 85% of the Resident State Trooper salary and 89.54% of the fringe benefits, per State Contract with the town. The Resident State Police DWI part-time is $22,000 and the Overtime amount is $18,500.
A motion was made by Mr. Kelsey, seconded by Mr. Woolley to approve $214,500 for Resident State Police. Motion carried.
205-0590 Municipal Police
Resident State Trooper Inglis reviewed the town's proposed police budget for fiscal year 2017/18. The decrease in salary is due to the decrease in staffing. The Police Miscellaneous includes $10,000 for Police Youth Program. Building expenses and vehicle maintenance remain the same as FY16/17.
A motion was made by Mr. Woolley, seconded by Mrs. Sturges to approved $654,098 for the Municipal Police which included salaries. Motion carried.
01-211-1200 Private Beach Associations
Last year, the Beach Stipend Committee developed a formula that is 50% of the cap amount spent on security and the beaches have to submit their security expenses to the Finance Director in order to receive the second half of the grant. Miami Beach has installed a new fence and is going to start charging a “clean beach fee” in order to use their beachfront. This will impact the amount of security that they will need to enforce the new regulations. Mr. Sibley stated that town residents will be able to buy a season pass at a low rate to use the beach. He stated that Miami Beach will be handling all of the security measures necessary on their own. There was a discussion on how the new fence, beach access and security is going to operate. Mrs. Reemsnyder stated that since this will be
the first year, it is uncertain how well the new system will work out.
Oak Ridge Forest is a new association request. The Private Beach Association is as follows:
7007 Point O’Woods 7012 Rogers Lake West Shores
7008 Old Lyme Shores 7013 Hawks Nest Beach
7009 Old Colony Beach 7014 Federation of Beaches (within Police Budget) 7010 Miami Beach 7015 Edge Lea
7011 White Sand Beach 7016 Oak Ridge Forest
Total $71,700
Board of Finance February 07, 2017
A motion was made by Mrs. Sturges , seconded by Mr. Woolley to approve $71,700 for Private Beach Associations. Motion carried.
Minutes of the January 17, 2017 Regular meeting
A suggestion was made to postpone reviewing the meeting minutes of January 17th until next week.
A motion was made by Mrs. Sturges, seconded by Mr. Bernblum to move review and approval of the January 17th minutes until Feb. 14th. Motion carried.
205 Other Public Safety
205-0500 Emergency Management
Mrs. Stajduhar stated that all the line items will remain the same. There is an increase in the telephone line. The emergency call system, Everbridge/Reverse 911 Annual License Fee is $2,800.
A motion was made by Mr. Kelsey, seconded by Mrs. Sturges to approve $7,150, without salaries. Motion carried.
205-0510 Valley Shore Communication
Mrs. Reemsnyder stated that she has not received the final figures for Valley Shore Communications. Last year an additional town joined Valley Shore Communications and the amount the towns have to pay may decrease from last year. This item was moved until February 28th meeting.
No action was taken.
205-0520 Volunteer Ambulance Association
Mrs. Reemsnyder stated that the Ambulance budget will not be ready for discussion until early March.
No action was taken.
Board of Finance February 07, 2017
205-0530 Animal Control
The Animal Control budget was reviewed and was noted that there was little change in their budget. A decrease in the Telephone line resulted from cancelling the outside telephone answering service and having the employees use their cell phones.
A motion was made by Mr. Kerr, seconded by Mr. Woolley to approve $19,250. Motion carried.
205-0550 Fire Protection
Mrs. Stajduhar stated that the Town pays the fire protection expenses to Connecticut Water Company, as approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, to cover the cost to provide the pipeline capacity necessary to meet high volume demand that is required for fighting fires and to maintain and keep fire hydrants in working order. Connecticut Water’s approved public fire protection charges include a rate per linear foot of pipe within public fire protection boundaries, and, charges for the number of fire hydrants located within the town. The town has a total of 20 hydrants and a total of 20,144 linear feet of underground pipe in Town and State roads. The cost is calculated on linear feet. The amount budgeted was $31,000.
A motion was made by Mrs. Sturges, seconded by Mr. Woolley to approve $31,000 for Fire Protection. Motion carried.
205-560 Fire Marshal
Mrs. Stajduhar stated that there’s no material change in the budget.
A motion was made by Mr. Kelsey, seconded by Mr. Bernblum to approve $5,975 for the Fire Marshal. Motion carried.
205-0570 Emergency Retirement
Mrs. Stajduhar explained that the Emergency Employees’ Retirement has three parts; the regular annual contribution of which there are 64 individuals qualifying per last year’s list from OLFD and OLVAA ($53,184), additional pension contributions due to opt in which 19 individuals opted out of the $1,000 tax abatement ($19,000), and annual fees. The increase to pension amounts is the percentage used in Town Hall salary increases. The suggested budget line item is $79,000.
A motion was made by Mr. Woolley, seconded by Mr. Bernblum to approve $79,000 for the Emergency Retirement. Motion carried.
Board of Finance February 07, 2017
Other Business
Town Hall Repairs and Maintenance Boiler: This expense relates to replacing three Circulator pumps that have not been working properly. Replacing these three pumps will enable the boiler to work more efficiently. The total amount to replace the circulator pumps is $17,000.
A motion was made by Mr. Woolley seconded by Mr. Kelsey to approve $17,000 for replacement of three circulator pumps under Town Hall Repairs and Maintenance. Motion carried.
Mr. Russell stated that the next Board of Finance meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 14, 2017, at 7:00 p.m. Budgets for Parks and Recreation, Public Works, Sanitation, CRRA, Capital Project Funds, Interest on Debit, and Principal on Debt are scheduled for discussion.
A motion was then made by Mrs. Sturges, seconded by Mr. Kerr and passed unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michele E. Hayes
Secretary
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