Minutes of the Board of Finance meeting held on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall Meeting Hall.
Present: Regular Members:Andrew Russell, Wayne Devoe,
Christopher Kerr, Janet Sturges, David Woolley
Alternate Members:~ David Kelsey, Judy Read
Timothy C. Griswold, First Selectman, Ex-officio
Doris Johnson, Finance Administrator
Nicole Stadjuhar, Finance Director
Absent: Regular Members:~ H. P. Garvin, III
Alternate Members:~ Anne Coburn
Guests: Roger Breunig, Rogers Lake Resident
Scott Boulanger, President, Federation of Beaches
Paul Rowean, Vice President, Federation of Beaches
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~Mr. Russell called the meeting to order at 7:34 p.m.~ Mr. Russell stated that Mr. Garvin would not be present this evening. Therefore, a motion was made by Mr. Devoe, seconded by Mr. Woolley to have Ms. Read vote for Mr. Garvin in his absence. Motion carried.
Minutes of June 16, 2009
The minutes of June 16th were reviewed. On page one, Mr. Kelsey noted that he was absent from the meeting and not present as stated. On page two, under Church Corner Project, sixth sentence, the word “to” needs to be added between Ferry Road and Route 156. On page three, under Kus Stump Dump, second sentence should read that “the permit called for “a 5,400 foot trench” which…..Same paragraph, fifth sentence, a typographical error was noted to the word “topographic”.
There being no further corrections noted, a motion was made by Mrs. Sturges, seconded by Mr. Kerr and passed unanimously to approve the minutes as modified. Mr. Devoe abstained, as he was absent from that meeting. Motion carried.
Rogers Lake Update – Roger Breunig
Mr. Breunig detailed the history of Rogers Lake weed control and lake dredging. The Lake was formed from two ponds in 1760, which resulted in a very shallow section in the central area. The lake size is 265 +/- acres. The watershed is 4,800+ acres. This is a source of pollutants from storm water runoff, silt, etc. The 1982 flood introduced much upstream material in a short time, resulting in the lake rising an additional four feet. Based on a study done in 2002-3, the water quality in the lake is good. The lake has several “turns” per year as it has several points of entry. Rogers Lake has many recreational uses some of which are year round such as boating and fishing. The 2002-3 study was commissioned to address a growing weed problem. Swimming areas
have become un-usable and boating is difficult as props, paddles, etc. are caught in the weeds. The $70,000 study was funded 25% by the Towns of Lyme and Old Lyme and 75% was funded by the Department of Environment Protection. It recommended that a Lake Management Plan be developed, but did not define what would be best for Rogers Lake.
Harvesting has been the only anti-weed action taken by Lyme and Old Lyme but that is like getting a “haircut”. Milfoil grows at the rate of one inch per day. Also, not all cuttings are collected so fragments float away and reseed making the problem worse. Harvesting has cost $20,000 a year, shared equally between by Lyme and Old Lyme. The Rogers Lake Authority considered having the towns purchase a $150,000 harvester with operational costs of $94 per hour but nothing materialized. Chemical treatments have also been considered. While the application cost is affordable ($22,000 per application for 3 years), the use of pesticides is very controversial and the Rogers Lake Auth. has not endorsed this approach.
Dredging is probably the best solution but not without its problems. Dewatering of the dredging material requires a large area. The cost is $10-$15 per cubic yard with over 400,000 cubic yards needing to be removed. This dredging process would cover 50+ acres. Dredging needs to be done but it must be done in proper areas.
In closing, Mr. Breunig commented on the goose control at Rogers Lake stating that Ms. Pettit has done a fine job at controlling new “families” from settling at the lake.
Federation of Beaches Update
Mr. Russell stated that Mr. Boulanger wanted to deliver an update to the Board on the Federation of Beaches. Therefore, a motion was made by Mr. Kelsey, seconded by Mrs. Sturges to add the Federation of Beaches update to the agenda. Motion carried.
Mr. Boulanger thanked the Board members for their time and gave a brief update on the status of the Federation of Beaches (FOB). Last year, the FOB purchased an all-terrain beach patrol vehicle and donated it to the Town. Later, the Board of Finance approved the purchase of additional equipment and a trailer, using some of the FOB’s $12,000 line item in FY 2009. The ATV was not used much last summer and poor weather has cut the use early this summer. The Old Lyme Resident State troopers and police officers now manage the summer crowds better with the use of the ATV. The Fire Department has also used ATV’s to respond to emergency situations. The Town has agreed to maintain and insure the vehicle, using funds in the police budget. The FY 2010 Town budget has a line item
of $12,000 for the FOB to pay officers to patrol the beaches on the ATV.
The FOB requested two things from the Board of Finance: One, to reimburse the FOB $500 it lost on the aquatic ATV deposit and two, to fund some additional equipment purchases for the ATV. The Board took no action on the requests.
Chart of Accounts and Carryovers
Mrs. Stadjuhar outlined the actual and anticipated revenues. The total property tax line is $41,224 favorable to budget, but the Charges for Services is $396,318 less than budget and the Investment Income is $172,233 less than budget. Total Revenue is $561,136 less than budget. These numbers include Carryover of $451,510 which must be added back, so the revenues are actually $109,626 less than budget. On the expense side, the total General Govt. budget is $236,337 less than budget and the Capital budget is $103,795 less than budget, for a total of $340,132 underspent. FY 2009 has not been closed as yet, so these numbers are preliminary. The final numbers will be available at the August meeting along with recommendations for Carryover to FY 2010.
Bus Barn – Project Financing of $675,000
On June 8th, the Zoning Commission approved the Bus Barn project which was the last Land Use approval necessary. Mr. Griswold stated that the Town’s engineer has estimated the cost to build the Bus Barn facility will be $550,000 plus a $50,000 contingency, for a total of $600,000. Costs include considerable underground drainage, paving, fencing, an 1,100 sq. foot building plus utilities and a septic system and a 2,000 gallon fuel tank. In addition, the Town must recoop $34,000 in engineering costs, there will be some future engineering and construction supervision costs ($16,000) and the Selectmen recommend a $25,000 Misc./Contingency reserve. The Total project budget is therefore $675,000. The cost to operate the facility includes insurance of approximately $1,000 and a
$5,000 Reserve for Replacements. When factoring in recovering the construction cost of $675,000, Mr. Griswold said debt service over an approximate 20 period at a 4.00% interest rate would amount to about $60,000 per year. Rent from the bus company is
forecast to be $50,000 for five years with $5,000 increases every five years, up to 20 years. The Town has a ten year commitment from the school to locate the bus activity at the Four Mile
River site. Given the longer payback requirement, Mr. Griswold will ask the school to commit for twenty years. The Selectmen hope that the request for an appropriation of $675,000 could be put to a Special Town Meeting in late August. The facility needs to be completed by next July 2010 when the present school bus contract ends.
Town Hall Expansion Update:
Mr. Griswold distributed a Town Hall Expansion project revised pro-forma in the amount of $4,660.000. While the work is nearly complete, there are a number of punch list items and there are disputed items between the Contractor and the Town. There is a meeting planned with the architect and the Town’s attorney to develop a strategy to bring this matter to closure.
Old Business
Honkers – Goose Control: Mr. Griswold distributed a memo to the Board of Selectmen and Mr. Russell. The memo states that Wendy Pettit of Honkers has been combating the Rogers Lake goose problem for eight years. Before she began her service, over 200 geese were observed in the Hains Park area. Her service was designed to move the geese from the Hains Park area through multiple daily visits six days per week. The service includes addling the eggs and using water tactics (going out on the lake in a kayak with her dog). Honkers has been successful at reducing the goose population drastically and the swim area has not been closed since her service began. Over the past eight years, the cost has increased only 3.6%. After discussion, it was decided to renew the Honkers
contract for FY 2010 under the terms and conditions of the FY2009 contract and not require monthly written reports.
A motion was made by Mr. Woolley, seconded by Mr. Devoe, to approve a one year contract with Honkers, through June 30, 2010, at the budgeted amount of $14,820, with a thirty-day cancellation provision. The goose control issue will be evaluated during the next budget season to include an evaluation of other available services. Motion carried.
Selectman’s Report
Church Corner: Al Bond has completed the drainage work and American Industries is about to begin its road reconstruction work. Some modifications to the drainage were necessary due to the presence of buried AT&T cables.
Public Works Building: The Building Committee’s architect, Steve Joncus, has finalized the contract with Delta Building Corp. of Cromwell, CT to replace the roof and siding. Work should start in Mid-August and be completed in October. The entire project should come in under budget.
CRRA: The CRRA Board voted to decrease the tip fee from $69 to $63 for FY 2010, using funds from a reserve account. This will result in a savings to the Town, since we budgeted $69.
Single Stream Recycling: Mr. Griswold and Mr. Yuknat visited the recycling operations of CRRA in Hartford and Willimantic Waste (WW) in Willimantic. Both companies now offer single stream recycling. The Town of Old Lyme can begin single stream with WW now, using our existing equipment. While using an automated truck, similar to that used by Shoreline Sanitation, would be more efficient (more capacity, compaction and automation), Old Lyme must work out some contractual issues before it could outsource recycling. Mr. Griswold said going to single stream will reduce our recycling expense as well as allow more items to be recycled, such as plastics #3 through #7.
A motion was then made by Mr. Kerr, seconded by Mr. Devoe and passed unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 10:15 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michele Hayes-Finn
Secretary
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