BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE Town of Sunapee, NH
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Monday December 7, 2009
A meeting of the Budget Advisory Committee (the “BAC”) of the Town of Sunapee, NH, was held on December 7, 2009 at 3:00pm at the town offices meeting room.
Members Present:
Spec Bowers, chair Ken Mayer Shane Hastings Charlie Smith Rich Duperey
Also Present as guests were:
None
Members Absent:
None
Call to Order
Spec Bowers called the meeting to order 3:00pm and Richard Duperey recorded the minutes. A quorum of members was present, and the meeting, having been duly convened, was ready to proceed with business.
Old Business:
Minutes from the November 19th 2009 were reviewed by the committee and accepted, subject to the correction of two immaterial typographical errors.
New Business:
Spec Bowers opened discussions of the town budget.
The first topic discussed was the Library. It is widely held that the town is planning to use RSA 32:11 Emergency Expenditure Procedure to fund the Library mold problem. The BAC recommends the Board of Selectman use the Hydroplant funds for the mold project, if possible.
The BAC further recommends that should a mold remediation Article appear on the ballot, its physical position should be placed ahead of any other Library Articles.
The next topic discussed was the Library Capital Reserve Fund – Article 22. Questions were raised regarding the present Article. Should the Library have a dedicated Capital Reserve Fund? If so, should id be more general to include other municipal buildings? On what basis was the proposed $25,000 determined?
The next topic discussed was Article 21 – Reduce principal from Hydro Fund. The BAC continues to support this process and this year’s Article 21.
The next topic discussed was Article 28 – Conservation Commission Fund. The BAC does not offer a recommendation on this Article.
The next topic discussed was Article 32 – Water Sewer Mapping. The BAC does not offer a recommendation on this Article.
The next topic discussed was the “Step Raises” for municipal workers. The BAC recommends that the Board of Selectman consider suspending step raises for this budget year.
The next topic discussed was the town’s health insurance. Spec Bowers presented an overview of the features of the Health Savings Account (HSA) style of health insurance. The BAC recommends to the Board of Selectman and Town Manger that the town investigates the possibility of offering the HSA style of health insurance as it may offer an improved benefit to employees and offer savings to the town over time.
This concluded the discussion of the town budget for this meeting. The discussion then switched to the area of the School Department budget.
The BAC recommends that, this year, the soccer field lighting, the bathroom refurbishing and the padding of the gym walls be treated as one or more warrant articles.
The BAC further recommends that in the future items of a special nature or of a long term capital nature be funded by a Capital Reserve Fund and not by the annual operating budget.
The final topic discussed was the SAU and the Blodgett House project. We are awaiting the financial figures for the Blodgett renovation.
The final piece of business was to schedule the next meeting of the BAC. A date of Monday December 21, 2009 at 3:00pm was decided, in anticipation of having the Blodgett figures by that time.
Adjournment
There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 5:55pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Richard R Duperey, Recording Secretary
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