TOWN OF SUNAPEE
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE
2006 BUDGET SESSION
TOWN HALL
November 8, 2005
PRESENT: Selectmen William Roach, Emma Smith, Richard Leone, Frederick Gallup and Stephen White. Town Manager Nashawaty. Budget Advisory Committee Members William Price, Charles Balyeat, Rick Mastin and Arthur Muller. Road Agent Anthony Bergeron.
ABSENT: Budget Advisory Committee Member Greg Shugart.
Selectmen William Roach opened the budget session at 6 PM.
It was announced that Greg Shugart resigned his seat on the Budget Advisory Committee due to other time consuming commitments. Discussion was held on a possible replacement. Donna Nashawaty informed the boards that volunteer forms are available in the front lobby should they know of anyone who might be interested.
Highway Department/Transfer Station
Discussion began with wages. D. Nashawaty explained the spreadsheet which shows a 3.8% increase plus increases in employee benefits. Tony Bergeron explained that there will be no change in the number of employees, no changes in position and no additional positions budgeted. Item 341 is the telephone which includes one cell phone, 8 pagers, and DSL. Item 350 is for CDL testing for truck drivers with random selections to be tested for alcohol and drugs. Item 364 and 365 is for equipment servicing. T. Bergeron does not anticipate anything major in 2006 and explained his process of servicing equipment. T. Bergeron was asked why he budgeted an amount for radio service that is always more than is expended. T. Bergeron explained that the cost of radio servicing has gone up and he
has changed vendors. Paving services is the hot top overlay program that is subcontracted. T. Bergeron explained that the cost of asphalt has risen $2.00 per ton but he was able to sign a contract before the increase. Because of the economy, discussion was raised on limiting paving in 2006. This will be a decision for the Selectmen to make.
Discussion was held on the ten year plan to repave roads. Cutting back on the paving would hurt the reason for the plan. T. Bergeron explained that he has been able to keep with the plan even though some unanticipated expenses were incurred. There are 38 miles of paved road in Sunapee and 19 miles of gravel road. It was suggested that paving might be one item that could be reduced to help the bottom line of the budget. This will be revisited. The highway department does the shimming and the overlays are contracted out. Item 390 are other contracted services such as cleaning catch basins, mowing road sides, painting lines, professional tree take downs and painting parking stalls. Item 394 is for the sidewalks in the harbor. Electricity is high as this bill runs
$350 to $400 per month. It was questioned whether or not enough was budgeted as a rate increase is anticipated. Discussion was held on heating costs and gasoline usage much of which depends on how mild or cold the season is going to be. Heating fuel over the past few years has been between 4500 gallons and 3200 gallons. T. Bergeron explained that the Travel and Meals line item does not include any meals. This is for mileage payment for attending classes, etc. Training and advertising remain the same. General Supplies includes office supplies. Painting supplies includes the paint machine. This is for crosswalks and parking lots. D. Nashawaty explained that under item 390, $1,000.00 can come out if the paint machine stays in the previous line item. T. Bergeron explained that the school also uses the paint machine for their athletic fields. Building line item is used mostly to pay for
maintenance. Maintenance and Repairs has increased to $40,000.00 because parts are getting more and more expensive. This maintains the fleet, all of the equipment, the repairs they do themselves. If something needs to get shipped out for service, this is charged to item 364 or 365. His budget contains 20,000 gallons of gasoline. Uniform and Safety is the same as 2005. Item 683 Sand and Salt remains about the same. Item 684 is the asphalt for shimming or miscellaneous work. Discussion was centered on removing $10,000.00 from this item. Item 687, Highway Signs. It was asked if enough money was in this item to purchase signs for the harbor. Item 688 are Bridges and Guardrails. T. Bergeron had hoped to replace the stone culvert on Sargent Road out of this fund in 2005 but he could not because the water was too high. This will need to be done in 2006 and also the Cooper Hill bridge. It was agreed that
the Cooper Hill bridge needed repairs the most. Under Street Lights, two were done away with in 2005.
With regard to the Transfer Station, most of the budget remains the same with very little increases. Discussion was held on recycling and where the materials were taken.
Planning & Zoning
Before discussion began on Planning and Zoning, D. Nashawaty explained that she will present a new item in the town’s budget to pay for a maintenance man for all Town buildings. The amount in 2006 is $40,000.00 to fund the position from April to December. D. Nashawaty explained that this is necessary as the Town now has to hire from the outside and it can be very expensive. Stephen White spoke against the position stating that he does not feel that the Town spends this much each year for maintenance. D. Nashawaty stated that the Town has not, but that is because the buildings are being neglected. S. White recommended a part time position. Emma Smith spoke in favor of the position stating she feels it is necessary.
With regard to Planning and Zoning, the only increase is the salaries for the employees. All other items have remained the same.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM
Darlene Morse, Recording Secretary
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