Select Board/Budget Committee 1-10-08

Select Board and Budget Committee Joint Meeting Minutes January 10, 2008 Present:        Henry C. Cobb             Norman John Arrison                             C. Peter Cole             Daniel Boyer                         Patricia Daniels             Rolly Cann             Glenn Fisher Others Present:    Larry Melen, Town Manager             Lisa Sargent, Recording Secretary             Mary Danko, Library Director             Christina Charest             Chris Harris             Julia Lloyd Wright 1.  Call to Order: Mr. Cobb called the joint meeting of the Select Board and Budget Committee to order at 7:00 p.m. at Martin Memorial Hall. 2.  Proctor Library: Ms. Danko said a big chuck of the budget this year is the septic system.  She said the state permit is in and construction is scheduled to start on April 15, 2008.  She said there are small increases for materials as book rates have increased. Mr. Harris said there is an increase in the hourly rate for the Library Director and this will bring her within eight cents of the state average.  Plus there is an increase of two hours for an assistant as the state recommends two people on staff at all times.  Ms. Danko said quite often there is a volunteer there however, it is difficult to get them late in the afternoon especially during the winter months.     Mr. Arrison said he understands the circulation and usage is up and he recommends someone speak to this at the Town Meeting. Ms. Danko said once the school construction is complete she anticipates the attendance will increase even more.       Mr. Cole asked how expansion plans were going, Mr. Harris said very slowly.  Mr. Melen said permits still need to be done due to the situation next door.  Mr. Cann said with the possibility of a Library being put in at the Perkinsville Elementary School maybe the expansion should be rethought.     Ms. Danko said the building needs painting of its trim and some slate roof tiles need to be repaired soon.  She said she would like to take money from the undesignated fund balance for this.  Mr. Melen said there is $12,600 available in this fund, Ms. Danko said she feels we will need about $12,000. 3. Request for Appropriation: Windsor Connection Resource Center: Mr. Melen noted he asked for all requests to come in by the middle of November and this one was received on January 2, 2008.  He asked if the Board wanted to put it on the warning.  Mrs. Daniels said she doesn’t have a problem with the request of funds but they denied AARP permission to use the center for tax preparation and this is frustrating since there are a lot of people who benefit from this.  Mr. Cole made the motion to deny the request for funds from Windsor Connection Resource Center.  The Budget Committee agreed with this motion.  Mr. Boyer seconded the request, which passed without dissent.   4.  General Fund Budget: Mr. Melen said as of today the CPI New England is 4.0%, the US average is 4.3% and we are at 3.5%, do we want to leave it at 3.5%?  After discussion Mr. Cole made the motion to do an aggregate increase of 4.0%, Mr. Boyer seconded this motion.  Mr. Cann said he feels we are certainly not overpaying our people but a lot of taxpayers aren’t getting 4%.  Motion carried 4 – 1.     Police, Request for service by the Town of Baltimore: Mr. Melen said he and Chief Brown talked with the Town of Baltimore and they are looking for visibility, not for complaint response.  He said he feels it would take _ hour to make the loop so it would consist of about 156 hours a year.  Mr. Arrison said based on the state police conversation last week he doesn’t feel we can help them at this time.  Mr. Cann asked if this would be in addition to our current hours.  Chief Brown said no; it would be during our regular work shift.  Mr. Cann asked if a part timer could work extra hours, Chief Brown said they are working all they can because of their other work schedules.       Mr. Boyer made the motion to respectfully decline Town of Baltimore’s proposal for police coverage.  Mr. Arrison seconded the motion, which passed without dissent.     Mr. Melen said he put $1,300 in for VIBRS fees, which will buy us software and pay for fees if the state police are willing to go with an internet connection line.  Mr. Daniels asked what happened to money put aside six or eight years ago for the computer system upgrade, Mr. Melen said he doesn’t remember ever funding it.  Mr. Melen said it might have gone into the undesignated fund balance.     Mrs. Daniels asked if we approve this $1,300 if it will take care of all we need.  Mr. Melen said if they approve the internet access otherwise a T1 line would be $5,000.       The consensus of the Board was to approve leaving $1,300 in there.       It was discussed there will be an article to approve up to $28,000 to replace a police cruiser.     Fire Commission, Dispatch Services: Mr. Melen said he received the final proposal from the Town of Hartford and it will be $11,800 as of July 1, 2008.  Mr. Cobb asked if we had to invest in hardware.  Mr. Boyer said if the repeater association decides to go elsewhere we would have to purchase equipment.  Mr. Melen disagreed saying Ascutney owns the right to use it, as they own _ of the repeater.  Mr. Boyer said if the repeater association decides to go with Springfield or someone else we will have to pay for equipment.  Mr. Melen said we would have to pay for a control head (about $800) and get a license.       Mr. Melen said it is the Select Board’s decision where to go not AVFD or WWVFD.  He said he has talked to Springfield and they are not considering doing our dispatching, the only viable alternative is Town of Hartford.     Mr. Arrison said that in conversation he has had, the chance of the repeater association not going to Hartford is slim.  He said they would be voting next week, which will be before our final budget meeting.  Mr. Arrison said he feels we should leave $15,000 in the budget for now, Mr. Cobb agreed.  Mr. Boyer said he recommends moving $3,000 out into the equipment repair fund for both departments as Ascutney’s E2 needs work.  Mr. Arrison said there is money in the reserve funds for equipment repair. Mr. Melen said there is a fund for maintenance of motorized equipment and another for fire fighting equipment.     Mr. Cobb said our next and last budget meeting is January 24, 2008 and we sign the warning on January 31, 2008.     Mr. Arrison questioned the increase in the Lister’s budget, Mr. Melen said it is mostly due to the aggregate increase. 5.  Adjourn: Mr. Boyer made the motion to adjourn.  Mr. Cole seconded the motion, which passed without dissent.  The joint meeting of the Select Board and Budget Committee adjourned at 8:50 p.m.                             Respectfully Submitted,                             Lisa Sargent Approved by the Weathersfield Select Board February 7, 2008                             _________________________                                 Henry C Cobb                             _________________________                             Norman John Arrison                             _________________________                             Patricia Daniels                             _________________________                             Daniel Boyer            Â