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Warner Budget Committee Meeting Minutes The meeting opened at In attendance: Marc Violette, Mike Cutting, Martha Bodnarik,
Paul DiGeronimo, Kimberley Edelmann Peter Savlen – Warner Village
Water Precinct Representative and Selectman Clyde Carson Excused: Alfred Hanson Others
present: Laura Buono – Town Administrator, David Karrick, Jr. –
Selectman, David E. Hartman – Selectman, Peg McLaughlin, Peter Newman,
Ray Martin, Martha Mical, Richard Brown, Jim Hand 1.
Meeting Minutes’ Mr. Cutting moved to approve meeting minutes dated 2. Warner Village
Water District 2011 Budget Mr. Savlen being a Commissioner recused himself from the
Budget Committee and joined the District for the budget presentation. General Government The budget has a 1.01% increase mainly due to the retirement
increase, increases in wages, license renewal and health benefits.
The District is still working towards a resolution in regards to
the properties on North Village Road that are no longer on the system;
the District had (4) wells drilled for these properties; there is extra
funding in contract services in anticipation of additional costs. Sewer & Water Total increase for sewer & water is $4,800.
Selectman Water System Outside Contracting is increased due to the wells that were
installed on Capital Outlay The District is in the process of changing commercial meters
at a cost of $20K per year for about 5 years, residential meters have
already been completed. Mr.
Cutting asked since there was little difference found after all the
residential meters was changed, why then continue to change the
commercial meters. Mr.
Newman explained when the residential meters were changed the whole
system was updated by putting in expansion tanks and backflow preventers.
The District was told by the State that the old meters would
loose reliability over time because they were getting old.
Selectman Selectman Revenues Revenues that were estimated for 2010 are 433,489, to date
the revenues total 363,677. The Budget Committee asked the District to provide the
members another copy (via email) of the budget once all the final
numbers are available. Also,
Mr. Martin will provide any payback information regarding the commercial
meters. Mr. Savlen returned to the Budget Committee. 3. Fire Department Fire Chief, Richard Brown apologized to the Budget Committee
for being absent at the December 2 meeting.
Mr. Brown covered only the highlights: v
An
ambulance contract has been created with the Town of v
Fire
salaries for the Fire Chief, two Deputy Chiefs, Clerk and administrative
help increased by 10.75% which is an estimated amount.
The administrative help has $400 in the budget. v
Ms.
Bodnarik recommended adding another $200 on the electric. v
The
Committee noted that heating costs were lower for 2010. v
Supplies
have increased because reimbursements are now nonexistent. v
Radio
Maintenance has increased because they need new batteries which cost
$110 each. The Chief is
trying to replace all the radios and pagers from his operating budget
instead of from the capital budget, he has already purchased 12 new
pagers, he needs 40 in all. The
Town Administrator said the radio replacement is in the capital budget.
Ms. Bodnarik said if the Chief keeps the radio replacement in his
operating budget she feels the Fire Department would have a better
chance in getting the other reserves approved at Town Meeting.
Selectman v
New
Equipment increased because of the new FDA laws that require gear no
older than 10 years; the cost is $1,800 per person to replace a full set
of gear. v
The
Chief said 1,800 hours have been donated by the staff for trainings and
meetings. Ms. Edelmann asked
for an example, the Chief said in the summer there is Sunday duty where
3 people are at the station for 6 hours, weekly meetings and in-house
training. v
If
$4,500 is removed from Radio Maintenance the budget increase for the
Fire Department is 11.98% and the overall operating budget down to .36%.
v
Mr.
Cutting asked the Chief about his vision on a new fire station and the
Chief feels it will be another 4 or 5 years. 4. Selectmen’s
Budget v
Secretarial
position is scheduled for an increase. v
Computer
expense for replacement has been added to the Selectmen’s budget. v
Office
Equipment and Supplies was moved from the General Government Bldg. to
the Selectmen’s budget. v
Mileage
increased. v
Newsletter
decreased. Mr. Violette
suggested placing an announcement in the Newsletter for those who wish
to receive it electronically to forward that information to the
Selectmen’s office. Selectman
v
Mr.
Violette noted that money is appropriated in the Town Clerk’s budget
every year for training and education and it seems in the past few years
what is budgeted is not spent; the same for membership dues.
Selectman v
Mr.
Cutting would like to see the entire operating budget reduced by $10K;
this would result in level funding from last year.
The Town Administrator suggests if the BC wants $10K cut from the
budget let the administration go back and see if it can be worked out.
Ms. Bodnarik feels the right amount should be budgeted for; she
would like to see a more accurate budget.
She used Parks & Rec as an example; $500 is budgeted every
year for the skate board park but it is never spent. The Town
Administrator said the budget before them is the lowest that she has
presented; the administration has worked hard to hold the bottom line
including the capital budget which is down by 3.6%.
v
Mr.
Violette asked the Town Administrator what the overall increase is
including operating and capital. The
Town Administrator said the overall increase between the operating and
capital is actually a decrease of about 3%.
Revenues may be at a decent level even though there has been a
change in the hauling from the Transfer Station. v
Selectman
Hartman pointed out that the one item that is now in the operating
budget that was not there last year is the payment for the pumper for
$33K and now the BC is talking about reducing another $10K to get back
to level funding. v
Ms.
Bodnarik asked the Town Administrator when reviewing the budget to look
at line items and make sure they are not over or under budgeted based on
past use. The Town
Administrator said overall there may be a couple lines where that
argument stands but she feels the department heads do a good job at
being consistent. v
Mr.
Cutting asked why there is a $4,250 increase in outside services within
the Assessing Clerks budget. The
Town Administrator said 250 parcels were budgeted for pick-ups.
Also money was added for bridging software, this software will
bridge information from the Assessing Clerk’s computer to the Tax
Collector’s computer eliminating double entry.
Assessing Clerk, Martha Mical said the pay back will take 10
years, she said she timed herself and it took her 1.25 hours to enter
two months of deeds on the Tax Collectors computer after she entered the
same information on her computer. The
Town Administrator said that this is the first time hearing this
information from the Assessing Clerk.
The cost for the bridge is $1,800 plus $333 for the support.
The Town Administrator said the Assessing Clerk does not agree
with the bridge because it is a change.
It is a cost savings whenever information does not need to be
entered twice. v
Employee
contribution to health benefits has been increased to 5%, last year
contribution was at 3%. Ms.
Bodnarik complimented the Administration on their effort in limiting the
impact to the taxpayers as well as the impact to the employees.
v
Legal
has been decreased in Land Use. v
The Town
Administrator will be presenting minimum charges to the Selectmen for
them to consider for non-profit organizations that use the Town Hall on
a regular basis, mainly to cover heat and water expenses.
v
The v
Martha
Bodnarik feels there is too much budgeted for heat at the v
In
Emergency Management Mr. Cutting noted that money has been budget the
last couple of years for training and the money has not been spent, in
this budget there is $875 for training.
The Town Administrator explained that in 2011 a training is
scheduled that includes a facilitator which costs more money.
v
Ms.
Bodnarik noted that the Building Inspector salary has been consistently
under spent. v
Mr.
Cutting asked Selectman Carson if any PSNH programs have been researched
in regards to street lighting. Selectman
v
Health
Officer shows a reduction in mileage in the amount of $200. v
The
Welfare Director’s salary has been eliminated; this function is being
completed by the Town Administrator.
Selectman v
Parks
& Recreation is still trying to upgrade the skate board park.
Ms. Bodnarik commented negatively on how the P&R budget is
spent. The Town
Administrator feels it would be easier for the volunteers to have one
line for maintenance & improvements versus trying to separate the
costs; the bottom line of the P&R budget has not been overspent. v
Mr.
Cutting asked if the Library is submitting a warrant.
The Selectmen have reviewed the request and have suggested
alternative sources for the Library to research. Mr.
Violette has suggested to Library to submit to ERATE which is a
government program that all the Telecom providers provide money to; the
federal government distributes money based on hot lunch needs to schools
and library’s, he said the answer from library when it was discussed
during the Capital Improvement Program was they were not interested. 5. Other Business The Committee decided to cancel the December 16th
meeting and return on Thursday, January 6th beginning at 6. Adjournment After asking for any further discussion from members and
receiving none, Mr. Violette requested a motion to adjourn.
The motion was raised, seconded and approved unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at
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