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Town of AmherstBoard of SelectmenNovember 27, 2006
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Chairman Bruce Bowler called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Selectmen present: Thomas Grella, Reed Panasiti, George Infanti and Jay Dinkel. Also present Town Administrator Gary MacGuire and Executive Assistant Sharon Frydlo.
Fire Department Budget Presentation
4290 Emergency Management
Chief John DeSilva advised that funds in this budget contained items for the Office of Emergency Management. Also included are part time forest fire control wages which is a cost sharing with the State. The State reimburses the Town 50% for brush fires and what was in the budget was the number the State had given him.
4220 Fire Department
The Chief indicated there were a few areas that had gone up and some have gone down. Under part time fire salaries, they were currently budgeted for 12 hours per week for an administrative assistant. Last year he had requested 16 hours, but this request was denied. Originally in this budget he was requesting 30 hours per week. In looking at the current rise in the budget, he felt it more prudent not to go ahead with the 30 hours and was requesting 20 hours instead. Two weeks ago a new person from Americore began and everything will be drawn through them. His main focus was on recruitment and retention and he commented that five towns in New Hampshire received this grant. They will have this employee until the end of October 2007. He is a certified firefighter and will help the Department on the workload when he was not doing retention requests for the part time salary of 12 hours per week effective November 1, 2007.
The Chief commented on the graphs he prepared – Alarm Time Analysis from 2004-2006 being from 7:00 a.m. thru 6:00 p.m. An Alarm Day Analysis from the same period that indicated the alarm count was based between Monday thru Friday. He also presented a Comparison of Various Departments Based on the Town, Population, Square Miles, Number of Stations, 2005 Fire/EMS Call Volume, 2005/FY06 Budget, Full Time Positions and the number of On-Call Personnel. The Town has done a good job in mixing their resources in comparing them with other Towns in New Hampshire, he said.
Chief DeSilva reported Dues & Subscriptions were up $500 that covered NFPA updates on codes and covers their monthly Internet bill at Central Station. Vehicle Repair has increased from $19,500 to $22,500. which reflects the expenditures to this line. He spoke of the lack of available hours in the office. To date they had 213 inspections or a 30% increase in the number of them. They were getting larger and more complex. No only have the calls for inspections gone up, but also the square footage inspected.
Relative to Mr. Infanti’s question, Chief DeSilva reported they do not charge for inspections and the fees for permits have not gone up in ten years. Mr. Bowler asked that the Board review the Fire Department’s fee structure. He also advised he had talked to the Chief about his requested 30 hours and thanked him for reducing his request to 20. Mr. Infanti agreed and he would be comfortable with the 12-20 hours. The graphs show the additional work going on. In response to Mr. Grella’s question, Mr. DeSilva reported that both Manchester and Hooksett charge inspection fees. All major complexes, such as Lowe’s, had been sent out for a third party review. He described the phone lines, cell phones, AT&T and Verizon calls associated with his Department in the Telephone line, in answer to Mr. Dinkel’s question. Mr. Panasiti asked about the Part Time Fire Salaries. The Chief explained this was for the Administrative Assistant, as well as paid on call firefighters. This was a long established procedure of their rank and pay per week. He also advised Mr. Panasiti, that Engine 5 came out of the Vehicle Repair line, however, they put in a request to FEMA for the Mothers’ Day Flood. He believed the overhaul was in the $4000.00 range. They also have fixed repairs such as oil changes, pump tests, tires, electrical issues, etc. Also included, was an $8000.00 repair for Car 1 that cost them $3000.00 to buy.
Chief DeSilva explained to W&M, that the subsidy for the person from Americore would be split between two budgets.
4210 Police Department
Police Chief Peter Lyon told the Board his original budget was at 5.54%, the one he was presenting that night was at 4.99% and he had cut another $8700.00 with most of it being in personnel. He spoke of several items that were down in an effort to keep the budget under control. He also commented on the need for new firearms and his plan that they be paid for out of the Drug Forfeiture Account. He had currently assumed a 10% increase in Health Insurance for a 16% change in this line. There were some officers who had taken the 50% buyback, but were now back on the Town’s health insurance policy. An item he could not control, was the $33,000.00 more being budgeted for Retirement and was a mandate from the State. The Chief commented that the warrant article for union costs predicted an expenditure of $76,000.00, however, his calculations were at $66,000.00. All other increases were minor ones.
Mr. Lyon mentioned that Longevity was up 8% or $650.00 due to employees becoming more senior within the Department. The wages for the full time officers he put at a 4.5% COLA. Last year part time wages were budgeted at 80 hours and he had increased them to 160 hours which was a $1300.00 increase in that line. This was mostly for vacation coverage. Sometime in the near future they will need a new patrolman, but he was not planning on this new position in the coming year. Overtime wages were reduced and it was his goal to keep this line even. The Chief told the group that they had two Traffic Aides who did three crossings twice a day and they were paid $28.00 per day. He would like to increase it to $29.00 per day. He explained Milford starts their Aides at $29.50 per day and go up to their senior Aides at $40.00 per day. There was a modest increase in Training & Education and was money well spent. The Meeting line was down and was used to cover in-state and out-of-state conferences. There was a decrease in Physicals – this line was for pre-employment physicals, polygraphs and psychological testing.
The Chief advised that Printing was down $300.00 because they were printing less items than they had in the past. There was an increase in Uniforms of $750.00 since he was trying to update SRO uniforms, new outerwear for the Crossing Guards as well as updating some of the uniforms that were getting old. There was also a modest increase in Office Supplies. The Software License increase includes the cost of doing business with IMC, lease payment for the software, support fees and virus protection. Gasoline was left level at last year’s rate as suggested by the DPW Director. New Equipment was reduced approximately $3800.00 – the Department needed sizeable purchases in the ’07 budget, but were not needed in the ’08 budget. Public Relations increased by 150% and up from $750.00 to $1250.00 as a result of DARE instruction. $1500.00 is the cost per year for materials and graduation for the 5th and 7th graders. They have not had much luck in receiving donations as they have had in the past.
Mr. Infanti thought $29.00 per day for Crossing Guards was quite low and if there was anything he’d like see increased it would be this line and stated this was a very good budget. Mr. Grella felt the same as Mr. Infanti. In response to his question, the Chief indicated that the reduction of the Physicals line was a gamble – it costs approximately $900.00 per person per hire. Relative to Neal Foley’s comment that he had budgeted $48,227.00 for Gasoline, however, they had only spent $10,000 to date, the Chief explained that they fuel up at DPW and periodically they update this amount for the different departments and the actual amount does not reflect this update. In response to Mr. Bowler’s question, Mr. Lyon advised he had just about no negative remarks and all positive ones in both the Middle School and High School on the School Resource Officers. Their numbers were up for contacts with kids, parents and teachers. They bill back to the schools approximately 50%.
Administration
4130 General Government Executive
Mr. MacGuire reported the bottom line in this budget was down 3.41%. The Overtime was primarily for Sharon for all the extra work they look for her to do. He looked at year-to-date and past costs – they were managing their meeting schedules better and every time they have a meeting it translates into overtime for Sharon. His goal is to keep managing this better. There was a decrease in Health Insurance because he received a buy back which the former Town Administrator did not. Longevity was just the opposite of the decrease in Health Insurance. Relative to the Telephone line, he was currently working on reducing this number overall and just found more things associated to their cell phone bill. He was looking at having long distance improvement as well as converting the rest of the phone lines to Centrix.
Equipment Rental was reduced because there was a change in past budgeting and he was comfortable with this savings. There were some adjustments in what he felt they should be budgeting as opposed to where they were before. The increase in IT Outside Hire was for a contract vendor which was a bit different way of doing things than what had been done in the past. The 4130 budget was a decrease of a little over $11,000.00. There was a brief discussion on the copier rental. The Board agreed that Mr. MacGuire had done a great job.
4152 Assessing
Mr. MacGuire advised that all of them continue to work to get a better budget. An error had been made in the Health Insurance and he had it going the wrong way – that line should show an increase instead. One of the big decreases was for Software Licenses which was for a Vision Software update from last year. Mr. Dinkel mentioned that under the Revaluation Update $39,000 is their payment out of the reserve funds. Putting funds in the Capital Reserves for the revaluation was one of the things they did wisely. In response to a question from W&M, Mr. MacGuire told them the Town does not employee assessors, they contract this process out and the increase is based on the CPI which was how they arrived at the 2%. Mr. Dinkel briefly explained the revaluation process to W&M.
4153 Legal
Mr. MacGuire explained that Town Counsel’s line is for general legal issues within the town and he was comfortable with the small increase. Collective Bargaining is for a different legal firm the Town uses when they have labor law issues. The primary use is for union negotiations and they were in an off year. Miscellaneous Legal (Code Enforcement) is for Counsel dealing in Planning / Zoning type issues. Cable Negotiations was still up in the air and he had eliminated the funds. Mr. Dinkel hoped they will have some answers and wrap everything up by June 30th.
4155 Personnel Administration / Insurance
Mr. MacGuire advised that they had negotiated a contract earlier this year for Short Term, Long Term Disability and Life Insurance. Relative to Workers Comp Insurance, the Town’s track record is not that good and they had been looking to get their numbers back in shape and is somewhat addressable. They reinstituted the Joint Loss Prevention Committee and they have become a very active committee working closely with Primex. Chairman is Deputy Chief Matt Conley and the rest of the Committee members were named. They hoped to begin managing their losses better. In response to W&M’s question, Mr. Dinkel explained that the town was a member of Primex, a non-profit trust pool. There was another trust like this in the State - the LGC (Local Government Center) and both were essentially pools of municipalities. A return of contributions goes back to the members based on what is left in the pool. Mr. Grella added they had gone out to bid for the Short, Long Term Disability and Life Insurance package.
4196 Property / Liability Insurance
Mr. MacGuire mentioned that this currently was with Primex and the funding was a guesstimate at 5%. In response to W&M’s question, he advised the Town had a $1000.00 deductible per incident. The question was also asked why the Town had fire and theft insurance on vehicles that were parked in sprinkled buildings, how many incidents the Town had of vehicles catching fire, who would steal a cruiser parked next to a Police Station and the cost of this insurance. Mr. MacGuire will look into these numbers further.
4411 Health Administration
The only increase for this line is a COLA for the Health Officer, said Mr. MacGuire.
4415 Health Agencies & Hospitals
Mr. MacGuire advised these were agencies that had previously been addressed in warrant articles as funds the Town was to raise and appropriate to support. Sharon had worked on a spreadsheet regarding the grant agencies’ requests. The Board will review this information at their next meeting when they begin discussing the warrant articles and new agency requests received.
4442 Welfare (Direct Assistance)
Mr. MacGuire told the group they were proposing level funding based on Sharon’s recommendation as she runs the Welfare Department. They went over some details that morning and feel comfortable with the numbers based on the recent reports. Many communities around Amherst have been seeing huge increases. However, they were a bit nervous and did not want to shave it down further.
4483 Patriotic Purposes
They were level funding the 4th of July and Memorial Day activities, Mr. MacGuire advised. Mr. Infanti’s observation was the hundreds of hours committed by the Town volunteers who made this work and an amazing accomplishment for $9,000.00.
Mr. MacGuire indicated this budget was level funded. He mentioned he had talked to the Chairman that day and there probably will be further discussion within the next week about some further funding options – perhaps a capital reserve each year to 2010. Currently they were comfortable with the small budget of $535.00.
Again, Mr. MacGuire indicated this budget was level funded. Mr. Dinkel mentioned that the Open Space Advisory Committee expends money to do appraisals and engineering surveys – some of which has been paid from private funds or from the Conservation Commission. The Land Trust had been paying for a lot of this and the question was raised, at an OSAC meeting several weeks ago, that perhaps the Town should budget for this. Money that had been spent over the past two years was $10,000.00. His thought of approximately $4,000.00-5,000.00 would be the annual rate and they could continue to look for other sources. Mr. Bowler felt this was something to think about. Relative to Mr. Panasiti’s question, Mr. Dinkel advised the bond has an ending date of 2 ½ years and some of the negotiations may get reimbursed.
The Town Administrator reported that the Police/EMS building addition was now paid up and provided a savings to this line. There was a savings under the Fire Tanker Bond as well as under the Baboosic Lake Septic System. The Baboosic Lake Septic System Phase II would be bonded this year. At 5.25% $17,850 would be for the principle and while it showed up in the budget, it would be a net budget. The interest would go hand-in-hand with this. The same would go for the Baboosic Lake Septic System interest at 5.25% and be approximately a $10,000.00 expenditure and offset on the revenue side with a net budget.
4915 Transfers to Capital Reserves
Mr. MacGuire explained that all of the Capital Reserves were a continuation and the Master Plan is the first near year the Town voted on at the past Town Meeting.
Health Insurance Budget Discussion
Mr. MacGuire commented there was a projected 10% increase in health insurance that was a cap number guesstimate – the Town’s problem is they are seven months out and the subsidy was higher to the tune of 18.9%. He had programmed in a 15% increase, but they may have a better idea when they get to the very end of the budget process. He was closing his figures at 13-14% and an approximate $31,000 increase beyond where he thought they were. They have the luxury of knowing where the numbers are and have the ability to consider a change. They have time to do due diligence and could change health insurance carriers. He commented he wished he had some answers to why they were where they were at. He has requested from their current providers some options.
Mr. Dinkel remarked that when they did the current policy he did not know if they had any savings. Mr. MacGuire indicated he heard that from last year there was an artificial savings. Mr. Dinkel thought things were going quite well at the pool level. Mr. MacGuire was on the phone as recently as 1:00 that afternoon and could not get all the answers. Whatever they budget for, they could still continue to pursue their other options and get a cheaper one down the road. He did not have a lot of time to come up with a much better budget number on this line item and would like to come up with a figure closer to the actual year they were going into.
W&M Co-Chairman Neal Foley encouraged the Board to solve this matter without asking the taxpayers for the money and this was a huge concern for all of them. His only suggestion was not to make their first response to take it from the taxpayer.
4194 General Governmental Buildings
Cable Access Channel
CIC Chairman Doug McAllister indicated that last year they came to the Board with a projected number of $10,000.00 as a first year operating budget without having any experience and they all agreed to reduce the number to $7,500.00 and then it was reduced again to $5,200.00 without his knowing about it. They now have one year for a track record and they still are not able to provide all the services the Town was looking for. The franchise renewal is coming in with a shorter timeframe than they had anticipated. The plans for 2007 was to increase the availability of equipment both internally and externally for more programs and perhaps even loan out the camera. They were missing wireless microphones, a PC capable of editing and the ability to broadcast two programs every day. They would like to broadcast 30-40 programs every week. Within the franchise agreement, they were looking for a capital grant from Comcast to build a broadcast studio to allow them to have a professional look to what they were broadcasting. None of the volunteers were video experts and they were looking for some design help to make sure the money they get from Comcast was spent wisely. They would also like to have some money incase equipment breaks. What they were looking for added up to $23,640.00. This represents less than 25% of the revenue the Town receives from the cable franchise fees. The Town has received $820,000 in revenue from cable fees since the Committee has been in existence. They may be able to return some of this money before the budget goes into place. They have equipment they want to resell and try to offset this bottom line a bit.
Mr. McAllister added the Committee has seven volunteers, four High School kids who volunteer and they belong to the NH Association for Community Media. He spoke of several towns that have spent funds for paying their media person and this may come down the road in Amherst. Mr. Dinkel gave his views on the matter, preferred not to mix income and expenses and this was a number he would like to work towards and not accomplish in one year. Mr. Infanti advised that many people had told him they watch the broadcasts. A Selectman in Milford, in a letter, commented that he did not know how much Amherst does with so little. The group works an incredible amount of hours, but he did not know if he could support the entire number requested. He would support whatever they could afford to give them this year. Mr. Grella mentioned that people enjoy getting first hand information. If there were any complaints, it was with the sound. He asked for a breakdown prioritized. Mr. McAllister advised he had given the list to Gary and Jay.
Mr. Panasiti asked if there were any grants available. Mr. McAllister remarked he had heard about some grants from FEMA and this was a possibility. In response to Mr. Panasiti’s question, Mr. McAllister indicated the High School volunteers receive Community Service, however, he did not know about any college credits. Mr. Bowler would like to see the list and indicated this may be something that the voters decide. They certainly know it is being watched. He would like to consider this as a potential warrant article. Mr. MacGuire advised they will begin discussing warrant articles next week.
Other Business
Mr. Panasiti reported he received a message from Heather Seitz concerning the Stormwater II Plan. She has been tasked to take all the information and put it together into a document and take it to the Planning Board. He has heard that the Planning Board won’t be able to hear it until February. Mr. Infanti informed him that there were major projects on their agenda. Mr. Bowler also thought the Board of Health was to be involved. Mr. Panasiti also reported he had a PMEC and Recreation Commission meeting this week.
Mr. Dinkel asked if they
were still going to meet with Vision and MRI. Mr. MacGuire explained this was
discussed again that afternoon. The previous issues dealing with the lack of
information was addressed with him by Joe Lessard and it could be handled
without an actual appearance. Scott Marsh will be in the next day and he will
talk to him about coming to the Board’s next meeting to discuss the Assessment
Data Sheets along with getting some answers on the questionable abatements. Mr.
Dinkel would like to talk in general about the revaluation – how many abatement
requests were received and he would like to learn more about the specifics of
it. The Board briefly discussed business being on their agenda for the next
several meetings. Mr. Bowler suggested inviting Vision and MRI in on December
11th at 6:30 p.m. They will schedule another Board of Health on the
18th to discuss the proposed development by Barbara Enright, Patch
Hill Realty Trust & Tim Farris in the Lyndeborough Road area.
Mr. Infanti reported he was impressed with the PMEC pictures and took a ride out there and spent some time looking at the structure – it was going to be a great addition. He also noticed in the W&M minutes “Robin” Warren’s name being Warren Wallace rather than Wallace Warren.
Mr. Bowler reported on Friday the Fire Department started the decoration of the Town tree. It took them a great deal of time getting the old lights off. He thanked Scott Mobley, Eric Hahn, Chris Smith, Len Brown, Dave Vigneault and Mark Neskey. He spoke of the firefighters hanging in a harness while wrapping the lights around the tree. Several years ago Kevin Grassett suggested cutting down the two large pine trees at the end of the common and replacing them with a new one they could use for the tree lighting. The one they are using was getting extremely large and somewhat unsafe for decorating.
Mr. MacGuire reported he received a call from Bruce Berry regarding the Mack Hill/Jones Road dog leg. He was planning on grinding the pavement with the Zipper this coming week and wanted to check one last time the Board’s direction in this matter. Mr. Bowler thought they were going to temporary barricade it until they got approval from Town Meeting. He asked if the Board was to receive an update on the status of the Boston Post Road / Thornton’s Ferry Road II project. Mr. MacGuire had not heard of an update.
Minutes
Mr. Infanti moved to approve the minutes of November 20, 2008, second by Mr. Dinkel, amended as follows: Line 45 – Change “6,000” to “26,000”; Line 54 – Insert “increase on” after “overall”; Line 62 – Change “and” to “who”; Line 95 – Change “hiring” to “hire”; Line 167 – Strike “and pay back”; Line 211 – Insert “at” after “look”; Line 210 – Strike “to” after “response” also strike “question, he”; Line 223 – Add “Valley Regional” after “Merrimack”; Line 247 – Change “Mr. Tiedemann” to “Mr. Infanti”; Line 248 – Strike “personally”. Vote: Unanimous.
Other Business
Relative to the Merrimack Valley Water District, Mr. MacGuire told the Board that Sharon had researched the matter and on July 15, 2004 a payment of $5,000.00 was made for legal fees and a $5,000.00 pledge was made on August 26, 2005. The District operates on a calendar year and the Town has not paid for the 2006 calendar year. Mr. Dinkel moved to spend $5,000 out of the Contingency line for the Merrimack Valley Regional Water District operating fund for the year 2006, second by Mr. Panasiti. Vote: 4-0-1, Mr. Bowler opposed.
Non-Public Session
Upon a unanimous roll call vote, the Board entered non-public session under RSA 91-A:2 I (c) at 9:36 p.m. and RSA 91-A:3 II (a).
The Board exited non-public session at 10:19 p.m. While in non-public session, Mr. Dinkel updated the Board on cable negotiations. Mr. MacGuire also advised the Board of his acceptance of a town employee’s resignation.
Upon a motion made and duly second, the Board adjourned the meeting at 10:19 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon L. Frydlo
Executive Assistant