Warrant and Finance

Ms Rix reminded the group that this Meeting was scheduled to discuss their efforts in obtaining the various department budgets and meetings with the department heads.

a) Municipal – Mr. Hodgdon explained that he hasn’t been able to do anything because the figures he needs to review were not ready at this time.

Ms Rix stated she has requested a copy of the end-of-year expenses from the Town Treasurer, but has been told that it isn’t completed at this time.

Mr. Long gave a brief update on the Town’s efforts to convert the assessments from Brightside to Trio and mentioned that the residential properties won’t be brought into line until there is a town-wide assessment done, but the Assessor has been reassessing the gravel pits at this time. He advised that the Town is still receiving bills for the past fiscal year and stated that will not occur this fiscal year because anything that is purchased for the Town will have to be by purchase order. He mentioned that the Fire Department will be audited and the special account in that department’s name will be closed. He informed that the gym building is now closed and cannot be used because of a number of code violations and the Fire Department hasn’t designated any funds to maintain it.

Both Ms Rix and Mr. Roy suggested that the gym be converted to a library since the existing library is rather small and the impact the books, etc. are having on the current library’s floor may present a problem in the near future.

b) Transfer Station – Mr. Roy advised he saw the Manager of the Transfer Station who told him that Mr. Crowley, who was also assigned to the Transfer Station, would be calling him by the end of the week, but he (Mr. Roy) doesn’t know if that occurred.

c) Highway Department – Mr. Roy stated that he and Mr. Long met with the Road Commissioners and as of Thursday evening, they made a few changes, but he didn’t have any specific information at this time. He mentioned that he will be checking with other area towns to compare figures.

The Committee also briefly discussed the tool replacement line of the highway budget as well as the charge for gravel.

Mr. Roy said he thought the Town was ready to have either one Road Commissioner or a Director of Public Works. He advised he is aware that the Board of Selectmen is not in favor of that change.

Mr. Long advised that the changes referenced by Mr. Roy relate to the State rate and explained the particulars of their discussion as well as what work was done in the past that may have to be redone due to a number of factors. He mentioned that the Board of Selectmen have discussed requesting bids for the equipment that has been stored in the Town garage since some of it hasn’t been used in sometime and is obsolete. He said when that occurs, the facility will be used as a garage and not a storage building. He stated that the Town is currently working on obtaining a price for the winter sand from Pepin.

d) School Department – Ms Rix advised that she met with the Superintendent and requested a copy of the current year budget as well as information relating to school budget process so that she can understand how the budget is developed. She stated that the Superintendent gave her an overview of the process he uses in the other school district in which he works.

Mr. Long advised that a meeting will be scheduled for November, 2009 for the Board of Selectmen to meet with the School Committee concerning what will be acceptable for the 2010-11 fiscal year budget. He also gave a brief overview of discussions with the School Committee regarding any fund balance and that while they were allowed to keep it in the past that will not be the case this year. He stated he determined from his conversations with the Superintendent and the auditor that there won’t be a very large fund balance remaining. He mentioned that the School Committee and the Superintendent are going to be invited to the August 13, 2009 Board of Selectmen Meeting at which time, the end-of-year figures should be available.

e) Employee Medical Insurance Coverage – Mr. Long advised that the Board of Selectmen will be signing the employee medical insurance coverage which was estimated to be $60,000+ during the development of the budget, but they were able to find adequate coverage for $51,000+.

The Committee discussed the possibility of changing the work eligibility to 26 or 30 hours a week as was suggested by MMA in the past.

D. NEXT MEETING

It was noted that the next Meeting will be on Monday, August 24, 2009, at 6:00 PM in the Town Hall.

E. ADJOURNMENT - The Meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

ANNA M. WILLIAMS,

Recording Secretary

Tteddo Designs