SEL20090721

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BOARD OF SE= LECTMEN MEETING

MINUTES

July 21, 2009

APPROVED &#= 8211; July 28, 2009

CALL TO ORDER – 6:30pm

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

PRESENT:

Mr. Robert Haverty (arr= ived after the meeting commenced) Mr. Douglas Viger, Mr. William McDevitt, Mr.= Harold Lynde (arrived after the meeting commenced), Mr. Edmund Gleason, Finance Director Janet Gallant

ABSENT:

Town Administrator Tom = Gaydos

APPOINTMENTS

2010 Budget Review – Finance Director Janet Gallant sat with each of the Department Heads when budgets w= ere presented.

Highw= ay Department – Highway Road Agent Don Foss came forward and reviewed the proposed 2010 budget. He = started by going through the line items and comparing the proposed costs to last year’s budget. Mr. Lynde arrived. There was a discussi= on about the cost/benefit trade-off of crack sealing versus paving. The Selectmen discussed if there w= ere any available resources.   Mr. Foss said the Highway Block Grant was used for paving, crack sealing and new construction. Mr. Gleason ask= ed that the Selectmen be provided with the anticipated expenditure of the High= way Block Grant and what the residual might be. Ms. Gallant said she would provide= a copy. The road repair study d= one by NRPC would be reviewed to see the status.&= nbsp; Mr. Lynde wanted to find the most cost effective path when dealing w= ith the roads. Mr. Foss discussed= the importance of crack sealing for prolonging a road’s life. There was continued review of the budget.

The Selectmen then reviewed the proposed warra= nt articles: 1) accept the Highway Block Grant (exact number to be determined = in November/December 2008); 2) To raise and appropriate $50,000 for placement = into the Tallant Road/Willow Street Bridge Capital Reserve; 3) To establish a Highway Department Garage Building Capital Reserve Fund to construct a high= way garage and raise and appropriate $125,000 to be placed into the fund.

Town Clerk/Tax Collector/Elections – Town Clerk/Tax Collector Dorothy Marsden came forward to review the proposed 2010 department budgets. She began by going through the line items in the Elections budget. There was an increase in overtime for the election assistant salaries due to the transfer of some election overtime from the Town Clerk’s budget to Elections; this decision was made so that the line item would reflect where= the actual cost was (rather than keep it in another budget). The remainder of the budget remain= ed at zero growth per election cost. Ms. Marsden then reviewed the proposed 2010 Town Clerk/Tax Collector budget. In order to meet this year’s = growth objectives the necessary change to the budget was to not have the Town Clerk office open late on Tuesday evenings for twelve weeks out of the year. There was an increase in postage f= or items sent to the state. Mr. Gleason questioned whether the state would change their system to be electr= onic transmission. Ms. Marsden hadn’t heard anything about changing the system; she didn’t kno= w of any other town doing it another way. There was continued review of the line items and where changes had b= een made.

Treas= urer – Town Treasurer Charlene Takesian came forward to review the proposed 2010 budget. She sta= ted that the interest had decreased dramatically going from 2% down to .25%. She said banks have decided they n= eed to charge fees because they didn’t have the margins they previously had. An additional fee (FDIC)= began to be charged in May (at a rate of .0167 per $100 of balance). Ms. Takesian stated that the fees = were exceeding what was being made on the account because the interest was so low. She suggested that the f= ees start being recorded separate from the interest so they could easily see wh= at was being made versus what was being paid to the bank. The Selectmen discussed the situat= ion and how it should be reflected within the budget.

Trust= ees of the Trust Funds – Trustees Laurette Guay and Cindy Ronning came forward to review the proposed 2010 Trustees of the Trust Funds budget. Ms. Guay reviewed the line items contained in the budget.

Budget Committee – Finance Director Janet Gallant reviewed the proposed = 2010 Budget Committee budget had an increase of $79 due to an increase in salary= and supplies (binders). She said = she discussed the increase with the Budget Committee Chair and was told they wa= nted to submit the budget with the increase.&nb= sp; There was a discussion regarding options, which included the possibi= lity of recycling binders.

Town Celebrations – Finance Director Janet Gallant discussed the propo= sed 2010 Town Celebrations budget which was level funded. She said she left messages with the contact people letting them know if there was a problem with having the bud= get level funded, they could give a presentation to the Selectmen and/or the Bu= dget Committee. Mr. Gleason wanted= to know if all the flags were replaced each year. Ms. Gallant said she would find out. Mr. Viger asked if the f= lags and wreaths should be included within the Cemetery budget. Mr. Lynde said the wreaths were pl= aced in honor of the event. It was= noted that the actual breakdown of cost for the Independence Day Celebration tota= led $6622.50; Ms. Gallant said it had always been listed as such for unanticipa= ted costs.

Debt Service – Interest/Principle – Finance Director Janet Galla= nt began with Debt Service Principal which showed a net increase of $24,000 du= e to the addition of the new highway truck lease; there was a $10,000 decrease in the principle expense of the conservation bond that was offset mostly by the Highway Department truck lease. Mr. Lynde believed there should be revenue shown for the Spring Street bond bec= ause it was offset by an assessment to the property tax payers. Ms. Gallant said the revenue would= be shown in the betterment property tax warrant.

Ms. Gallant then reviewed Debt Service Interest that had a total budget of $221,664 and that had a total budget decrease of $21,672 based on the schedules.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(Gleason/Haver= ty) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:38 pm.

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =          Respectfully submitted,

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =          Charity A. L. Willis

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =          Recording Secretary