GILFORD BUDGET COMMITTEE MINUTES
OCTOBER 23, 2008
6:30 PM
GILFORD TOWN HALL
Members Present:~~Dale Dormody, Terry Stewart, Kevin Roy, J. Kevin Hayes, John O’Brien, Richard Young, Richard Hickok, Skip Murphy, Sue Greene, Doug Lambert and Bill Phillips.
Members Absent:~Margo Weeks.
The Budget Committee recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
Chairman Hickok began by reviewing the committee’s meeting schedule. He noted that there were tentative meeting scheduled for December 23rd and 30th if needed for the school. A couple of members said that they would be unable to attend a meeting on the 23rd, however Chairman Hickok decided to leave it on the schedule for the time being.
J. O’Brien noted that the Gunstock Acres Village Water District budget had been approved by the Commissioners and was ready for the committee to review. Chairman Hickok added it to the November 13th meeting.
Chairman Hickok announced that the School District would like to review their budget transfers with the committee on either October 24th or 31st and asked which members would be interested in attending. B. Phillips, D. Lambert, and T. Stewart indicated interest depending on the date and time of day. Chairman Hickok said he would get further information and contact those interested.
J. O’Brien stated that the Facilities Planning Committee had made a recommendation to the Selectmen for construction of the police station addition at a cost of $1,750,000. K. Hayes added that this was preliminary information and the Selectmen were working on final figures and financing options and would forward that information on to the committee when it was avvailable.
T. Stewart made a motion, seconded by S. Murphy, to reduce the Laconia Airport Authority appropriation to $0 (zero) based on the information received that the 5 year funding for improvements has ended in 2008. ~Motion passed 11 to 0.
T. Stewart went on to present the report from the subcommittee on the Town Clerk – Tax Collector’s budget. He noted a slight decrease in full time wages due to staff turnover, an increase in part time wages some of which was covered by a decrease in overtime, an increases in record preservation, and an increase In the telephone budget. He added that the subcommittee supports the budget as recommended by the Selectmen and made a motion, seconded by J. O’Brien, to recommend $261,916 for the Town Clerk – Tax Collector’s budget. The motion passed 11 to 0.
T. Stewart then presented the subcommittee report on the Election & Registration budget. He noted that the overall budget was down because there are fewer elections in 2009. He noted that there was information included with the budget outlining compensation changes for the Supervisors of the Checklist. K. Hayes explained that the Selectmen were recommending stipends for the Supervisors instead of an hourly rate. Supervisors Connie Moses and Mary Lou Grevatt then explained the duties of the supervisors and the increased amount of work due to changes in federal and state voting laws and the implementation of an online statewide voter registration database. C. Moses explained that the average number of hours worked by each supervisor each month had increased from 4.2 hours in 2005 to 8.4 hours in 2008. She
noted that these hours were for maintaining the voter database and did not include time spent on the elections themselves. The committee then briefly discussed the compensation and responsibilities for members of various town boards. K. Hayes explained that the Selectmen were going to meet with the supervisors and recommended accepting the current figures for the time being and if the Selectmen made any changes to their recommendation based on the meeting, it would be forward to the committee. T. Stewart made a motion, seconded by K. Roy, to recommend $14,179 for Elections & Registrations. The motion passed 11 to 0.
B. Phillips mad a motion, seconded by T. Stewart, to request that the most current copy of the personnel policy be forwarded to the committee. K. Hayes explained that the copy that B. Phillips had was the most current and revisions were ongoing with a target completion date of January 1st at which time the committee members would receive a copy. The motion passed 11 to 0.
B. Phillips then presented the subcommittee report on the Conservation Commission budget. He noted that there has been a steady increase in the appropriation for Invasive Species Management over the last three years. Conservation Commission Chairman John Goodhue then gave the committee an in depth history of the invasive species management in Smith Cove noting that this year $60,000 was spent to pull milfoil in Smith Cove of which $14,000 were town funds and the remainder came from area residents, marinas, and work paid for directly by the State and Fay’s Boat Yard. D. Hickok noted that the town collected boat registrations funds and this is what some of that money should be used for. T. Stewart noted that in his experience the use of chemicals is cheaper and hasn’t harmed the aquatic life. B.
Phillips made a motion, seconded by J. O’Brien, to recommend $19,400 for the Conservation Commission budget. The motion passed 11 to 0.
B. Phillips went on to present the subcommittee report on the Department of Planning & Land Use budget. He explained that there were new requests of $2,500 for part time wages to cover for staff when they are on vacation or extended leave and $1,000 for overtime to cover hourly staff attending night meeting in order to take the minutes. He also noted an increase in the request for Property Mapping of $1,000 in order to provide Public Works with two different sets of tax maps. The committee briefly discuss the map producing process and the feasibility or printing them in house. B. Phillips stated that the subcommittee had decided that they would recommend the increase if the subcommittee reviewing the Public Works budget agreed the maps were necessary. D. Lambert noted that the Public Works subcommittee has
already met but he would call Public Works Director Sheldon Morgan to discuss the issue.
T. Stewart made a motion, seconded by J. O’brien, to approve the minutes of October 16, 2008 as written. The motion passed 9 to 0 with 2 abstentions (D. Lambert, B. Phillips). Chairman Hickok deferred review of the October 9, 2008 minutes until the next meeting.
T. Stewart made a motion, seconded by J. O’Brien, to adjourn. The motion passed 11 to 0 and the meeting adjourned at 8:40pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Geoff Ruggles
Finance Director
| 
