The Select Board and Finance Committee met jointly on Thursday with an agenda of prioritizing the FY09 budget spending. The meeting started with a discussion of the method to use to assign a priority. After some discussion, a method was adopted and agreed to by the participants. The majority of the Select Board felt that their board should take a first crack at setting the priorities and then bring it to the Finance Committee for discussion. So that item was tabled and discussion moved on to capital expenditure items.
Again the library roof was the main topic. All agreed that the roof was a top item since leakage can cause damage to the structure underneath the membrane. The Budget Director indicated that the town has some bonding capacity and may be able to do the roof without increasing the current bond expense. All agreed that was worth pursuing. The discussion turned to town vehicles for police and inspectors. A suggestion was made that these one time purchases be made using monies returned at the end of FY08 by the departments, certified as free cash, which could be appropriated at the Fall Town Meeting. I like the idea of using one time revenue for one time purchases.
There was also discussion about using the utility reserve account for energy conservation projects such as new air handler motors at the town hall. Another idea that I think has merit nad should be explored further.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Finance Committee meeting
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5 comments:
Reading the letter in the Standard Times from McDonald regarding the school committee's plans for contract negotiation was disturbing to say the least. How can there be any positive change when the school committee will not allow public comment until all decisions have been made, and they refuse "dictation" (his negative word choice) from the Select Board?
Why are the school children going without learning materials and necessary items, and yet McDonald is already talking about a 3% increase? Salaries should be frozen during these tough economic times!
Wake up people!
We are stuck with any decisions reached by the School Committee in relation to contract decisions once a contract is signed! We are then obligated to all contract terms UNLESS we go into receivership!
anonymous, going into receivership does not necessarily negate contracts. Also we are not obligated to contracts once they expire. The SC cannot even admit there is a problem with contracts. Referring to 3% increases is just more of the same arrogance shown by this board.
It appears some members of the SB are going the route of the SC regarding public comment. Apparently a vote was taken (Natalie Dias' statement at last SB meeting)to limit public comment. She said it had been allowed before but it had gotten out of hand. ??? I guess allowing the public to make statements or ask questions is just over the top. Bill Trimble's attempt to allow it was vetoed. So much for hearing from citizens. Thanks for trying Bill.
FYI, at last nights school committee meeting, the new chair, Sean McDonald moved to change the format of future meetings. Those changes include allowing for public input and discussion on agenda items before voting. This represents a huge sea change in how the S.C. operates and hopefully will be the basis for some changes for the better going forward.
I only wish the SB would go back to the open meetings with public input. If someone has a power point presentation, I don't have a problem with sending it to M.Gagne so the SB gets a few days to look it over. However, if a town resident wants to get up at a meeting and say a few words, they should be able to do so. I'm not talking about speaking for 20 minutes, but a reasonable amount of time should be acceptable. Thanks for trying Bill!
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