April 3, 2007
The Budget Workshop was called to order by Vice Chairman, Robert Doyon at 6:15 p.m.
Members Present: Joseph Commendatore (7:03 p.m.), Robert Doyon, Theresa Graveline, Frederick Harkins, Roger Kergaravat, Douglas Merriman, Dominick Mirabelle and Dominic Moschella.
Members Absent: Patricia Geary
# 5000 Office of the Mayor $177,005.00 (Increase of $5,442.00)
Motion made by D. Moschella, to approve the budget for Office of the Mayor budget in the amount of $177,005.00. Motion seconded by D. Merriman.
Mayor Chatfield stated that elected officials can not take an increase during their term of office. T. Graveline stated that she is generally opposed to a 4% raise across the board.
T. Graveline, R. Kergaravat, D. Mirabelle, F. Harkins opposed. R. Doyon, D. Merriman, D. Moschella in favor.
Motion denied.
Motion made by D. Moschella to recess the budget workshop at 6:21 p.m. Motion seconded by D. Mirabelle.
Motion unanimous.
Motion made by T. Graveline to come out of recess at 6:25 p.m. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
Motion unanimous.
#5100 Zoning Board of Appeals $1,900.00 (Increase of $400.00)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Zoning Board of Appeals budget in the amount of $1.900.00. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
Mayor Chatfield stated that the meetings are longer and there are also special meetings.
Motion unanimous.
#5250 Assessor $96,691.00 (Increase of $3,021.00)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Assessor’s budget in the amount of $96,691.00. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
Mayor Chatfield stated that the Assessor is a part time position with two clerical assistants. The re-evaluation is still part of the computer updates. The clerical assistants are both full time but receive no benefits; their salary is recommended for a 4% raise. The Mayor also stated that the next re-evaluation will be door to door.
T. Graveline, F. Harkins and D. Mirabelle opposed. R. Doyon, D. Merriman, D. Moschella and R. Kergaravat in favor. Motion carried.
#5300 Board of Assessment Appeals $400.00 (No change)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Board of Assessment Appeals budget in the amount of $400.00. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
Motion unanimous.
# 5350 Tax Collector: C.C.M.C. $93,270.00 (Increase of $4,038.00)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Tax Collector’s budget in the amount of $93,270.00 Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
The Mayor stated that the Tax Collector is an elected official and can not take an increase during her term of office. The Tax Collector has one full time clerk and a part time clerk. They also hire a part time clerk during the summer to help when the tax payments are coming in. The Tax Collector and Assistant Tax Collector are both certified. R. Kergaravat asked if the Assistant Tax Collector is getting the 8% raise also. The Mayor stated no she is not.
T. Graveline, F. Harkins, and D. Mirabelle opposed. R. Doyon, D. Merriman, D. Moschella and R. Kergaravat in favor.
Motion carried.
#5400 Treasurer $5,320.00 (No change)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Treasurer’s budget in the amount of $5,320.00. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
Motion unanimous.
#5500 Town Clerk $105,330.00 (Increase of $3,440.00)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Town Clerk’s budget in the amount of $105,330.00. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
The Mayor stated that the Town Clerk takes office on January 1st. There is an Assistant Town Clerk and two or three college students as assistants. Mayor Chatfield discussed the importance of the Examination of Records line item. R. Kergaravat asked what the Town Clerk’s increase is. Mayor Chatfield stated that he thinks it is 8%.
T. Graveline, F. Harkins and D. Mirabelle opposed. R. Doyon, D. Merriman, D. Moschella and R. Kergaravat in favor.
Motion carried.
#5600 Planning & Zoning Commission $11,550.00 (No change)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Planning & Zoning Commission’s budget in the amount of $11,550.00. Motion seconded by F. Harkins.
Mayor Chatfield stated that the Planning & Zoning Commission is looking into a regulation in order to collect fees from the applicant that are incurred by the Town.
Motion unanimous.
#5850 Building Department $$63,525.00 (Increase of $6,439.00)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Building Department’s budget in the amount of $63,525.00. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
Mayor Chatfield stated that there are three new subdivisions in Town along with the Toll Brothers project. The Building Department takes in their own fees and basically pays for themselves. There is a new secretary and there is a big improvement in the records keeping. The secretary works approximately 25 hours per week. T. Graveline asked if her hours are increasing. The Mayor stated that he will look into it. T. Graveline stated she would be inclined to vote in favor of the increase if she knew the hours are increasing. R. Kergaravat asked if the Building Inspector has a Town vehicle. The Mayor stated that he does not have a Town vehicle. T. Graveline asked about the mileage line items. The Mayor stated that it is not based on actual usage it is just a standard check every month. All three inspectors get a check every month from this line item.
T. Graveline, F. Harkins and D. Mirabelle opposed. R. Doyon, D. Merriman, D. Moschella and R. Kergaravat in favor.
Motion carried.
#6200 Benefit Town Employees $437,912.00 (Increase of 32,500.00)
The Mayor asked that the Council approve this line item. He is in the process of obtaining amounts of what the actual costs are going to be. The Council can revisit this line item at the April 17th meeting. T. Graveline asked about Vacation and Holiday line items and what this covers. The Mayor stated that this line item pays for the people who are brought in part time to replace a Town employee when they are on vacation. There was general discussion.
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Benefit Town Employees budget in the amount of $437,912.00. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
T. Graveline asked for clarification about the Medical Benefits increase. Mayor Chatfield stated that he is going to look into it; he wants to bring the break down to the Council on paper.
T. Graveline and D. Mirabelle opposed. R. Doyon, F. Harkins, D. Merriman, D. Moschella and R. Kergaravat in favor.
Motion carried.
#6300 Town Garage $2,500.00 (No change)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Town Garage budget in the amount of $2,500.00. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
Mayor Chatfield discussed the potential to build another garage in the back of the property in the future. He will present this in detail to the Council at a future date and a Town Meeting will need to be held. There was general discussion.
R. Kergaravat opposed. R. Doyon, T. Graveline, F. Harkins, D. Merriman, D. Mirabelle and D. Moschella in favor.
Motion carried.
#6350 Conservation Commission $550.00 (No change)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Conservation Commission budget in the amount of $550.00. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
The Mayor stated that the Chairperson takes the minutes of the meeting and that the Conservation Commission has been a little more active during the last couple of years.
Motion unanimous.
#6400 Inland-Wetlands $6,250.00 (Increase of $550.00)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Inland Wetlands budget in the amount of $6,250.00. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
The Mayor stated that they are also reviewing their regulations. T. Graveline asked for clarification on the engineering fees. There was general discussion.
Motion unanimous.
#6450 Land Use Inspector $93,200.00 (Increase of $7,390.00)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Land Use Inspector’s budget in the amount of $93,200.00. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
The Mayor stated that the Land Use Inspector and Clerk work after hours. The Land Use Inspector is in the field nights and on Saturdays. The Land Use Clerk works more hours and more time and the office is getting busier. The Clerk fields calls, accepts and issues permits and is learning the position well. GIS is also still in the process. The Mayor stated that these are raises based on more time involved on the job. T. Graveline asked when GIS will actually be finished. The Mayor stated that it will probably be a continuing process. The Town will have passwords to get into the system but Applied Geographics will host the information on their system. T. Graveline mentioned the Open Space Planning Subcommittee. The maps they are currently using are the ones they got through the DEP and Council of Governments. T. Graveline stated that she would like to see the GIS maps well done. T. Graveline asked if the Land Use Inspector and Land Use Clerk are salary or hourly. The Mayor stated that they are both salary. R. Kergaravat asked if the Land Use Inspector uses a Town vehicle or Town gas. The Mayors stated no he doesn’t.
F. Harkins opposed. D. Merriman abstained. R. Doyon, T. Graveline, R. Kergaravat, D. Mirabelle and D. Moschella in favor.
Motion carried.
#7650 Commission on Aging $143,399.86 (Increase of $6,941.86)
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Commission on Aging budget in the amount of $143,399.86. Motion seconded by F. Harkins.
J. Commendatore arrived at 7:03 p.m.
The Mayor stated that the Senior Center Staff includes the mini-bus driver, a part time driver and two other ladies. The Senior Director is full time and there is more time involved. T. Graveline mentioned seeing a break down of all the Senior Center staff. The Mayor stated that he will have a break down at the next meeting. T. Graveline asked what the Municipal Agents function is. The Mayor stated that they do intake, fuel assistance etc. The Senior Director does this as well as cleaning on Saturday and Sunday’s.
T. Graveline, F. Harkins, R. Kergaravat and D. Mirabelle opposed. R. Doyon, D. Merriman, D. Moschella and J. Commendatore in favor. Vice Chairman Doyon voted in favor to break the tie.
Motion carried.
Motion made by D. Moschella to re-consider the Office of the Mayor budget in the amount of $117,005.00. Motion seconded by D. Merriman.
T. Graveline stated that at this point in time she is opposing all salary line items pending discussion of standardized raises; she is not in favor of the 4% raises.
T. Graveline, F. Harkins, R. Kergaravat and D. Mirabelle opposed. R. Doyon, D. Merriman, D. Moschella and J. Commendatore in favor. Vice Chairman Doyon voted in favor to break the tie.
Motion carried.
Motion made by D. Merriman to recess the budget workshop at 7:11 p.m. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
Motion unanimous.
Motion made by D. Merriman to reconvene the budget workshop at 7:31 p.m. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
Motion unanimous.
# 5150 Elections & Registrars $38,300.00 (Increase of $5,900.00)
Kathy Vander Eyk and Katie Blinstrubas, Registrars, brought in the new voting machine to present and explain to the Council. Mrs. Vander Eyk stated that the ballot box is what the new machine goes on;
this all came from Federal monies. Every ballot gets scanned through the machine and gets disposed of. The ballots will be hand counted and there will be two of these new machines at each location. The registrars haven’t been fully trained on the process yet. They’ve only been trained so far on the hardware not the process. The Town was given five of these new machines. The computer will not accept the ballot if someone votes too many candidates but will accept if fewer votes are cast than available. The government provided them with a DVD for training purposes, rolls of tapes for the printer, seals and bags to carry the ballots in. This machine will replace the old voting machines. The Town is getting five free elections from LHS so they don’t want to use them for referendums they want to use them for lengthy elections. Mrs. Blinstrubas stated that the Election Workers line item was increased because of the Presidential Primary as well as the Election. Roger Kergaravat mentioned fire code when these machines are being stored in the Algonquin School Cafeteria. There is limited space at Algonquin School. The Registrars stated that the computers will be stored in the vault and the ballot boxes will be stored at the school. The computers are under warranty but the Registrars are not sure for how long, they would have to look into it. T. Graveline mentioned the letter submitted to the Mayor for an additional $3,100.00 to be added under the Election Materials line item.
Motion made by T. Graveline to approve the Elections & Registrars budget in the amount of $38.300.00. Motion seconded by D. Moschella.
Motion unanimous.
T. Graveline stated that she feels that Council should revisit Advertising and Printing on page 5- #5700-02.
Motion made by T. Graveline to revisit Advertising and Printing line item #5700-02 Election Material. Motion seconded by R. Kergaravat.
Motion unanimous.
Motion made by T. Graveline to add $3,100.00 under Advertising and Printing to line item #5700-02 Election Material for a total of $5,100.00 and a bottom line under Advertising and Printing of $24,100.00. Motion seconded by R. Kergaravat.
Motion unanimous.
Susan McKernan asked a question about the voting machines.
D. Mirabelle stated that Michael Scaviola wanted to speak and a gentleman from the back wanted to speak and they were not allowed to. D. Mirabelle does not agree with this.
# 7350 Library $256,374 (Increase of $4,657.00)
Susan McKernan from the Library Board and Barbara Smith, Acting Library Director, presented the Library budget to the Council. Mrs. McKernan stated that Ms. Smith was the Assistant Library Director until Barbara Peterson indicated she was retiring. Ms. Smith has since taken on the job of two people willingly and she is making sure the library is continuing to run in an exemplary fashion. Mrs. McKernan stated that she regrets that the Council was not informed immediately when Mrs. Peterson
indicated she was retiring. It was her understanding that there was a formal letter to all the respective people including the Council but that was not the case. Mrs. McKernan indicated that there was an error on page 15 line item #7350-02 Staff/Clerk. The new total is $63,292.00 which is still less than last year because there was a staff change. The bottom line figure is not $256,374.00. The salary accounts represent the 4% increase that the Mayor recommended. Mrs. McKernan stated that regarding Cataloging and Books, the cost of books are increasing rapidly. Ms. Smith stated that some funds were received for large print books. The library has received many positive comments on their children collection especially. Mrs. McKernan stated that utilities was an area they struggled with. There is a possible overage from last year’s budget because of the good winter we had. T. Graveline asked what the Retro Fit project was. Mrs. McKernan stated that light fixtures were redone last year to save energy. R. Kergaravat asked what the percentage increase is in the Library Directors salary. Mrs. McKernan stated that it is 4%. D. Mirabelle asked about the Library Director getting an increase even though we don’t know who we are hiring. Mrs. McKernan stated that last years salary was for someone who was entry level. Ms. Peterson the former director was receiving this with 40 years experience. The decision on the process or who to hire has not been decided by the board. The proposed budget the Council received is what the Library Board received prior to Ms. Peterson’s retirement. Mrs. McKernan stated that this proposed salary for the Library Director is for someone with a MLS. This doesn’t guarantee that whoever is hired gets this amount. Mrs. McKernan stated that the Library is currently using the Town for their lawn maintenance. She also mentioned the Library wanting to install a shed due to the lack of storage. They also want to look into installing a gazebo with gift funds not the Town monies. T. Graveline asked what size the shed will be. Mrs. McKernan stated she isn’t sure but she can let the Council know.
Motion made by D. Merriman to approve the Library budget in the amount of $256,374.00 Motion seconded by D. Moschella. T. Graveline, F. Harkins, R. Kergaravat and D. Mirabelle opposed. R. Doyon, D. Merriman, D. Moschella and J. Commendatore in favor. Chairman Commendatore voted in favor to break the tie.
Motion carried.
Motion made by D. Merriman to close the budget workshop at 8:20 p.m. Motion seconded by T. Graveline.
Motion unanimous.
_______________________________
Joseph F. Commendatore, Chair