A meeting convened at 7:30 PM in the Selectmen’s Room, Town Hall.
Members in attendance: Bothwick, Carr, Croft, Kenney, Martin, Putnam and Smith
Members absent: Herbster and Swanson
Others present: Town Accountant
Mr. Bothwick presided and kept the minutes.
Mr. Bothwick noted the primary purpose of the meeting was to consider various Reserve Fund transfer requests.
REQUESTS FOR TRANSFER
Police - Mr. Bothwick referred to a request from Chief McKiel to transfer $17,718 to the police expense account as outlined in his February 19, 2008 memo to the Committee, and the Chief’s discussion of this request at a Committee meeting prior to Town Meeting.
Mr. Carr MOVED “to recommend approval of a transfer of $17,718 from the Reserve Fund to the Police Expense Budget.” The MOTION WAS UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED.
DEP - Mr. Bothwick next referred to a request from the Town Administrator to transfer $9,800 to the Selectmen’s expense account to hire a consultant to work with the Town in responding to various DEP inquiries and submissions with respect to an investigation of property on Pine Street at which the Town was alleged to have operated a dump facility. There followed a discussion of the matter.
Mr. Smith MOVED “to recommend approval of a transfer of $9,800 from the Reserve Fund to the Selectmen’s Expense Budget.” The MOTION WAS UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED.
Pensions - Mr. Bothwick then referred to a request from the Treasurer to transfer $3,350 to the pension expenses as a result of a recalculation by the Essex County Retirement Board of amounts the Town owed on various pension obligations, as previously voted at Town Meeting. Mr. Lane provided background to the Committee.
Mr. Kenney MOVED “to recommend approval of a transfer of $ 3,350 from the Reserve Fund to the Pension expense account.” The MOTION WAS UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED.
MINUTES
Mr. Carr MOVED “to recommend the minutes of the meetings held on April 1, April 5 and April 7, 2008 as previously circulated (changing the reference to ‘5.25%’ under Article 2 of the April 7, 2008 minutes to ‘4.25%’).” The MOTION WAS UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED.
OTHER BUSINESS - There followed discussion of the status of the Town’s capital plan and items to consider as part of the budget process for Fiscal 2010. It was the consensus of the Committee that continued efforts should be made to explore transferring health coverage for Town employees to the state GIC program, to offer to Town employees a cash fee to elect health insurance coverage through plans that may be available through other family members rather than through the Town, and to consolidate to a single trash collection system. It was also the consensus of the Committee that it should meet annually with the Town’s outside auditor to discuss the audit process and any management recommendations coming out of such audit process. It was agreed that a meeting of the Committee should be
held on June 24, 2008 at 7:30 pm to take up any further Reserve Fund transfer requests that may come before the Committee, and Mr. Lane was requested to work with the Town Administrator to present to that meeting an outline for updating the Town’s capital plan.
The meeting adjourned at 8:50 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jay Bothwick, Clerk Pro Tempore
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