Town of Otis
Finance Board/Selectboard Budget Meeting
March 8, 2016
Present: Don Hawley, Roberta Sarnacki, Bill Hiller, Chris Morris, Terry Gould, Michael Ernst, Larry Gould, Bill Dyer
Meeting called to order at 6:00 pm.
Purpose: Continue reviewing Budget proposals for Fiscal Year 2017
The School Committee voted on the School budget at their meeting last night. They passed the budget as it was presented originally.
#88 Recreation Expenses: Don Hawley believes the programs should be geared to the kids. Bill Hiller presented a spreadsheet of the programs that were run in the past and highlighted the ones he thought were beneficial to the community and well attended. Bill was in favor of supporting the highlighted programs. Bill had no participation for Basketweaving, but it was noted that we had full participation at 12 people for last March. Bob Rosen clarified some questions:
The Rec Center sends their purchased movies to the Library for lending out
They now have a regular supervisor for their Movie Nights
Pilates is $389 for two months in the summer
The $500 budgeted for the Pool League is for table maintenance and can get moved to another line item
The note above should increase the Maintenance line item to $600
Swim Lessons were held for nine regular attendees in July and 13 for August
The Cardio Blast program should be in place of the Yoga Dance program and Cardio Blast should be budgeted at around $1800
Bob Rosen agreed the dogs to deter the geese, the Wellness Painting workshops, and the Writing Family History workshops could all be eliminated
The Select Board asked the Recreation Commission what programs would still be successful even if residents paid a fee for them. The Select Board also suggested Rec should look into doing some fund raising to finance some of their expenses.
The meeting was suspended at 7:00 pm so the regular Select Board meeting could commence.
The meeting was reconvened at 7:30 pm as the last item on the Select Board agenda.
Minutes for the February 29, 2016 budget meeting were unanimously approved as written. Michael made the motion and Bill seconded.
#85 Cultural Council: Chris found out that the Cultural Council members who proposed the Otis Observer for a grant application recused themselves and were asked to physically leave the meeting during discussion and a quorum was still present to deliberate and decide whether to grant this application or not. The Cultural Council did award this application request.
Fire Dept. Capital Expense: a new request will be made for a heavy duty washer and dryer to properly clean the turnout gear. Don Hawley felt they had received enough from the taxpayers over the last few years and should use their fund-raising account to purchase this or get Select Board approval to encumber funds from the FY2016 budget. They will be asking for $10,000.
#47 Fire Dept. Expenses: Don Hawley went through the line items and determined that there could be quite a few that could be encumbered to pay for the new capital request.
#1 Assessors Expenses: Don Hawley met with Russ and feels we now have a steady process with the company we’ve hired to run the department. But he would like Chris to get information from the qualified applicants we have heard from so a real financial comparison can be made so we can make a final determination.
Additional meeting dates were made: March 15, 2016 at 6:00 pm, March 22, 2016 at 6:00 pm, and March 28, 2016 at 7:15 pm after the All Boards meeting is adjourned.
Accounts to discuss with Maintenance:
#15 Maintenance Expenses: Pass over – needs further discussion. $5000 for cement pads is a one-time expense and will be moved to a Free Cash Capital Expense. This brings the total down to $43,000. Transfer Station Building line item is reduced.
#16 Maintenance Labor: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#60 Cemetery: Pass over – needs further discussion. What does $450 cover.
#65 Health and Sanitation: Pass over – needs further discussion. Need to check cost of water testing.
Capital Expenses
Accounts to discuss with Fire Department:
#47 Fire Department Expenses: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#48 Fire Chief Salary: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#49 First Asst Fire Chief: Pass over – needs further discussion.
Capital Expenses
Accounts to discuss with Recreation:
#88 Recreation Expenses: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#89 Recreation Salaries: Pass over – needs further discussion.
Capital Expenses
Accounts to discuss with Rescue Squad:
#51 Otis Rescue Squad: Pass over – needs further discussion.
Accounts to discuss with Highway:
#69 Highway Labor: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#72 Highway Snow Removal Labor: Pass over – needs further discussion.
Capital Expenses
Accounts to review with Salaries and Stipends:
#17 Maintenance Super Salary: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#18 Asst Maint Super Salary: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#23 Selectmen’s Secretary: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#24 Selectmen’s Salaries: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#28 Town Administrator: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#30 Town Clerk Salary: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#34 Town Collector Salary: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#36 Town Hall Admin Asst: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#39 Town Treasurer Salary: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#44 Building Inspector Salary: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#54 Police Chief Salary: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#66 Health WWTP Chief Operator: Pass over – needs further discussion
#73 Highway Super Salary: Pass over – needs further discussion.
Miscellaneous accounts to review:
#13 Heating/Furnace: Michael received his spreadsheet of building expenditures.
#57 School: Pass over – needs further discussion.
#85 Cultural Council: Pass over – needs further discussion. Need to review guidelines and check the donation account. Michael recused himself.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:07 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Selectmen’s Secretary
Town of Otis
List of Documents
Bill’s summary spreadsheet of Recreation Commission programs and their budgets will be filed with these meeting minutes.