Littleton, New Hampshire

Approved Meeting Minutes Jan 26, 2011

TOWN OF LITTLETON
BOARD OF SELECTMEN’S MEETING
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011
9:00 AM
TOWN OFFICE CONFERENCE ROOM

Present: Town Manager Chuck Connell, Chairman Ron Bolt, Selectman Marghie Seymour, Executive Secretary Ceil Stubbings, Finance Director Karen Noyes.

Others Present: Robert Blechl (The Caledonian Record, Eddy Moore, Jim Daly, Mary Daly, Mary Edick, Kayti Burt (The Courier).

Bolt called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM. The meeting was called to finalize the Town Warrant. Bolt advised that Ed Boynton was in the hospital and he was not sure of his date of return. Bolt asked Connell if there was a way to include Ed’s vote for the Town Warrant. Connell said they would have to adjourn and meet with Boynton at the hospital. The other way is by arranging a phone conference. Seymour suggested they wait until Friday. Connell said the warrant must be posted by Monday. The DRA and town council have reviewed all of them.

Seymour said she feels it is important they have all three votes. Bolt said postponing the meeting and continuing on Friday, January 28th is the best thing to do. The one article that has him concerned is the article to eliminate $93,000 related to the police captain’s position. The way the budget was presented in order to get to the goal of an $8.04 tax rate the calculation was based on the assumption the article would pass. They also need to take into account the article is not legal. Connell said it was reflected in the estimate of the tax rate.

The board then discussed the budget at some length. Connell said any cut they make is a cut in services. They are gambling they won’t need to take a TAN (Tax Anticipation Note). He then provided the board with three options to cut the budget further. Bolt said he wants to be as open and clear with the public and the budget committee as possible. If there are assumptions in the budget we have to tell them that because they have already voted to support a budget at $8.04. If there is a chance it is not going to be at $8.04 we need to inform them and give them a chance to vote again. Seymour said she would have liked to see a budget their way without the captain position in it. Bolt said if article does pass then we have to come up with $93,000. Seymour said if the warrant article had not come in we would have had a budget. We agreed on a budget for $8.04. Connell asked her if she wanted to enact the third option that has the deeper cuts. Seymour thinks it is the honest thing for them to do and that is what they are expected to do. Connell said he would like to be on the record that they not take out the highway department part time positions. Bolt said the $17,999 is a combination of the summer and winter part time help. Connell said the summer help does mowing and other tasks and he estimated $12,000 was for the winter and $6,000 in the summer. Bolt said the actual summer part time expense was in the amount of $8,000 and $9,000 for the winter. Seymour said to reduce the summer. There are going to be cuts that affect services. Bolt suggested they cut $8,000 from the highway department’s part time line. He was good with the cuts recommended in option three. Connell said Article 16 is the Budget Article and it would be changed to reflect the new number and a different tax rate. Bolt said he would send a note to the budget committee regarding the changes.

Mary Daly asked if they removed the police captain article from the equation. Seymour said yes. Mary said that a having a single warrant article drive the entire process is outrageous and she hopes it never happens again. Eddy Moore asked if there was a response from the unions regarding the three percent pay raise. Connell said he has not heard from the unions, as they need to meet with their members. They would probably not be ready to give an answer by the time of the Deliberative Session. Bolt said that is another item where we don’t have solid information. Bolt said they should go through all of the articles on Friday and decide who will speak to which ones. It is unfair to ask Connell to speak to all of the articles. They also need to setup a works session with the Town Moderator. He then asked Connell if they want to ask for Town Council to be present at the deliberative session. Connell said it is a damned if you do or don’t. He would let the board know if Walter Mitchell could attend. Bolt asked if it would be possible to have a live computer on site to look up RSA’s. Mary Daly said she would be happy to volunteer with her laptop. Connell said if the attorney is present then there is no need to look up RSA’s. It is not just a matter of looking up the RSA’s it is also interpreting them. Mary Edick said it has been mentioned in the past to have the attorney available by phone. Seymour said it would be a lot cheaper. Connell said we have done that in the past but it is not really that affective. Eddy Moore thinks it would be advisable to have the attorney there. Bolt said there would be a meeting with Connell, the Town Clerk and Gerald Winn to discuss the Deliberative Session. Seymour made the motion to continue this meeting on Friday morning at 9:00 AM on January 28th. Bolt seconded the motion. Motion passed to continue 2-0. The meeting was recessed at 10:00 AM.
Respectfully submitted
Ceil Stubbings

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