Draft

Minutes of 1/25/2005

Present: Walter Kelley, Cindy Carlson, Peter Hood, June Lakin,
Bill Callnan, Bill Yacavonni, Janet Merrill, Mary Just Skinner, Mary Alexander, Shawn Fielder, Abe Lewis

Meeting Called to order at 7:05 p.m.

Bill Yacavonni, Town Auditor
Bill talks to the Board about a future change that will need to be made in the accounting process. The town will have to change from a cash basis vs. a modified accrual basis under the GASB 34 rules.  An inventory of fixed assets with the original purchase price will have to be developed. The town will have to set a limit of fixed assets that can be expensed. Bill recommends a $5,000 limit, anything above $5,000 that is purchased would be an asset and depreciation would be applied each year for the expense. Bill is asked what an appropriate fund balance is for the town, and he recommends no more than 5% of the budget.  Towns do not have to gain approval of the voters to keep a fund balance. Bill recommends that is be labeled “tax stabilization fund” or use it to pay down some debt if there is overage in the account. Bill does not recommend reducing the tax rate with the fund balance, as that causes fluctuations.  The audit report from 1/1/03 – 6/31/04 was reviewed and discussed.

2005 Budget Discussion – The proposed budget to date has a 5.1% increase or an increase of $35,043. The proposed budget was reviewed, with discussion of the legal fees, special articles and addition of the new fire truck to the budget. The town attorney’s office had given a breakdown of actual costs over the past 3 years; the Board decides to make the change as recommended by the attorney’s office to change to a billable rate instead of on an annual retainer basis.  There has been $49,371 of special articles submitted for consideration at Town Meeting. The Board has decided to ask the voters for a bond to pay for the new fire truck. The Board also discusses the assets of the North Branch Cemetery and if they should reduce the cemetery care. Since the Board does not have a full understanding of maintaining this cemetery, they are not comfortable with making a reduction. 

Motion: Bill moves the proposed budget for 7/1/05 – 6/31/06 as $726,635. Mary Alexander seconds, motion carries.

The proposed Rumney School Budget was discussed with the Budget Committee. The school does not know their special ed rates yet, but if you look at the straight number the cost per student is $12,900 per student. The State does not include the special ed rates when calculating the rate per student, so this number is not a true comparison. The increase in their proposed budget is $4,731, however, this is after a reduction of 1.5 teachers. The anticipated enrollment for next year is 123 students with a projected 12 additional students the following year. It was pointed out that there are a large number of students on honor roll at U-32 that have come out of Rumney.

The Town Warning’s were reviewed and discussed. June asks that the Board consider a warning to change the term of the Town Clerk Treasurer/Trustee of Public Funds and the Delinquent Tax Collector to a 3-year term. June has done some research and approximately 20 towns that have changed to a 3-year term. The Board can call a Special Town Meeting and vote to impeach any one from these positions if need be. There is some job security for the position with a 3-year term, but it also makes the position attractive for someone to run for the position. There was discussion that it is not a lot of effort to run every year, as only a small number of signatures are required. If this change were made it would be for the 2006 term.    

Motion: Bill moves to include as a special article a question if the Town Clerk and Treasure/Trustee of Public Funds should be changed to a 3-year term. Walter seconds, motion carries.

Motion: Bill moves to include as a special article a question if the Delinquent Tax Collector’s term should be changed to a 3-year term. Walter seconds. Mary Alexander abstains. Motion carries

Motion:  Mary Alexander moves to increase the prepaid tax discount to 2% if paid within 30 days of the tax bill for the 2005-2006 budget period. Walter seconds. There is discussion of the discount at 1.5% costs the town approximately $12,600 so if increased to 2% there would be an additional $4,000reduction in income for the town. The town does not gain any large increase in investments when taxes are paid early to make up this amount, due to low interest rates. Motion is not approved.

The special articles were reviewed and discussed. The Board discusses if the time of Town Meeting should be 4:45 instead of 5:00 pm. 

Motion: Bill moves approval of the special articles for Town Meeting as read by Peter. Mary Alexander seconds; motion carries.

Motion: Bill moves approval to pay by bond over a 10 year period for the fire truck as authorized at the 2004 town meeting and purchased in July of 2004 at a cost of $150,000. Walter seconds, motion carries. Mary Alexander abstains.
 
Peter has decided not to run again for re-election as moderator at town meeting. He believes it is a good idea to have a change for this position, so he can participate as a Board member. Susan Clark has expressed interest in running for this position. 

Motion: Walter moves that the Town Report be dedicated to Gary Lamell this year. Mary Alexander seconds. Discussion: When the report was dedicated to the fire department it was the entire department not just an individual. Motion approved.

June is on vacation starting 2/15/05 and will be back 2/22/05. The town report will be printed while she is away. The Board should discuss if they want to add Martin Luther King Day as a holiday. There was concern about giving this additional day during the winter due to the road crew. It was decided that a more comprehensive study will be done, maybe give up another holiday in change of Martin Luther King Day. 

There will be a BCA meeting on 2/22/05. The Ballot Clerks will need to be approved that night and June will have a list of the clerks prepared. 

Motion: Mary Alexander moves approval a refunding note for the 1997 Caterpillar backhoe in the amount of $18,300 the 1997 Caterpillar grader in the amount of $25,726. Bill seconds, motion carries.

New signature cards were signed for new accounts set up for the Milford Leonard Fund and the Conservation Commission. 

Update on the North Branch Cemetery; the location has been added to the Town Insurance Policies. Barbara Nelson will be contacted for the balance of the documents. It was decided that for the time being Karen and Cindy would work as staff under the Commissioners and Select Board. 

Motion: Mary Alexander moves approval of the 1/11/05 minutes. Bill seconds, motion carries.

Correspondence:
Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission Transportation Advisory Committee meeting 1/25/2005

Vermont Rural Fire Protection Task Force Notice of Grant Funds Available

VLCT Local Government Day in the Legislature – 2/16/05

State of Vermont Agency of Commerce & Community Development – notice of a 2005 Historic Preservation Grant Application received from the Middlesex United Methodist Church.

Copy of Appeal of Rivers Development, LLC application no 2404;

New Labels for the 2004 Acts and Resolves book.

Senior Officials Workshop for Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism Incident Preparedness

George D. Aiken RC&D Newsletter

The Town Constable has asked if the Town should develop a policy to check on shut-ins within in the community. The Board likes the idea, but does not want the legal responsibility. If he wants to check with Council on Aging or help the shut-ins start a phone tree that would be acceptable.

An Act 68 Sheet, which shows how tax rates are calculated, was reviewed. The Board should take a few minutes in a future meeting to discuss further.

Peter met with John Rahill concerning the feasibility study. A draft report is being prepared which will address how the Town should move forward. There will also be a summary printed in the Town Report. It was recommended to hold a public meeting after Town Meeting. 

The League of Cities and Towns is exploring a concept where towns could share a town administrator with nearby communities. This would be a generalist position able to assist the towns with a wide array of services. There will be a meeting 2/10/05 to discuss further. 

It has been discovered that the letter has not been sent to Flanagan/Austin which was drafted by Giuliani’s office. It was recommend that the time frames in the letter be changed to May and August. 

Meeting adjourns at 9:45 pm

Respectfully submitted,


Cindy Carlson
Executive Assistant to the
Middlesex Select Board