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Minutes of July 11, 2006

July 14th, 2006

Carroll Budget Committee
Minutes of July 11, 2006 references to attachments can be found at the town hall, hard copy.

Meeting was called to order at 6:40 p.m. by the Chair. In attendance: Linda Dowling, Tom Gately, Karen Moran, Carmine Fabrizio, Ken Mills. Bonnie Moroney provided copies of the general fund cash reconciliation, (see attachment #4) and was then excused.
Public present: Pat Martin and Bill Dowling.

Motion was made by Tom to accept the minutes of June 6, 2006 with a note that the false alarm discussion should include an approximation of 54 false alarms according to the Fire Chief at a selectmen’s meeting (date of which could not be recalled). Karen indicated she would include in the current minutes. Tom then motioned to accept the minutes of 6/6/06, Carmine seconded, all in favor.

Bill Dowling, on behalf of the Infrastructure Task Force, presented a summary of the roads in town which need repair, at an approximate cost of $300,000 per mile. There are approximately 12.8 miles (including Lennon Rd which is partially a state road). Reclamation costs of approximately $28,000 per mile were also reported. The estimate for full repair of all roads at the current price estimate is $4.1 million dollars. See attachment #1.

Discussion ensued about the Highway Block Grant, received by the town as a portion of the state gas tax. There are no state requirements (known as of meeting time) that the grant be used specifically. Funds have routinely been placed in the General Fund. Chair would like to discuss possible establishment of a Highway Capital Reserve (via Selectmen’s warrant article).
Ken indicated that all discussions about the availability of funds and the reasoning for establishment of reserve funds be as public and informative as possible. Agreed the Budget Committee should discuss in open public forum with the Selectmen. Bill Dowling then left the meeting.

Karen was provided photocopies of all correspondence sent by the chair as a result of the 6/6 meeting.

Chair stated she will invite the Town Building Committee to the August meeting to provide an update, if available.

Discussion ensued regarding the water service to customers outside of the town, and the need for franchise approval prior to increasing any rates in excess of other rates. See RSA 362 and 374.

Discussion ensued about the Fahey bridge repair and selectmen discussion of some sort of emergency declaration to obtain from the state and pave the road next to Foster’s. It was determined that specific cost estimates must be provided to the public and the Budget Committee.

Discussion ensued about the Joint Loss Management Committee/Safety Committee, which meets four times per year (per Chair). It investigates injuries, documents policies, and the question of pay for the Committee members has to be reviewed.

Pat Martin was curious why portions of her Elections and Registrations budget were already over the budget for the year. After discussion, it was determined that the approved budget was not what she had anticipated. Karen offered to send Pat a copy of the budget schedule and a letter requesting her budget information, to better approximate the costs for 2007.

A letter from the Fire Chief was provided to inform the Committee of the reasons for the Fire over budget line items. Explanations are reasonable. See attachment #2.

We discussed again the false alarms in town, for both Fire and Police. The Budget Committee will attend the Selectmen’s meeting and ask if they believe a policy of assessing a fee for false alarms should be implemented.

Karen offered RSA 33-A:3a LXXX which states “Meeting minutes, tape recordings: keep until written record is approved at meeting. As soon as minutes are approved, either reuse the tape or dispose of the tape.”

Chair expressed desire that a warrant article for a new photocopier in the town office should be presented to the public. Committee members offered that the line item in the budget was sufficient, and the funds have been used for other office supplies, at the discretion of the selectmen.

Several line items which were noted as over budget at the June meeting, could have been more accurately estimated prior to the deliberative session, as the entries which caused the overage occurred early in 2006, prior to the deliberative session.

Ken expressed the need for accountability regarding the accuracy of the budgets for each department.

Karen provided a summary of explanations for overages in the accounts identified in June, and indicated that the summary should be reviewed at the next meeting. See attachment #3.

Specifically, the question of from what line item Karen Carew was paid was answered by Sue Kraabel. Karen has not been paid at all as of 6/30/06.

The funds expended out of the Deputy Town Clerk line represent the money paid to Becki Pederson prior to her election as Town Clerk in March.

Linda provided a receipt for the tape recorder she purchased as noted in the June 6 meeting. Tom reviewed the receipt and initialed his approval (as vice chair) for the reimbursement.

Revenues to date as of July 11, 2006 sum to $381,509 (see attachment #5) and expenses for the year were reflected as $1,935,968 (see attachment #6).

The preliminary payment schedule for Carroll to the White Mountains Regional School District for July through November was provided and shows five payments of $208,000. The school funding formula calculation was also provided. See attachment #7.

Karen motioned to adjourn the meeting at 8:10, Linda seconded, all in favor.

Next meeting will be held at the town hall on Tuesday August 15, 2006, time to be announced.


Respectfully submitted:
Karen Moran, Secretary

Town of Carroll, New Hampshire ®2024