1997-03-11 Board of Selectmen Minutes

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Board of Selectmen Meeting March 11, 1997 The meeting was convened at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Chairman George Hines, Vice Chairman Camille Anthony, Secretary Bruce MacDonald, Selectman Dan Ensminger, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner and Katy Brennan from the Chronicle. Discussion/Action Items Budget Discussion -- The Chairman noted that this was a one item agenda- trying to balance the FY '98 budget. He noted that the Finance Committee had made a presentation at the Budget Council meeting on how to achieve balance in the budget. Since the proposal from FinCom was significantly different than anticipated by the Board of Selectmen, they needed some additional time to review this package. The Town Manager presented the summary of the FY '98 budget as a balanced budget in the amount of$41,973,446. He noted that with some modifications to the base budget as well as modifications to the Selectmen's priorities, he has a proposal that would allow the first 14 of the Selectmen's priorities to be accomplished. The following were the major changes: Line G5 increase in Fire Department overtime was reduced to $13,000 rather than $15,000. Line GI hiring a Police Officer is delayed until November 1997, and the savings of this amount is placed in Line D3 Town Manager's expenses to conduct a deployment and staffing study of the Police Department prior to making a commitment to hire. Line D6 the increase in law division other expenses was reduced to $6,000. Line D11 the Property and Casualty Insurance was reduced by$5,000. Line E7 the Veteran's Aid was reduced by $500. Line G2 Police expenses traffic light repairs were reduced by$1,000. Line H13 street lighting was reduced by $5,000. Line H14 recycling was reduced by $1,200 Line J2 Northeast Regional School District assessment was increased to $97,313 based on new information. Line L4 Group Health and Life Insurance was reduced by about $18,000.