HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-01-28 Board of Selectmen Minutes ........ .....................
Board of Selectmen Meeting
January 28,2006
For ease of archiving, the order that items appear in these Minutes reflects the order in
which the items appeared on the agenda for that meeting, and are not necessarily the
order in which any item was taken up by the Board.
The meeting convened at 9:00 a.m. in the Town Hall Conference Room, 16 Lowell
Street, Reading Massachusetts. Present were Chairman Camille Anthony, Vice
Chairman Richard Schubert, Secretary Joseph Duffy, Selectmen James Bonazoli
and Ben Tafoya as well as Library Board of Trustees Members Victoria Yablonsky,
David Hutchinson, Susan Hopkins Axelson and Karen Brown. Also present were
Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Town Manager Peter
Hechenbleikner, Town Accountant Gail LaPointe, Library Director Ruth Urell, Fire
Chief Greg Burns,Police Chief James Cormier and DPW Director Ted McIntire.
Discussion/Action Items
Review FY 2007 Budgets—Town Accountant Gail LaPointe presented another update on
the FY07 revenue forecast. The Governor released his budget for the Commonwealth for
FY07, and it included some increases for the Town of Reading. On the expense side, the
Assistant Town Manager presented an overview of the debt structure of the Town. This
analysis depicts the debt from several angles including how much net of MSBA the
various fiscal years' budgets will need to fund through the year 2027.
The Library budget was presented with discussion from the Library Board of Trustees
about their priority additions to the FY07 budget including a long-term study (agreed as
the highest priority), more materials funding, additional hours for the Technology
Librarian, and four more open hours for the public.
Department Heads then responded to previous questions presented by the Board of
Selectmen last week. The Town Manager discussed the capital plan; DPW Director Ted
McIntire reviewed the pavement management plan and snow and ice history; and Police
Chief Cormier and Fire Chief Burns described the impact on their departments by recent
commercial development. The Board of Selectmen requested that the addition of a
Permits Coordinator and/or software be studied. These expenses would be fully funded
by an increase in permit fees.
After reviewing their goals,the Board of Selectmen instructed the Town staff to add the
following items to the FY07 budget:
0 Snow and Ice ($25,000)
♦ Increase Health Inspector hours ($9,235 wages)
® Increase Public Health Nurse hours ($8,053 wages)
♦ Revaluation for Assessors ($28,400 expense)
♦ Library long-range plan ($17,250 expense including 15%bump in materials)
o TBA Town Manager's salary review
Board of Selectmen Meeting:—Januar28, 2006—Page 2
The Board of Selectmen listed these items as their next priorities if more FY07 funds
became available:
o Police Business Administrator($71,500, $55,000 wages and$16,500 benefits)
o Playground mulch($4,000 expenses)
♦ DPW long-range plan($25,923 in expenses plus other funding from the
enterprise funds)
o Increase hours for GIS Coordinator to full time($22,457 wages)
0 Web site improvements($12,528 expenses)
o Customer service training/software ($12,552)
® Assessors' position to full time($28,800, $18,000 wages and $10,800 benefits)
On motion by Bonazoli seconded by Tafoya, the Board of Selectmen voted to
adiourn the meeting of January 28,2006 at 12:00 noon by a vote of 5-0-0.
Respectfully subtted,
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