GOSHEN BOARD OF FINANCE
MINUTES REGULAR MEETING
AUGUST 25, 2010
CALL TO ORDER: The Meeting was called to order at 7:30 by Chairman Allan D. Walker
ATTENDANCE: Allan D. Walker, Donald Pardon, James Korner, Scott Tillmann. Ned Bixler and alternate Wilrose Duquette. Excused absence, John D. Garvey and alternate Dexter Kinsella. Also present First Selectman Robert Valentine.
Seating of Alternate: A MOTION WAS MADE BY James Korner seconded by Scott Tillmann to seat Alternate Wilrose Duquette as a regular member. No discussion, SO VOTED.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the July 28, 2010 Finance Board Meeting were presented for approval. A MOTION WAS MADE BY James Korner, seconded by Wilrose Duquette to approve the minutes of said meeting. Noted for correction, Page 1, Para 7, delete the word brought before the word noted. No other corrections were noted, the minutes were APPROVED AS CORRECTED. Scott Tillmann and Donald Pardon abstained from voting
BUDGET/FINANCIAL REPORTS FOR PERIOD ENDING 7/31/2010: The Tax Collectors report showed a Current collection rate of 47.32% collected vs. total budget noting that collections came in a little higher than last year at this. Fiscal Office Budget Report – Noted were the upfront expenses under various department budgets. Questioned and explained was the CDARS Union Savings Investment Accounts. The CDARS is a program offered by Union Savings Bank where the bank will distribute the money into various banking institutions which do not exceed the $250,000 FDIC Insurance regulations. Discussed was the current low interest returns on investment dollars and Robert Valentine stated he would be meeting with Town Treasurer and Union Savings Bank to further look at what other banks or options are available for the Town to get better return
on invested dollars. There was no further discussion on the Financial Reports.
FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2010 CONTINGENCY ADJUSTMENTS: Presented to the Board for consideration were the 6/30/2010 Contingency Adjustments with the following action being taken. A MOTION WAS MADE BY Scott Tillmann seconded by James Korner to transfer $836.34
from the Contingency to the Animal Control Budget. There was no discussion on the motion. SO VOTED. A MOTION WAS MADE BY James Korner seconded by Ned Bixler to transfer $351.98 from Contingency to the Board of Finance Budget. There was no discussion on the motion, SO VOTED. A MOTION WAS MADE BY Ned Bixler seconded by Wilrose Duquette to transfer $9,723.65 from Contingency to the Professional Services Budget. There was no discussion on the motion, SO VOTED. A MOTION WAS MADE BY Wilrose Duquette to transfer $3,712.18 from Contingency to the Town Office Building Budget. There was no discussion on the Motion, SO VOTED. A Total of $14,624.15 was transferred out of Contingency.
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Based on early estimates $648,874.00 was expected to be used from Fund Balance. Actual use of Fund Balance was $268,883.29 leaving a positive number of $378,990.71 of Revenue greater, expenses less. It was estimated at this time that the Fund Balance should close out at 1.8 million.
Report from First Selectman: Robert Valentine reported that the Auditor has started the audit of the financial records of the Town for Fiscal Year ending 6/30/2010 and to date the Audit appears to be going well. With no delays expected with receipt of the Defined Contribution Pension Plan numbers the Audit should be done earlier this year. Noted was receipt of a bill from the auditor in the amount of $6,000.00 for first half of Audit expense.
East Street North ARRA Road Project has been completed with the Town Road Chip Sealing work near completion. West Hyerdale Road Repair Project has moved along well and with all going well should be paved by the end of the week with curbing and Guard Rails installed before school starts. It was again noted that the Energy Efficiency Lighting work had been completed under the Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant dollars. It was noted that the CL&P energy conservation grant dollars that had been considered by the Town to cover any excess cost for the project not covered under the Energy Efficient Conservation Grant Dollars are still available and Robert Valentine is recommending that when those dollars are received by the Town that they be used to replace the lighting in the Library and possibly other areas in the Town
Office Building where the lighting fixtures could be upgraded to more energy efficient lighting.
Appropriation of Unspent Designated Capital Non-Recurring Dollars -Under the current policy, the use of unspent designated Capital Non-Recurring dollars which would be transferred into undesignated CNR must be approved at a Town Meeting. Further clarification is needed from Legal Counsel but it is believed at this time that the Finance Board has the power to allocate any unspent designated CNR dollars as long as the remaining dollar amount is under the $20,000.00 threshold.
Tyler Lake Dam Project: The Town has signed the Contract with the Construction Firm of D & V Morin Co. out of Meriden who came in as the successful bidder. The bid came in just under $350,000.00. With approximately $370,000.00 remaining in the STEEP Grant there is $20,000.00 available to cover the cost of any engineering oversight.
Correspondence - None
Other Business: The issue of a wage increase for Election Workers was brought to the table for Board Consideration. Under discussion on the matter Chairman Allan Walker noted that acting on the recommendation of the Selectmen, he had approved for election workers the 2.5%
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increase that was given to the Town Elected Officials under the 2010/2011 budget and that increase was given to the Election workers for work done at the recent Primary. The Board
backed the action taken by the Chairman to approve the 2.5% raise. It was noted that there is no bench mark under the Paul Andrews Study to give guidance to the Board. After further discussion on the matter, A MOTION WAS MADE BY Scott Tillmann seconded by James Korner that beginning with the next election an additional 2% wage increase be added to the previously approved 2.5% wage increase for election workers. There was no discussion on the matter. SO VOTED. Ned Bixler and Wilrose Duquette abstained from voting. For clarification, the total approved wage increase for Election Workers is 4.5% and said increase did not include the Registrars who are elected officials.
There was no other business proper to come before said meeting. A Motion to adjourn was made by James Korner, seconded by Wilrose Duquette. The meeting adjourned at 8:02 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
GOSHEN BOARD OF FINANCE
Joan M. Lang, Board Clerk
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