Town of Fitzwilliam, NH - Budget Comm Minutes 11/19/09

W. Wright made a motion to accept 11/12/2009 minutes as written; B. Doerpholz 2^nd. Motion passed in the affirmative.

S. Hagstrom asked how many members there was for the department. W. Prigge stated that there are a total of 25 members with various certifications and 4 senior members.

W. Prigge reviewed the presented budget line by line for the committee. He indicated that the part-time salary line was down $5000.00, but mentioned that the ambulance salary was up, which would be reviewed next. W. Prigge stated that the salary line was down primarily due to calls (although this is difficult to figure), but also because of how the time was being logged. He gave an example of fire members responding to a motor vehicle accident then leaving as ambulance personnel; this would be charged to the ambulance.

B. Doerpholz asked if personnel were paid for all participation. W. Prigge stated that they are paid for calls and training, but work details are all volunteer.

T. Parker asked about line 357 Radio/Radar repair. This line has expended $966.47, but only had $500.00 requested and approved for 2009. W. Hall said this was for the installation of radio and related equipment into the brush truck. T. Parker also asked about the State grant of radios and if the town was responsible for maintenance. W. Prigge believes that the town is responsible in keeping them in good working order. M. Nolan asked why we received 31 radios when there are only 25 members. W. Hall stated that some were in the trucks.

W. Prigge asked that the committee revise the request under line 629 equipment Purchases to read $2500.00 requested, zero difference from 2009. He explained that they were told they had to replace a gas meter and after some investigation the cost was significantly less that they were told.

W. Prigge explained the significant increase to line 684 Uniforms. W. Prigge indicated that this is to primarily cover cleaning for bunker gear. He explained that it costs approx. $100.00 per set ($50.00 pants/$50.00 jacket) with a 6 day turn around. They will send out the bunker gear a few at a time on a rotating basis.

M. Nolan asked what the $7200.00 under line 740 was for in 2009 request and approval. W. Prigge stated that this was for minitors/gear which an expendable trust was used for. Town voted to make trust available for such purposes.

W. Wright asked about Forestry. No one was quite sure where this was supposed to be listed. W. Wright asked if Heidi could investigate this before next meeting.

W. Prigge explained requested budget line by line to the committee. W. Prigge stated that the increase to the part-time salary line was primarily do to projected calls, because 2009 is already over budget in Sept. by approx. $3500.00. T. Parker informed the committee that $5000.00 was transferred from fire budget into the ambulance budget to help with the overage.

T. Parker discussed the ambulance fee process and CAG. The town does charge for ambulance service, but reserves the right to waive the fee to town residences unable to pay.

W. Hall explained the increase to line 629 Equipment Purchases. It is State mandated that they have a CPAP start kit, which will cost approx. $1300.00, and an EZ10, which costs approx. $700.00.

W. Prigge stated that they are able to keep training expenses down because of a lot of in-house training. He said that Fitzwilliam is very lucky to have individuals (Win Wright, Nancy Carney, Bob Crowell) who are able to train.

There was much discussion about the pros and cons of purchasing a new ambulance vs. refurbishing the existing ambulance. W. Prigge indicated that they are not ready to commit to either request at this time. W. Prigge stated that they are going to do more investigation and refine their recommendation and bring the request to the committee at a later date.

J. Wright reviewed the requested budget with the committee. She explained that she did not prepare the budget, W. O’Brien did, but Wendy has resigned.

J. Wright indicated that the salary line is up for 2010 because of 3 scheduled elections and 1 extra if needed.

Line 315 should read $2247.00 for Avitar support, an increase of $56.00 from original request. J. Wright indicated she received the amount after budgets were due.

J. Wright said that she was concerned with the amount she requested for postage, line 625. S. Hagstrom asked how much more she thought she needed. She thought $300.00 should be sufficient. Line 625 Postage increased to $2200.00 for 2010.

With additional requests total for Tax Collector request should read $41,029.00, up $356.00 from original request.

H. Wood reviewed Town Clerk’s budget with the committee. H. Wood explained that the expended salary line is down because there was not a Deputy January through March of 2009. Salary line increased by $800.00 over 2009 because of 3 elections in 2010 and the hours necessary to prepare for and attend all elections.

Line 550, Printing, is for the local election ballots. H. Wood voiced her concern over amount requested explaining that it is difficult to determine because price is determined by number of questions on the ballot. H. Wood said she had discussed this with Sandra Gillis and Sandra said 2010 should be comparable with 2009, which cost $1348.77.

H. Wood completed review of requested budget. S. Hagstrom asked if there were any questions, there were none.

M. Nolan asked if anyone has ever looked into a telephone system that would encompass all departments. M. Nolan wondered if this may save the town some money after seeing how much each department budgets for telephone service. Pros and cons of the subject were discussed. T. Parker explained that they had looked into this several years ago and it wasn’t a savings, but said that he was not opposed to someone investigating a system.

S. Hagstrom asked the committee to review the budgets that were to be presented next week: Library, Planning and Zoning.