Between the Conant Library, Town Insurance, Highway Dept, Sewer Dept & Water Dept the Board of Selectman increased the proposed budgets by $228,000!
MINUTES of the
BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING
WORK SESSION
Wednesday - October 27, 2010
Board Members Present: Sherman Tedford, Chairman; Roberta Fraser; Theresa Sepe; Gustave Ruth; and Kenneth Gardner. Also present; Christy Menard from the Conant Library, Dale Gray Highway Superintendent, Rick Meleski Water/Sewer Superintendent, Joan Morel the New Town Administrator; Bob Gray, Town Administrator; and Shelly A. Walker, Executive Assistant. The meeting convenes at 9:30 AM.
1st Order of Business: Budgets
CONANT LIBRARY PROPOSED BUDGET – The Board called on Christy Menard from the Conant Library to discuss the Library budget. After much discussion, Chairman Tedford makes a motion to approve $62,500 for the Conant Library Budget. Selectman Fraser seconds the motion. Motion carries 4-1. Selectman Sepe left the meeting. The Board takes a 5-minute break.
2nd Order of Business: Any Other Business
Previously an application for the Homeland Security Program and Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Oriented Activities Maintenance Funds Grant had been submitted. The Grant Award Notice was received and submitted for a signature. Selectman Gardner makes a motion for the Chairman to sign the Grant Award Notice. Selectman Fraser seconds the motion. Motion carries 4-0.
INSURANCE (TOWN INSURANCE) PROPOSED BUDGET - Chairman Tedford makes a motion to approve the proposed $60,998 budget. Selectman Gardner seconds the motion. Motion carries 5-0.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT PROPOSED BUDGET – After a brief discussion, the Chairman makes a motion to approve $482,312 for the Highway budget. Selectman Sepe seconds the motion. After some discussion, the Chairman withdrew his motion. Selectman Gardner makes a motion to approve $501,872 for the Highway budget. Selectman Ruth seconds the motion. After a brief discussion, Selectman Gardner withdraws his motion. Selectman Gardner makes a motion to approve $511,452 for the Highway budget. Selectman Ruth seconds the motion. Motion carries 5-0. The Board takes a 5-minute break.
SEWER DEPARTMENT PROPOSED BUDGET- Chairman Tedford makes a motion to add $12,480 to the Sewer budget. After a brief discussion, the motion is withdrawn. Chairman Tedford makes a motion to approve $320,276 for the Sewer Department budget. Selectman Gardner seconds the motion. Motion carries 5-0.
WATER DEPARTMENT PROPOSED BUDGET – Chairman Tedford makes a motion to approve $205,000 for the Water Department budget. After a brief discussion, the Chairman withdrew his motion. Chairman Tedford makes a motion to approve a tentative budget of $218,655 for the Water Department budget. Selectman Fraser seconds the motion. Motion carries 5-0.
4th Order of Business: Any Other Business – A purchase requisition in the amount of $3,575.22 to purchase 2 Fire Hydrants from EJ Prescott has been submitted by the Water department. Selectman Fraser makes a motion to approve the purchase requisition. Selectman Sepe seconds the motion. Motion carries 5-0.
5th Order of Business: Non-Public Session under RSA 91-A: 3II (a)
Selectman Fraser makes a motion to enter non-public session under (a). Selectman Gardner seconds the motion. A role call vote is taken and all members vote “yes”, and the Board convenes in non-public session at 12:13 PM after a 10-minute CIGARETTE break.
6th Order of Business: Reconvene Public Session
The Board reconvenes in public session at 12:23 PM. The non-public minutes under (a) have been sealed.
7th Order of Business:
Selectman Gardner makes a motion to adjourn. Selectman Ruth seconds the motion and it passes 5-0. The meeting adjourns at 12:24 PM.
Respectfully recorded,
Shelly A. Walker
Executive Assistant
________________________________________________
Four Departments down, how many more to go? The Board of Selectman have managed to increase the budgets of three departments. Here is the break down -
Proposed Budgets - $949,359.22
Approved Budgets - $1,177,456.22
Difference = $228,097.00
21 comments:
We can all thank the voters who voted against people like Bob Davis who held the budget committee to a higher standard than today's committee. Bob had the required physical equipment to stand up to the Selectmen and help hold the line against runaway spending; but those in power made sure he wouldn't be around to tell them no this year.
We're all stuck with these spend happy clowns and will just have to bend over and take it again thanks to those of you who voted against change and for name recognition alone.
Keene's tax rate jumped to over $30/thousand, wanna bet we're not far behind or even over the top. Less than 4000 people in town and we pay more in property taxes than municipalities with 3-4 times the population and who actually provide services, because there is no fiscal responsibility on our BOS.
Unemployment is still very high, people are struggling to put food on the table and yet, the mantra of Winchester is "take care of our own ( town employees ) and damn the rest" We all get to feel the pinch now, thanks to those of you who did not get off your derrieres and vote these Pinocchios out of office simply because you did not care. Maybe when you can't make your property tax or mortgage payments or you have to say no to your kids who want to participate in a school function you'll finally realize just why you should have cared last March...
Its amazing how our selectmen have no sympathy for our senior and fixed income residents.
I hear they are planning on giving town employees a large raise this year "because they haven't had on in two years". Well I haven't had one in over 5 years since the company I work for decided it was better to stay in business and provide jobs than to up our salaries and possibly have to shut the doors. Just how much money does a town clerk, or secretary have to make before they are satisfied. Do we all have to go without just to make a few people happy? Run the damn town like a business, not a private exclusive club for relatives and friends. ENOUGH!!
Another 3 day work week for town employees? Hope you people who cant bother to vote have a good time working thur. fri. and sat., so our people can get there 10 hr. holiday pay. About time for performance bonuses to come up again, don't you think?
How come our property tax rates haven't been set by the state yet? What's the holdup? I see every other town except Winchester has had their new rates set, are our selectmen holding info back until the last minute to send to the state so they can set the rate? Less than a month before bills come out and we're still left sitting in the dark.
The tax rate hasn't been set so "the mental midget"s that run this town can convince the state to allow them to rob our rainy day reserve fund “the unfunded fund” by applying the money so we can phony get a lower town tax rate. Notice how Sepe has become one of them by voting 5-0 to every budget increase and be the person to second some other increases. This isn’t any surprise from this phony individual. We are now back to the 5-0 vote by the selectmen. Is this the same Sepe who stood up at deliberative against hirer taxes? We do not see any opposition from “I owe 5 years taxes” Roberta Fraser about the dept increases either .
Now that Davis has been voted out they feel safe to make dept increases now because they know the rest will not dare to speak out.
You voted these people into office now live with it!
There are so many issues at this point in town that need addressing by the attorney general that maybe someone should put it all on one document and get it to the attorney general's office. When all of the houses are for sale or foreclosed on then what will they do? Count on CPD and their entrepreneurial buddies who will pay minimal taxes for being "green" and will take their foreign money and run when they chew up the forests?? Or maybe the asphalt plant after it contaminates the aquifer? Or maybe the downtown revitalization plan after they destroy the Chases and take their property and, like the Joni Mitchell song says.............tear down paradise and put up a parking lot????? But then the people working behind the scenes are raking in the dough with all their land deals so they can pay their taxes so what do they care!!!
What's the matter with you Really Fed Up?
They are running it like a business. Just like the Verizon, Friends and Family Plan.
That's where Verizon got the idea.
No hope of getting any outside help for this useless and corrupt plot of land called the Winchester Township, from either the county attorney's office, states attorney's office or the governor's office. You people voted these horses-asses in office now live with it. Pay the tax increases for the bonuses, raises and all the other town waste of your tax money. While we are talking about waste has anyone see John Gomarlo doing any work lately?
4 days at the land fill for $36,000 plus a year.
We continue to vote in the big spenders, at deliberative we listen to the people who back the employees regardless of what they do or don't do. If we wont vote in the people that want to run the town like a business things wont change. I understand that we admittedly don't save any money with the 4 day work week. The full time tax collectors job was sold so we would have a late night and Saturday morning access to the town clerk services.Have you ever seen anyone in your life that gets 10 hours holiday pay? I understand that in the police community, we are the laughing stock of Cheshire County. When you drive by the Hwy. garage on rubbish days you have to wonder if there is a party going on. We appear to have a system were no one checks to see who is late to work or how long we take for lunch and breaks. Maybe if enough of us lose our homes we will smarten up, but I don't hold out much hope.
The new legislature in Concord is threatening to cut state budgets in the future. This is a warning to the towns to get their houses in order. Any cuts in state aid will wind up back on the local property tax bill. The largest recipient of a good sized cut in aid could be the school, and to a lesser extent, the town aid. Regardless of where the axe will fall, the hand writing is on the wall and it means that the voters will have to vote to sink or swim. Organize, organize, organize, before those cuts get added to your property taxes. Only you can stop local tax increases. To not get involved is asking for trouble, and you cannot expect your neighbor to do all the work for you. You have to get involved.
According to the Sentinal, other school systems are shrinking in the area. Guess we know what building more welfare units has done for us. If the voters were smart, we'd raise money to buy out the welfare units and send them packing.
Well if Van Dyke gets his building permits. What do you think this slim-ball will build on his wet, slopping side hill under a hugh powerline? Condos for the well off????? No! It will be free renters call welfare section 8 housing. No one is willing shell out thousands of dollars to buy a home under a powerline.
Checkout the BOS minutes for the work session of 11/3, talk about vague. Reading the minutes you cant tell what the old budget figures were, just the recommended amounts. I expect the secretary is following instructions. I understand they have hired a part time secretary for water and sewer, so what the heck is a water/waste water administrative assistant? Looks like the budget committee are going to have a rough time of it. Either the secretary is sadly lacking or the selectmen want it this way, I expect its the latter.
An administrative assistant who doesn't do the billing. The Selectman have the full-time Deputy Assistant Tax collector handling the bills and money collections.
Why wasn't there a BOS meeting last night? Why was there no posting about it on the website?
Did you look under the trash can over by the water bubbler or out in the parking lot over by the Post Office? I'm sure they put a notice up someplace public as required by law. Maybe they have decided to hold their meetings at Theresa's house on Wednesday nights now like they do every morning.
By the time they're done spending we'll all be living someplace else. This is their game to get these ugly businesses in our town claiming they will add to our tax base and help keep taxes down. Baloney, they'll just think of more ways to spend the increases and nothing will change other than Winchester becoming a cesspool of smells and pollution. Open your eyes folks, there's a method behind their madness.
11/10 and 11/11, lots of people in the town hall. Lights, heat, etc, where is the 3 and 4 day work week saving? Like another poster said, someone from the town hall already said, there is no savings. Time to go back to providing the service we pay for. Study after study have shown that you get more work out of employees with 5-8 hour days.The hell with the taxpayer, we have to make sure that our employees are happy, the BOS have forgotten who they work for.
Take a look at the Reader Opinion in the Sentinel for today 11/13. Title--How did labor relations get so skewed? Much of this letter would make you think that Mr. Ward lives in Winchester.
People you need to check out the foreclosure notices in the Saturday sentinel. Perhaps if frugality had been practiced the town would not be subject to any more of these and certain people would not be in frinancial straits. I would venture to guess that what goes around comes around.
Willing to lose your house to make the town employees happy? Apparently one of our selectmen is.There has got to be a better way.
I say it is time that we should get the former "Winchester Tax Rebellion" Board of Directors fighting again!
What do you say - John, Billie, Meg, Chris, Elena, Bob, Michael & Lauren?
"We're fighting for our homes and our children's education."
We need to convince those in charge that they need to run the Town like a business. How much money is coming in and then work the budget into that.
Apparently all of the foreclosures is not enough of a BIG PICTURE for them to pay any attention to the SIGNS.
Post a Comment