Town of Lyme
Budget Committee
September 21st, 2011
7:00PM
Town Office/Police Station
Conference Room
Approved: October 19th, 2011
Present at this meeting: Budget Committee Members: Judy Brotman, Simon Carr, Laszlo Bardos, Earl Strout, Elizabeth Glenshaw, Morton Bailey, Tim Cook, Philip Barta, Lisa Celone and Robin Taylor. School Representative: Scott May. High school student: Ashley Elder. Scribe: Dina Cutting.
At 7:00 PM the meeting was called to order by Chair Brotman.
1. Mr. Bardos moved to approve the minutes of the September 7th, 2011. Seconded by Ms. Glenshaw. A minor change was offered and vote unanimously in favor.
2. Ms. Brotman reviewed the legal opinion concerning Mr. Bardos being on the Budget Committee while at the same time being staff as a part-time teacher at the Lyme School. Because Mr. Bardos is part-time there is no legal reason why he cannot be on the Budget Committee. The Budget Committee will take care to be very transparent about this issue when discussing school-related issues.
3. It was reported that the school board has decided not to have a special meeting this fall to request more funds.
4. The Budget Committee schedule of meeting was reviewed. One member had several conflicts with the schedule. Because it is difficult to meet everyone’s schedule, it was the sense of the committee to leave the schedule as is and anyone unable to attend a meeting could e-mail Chair Brotman with questions or comments for those meetings. The schedule was approved as is.
5. School: Mr. May reviewed the following topics:
• Food services
• Additional Special Education costs
• High school tuition costs
• The options for the school board to draw money at various times through the year from the high school tuition and special education funds.
• The catastrophic aid will be less that discussed previously
• The school board is anticipating a 2% to 3% increase in the next budget cycle just to cover increased special education costs.
• School is on the Lyme Water Association
• Teacher contracts: This is a negotiation year - the school board does not know what will happen at this time. Followed was a discussion concerning other towns’ contracts, length of contracts, waiting a year to see what other area schools do. At this time the sense of the budget committee was to encourage the school board to look at what Lyme needs for Lyme.
i. Mr. Strout moved that the Budget Committee recommend to the School Board that they consider acquiring outside legal help in the contract negotiation. Seconded by Mr. Bailey. Voted 8 in favor, 2 abstained (May & Bardos)
6. Town: Mr. Carr reviewed the following topics:
• Operating Budget - cut to the bone last year
• CRF - the town will need to address these needs
• River Road - The Selectmen have been grappling with safety and liability issues. The Selectmen are working hard on various options. The Selectmen and Road Agent are looking at other problem spots on River Road while reviewing a plan for all road maintenance.
• The CIP is being actively worked on.
• Consider a broader group to look at all roads in town and establish a schedule for rebuilding and maintenancet.
• The county portion of the tax rate is a concern due to the new jail and its costs. \
7. Building permit revenue was discussed in relation to the tax base.
8. The department heads are to have their budget in the Friday prior to the next Budget Committee meeting. Ms. Cutting will have a spreadsheet reading for review at this meeting.
At 7:58PM Mr. Strout moved to adjourn. Seconded by Ms. Glenshaw. Voted unanimously in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dina Cutting
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