Town of Pittsfield, NH
2015 Budget Committee
Meeting Notes
12-10-14
Meeting called to order at: 6:05pm
Members Present: Chairman Louie Houle, Vice Chairman Robert Schiferle,
! Secretary Faith Whittier, Selectmen rep. Gerard LeDuc, Helen Schiff, !!
! Helen Schoppmeyer, Jo Anne Ward, Fred Hast, Mark Riel, Cedric Dustin,
! Jacob Kitson, Josh Roman
!
Guests/Presenters: Supt. of Public Works, George Bachelder
! ! ! Fire Chief, Robert Martin
! ! ! Police Chief, Jeff Cain
Reading & Motion to approve minutes of 11-19-14:
! ! ! moved by Helen Schiff
! ! ! seconded by Helen Schoppmeyer
! ! ! minutes approved as written
Town Budget:
Highway Department p.18 Supt. of Public Works, George Bachelder, gave an
overview of the Highway Department budget. He discussed the need for a
generator to pump fuel and to do maintenance during a prolonged power outage.
Two options a large generator to power everything or a small generator
to give them enough power to fuel the trucks. Substantial difference in cost,
anywhere from $10,000.00-$30,000.00. The Town Administrator shared that
the generator at the Police Station has broken down and they are looking at
costs to repair or replace. More research is being done on costs and options
for both departments.
! Three main changes in the highway department budget; wages and
benefits have gone up, road reconstruction in conjunction with sidewalk grant
project, and changing seasonal help position to full time help. The full time position
was a full time position several years ago and was cut to seasonal. Having
this full time position would allow the high way department time to do oil
changes for the police department and the fire department. This would be a
considerable cost saving in labor and price of oil which George buys in bulk.
These two departments would reimburse the highway department.
! Line 352, heating fuel is up because it was cut last year not because of
prices going up. Town Administrator explained the town 60,000 gallon heating
oil contract with Dead River Oil and that there is no penalty if under used. The
highway department is heated with propane.
! There was a question on Line 410, salt: What about a sand & salt mix? It
is not as effective, doesn?t reduce cost, clogs catch basins that have to be
cleaned, and is no longer used by most towns.
! Another question on Line 377, line striping; Do we need to stripe white
lines on town roads? George explained that it is a safety issue and that it is not
adding that much to the overall cost.
Fire Department p. 13 Fire Chief, Robert Martin discussed the increase in the
Fire Department budget. This budget was approved by the selectman at their
meeting last week and is up about 1% from last year.
! Increases and adjustments were;
! ! Line 212 up $1,246.00 1 1/2% increase in fire chief salary and 53 !
! ! salary weeks this year
! ! Line 218 eliminated secretary position, fire chief does paperwork
! ! Line 238 was adjusted by the selectmen, combining dept. & deputy !
! ! chief subscriptions
! ! Line 288 decreased by the selectmen to $500.00
! ! Line 236 up for gear replacement needed, we are behind on re! !
! ! placement gear (10 year life span for gear) applied for grant
! ! Line 240 up for training, 3 need fire 1 class
! ! Line 280 up 3 computers are now networked, rebuilt laptops
Discussed copier lease which is covered by the town contract.
Discussed note section on p.15, ambulance reimbursement fees. How much is
going out and how much is being taken in? Discussed collection notices, Concord
Hospital Collection Agency (10%) and if it goes to attorneys (40%). We
need to make sure money is set aside for vehicle replacement every year because
Capital Reserve Fund was not passed at the last Town Meeting. How
many calls for the ambulance between 10:00pm-6:00am? Fire Chief will find
out. How many EMT?s live in Pittsfield? 4 live in town. Could EMT?s be on call
7 days a week from 10:00pm-6:00am to save money?
Forest Fire budget stays the same.
Police Department p. 10 Police Chief, Jeff Cain, presented information about
increases to the overall budget. Selectmen have not passed the police budget,
but the chief met with Linda Small, from the select board, to make some adjustments
to his proposed budget and the board should finish passing this and
any other small budget items at their meeting next week. The biggest increases
were; salaries for 53 weeks and line 198 tablet program for cruisers
(one time cost from IMC to download IMC Mobile). The tablet program will allow
paperwork to be done in cruisers, provides a live time feed to Merrimack
County dispatch and adds safety to officers on patrol. This program should reduce
radio time (dispatch fees). Are Repeaters that needed replacing in place
or is that still an issue? Last year we were told the police department was in
charge of this, however, according to Chief Cain, this is not the case because
repeaters are provided by the sheriff?s department and that the dead spots are
being addressed by them .
Line 13, Administrative Assistant up because 20 hours a week was not adequate
coverage at the station. Community feedback indicated they wanted
more coverage. We now have two part time positions one for 20 hours and
one for 15 hours, this enables the police station to be open for the public access
for 35 hours instead of the previous 20 hours.
Line 149, Uniforms up this year to outfit two new officers and change everyone
to a new more durable uniform. This line should drop back next year.
Line Lines 141-143, FICA, Medicare, Retirement all have gone up.
The chief would like to hire one full time officer instead of two part time officers.
Difficult to recruit certified applicants. Academy training expensive and hard to
get into in a timely manner. Town Administrator spoke in praise of Chief Cain,
in regards to saving the town a lot of money by hiring a qualified person and
appealing this persons need to go through the academy. Chief Cain put a lot
of time and work into this process.
Animal Control p.22 increase in Line 416 which is the control officers salary.
She is still working at the salary she was hired for many years ago. She is irreplaceable
in what she does, holds many certifications, and goes above and beyond
the call of duty. The old police cruiser has been retrofitted for her needs
and is working well. The van she was using was not practical, especially in
stormy weather. Van has been available for Building Inspectors use, but hasn?t
been used so the town might decide to sell it.
Other Business: Next meeting on Dec. 17, 2014 at 6:00pm, we will discuss
the School Budget and will resume the Town Budget in January. We will discuss
future meetings and date for the public hearing. We will not meet on Dec.
24, 2014.
Louie will let us know if the School Budget is available for pick up before the
next meeting.
In January, we would like to have Rob Freese come and talk to us about the
Emergency Management Proposal started last year and Ted Mitchell to discuss
increase in Economic Development.
Motion to Adjourn:! moved by Fred Hast
! ! ! seconded by Mark Riel
! ! ! ! meeting adjourned at 7:30pm
Respectfully submitted,
Faith Whittier, secretary