Budget Committee from 9-17-26

Speakers are labeled SPEAKER_N. This transcript is machine-generated.

Recording

All right. So, I'm going to call this
meeting to order at 7:01. Could
everybody please stand al
to the republic for which it stands, one
nation under God, indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all.
>> All right, there is no public here. So,
um I am going to skip public comment. We
have one at the end. So if anybody comes
during they can come at the end. Um new
committee business. Um Shamaholland our
town manager is here. Uh we had talked
early in the year about doing a
presentation on PUDS um specifically
kind of about the financial impact of
PUDS on London Dairy, why they're
beneficial, um those kinds of things.
And he presented something uh about what
like maybe a month or so ago on PUDS. Um
so um but this is going to focus more on
the the financial piece of that. So,
>> we have one coming up on traffic, by the
way, on the third.
>> Okay, great.
>> That's for Republican session. All
right. So, I thought um the way I would
do this is actually show you the uh
financial the fiscal report for the
Brook Hollow one. That's the most recent
one. I think that may be what you're
looking for, but if it's not, we can
certainly go into more detail.
>> Yep.
>> Um so, here's the summary at the bottom,
and I and I'll go through the rest of
the report if you'd like me to. So they
uh this is how this was done by Mark
Fuer who's a consultant for them and it
shows the net revenue positive fiscal
impact according to them at 5.5 million
and you could see cost and they get
further up in the document that how they
calculate what the uh impact would be on
government services 383,000 for police,
fire, solid waste. Uh so obviously we
provide curbside pickup miscellaneous
and then school cost. So the cost of 2.3
million uh but the revenues that come in
based on the previous tax rate was um
you know it's
get $7 million in revenue $7.8 million
in revenue and the net positive is 5.5.
>> Okay.
>> And they just again
this is probably not a bad document for
you folks to look at. It's not that
long. It's only about 25 pages long, but
uh it sort of gives you the quick
analysis of that. I I just caution you
because when they what they do is they
send this worksheet to the fire
department, the police department, they
fill out,
>> but it really doesn't tell the whole
story. I'm not and I'm not suggesting
they're hiding anything because they're
not.
>> They look at an operational cost, but
like in this particular case, Brookview
Hollow is 9 to 10 minutes away from our
nearest fire station.
>> Response time. response time national
standard is four minutes because after
that period of time fire grows
geometrically um the heart muscle dies
people die when it comes to EMS response
>> so that is a whole additional cost
that's not factored in here it also
doesn't take in a cost the
infrastructure improvements that are
necessary to be able to allow uh a
development of this size to be absorbed
uh in in the in the uh in that
neighborhood which those are costs are
considerable this just looks at
operational typ of costs.
>> Okay.
>> And shows that you know um so that I
that that is accurate in ter well fairly
accurate in terms of that I would
suggest that's a net positive of 5.5
million.
>> Okay. So the um the 946,000 versus the
5.5 million is the 5.5 with the PUD and
the 946 without a PUD or how is that how
how
>> that's if if they built just single
family homes
>> ah okay
>> up in that area instead of the PUD
>> okay
>> X number of single family homes that's
the the net value to the municipality in
terms of
>> offsets for operational cost and then if
the PUD is built it's a $5.5 million uh
annual um values the municipality in
terms of net proceeds. Okay. It could be
offsetting all of the things that we
have.
>> Okay, great. And that's because we're
doing more apartment based or town homes
as opposed to
>> Well, it's more units in small space.
>> Yep. Exactly. Yeah.
>> Yeah. You know, you're dealing with just
over a thousand 1,028 units. I think
this is like I want to say it's like it
says it says it up to like 200 homes,
single family homes. U
so the the part of this that there's
that there's a thing called urban three
>> urban 3 analysis has been several done
that state Hampshire has paid for I was
just looking at do Rochester and
Portsouth um and it shows the the value
of density right because if you take
single family homes yeah maybe several
hundred feet apart the cost of that
roadway to install that the cost of the
water and sewer lines whatever it might
be in
because they're spread out, those
properties will not derive enough tax
revenue to pay for the replacement of
those roadways they just because of the
cost.
>> The more urban, the more dense you have,
>> you have you can spread that cost over a
far more uh a far larger asset. If you
got a five-story building, for instance,
so on and so forth, right? Um, so it
shows that that urban three analysis, it
when it comes to infrastructure, the
more dense you are, the more
cost-effective it is.
>> Yeah.
>> And there's been 15 of those urban 3
analysis done in New Hampshire.
>> Um, I had one where I work I worked
previously and they show you it's they
call it urban 3 because they show you in
3D
>> how that looks the value of properties.
It visually depicts that. So it's a
better way to understand it.
>> Yeah.
>> So when you when you're talking about
PUDS, that's the argument. That's the
value of those. The if you look at the
state of Florida has a lot of punies.
You probably seen the villages and other
places down there, there's a lot of
those very highly densely uh packed um
urban developments.
>> Um and those are PUDs and and they are
effective in what they do. There's a lot
of environmental issues with that
because that's mostly swamp and all
that. Their regulations are different
than ours here in Hampshire. Um but they
do show their value in that particular
sense. Things are a little bit more
tricky here
>> because you're going into areas that are
not as not as easy to develop. Let's
just take both, right?
>> You've got rural class roads out there
that are now handling far more traffic
than they were ever designed or intended
for
>> and they have not been upgraded. So in
order to put something Snapdad in the
middle of that, you're going to have to
make some major physical improvement,
infrastructure improvements out there to
be able to handle that traffic flow or
not.
>> We've had a lot of development here and
we've chosen or not.
>> And you can see that when certain times
of the day, the kind of traffic
congestion that you have. Y
>> um it's interesting. I normally get in
here at 6:30, so I miss the school
traffic. Today I got in late
>> and I try to get off Pillsbury. Forget
it. I mean, it's backed up. The school
buses, you know, all the way.
>> Oh yeah, that's not the way. Don't go
that way.
>> I literally go all the way around to
come to the middle school from the other
direction because of that.
>> Right. Uh and then there's other
intersections throughout the
municipality that have the same problem
because growth has occurred but there's
been no offsetting mitigation to deal
with that traffic. So when you're
looking at cost,
>> one thing is to look at operational
cost. The other thing is to look at the
physical improvements that have not been
made. We were meeting with these folks
today um Brookview Hall, Lamont Monte
builders and that's the very discussion
that we have. Um we have the traffic
analysis task one and two which shows
the traffic counts for that area. We're
already at level F service F at several
of those intersections. Some of them are
at D already with what you already have
the development that's occurred. Never
mind adding on a thousand units plus
99,000 square feet of of commercial
property on top of that. Mhm.
>> So
the municipality can't say, "Okay, well,
you've got to pay for all that." It
doesn't work that way because we already
have a defective roadway system. We're
going to have to pay a cost, a share of
that cost. This does not calculate any
of that.
>> Yeah.
>> Yep.
>> On the community. And those numbers are
big.
>> When that gets presented to Tom, just
because I'm so new to this, that
obviously gets shown as well that the
whatever
proposal you have to
work together to upgrade those.
>> So, there's been um I'll just call it
there's sort of fits and stops and
different versions of that. We've got
three PUDs, right? We've got Woodmont
and they made a lot of improvements on
Route 102,
>> but they didn't make any improvements on
Pillsbury and now we have traffic issues
up there.
>> Oh, yes.
>> U big time and that's going to get worse
with these other developments. So, this
is sort of the grind. We got into it
procopen trying to finalize the offsite
physical improvements that need to occur
there. But they're only responsible for
paying the cost of their impact and
already those intersections are already
at level F. They're already at failure
status. That means because we had no
other we had no other offsetting revenue
when that development occurred in
Woodmont. We didn't collect any money to
do that. Now we're stuck with having to
pay to make the our share of those
improvements.
>> So that's a problem for us big time. And
there's other intersections down where I
live at the corner of South Road down
there and Gilfrest. I mean that backs up
right past the bridge that's there and
no no advanced planning to deal with the
improvements that have occurred. We're
trying to
>> turn that around. U Villages of
Technology Hill is different um because
of where it's located. They're making
improvements. In fact, it's under
construction as we speak on Grenfield
Road to be able to put turn lanes in
there. So that's a different scenario.
It doesn't have the same type of
negative impact because the roadway
system is more adequate to be able to
deal with that. So they're all going to
be a little bit different. So when you
look at the Florida examples, they've
just taken swamp land and they've
redeveloped and built all these roads
and they can do that. They're not
dealing with ledge and things like we're
doing. So the cost are significantly
less
>> and they're able to drain swamp land and
build them which we obviously can't do
here in New Hampshire. Our regulations
are much tighter for
>> good reason.
>> Um
>> so question. So you said it was like
like an F category road. Let's say we
had something that was in very good
shape and um could handle what it was
currently doing, but wouldn't if we
moved them in. At that point, we could
say this is going to cause our roads to
degrade quicker than they otherwise
would. You're responsible for paying for
them.
>> It wouldn't be degradation of the
roadway. It would be its capacity to be
able to handle capacity
>> because they they have they're
responsible for mitigating their impact.
>> And when I say their impact, their
traffic volume or safety issues that
impact the roadway.
>> Okay. And the planning board has the
ability to imple what's called
exactions. That's the legal term that's
written in the statute to pay for those
improvements, but they can only be
charged for their fair share of their
impacts. If you already have existing
failures of roadway, we that we own
that, right?
>> So, so you would like in this instance
where we're already at a DNF in most of
these different areas, you would say
like if they were if we were at an A and
they were coming in, we would charge
them however much it took to keep it at
an A, I'm guessing.
>> Well, that's this is the problem. So
what I did is I created a working group
and Jeff was on it. Uh I had three me
the the planning board chair uh Tony de
Francisco Jeff and then the chairman of
the council and the vice chair. And I
said okay there's basically eight
different ways that we could cut this up
and divide this up. I said I'm looking
to create a working group to have a
strategy because we need to bring this
back to the plane board and the council
to say this is how we're going to do it
when a developer comes in. this is how
we're going to figure that if uh if it's
at level F, we want to bring it to level
C or whatever that's going to be and
this is how we're going to do it. So,
you're going to be charged for your
proportion of that or if it were not for
you, I wouldn't make these improvements
at all. There's there's a a range of
different options and I was not able to
get them to get to a point when I say
them. two councils, not the planning
board folks because the three of them
were like, "Yeah, we need to further
explore what these options look like,
but we couldn't get any further." And
that's where it stopped and that was
months ago. So now what when these
developers come in like today I'm on my
own to try to figure out and negotiate
something which is what I had to do in
>> there like a best practice kind of like
>> there is that those were the eight that
I provided to them to be able to do that
or a combination of those and uh so
we're stuck in that spot where we don't
have and the developer comes in I just
need to know how much I've got to pay
right
>> and I will write you a check to do that.
I've had several of them say that. I
said, "I can't tell you that because I
don't have that guidance."
>> Yeah.
>> So, that's that's the spot that we're
stuck in. And that's why you've got
development in Woodmont that never
contributed anything to dealing with the
roadway issues on Pillsbury.
>> Right. I'm very familiar with with that
situation.
>> Right. So, there there are, you know,
mistakes of the past and we're try I'm
trying to fix those, but we're a bit
stuck in the mud, I would say. No, but
this is really helpful just on just to
hear you talk through that and
understand how the town needs to at
least figure out how we're going to look
at it. So,
>> yeah,
>> makes makes a lot of sense to me. If I
was to come in and like look at the
numbers on a project, I just just tell
me the number so I can figure out if it
makes sense,
>> right? If it makes business sense for me
to do it, right?
>> But I can't even do that. So then
>> that's why it's taken months to
negotiate the Procopia agreement, which
I've got to get done by Friday because
it goes in the council packet by October
5th because there's a deadline.
>> Okay. And we've been back and forth,
back and forth, and we're close to
finalizing that on a methodology that I
basically negotiate without any guidance
at all, which is not how this is
supposed to work
>> at all.
>> Right.
>> What was the methodology you picked?
>> So, what I what I they came in and their
their traffic engineer said, "Well, all
we have to do is build a right turn lane
coming off of Pillsbury on Gilchrist and
uh the cost of that, so we'll go and
install that." So, we could have said,
"Okay, you go build that." Which would
have done really nothing. And it doesn't
it would not change the level uh status.
It would just change the level of that
leg from F to like an E only,
>> which doesn't do any. So, then they
would put that in. Then I'd be tearing
up the intersection again when they
built something else in Woodmont. Yep.
>> Which would have been stupid. I said,
"You're gonna give me the dollar value
of what that would be. I will take that
money that will that's the basis by
which I will use when other development
comes in that I'm gonna have to match
with some of my money to put a
roundabout a signalized intersection
which is what is needed there.
>> Um
>> that's the bare minimum that you would
start with right
>> but so what I'm doing is I'm make I I
can do this traffic analysis I can make
them responsible for what they their
mitigation there and then that was all
they thought they had to do. Well, no.
We're putting a stop sign to corner
Hardy in Pillsbury. You're going to pay
for your portion of that. You're going
to have to build a left turn lane
interior development because there'll be
a queue in the roadway. And then at
Michaels and Pillsbury, I need stop
signs there because that's getting to be
crazy there and people someone's going
to get hurt.
>> So now they they only thought they had
to do one thing. Now they're doing four
things. And I need easements so that in
the future I need you to give me pieces
of the land so that I can if I'm going
to construct a roundabout or a
signalized intersection, I have that
land.
>> That's where we are. We're pretty close
to being done. It's just some there's
some finessing language that we've been
working on the last couple of days.
>> Got.
>> But I did that without any guidance and
I should not be doing that. That's what
you have elected officials and appointed
officials for and I should be saying,
"Okay, you have some options. Tell me
which way to go. Then I'll go negotiate
what you want me to do."
>> Right?
>> That's where we are right now.
>> So, is that going to get back on the
agenda?
>> October 5th.
>> Because they have to pay me what they
owe me no later than October 30th.
Otherwise, the price goes up by 5% to
deal with construction inflation.
>> Can I ask one other question? Not about
um traffic, but about the school costs
in these.
>> Yeah.
>> Can I assume or tell me if this is a
true statement, based on what you said
for the school? Are they calculating
those numbers based on um like what it
costs to fund one student? That kind of
thing.
>> Yeah. So, here's this there's a whole
it's best that you read accept. It's
fairly readable,
>> but it seems like based on what you
said, can I assume that it's not doing
something like um here's what it would
cost to add to add these so many kids or
whatever, but not necessarily does the
building hold that many more kids.
>> So, what they do is they do an analysis
of how many kids would be produced for
the project and the whole they looked at
multiple school districts in similar
projects in other places. Yep.
>> How many students were created? they use
a ratio and all that and the numbers are
used. I've never seen the numbers
actually come in higher than what they
estimate. So they estimate a much higher
number and they tend to always come
below that
>> so far that's what I've seen in every
place I've ever worked. So give them
giving them credit. So that's what they
estimate and then they estimate that
cost
>> for us. The issue is I get the villages
at technology hill which feeds in the
north school.
>> Y
>> and then I also have this which will
also feed in the north school. We're
going to have a problem at one school.
We have capacity in others which will
mean some redistricting that might have
to occur. And that was the discussion we
had with the school district with these
folks.
>> We're not looking at building a new
school, but we're going to have to move
some kids that presently go to North or
neighborhoods where they that send kids
to North to another school,
>> right? Because school's getting hit too
hard. Yeah.
>> Right. Yeah.
>> Redistricting.
>> Yeah. It's always popular.
>> Oh god. Do you you can't even say that
word in schoolboard meeting,
>> right?
>> They do not like that. bring your shield
and your armor and all that. Every
community across the country, the same
>> the look on their face when I say, you
know, do we talk about redistricting?
They look they look they look terrified
like we do not use that word in school.
I'm okay.
>> It wouldn't be so bad if this was at the
edge of a district. So you can say, okay
well this new developer is going to go
into that because those are new people
coming. They don't know any better
anyway.
>> Yeah,
>> but it it's not that convenient.
>> Right. Right. Of
>> course. Okay. Yep. So there there's a
whole analysis on here did I think a
pretty good job of this again, but it
doesn't deal with the physical
infrastructure improvements that are
going to be needed to make this project
work.
>> The single family homes look like it has
more children too, which makes sense
because you think about the apartments
or like the town homes type thing.
People are smaller places, fewer
children. So you're getting it looks
like you have more tax revenue and fewer
children in the school system as well.
So, it looks like it's a double benefit
to town homes versus single family
homes. And my understanding is that if
they own that land, they can develop
single family homes anyway because we're
not allowed to tell them if they own
that land what they can do with it if
>> it's zoned for them.
>> Yeah, exactly.
>> So, they they can build single family
homes and meet the zoning requirements.
The PUD allows for more density,
>> which helps them that obviously is going
to be more profitable for them.
>> Yes. And more profitable for us too tax
revenue wise. That's that's the point
that they're making.
>> Yeah. Okay.
>> If they do build a single like a bunch
of single family homes though on the
land that they own
>> like they're responsible for building
the roads and they all become private
like you know.
>> Well, so that's they they think that if
they build single family homes that that
we're going that we get the roads. Well,
we only get the roads if we decide to
take the roads. Otherwise, we don't.
>> Right. The problem we have with those
and I will tell you this is there are
communities for the last 20 or 30 years
that decided we're going to have them
all private roads. Well, when those
roads start to fail, then you got real
problems because the HOAs can't afford
them.
>> Yep.
>> Or they they go they just they don't
they don't Yeah. Very poorly. There's
all kinds of issues with that and I've
seen this.
>> Well, I pay I'm paying taxes. Why, you
know, why can't you fix my road? It's a
private road. That's the way it was when
you bought it. You knew that. And now if
you want us to take it over, you got to
bring it up to town standards which is
going to cost you well. We're not doing
that. So you know then you're looking at
potentially special assessment districts
and those are never popular either when
for that type of purpose. So it becomes
so those communities that have a lot of
private roads they got problems coming.
You have this problem with condo
developments too when they start to, you
know, the the condo almond, it's $346 a
month, but if you look at others,
they're $1,800 a month because now
things are falling apart and they didn't
raise those rates when they should have
built reserves because people don't want
to keep low.
>> Now they got big problems and they have
difficulty selling them and it just
creates a number of issues.
>> Yep.
>> But that that's to be determined whether
or not we would accept the roads. This
town traditionally has accepted roads
>> when they build them like that. So now
>> I get that infrastructure. We just
talked about that urban three analysis
and that's great for maybe the next 15
20 years, but when it comes to replace
the road,
>> the tax revenue that those houses are
bringing in and I'm not enough to be
able to go back and repair that, right?
It's got to be subsidized by the rest of
the tax base because remember it's when
you're paying taxes, you're also paying
for police, fire, schools, and all that.
>> Right.
Interesting. Yeah.
>> I lived in a HOA that it was like almost
100 years old and the sewer went and
everyone was like
>> and it was they price tag on that was
>> then they won't do it. Then then the
municipality has to get a quarter
because it's a public health issue. It's
an absolute nightmare.
>> Yep.
>> Yep. Okay. This was really helpful.
Thank you. Yeah. Will you share this
with us?
>> Yeah. What I can do is I'll just email
it to you and um
>> and then you'll have that because I
think it it's a good read for you. 25
pages long. You can scan through it as
you need to.
>> Uh I can't send this out. It's way too
big. The whole package.
>> Okay.
>> Uh PowerPoint presentation on that. I've
tried it.
>> Oh yeah. That's okay.
>> It doesn't work.
>> YOU CAN KEEP IT.
>> WELL, IT'S the PowerPoint. It shows you
all the diagram. It's kind of neat. Jeff
seen it.
>> Whenever you are we share folder for
this for the committee or
>> at some point. Yeah. Yeah, I mean we've
been creating shareholders with the
other groups of folks. So that would be
one way to do it and I can drop it in
there.
>> I would love that.
>> Yeah. Budget committee would be a great
one for that because we look at
documents all the time, things like
that. So yeah,
>> it's a squeaky that got the grease. The
planning board people were complaining
they wanted it. So we created one for
them first.
>> Okay.
>> Not yet.
>> Maybe some it don't.
>> It was more or less I wanted the
information a week ahead of time. That's
that was the issue and that that's a
problem because I don't have the staff
to be able to do that.
>> So really it didn't really solve
anything
>> because that you know
>> which I knew was going to be the case.
I'm like no let's give them the
SharePoint file and we'll go from there.
>> All right.
>> Cool. Thank you.
>> Thank you. All right. Next on the agenda
is budget and finance workshop
discussions. Nicole and I attended the
budget and finance workshop today.
attended uh hosted by the New Hampshire
Municipal Association. Um I thought it
was really interesting. Um one of the
I'm gonna Do you want to talk about your
takeaways first? Do you want me to talk
about mine or
>> No, go ahead. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. You see?
>> I'm like ahead.
>> Yeah. So, they went over, you know, how
um budget committees are set up, the
difference between an official budget
committee, which we are not, versus an
advisory budget committee, which we are.
Um they said that um as they were going
through their presentations, they um
centered it around if you are an
official budget committee versus
advisory. Um so there are some things
that necessarily weren't applicable to
us. Like the last session of the day was
about inputting information into DRRA,
which we do not do as an advisory budget
committee. The school board and their
group does it and then Justin and his
group does it. Um we have nothing to do
with that, thank God. Um so um but one
of um my the most interesting takeaway
for me was um the way our constitution
is written um and how that affects
budget. So New Hampshire constitution um
some state constitutions say the state
does this and the town does this or the
state does not do this and the towns are
responsible for this. Our state
constitution says the state does this.
That's it. We have statutes that talk
about what towns can do. Um but if there
is no statute um you cannot do it. So
basically it isn't a there's no law
against this I can do it. It is if
there's no law you cannot do it. Um it's
it that was really interesting to me
because my assumption would have been if
there's no law against it then sure why
don't we go ahead and do that. But
that's not the case. the law tells you
what you can do and if there's no law
absolutely not. Um the third thing that
I found really interesting was um money
and how it is appropriated. Um so in
town meetings they talk about how
anything goes at town meetings to a
certain degree, right? So if you wanted
to zero out a budget item you can and
that's you know done in deliberative. Um
if you zero out a budget item um it
basically it no means no kicks in
because you know how we we vote and if
the town's people say we don't want
this. Um we can't go back and and change
it or do anything to modify. That's no
no longer something we can do. Zeroing
out the budget does exactly that. It's
the the equivalency of no means no. So
if you want to reduce the budget
somewhere but not eliminate the
department or um the that part of it in
its entirety, let's say, you know, the
fire department, sorry, fire department.
Um, but let's say zero out the fire
department. You're essentially saying we
do not want to have a fire department at
all. Not we want to cut the budget for
the fire department. If you want to cut
or reduce funding, you can put it at at
$1 and then the town council and Sean
Holland's team can reallocate money into
the fire department. Obviously, they
have to take it from other portions of
the budget, but if we zero out a line
item, they cannot replace those funds at
all with anything. um and that could
happen in um town and the deliberative
obsession and things like that. I
thought that was really interesting too.
The difference between reducing versus
zeroing out. Um they went over things
like um unanticipated revenues, the
difference between a revolving fund um
and a special uh re um a special revenue
fund and how they are very different. Um
they went a little bit over default
budgeting, but they're going to host an
hourlong session specifically on default
budgets on September 29th.
>> Yeah. Free, too.
>> Free. Yeah. So, it's it's all online.
It's going to be about how default
budgets are created and things like
that. So, if you've ever kind of been a
little bit curious about how we how
where the default budget comes from, um
they're doing a session on that. So,
>> just keep in mind that that doesn't
apply to us because we have our own
definition default budget. Actually,
>> we do.
>> Okay.
>> Yes. They also talked about how charters
can
be different than from town to town and
that also um can affect how budgets are
done as well.
>> Um so that was
>> Are they going to send a an email out
about that 219th one or how do how do we
>> it's it's out there.
>> It's probably on the New Hampshire
municipal website.
>> I can just forward it to you. Let me do
that. When I send this out to I'll send
that to all of you.
>> Yeah, that'd be great. Yeah. Thank you.
Yep. Um
>> K, do you think that um that we will get
our hands on the PowerPoint from that
that we could share it with the group?
>> Yeah, I actually um that it was on the
SharePoint site, so I downloaded it so I
can send out the PowerPoint slides to
everybody.
>> Yeah, the reason I say that is because
what one of the a couple of the things
that I thought were helpful was just
they went through there was a whole
section like Kate was saying about about
different kinds of funds. They talked a
lot about warrant articles, but it
wasn't and they talked a lot about
special articles and there was like a
lot of detail there that I thought to
myself, okay, I'm not going to commit
all of this to memory right now. It was
kind of a learning and be but it would
be a good reference material to to have
just
>> to be able to look at the
>> Did they give you the book? Did they
actually hand you a book?
>> No. No. In fact, they used to do that.
>> Yeah. They they were very clear in the
email like we're not handing you
anything material.
>> Yeah. Print it yourself. Yep. Yeah.
>> Well, you have it. I sent it all out to
you anyway. Sometimes manual.
>> Yes.
>> Yep. The other thing that I found really
interesting too is they talked about
where um state funding comes from, like
where we get money and how that affects
municipal budget. So, uh federal grants
and any federal funding, state grants,
state funding, meals and room tax,
things like that. Um one of the things
that I found especially um interesting
is how New Hampshire um how they base
federal grants. And one of the things
they base federal grants off of is um
income. And because we are a highincome
state, um we are less likely as a state
to get federal grants because our
average household income is higher than
the US average. So we're not going to be
eligible for certain types of grants and
stuff because we don't have as big of a
need for it as say a state that has a
lower household income like Alabama or
Mississippi or things like that. Um, so
that's why a lot of federal grants go to
other states versus us because income is
one of those things that they look at
and well we have too much of it
apparently. Um, so um,
>> is it gross income or I'm just wondering
like
>> I don't
>> I don't think they they stayif
also based on rolling mileage for
roadway grants and federal tax like
Mississippi got a lot more the poor
state.
>> So they got a lot more money than other
states did. And then we have we didn't
accept the uh we wouldn't change our um
exit numbers
>> like every other state in the country.
So they cut money
>> and we don't have a mandatory seat belt
law. So that
>> that automatically reduce the amount of
money there. So those sorts of things
impact us when that money goes to other
states.
>> Yep. Yeah.
>> And that part of the presentation had I
thought some interesting charts in
particular that just showed you kind of
at a macro level like federally uh some
not federally from a state perspective
like where we um how things have trended
over time and
>> Yep. how meals and room tax we used to
get a lot more. Now they've cut some of
that back. The state keeps more than
they used to. Yeah. And they had one of
the charts was really interesting. I
think it was from like 2008 to maybe
2024ish give or take. The
>> spending levels are equal and by dollar
value. So if you think about how much
stuff costed in 2028 versus what it
costs now in 2024, obviously those costs
have gone up, but the dollar value has
stayed the same. It was very it was very
even. So um things are getting more
expensive and while we're getting the
same amount from the state that those
dollars don't go as far as they used to.
So we as property taxpayers end up
paying more to contribute to those
things um because we're just not getting
as much from the state as we used to. So
>> they don't meet their requirements like
the SAG grants for Lawrence Sue
projects. They're supposed to commit to
paying 20% of those.
>> They talked about wastewater grants were
cut from 12.5 million to 2.5. So
>> So municipalities went to these projects
and told you will get this money because
they pay it to you over the period of
the bond that you have. Yep.
>> And all of a sudden we're just kidding.
>> Yeah. They just cut it. Yep. We're just
kidding. You're not going to get that.
>> So bad.
>> Nashville's got a $3 million hole right
now in adequacy aid. They just found out
two weeks ago.
>> So, I mean, they've already, you know,
they're spending the money.
>> Yep.
>> Because they expected that. That's what
they were told. So, they're not getting
it.
>> Yep. Yep. So, uh yeah, that was it was
it was really interesting though to talk
about those different impacts and stuff.
So, yeah, we'll send out the PowerPoint
slides um to you guys so you have them.
Um and I think as part of that was uh
the budget a PDF for the budget book
itself. It's like six pages. I think I
saw how big that PDF was. Um, and it's
that's geared around official budget
committee. So, not all of them are going
to apply to us.
>> Um, again, we do not pay bills or do any
of those put in things in DRA and things
like that. We are advisory only. So,
>> yep.
But it was good. Lots of budget today.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay. Anything you want to add, Nicole?
>> Nope. That's pretty good.
>> Okay. Awesome.
All right, tours. Um, so library and the
fire department are the two places we
have not gone to yet. Um, our next
meeting is scheduled for October 15th.
Um, and I talked to Phil LeBlanc, um,
the deputy fire chief. And Phil said
that the open house that they're having
this weekend, um, probably will not be
adequate to do a tour. um we should do
something different, but we only have
one meeting left prior to the November
budget hearings. So, I wanted to talk
about whether or not we wanted to do a
second two meetings in October or we
just bumped either the library or the
fire department to another meeting in
November or how did we want to handle
that or just not do library and do fire
instead or how do we want to sort of
manage that?
Let me ask this. Sorry, it's like a
question on a question, but um is
anybody Well, uh Mr. Mahal probably
knows, but is anybody aware of like are
there some special needs around the fire
department that we should be aware of
that we should address as part of a
tour? Like, do you know what I'm saying?
If there are some major asks around um
any of those fire stations, that might
be a reason to prioritize that. Mhm.
>> That makes sense.
>> CIP folks
>> been listening to it. So yeah, with CIP
presentations,
>> it
>> the way our thing reads, it doesn't they
don't a copy doesn't go to the PL the
budget committee, but a copy is going to
the budget committ.
>> So you're going to see all those
projects. It's probably more information
you're ever going to want it. Right.
Right.
>> Um but that it talks about what those
things are. It's a $53,000
project for station two, upgrades to
that station. Yeah, there's a couple of
things in there for that and then the
rest of it equipment and things like
that of that nature.
>> So, I mean, we might want to
>> Yeah.
>> consider something, you know, a tour
that's related to where we think we're
going to have to spend a bunch of money
>> educate ourselves.
>> Yeah. The library, their renovations are
doneish, give or take. I know there's um
but I think the stuff that they need to
do to complete some of what they're
doing. I know they sell the
dehumidifiers and stuff and that's all
external to the building. I think
>> uh yeah it's roof. So one point we're
looking at a $1.4 million bond.
>> Yep.
>> That's what's in the CIP to go before
the voters in March.
>> Y
>> to make to make repairs for phase 2 B
and
>> 2 C.
>> But yes, it's outside. There's fascia
work. There's rotted fascia and that
needs to be replaced.
that roof and the HVAC units are the big
chunk of what comes out of that
>> and boiler. Yep.
>> Oh yeah, the boiler. That's right.
>> Yep. Yep. And then there are other
projects they want to do that aren't as
mandatory. Um but they would improve the
library. One of the is um adding a
vestibule to the back of the library. Um
you know how there is that door that
looks like you can go into it if you
park in kind of the back lot that you
can't get into? They want to add a vest
of blue to that so you can actually use
it as an entryway into the library
rather than just using the front. Um and
the other is um a children's um not
playroom um uh not community well I
guess it could be used as a community
room too but an activity room I guess.
Um so they could do like story time
crafts those types of things.
>> Um and they want to expand it out um
where they have um there's like a little
window bay uh right now in the
children's reading area. um and they
want to bump that out and expand it. Um
so, but I think the fire department is
is more of a and this needs to happen
because of um degradation or
>> Well, we did the stuff that really needs
to but it's it's upgrading the kitchen
and all that stuff. So, there if you go
down that's the roof's on, you know,
with
>> the building's now tight. Good.
>> So, that's you know the other things are
not as critical. Okay.
>> So, we took care of the critical path
items already.
>> Okay. All right.
So I guess that doesn't answer your the
question you asked initially.
>> Yes.
>> Yes. Do we want to try to do both or do
we want to just prioritize one or how do
we want to manage that scope?
>> I mean do we need to
I mean I'm just like
>> at all. Yeah.
>> Yeah. A legitimate question if like
>> we never need to do tours. All tours are
optional. Um, so there's never, you
know, we don't have to if we don't want
to. I just figured since the vast
majority of the committee was new and I
I mean, I've done the tours of all these
different facilities, it might be good
for uh folks to do it, but we don't we
still don't have to do it, you know.
>> Good point.
>> I mean, I I like the tours. I think that
if we want to space them out a little
bit more like okay it's totally fine
with me if if there are you seem to
because you know both of you guys are
very involved and have probably a good
idea of what if if we're going to be at
a critical junction our decision like
during the budget season
>> that would have been really helpful like
you know kind of just repeating what we
said but then I think we do the tour and
if it's
>> if it's a facility that's not really
like the police department they don't
have anything that's critical right now
you know so and we went on that tour was
great um but I don't think it's you know
It's not It wouldn't have been like
super important for us to do the tour
before we had to make a decision during
the buzzer season because there wasn't
too much out there because the one thing
they did was what you guys went through
the capital improvement project.
>> Yep.
>> Slow. So, that's where I would stand on
it.
>> Okay.
>> I mean, if I if I was picking, I would
probably I've never really seen the fire
departments or I I don't need to see
everything, but I wouldn't mind seeing
something.
>> Yeah.
>> If that's you know, the library. I mean,
I go to the library a lot, so I'm sure
there's stuff to see, but I feel more
familiar with that anyway. Yep.
>> So, I'm
>> it's like lower on my list.
>> So, we're going to need to put money in
the capital reserve fund for that work
at station number two. So, if you want
to go look at a location, that's station
number two. And the roof is on, like I
said, the solar will be installed in the
next six weeks. Y
>> So, that may be something for you to
see. So,
>> when you see that that warn article, um
you can say, "Okay, this is why they
need it or you don't think they need
whatever, you know, that'll be helpful."
So, that might be one to look at. Okay.
So, why don't we do station two and
maybe central? Um,
>> would that work for folks and we can
skip the other one. Last time, the first
time I did it, we did all three and that
was two and a half hours. It was a lot.
Um, so let's just skip one of them and
we'll just do station two and central.
So,
>> that sounds
>> Okay, cool.
>> So, October 15th, we'll do that then.
>> All right.
All right. And Kate, do you want to
still hold our normal meeting after that
or just that will be the meeting?
>> I
>> I'm okay with that being the meeting.
>> I try to I tried to hold this meeting
with fiscal year the uh the budget
discussion today. That way we could make
the meeting the tour and not have
anything that we need to go over
hypothetically, cross your fingers, for
the first Saturday meeting. Um because
um
>> fewer meetings are better.
>> Fewer meetings are better. Yes, exactly.
>> Okay. All right. Perfect.
>> Okay.
>> So, I don't know if I can connect to
that. Um, let's find out.
We need Patrick and his cords. I I meant
I meant to bring one and then I forgot.
Um, so let's see here.
>> Patrick and his cords.
>> I know.
>> More display settings.
connected to the Wi-Fi. So, like I
wonder,
multiple displays.
Connect to a wireless display.
TV Samsung series. All right, let's find
out. This is an LG, so it's definitely
not one of those.
Okay, you know what? It's fine. What we
will do is I will turn the brightness up
on this and we will all look at my
laptop screen.
It'll be fine.
So, what I did was Sorry, that was
really annoying. Um,
what I did was is I took the um agendas
that we had for Saturday, November 7th.
Um, and I started looking at when we
have our meetings. So, anything that we
have with a town council, um, it's both
of us, I put in orange. If it's just us,
it's in green. If it's a school board,
it's in that purplish color. Um, I put
times on our agendas. So, this Tuesday,
November 10th, these departments are
presenting to the town council that
Monday. um on November 9th. Um I want to
be able to go through what we need to do
in our budget meetings in 20 minute
increments. You get your time. I'm
thinking we give them about 10 to if
they really need it, 15 minutes to
present. Leave some time at the end for
questions. Um and really keep the agenda
on what we want to see from them pretty
tight. Um, I know when they present to
the town council, they talk a lot about
what their department does and their
wins for the year and other things that
they're trying to accomplish and things
like that. I think if you want um that
level of detail about that particular
department, you can either go to the
town council meeting on Monday or watch
the video prior to Tuesday's meeting
because our meeting really is focused on
the numbers. And that's what I want
everything to be centered around is the
numbers and the financial impact. Not
well all that is great and I I really
respect all the work that it is that we
do uh they do. Um I am trying to um go
through what they what they do for the
budget in a very efficient manner where
we get the information that we need. We
can chat with them. We analyze it um and
we provide that back to the town
council.
>> Can I just just at a very high level? So
you're saying column A are just any date
that there's meetings happening that
have correct to do with the town council
or or anybody. Okay.
>> Yes.
>> And the color that is coded is whether
or not
>> green is just budget committee. Orange
is budget committee and town council.
Those are meetings that we do together.
Um and orange are budget committee and
schoolboard meetings.
>> Is there is this are you going to share
this?
>> I'm gonna sh Yeah, I'm absolutely going
to share this with everybody. Yeah. Um,
but what I I wanted to make sure that
people were okay with more of this
structure type of meeting.
>> Yeah.
>> You're suggesting that like on a like on
a if we scroll to the top like that
first one is ping. So like that's a full
presentation on Yes.
>> for who for which group was going then?
>> Budget committee and town council. This
is Saturday, November 7th. That is u the
big budget presentation meeting that we
have at the beginning of every year.
Okay.
>> Um this kicks off budget season
essentially.
>> Right. I remember watching that thing.
is a whole day thing. So by the time you
come out of that day
>> then like if you're going to like the
Tuesday meeting that's with is that with
a particular group?
>> Yes. These are all the different
departments. This the sun Saturday only
covers um town managers overviews,
police, fire and DPW. That's it.
>> Okay.
>> The rest of them Tuesday, November 10th
the 17th that covers things like town
clerk and tax collector finance and
>> that's just with us HR. These are just
with us.
>> Okay. Thank you for you guys probably
understood all that. I just want to make
sure I was clear. Okay. No, it was not.
No, it was a good over. I actually
>> Yeah, because last year when we did
this, and not to totally interrupt, but
we we were in all of the meetings with
the town council, so
>> they were really long and um it was just
like a lot of
>> extraneous information. And so, yeah,
>> I appreciate that you're trying to like
tighten up what we
>> I'm sure that trend will continue.
>> Yep.
>> Yeah. But I will say I mean like like
Kate said I mean last year when I was
new I thought that
>> some of all all of that contextual
information about the departments is
helpful. It tells you what's going on
with them and stuff like that but um but
you
>> can get that at home watching it in like
2x.
>> Yeah. So you don't necessarily Right.
So, I think, you know, we're just Kate's
trying to
>> get us out of having to be in very long,
many, many very very long meetings and
get honed on the budget piece really
specifically.
>> And I and that's the key point, just
honing in on the budget you need.
>> Yep.
>> Like what's different.
>> Yep. So, over here, I wanted to talk
about so topics. Um, we'll go I want a
quick reminder of what they put in
fiscal year budget 2027. Um, so what did
you put in your budget for 2027? Um,
fiscal year budget and then then what's
from 2028. So changes from fiscal year
2027 to 2028. So if you've reconfigured
any categories, meaning you added a
category to your budget, why did you
decide to split it out that way? Why did
you remove this category, add this
category? We sometimes see that. Um,
that was like that management fees that
they started splitting out into
different categories,
>> miscellaneous, you know, they'll take
that and get rid of that. any new
categories, what are they? Why did you
decide to split it out differently this
way? Um increases in line items and
decreases in line items. So why do like
major increases when those particular
parts of the budget um overall total
impact um overall total and impact?
Yeah. So what's your overall total
budget? Um and the impact of that. So
you know how what percentage increase is
it from last year or percentage decrease
from the year before? Um those kinds of
things. So what are your big changes
from last year to this year? And then
what are the changes from between
your budget and the default your budget
and the town manager's budget because
they will take their budget, they
present it to the town manager. The town
council has their opinion on the budget.
Um so there's essentially four different
budgets. There's the department budget
that they start out with which is then
goes to the town manager and he has his
own idea of what the budget should look
like. Then the town council has their
idea of what the budget should look
like. And then there's the default. So,
what are the difference between these
four different categories? Um, you know,
what was in your original budget that we
decided we wanted to maybe move to
another year or take out completely? Um,
why did you put that in? Maybe that's
something we want to put in. Um, or why
did or maybe they left something in that
we don't think should be in the budget
and maybe table that for next year. Um,
>> can I ask a question that probably is
just for me, but can you just say those
four again because I want to make sure I
understand.
>> Town manager.
Okay. Town Council
department. So the budget that they
created and presented originally
initially. Yep. And then default budget.
>> All right. Thank you.
>> Yep. Um so yeah, the justification for
those increases and things like that. Um
and warrant articles, any warrant
articles that we'll be seeing from your
department. That's it. That is it.
And that'll be really helpful because
last year we started with, you know,
basically a very large budget and and we
were more individually like looking at
the line items ourselves to be like what
what's different and how is it different
and you really had to
>> really not
>> comb through it to come up with the
questions to like tease out that
information. So
>> to to have them just present like here's
what's different, here's why it's
different,
>> definitely
>> it'll be a lot. It'll be um well, we'll
see. We'll see how it goes, but it
should be at least a step in the right
direction.
>> Yep. And a lot of things like um you
know, salaries and benefits, this
increased by three and a half% per our
contract with the union or whatever.
Like there there will be some of that
and whatnot, too. Um but there might be
something like um like the library. Oh,
our furniture is actually we wanted to
initially budget 2500, but we have to go
up to 5,000 this year to replace some of
the furniture from the mold or something
things like that, right? Um, so that
kind of stuff is what we're really
trying to get a little bit more granular
in. Um, as opposed to, um, you know, no
offense to the library, I think they're
great, but like we did 30 story times.
That's excellent.
>> So,
>> what's the budget? Like there's no cost
to story time except for like your your
salary. So, like
>> let's move on.
>> So, like I watched like one meeting
where they the town council was really
struggling. you were pressing them on
like what do you want me to do for like
I think you were like the default budget
is it two is it the default plus two or
was that
>> by looking for budget guidance they're
supposed to provide me with budget
guidance
>> for which budget was that though you
were trying to get guidance on
>> so u the budget that I would present to
them um they're supposed to provide me
guidance uh it's my responsibility to
produce a budget that I think meets the
needs of the town but really I'm looking
for the guidance what they want me to do
so I can give them and if they tell me
at the beginning it's so much easier for
me make that.
>> And in the past places I've worked, they
want three budgets, which makes sense.
And if they tell me at the beginning,
it's so easy to make that. We want what
a default budget looks like. We want
what a uh a CPI budget looks like or tax
cap budget. What does that look like?
And then the budget that you're
proposing, and maybe there's some other
mark and then so it's easier for me to
produce that for them so they can have
comparison. They have options to look
at.
>> Uh but they declined to do that. So what
they did instead of basing it on taxes,
they did it based on spending. and then
they're not the same as you can imagine.
To give you an example,
>> um we are going to spend $101,000 for
CART. All that is funded by that new
ribbon front. So, it has no impact on
taxes,
>> but because they set the uh guidance on
on on spending that goes into that
analysis, which is not really their
intent. I'm going to spend 600 some odd
thousand dollars in this agreement with
Lichfield, but none of that impacts
property taxes. So, that will completely
skew those numbers.
>> Yeah, I see. That's the problem with
with doing it that way. When if you look
at what your real goal, your real goal
is to minimize the impact on taxes. You
want to set the increase in the tax rate
because other things have other revenue
sources that will throw off if you try
to do it on spending alone.
>> Yep.
>> Um but that's what they, you know, they
asked me to do and they realized that. I
mean, fairness to them. They realize
that I had this discussion with them on
Monday night. So, it was just going to
work for it. I'll still be able to
produce them, but it won't be
meaningless what I provide to them. Um,
and they'll have to to work through,
which they're going to have to do
anyway. Uh, I propose that let's let's
see the tax cap looks like and then
build from there. That's it. I thought
would be an easier way to do it, but
that wouldn't have been perfect either.
>> So, it'll be a little messy. Um, we got
a lot to do on October 5th because we're
presenting all the warn articles. You
folks are not going to be there for
that.
>> Okay.
>> Well, if you can, if you want to be here
because that's going to require another
presentation, another time.
um with you folks to do that.
>> Okay.
>> You you might want to do that early in
the process like I'm doing with them.
>> Yep. Okay.
>> What the October 5th you said?
>> Yeah.
>> Maybe we could do Oh, because we have
our October 15th meeting and I want to
have another part of the meeting when
we're doing the fire department. But
maybe
that might be a time.
>> Is that a normal town council meeting
time that they're presenting?
>> October 5th.
>> Yes.
>> Yes. because we're gonna go through the
I want to do it over two meetings, but
I'm not going to be here in the 19th and
they won't move the meeting. So, but
it's going to be all in one night, which
is going to be a lot, but
we're way ahead of the schedule. We
norally do it in January.
>> Yeah,
>> we're doing it way in advance, which
will be great because they'll have it'll
it'll give the time for the councils to
ask more questions, think about more
things, and more time to think about it
instead of it coming in at the end.
>> And you're going to want the same
courtesy.
>> Yes. Okay. So, we're just going to
figure out when you want to do that
because some of them I don't have
numbers. And like for instance, we're
negotiating union contracts and those
are not going to be ready by then.
They're almost done, but they're not
ready by then. And you really you need
to know what that number is.
>> Yeah.
>> Some of those will be built out more,
but we have most of it ready to go for
the fifth.
>> Okay.
>> So, anybody who wants to go will get a
leg up on, you know, the discussion.
>> Yep. Um, so I'm looking at Tuesday,
December 8th. Our budget committee
meeting has it's all follow-up meetings
with different departments. So, um,
maybe that could be a good one to talk
about the warrant articles and review
them because by that point, if you're
presenting to Stan Council on October
5th, this is a couple months later, they
should be like basically almost done.
>> They're basically almost already done.
We just have to plug in the numbers for
the two um clutter bar group, but the
rest of them, they should all be done.
>> Yep. Yeah.
>> So, you just have to decide whether you
want to wait that long because at that
point you should be making decisions
that
>> because we want to be able to influence
it as well. Okay.
>> So, just you don't think that you you
can just think about how you want to do
that.
>> Okay.
>> I mean, obviously any of you can watch
the meeting, but you want have a chance
to ask questions.
>> Yeah.
So, why don't we um uh
why don't we at the October 15th tour,
we could
do we have So, if we discuss
and it's public,
does it have to be an official meeting
if we're gonna
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, we do. Yeah.
>> Yeah. If you're going to meet So, you
can do what you want. We can do a few of
them that night. Pick out some. I mean,
you you you've got a lot of options
available to you.
>> Okay.
>> Um, however you want to do this. I mean,
obviously, we're going to be available.
So, you you kind of tell us, look,
>> maybe we'll do a few more on this night
if we have time and then we'll do a few
more and then by the time you get to
December, maybe there's a couple left
you haven't gotten to. I don't know.
Yep. There's a lot of options to you.
Okay. You just think about what you'd
like to do and then let me know and
we'll Okay.
>> We'll accommodate you.
>> Okay. Yeah. Actually, you know what?
What if so we did not talk about what
time we wanted our budget committee
meetings after the big budget
presentation to start. So I had us
starting at 7 going to 9. If we move
that back a little bit and we did 6:30
to 8:30 and then maybe the last half
hour we talked about the Warren articles
and we did a few every week that could
work out well.
>> I'm good with earlier.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah. I think that
>> earlier too.
>> Yeah. Okay. Because if everybody because
we could do um I I mean I work from home
so it's not a big deal to me but if we
wanted to move it to 6:30 or 6 is there
like a too early for people or
>> 6 might be too early.
>> 6:30 then. Okay. So we'll do 6:30. We'll
bump it back to 6:30. Um and then we'll
spend the last 30 minutes. So we'll go
6:30 to 9 and so we'll we'll tack on a
few more articles after meeting.
>> Okay. There's no motion to anyway
because you're running the CIP
committee. you already got a flavor of
we're putting together the finance plan
to be able to do all those things and
that's going to require putting money
into these capital reserve funds. That's
part of that strategic plan with that.
>> Okay. Yeah.
>> And it sounds like it makes sense. I
mean if we can to watch that October 5th
meeting anyway.
>> Yeah.
>> Right. Because and that might make the
rest of the discussions go faster
because you know there's going to be a
bunch of discussion there and and
questions and all I'm definitely fine
just making the assumption we all I
don't want to commit to anyone else but
well that I've watched it at least like
I'm fine if we want to move forward.
>> Yep.
>> With that understanding.
>> Okay. And then we'll so Tuesday,
November 10th, that first meeting what
we'll do is we'll all assume we'll give
ourselves the homework to watch the
videos and we can start talking about
the warrant articles um and presenting
and I'm sure there's going to be some
bigger ones that require more in-depth
discussion as opposed to smaller ones
like you know recre like increasing
recreation reserve and things like that.
Those are those will go quickly, but the
big ones.
>> Yeah. Okay. Okay. Let's do that then.
Perfect. All right. So, I'll change my
agenda to reflect 6:30 instead of seven.
Thanks for doing all the work to put
that
>> very awesome agenda.
>> Yeah, I would love to
>> schedule together.
>> I would love to share that with you if
you ever feel open to comfortable with
that because I I'm never really
confident on my calendar yet.
>> Yeah, I will. Um, yeah, I'll I'll I'll
send this out to everybody. So, but I
really wanted to make sure that the I
liked how you set up the Saturday
meeting being timed. I was like, "Yes, I
want that." That gives everybody, you
know, their window.
>> I want to push people. I got the stage
hook.
>> Mhm.
>> But, you know, stay focused.
>> Yes.
>> Because you got to kill these people.
They If you want them to be paying
attention to you, you need to stay
focused. And you can't make it overly
long because otherwise they're going to
lose their attention. But you human
beings like all the rest of us,
>> you got to remember that there's certain
things they need to know. If they want
to know more, they can ask, but stay
focused. And that's the powerpoints I'm
telling them. I want them trimmed down
and then, you know, we can go from
there. That's that's the plan.
>> Yeah. Great. Okay. All right. Then next
on the agenda was All right. So, we
talked about the budget. Cool. Lehaison
reports. Then
>> school board had a um meeting this past
week. Um, one of the bigger
presentations was the impact of House
Bill 1300, the tax cut on um, SAU
administration.
>> Um, so it was a
well presented presentation on what the
risks of that tax cap may be to the
>> to the community. Um
I don't want to kind of like
um because one I'm still absorbing the
entire
>> you know presentation and in fact so I
don't want to kind of like speak out of
the term but there definitely is um they
did make it a point to kind of point out
that potential cuts would would
non-mandated programs. So um
non-mandated you know essentially is
around like what a New Hampshire
adequate education standards are.
>> Yep.
>> So, those are programs potentially like
student transportation,
AP courses, athletics, co-curriculars,
um one-on-one student devices, field
trips, electives. So there is a really
big impact to this um
>> that you know so it's a
it's one of those issues that you need
to understand both kind of like you have
to filter through the politics of it and
really just understand kind of the
impact.
>> Okay. Um so you know losing that would
definitely you would
impact um the London area school
district.
>> Okay.
>> Significantly it seems. Um
>> can I ask a stupid question and I'm so
sorry.
>> I am surely not going to have the
answer. Go.
>> No no no. I I I'm like totally not um in
the know about
the tax c. So, is this a is this
proposed the tax cap? It's not it's it's
in a proposal stage, right?
>> It's a proposed Okay.
>> It's in the prop. It's not
>> It's
going to be on the ballot and
>> it will be on the ballot. Okay. Thank
you. Yeah. I just couldn't I know we've
talked about it. I've heard about it.
>> I wouldn't necessarily say it's
proposed. It's more It's going
>> There will be a vote.
>> Yep. There will be a vote.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> And quick question and you might not
know the answer to this either. It's on
the November ballot. If let's say
Manchester says yes, we want this and
London says no, is it on a town by town
basis or is it like everybody in the
state collectively agrees whether or not
we're doing this and it doesn't matter
whether Manchester says yes and we say
no. If the state as a whole says yes or
the state as a whole says no, that's
what happens. Do we know? I I
>> I it's by it's by district.
>> By district. Okay. There's some
complexity when you have a a cooperative
school district. That's be some issue.
That's not a problem for us.
>> Yeah.
>> So, it's it's by district.
>> Okay. Okay.
>> And it's going to come up in 26 and then
again 28.
>> Okay.
>> Requires a super majority.
>> Okay.
>> Pass.
>> Do we know do we have any have you seen
any polling on the chancellor of that or
has anyone seen?
>> I do know that when we asked about a tax
cap or something like that, there was a
citizens petition um back in March this
past March. 75% of people in London said
no, they were not interested in that.
So, it's unlikely to potentially pass
based off on that wag. Um, but again,
the language in what is what was on the
war, the citizens petition article
versus what's in the actual legislation.
Those two things may be different and
because of that, that may means somebody
voted no, but they might vote yes on
this. We don't really know. Um, so, but
yeah, that's a
>> Yeah, that's going to be a whole thing.
>> All right.
Okay.
Um I think town council and town hall is
next. Um Andrea is not here. Um but is
there anything you think that would be
important for us to know?
>> So we're replacing the roof on this
building and the police station. And
solar has been installed on both of
these buildings and the new school
district office building as well. Yep.
>> As ahead schedule. Um
>> that building is going up so fast.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. It looks great. Every time I drive
by I'm like wow. So, we're thinking
we'll be done.
>> I didn't think it was going to be blue.
>> As long as
>> uh we think we'll be done in March. So,
the idea was it'll be done by July. So,
we're quite well. There's a delay in
brick. Brick's complicated to get. So,
>> Oh, okay.
>> And the code that we're getting. So, the
delivery of that that should be
completed in March. I mean, not March,
but in in January. We're trying to avoid
the cold weather because we have the
heat brick,
>> which is an added cost. Okay.
>> But anyway, that's really working out
well over there. And we're working on
integrations. So that because they're
going to share these office these
conference room spaces with us and
>> we want them to be to it's you know this
is part of your home. You're not just a
tenant. You're you're part of us.
>> Right. If you've been to Moose Hill, you
can see the drywall that's up um the
holes that they're cutting into that
room. So
>> a lot of staffing changes. You know,
Kelly left and we do have a new planning
director coming on board on October 8th,
Jacob Bluffine. Okay.
>> He is the planning director presently in
the town of Salem. Okay. So he'll be
coming up here. John Fraud here after 25
years of service is retiring. He his
last day is Friday of next week.
>> Um and we'll be hiring for engineer
which is a bit challenging but we are
we've got some people that are already
interested in the position. So
>> um that's that's looking pretty good on
the town hall side.
>> Um legal budget. I think you've written
enough about that.
>> We were tracking $475,000
is what the spend was. with the bills we
just got in for the month of July and
August. If that stays on track, we're
looking at spending 900,000. We're
budgeted for 200,000. I don't think that
will continue to track that way. I think
this is about to see a change.
>> Um but right now we're going to be way
over budget and it's been way over
budget for five years in a row and then
I put 275 and it was approved at 200 the
same budget which was never realistic.
>> Um
>> I heard from I heard from someone like
just I've been talking to a lot of
people just to try to learn whatever I
can and someone had mentioned to me that
maybe someone in maybe someone in your
position previously was an attorney and
at that time they had lower
>> Moody our previous town manager was an
attorney. Yeah,
>> it wasn't lower because he can't do
legal work,
>> right?
>> Even though he's a member of the bar.
>> Someone had told me that they lowered it
they lowered the legal budget at the
time.
>> They've kept it the same for five years
and it's never stayed within budget five
years.
>> Yep.
>> Okay. If you look at London Underground,
he actually has the chart that shows the
over expenditure year over year over
year.
>> Okay. On the on the just on that line,
>> legal line. Yeah. Y legal expenditures.
And now it's way
>> So what would you what are you
recommending going forward like that? It
should be
>> uh we're going to be putting in like
$475,000
and it's budgeted 200,000.
>> Gotcha.
>> You know, I have to That's the way it's
tracking.
>> We've broken it down. We can show you
where those cost centers are for each of
those.
>> It's just the way it is. Unless there's
some particular changes in terms of
policy, some communities they might call
a lawyer once a month. For us, it's
multiple times a day. And
>> and what's your thought on like having
internal council versus
>> I'm not I'm not supportive of that
because we're not big enough to have
enough diversified legal staff to be
able to do that. When I'm dealing with
we got five different law firms we have
right now. We have one does landfill
work and their their expertise in that.
We have people that do labor law. to try
to find one jack of all trades never has
worked well for those communities that
do that. Some of our cities have that.
It just doesn't work well. You need that
diversified staff. And then when it's
not filled, you've got a whole law firm
that can pick up the pieces on that.
>> Makes sense.
>> Uh if you look at our legal bill, if
they got multiple staff people working
on parallegals that do a lower level
work and cost less money, it just makes
sense to do that. We can when somebody
can do it better than you can, it
doesn't make sense to try to replicate
that in a governmental setting. makes
sense to contract it out.
>> I will not be suggesting we cut the
budget this year. I promise.
>> Well, you trying you're trying to find
ways to if you hadn't done anything. I
don't even know if we'd have a budget.
>> So, somebody needed to go and move that
and you did.
>> Yeah.
>> So, I wouldn't be too harsh on yourself.
>> Yeah.
>> I mean,
>> yeah.
>> Yeah. You you broke the log jam and you
got it done. So,
>> yeah. Unfortunately,
>> needs mask.
>> Uh, okay. All right. Anything else you
want to add? Town council town hall.
>> Uh, no, I think that's pretty much most
of it on our side. Yeah, it's the
staffing issues that we're working
through and Yeah.
>> Okay. Um, DPW, I met with um Dave and
James uh last week and we talked about
the fiscal year budget. Um he talked
about we're going to see increases in
lines for salt um and increases in line
for sand. Um we spent a lot more last
year for salt than we anticipated. We
had a pretty rough winter. So he's going
to make sure that um we're putting more
money in. Also the cost of salt has
increased by about $4 per ton. Um and so
those increase in costs plus the
additional need of more salt than we
originally ordered. Um, we're going to
see a bump in that. Um, we're going to
see a line item for the OPM for the DPW
facility because we I'm on the DPW
working group as well. Um, we hired an
OPM firm to start doing um, you know,
helping out with the design and cost
estimates and things like that and
starting to have somebody kind of
officially pull a lot of that stuff
together. Um, publicity, marketing, you
know, why the need, that kind of stuff.
Um, you know, we we hired a firm for
that, so that's great. Um, we moved
money to offset other increases. Um, so
they rather than adding $150,000
to the budget, they moved money from
other areas of their budget to cover
that. So, they're not adding $150,000.
They moved some money around within
their allotted budget to to cover some
of that. Um they're going to you're
going to see their uniform line items go
up. They were really old. They were
cotton. They were not safe. So they did
some upgraded of of their uniforms. Um
they uh there's increase in licensing
fees for a lot of their software. They
use AutoCAD. They use Blue Beam um for a
lot of the civil work that they do. Um
those licensing fees are not getting any
cheaper. So you're going to see an
increase in software for the uh expenses
for that. Um, vehicle maintenance is
staying the same um because replacing
the fleet on a consistent basis is
helping with those routine operating
costs. So, that's good. Um, they
increased their fuel line because of the
increased costs in fuel. Um, they um,
let's see here. They increased their
contract plowing um because um, again
last winter we went over budget so now
they want to prepare for that a little
bit better. Um and they talked about
creating a new account for plowing um
because they want to have almost a
capital reserve fund for that. So we can
dip into it if we need to, but it's not
something that we regularly fund as part
of the operating budget. Kind of like um
emergency cases where we, you know,
rather than having 175,000 in the
operating budget, we do 175 uh 150 and
then 25,000 of it is in a reserve fund.
Um that way we don't um we have it if we
need it but we don't constantly keep it
as part of our default.
>> When you say um for plowing, do you mean
like for the cost of paying guys to plow
or plow equipment or like the salt or
like all
>> we do contract plow work. So yeah. So it
would be that those contracts. Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> Yep.
>> Got it.
>> Um fire hydrants.
>> When money sit in like a reserve fund
like that, do they typically go like in
a money market account or they just like
>> Yes.
>> Okay.
>> Yep. Um Justin does and do investments
on our reserve funds. Um they're all
CDs. They're all um you know government
bonds. Nothing is in anything that would
indicate any type of real risk at all.
So
>> it's not just a cash either. So it's not
like a
>> No, it's not just it's not it's not just
sitting in a cash account. No.
>> Gotcha. Thanks.
>> Yeah. You're welcome. Um fire hydrants.
um the fees for that were moved from
somewhere else in the budget that's now
going to be part of the DPW/public
works general government budget. Um so
he wanted to note that. So if we see a
big increase in his budget um it's not
necessarily um yes it is part of their
budget but um that wasn't there last
year. So he wanted to point that out as
well.
>> 42% rate increase.
>> Yeah. Huge rate increase. 21 42
>> or 212
>> 42 cuz he said 21 point something. You
have to double that because it's
>> clawback.
>> Clawbacks. Yep, that's right.
>> Yep.
>> What was that? 40
>> fire hydrants. We rent fire hydrants um
from Panachuk for to service the town.
Um it's about I think he said a little
less than a million dollars a year to
rent these fire hydrants. Um
>> is that is that how it normally is?
Towns rent fire hydrants.
So
>> that's a good question.
>> Director sounds like
>> because I came from a city where we we
own we had our own water works.
>> It's like 2% of the the towns.
>> Yeah.
>> I And we're adding more because we're
extending water.
>> Yep.
>> So you're telling me it cost $700 to
maintain every single hybrid. I can hire
somebody part-time here for about
$50,000 a year instead of a million and
do the same thing.
>> Yep.
>> Then I got dead air.
>> Well, you got to remember the capacity
line underneath the ground. It's big
enough so they can handle the water for
me. Yeah.
>> Ah, the capacity line.
I said, I'll tell you what, don't worry
about the hydrants. I'll take care of
them. I'll hire someone. I'll spend
about 50,000 instead of a million. And
they'll that per that part-time person
will go flush them every year, which you
don't do and you're supposed to, and
make sure they're working. And if
someone crashes anyone, I'll hire a
contractor to go fix that, but at a
fraction of the cost. So, we've got a
meeting. I think it's next week. Okay?
Because that's not even This is the
thing I actually learned something about
in that community when the sewer went
because we did the fire hydrants too.
But that is that just the fire hydrant
down to the It's not like the entire
system. You're talking about just the
fire hydrant.
>> They're trying to pay for the whole
system.
>> Wild. I was like, I'm sorry. What?
>> Yeah. We got a 42% rate increase on
there's a significant fraction of the
town that doesn't even have fire.
>> I don't have a fire hydrant anywhere
near where I live. So, I'm paying for
something that I'm not
>> I don't want my tax dollars going there.
Well, I want your house to be able to,
you know,
>> I forget what the numbers, but again, we
just added a bunch because we're
extending our higher range roads. We
>> like the ballpark 50 200.
>> Oh, no, no, there's more than that. Oh,
yeah. I forget what the number is. It'll
You'll see it in
>> You said 700 per, right?
>> Well, it's something like that. We were
paying like 500, but you know, you got a
42% rate increase.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. I and I always presumed like the
sewer that it was self-funded by people
who have water and then I realized,
wait, I have access to those too because
they're part of the public water system.
Um, so the public pays for it. I was
like, okay. I was like, but that
>> that seems very really high to like
>> Yeah. Uh, but anyway,
>> interesting.
>> Yeah, I was there's a bigger issue
there. And they have a rate case in
front of the PUC right now. Remember
Penetruck Waterworks when the city of
NSHA bought that created that it's rates
going to be cheaper. Well, that ain't
turning out to be the way it was. That's
all it was. And now here we are and they
are not cheaper and we're paying more to
them than we are to we are part of our
town's Manchester Waterworks, part of
Dairy.
>> We're paying significantly more money.
>> Yeah. Yep.
>> Interesting.
>> Yep. Um so that's the fire hydrants. Um
yeah uh trash and waste, household
hazardous waste, we may see an increase
for that. Um and from fiscal year it uh
we went from 2.2 million. We might see
an increase he says probably to about
2.8. Um right now we're averaging about
22 to $23 per household uh for trash per
month. That's about what part of your
monthly payment in property taxes goes
towards household waste, which is still
really good. Um, my parents pay for a
trash service in dairy. They pay about
$90 a month. So, we're getting a pretty
steep discount collectively by having
trash rather than paying for it out of
our own pocket. So, that's good. Um,
they're also fully staffed um until
Friday the 25th again when John Friday
retires. So, hooray. And oh, boo. Um, so
yeah. And then uh they presented to the
CIP on Tuesday about um all the
different water projects that they want
to do, sewer projects, um some new
equipment that they are doing, road
paving, bridges, things like that. Um
one of the big things we're going to see
in War Article this year is going to be
uh new equipment for doing um retention
ponds, things like that. Um we're long
overdue doing a lot of stuff for
retention ponds. They did a cost
analysis on that that I thought was
really great. Um it was about 10 grand
for the week to send some folks out to
clean up retention ponds. If they buy
this piece of equipment, it will take um
one person one day and under a grand. Um
so it's like at you know like 900% cost
savings um using this one piece of
equipment uh reduced labor cost, those
types of things. So um it was really
nice to see that costbenefit analysis um
done. So I really appreciated that. Um,
and yeah, that's that's DPW in a
nutshell.
Any questions?
>> No,
>> just one thing on DPW. We're looking at
the town of Hudson sent out an RFP to
allow a private entity to run their
transfer station. They're only open a
couple of days just like we are.
>> Okay.
>> So, we're Theirs is literally a mile
from ours right now, West Road.
>> Oh, wow.
>> So, we're having discussions with them
because right now, most people don't
realize, but property tax payers are
subsidizing that by the tune of $250,000
a year. Okay.
>> The rates haven't gone up in like
forever.
>> Yep.
>> So,
>> I don't use that. And all the rest of us
are are subsidizing those people that
are bringing that that material there.
And we're only open limited hours. We're
not open in the winter time. They're
going to be open six days a week.
Probably running that. Those rates are
going to go up, but they'll get better
service and the town doesn't have to run
it.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh so, we're looking at doing something
similar, doing the feasibility of that.
And if that could that could be a shot
in the arm. of reducing property tax
because there'll be no property tax
subsidy at that point of $250,000.
>> Yep.
>> So, we're trying to find ways to do
things smarter.
City conquered has that town Raymond has
that nearby here. There's other
communities where they, you know, they
use city own property. They they they
lease it out for them to operate that.
>> Well, that would be like So, that would
be like something that we could if it's
a lease, we test it out for a couple
years and if it goes
>> Well, it depends, right? They're going
to be building buildings in there to be
able to operate that. They're going to
want to make be able to recoup their
investment.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh depends on how that how that goes. We
don't have any buildings at this
location.
>> Yeah.
>> But depending upon how that works or if
they run both of them and we can have
both towns working together, which is
what we're trying to do,
>> that would could work out well because
the economy of scale of both communities
is attractive to uh I think it's SMS is
the contractor that would do that. Cella
operates it in conquered in and town of
Raymond where they do that. So those are
things we're looking at because normally
those operations should be
self-sufficient.
>> Yep.
>> They should not be subsidized by
property taxpayers but they are here and
they have been for a long time
>> and it's because the rates haven't they
haven't increased the rates.
>> So the people that are getting rid of
refrigerators and mattresses the rest of
us are paying
>> right.
>> Y so
>> which is great
>> but why should I have to pay for that?
Because you know what I mean? That's
that's sort of the mindset on that.
>> But can I just like like but like
another alternative would be just
raising the rates, right?
>> Sure. But we can't even find people to
work down there. So I we are mandating
DPW workers that time and a half to work
there. It's just not it's not an
efficient way to do business.
>> Yeah. But do you have when you look at
it like I'm just if the rates go up for
the town for the town's people that do
use it like if the rates go up at like
you know right now we could raise the
rates let's say 100%. And it would be
able to fund itself or we go to private
and it ends up raising 400% then I
believe it'll be 400%. So the other part
of it is we're we're open on Wednesday
afternoons and Saturdays and then we're
done in November, right?
>> So these people are already going to
dairy anyway. Even some of them now when
we're open go to dairy because we're not
open enough. Yeah. the customer service
level is just not where it should be
>> and we can't operate after darkness
because there's no electricity down
there,
>> right?
>> So, it it's
poor customer service subsidization by
taxpayers and I'm not sure that it makes
sense for us to we need to look at
better ways to do this and there are
better ways to do it.
>> Yeah,
>> that's a good point too. I mean, if if
we just slowly just increase the rates,
you know, I would expect my service I
would expect that to be, you know, open
more. I would expect it to be um open
later at night
>> and with like no infrastructure there to
support that. That's just that's another
>> Yeah,
>> be interesting to see.
>> We'll look at both and then it'll be up
to the council to decide which way it
wants to proceed.
But it's a way to
offset what we're paying property taxes
and let those users who use the facility
because a lot of people don't,
>> right?
>> Um to pay for that instead of being
across the general tax base.
>> Yep. Okay. Uh CIP. So we have done all
of the presentations from all of the
departments um are all done. Uh we
wrapped up DPW on Tuesday. So, uh, not
next week, but the week after, we will
start talking about all of the different
projects that have been presented to us
and how we want to prioritize that and
then give that over to the planning
board. Um, so we talked a little bit
about the equipment for the fire
department needs new equipment. DPW
needs new equipment, the roads, the
bridges, the water projects, things like
that. um recreation, uh the skate park,
there's the tennis courts, uh lights and
dugouts for the lapa fields, um things
like that. There is um the potential to
either renovate the skate park or maybe
turn it into some pickle ball courts. Uh
pickle ball's back. Um
>> really,
>> um you know, so we we saw some really
great presentations this year. Um it
presented to you about, you know, like
badging and security access. Um there
the the ERP EAP
>> ERP. Yes. Great. Um the ERP. So we're
we're going to talk about all of that
stuff in a couple of weeks and figure
out how we want to prioritize everything
that's been presented over the last
several months. So awesome.
>> Yeah. Okay. Fire.
>> Yes. Um so station two is going well. Um
previously the town council also
approved um solar panels for the roof.
So they're estimating that 80 to 85% of
the energy utilization will be from um
those.
>> So they're hoping to use the additional
money that they're going to save into
future projects. Um the executive
assistant position, I asked how that's
been going. He said it's been going
great. um Deputy Leblanc
um or Deputy Chief Leblanc has had a lot
of work been able to shift to her. Y
>> so they're very thankful that that got
approved.
>> Um and then their budget as far as what
was presented um
>> their biggest increase is going to be
for vehicle maintenance,
>> um which is typically always overspent.
So, they need to shift their budget.
>> So, certain things aren't being able to
be done because of vehicle maintenance.
So, they're going to
increase that to represent what they've
truly spent over the last three years.
Um, they're also going to request a
total of eight firefighters/ EMTT
positions, one fire inspector position,
and one training officer position. Um,
Chief Young did mention that with the
new services to Lichfields, that request
might be reduced.
>> Um,
but yes, that's my update for the fire.
Great.
>> Okay.
>> Police,
>> not much to say beyond the update from
last time. Okay.
>> They're not looking at any major changes
to any of the line items in their
budget. They got their big project
passed through CIP, so it's
>> not really going to affect their
operating budget. They're having me with
the with Sean and his team, I guess,
coming up. And so I will talk to him
after that. And I did kind of email back
and forth a little bit with the chief
about
talking about the woman locker room
situation, but I haven't actually
connected with him. So
>> cool. Okay, great. Uh, planning board,
Matt's not here, but Jeeoff, is there
anything you want to say about planning
board? Um, I did not go to any meetings
this month.
>> Great.
>> So, no
>> library.
>> Um, I don't have much to add about the
library. I mean, the library is open.
Yay. And it
>> um and it looks great inside. Um, but I
don't have any updates budget wise on
the library aside from what uh obviously
Sean brought up the
>> the rooftop units and which were a topic
of discussion for quite a while it seems
anyway. Um, taking care of some of that
stuff. I will say that um I when the
library reopened I went and I chatted
with um Megan who is the I think she's
the culation reference um librarian um I
think she's head of circulation um sorry
Megan um she talked about the new carpet
and one of the great things about the
new carpet that we put in there is um
there's a waterproof layer on the bottom
of it um and it's it was slightly more
expensive than what we had in there
before but it will actually last and be
durable for the full 30 years that it
needs to
um which I was very happy about. I'm
really happy that we're making these
we're not just buying the cheapest thing
available and value engineering things.
We're really making smart investments in
things that will last longer and won't
need to be as replaced as often. Um so
that's what I want to see more of that.
So I was really happy to see that in the
library.
>> Absolutely. And it's also just
preventative, right? Like people come in
in the winter with their boots on and
walk around on carpet, right? Like do
you want that to be
>> y
>> wet soaked through? Right. Right.
Really? Um, so yeah, I mean I thought it
looked so and and I you know when I
first walked in I was like so it's so
much brighter in here and I don't know
why but I realized they they had told me
that about the way it was painted and it
just looks really it looks good in
there.
>> I got to get in there then.
>> It was Megan mentioned that the red the
carpet was like red and gold before too
and I was like oh yeah so the the blue
and gray Yeah. It might be the cooler
like cooler colors versus the warming
colors that makes it look brighter. Um,
but
>> and that like the way the ceiling goes
up, I guess that
>> they had some dark now it's white or
white now.
>> Um, but yeah, it looks really nice in
there. So, they rearranged a lot of the
shelving as well. Um, so there's a
little bit more opens more spacious.
>> Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, but it looks
great. So, good for the library.
>> Don and her team did a good job. They
worked well. Bob Slater helped them out,
which was a big help. And he's not an
official with the library, so he helped
them out a lot. and RER. But the library
people, Donna had never did anything
like this before. She really did well.
>> Yeah. Awesome. They're leading this and
they deserve some credit for this.
>> Oh, absolutely. Yes,
>> absolutely.
>> Yeah. She is a library director. She is
not a construction manager or PM, but
she managed to figure it out. So, good
for her. Yep.
>> That is not an easy skill to do.
Um, okay. Uh, old committee business.
So, um, I sent out the clean copy of the
bylaws. Um, did everybody get a chance
to review that? Um, okay. Um, I know
Nicole, you mentioned there was a small
change, but
>> yes, but yeah, there So, I just I just
caught one thing. I don't know that it
really I don't know how much it matters.
Let me put it that way. But it was just
on page three. It said uh around the
secretary. It said, "Shall sign the
minutes."
>> We don't actually sign.
>> We don't actually sign the minutes.
Yeah. But so I don't know if we should
change that or not
>> or start signing the minutes.
>> Or start signing the minutes. Yeah,
>> Matt can sign them.
>> Yeah. I mean, yeah, we I mean they do
you do sign them in the way that you put
your name prepared them on the minutes.
So I think that counts.
>> Maybe that's counts. Yeah. Yeah. Fine.
>> Yep. Yep. So
>> Okay. All right. So if nobody has any
changes, um I think that we can go ahead
and take a vote on the bylaw. So, um,
may I will accept a motion?
>> So, moved.
>> Second.
>> Okay. All in favor of accepting the
advisory budget committee bylaw say I.
>> I.
>> I.
>> Okay. Great. Awesome.
>> Yay.
>> And then the other one was the
onboarding checklist. Did everybody get
a chance to review the onboarding
checklist as well?
>> Yeah, this is this is good. Um, I think
one I'm just noticing this now, but
might be a good idea to put past
budgets.
>> Okay.
>> And as a as a link,
>> okay,
>> um and then the
what the current budget um website
um for FY28
>> budgets.
>> Okay.
>> Uh current
>> budget information. Yeah.
>> I was also um the New Hampshire
Municipal Association budget book. That
might be a good link to have as well.
Even though we're not an official budget
committee, it still gives people um a
reference point.
>> Can you say it's New Hampshire
>> NHMA?
Budget book.
>> NHMA.
>> Budget book. Yeah.
>> Budget book. Was that the one that just
went out today?
>> Yeah, that was part of our training.
Yep.
>> Okay. That's one that I sent you also
earlier,
>> plus the updates that come in. So, it's
going to be I do this with all the
committees now. When the updates come,
I'm just sending them out to you folks.
So, you'll be getting those.
>> Okay. Um and then if we when not if but
when uh we get a SharePoint site um a
link to the SharePoint.
>> I have a space already in here for it.
So
>> yeah Jeremy wants a SharePoint.
>> We do want
one. They want one too.
>> They want one too. We cannot be left
out.
>> That's right.
>> Um
team site.
>> I know.
>> Yeah. Yeah. No, that's I
>> I'll be paying Cheer.
That poor woman.
>> Okay, then I'll definitely add those
links and then bring it back.
>> All right, so then we'll make we won't
vote on that because we want to make
some revisions and stuff too. Um, so
we'll do that. Okay. Anything else of
any discussion points or anything, but I
thought that was great. The on board I
think that was
>> really awesome actually. Um, and I think
something like that should exist for
probably other elected officials as well
or something similar to that. Um cuz I
didn't know when I was voted in like the
whole swearing in and an email address
and everything like that. I was like
what? Oh, okay. Um right.
>> So yeah,
>> come totally new for someone that if
you've never been in any of these roles.
>> Yeah. And I think we can um do an
onboarding checklist and make note that
it's a working document as well. Um and
the chair can be responsible for that.
Um because it's going to change, right?
Um, Sher Ferrell, lovely woman. She's
not going to be town clerk for the next
20 years.
>> She will eventually retire. Um, so you
know, who you see and who you talk to,
those things will all probably need to
be changed and as it goes. So, but yes,
>> make sure you put in PDM uh mileage and
parking fees. Most people don't realize
that you are get you get reimbursed for
that.
>> Is there a spot on the website that has
like what those are?
>> There isn't. Um, but it we use GSA
rates.
>> Okay.
>> So, you guys went to training.
>> Yeah.
>> You should be telling us sending me an
email say I got this many miles
>> and then we'll reimburse you for that.
The meal was provided so you wouldn't
get premium for that. But if you had
parking fees, which you shouldn't for
this one.
>> No, no, we don't.
>> But if you're up there testifying or
something to let you park in conquered
this, you know, so we reimburse you for
that. Those are expenses.
>> Okay.
>> And that email goes to you. And
>> yeah, just well once we you don't really
don't have a department. I'm your for
lack of a better term. So send it to me.
We'll take care of you and make sure
that you get uh you get reimbured for
those expenses.
>> Okay. All right. So then we will uh vote
on the onboarding checklist on another
meeting. Um and then that brings us to
other business. Does anybody have any
other business?
I have one point. Um I sent you an email
yesterday um because I noticed that Oh,
the warrant article thing. So we're not
having a meeting on September 24th per
>> Right.
>> Right. Okay.
>> It's just not ready yet. Justin's been
out. So,
>> okay. There was a um when we initially
talked about fiscal year budget 2028 on
the calendar, there was a meeting
scheduled for us to talk about warrant
articles next Thursday. We are not
having that. Um and I will
>> not show up.
>> Do not show up September 24th here. I
will not be here. I will actually be out
of town. I have to go on a work trip
next week. So, I panicked. I was like,
I'm going to be out of town on business.
Um we're not having it anyway. So, um,
so I just wanted to mention that in case
if anybody had that on their calendar
for whatever reason.
>> You're welcome. Um, okay. And then let
me go back.
Approval of the minutes. Um, did
everybody get a chance to review the
minutes from August? Okay. Um, I will
accept a motion to approve the meeting
minutes from August.
>> So moved.
>> Second.
>> All in favor of accepting the meeting
minutes say I.
>> I.
>> Okay. Great. Uh next meeting will be
October 15th. Um we will tour the two of
the fire stations. Um and then November,
we're meeting a lot in November for
other reasons. Normally we don't have a
meeting like this in November. I put TBD
in case somebody thought we should meet.
Um otherwise I am perfectly comfortable
with not meeting any other time in
November if that's okay with everybody
else.
>> Okay, great. the the one on the 15th. Is
that one of the ones we moved to 6:30?
>> No, that will be a um Well, I'll talk to
Phil because we're just doing the tour.
Um so, I'll talk to Phil about what time
we could do that. Um if we want to say
tenatively 6:30 because we do have to go
to two places, would that work for
everybody?
>> Yeah, I would I prefer earlier than
later. Yep.
>> Right.
>> Yep. Okay. So, we'll say 6:30. Um tours
on the 15th. Um, I'll double check with
Phil and the fire chief and make sure
that that's okay with them. Um, so,
okay. And
still no public. So, no public comment.
And I will take a motion to adjurnn.
>> So moved.
>> Second.
>> All in favor of adjourning, say I. I. A
meeting adjourned at 8:33