Board of Finance

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 19, 2004

Present: Ralph Gold, Chairman, Roger Kane, Sally Hart, Earl Brecher, members. Anne Kosciusko, alternate. Gordon M. Ridgway, first selectman, K.C. Baird and Ken Keskinen, selectmen and Barbara Gold, chairman of the Board of Education. Chairman Ralph Gold asked Anne Kosciusko to sit for Tom Bechtle who was absent.

The minutes of the January 15 meeting were approved as presented.

Reports of Boards and Commissions: Barbara Gold reported that the BOE is working on its budget. Four factors have emerged as major influences on the board’s decisions:

1. There will be one less teacher at CCS in the next school year;
2. The population of students at both grammar and high school levels is down;
3. The building project will generate more costs – how much is unclear at this time; and
4. Negotiations with the non-classified staff will not be complete by the end of March.

Gordon Ridgway talked briefly about the recent decision by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to recognize the Schaticoke group in Kent as a legal tribal entity. How this will affect Cornwall is not yet clear. Engineering work has been done on the property adjacent to Foote Fields to include a baseball field, parking and a small pavilion. This will be paid for by the state under a STEAP grant. Work will begin over the summer.

The Town has applied for FEMA funds available to cover extra costs of the December 6 and 7 snow emergency. Cornwall expended $9948 over those two days and, at the 75% reimbursement rate, may get $7458 in grant funds. The snow budget for FY 2004 is almost exhausted, Ridgway said. Next month the BOS will present transfers for BOF approval. Happily, the budget still has $29,000 in its contingency line and another $27,000 available in the line for interest on the 2003 Bond.

Gordon introduced the FY 2005 Selectmen’s budget. He suggested that the Board might invite The Cornwall Free Library, the Child Center and the highway foreman to come and talk about their need for increases and how things work in their organizations.

Highlights of the presentation:

• Town employees generally will receive 3% increases in wages and salaries.
• Electric rates will be going up. This is felt particularly in Town Hall where usage is up since the renovations.
• Worker’s Compensation insurance is up 20% and Public Liability is up 10% (at least). Health insurance increased 28%.
• The town clerk’s compensation has a proposed increase of 14% bringing the position more in line with other towns in the area.
• In the Assessor’s Office, next fall’s interim revaluation will, after all, require field work which will cost the town about $10,000. This appears in the capital budget. Barbara Johnson is expected to step down before this time and the town will hire a new assessor.
• Land Use Office activity and inspection has increased significantly as have clerk hours. The costs of application fees is rising, but most of this revenue has to be turned over to the state. The town now requires applicants to bond for engineering and project reviews so that this money no longer has to come from the land use budget. The Planning and Zoning Commission will be tracking the time spent processing applications in the coming year with an eye to adjusting the town’s fees to a realistic level.
• The highway budget has been increased to reflect more realistically the cost of snow removal operations. Salt prices have soared because the delivery costs of our supplier have increased. (The supercharged China Trade has diverted containers otherwise available for salt deliveries.) In response to a question from Roger Kane, Ridgway explained that the highway crew does small repairs and oil changes on the town’s vehicles to keep costs down. Winter stress on the fleet is a big factor in high vehicle maintenance costs.
• Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department. Rescue costs are up because new people are being trained and equipped. In response to a question from Gold, Ridgway said that physicals for firefighters are more extensive than the checkups health plans are willing to pay for. The town has an arrangement with Sharon Hospital to perform all necessary tests and tailor the exam to each individual.
• Sanitation. There will be an 8% increase in tipping fees for CT Resource Recovery Agency disposal. We are currently under contract to send between 600 and 800 tons of refuse to CRRA; the town is producing less and less refuse every year.
• Park and Recreation. The commission had requested an after-school program for FY 2005. Ridgway said that no new programs were envisioned for the coming year and that the commission had been encouraged to consult with other town organizations about getting the after-school plans off the ground.
• Cornwall Child Center. The Selectmen are proposing a $2,000 increase. Although hours and staffing at the center are down, fixed costs remain high.
• The Cornwall Free Library also received an increase. Ridgway said the trustees made an impressive case for the $2,500 increase citing increased use of the facility and programs for all ages in the community.

Capital Budget: Ridgway noted that the town will buy a heavy-duty dump truck this year and begin looking at improving the fire hydrant situation in West Cornwall Village. Road improvement work will be budgeted at $130,000 so that more smaller roads can be re-paved in addition to the Cornwall Hollow, North Cornwall roads in the normal repair rotation.

Ridgway offered to meet with Bechtle, David Grossman and Celia Senzer, all of who were absent, perhaps before the next scheduled meeting on March 11 in order to bring them up to speed on the Selectmen’s budget.

The meeting adjourned at 9:04 pm.

Lisa Lansing, Clerk