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Here’s the complete, unedited meeting.  Enjoy!

 

 Danville BOS Meeting 9/29/08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

PATRIOTIC PURPOSES-Budget #4583.10

Mrs. Byron said she has the same budget as last year.  She also does not send letters of invitation until November.  She sometimes gets a response and when a response arrives, sometimes it is not until April, so her budget is a best guess.  As the price of gas has increased, there were no vehicles in last year’s parade.  This year’s parade had vehicles provided at the owners’ costs.  The bands are reliable and probably don’t have any increase from last year, but that has yet to be determined.  Flags usually last for approximately three years and will be removed for storage immediately after July 4th.

Selectman Moore moved and Selectman Giordano seconded a motion to approve the Patriotic Purposes-Budget #4583.10 in the amount of $3775 for the 2009 budget.  The motion passed unanimously.

ADVERTISING AND REGIONAL ASSOCIATION-Budget #4197

Selectman Luna moved and Selectman Moore seconded a motion to approve the Advertising and Regional Association-Budget #4197 in the amount of $3154 for the 2009 budget.  The motion passed unanimously.

INSPECTION-Budget #4240

Selectman Pouliot said he did not see any changes that needed to be made to this budget.  He explained that line 4240.30 is $0 as the Fire Department will be conducting inspections on their own time.  There was a discussion about the cost of inspection forms.  Selectman Moore expressed his opinion that this should come out of the executive budget.  The administrative assistant will be informed to allow $300-400 in the executive budget for the purchase of inspection forms.

Selectman Moore moved and Selectman Pouliot seconded a motion to approve #4241.20 Building Inspection in the amount of $5000, #4241.40 Plumbing Inspection in the amount of $3500, and 4241.50 Electrical Inspection in the amount of $4000 for the 2009 budget.  The motion passed unanimously.  As Fire Inspections are done by on-duty fire personnel, that budget line will continue to be $0

AUDITING-Budget #4150.20

There was an error in the addition of the line items at the last Selectman’s meeting in regards to this budget.

Selectman Moore moved and Selectman Luna seconded a motion to approve the Auditing-Budget #4150.20 in the amount of $25,460 for the 2009 budget.  The motion passed unanimously.

There is no more rewarding experience than scouting and Danville’s pack 13 and troop 13 have both been recognized as honor units. Members have been recognized for community service and Matt Raumikaitis recently achieved the status of eagle scout.

But it’s not all work. Pack 13 delivers learning and leadership in a fun package. Visit Pack 13’s new web site to see what the kids will experience this year. If you are interested in learning more about Pack 13, click this link.

There’s all kinds of ways to inflate budgets…

Here’s the complete, unedited meeting.  Enjoy!

 

 Danville BOS Meeting 9/22/08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Chief Woitkun brought to the attention of the Board warrant articles passed in 1987 and 1988. These deal with placing surplus monies from the Fire Department budget into the Capital Reserve Fund for future fire truck purchases. Chief Woitkun said that to his knowledge this has never been done.

Selectman Giordano asked about the legality of this and proposed that this would explain why the action has never been taken. The administrative assistant will be asked to verify the legality of this warrant article. Selectman Moore said that this article authorizes the Selectman but does not mandate them to do so.

RECREATION- Budget #4589.10

Selectman Moore moved and Selectman Luna seconded a motion to approve Recreation #4589.10 in the amount of $1500 for the 2009 budget. The motion passed unanimously.

Dawn Weston mentioned to the Board that there is a gentleman interested in installing a sand volleyball court at the Goldthwaite recreational facility. This will be done mostly through volunteers and donated materials. She guessed that the cost to the town may be about $1000 and this concept does fit with their master plan. Mrs. Weston asked if this is something that the Board needs to vote to accept, as it will be mostly donation of time and materials. The administrative assistant will be asked to find out the dollar amount threshold at which a vote by the BOS is necessary.

Mrs. Weston explained that due to lack of volunteers, the summer recreation program and Old Home days are not planned for next year.

SEPTIC INSPECTION-Budget #4241.60/HEALTH OFFICER-Budget #4411.10/HEALTH LABORATORY-Budget #4411.20

Selectman Moore moved and Selectman Luna seconded a motion to approve Septic Inspection-Budget #4241.60 in the amount of $1500, Health Officer-Budget #4411.10 in the amount of $502, Health Laboratory-Budget #4411.20 in the amount of $120 for the 2009 budget. The motion passed unanimously.

MOSQUITO CONTROL -Interest Budget #4411.30

Selectman Luna moved and Selectman Moore seconded a motion to approve Mosquito Control budget #4411.30 in the amount of $25,500 for the 2009 budget. The motion passed unanimously.

The administrative assistant will be asked to obtain a contract from Dragon Mosquito for next year to be signed by them and the Board.

AUDITING CONTRACT-Budget #4150.20

Selectman Luna moved and Selectman Moore seconded a motion to approve Auditing Contract budget #4150.20 in the amount of $22,460 for the 2009 budget. The motion passed.

the last couple weeks have been somewhat uneventful academically speaking…

Here’s the complete, unedited meeting.  Enjoy!

A major topic of the meeting is the NEASC Report.  Print a copy and follow along.  Listening to this discussion or looking at the ‘executive summary‘ posted on the TRHS site while holding the actual report can get a little confusing.  That’s probably why the whole report wasn’t posted on the TRHS site.

 

 TRSD School Board Meeting 9/18/08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The mission statement and expectations for student learning do not currently guide the procedures, policies, and decisions of the school and are not universally evident in the culture of the school…A number of students and parents state they are unaware of the mission.  Many teachers acknowledged not considering the mission statement in important decisions.

Peter Bealo has provided a copy of the NEASC report.  It’s only 53 pages.  I urge everyone to read it carefully and print out a copy that can be carried into the school for a meeting with staff.

(more…)

I’m not looking forward to this budget season.  Reviewing presentations from last year, I don’t think it’s possible to for the committee to manage the budget with the information provided by the SAU.

Before we adjourned for the summer, I asked for some data that would help me understand the process and prepare for the fall.  I asked for…

• itemized list of budget items flagged with contractual/legal status
• itemized list of reappropriations

I asked that these be provided in the form of a spreadsheet so that the data could be manipulated.  Instead, I got a bunch of Powerpoint presentations.

My thinking was that the budget committee has limited resources and needed to focus on those items that can be affected.  Items required by law do not need to be considered at all, and items required by contract need can be put on the back burner.

I had hoped to come to the first meeting with a list of budget items that were not required by contract or law sorted by cost with a running sum.  This tool would allow us to rank budget items and easily see the impact on the bottom line.  This needs to be done at a granular level so that we can not want this book or that computer instead of the science computer budget of the math departments new math curriculum.

EDIT: At the 9/11 budcom meeting there was informal discussion of the format of the budget presentations.  Michelle O’Neil proposed that the Budget Committee prepare a template including information we (the committee) could use to manage the budget.  If we can get link the Powerpoint to a detailed spreadsheet, the budget committee may be in a position to ‘prepare a budget’ in 2009.

The SAU is legally required to maintain documentation on reappropriations and the public is entitles to see this.  I’d like the budget committee to review this as a matter of course.  If this is not possible, I’ll get the information and post it for you.

I think this information must be scrutinized.  Recent warrant articles have far exceeded their budgets and the SAU has reappropriated funds to ‘finish the job.’  As a result, funded priorities remain unfunded needs year after year.

I’m not an accountant and welcome input from those more familiar with budgeting.