Town of Redding - Board of Finance Minutes 11/23/2009

Also present: First Selectman Ketcham, Controller Gniadek, Treasurer O’Donnell, Tax Collector Moisio, eight members of the public and a representative of the Redding Pilot

Motion: move that the Board of Finance accepts the minutes of October 26, 2009 as corrected. DeSalvo, Simeonidis. Approved. 3-0-2. Guffey and Mazzucco abstained.

Corrections: under Controller Report, bullet 5, should read as follows: Policy/Procedure: Mr. Gniadek is developing financial policies and procedures where needed. The contract policy is complete and he asked Board of Finance members to review the policy. He is working on a policy & procedures for purchasing; last page, under Kim Yonkers comment, change to: income that might not come in.

Frank Scott, Umpawaug Road: Mr. Scott, representing NABR, announced last March that the group would initiate and formulate a report and budget for the Town of Redding that would be 10% than the current budget. Mr. Scott presented that report and details of the group’s work to the Board of Finance.

Jeannie Wendshuh, Deer Spring Road: commented that she was pleased with the state of the Fund Balance at the end of June. She suggested that the $661,000 in savings for the year be directed to next year’s roadway work rather than being allocated to the fund balance, saving the cost of bonding for the roadway work.

Tax Collector Moisio reported the current collected tax rate is 52.1% compared with 52.18% last year. Her department is now preparing the reminder notices for the January tax payment.

Motion: move to add an executive session to the end of the meeting for a discussion of real estate negotiations and pending litigation with the chairman of the Water Pollution Control Commission. Mazzucco, DeSalvo. Approved. Unanimous.

2. Expenses show no major unfavorable variances, and some areas are showing a decrease in expenditures. He is following up on telephone expense and considering the elimination of the pay phones that are on the grounds of Redding Elementary School, John Read Middle School and the train station. These phones have little regular and virtually no emergency use. He is checking on an emergency only type phone for the train station. The fee on the pay phones has increased recently.

4. GASB 45 & Audit Report: all preliminary information for GASB 45 has been submitted. Blum Shapiro expects to have the report finalized prior to December 31. The MD&A adjustments are in process and should be completed within the week.

Motion: move that the Redding Board of Finance accept the list of meeting dates for 2010 as amended. Mazzucco, Simeonidis. Approved. Unanimous.

7. Joint Meeting with Board of Selectmen and Boards of Education: the December 21, 2009 meeting will include budgetary discussions with the Board of Selectmen, Redding Board of Education and Region #9 Board of Education. Mr. Gniadek will schedule the meeting for the John Read Middle School Community Room.

8. Grant applications have been completed for a) Station Road Bridge repair, $78,000, LOCIP grant for State funds, and b)a federal grant application (ARRA) for $60,000 for energy savings measures. The items listed in the application include 3-zone heating/air condition installation in Town Office Building, on-demand hot water heaters at the Community Center, Highway Department and Police Department, change of hot water tank at JRMS from 80 gallon to 20 gallon, installation of storm windows, traffic signal, conversion to LED lights, and lighting at RES, upgrade in parking lot and some replacement.

9. Fund/Debt Balances for neighboring towns: Mr. Gniadek will assemble the historical data from these towns for a report in January.

Peg O’Donnell reported the preliminary plan is still being reviewed by the Board of Selectmen. She is hopeful the Board of Finance will have the report for the December meeting.

James Miller, Middlebrook Pond Road: commented on the why budget comparisons are used in the preparation of the new budget when zero-based budgeting is used. Mrs. Ketcham responded that the comparisons are helpful in showing the departments how well they did in the current year and how good their assumptions were. At last month’s meeting Mr. Miller suggested that following the election, to discuss the policy on the use of the fund balance and asked if that was planned. Mr. Alvarez responded that this type of discussion would occur in January.

Steve Martin: Mountainview Drive: comments regarding the debt service ratio and inaccuracies with regard to including the Region #9 data.

Motion: move to executive session for a discussion of real estate negotiations and pending litigation with the chairman of the Water Pollution Control Commission. Mazzucco, DeSalvo. Approved. Unanimous.

Mrs. Ketcham, Mr. Gniadek, Mrs. Moisio, WPCC Chairman John Shaban, and WPCC member Dan Robinson were invited to be present.