[0:01] Good evening everyone.
[0:02] Welcome to the Thursday,
[0:04] April 9th, 2026 Town Council Budget Workshop.
[0:08] Tonight we'll be discussing the fire, police,
[0:10] and animal control and all of the public works.
[0:14] We'll start with Pledge of Allegiance.
[0:16] Councillor Mills, would you lead us in the pledge please?
[0:20] I pledge alle to the flag, United States of America
[0:25] and to the Republic await the stands under God,
[0:30] liberty and Justice.
[0:31] All
[0:37] I thank everyone in the room tonight knows this,
[0:39] but just a reminder exists are at the back of the room
[0:42] and to the side in case of emergency.
[0:43] And we have lots of help in the room tonight,
[0:45] so we should be good.
[0:47] Please silence your cell phones.
[0:49] We'll do a quick roll call. Councilor Mills,
[0:52] Good evening, Councilor Webb. Good
[0:54] Evening, Councilor Chase.
[0:56] Good evening, Councillor Foot. Good evening.
[0:58] And I believe we have Counselor Healy on,
[1:01] on Zoom. Are you there? Something?
[1:03] Yes, I am here. I'm participating by Zoom
[1:06] as I'm feeling ill today I can hear everyone in the room
[1:11] and I'm alone in, in my room here.
[1:14] Excellent, thank you. And good evening from the chair.
[1:18] Alright, we will get right into it. Mr.
[1:20] Paolo, did you wanna start things off? Yeah,
[1:22] So, so let me make an opening statement
[1:25] and then we can get each one
[1:26] of the departments on their way tonight.
[1:28] So tonight is gonna be the kickoff of the two
[1:33] budget sessions.
[1:35] They're workshops.
[1:36] So these are designed to be questions and answers.
[1:39] Obviously if you have questions,
[1:40] we have staff here tonight to try to answer those.
[1:43] If there's anything that's maybe a little bit more
[1:45] of a complex analysis, I'll take notes on that.
[1:48] I, mark Fleischer could not be here tonight
[1:51] so I may need to consult with him.
[1:53] Exactly. Oh, nevermind.
[1:54] Oh my God, you're six foot two and I can't find you.
[1:57] Sorry about that. I thought you were still at that seminar.
[2:00] But we, we would convene
[2:02] and be able to bring those back at the meeting on the 21st.
[2:06] And then we also will have our public hearing on the 23rd
[2:10] for both the budget and the CIP for the public.
[2:14] All the information that we have are,
[2:17] we're presenting this evening will be up
[2:19] on the town's website.
[2:20] The budget is in the finance department line for FY 27.
[2:24] So again, same situation.
[2:26] If anybody from the public has any questions
[2:28] that they would like clarifications for, certainly feel free
[2:32] to reach out to us via email
[2:33] or phone call to the town administrator's office.
[2:36] So with that, what we will start
[2:38] with is the fire department.
[2:39] And I'd like to invite Greg Laro up to the podium
[2:42] to make his budget presentation.
[2:56] Evening Counselors.
[3:10] All right, so to jump right into it trending more
[3:13] or less where all the rest of the town departments are.
[3:16] We are 93.5% personnel costs,
[3:19] which leaves us the 6.5% for operations and maintenance.
[3:24] You'll see as we move along that
[3:29] Personnel related costs have
[3:30] gone up significantly this year.
[3:31] I think Town Administrator Fowler has done a pretty good job
[3:35] of articulating to you folks at this point.
[3:38] Some of the changes, but the 27% healthcare increase was a
[3:43] dramatic impact for us as well as the recently negotiated
[3:48] CBAs with the unions.
[3:49] And then this year we brought our overtime costs up to
[3:54] what we project our actuals will be in
[3:57] this coming fiscal year.
[3:58] Historically, we have been under on our overtime line,
[4:01] and this is this year, we attempt to bring it more in line
[4:04] with what we're projecting we will expend next year.
[4:09] This is just a little bit of a graphic representation of
[4:11] what our historic overtime costs have been.
[4:13] So with the red you'll see is
[4:15] what the annual approved budget has been
[4:18] and the gray is what our actuals have been.
[4:21] So over the last couple years you'll notice that we've kind
[4:23] of brought those columns closer together in terms of
[4:27] what the expense, the actuals and the the budgeted are.
[4:31] And this year we hope to close that gap completely so
[4:35] that we're not relying on unfilled positions to,
[4:40] to fund the overtime costs.
[4:42] Do you have a No. Okay.
[4:47] So then that will bring us
[4:49] to the operations and maintenance side.
[4:51] This is where we really drill down
[4:52] and get to the stuff that we need on a daily basis
[4:55] to keep the department running.
[4:57] So a couple things new this year.
[4:59] One of 'em I'm pretty excited to talk about is our annual
[5:02] wellness consultations.
[5:04] So part of the 2002 update
[5:07] to NFP 1582 included a mental health,
[5:10] behavioral health annual component to it.
[5:13] So what these are is we're budgeting
[5:16] to bring in every single line employee for a one hour.
[5:20] It's called a consultation.
[5:22] It's an opportunity for them to meet with one
[5:23] of the two clinicians that we have contracted with
[5:26] for these consultations.
[5:28] And it allows them to express to the, the clinicians some
[5:32] of the things that might make their life better.
[5:34] So resources that they may need,
[5:36] whether it's behavioral mental health, it's nutrition,
[5:40] it's weight loss, it's a personal trainer.
[5:43] These clinicians have a, a very thick binder
[5:45] with all the resources
[5:46] that they can connect our members with.
[5:49] So on an annual basis, our members will come in,
[5:52] they will sit down with the clinicians,
[5:53] they'll have a brief chat about what they can do for them,
[5:57] and then they'll leave and follow up
[5:58] with the resources that are provided.
[6:00] So we're very, very excited.
[6:01] We've already started that process this year
[6:04] with half the department.
[6:05] We found the money in FY 20 six's
[6:07] budget to move forward with it.
[6:08] And then in the FY 27 you'll see the increase to fully fund
[6:12] that program on an annual basis.
[6:16] Additional changes.
[6:18] The other real big change in
[6:21] the operating budget this year is I budgeted
[6:24] to replace our airbag system.
[6:26] So we have rescue airbags that are significantly outdated.
[6:30] The recommendation from the manufacturer
[6:33] is to sideline them.
[6:35] So we're going to try to replace them in this coming fiscal
[6:38] year out of operations.
[6:39] And that is to try and preserve the CRF
[6:42] because we have, you'll see a couple rather large
[6:45] expenditures this year for apparatus.
[6:47] And so in an effort to maintain the health of the CRF,
[6:50] I think we're, I think I can do,
[6:52] I know I can do it from the operating budget this year.
[6:57] And then uniform costs are something
[6:59] that we obviously have no control over.
[7:01] One that you'll see from the graphic representation here.
[7:04] The pants are a bit of an outlier because we changed vendors
[7:07] and we changed pants last year to try
[7:10] to bring cost under control
[7:12] and come up with an alternative that would meet our needs.
[7:15] So that's why you'll see the dramatic
[7:17] drop in the green line.
[7:18] But other, the other items that we issue to our members,
[7:21] they've just trended upwards significantly more than
[7:24] what the CPI has been over the last five years.
[7:27] And so with the increasing costs,
[7:30] we also have replaced a bunch of our members as well.
[7:34] So we're still about 68% with less than 10 years.
[7:38] But when you look down at the less than one year,
[7:42] we're still looking,
[7:43] I believe about 16 employees in the last
[7:45] two years that we've replaced.
[7:47] And so every year those new employees require a complete
[7:51] compliment of uniforms sitting on four three,
[7:54] currently three open medic positions.
[7:56] So I'm anticipating we're gonna have
[7:58] to outfit those three members
[7:59] with complete uniforms in the coming fiscal year.
[8:01] Hopefully if we can find those employees.
[8:06] You will note that our energy projections have gone down.
[8:10] So one of the things that we did last year was make a best
[8:14] guess estimate at
[8:15] what the new facility would be using for electricity.
[8:19] We've only been in there now
[8:20] for almost just over four months, I believe it is.
[8:23] And so we have a little bit of a better picture
[8:26] and I'm comfortable coming down to the 200 kilowatt range,
[8:30] 200,000 kilowatt range, sorry for
[8:34] electricity consumption at the place this year.
[8:35] The new place, we'll have a better idea
[8:38] after a full year of where those,
[8:40] where those energy usages are.
[8:47] So that brings us to the CIP
[8:52] Coming up in this fiscal year.
[8:55] These are the projects that we have slated to complete.
[8:58] We're in year two of replacing all of our turnout gear with,
[9:02] it's not PFAS free.
[9:04] It is reduced PFAS and it meets the regulations.
[9:07] And so we started that process this year with
[9:10] replacement of 25 sets.
[9:11] Next year we would ask you to continue to fund it
[9:14] for another 25 sets
[9:15] and the price has gone up by 5%,
[9:20] I believe from year over year from this year to next.
[9:23] So, but that is typical for the industry.
[9:26] And next up we have fire hoses and nozzles.
[9:29] So all of our primary apparatus,
[9:31] our front run apparatus have what's called
[9:33] cross lays on them.
[9:34] The hose that we've historically put on that has been
[9:38] on the lower end of the budget scale
[9:40] because it was the cheapest alternative that we could get
[9:43] that would meet our needs.
[9:44] And at this point, the hose we're,
[9:46] we're recognizing some early failures in it.
[9:49] It's not ergonomically friendly for our, our folks
[9:52] that are advancing these hose lines through structures.
[9:55] It tends to kink very easily.
[9:57] And so we're going to move forward with replacing the,
[10:01] the primary cross lays on those apparatus
[10:03] and their nozzles in this coming year.
[10:06] CPR devices. Those have reached the end of life.
[10:09] So that's, this is year one of two
[10:11] to replace the four Lucas CPR devices that we have.
[10:15] And I apologize, I meant to keep moving along
[10:17] with pictures as we went.
[10:19] So what these do is they free up a rescuer instead of having
[10:22] to do chest compressions, it allows them
[10:24] to perform other functions during a resuscitation.
[10:27] And the machine is honestly,
[10:29] consistently better at providing high quality
[10:32] CPR than a human is.
[10:34] We tend to, as humans taper off in our effort in,
[10:37] in administering CPR whereas the machine does not.
[10:40] So we have four of those, two of them
[10:42] to be replaced this year, two next year.
[10:47] Cardiac monitors, I think many
[10:48] of you have already been sitting on the council over the
[10:50] past four years as we've worked through trying
[10:52] to get our outdated cardiac monitors replaced.
[10:55] Unfortunately, as you know,
[10:56] we we're not successful in our grant application to a FG
[10:59] to replace four of them.
[11:01] We have through the opioid fund
[11:04] and through operating budget, we've replaced two
[11:06] of the oldest ones that we own currently,
[11:09] but we have two more that are not eligible
[11:11] for service plans anymore
[11:13] and they're actually becoming difficult to find parts for.
[11:16] So we need to replace two of those in the coming year.
[11:19] The technology that we tried out with our first purchase
[11:23] of a life pack 35, we've determined
[11:25] that the technology just isn't where we need it to be yet.
[11:28] We're having some difficulties with the unit itself
[11:31] and how it interfaces with our technology.
[11:33] And so we're going to actually move, take a step back
[11:36] to the Reliable Life Pack fifteens that you see here
[11:39] and purchase two refurbished models through boundary
[11:42] for half the cost of what it would be
[11:45] to purchase two new ones.
[11:46] So trying in, in an effort to be fiscally conservative
[11:50] with the the CRF, we are happy to to move forward
[11:54] with the the referred models.
[11:58] Next up is the hydraulic rescue tools.
[12:00] So we actually have some
[12:02] of these hydraulic tools on our apparatus
[12:04] that are 36 years old now.
[12:06] They have more than done their job,
[12:08] they've served their purpose.
[12:10] They are newer, lighter,
[12:12] more functional alternatives out there.
[12:14] We would be looking to move forward with replacing these
[12:17] with battery units.
[12:19] So these have hydraulic lines that have to tie back
[12:22] to the main power unit at the truck
[12:24] or as close as we can move it
[12:26] to the actual scene of the incident.
[12:28] And so the battery ones are a self-contained unit.
[12:30] They have all the capabilities that, of the ones
[12:33] that we have right now
[12:35] and the without the being tied to the power unit.
[12:38] So that is funded in this year's CRF
[12:43] and I don't have a photo
[12:46] of it from our fire prevention bureau,
[12:48] but we have a fire extinguisher training prop
[12:51] that we've used very successfully through the years
[12:53] to train Parkland staff to provide the, the training
[12:57] to other non-profits in town.
[13:00] We've done it at pro for-profit companies in town.
[13:03] We bring it out, we show them how to train them, how
[13:05] to use the extinguishers
[13:06] and let them extinguisher an actual fire.
[13:09] It's propane fed fire.
[13:11] The unit that we've had has been out of service for a couple
[13:13] of years now, so we haven't been able to provide
[13:15] that service to the community.
[13:17] We're looking to move forward with replacing it
[13:19] and getting back out
[13:20] and offering that training to the community.
[13:24] And so then the next two items,
[13:27] they're in reverse order from what they're listed as.
[13:29] But the next one up is the 2011 Pierce Velocity Rescue
[13:32] pumper that's currently stationed at station two.
[13:36] That truck is 15 years old now.
[13:39] The intent was originally was
[13:41] to replace it at the 10 year mark
[13:42] where it still held some value for trade-in.
[13:45] Unfortunately, with the economic impacts
[13:48] of the apparatus procurement process, the four
[13:50] to five year turnaround times after we order,
[13:54] and the dramatic almost a hundred percent escalation in cost
[13:59] over the last 10 years, we have not been able to keep up
[14:02] with what our plan was.
[14:04] The the funding has not been able to keep up with the plan.
[14:06] And so the, at this point,
[14:08] the truck has 120,000 miles on it.
[14:12] It is, as I said, 15 years old.
[14:14] The value has, it just doesn't have it right now.
[14:17] And so this truck needs to come get back lined
[14:20] and we need to replace it with a new rescue pumper.
[14:23] One of the things that we're looking at doing this year
[14:26] for the first time in quite some time is I'm going
[14:28] to actually do an a, a bid spec
[14:31] and a RFP for this so that we can expand beyond just Pierce.
[14:35] So for anybody that isn't familiar in the industry,
[14:38] Pierce is a very proprietary company.
[14:41] A lot of their parts only work on pierce apparatus.
[14:44] You can't install anything that isn't pierce manufactured
[14:47] and it, all those things come with a price tag.
[14:50] They are a very, very good solid truck.
[14:54] But we are at the point now where we're going
[14:56] to ask everyone to sharpen their pencils
[14:58] and we're gonna look at some of the other main
[15:01] main manufacturers
[15:03] and see if they have a product
[15:04] that will meet our needs as well.
[15:06] One of the, another area that we can improve this is most
[15:10] of the major manufacturers as you'll recall.
[15:12] It's basically down to three groups now through,
[15:16] there's the rev group that owns the majority stake
[15:18] of the industry of individual companies, Oshkosh,
[15:22] who owns Pierce and then Rosen Bauer as well.
[15:25] And so each of the manufacturers is offering some type
[15:29] of a program where you can purchase it is a little bit
[15:33] above a stock factory right off the,
[15:36] the manufacturer line truck.
[15:37] You can customize some of the cabinets,
[15:40] but it is not a true custom apparatus like we are used to.
[15:44] We're customed to ordering.
[15:46] We've always, we've always specked out
[15:48] what meets dairy's needs the best.
[15:49] And unfortunately we're just not able to do that anymore.
[15:52] So we're, we're going to pro very likely have
[15:56] to go in the root of a semi stock truck for a reduced cost
[16:00] to, to fall in line with what we're asking for here.
[16:04] And finally is the 2014 international ambulance.
[16:09] So along the lines of the fire apparatus, our goal was
[16:13] to replace these after 10 years when they still held some
[16:16] value and before they started escalating their maintenance
[16:19] and repair costs.
[16:21] This one obviously we we missed the mark
[16:23] by a couple years on that again, just
[16:26] because of the, the funding
[16:28] and the turnaround time for these.
[16:30] So this year we need to move forward with replacing this,
[16:32] this ambulance, this ambulance has 118,000 miles on it.
[16:37] It's due to be replaced.
[16:38] And so we would ask again that you, you fund
[16:41] that in this year's CIP as well.
[16:50] So those, that's a a pretty quick overview of expenses.
[16:54] I'll touch on revenues very quickly.
[16:56] One of the things if the council will recall from last year
[16:59] is there was a RSA passed in the state of New Hampshire
[17:02] that affects ambulance billing across the state.
[17:06] And so that went into effect the beginning of January.
[17:09] We have a, again, a, a limited amount of data
[17:12] to look at for this.
[17:13] And so we're still not a hundred percent confident
[17:15] what this is going to, the impact that this is gonna have
[17:18] on our revenue through ambulance collections.
[17:23] I, what I put in this year is a conservative 4.1% increase
[17:27] in projected ambulance revenue.
[17:29] We have historically always over collected that,
[17:32] but without any certainty with what the,
[17:36] the RSA changes are going to do to our revenue through this.
[17:40] I wasn't comfortable going beyond the,
[17:42] the 4.1% increased projection.
[17:46] We additionally came up
[17:49] 17% in inspections and fees.
[17:53] That equals out to about $17,000.
[17:55] And so that is based on fees that we collect
[17:59] for burner
[18:00] and burner permits, installations, that, that type of thing.
[18:05] And so I meeting with our Bureau of Fire Prevention,
[18:09] he was quite comfortable with the, the increase
[18:11] that we reflected in this year's revenue as well.
[18:17] So that brings us to the bottom line, the net end of it.
[18:20] You'll see that we came up significantly over FY 26,
[18:25] but again, that is primarily driven by personnel costs.
[18:29] The healthcare and the COLA increases
[18:33] for the CBA being the primary drivers.
[18:37] So on the fire budget, do we have any questions?
[18:41] There's three out of five of us or firefighters.
[18:43] Of course there's questions. Who wants
[18:46] to go first? Councilor Foot.
[18:49] Thank you Madam Chair. Thank you Chief,
[18:52] on the EMS collection rate, what, what roughly any idea
[18:56] what the uncollected funds are for, for ambulance? For
[19:01] What we don't collect Basis.
[19:03] I I don't have that number in front of me right now.
[19:05] I'm happy to get that to you.
[19:06] What is not up to date?
[19:07] Like what has not been collected and that's still
[19:10] Historically the town
[19:11] of Dairy Fire Department does a very good job.
[19:14] We are in the, the industry, the high end in the industry
[19:18] for collection rates through our billing company.
[19:21] But I will, I will get you that collection rate number
[19:24] And then two more quick ones.
[19:26] And as far as the old monitors
[19:28] and the Lucas, what, what do you do with those?
[19:29] What happens with those?
[19:31] So the monitors, we're going to keep one for
[19:35] the new pumper tanker
[19:37] that we put in service the engine four.
[19:39] And the other one would, there's no trade-in value to it
[19:42] to the company because we're buying refurbished ones.
[19:45] And so we would look to keep that as a spare
[19:48] for emergency use in the event one
[19:50] of the other units went down.
[19:52] And the same, I'm not absolutely certain if there is any
[19:55] trade-in on the Lucas CPR devices.
[19:57] I was told no, but we haven't been able to confirm that
[20:01] with the, the manufacturer yet.
[20:03] And then as far as the refurbed refurbished equipment,
[20:08] same life expectancy on those, the same, same warranties,
[20:11] everything is the equivalent?
[20:12] Yeah. So we actually explored this with re
[20:14] and they even offer a service plan, service
[20:17] and repair plan for the refurbed units.
[20:20] And so they do come with a comparable warranty.
[20:22] They come with an optional, a purchasable service plan for,
[20:26] for a reasonable amount of money.
[20:27] So we're very confident that they would meet our needs.
[20:30] Thank you.
[20:35] Just to another question on vehicle purchases,
[20:41] what is the expected turnaround time
[20:45] of a new pump right now?
[20:47] That's a great question. So if we were
[20:50] to proceed the way we normally do
[20:52] and purchase a custom vehicle, we're still in the three
[20:55] to four year turnaround time from the date of order
[20:58] with some of the programs that I spoke about.
[21:01] We are looking at around 12 month turnaround time
[21:04] to get the truck in hand from the time we order it.
[21:09] And just on, on the fire hose, just
[21:14] that's still annually tested to determine
[21:17] whether it's failing or not.
[21:19] The fire hose. Yeah. Yeah.
[21:20] So we still use the third party vendor
[21:22] to conduct all annual service testing on hoses, ladders,
[21:25] aerial devices and fire pumps. Yeah.
[21:28] And the turnaround time on the ambulance, is
[21:31] that gonna be a custom or semi-custom vehicle or,
[21:34] So the ambulances are a little bit different,
[21:37] a little bit more of a unique apparatus for us
[21:38] because of the way that we do EMS here.
[21:42] However, we do have a a, a good design for the box
[21:47] that's the, the back of the ambulance where the,
[21:49] the real work gets done.
[21:51] So we have a design that very much works
[21:53] for us through Horton.
[21:54] So the box itself would remain the same.
[21:57] The the delays usually are in sourcing the chassis.
[22:01] One of the things that we have found,
[22:02] we've just been notified of this year is the, in the intent
[22:06] by GM to discontinue the C 5,500 series chassis.
[22:10] And so the ambulance that we currently have on an order,
[22:13] they're rushing that to try
[22:15] and get the chassis that we had ordered and requested.
[22:19] So that one we may actually see much earlier than the 2027,
[22:24] August 27 projected delivery date.
[22:27] But ambulances are historically running between two
[22:31] and three years for a a build time.
[22:34] So a 2014 ambulance we ordered in 26,
[22:38] we're typically looking at 28 or 29
[22:43] before we actually see it. That's
[22:44] Correct.
[22:45] So that ambulance would then be 15 years old
[22:48] by the time it actually gets replaced.
[22:51] That's correct. Thank you.
[22:56] Council case, Excuse me, on the
[23:01] rescue tools, are you looking at replacing part of them?
[23:06] All of them?
[23:07] So would, would the money that I put in
[23:10] for the CIP this year, I believe, let me find my notes page
[23:13] 'cause I actually have this written down for specifics.
[23:32] All right. So the average cost
[23:34] of the individual components is between 16
[23:37] and 20,000 per unit.
[23:38] With the money that I've requested in the CIP,
[23:41] that would allow me to outfit all four primary apparatus
[23:45] with a battery tool of some type.
[23:48] And then additionally do the expanded capabilities on the
[23:52] rescue pumpers the engines with rams.
[23:55] So I believe for the money that's been requested,
[23:57] we can outfit all four app, all four front run apparatus
[24:02] with, with battery tools.
[24:03] Okay. And how many apparatus set, how many pieces
[24:08] of apparatus carry the rescue bags?
[24:11] The rescue airbags? The airbags? Yes.
[24:13] We have three apparatus.
[24:14] We have the rescue itself,
[24:16] which very seldom leaves the station.
[24:19] We have the two trucks, the two engines, the rescue pumpers
[24:23] that carry the, the compliment of airbags on them.
[24:26] So you on the, sorry.
[24:27] So you'd be replacing three sets.
[24:30] One of the things that I'm going to charge our committee
[24:33] with evaluating is if airbags themselves
[24:36] are the best alternative.
[24:37] There's some new technology out there that meets the same,
[24:41] the same abilities as the airbags themselves.
[24:44] So the airbags will be replaced.
[24:47] They'll either be replaced with the comparable product
[24:50] or something that also meets the requirements.
[24:53] Okay. And my last question is,
[24:56] and this has been asked of me by members of my constituents
[25:01] is on the ambulance, we used to in the past
[25:08] recirculate the box, put the box on a new chassis.
[25:11] I know times have changed on that,
[25:13] but has that been explored in the last couple of cycles?
[25:15] It, it has and we are, as I mentioned, we've gotten
[25:20] to the point with the Horton boxes where we, we very much
[25:24] value the way they're laid out and the ergonomics of them.
[25:28] And so we will in the future, in the,
[25:30] in the coming CIP years when we have a full compliment
[25:33] of boxes, look to reach chassis them once.
[25:36] So the ambulance chassis itself would be replaced once
[25:39] with the same box mounted on it and then
[25:41] after the second round we would probably need
[25:44] to replace the box and the chassis.
[25:47] Okay. Unfortunately, sir, it doesn't represent
[25:52] as much of a savings as we had hoped.
[25:55] We, when we explored it, we were hoping for a,
[25:58] a very significant cost savings.
[25:59] Unfortunately that just wasn't there.
[26:02] It's, we're floating around the 70% mark
[26:07] is what I've been told by our fleet mechanic.
[26:09] Yeah, that's what I've heard industry-wide
[26:12] and that's what I was trying to get out to the public is
[26:13] that there's really not that much
[26:14] of a savings for an old box.
[26:16] It's better off to just Yeah.
[26:19] 'cause you're still running with old wires such like that,
[26:22] it's not like putting a dump body on a chassis or something.
[26:27] Council mills, do you have anything?
[26:29] I'm fine. Leave it to the professionals
[26:30] to ask those kind of questions.
[26:32] Alright, counselor foot, you had question?
[26:34] Yeah, I had one more question and I, I do,
[26:35] councilor Haley, I have not forgotten you.
[26:37] We
[26:39] Chief on the personnel side.
[26:41] Aside from the current vacancies,
[26:44] are you have any projections of any upcoming vacancies
[26:47] that in the next fiscal year?
[26:50] The interesting thing about public service is the
[26:52] employees generally don't like
[26:53] to tell the boss when they're leaving.
[26:55] For some reason, retirements are, are preferred to be kept
[26:58] quiet until the last minute.
[27:01] I have heard rumblings that there, we have one paramedic
[27:04] that is looking to retire in the, in the coming fiscal year.
[27:07] And so that would bring us back
[27:08] to the full four medic vacancies.
[27:11] On top of that, we do have an a vacancy
[27:13] for an assistant chief right now.
[27:14] Right. But other than that I have,
[27:18] I have asked if anybody has intentions
[27:20] or desires to retire in the coming year and
[27:22] Or retirement eligible, like as far as, you know,
[27:24] the 20 year mark type thing.
[27:25] Yeah, so we have, we have, I believe it was five,
[27:29] five employees that are, are very eligible,
[27:32] very likely to retire.
[27:34] We have a few more that are eligible,
[27:36] but very unlikely to go.
[27:40] But I, it's hard, it's hard
[27:42] to project based on eligibility when they've been eligible
[27:46] for 5, 6, 7 years now.
[27:48] But I see some smarts about the not
[27:53] wanting to tell the boss that they're retiring.
[27:57] That's why I asked the question.
[28:01] Counselor. Haley, do you have any questions?
[28:05] I do not just like counselor Milts.
[28:08] I leave it to the, the few
[28:10] that have been with the fire department.
[28:11] I think everything that I heard makes sense,
[28:13] especially the replacement of vehicles and things like that.
[28:16] But no real questions.
[28:19] Excellent, thank you. Did
[28:20] you have another question? Council? W
[28:22] This is not so much a question as if you could
[28:25] because this is a chance for the public to also listen in,
[28:28] explain about your a d program.
[28:31] You're talking about the a d loaner program? Correct.
[28:33] Okay. So as as you mentioned, we have
[28:37] what is called our a ED loaner program.
[28:39] Through the, the generous funding of a grants
[28:42] through the Alexander Eastman Foundation, we were able
[28:45] to purchase some AEDs that we can loan out
[28:48] to the public anytime that they want to use them.
[28:50] They basically come in, sign them out,
[28:52] and then they're free to use them
[28:54] for the duration of their event.
[28:55] We see a lot of usage with the sports teams in town
[28:59] and so we're actually hitting the season now
[29:01] where we're expecting to see a couple
[29:03] of those go out on loan for the duration
[29:05] of the spring sports season.
[29:10] I had one question and I I may be misremembering
[29:13] so if I'm off, just tell me we're moving on.
[29:17] I remember feel like, I remember when I was getting the tour
[29:20] of the news station that there was talk about kind
[29:23] of the regular gear, but then having backup gear
[29:26] and there may not be like, we may be a little
[29:28] behind on having enough of that gear for,
[29:31] for making sure everybody is ready to go each time and safe
[29:34] and things have dried or whatever.
[29:36] Is that, am I remembering something to that effect?
[29:39] And I guess the question behind that is, is if we are in
[29:41] that situation, like is there a plan to future state,
[29:45] get us, get everybody to full complement of what they need?
[29:49] Sure. Fortunately we're not, we're not in
[29:52] that situation where we don't have a second
[29:54] set of gear for everyone.
[29:55] I think maybe what I said at the time was we would have then
[30:00] one set of p reduced PAS gear for our employees. That's
[30:03] What it was. Yes.
[30:03] Okay. Their second, their backup set
[30:05] of gear would not be PFAS free yet.
[30:07] That's, that would require another three year project
[30:10] through the CIP to replace.
[30:11] Okay. So they have the backup, it's
[30:13] just they still have the P fs, the backup
[30:14] Would be worn in the event that they were laundering their
[30:16] primary set and then once their primary set was cleaned
[30:18] and dried, they would go back into their
[30:20] primary set. Okay. Outta their
[30:22] Backup.
[30:23] Thank you. Any other questions?
[30:27] Alright, thank you.
[30:29] Alright, moving on to emergency management.
[30:33] So emergency management saw very,
[30:36] very minimal changes this year.
[30:39] On the personnel related side,
[30:42] there was actually a 0.9% reduction in expenses.
[30:47] And then when we get to the operations
[30:49] and maintenance side, we came up 0.2%, 500,
[30:53] $545.
[30:55] The primary driver behind that is the, the fire chief's car
[30:59] as the EMD is assigned to the Emergency Management Bureau.
[31:02] And so the repair costs for that vehicle come out
[31:05] of the emergency management budget as you'll,
[31:09] as I'm sure you're all aware,
[31:10] with the rapid increase in costs for
[31:16] materials and goods related to anything petroleum based
[31:20] tires are a natural victim of the inflation
[31:24] that we see from that.
[31:25] And so when we go to replace a set of tires, now they're,
[31:28] they're anywhere from 50
[31:30] to 80% more expensive than they were five years ago.
[31:34] So that's, that accounts for the creep in that.
[31:37] And as additionally there's a dues
[31:39] and subscriptions, those go up annually
[31:42] anywhere from three to 5%.
[31:43] And so that's reflected in this year's EM budget
[31:47] and there are no new capital projects in em this year.
[31:55] Do we have any questions on emergency management?
[31:58] Any questions? No, I have none.
[32:02] Councilor Haley, do you have any questions on this one?
[32:07] No questions. Excellent. All right.
[32:10] That was easy. Thank you very much. Yes.
[32:12] Should we? Alright, so we didn't have anything
[32:14] to flag on that one, so be good as we'll.
[32:18] Move on to Chief Ley and police and animal control.
[32:52] Alright. All right.
[32:54] If you could just hold please for one second.
[32:56] We just decide to add back in a step.
[33:00] So we'll just for each, each group
[33:03] before we move on, if we're comfortable with it,
[33:05] we'll do just a motion to kind of accept the bottom line
[33:09] and then if we have any that we have flags
[33:11] or things that we need to get more information on,
[33:13] we can do that as well.
[33:14] So we'll entertain a motion to accept the bottom line
[33:18] for the fire and emergency.
[33:20] So moved. Alright. Is there a second? Second.
[33:25] Oh, sorry. The number. Yes.
[33:26] The bottom line of what do we have?
[33:30] 14,585,451. So moved.
[33:34] Alright, second. Second on the motion. Councilor Mills?
[33:39] Yes. Councilor Webb?
[33:40] Yes. Councilor Chase? Yes. Councilor Foot?
[33:43] Yes. Councillor Healy?
[33:45] Yes. And chair votes? Yes.
[33:47] Okay, now we're moving on to please. Hello.
[33:50] Thank you. Good evening Councilors.
[33:53] George Oli, chief of Police.
[33:55] I have Captain Dave Micho with me in the audience behind me,
[33:58] captain Bre and Lieutenant ue.
[34:01] If you ask us any questions that we can't answer, they will
[34:08] Very vanilla budget this year.
[34:11] My, my budget request includes no new staff
[34:14] or programs this year.
[34:16] We currently have 61 allotted full-time officers.
[34:20] We're not fully staffed,
[34:22] but we do maintain funding for all
[34:24] of those officers in the next budget.
[34:26] We have five, five part-time police officers
[34:29] that are currently working
[34:31] and we overall have 74 full-time employees.
[34:34] And if we add the activity center for a CO in there,
[34:37] that's 75 full-time employees and four part-time civilians.
[34:43] In the police personnel accounts this year
[34:48] we seek $12,657,213.
[34:52] That's an increase of 8.9%.
[34:54] That is primarily driven by collective bargaining increases.
[34:57] And the already mentioned 27% healthcare increases
[35:06] the all.
[35:07] We also include two school resource officer at Pinking
[35:10] Academy that have a corresponding revenue
[35:13] and which is about $304,000 in this budget.
[35:17] The increase in overtime costs in this year's budget
[35:22] are due solely to contractual
[35:24] and other increases.
[35:28] I actually sought less hours
[35:30] for overtime this year than we did in the previous year.
[35:37] And the o and m accounts, well, let me back up one minute
[35:42] and talk just for a minute.
[35:43] I'm unlike the fire department, I have a 96.27%
[35:49] split between personnel and o and m.
[35:52] So I only have 3.7% of my budget. That is o and m.
[35:56] That's $490,000, $490,915 this year.
[36:01] That's an increase over last year, 1.65%.
[36:05] We have two new portable radios that we seek in this year.
[36:08] This year's budget in one mobile radio
[36:12] uniform increases mainly due to replacing new staff
[36:15] and having outfit new staff.
[36:17] As the fire chief indicated,
[36:20] training costs increased marginally
[36:22] and we do include a reduction in gasoline costs
[36:25] for this budget because we now have a hybrid fleet,
[36:28] which we're bringing online now.
[36:30] I think as of today we have four
[36:31] or five of those hybrids online.
[36:33] We have four four and we have 10 of them that will,
[36:38] and so six more to be put online
[36:40] before over the next few weeks in the capital projects line.
[36:45] This year we're seeking $494,627.
[36:48] That's a reduction of 30 and 5% almost.
[36:52] Now that looks like a big number, but that's
[36:54] because last year we replaced our mocked vehicle fleet
[36:57] and we only do that every three years.
[36:59] So that's, that's really not a, an unexpected reduction.
[37:04] We include, as the fire chief indicated,
[37:05] a Motorola communications maintenance system of payment
[37:10] of 59% of, of the payment is from the police department.
[37:14] That's 'cause we host what's called the core,
[37:16] the major network components.
[37:18] They were at the police department
[37:19] for all the public safety network
[37:21] for radio network, police and fire.
[37:25] This year we requested six unmarked police cars
[37:29] for the detective fleet to replace the 10-year-old fleet
[37:32] that we have in detectives.
[37:33] Now they will also be hybrids.
[37:35] So if, if, if that fund, if that project is funded,
[37:39] we'll have 16 hybrid vehicles out of our fleet, which
[37:42] is gonna provide significant savings and fuel usage.
[37:47] And we do seek one new canine vehicle replacement this year.
[37:52] And you'll see that's cost 59,957.
[37:57] There is no death service in the police department.
[37:59] Overall expenses, we're seeking
[38:01] $13,151,129.
[38:06] That's an increase of 8%.
[38:07] Again, that is primarily driven by personnel costs
[38:11] in our revenue accounts.
[38:13] We seek, we we budgeting
[38:15] $479,591 in revenue.
[38:18] It's an increase of 3.2% over last year.
[38:21] Primarily that's the Thinking Academy contract.
[38:23] And we also have a contract with the town of Chester
[38:26] to provide prosecution services.
[38:31] Our net budget, $12,671,538.
[38:35] It's 800, excuse me, 8.19% over last year.
[38:39] Again, personnel cost drive that.
[38:42] A new slide for us this year is the police
[38:44] detail detailed billing rate.
[38:47] Typically we come to you once a year and,
[38:50] and advise you of the new billing rate.
[38:52] For the police details this year it's gonna be $98 an hour
[38:57] and includes a a 22 point $22 91 cents an hour.
[39:02] Cha charge for a cruiser that's based on the FEMA rate.
[39:05] If Cruiser is requested for the detail,
[39:14] That's the police budget.
[39:15] If anybody has any questions that begins on page 1 7 3
[39:18] of your workbook and I'm happy to address any questions.
[39:24] Any questions? I have none at this time.
[39:27] Council put Thank you Madam Chair.
[39:30] Just on the hybrid vehicles chief, do we have any, is there
[39:34] any diminished life expectancy
[39:35] or is it, is there any downside that we know of
[39:39] with the hybrids at all?
[39:41] We don't know of any downside.
[39:43] And as a matter of fact, I can tell you that Ford,
[39:45] when they build police cars, the first six months
[39:46] of their line is gonna be hybrid vehicles.
[39:48] Yeah. So that's all police departments are gonna be able
[39:51] to buy for the first six months of the,
[39:54] So the durability and all
[39:55] that is pretty much worked out the, the
[39:57] Kinks.
[39:58] Yeah. I I don't have any reason to believe they won't be
[39:59] as durable as the regularly naturally aspirated gas engine,
[40:03] whatever you, however you term that.
[40:05] Thank you Counsel. What,
[40:09] Just a really quick question that's not too much budgetary
[40:12] is what's the status of the PPE program for the canines?
[40:17] We are waiting for our second,
[40:18] we bought protective equipment for the first lauds.
[40:21] First canine. Yeah. And we're waiting for
[40:23] the second canine Freddy to kind of fill up and mature
[40:27] before we, we order the next one.
[40:29] They are fit to the dog. Yeah.
[40:31] So he needs to mature a little bit,
[40:33] but we expect we have the money appropriated,
[40:35] we expect we're gonna buy that this year.
[40:38] You know how tough it is to
[40:39] buy those baby clothes, you know? Yeah.
[40:43] And I didn't see the third dog in the budget.
[40:46] I don't know.
[40:49] Sorry, I didn't have any questions either.
[40:51] Counselor Haley, do you have any questions?
[40:55] No questions. It seemed pretty straightforward to me.
[40:57] I mean, the biggest increase being the,
[40:59] the personnel in health insurance,
[41:01] which is all, all across.
[41:05] So no questions.
[41:08] Excellent. All right. I have,
[41:12] Yeah. Oh,
[41:12] Sorry.
[41:13] Back to the hybrid vehicles on, do you have to
[41:17] plug those in to recharge them?
[41:20] No, did not plug in those, Those are the non
[41:21] Plugin did not plug in vehicles at all.
[41:23] Okay. Yep.
[41:25] So that answers my second question.
[41:30] All right. Is there a motion to, except
[41:34] bottom line on this one?
[41:36] I would make the motions, but I'm having a problem finding
[41:39] the, the dollar figure that you were using
[41:43] on, on in my book.
[41:44] I'm looking at total for 2027 Recommended. Yeah.
[41:49] 13 2 83 9 14.
[41:52] Okay, so where, where we can guide you here is look on
[41:55] page 1 77.
[41:56] Yep. Yeah, there's a crystal report
[41:59] and what's the number that you're gonna look for,
[42:01] particularly in this department?
[42:03] You'll see it in a few other departments
[42:05] to the far right town administrator recommended
[42:08] because in some cases in this budget,
[42:11] it comes in at the department number
[42:12] that I've adjusted it downward.
[42:14] So the number you're looking
[42:15] for is 13 million
[42:17] one hundred fifty one one hundred and twenty nine.
[42:20] So move that number and thank you
[42:22] Second.
[42:23] Alright, we have a motion and a second on motion.
[42:25] Councilor Mills?
[42:27] Yes. Council Webb? Yes. Councillor Chase? Yes.
[42:30] Councilor Foote? Yes. Councillor Healy.
[42:33] Yes. And chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six zero.
[42:36] Thank you. All right.
[42:38] All very briefly on the next
[42:40] activity Center Animal control personnel accounts
[42:44] that this year and animal control
[42:47] equal $121,655.
[42:50] That's 91.6% of that budget.
[42:52] That's an increase over the last year of 9.1%.
[42:56] All salary
[42:57] and benefits related increases animal control, operations
[43:01] and maintenance this year is $11,130.
[43:05] That's a 4% decrease from last share.
[43:08] And o and m is an 8.38%
[43:11] equal share of our budget this year.
[43:13] It's a slight decrease due to gas, decrease in gas
[43:18] and electricity cost based on yearly average usage.
[43:22] No capital projects requested.
[43:24] No debt service in that operational budget.
[43:27] Animal control overall expenses will be $132,785
[43:32] A, an increase of 7.86% over last year.
[43:36] Revenues are stable. 2300 year over year requested
[43:40] animal control net expenses $130,000 485
[43:45] and 8.1% oh one increase.
[43:48] And that's begins on page 200 of your budget
[43:52] and I'm happy to answer any questions about that.
[43:55] And the crystal report for that budget is on page 2 0 3.
[44:00] Questions on Animal Control Council,
[44:03] What, this isn't so much a question,
[44:06] it's more of a comment.
[44:07] It may not be appropriate for this budget,
[44:09] but for the future, I just have concerns that the $500
[44:12] that you've set aside for a training conferences may not be
[44:16] sufficient and just something for us
[44:21] to consider moving on.
[44:23] But beyond that, I have no problem moving the bottom line.
[44:27] Councilor Haley, do you have any questions or comments?
[44:32] None. Alright.
[44:36] Councilor Webb, you wanted to
[44:39] All I move that we accept the animal control budget
[44:43] of $132,785.
[44:46] Second. All right, motion and a second. Council Mills?
[44:50] Yes. Councilor Webb? Yes. Councilor Chase? Yes.
[44:53] Councillor Foote? Yes. Councillor Healy? Yes.
[44:57] And Chair votes? Yes as well. Thank you very much.
[44:59] Thank you very much.
[45:01] Alright. Seems like we're almost done with just,
[45:05] we just have one department left, but No.
[45:09] All right. Public works.
[45:18] I was like He's
[45:39] Good evening.
[45:41] Good evening counselors.
[45:45] Tom Carrier, director of Public Works.
[45:48] This is my first solo budget for the department.
[45:51] I've been around for a while with the water
[45:53] and wastewater budgets over the past years.
[45:56] I just wanna go over some general comments, overview
[45:58] of the department and then as we get into the individual
[46:00] activity centers, I'll invite the individual supervisors up
[46:03] to answer any more in depth questions on operations
[46:07] or more substance within the budget if the council show.
[46:10] So has any questions? Okay.
[46:14] Overview of the department, we have 11 divisions.
[46:17] We include the Enterprise Funds water wastewater, as well
[46:20] as Health
[46:21] Department FY 26.
[46:25] We currently have 68 full-time
[46:28] and four permanent part-time positions.
[46:31] The FY 27 budget does include one new position
[46:34] and that's a new building.
[46:35] Inspector Public Works is responsible for a broad range
[46:40] of public services based on our responsiveness, efficiency,
[46:43] and cost effectiveness to the taxpayers.
[46:46] Our proposed gross FY 27 department expenditures are
[46:50] $12,379,718.
[46:55] That's up 5.9% over FY 26.
[46:59] That's driven by both personnel costs as well
[47:01] as commodity expenses.
[47:04] The net FY 27
[47:06] of revenues we're at
[47:08] $9,162,675.
[47:12] That's 5.4% up over FY 26.
[47:19] We at Public Works historically just sort
[47:22] of compare it compared itself with the growth
[47:25] of our expenses versus the annualized consumer price index.
[47:30] Over the last 10 years, the CPI has gone up 2.4% annually.
[47:35] That's versus the department's gross expenses
[47:37] of 1.4% annually.
[47:40] And actually it's only 0.7% net of revenues.
[47:44] So that's a pretty efficient lean budget
[47:46] over the last 10 years.
[47:49] And that's taken into consideration that we're subject
[47:51] to the same inflationary pressures of our commodities
[47:54] of salt and asphalt fuel impacts of tariffs
[47:57] as well as the personnel costs.
[48:01] DPW continues to manage many
[48:04] ongoing capital projects into FY 27.
[48:07] The FY 27 budgets reflect the settlement
[48:10] of the collective bargaining agreements for the Teamsters.
[48:13] Pat TE and AFSCME all fall under the
[48:16] Department of Public Works umbrella.
[48:19] We're seeing the significant increases in health
[48:21] and workers' compensation insurance
[48:23] and with the one new
[48:25] position we are netting a 10.6% increase in
[48:28] overall personnel costs.
[48:30] And our non-personnel expenses are up 1.2% gross
[48:34] and actually down 5.6% net of revenues.
[48:38] Unlike police and fire, we are about a 50% split
[48:41] between our personnel costs as well as our operations.
[48:46] Electricity rates are expected to decrease into the,
[48:49] the next year with the
[48:50] New Solar project coming online at the landfill.
[48:53] Our contract with Encore includes a rate of six
[48:56] and a half cents per kilowatt hour
[48:57] with Eversource credits up to 11.20 cents per kilowatt hour.
[49:03] We are seeing offsetting increases in the delivery
[49:06] charges from Eversource.
[49:07] So that will offset some of those savings.
[49:10] We haven't done it in in-depth analysis going into the next
[49:13] budget, but we will be reviewing that as as we go forward.
[49:18] Fuel and asphalt pricing
[49:20] and FY 27 is of course volatile as you can all imagine.
[49:23] Due to the global impacts,
[49:25] we are seeing paving increases from $70
[49:28] and 15 cents a ton to $86.
[49:32] Just over $86 a ton over the, just the past five years.
[49:34] That's 4.7% increase annually.
[49:38] FY 27 we're estimating at about $96 a ton.
[49:42] That's about a 10% increase. We're looking at.
[49:45] Our state bid for road salt was $79
[49:48] and 79 cents versus just $49 and 50 cents back in FY 21.
[49:53] That's an annualized increase of 7.6%.
[49:56] We're projecting a five point a 5% increase in FY
[50:00] 27 1.
[50:02] One important thing to note is over the last 18 months,
[50:05] the Department of Public Works has transitioned
[50:08] 29 positions.
[50:10] It's 43% of the department is actually new to their roles.
[50:13] So we've had eight retirements
[50:16] that included two division
[50:17] supervisors and three crew chiefs.
[50:19] So we lost a lot of institutional knowledge.
[50:21] There's a lot of people coming on board.
[50:23] We've got an excellent staff there.
[50:25] They're really getting up to speed very quickly.
[50:27] They were very helpful in putting together this budget.
[50:30] We've had 13 promotions, 16 new hires,
[50:32] and we currently have four vacan vacancies
[50:38] in dealing with all the new personnel transitions.
[50:40] We're also unprecedented.
[50:41] Number of capital projects going on in town.
[50:44] The exit four A.
[50:45] Contract B, as you all know,
[50:47] continues along Folsom Road in unido.
[50:50] That estimated completion date is around 2028.
[50:54] Contract C, which is from Pinkerton Street out to 1 0 2
[50:59] that's in design right now.
[51:00] That bid date from what we are hearing, may be pushed out
[51:04] to 2029 possibly.
[51:06] That project is funded in, in large part through DOT funds
[51:11] with some town funds going for some
[51:12] of the utility upgrades we have.
[51:15] The Ranch Shepherd Hill Water project is ongoing right now.
[51:18] Now that included the Morningside Drive in
[51:20] Barland Acres neighborhoods.
[51:22] That's a $9.3 million project
[51:24] that's continuing along Route 1 0 2 eastward.
[51:28] That project has interconnected
[51:29] to neighborhood water systems, adding 60 new connections.
[51:33] So those neighborhoods now have access to
[51:35] clean safe drinking water.
[51:37] We secured $4.9 million in New Hampshire DES
[51:40] grants towards that project.
[51:43] We're also in the middle of the Southern
[51:44] New Hampshire Regional Water Project.
[51:45] Having completed phase one, our contracts D one
[51:48] and D two, which was funded
[51:49] through the state for $6 million.
[51:51] We are now in phase two A with contracts D three, D four
[51:55] and D five, which are totaling $15 million.
[51:58] Those are presently out for beta under construction.
[52:02] The council just accepted in digital $5.5 million
[52:05] that we'll be using towards the phase two B work,
[52:07] which will be beginning design work over the next year.
[52:11] And that's estimated about $30 million total build out.
[52:13] We're in the process of right now trying to
[52:16] find opportunities of funding
[52:18] for the remainder of that work.
[52:20] And of course the Abbott court redevelopment
[52:22] and the parking garage project is, is underway.
[52:27] Upcoming, we've got the Rail Trail
[52:29] connection into London Dairy.
[52:31] It's just about a million dollar projects.
[52:34] We'll be working with New New Hampshire DOT.
[52:37] We have 80% funding coming from them.
[52:40] We're looking at the Route 28 Ryans Hill sewer
[52:43] extension project we had designed in our current fiscal year
[52:47] at just over $500,000.
[52:49] We'll be asking for just over $6 million going into the
[52:53] next fiscal budget.
[52:55] $3.2 million of that is coming through EPA grant
[52:58] through the congressionally directed spending approval,
[53:02] as well as the wastewater treatment plant project,
[53:05] which is a 14 to $15 million project.
[53:08] We are going into preliminary engineering right now
[53:10] with a 100,000 to grant from New Hampshire DES.
[53:16] With that, I would invite Clint Havens up.
[53:19] To begin more detailed look at the highway budget.
[53:23] That's at page 2 0 9 within the council.
[53:27] Clint is is the veteran at almost 18 months on his,
[53:31] his position right now, he took over for Alan Cody on
[53:36] in November of 2024.
[53:38] So Clint is in, we had a little bit of a reorganization.
[53:40] So he's still in charge of highway.
[53:41] He also will be, he also supervises vehicle maintenance
[53:45] and the cemetery divisions as well.
[53:48] Good evening. Good evening.
[53:51] So highway page two nine a hundred sixty six road miles,
[53:54] 332 lane miles that we maintain through our department.
[53:57] 20 miles of sidewalk, 3.2 miles of bike path.
[54:02] The revenues $927,955.
[54:06] Expenditures are at
[54:08] $4,332,499
[54:13] just under seven.
[54:14] 725,000 comes from a highway block ramp from the state
[54:21] as town administrator referred to
[54:23] during the presentation on Tuesday.
[54:25] We are looking at a temporary one year deferment in roadway
[54:28] management from the 1.65 funding
[54:32] to $1.4 million in this current budget.
[54:35] As again, the town administrator referred the,
[54:37] the PCI value in town right now is at 88
[54:40] and it's rated excellent.
[54:42] The council has adopted under the Government Accounting
[54:45] Standards Board requirement GA P 35, about 34 I think it is
[54:49] adopted, A PCI goal of 68 to 80.
[54:51] So we're in very good shape there.
[54:54] The last five assessments we've done reflected an excellent
[54:56] PCI rating of the town of roads.
[54:58] You just have to drive them to, to see that that's the case.
[55:02] Ongoing capital projects between exit four A,
[55:06] the Southern New Hampshire Regional Water Project,
[55:08] the Ranch, shepherd Hill, there's a lot
[55:10] of paving work going on embedded within those projects.
[55:13] So that will also have a positive impact on the PCI.
[55:17] So we feel comfortable with, with what we've proposed here.
[55:22] Some highway projects in capital, again, roadway management
[55:26] that's funded outta the operations at $1.4 million.
[55:29] There's an additional $75,000 under the Dairy commerce
[55:34] corridor TIFF district.
[55:35] That's target targeted to paving projects within
[55:38] that specific district.
[55:39] You'll see that in your TIF budget. It's presented later on.
[55:44] Sidewalk improve sidewalk improvements, $50,000.
[55:48] That's funded through the expendable maintenance
[55:50] trust budget.
[55:53] We're looking at replacing the cabin chassis for one
[55:56] of our sidewalk machines.
[55:59] That's vehicle 6 0 9.
[56:00] It's a 2012 that's funded through the capital reserve
[56:04] and an estimated cost of $200,000.
[56:07] We're requesting to replace our wood chipper vehicle.
[56:11] 6 0 8 2012 at $75,000.
[56:14] Also funded through the department's Capital Reserve Fund
[56:17] and a 2017 5,500 plow
[56:21] and wing $165,000 also funded
[56:25] through the Capital reserve account.
[56:28] This is, this, I apologize, says FY 26 is actually FY 27.
[56:32] These are the list of the rows that we are proposing.
[56:36] You know, these are fluid, these depend
[56:37] upon several factors.
[56:39] The utility work not only by the town
[56:42] but by other gas lines, power lines, et cetera,
[56:47] drainage work, things like that.
[56:50] So that's the baseline that we're going with
[56:53] to maintain our PCI.
[56:55] We also have identified Pearl Street within the Commerce
[56:57] Carver as as being that project
[57:01] for $75,000.
[57:03] And we also have budgeted 25,000
[57:05] for some work on the access driveway up to the cemetery.
[57:10] So with that, if the council has any specific questions
[57:13] within the line items of the department,
[57:16] I'll be happy to answer those
[57:19] Questions.
[57:20] Yeah, I, I'm sorry ma'am. Chair, I have one question.
[57:22] As far as the proposed roads,
[57:25] do you still have that rotating?
[57:27] How, how many miles that you, you walk each road every year
[57:30] and then identify 'em?
[57:31] Or do you have it on a regular percentage
[57:34] base of how you do every year?
[57:35] They still walk the roads. They
[57:37] Still walk the roads. Thank you.
[57:39] Yep. The, as again,
[57:42] town administrator Fowler mentioned Dave Blanchard,
[57:44] he's our roadway management guru.
[57:47] He actually, we have a software program.
[57:49] It's a combination of that
[57:50] and also his, his expertise of, with the years
[57:52] of actually walking these roads,
[57:54] we will be continuing that with staff.
[57:57] So there is a process that goes
[57:58] into identifying those roads.
[58:00] Thank you. Council, what,
[58:03] Just a, a couple questions.
[58:05] Do you feel the, I know you covered it in your slide,
[58:08] but it was one of my concerns.
[58:09] Do you feel what you budgeted
[58:10] for asphalt will be sufficient based on
[58:15] projected increases?
[58:16] Do you wanna talk a little bit that they have looked at
[58:18] that in depth with Dave and, and Clint? Yeah,
[58:21] Obviously I'd be the biggest proponent
[58:23] of the road manager program.
[58:25] Right. Other than the town administrator
[58:27] making his decisions.
[58:29] Clearly the other, the other projects going on, I,
[58:32] I think we'll be, we'll be fine.
[58:34] This, there was a similar trend during the Russia,
[58:37] Ukraine issue.
[58:38] Yeah. A couple of months later
[58:39] and it spiked but then dropped back down.
[58:41] Okay. So given the time I'm, I'm good.
[58:43] Yeah, they built in a factor into that, that tonage rate
[58:47] so that we feel comfortable with any
[58:50] changes within the, the market rates.
[58:53] Good. On the rail trail, you had mentioned that.
[58:56] Could you just please go a little more in depth with that
[58:59] Wish we could.
[59:00] So presently we are waiting
[59:03] official word from New Hampshire, DOT on the status of
[59:07] the tunnel, I guess.
[59:09] So presently right now we are out for our FQs
[59:12] to select the engineering firm.
[59:15] I think those are due in the next couple weeks.
[59:19] Once we select the engineering firm, then we go into design,
[59:22] we'll be working with the state,
[59:24] but of course, you know, to really get further into, into,
[59:26] there's a, there's some
[59:27] property issues and things like that.
[59:28] So that, that will be a process.
[59:31] But how that interconnection will work, we still have
[59:34] to wait for final design coming from DOT.
[59:36] But that'll be all out of this FY 27 budget.
[59:40] We're hoping Yeah, some of the work anyway.
[59:44] A lot of the preliminary design work.
[59:45] Yeah, I am being able to go out to bid.
[59:47] I think we should be get most of
[59:48] that done in the next budget.
[59:51] And I just want to thank you.
[59:53] I think your crews did an excellent job this winter.
[59:56] I know everybody wants to complain about things,
[59:58] but I think there were some challenges
[1:00:01] and I think your crews did a really good job. So thank you.
[1:00:04] Appreciate that. We had a
[1:00:06] lot of new drivers on the road.
[1:00:08] I think they, they really stepped up. I was very pleased.
[1:00:14] Councilor Chase. So Council Webb touched on
[1:00:18] the asphalt costs.
[1:00:20] What about the fuel costs? Same, same thing.
[1:00:24] Do you anticipate that you'll have enough fundage
[1:00:26] for the fuel costs?
[1:00:27] I mean, the diesels especially is really taking a hit.
[1:00:31] I, I took a look at what we're actually currently paying
[1:00:33] and you gotta remember where, where net of taxes.
[1:00:35] So we, we don't pay the taxes.
[1:00:36] We get our fuel from the, the shed
[1:00:39] over DOTI did look at the rates
[1:00:41] and we are actually below
[1:00:43] what we have projected going into the next fiscal year.
[1:00:48] We're actually a little,
[1:00:50] little less right now than we were about a year ago.
[1:00:52] Okay. So again, we built in some number,
[1:00:56] some factor into that number.
[1:00:58] But it's like anything else, it's a bottom line budget.
[1:01:00] If we find ourselves at a large increase in, in in fuel,
[1:01:04] we're gonna have to look elsewhere in order
[1:01:05] to, to offset that.
[1:01:07] Okay. And I'll ask you the same question
[1:01:10] that I asked fire on the 20 17 5500.
[1:01:15] I noticed you guys have stainless steel bodies on 'em.
[1:01:17] Do you intend on putting that on the new chassis rather than
[1:01:19] buying a new body or,
[1:01:22] So, I've been accused of being a little bit of a hoarder.
[1:01:25] I don't get rid of vehicles when I do the,
[1:01:27] I don't have much life expectancy left.
[1:01:28] So that vehicle still, it's,
[1:01:31] it becomes not a frontline vehicle,
[1:01:32] but a backup secondary vehicle.
[1:01:34] We still will be using it.
[1:01:36] I certainly would take every part off of it
[1:01:37] that I could use on another vehicle.
[1:01:39] Okay. That's all I have.
[1:01:43] Other questions? Council, we
[1:01:44] Yeah.
[1:01:45] That just stimulated another question for me.
[1:01:47] I had asked this to fire,
[1:01:50] and I know in the past there has been a pretty long
[1:01:53] turnaround with some of the Public Works vehicles.
[1:01:56] Are you still looking at the, some of the same problems with
[1:01:59] between the time you ordered
[1:02:00] and the time you actually received the vehicle,
[1:02:02] and about how long do you estimate that to be?
[1:02:04] So we haven't had to purchase too many
[1:02:08] significantly large vehicles.
[1:02:10] Yeah. The one tons we've been able to get off the, the
[1:02:14] showroom, for lack of a better word.
[1:02:15] Yeah. It, it might be one year sit still new,
[1:02:18] but sitting on the, on the purchase, which is a good place
[1:02:22] to be from five years ago
[1:02:23] and couldn't get anything off the lot.
[1:02:25] So sometimes ordering them it,
[1:02:27] they can't give you a specific time.
[1:02:30] But as far as the one tons,
[1:02:31] we've had no problem getting those. Yeah.
[1:02:33] The, the vehicle maintenance maintenance crew has been
[1:02:35] great at finding the chassis on the lots.
[1:02:39] So then it's a matter of doing the upfit.
[1:02:42] So most of these things we can put together
[1:02:44] in less, less than a year.
[1:02:45] The, the upfits are a little bit
[1:02:46] slower just with the tariffs.
[1:02:47] That's, that's the only thing that's really impacted those.
[1:02:53] Councilor Haley, do you have any questions or comments?
[1:02:56] Yeah, I, I have one question on the proposed roads
[1:03:00] for paving where it says portion of,
[1:03:03] do you have a list somewhere that describes like
[1:03:06] what addresses through that?
[1:03:08] Those proposed portions of our
[1:03:13] Yes.
[1:03:14] Yes. Some of them,
[1:03:15] like road ended at Long Meadow in Wyndham.
[1:03:18] So from Long Meadow to the Wyndham Town line,
[1:03:20] that's gonna be our next piece.
[1:03:21] So each, these are just a, a screenshot,
[1:03:24] but yes, we have breakdowns of each one.
[1:03:26] Okay. Could I be sent that, I mean,
[1:03:30] I don't need it tonight, but whenever you get a chance,
[1:03:31] could you send me the portion of, I just, I'd like to know,
[1:03:35] one of them I saw on the list is Scenic Drive,
[1:03:37] which is the road I live on,
[1:03:39] and I'd just like to get that, that info out.
[1:03:42] Yep, we can do that. Okay.
[1:03:44] Council here, Caius is Mike, can I ask a quick question?
[1:03:47] Do you want all of the roads
[1:03:49] or just the scenic drive addresses?
[1:03:52] Scenic Drive would be helpful,
[1:03:54] but if, if there's, if there's a list already created,
[1:03:57] it could just easily be sent.
[1:03:59] If, if not, then just for now, scenic Drive would
[1:04:02] Be fine. Okay. Fair enough.
[1:04:03] Okay. All right. Council Mills,
[1:04:08] If I'm reading this finally correctly, I'd like
[1:04:12] to move the figure of
[1:04:13] $4,332,499
[1:04:18] for the Highway and Streets department.
[1:04:21] I'll second On motion. Council mills? Yes.
[1:04:25] Councilor Webb? Yes. Councilor Chase? Yes. Councilor Foot?
[1:04:28] Yes. Councillor Healy?
[1:04:31] Yes. And chair votes? Yes. Next up
[1:04:39] Vehicle maintenance.
[1:04:40] Doesn't matter.
[1:04:42] You can stay. I'll go. I'll,
[1:04:43] I'll stay in. I'll stay in here.
[1:04:45] Stay in. Okay.
[1:04:49] Transfer station Next activity center.
[1:04:52] That's page 2 22 in your budget.
[1:04:54] Books our transfer station.
[1:04:58] Be again, part a little bit of a reorganization.
[1:05:00] Over the last year with the re
[1:05:04] the vacancy of the engineering environmental engineer,
[1:05:08] last year we reorganized
[1:05:09] and brought the transfer station under the environmental
[1:05:12] coordinator position.
[1:05:13] Josh Brown. Josh has been here a little less than a year.
[1:05:16] Josh is not with us this evening,
[1:05:17] but he's also been very involved in the operations
[1:05:21] of the transfer station as well as, as the,
[1:05:23] the environmental duties of his position.
[1:05:28] With regard to some, some data, 16,219 tons
[1:05:32] of solid waste handled in calendar year 25.
[1:05:35] That was up two and a half percent from calendar year 24
[1:05:39] calendar year 25, we saw 9,707 tons of trash,
[1:05:44] non-recyclable trash.
[1:05:45] That's about a 0.3% increase from calendar.
[1:05:48] Year 24 in Cal fiscal year 27 were projecting
[1:05:51] about 10,000 tons.
[1:05:53] The revenues in transfer station are
[1:05:56] $1,254,734.
[1:05:59] Expenses are $3,240,171.
[1:06:04] Construction demolition debris disposal is up 35%.
[1:06:08] That's our cost for disposal.
[1:06:09] The town's cost, that's went from $96 a ton back in
[1:06:14] March of 2025.
[1:06:16] With environmental and fuel surcharges,
[1:06:18] we're paying about
[1:06:19] a hundred forty eight eighty three right now.
[1:06:22] However, the revenues, the offsetting revenues continue
[1:06:24] to be strong with $644,000 a year to date.
[1:06:28] The metals recycling market seems to be fairly stable.
[1:06:31] So no, no big changes in in revenue projections there.
[1:06:35] The other markets are not consistent, so we're just sort
[1:06:38] of maintaining status quo right now.
[1:06:41] Trash disposal costs is an increase estimated at $110
[1:06:46] at 55 cents per ton.
[1:06:48] That's up 5%.
[1:06:49] Our contract with Covanta Re World
[1:06:53] actually expires at the end of this calendar year.
[1:06:55] So we're in current negotiations conversations
[1:06:58] with them right now on what
[1:06:59] that rate will look like next year.
[1:07:02] As far as capital projects, we have one proposed to replace
[1:07:07] what was a quo hut, which is a place
[1:07:10] that we store the trash trailers out of the weather in prep
[1:07:14] for maintenance or for just to keep them dry
[1:07:17] before we ship materials off to their disposal locations.
[1:07:22] That was a few years ago, maybe 2021,
[1:07:27] where the storm took it down.
[1:07:29] The town did receive some, some,
[1:07:32] some funding from Primex through the insurance.
[1:07:34] About $25,000 that will be used to partially offset this.
[1:07:40] That's, that's the highlights.
[1:07:41] If there's any specific questions on the line items,
[1:07:44] I'd be happy to answer them.
[1:07:46] Thank you Madam Chair. On the c
[1:07:48] and d disposal cost, is that projected
[1:07:51] to be stable throughout the year
[1:07:52] or is that, is that basically gonna be something
[1:07:54] that's very fluid and the Delta changes regularly?
[1:07:57] Well, based on environmental
[1:07:58] and fuel surcharges, so there is a little volatility there.
[1:08:01] So we will be going back out to look at alternatives.
[1:08:05] There's not a lot out there that I'm aware of,
[1:08:08] but, so for now
[1:08:12] that just is sort of status quo.
[1:08:15] I I don't suspect there'd be any more significant increases.
[1:08:19] We'll wait and see.
[1:08:24] Councilor, Just a a quick question
[1:08:26] because I know there are some rules.
[1:08:30] What about lithium batteries?
[1:08:32] So those are no longer accepted within household trash.
[1:08:36] There is a collection box at the facility
[1:08:39] and they are taken offsite for recycling.
[1:08:42] So, but they, yes, no, no.
[1:08:43] Lithium batteries are allowed
[1:08:44] to be disposed of in the trash.
[1:08:46] There's signs at the transfer station designating that.
[1:08:50] Has there been any issues with some of the
[1:08:53] trucking companies bringing them in
[1:08:55] and, you know, when, when people have, you know,
[1:08:59] just dump trash in their curbside pickup
[1:09:02] and do private curbside pickup, have there been any issues
[1:09:05] with lithium batteries in the curbside
[1:09:06] pickups that they brought in?
[1:09:08] Not, not to our knowledge. Obviously we don't sift, sift
[1:09:11] through all the garbage that comes through the facility,
[1:09:13] but we've not been made aware of any
[1:09:15] of our disposal facilities of issues.
[1:09:18] And do we get any income from lithium battery recycling?
[1:09:23] Sometimes I believe it's nominal. Yes. Correct. Okay.
[1:09:31] Officer Chase Back on this c
[1:09:34] and DI see you see revenues as strong at 644,000.
[1:09:38] How do they equal out to, I know
[1:09:44] anybody that brings in c and d has to pay, does it zero out?
[1:09:48] How are we, are we in the red, are we in the green? We're
[1:09:50] We're in the black.
[1:09:51] So we're in the black. Yeah.
[1:09:52] So obviously the revenues do outweigh the disposal costs.
[1:09:56] Okay. We will be looking at that particularly in light.
[1:09:58] 'cause that was one of the first things I looked at when I
[1:10:00] saw the increase in the disposal costs is
[1:10:02] where are we at versus the fees
[1:10:04] that we're charging both the in town outta town.
[1:10:06] So we're still ahead,
[1:10:08] but it's something we may wanna re reevaluate.
[1:10:10] Okay.
[1:10:13] What else? Councilor Healy,
[1:10:17] Councilor Chase just kind of hit on
[1:10:19] what I was gonna bring up is the construction
[1:10:21] and demolition fees, if that's something
[1:10:23] that we'd wanna look at to maybe increase a little bit to,
[1:10:27] to get some more revenue.
[1:10:29] But it seems like that's kind of already in the works,
[1:10:32] so I'm good.
[1:10:35] Excellent. That's the great thing about going last
[1:10:38] as you guys ask most of my questions to ask them.
[1:10:40] All right,
[1:10:42] Madam Chair, I'll move the figure
[1:10:44] of $3,240,171
[1:10:50] for the transfer station activity center.
[1:10:54] Is there a second? Second. All right on the motion.
[1:10:56] Council mills? Yes. Council Webb? Yes. Councilor Chase? Yes.
[1:10:59] Councilor Foot? Yes. Councillor?
[1:11:02] Yes. And Chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six zero.
[1:11:06] Thank you. Next one.
[1:11:11] Gonna invite Clint Havens back up our new
[1:11:13] supervisor of vehicle maintenance.
[1:11:16] That's page 2 33 in the council's budget.
[1:11:19] Books 111 units, pieces
[1:11:23] of equipment maintained.
[1:11:25] We have three mechanics.
[1:11:27] We that equipment ranges from pickup trucks, loaders,
[1:11:30] dump trucks, tractors, trailers, et cetera.
[1:11:34] One of the points we did wanna mention, we do
[1:11:37] and will continue to conduct the safety inspections on
[1:11:41] our DOT vehicles.
[1:11:42] That is still required through, through federal laws,
[1:11:47] our expenditures for the department
[1:11:49] or $740,250 continuation
[1:11:53] of our preventative maintenance.
[1:11:55] Our age of fleet is,
[1:11:57] is trending favorably at about eight to 10 years.
[1:12:01] As, as Clint sort of alluded to earlier, our trend is
[1:12:04] to keep the vehicles that we are replacing
[1:12:08] a little bit longer and not dispose of them.
[1:12:11] We're finding that the value in
[1:12:15] less wear and tear on the newer vehicles
[1:12:17] that we're purchasing will out out wear any,
[1:12:23] outweigh any value on the vehicles selling
[1:12:27] them on the open market or iron planted
[1:12:29] or something to that effect.
[1:12:31] So we, we think that's gonna be positive.
[1:12:33] We'll see how that, that pans out.
[1:12:35] Obviously when maintenance costs anything significant comes
[1:12:38] across, that becomes the time that he'll make the decision
[1:12:41] to, to deadline that particular vehicle.
[1:12:45] Six 60 line item, the actual value
[1:12:47] of repairing those equipment is at 208,740.
[1:12:51] That's a 7.1% increase.
[1:12:55] Of course we're talking about cost of tires, lubricants,
[1:13:00] just any type of material in, in,
[1:13:02] in commodities in this field are, are feeling the pinches
[1:13:06] of inflationary costs as well.
[1:13:10] We do have one capital item replacing 6 21.
[1:13:14] That's a 2014 pickup truck in plow that spun it
[1:13:18] through the capital reserve at $65,000.
[1:13:22] That I'd open up to.
[1:13:24] Any questions on the specific line items of the budget
[1:13:28] Questions?
[1:13:29] I have no questions. I have one,
[1:13:32] but it's really not for you.
[1:13:34] It's for Mike. Apologies.
[1:13:37] And it just triggered a random thought
[1:13:39] and thank you for continually do the ins
[1:13:43] DOT inspections on your commercial vehicles.
[1:13:48] Are we doing that as well
[1:13:51] because we have commercial rated
[1:13:52] vehicles, for instance, in fire.
[1:13:53] I think police has one. Are we continuing
[1:13:57] with the inspections for them?
[1:13:59] And also, I know we have a person on the Public Works
[1:14:03] committee here and somebody from
[1:14:05] the transportation committee.
[1:14:07] Is there a liability concern
[1:14:09] for the town not inspecting even its
[1:14:12] non-commercial vehicles?
[1:14:14] So, so I think the answer to that,
[1:14:16] and I will verify this with both the police chief
[1:14:19] and the fire chief as well,
[1:14:20] but despite the impression of the mandate
[1:14:24] to not have passenger vehicles,
[1:14:26] we have a very robust program that all
[1:14:29] of the vehicles are inspected as they go along.
[1:14:32] So if you can imagine like if you had a pickup truck
[1:14:34] that was just being used by code enforcement,
[1:14:36] Right?
[1:14:37] That is brought in at least on an annual basis
[1:14:40] for a looksy for tires and brakes and and windshields.
[1:14:44] So they don't necessarily go through the process
[1:14:48] that you would see it maybe as rigorous as that.
[1:14:50] But there is a log that that vehicle was in that facility
[1:14:54] and reviewed at that point
[1:14:55] for just massive liability concerns.
[1:14:58] Yeah. 'cause somebody could turn that
[1:14:59] around if it was involved in an accident
[1:15:01] and say, well gee,
[1:15:02] when was the last time an attorney would grab
[1:15:03] that and, and ask that question.
[1:15:05] So we should have logs of, of when these vehicles come in
[1:15:09] as part of the DOT mandated inspections on the larger
[1:15:12] trucks, there's pre-trip inspections that are done.
[1:15:15] Correct. If a driver operator finds a deficiency,
[1:15:18] they take it to vehicle maintenance to, you know, have
[1:15:20] that reviewed and and taken a look at immediately.
[1:15:23] So there's a lot of overview on all of the vehicles,
[1:15:27] but I'll confirm with the police chief
[1:15:29] and fire chief what they do specific to those departments.
[1:15:32] Now with the commercial vehicle inspections,
[1:15:39] is there a federal requirement?
[1:15:40] Did they have to be stickered
[1:15:41] or anything like that to meet the
[1:15:42] federal requirements? Yeah,
[1:15:44] We have.
[1:15:45] We have the stickers on the, on the trucks
[1:15:46] and we also have backup paperwork at the
[1:15:48] shop in the file folders.
[1:15:50] Yeah, so probably again a concern for that.
[1:15:53] That's also carried through
[1:15:54] with all the commercial vehicles throughout the town.
[1:15:56] Yep, absolutely. So
[1:15:59] That's it.
[1:16:01] Council Chase and my question piggybacks on his,
[1:16:04] so compared to the annual state inspections,
[1:16:07] which I'm sure used to be done with you,
[1:16:10] is there any cost difference
[1:16:11] between the New Hampshire State inspections
[1:16:13] and the DOT inspections? No.
[1:16:15] Okay. 'cause we're an inspection station,
[1:16:16] so the mechanics do the inspections. Right.
[1:16:18] So the no paperwork
[1:16:20] or fees are different from the feds than nom
[1:16:23] From the state.
[1:16:24] Yeah. Nominal for picking up the
[1:16:25] stickers to put on the trailers.
[1:16:26] Okay.
[1:16:29] Did you have anything? Nothing. Thank you.
[1:16:31] Council put, do you have anything? No. Councilor Haley?
[1:16:35] Nothing from me. All right. Nothing from me either.
[1:16:38] Thank you.
[1:16:40] One more time, Madam Chair,
[1:16:42] then I will move the figure
[1:16:43] $740,250
[1:16:47] for the Vehicle Maintenance Activity Center.
[1:16:51] I'll second that. Alright, on the motion Council Mills?
[1:16:54] Yes. Councilor Webb? Yes. Councilor Chase? Yes.
[1:16:57] Councilor Foote? Yes. Councillor Healy?
[1:17:00] Yes. And Chair Votes? Yes. Motion passes.
[1:17:02] Six zero Building and Grounds
[1:17:09] Buildings and Grounds is page 2 48 in the council Budget
[1:17:11] books our Buildings and Grounds division.
[1:17:17] Tim Gillespie is sort of heading that division.
[1:17:21] He is one of the newer members.
[1:17:23] When Rob Robinson re retired
[1:17:25] a little less than a year ago, Tim took over.
[1:17:28] He, he and his crew provide custodial services to,
[1:17:31] to five buildings, about a hundred thousand square
[1:17:33] feet of space.
[1:17:35] They provide maintenance support to another 15 buildings,
[1:17:39] another 145,000 square feet.
[1:17:41] That includes the four fire stations.
[1:17:43] We do provide custodial support, partial
[1:17:48] for the new headquarters building
[1:17:50] and we do some very basic
[1:17:53] maintenance over at the old fire station.
[1:17:57] The one on East Broadway,
[1:17:59] the revenues buildings grounds is $150,335.
[1:18:03] That's primarily from rentals and cell tower leases.
[1:18:07] The expenditures are $1,129,385.
[1:18:13] The F four 30 line items within the budget support routine
[1:18:17] contracted maintenance including fire alarm testing,
[1:18:20] elevator testing, window cleaning, et cetera.
[1:18:24] The remainder of the items in the budget, personnel,
[1:18:27] fuel supplies, and repair parts.
[1:18:30] We do have one capital item within the budget
[1:18:33] to replace truck number 6 28 A 2015 pickup truck
[1:18:37] and plow for $65,000 funded from
[1:18:40] through the department's Capital Reserve account.
[1:18:45] That I would open up to.
[1:18:46] Any questions on the specific line items within the
[1:18:48] budget Council may have
[1:18:50] Questions.
[1:18:51] Council Chase one, how are we doing lately with
[1:18:56] personnel that are
[1:18:59] in the trades, electricians and such?
[1:19:02] How are we doing compared to the public?
[1:19:03] I know it's been a problem keeping
[1:19:05] them in the public sector.
[1:19:06] I mean in the town sector as,
[1:19:10] as into the private sector.
[1:19:13] So the department
[1:19:14] through the years has been very proactive as far
[1:19:16] as providing training.
[1:19:18] We did, the council did support the addition of an HVAC
[1:19:23] position for the department.
[1:19:24] So that's been valuable to us.
[1:19:26] They're continuing schooling on different
[1:19:29] aspects of that trade.
[1:19:32] The prior crew chief had his electric license.
[1:19:36] We do have one electrician on staff through the water
[1:19:40] and wastewater departments.
[1:19:41] We're in the process. One
[1:19:42] of the other vacancies we're trying to fill right now
[1:19:44] and finding it a little bit difficult
[1:19:46] is another electrician.
[1:19:47] So we're finding it very difficult competing
[1:19:49] with the private sector, the
[1:19:51] through the council support and the town administrator.
[1:19:53] We did recognize that in the, in the collective bargaining
[1:19:57] agreements and there was some adjustment made
[1:19:59] to be a little bit more competitive.
[1:20:00] So we're optimistic
[1:20:01] that we'll be able to fill those positions.
[1:20:04] But yes, we do, we do provide the training in addition
[1:20:06] to the other personnel
[1:20:08] and they, they do take advantage of that training as well.
[1:20:10] Okay. I'm just thinking about the future.
[1:20:12] 'cause having somebody that's licensed on staff,
[1:20:14] whether it's electricians, plumbers, whatever, is
[1:20:17] to me would be more cost effective than having
[1:20:18] to go out into the absolute private sector
[1:20:21] and have hire them to come in. Yes,
[1:20:23] Definitely.
[1:20:27] That's What, just a general comment.
[1:20:32] Your staff does a great job.
[1:20:33] I every time you go in the building,
[1:20:34] it's a really professional looking
[1:20:36] and I think well maintained.
[1:20:37] Thank you. And between the streets
[1:20:41] and here, I think it, you know,
[1:20:43] shows off the town really well.
[1:20:44] And my other general comment is just a concern
[1:20:47] and it's not for you, it's just
[1:20:49] looking at some of the wages.
[1:20:51] And the scary thing about it is that
[1:20:53] we're looking at a plan point where family plan,
[1:20:57] health insurance costs may soon exceed some of the wages
[1:21:01] of your, of our custodians.
[1:21:04] And that's just scary to me. So thank you.
[1:21:10] No questions. Councilor Haley, do you have anything?
[1:21:15] Nothing. Alright,
[1:21:19] Madam Chair, I would like
[1:21:20] to move the figure
[1:21:21] $1,129,385
[1:21:26] for the Buildings and Grounds Activity Center.
[1:21:30] I'll second that On the motion. Council mills? Yes.
[1:21:34] Councilor Webb? Yes. Councilor Chase? Yes. Councilor Foot?
[1:21:37] Yes. Councilor Healy?
[1:21:40] Yes. And chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six zero.
[1:21:46] Moving on counselors, the cemetery division.
[1:21:48] Page 2 63 in council budget books.
[1:21:51] I'm gonna invite Clint up one last time.
[1:21:55] Clint is also the supervisor of the cemetery division.
[1:21:59] We have 35 acres of grounds
[1:22:00] that are maintained within that division.
[1:22:03] We endeavor to keep the cemetery open year round.
[1:22:06] This year was particularly challenging in that regard.
[1:22:10] We have 90 internments
[1:22:12] and fiscal year 25 that included 42 full burials
[1:22:15] and 48 cremations.
[1:22:18] The cemetery still has over a thousand
[1:22:19] full burial plots available.
[1:22:21] So we don't have any capacity concerns.
[1:22:24] The revenues within the budget is $113,200.
[1:22:28] The budget requested is $191,246.
[1:22:33] The revenues are primarily from perpetual care
[1:22:36] burial services, lot sales and trust income.
[1:22:40] The expenses are primarily the full-time
[1:22:42] and seasonal employees along with tools
[1:22:44] and supplies to maintain the grounds.
[1:22:49] That's It. And with
[1:22:50] that I'll open up any questions on specific
[1:22:52] line items by the council?
[1:22:54] Council Put just a comment
[1:22:56] just to reiterate what you said.
[1:22:58] So it's a year round cemetery, so many
[1:23:00] around us don't do year round burials.
[1:23:02] So we are fortunate that we do do that.
[1:23:04] So just wanted to highlight that for those at Home
[1:23:09] Chase And I just wanna make a comment
[1:23:10] that the cemetery staff does an excellent job down there.
[1:23:14] They're always polite, they're, you know,
[1:23:17] courteous if you're,
[1:23:18] because that's a tough place for some people
[1:23:21] and they're always out of the, if you go in there,
[1:23:22] they're always outta your way.
[1:23:23] They don't come mowing your flowers down
[1:23:26] or give you a hard time or anything like that.
[1:23:28] And they do an excellent job.
[1:23:29] Appreciate, don't wanna commend 'em for it.
[1:23:33] I Have no questions ma'am.
[1:23:34] Council F? Nope,
[1:23:36] Come on.
[1:23:37] You don't have any question.
[1:23:40] I'm just dying to ask a question, but I won't. Oh.
[1:23:44] Alright. Moving on. Councilor Healey,
[1:23:48] I have no questions.
[1:23:50] I did have one question and this may or may not copy yet.
[1:23:54] With all the work that Councilor put has been doing along
[1:23:56] with all the others to kind of find all those
[1:24:00] headstones that have been covered up.
[1:24:02] And I know some have kind of sunk and things are going on.
[1:24:04] Are there, are there any plans for kind
[1:24:05] of maintaining those once they're,
[1:24:08] or is there anything to be done
[1:24:09] to maintain those once they're, we,
[1:24:10] We get calls pretty regularly
[1:24:12] from people that stop up there.
[1:24:13] If they can't find them or they see just a small portion
[1:24:15] of it, the cemetery staff will pick 'em up.
[1:24:17] Veterans markets we do when they come in
[1:24:20] and obviously a lot of volunteer
[1:24:22] groups have come in and help out. So
[1:24:24] Thank you.
[1:24:25] No problem. There's been quite an effort too of,
[1:24:27] of continuing mapping the cemetery
[1:24:29] through our GIS department, Doug in it, as well
[1:24:33] as some private organizations where the veterans are,
[1:24:35] are linking those databases.
[1:24:38] So this is, there's a lot
[1:24:39] of work continuing on that as well.
[1:24:40] Awesome. Thank you
[1:24:43] Madam Chair.
[1:24:44] Then I will move the figure $191,246
[1:24:49] for the Cemetery Activity Center.
[1:24:52] I'll second that. All right. On the motion.
[1:24:54] Council mills? Yes. Council Webb?
[1:24:57] Yes. Councillor Chase? Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes.
[1:25:00] Councillor Healy? Yes. And chair votes? Yes. Motion passes.
[1:25:04] Six zero Thank you. On to Code Enforcement
[1:25:10] Councilors.
[1:25:11] Code enforcement. On page 2 71 in the budget books.
[1:25:13] I'm gonna invite Carrie Owen to come,
[1:25:15] our director of Building and code.
[1:25:18] Kerry has been with us since almost a year now.
[1:25:21] Getting close. Yeah,
[1:25:23] Good evening.
[1:25:24] Good evening. Somebody new in the chair.
[1:25:28] I was wondering why he bothered leaving all the time.
[1:25:34] Permit activity remaining strong to say the least.
[1:25:38] In FY 26 fiscal year 26 year to date
[1:25:43] revenues at $368,000 FY 25,
[1:25:46] we saw 1,476 building permits,
[1:25:49] generating 600 just over $600,000 in, in revenues
[1:25:54] this year we're projecting 470,320 do $25 in revenues.
[1:26:00] We are requesting a budget of 615,000 thousand $936.
[1:26:05] The permit revenue estimated increased in FY 27
[1:26:08] by about $135,000.
[1:26:12] The budget does include one full-time building inspector
[1:26:15] to support inspection and enforcement demands.
[1:26:18] And we have one capital project, a new 1500
[1:26:22] for the new building Inspector
[1:26:27] Chevy Pickup truck.
[1:26:28] Or similar for $60,000 that would be funded
[1:26:30] through our capital reserve.
[1:26:32] This is a quick snapshot of our building permit history,
[1:26:35] which, you know, obviously requires a little explanation.
[1:26:39] If you look over at the permit column, you see it's sort
[1:26:42] of stagnant or even goes down a little bit.
[1:26:44] But the complexity
[1:26:45] and the extent
[1:26:48] of those permits are significantly more than they have been
[1:26:51] in the past, which is why it generates the higher,
[1:26:53] higher permit revenues.
[1:26:59] With that, I will open it up
[1:27:00] to any specific questions the council may have
[1:27:03] on the line items within the budget
[1:27:07] Questions?
[1:27:09] No, just saying thank you
[1:27:10] for adding a full-time voting Inspector
[1:27:15] Council.
[1:27:16] Haley, Eileen.
[1:27:18] Yeah, so I do have a question on this budget.
[1:27:21] I'm glad to see there's a building inspector in the
[1:27:23] budget right now.
[1:27:26] What's the turnaround time on if someone requests a permit
[1:27:29] or if they put in a code violation?
[1:27:32] Is, are we behind on that? Is it a, you know, a week or two?
[1:27:37] What's the average time from when a violation's reported
[1:27:42] to when someone goes out
[1:27:44] and the same for say, a building permit?
[1:27:47] What's the average turnaround time
[1:27:49] and with the, the one full-time building inspector,
[1:27:54] if there is kind of a lag, take care of that.
[1:27:58] Absolutely. So for permit review
[1:28:01] and turnaround, it depends on the, the type of permit
[1:28:04] and if it's a complete submission application.
[1:28:06] So generally for smaller permits
[1:28:08] with residential renovations, sheds, decks, things like
[1:28:13] that, it'll be a three
[1:28:14] to a five day turnaround depending on the workload.
[1:28:18] And then new construction, residential,
[1:28:20] commercial new construction
[1:28:22] or renovations do require additional internal
[1:28:25] department sign-offs.
[1:28:26] So that review does take a little longer
[1:28:27] because it has to touch a variety of hands.
[1:28:30] It can take anywhere from, I would say on average three
[1:28:35] to six weeks, depending on the level of review
[1:28:38] and how many departments are required.
[1:28:41] And then as far as code enforcement right now,
[1:28:44] I would say on average when we receive a claim complaint,
[1:28:47] we try our best to inspect
[1:28:49] or at least make contact on that complaint within that week.
[1:28:54] Sometimes it may spill out into that second week
[1:28:56] and then generally we're following up within that week span
[1:29:00] or the following week
[1:29:01] with any additional enforcement that's necessary.
[1:29:06] And the last question, I'm sorry, counselor Healy, I,
[1:29:09] if you could remind me what that was?
[1:29:12] I, I I think that was it. Okay. That helps.
[1:29:15] And I think what the additional building inspector will be
[1:29:19] even a quicker of a a, a turnaround.
[1:29:21] But I just wanna make sure that we weren't,
[1:29:23] you know, way behind.
[1:29:26] And I think you answered my questions. Thank you.
[1:29:29] You're welcome. And if I can elaborate kind of on
[1:29:32] that additional inspector, the way that I see this, kind of,
[1:29:35] the goal would be to bring on somebody who's expertise in
[1:29:38] that third trade and then kind of allowing the inspectors
[1:29:43] to focus on in inspectional services heavily
[1:29:46] and some plan review and permitting process
[1:29:48] and code enforcement allowing the code enforcement director
[1:29:51] to heavily focus on code enforcement as well as plan review.
[1:29:55] And then also
[1:29:56] that third inspector offer those additional services
[1:29:59] during our busiest times when the demand is at its peak.
[1:30:04] It's just to further elaborate.
[1:30:06] So presently we are one building inspector down temporarily.
[1:30:10] So Carrie's been pretty much
[1:30:11] holding down the fort right now.
[1:30:13] We are, have a contract service that we have in right now,
[1:30:18] a few days, a few hours during the week they come in
[1:30:21] and they assist in, in specifically just inspections.
[1:30:24] We're looking at bringing, bringing on another individual
[1:30:26] part-time, a veteran who will be assisting
[1:30:31] with the plan review process again part-time
[1:30:34] and will help us onboard the new individual.
[1:30:37] So that'll be great. We'll have some of
[1:30:38] that institutional knowledge
[1:30:39] to help onboard the, the new position.
[1:30:41] And then we do have embedded in this a a $10,000 line item
[1:30:45] for a building inspection services,
[1:30:48] which could be either something during a peak time
[1:30:51] or very specialized,
[1:30:52] but there's a dollar for dollar offsetting revenue
[1:30:55] in the budget for that as well.
[1:30:58] Thank you. Council
[1:30:59] Web, This is a totally random thought
[1:31:02] so I apologize for it.
[1:31:04] But with, at least with the fire inspectors,
[1:31:07] when they go out, they have the emergency
[1:31:10] board on their radios.
[1:31:12] Do your inspectors when they go out there, have any way
[1:31:15] to do a emergency alert if they find
[1:31:20] themselves because they're by themselves,
[1:31:22] if they find themselves in a hostile situation?
[1:31:26] Nothing beyond just our cell phone at this point time.
[1:31:29] Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if there's any sort
[1:31:31] of technology out there in how expensive, but it might be.
[1:31:35] But it might be a good idea
[1:31:36] because it's pretty obvious when you grab a cell phone
[1:31:40] versus when you can quietly hit
[1:31:43] just a emergency alert button, at least for the fire side
[1:31:47] or a police side on a radio
[1:31:50] or being able to just, you know, reach into a pocketbook
[1:31:53] or reach on your hip or wherever.
[1:31:55] Just, just like we have here in town hall,
[1:31:59] the emergency work buttons for lockdown.
[1:32:05] And again, this is a random idea,
[1:32:06] but I think it might be worthwhile to look into.
[1:32:13] Certainly. Excellent. Okay.
[1:32:17] Looks like there's no other questions.
[1:32:19] No other questions. Madam Chair.
[1:32:21] I would like to move the figure
[1:32:22] $615,936
[1:32:27] for the Code Enforcement Activity Center.
[1:32:30] All right. We motion a second on the motion.
[1:32:32] Council mills? Yes. Councilor Webb? Yes. Councilor Chase?
[1:32:35] Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes. Councilor Healy?
[1:32:38] Yes. And Chair Votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six zero.
[1:32:41] Thank you. Thank you
[1:32:43] To it.
[1:32:46] Or come back. Yeah. Thank you.
[1:32:53] Moving on to recreation page 280 in the
[1:32:57] council's budget books.
[1:32:58] I'm gonna invite Kim Walsh,
[1:32:59] our Director of Parks and Recreation.
[1:33:01] Good evening. And
[1:33:02] It's truly the veteran of the department.
[1:33:04] Yes. Six years Recreation.
[1:33:10] Kim's crew and team coordinate with 10
[1:33:13] over 10 sports organizations.
[1:33:16] They sponsor over a hundred events and programs annually.
[1:33:21] The budget is presented with a projected revenue
[1:33:23] of $150,772.
[1:33:27] We are requesting a budget of $797,494.
[1:33:32] The budget includes all leagues, programs, events
[1:33:36] that were fully operative in 26, continuing into 27.
[1:33:40] Revenues are based on service fees and trust income.
[1:33:44] The summer concerts and fireworks.
[1:33:46] Two of the largest items within the budget are fully
[1:33:48] supported in F FY 27.
[1:33:51] Many of the expenditure items have offsetting revenues such
[1:33:55] as concessions and program fees.
[1:34:00] With that, I would open up
[1:34:01] to any specific questions in recreation
[1:34:04] council may have. Council.
[1:34:06] Thank You Madam Michelle, senior programs,
[1:34:09] are there any, I know last year the senior trips were kind
[1:34:13] of dwindled down a little bit.
[1:34:14] Is there any plans for senior field trips this year?
[1:34:17] So as I state every year for the past
[1:34:20] four years since COVID, we have been doing our best
[1:34:24] to bring senior trips back on board.
[1:34:27] We are still looking at
[1:34:30] alternatives, smaller buses.
[1:34:33] We've had Melinda, who works in our office,
[1:34:36] I believe had worked on
[1:34:39] and put out four different senior trips
[1:34:42] and we had eight signups.
[1:34:44] So two fund a trip to be able to at least break even.
[1:34:49] We need 40 participants.
[1:34:52] But unfortunately with the cost of the bus, the cost
[1:34:55] of everything, it's running about anywhere from 90
[1:34:59] to $125 for these seniors.
[1:35:01] And it's just not affordable for them.
[1:35:03] So right now I'm really hoping we can do something a little
[1:35:07] more local and looking at, you know, we, we'd like
[1:35:11] to have a van with a driver where maybe we could do a 15
[1:35:15] to 20 passenger van or smaller bus.
[1:35:20] I know that there, there are the seniors
[1:35:22] that really want to do it.
[1:35:23] It's just, it's just not affordable for most of them.
[1:35:27] So we're doing our best and,
[1:35:28] and really hoping that we'll get at least one
[1:35:30] or two on board for this fiscal year.
[1:35:33] FY 27 I should say.
[1:35:35] And then any update on the disc? Golf?
[1:35:41] We do not have an update.
[1:35:43] You had made me, made the introduction
[1:35:46] and I haven't heard anything since.
[1:35:48] Okay. From the, the folks that were interested,
[1:35:51] we're still open to the idea.
[1:35:52] I think. I think the hill over at AC
[1:35:56] Alexander Car Park would be phenomenal.
[1:35:59] It's not a lot of work and expense.
[1:36:02] And if you do have any conversations with the folks
[1:36:06] that have reached out to you, we're more than welcome
[1:36:07] to revisit that. Take
[1:36:09] Care of it tomorrow.
[1:36:11] Excellent. Are you gonna play?
[1:36:14] I don't know anything about it.
[1:36:16] I used take regular golf my first time last week
[1:36:18] And that was a very good, I'm very good.
[1:36:19] I don't think you'll see me out there, but
[1:36:22] Council, thank You.
[1:36:23] Just a question on the Elder Way programs,
[1:36:26] have we ever done a, a community survey tool at what some
[1:36:31] of our senior citizens would be looking for
[1:36:34] as far as recreation?
[1:36:36] Because you, I, I get the thought with
[1:36:39] Councilor foot's questions.
[1:36:42] When you said that you only had about eight
[1:36:43] signups for these trips.
[1:36:45] Correct. And that might not be
[1:36:48] what people are looking for anymore.
[1:36:51] Do we actually know what people want for recreation?
[1:36:55] I think when you're talking recreation
[1:36:57] and you're talking the senior bus trips,
[1:36:58] that's more of an activity.
[1:37:00] Right. We have a lot of communication.
[1:37:02] We have a lot of seniors that come in.
[1:37:04] I mean, they're regulars. They're five days a week.
[1:37:08] They're very vocal. They do come into the office
[1:37:11] and these are the folks that have taken the senior
[1:37:14] trips every year.
[1:37:16] Yeah. Prior to, to myself coming on board.
[1:37:19] And they beg the same people come in, they want these trips.
[1:37:22] We do lobster trips, we do boat, you know Right.
[1:37:25] Destination to a boat, trip Lake, Winni Pasa.
[1:37:29] And they, they say they're interested and,
[1:37:32] and I just feel like the money is
[1:37:35] so tight at this point in time that
[1:37:39] they just can't afford it.
[1:37:42] We could certainly put out a survey,
[1:37:44] but most of the seniors that are interested
[1:37:47] and then back out or don't have the money, are the ones
[1:37:50] that we're seeing every day.
[1:37:51] Yeah. So, and we really would like it.
[1:37:54] I mean these, these, these folks that come into the,
[1:37:57] to vets hall and to the gym and that we correspond with.
[1:38:01] I mean, it's, it's their life. It's their social life.
[1:38:05] We see them every day. Yeah.
[1:38:07] We know the ins and outs of their families.
[1:38:09] So we really, really hope
[1:38:10] that we can get something up and running for them.
[1:38:13] You think we're getting to the point again, I'm thinking
[1:38:16] of several years from now because of the, of the budget.
[1:38:21] Are we getting to the point where we need a senior center?
[1:38:26] That really is a great question.
[1:38:29] I think that the seniors of our community would love that
[1:38:34] we have, as far as as the job that I have to do.
[1:38:38] We have the senior portion
[1:38:42] for recreation.
[1:38:44] We I see a need more for and we could make it multipurpose.
[1:38:48] Yeah. But we need, we need, especially
[1:38:51] with the New England Sports Center shutting
[1:38:53] down, we need a facility.
[1:38:54] We need a ba, indoor basketball, soccer, you know,
[1:38:59] something that may be down the road, you know,
[1:39:02] wishlist Yeah.
[1:39:03] Is to, is to combine the two.
[1:39:06] And I, I do, I do think that, that people ask for it.
[1:39:11] The Mary Gar Center does a phenomenal job.
[1:39:13] They have so many incredible programs for the seniors.
[1:39:16] So they do supplement for
[1:39:18] the things that we're not able to do.
[1:39:20] But I don't think you'd see the seniors turning
[1:39:22] down a senior center.
[1:39:24] So maybe down the road, something we can look at.
[1:39:32] Councilor Haley,
[1:39:37] I have no questions.
[1:39:38] Alright. And mine got asked again, so. Okay. Thank you
[1:39:42] Madam Chair.
[1:39:43] Seeing no further questions, I'd like
[1:39:44] to move the figure
[1:39:45] $797,494
[1:39:50] for the Recreation Activity Center.
[1:39:53] I'll second that. Alright. On the motion.
[1:39:55] Council mills? Yes. Councillor Webb. Yes. Councillor Chase.
[1:39:59] Yes. Councilor Foote. Yes. Councillor Haley.
[1:40:02] Yes. And chair votes? Yes. Motion passes.
[1:40:05] Thank you. I have question. Oh, sorry.
[1:40:07] People answer. And is there any formalized pickleball
[1:40:10] league in town, like through the recreation department?
[1:40:13] So we have, we have a private rental on Mondays.
[1:40:16] A group that has been in for a year and a half.
[1:40:19] We now have a program through St.
[1:40:22] Thomas' Churches gym, gym
[1:40:25] that we've run several nights in during the day
[1:40:29] and have built that up.
[1:40:30] So we do have indoor pickleball for,
[1:40:34] and then it's not just seniors anymore,
[1:40:36] it's all age groups now that are really just
[1:40:38] Someone asked me anybody.
[1:40:39] So can they just reach out to you to get more information on
[1:40:40] and you can Those leagues
[1:40:41] They registered through our,
[1:40:43] through the recreation office.
[1:40:45] Okay. And we make arrangements with, with St.
[1:40:47] Thomas to set up those times
[1:40:48] and rental fees and, and whatnot. Okay.
[1:40:51] Thank you. Moving
[1:40:56] on to the parks department,
[1:40:58] page 2 93 in the council budget books,
[1:41:02] 132 acres of parks maintained by, by Kim and her team.
[1:41:06] Nine multi-purpose fields. Eight baseball, softball fields.
[1:41:12] Dairy is proud to have a beach, a splash pad.
[1:41:15] Two basketball courts, five tennis courts,
[1:41:18] two pickleball courts, three playgrounds,
[1:41:20] the dog park and the skate park.
[1:41:23] We are projecting revenues at $99,967.
[1:41:28] We are requesting a budget of $1,173,072.
[1:41:33] Revenues are primarily from the use
[1:41:35] of the Alexander Car Trust.
[1:41:36] $84,000 of, of those revenues costs
[1:41:41] include electricity for field lighting and operations
[1:41:43] and field maintenance expense categories.
[1:41:47] Again, personnel, field maintenance and related supplies.
[1:41:50] We do have two requests for capital items.
[1:41:53] The first is a new field pro groomer
[1:41:57] for $45,000 that's funded through the Capital Reserve.
[1:42:03] It's, it really will dramatically improve our ability
[1:42:07] to maintain the, the ball fields as well as
[1:42:11] in consideration of the better manpower use,
[1:42:15] more efficient use of manpower.
[1:42:17] We're also looking to replace vehicle 6 34.
[1:42:20] That's a 2 5 20 15, 2500 pickup truck with a plow.
[1:42:24] $65,000 funded through our capital reserve account.
[1:42:29] And one thing we wanna just kind of touch on really quickly,
[1:42:33] 'cause it's been mentioned in, in budgets past in 2019,
[1:42:38] there was quite an extensive conversation
[1:42:41] with regard to recreation.
[1:42:43] There was a, a bond, the balance
[1:42:46] of which is just about a million dollars right now.
[1:42:49] We are looking and investigating with, with, with Kim and,
[1:42:53] and her team on how to best allocate that the,
[1:42:56] those remaining funds.
[1:42:58] One of the, the bigger projects
[1:43:00] that we looked at over the summer is the ability to get a,
[1:43:05] a code compliant stair access up to the skate park.
[1:43:08] We bid that out. It was, it was a $70,000 project.
[1:43:13] We were looking at different types of security
[1:43:15] and lighting upgrades at both Hood and Alexander Carr.
[1:43:18] We think those are priority
[1:43:19] before we started doing any major investments at,
[1:43:22] at those facilities.
[1:43:24] The Alexander car tennis courts need some work.
[1:43:28] We're estimating that about $65,000, the Hood Park
[1:43:33] Street Hockey Court resurfacing as well
[1:43:35] as the Hood Basketball court and the hood Tennis
[1:43:38] and pickleball court, all resurfacing projects.
[1:43:41] Other things that we are looking at
[1:43:43] that Kim's been doing a little bit
[1:43:45] of research on is some other improvements to Hood Park.
[1:43:49] Maybe an, an ancillary misting pad.
[1:43:52] Not not quite a all out splash pad,
[1:43:54] but something that would work in conjunction
[1:43:56] with an enhanced playground facilities.
[1:44:00] We do need to put some money into the building over there,
[1:44:02] do some renovations, kind of bring
[1:44:04] that facility back to life.
[1:44:05] So we're gonna put all of that together
[1:44:06] and come back to the council with
[1:44:09] technically repurposing some of those funds for some
[1:44:11] of these projects and get some
[1:44:13] input from the council as well.
[1:44:19] With that, I would open up
[1:44:20] to the council any specific questions within the line items
[1:44:22] of the Budget Council.
[1:44:24] Thank you Madam Chair. In regards to Hood Park,
[1:44:27] I know no fault of anyone here,
[1:44:29] but Hood Park revitalization has con fallen through
[1:44:32] to the victim of the times and the, you know, the economy
[1:44:34] and whatnot and just a lack of interest in people,
[1:44:38] contractors wanting to do it.
[1:44:40] Do we know, has any of that changed currently?
[1:44:43] Like is that an option that we can re-explore to try to
[1:44:47] revitalize that and, and maybe put out new bids
[1:44:50] and see if anyone has
[1:44:52] Slow down enough?
[1:44:53] So I think I, I think initially when Mike had put out the
[1:44:57] Hood Park bid, it was a very large,
[1:45:00] it encompasses encompassed the entire park
[1:45:04] and many components where we did not get any bids on that.
[1:45:08] Since then, I think we've looking at as,
[1:45:11] as Tom had spelled out in, in one of the pages that
[1:45:15] we're looking at, okay, let's, let's piecemeal.
[1:45:19] And we do, we have to those, all those courts,
[1:45:21] whether it's AC or the Hood Park courts
[1:45:24] are used tremendously.
[1:45:27] I mean, if you go by there any night they're used.
[1:45:29] So that's a priority.
[1:45:31] But as far as what you're asking,
[1:45:34] we were thinking about trying to narrow down, okay,
[1:45:36] what could we do to show the community
[1:45:41] that we're making the efforts on?
[1:45:43] And maybe it's little by little, maybe it's year by year,
[1:45:46] but we had thought about, you know,
[1:45:49] upgrading the playground equipment
[1:45:51] and then having sort of in conjunction with that,
[1:45:54] a misting pad and, and as, as far as a large splash pad
[1:45:58] and not being a full destination.
[1:46:00] And this is really just my opinion and what I think we need
[1:46:03] and what we can, can, can really host over there is,
[1:46:07] is the misting pad would be with the playground
[1:46:09] and kids run through it as opposed to our large, you know,
[1:46:13] don wall splash pad.
[1:46:14] So I think for us, if we could
[1:46:19] kind of hone in on, on a few of those adjustments and,
[1:46:24] and put out to bid maybe the playground, a misting pad,
[1:46:27] I think that would be something
[1:46:28] that the community would see.
[1:46:31] They would appreciate.
[1:46:34] We, you know, we have the older, we have adults
[1:46:38] and we have the older demographic as far as teenagers in,
[1:46:41] in high school using those basketball,
[1:46:44] basketball courts and whatnot.
[1:46:46] But where this would, this would kind of gear to the,
[1:46:49] the younger demographic to the families, to the young kids.
[1:46:54] And in that we need better security
[1:46:57] and lighting at Hood Park too.
[1:46:59] So to me those are like sort of the priorities
[1:47:02] that maybe we could look to go out, put together
[1:47:04] and go out to, to bid on those pieces. Right.
[1:47:07] Because I'm thinking with now with Abbott Court kind
[1:47:09] of underway and taking taken off,
[1:47:11] there might be some more viability
[1:47:13] to Hood Park utilization Sure.
[1:47:15] In conjunction with Abbott Court. More of a draw.
[1:47:18] Absolutely. And you know, within walking distance it might
[1:47:20] be that destination that we were looking for initially
[1:47:22] that kind of fell to the wayside.
[1:47:24] So I think, you know, I think
[1:47:26] that's why I think now is a good opportunity to,
[1:47:28] to re re reexamine that overall.
[1:47:31] And you know, and little Steps is fine. Right.
[1:47:34] As long as we're doing something to like you,
[1:47:36] I No, we agree.
[1:47:37] We agree. Absolutely.
[1:47:38] 'cause I, those are one of the, I I get, I'm sure you do.
[1:47:41] Oh yeah. We get questions often.
[1:47:42] What are you doing with Hood Park?
[1:47:44] What's going on with Hood Park?
[1:47:45] And, and we had all that time put into it
[1:47:48] and that effort into the complete project and, and the RFP
[1:47:53] and then that went flat.
[1:47:54] So I think that's really our next steps. Yeah.
[1:47:58] And you know, just in my experience only here for six years,
[1:48:02] I feel like when the public sees efforts being
[1:48:04] made, that goes a long way.
[1:48:06] So I think that's where we would start.
[1:48:08] And I think in, in Tom's last bullet line, the presentation
[1:48:12] to, to council would be sort of to organize those items
[1:48:16] and show you where we're kind of looking at. Because
[1:48:19] In the most recent years, that's always been one
[1:48:20] of my priorities on the, the, when we do our goals,
[1:48:23] that's Hood Park is always,
[1:48:24] and I think now this again, just that needs potential
[1:48:27] for more liability right now to, to reexamine that.
[1:48:29] Right. And then park wise,
[1:48:33] projection wise, how's it looking
[1:48:35] for the summer help and all the
[1:48:37] Oh, we're looking great.
[1:48:38] We, we we're very, very blessed that we have returning
[1:48:44] what I call veterans.
[1:48:45] They could be 17 years old. We start hiring at 14.
[1:48:49] So on the recreation side, I mean we are,
[1:48:52] we blow away numbers for lifeguards.
[1:48:54] I mean we have a good, really good incentive program,
[1:48:57] which I definitely think helps to retain our lifeguards.
[1:49:02] We just like anything else across the board, years ago we,
[1:49:06] we changed our hourly rates to be competitive.
[1:49:09] I think that's made a big difference.
[1:49:11] But we are, you know, aside from maybe some
[1:49:15] reliable supervisors up at Dumbbell Park, I mean we're,
[1:49:19] we're, we're good with staff.
[1:49:21] Still looking for some, some park seasonal crew.
[1:49:24] They need to be 18 plus.
[1:49:26] But I still think we're gonna,
[1:49:27] we're gonna be in a good position for the summer for sure.
[1:49:30] Great. Thank you. Yeah. Sounds
[1:49:33] What, I'm gonna move on to the ball fields.
[1:49:38] Okay. I had seen some plans for improvements at Vets Fields.
[1:49:44] Is what's happening with that?
[1:49:46] Is that, that moving forward? Or
[1:49:48] So are you improvements,
[1:49:49] are you referring to the parking lot?
[1:49:51] The parking lot. They were gonna change the configuration
[1:49:54] of the field to add some parking
[1:49:55] and make it a better field collapse.
[1:49:58] The, the elk field was so big
[1:49:59] that they were gonna shrink it up to,
[1:50:01] to make it a more viable field and add some parking to it.
[1:50:04] So the, the parking portion is still,
[1:50:07] we have not moved forward on, on that part of the project.
[1:50:11] The field itself is a youth only field.
[1:50:14] I'm gonna say maybe two, three years ago.
[1:50:16] We had, actually,
[1:50:18] before I started there was a men's league out there.
[1:50:21] We've really sort of want
[1:50:25] to deter any adults from using that field
[1:50:27] because the residents that are very close by
[1:50:30] or behind the out field.
[1:50:32] So we did make changes to that vet's field years ago.
[1:50:36] Made it smaller. It's specifically for youth softball
[1:50:40] and we have new batting cages that were put in.
[1:50:45] We're looking right now, we should be putting in
[1:50:50] electrical to the, to the scoreboard for the softball side.
[1:50:54] We redid both vets in O'Hara.
[1:50:58] We have all new LED lighting, which should be cutting a lot
[1:51:02] of costs on our electricity bills.
[1:51:05] And the plan is still to increase the parking,
[1:51:09] the parking's very limited there.
[1:51:12] So that, I would say that's probably our next step
[1:51:15] with regards to projects out at Vets Field.
[1:51:18] Okay. And the other two, kind of my
[1:51:21] pet projects being a little league veteran is now
[1:51:26] that the SAU is moving up into the former DER Village
[1:51:28] school, is there any plans to coordinate trying
[1:51:31] to make Smith and Bz tech a little more?
[1:51:34] 'cause they're kind of the redheaded step children
[1:51:36] ball fields make them a little more appealing and,
[1:51:40] and accessible than what they are now.
[1:51:43] So I have a twofold answer.
[1:51:47] So when we maintain those fields
[1:51:51] for baseball, they don't use them as frequently
[1:51:55] as the other fields.
[1:51:57] So it makes it harder to maintain.
[1:51:59] So if they're not on the fields, the weeds are growing in,
[1:52:03] it makes it that much more difficult when it doesn't get the
[1:52:06] use that the other fields get.
[1:52:07] With that being said, the ball field maintainer
[1:52:11] that is in the budget would be, pardon the pun, a complete
[1:52:15] game changer for my parts division.
[1:52:18] We would absolutely be able to maintain all the fields
[1:52:22] at a very high level.
[1:52:24] It's very time consuming.
[1:52:26] It's a labor intensive, a lot of work for the crew.
[1:52:30] And I think those fields would definitely get more inten
[1:52:32] attention with the equipment, the new piece of equipment.
[1:52:35] So a thought that I had is now that it's not being used
[1:52:39] as an elementary school, has there been given any thought as
[1:52:43] to moving them further out
[1:52:45] of the swamp up towards the forefront of the property so
[1:52:48] that they're, you know, more visible,
[1:52:50] more accessible than where they are now?
[1:52:53] 'cause you don't have to worry about the,
[1:52:54] the playground component of it now that it's not a school.
[1:52:56] It that's an e excellent point.
[1:52:59] I don't believe we've even visited that.
[1:53:02] I mean, I, from what I understand, the, we didn't know
[1:53:06] what the use of the Dairy Village school was gonna be.
[1:53:09] So conversations haven't even gotten that far.
[1:53:12] Now that we know that they are gonna be moving in there,
[1:53:14] we didn't even know if we were gonna have these fields.
[1:53:16] We thought depending on who,
[1:53:18] who was moving into the facility, we were nervous
[1:53:20] that we were gonna lose those fields altogether.
[1:53:22] Definitely something to consider to keep them for, you know,
[1:53:26] I don't know what that would cost
[1:53:28] or what that work would, you know, would be,
[1:53:31] but it's certainly something we can look at
[1:53:33] to pull 'em away from the, the woods and the wetlands Yeah.
[1:53:36] And, and whatnot for sure.
[1:53:38] Okay. Thank you. Council mill.
[1:53:42] Yes. I have a, a just a couple small question actually.
[1:53:46] It's about community participation in,
[1:53:48] in parks and recreation.
[1:53:50] Do you still have, do we still have the program as far
[1:53:54] as cul-de-sacs and little pocket parks
[1:53:56] that are all over the town?
[1:53:58] Do we have the, the program that homeowners can call up
[1:54:03] and ask for bark mulch in the spring
[1:54:07] and they, they, they will maintain that cul-de-sac
[1:54:10] and they used to give them a,
[1:54:13] a sign saying this property being maintained
[1:54:16] by such and such family.
[1:54:17] Do we still have that program?
[1:54:19] So to my knowledge, since I've been here for six years,
[1:54:21] I'm not even aware of that program.
[1:54:23] Wow. So I guess my answer is no.
[1:54:25] So my 30-year-old sign
[1:54:27] and my cul-de-sac is not gonna get replaced.
[1:54:31] So there, they're actually, so Clint, that's
[1:54:34] what I was just looking over my shoulder here.
[1:54:35] He does get calls from time to time of homeowners or,
[1:54:39] or groups and particularly in cul-de-sacs that want
[1:54:42] to do some improvements.
[1:54:43] Right. Those can be fine and great
[1:54:46] and it's as long as they're continually maintained.
[1:54:50] But obviously that's where we store snow,
[1:54:52] that's where the drainage goes.
[1:54:54] So it's, it's something that we have to look at individually
[1:54:58] to see what they wanna do and how we wanna support it.
[1:55:01] I'll, I'll invite you down to the Bonnie Ling cul-de-sac
[1:55:04] that I've maintained for 37 years now.
[1:55:06] And I have, I have an original old cement bench
[1:55:09] that Don ball dropped off at my house
[1:55:12] 'cause he'd never had a question like that.
[1:55:15] He said, seriously, I'll come down and look at it.
[1:55:17] And he dropped off and I've maintained it there for 37 years
[1:55:21] and my neighbors finally said, by the way,
[1:55:23] we can't read your sign anymore. Said,
[1:55:25] Sounds to me we might need to make a time,
[1:55:27] maybe a trip tomorrow, maybe
[1:55:28] It's time to get this program going.
[1:55:32] Okay. There used to be one at, at ed cone's house in
[1:55:36] that cul-de-sac there.
[1:55:38] Ed Blanche Carone maintained there.
[1:55:40] So maybe it's something we could start up again.
[1:55:43] A beautify dairy.
[1:55:46] Awesome, Thank you.
[1:55:48] This is for the town administrator on the
[1:55:50] initial recreation bond.
[1:55:52] I know it came with the structured timeline.
[1:55:54] So you said, I think Tom said there's a million
[1:55:55] dollars roughly in there.
[1:55:57] How, how does that look right now? So
[1:56:00] At the top of the slide
[1:56:02] is just a little bit over $1 million.
[1:56:05] It's 986,000 plus a hundred thousand dollars of interest.
[1:56:09] One piece we would have to examine on the net
[1:56:12] that's available to us
[1:56:13] because anytime that you, there's such an old or
[1:56:15] or bond that we have, you have potential
[1:56:18] for arbitrage penalties if you don't spend it
[1:56:21] within a certain amount of time.
[1:56:22] So I, I look to Mark when we get back around
[1:56:25] to talking about what we can afford,
[1:56:28] but again, the arbitrage penalty probably is, you know,
[1:56:31] 50,000, 75,000 if it even, you know,
[1:56:33] still exists at that level.
[1:56:34] But bottom line, for purposes of what you were bringing up,
[1:56:40] pursuant to our procedures here,
[1:56:42] we should do a repurposing hearing
[1:56:45] and have you take a formal vote on the specific items
[1:56:48] that would be included within the repurpose bond proceeds.
[1:56:52] Right. And that would give them direction to move forward
[1:56:54] with the bidding and, and whatnot
[1:56:55] of the specific projects that you've endorsed.
[1:56:58] Okay. Yeah. 'cause I, I'm pretty confident
[1:57:00] that the timeline is gone by the wayside.
[1:57:03] The initial, the initial plan anyways. Right.
[1:57:06] Okay. Yep. Councilor Healey, do you have anything?
[1:57:14] I don't have anything. I did just do a Google image
[1:57:17] of the cul-de-sac on Bonnie Lane.
[1:57:19] It looks pretty nice with the bench and everything.
[1:57:21] No, No questions.
[1:57:26] So no further questions Matt?
[1:57:27] Sorry, hold on one second. Before do that,
[1:57:29] I just have a quick question on that number.
[1:57:31] On the PowerPoint. I think it said $1,173,072
[1:57:37] and our book says
[1:57:38] one thousand one hundred one million one hundred seventy two thousand thirty nine dollars.
[1:57:42] So 30 minimum amount. But is the 39 30 accurate 1 39
[1:57:45] Is the amount you wanna go with? Yep.
[1:57:47] Okay. Now, now you can go for it.
[1:57:49] Well thank you for correcting that number for me madam.
[1:57:51] Sure. I moved the figure
[1:57:53] $1,173,039
[1:57:58] for the Parks Department activity center.
[1:58:01] I'll second that. Alright, on the motion.
[1:58:03] Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Webb? Yes. Councilor Chase?
[1:58:07] Yes. Councilor Foote? Yes. Councillor Healy.
[1:58:11] Yes. And Chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six zero.
[1:58:14] Thank you so much for your time this evening. Thank you.
[1:58:22] The Health Division. Page three 10 in
[1:58:25] the council budget books.
[1:58:26] I'll invite Carrie Owen, our director of Code
[1:58:31] and building who also oversees the health division along
[1:58:34] with Courtney Bogart, who is our health officer.
[1:58:37] It's a fairly straightforward budget.
[1:58:41] Courtney inspects some 214 establishments.
[1:58:45] The revenues are projected at $48,950.
[1:58:49] The budget requested is $159,698
[1:58:54] and that encompasses, encompasses primarily personnel costs,
[1:58:57] the mosquito control program at $40,000.
[1:59:02] So those are the primary costs within that division.
[1:59:04] And if there's any specific questions on the line
[1:59:06] items, we'd be happy to help.
[1:59:10] Questions I have one just we do have,
[1:59:14] we do now have a full-time food inspector then
[1:59:18] for the health department, for all the restaurants.
[1:59:20] The health officer Courtney Bogart is our fulltime nurse.
[1:59:22] Okay, thank you. Now is that to dairy standards?
[1:59:26] Is it to New Hampshire State standards?
[1:59:29] Yes. Yeah.
[1:59:31] Okay. So it's in court with this the town.
[1:59:34] Yes. Yes.
[1:59:35] Thank you. Awesome.
[1:59:38] Councilor Haley, do you have any questions?
[1:59:42] No questions. Okay.
[1:59:47] So no questions Madam Chair.
[1:59:48] I'd like to move the figure $159,698
[1:59:53] for the Health Department Activity
[1:59:56] Center. I'll second that.
[1:59:59] Okay. On the motion. Council Mills? Yes. Councilor Webb?
[2:00:02] Yes. Councilor Chase? Yes. Councilor Foot?
[2:00:05] Yes. Councillor Healy?
[2:00:06] Yes. And Chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six zero.
[2:00:09] Thank you. Thank you.
[2:00:10] I'll just note, I'm glad that we have the full-time.
[2:00:13] Yes. As am I for sure. Big off read.
[2:00:20] Moving on to the Wastewater division budget,
[2:00:22] that's page 3 46 in the council budget books.
[2:00:24] I'm gonna invite our deputy director, mark LaRue,
[2:00:27] who has direct supervision over the
[2:00:29] water and wastewater divisions.
[2:00:31] Good evening. Evening
[2:00:34] Wastewater.
[2:00:35] 66.3 miles
[2:00:36] of sewer mains maintained 3,339 sewer connections.
[2:00:41] They maintain 10 lift stations throughout the system.
[2:00:44] Expenditures equal revenues at
[2:00:47] $10,340,334.
[2:00:51] Revenues are primarily generated
[2:00:53] through usage and base charges.
[2:00:55] Again, enterprise fund, not supported by taxes,
[2:00:59] but through the, the wastewater users
[2:01:03] wastewater in town.
[2:01:05] I'm sorry, the FY 27 approved wastewater accessibility fee.
[2:01:08] That's the connection fee for new
[2:01:10] or expanding users on the town.
[2:01:12] Sewer system is charged a one time fee of $4
[2:01:15] and 48 cents per gallon per day,
[2:01:17] or $747 per residential bedroom.
[2:01:20] The council two years ago had approved a three
[2:01:23] year increase, step increase.
[2:01:26] So this is year three of that increase.
[2:01:29] We are proposing this budget with a usage rate adjustment
[2:01:34] to $4 and 25 cents per hundred cubic feet.
[2:01:37] That's up from $4 and 5 cents per hundred cubic feet.
[2:01:41] An adjusted out of town wastewater.
[2:01:44] London dairy customers would be paying a rate
[2:01:47] of $4 and 89 cents.
[2:01:48] That's up from $4 and 65 cents per hundred cubic feet.
[2:01:52] The base charges would be $50 per quarter.
[2:01:56] That's up from current $47 per quarter.
[2:01:59] And we are proposing the out of town London dairy users
[2:02:03] a base charge of $57 compared to their current rate of $54.
[2:02:09] The wastewater capital, the budget includes the Route
[2:02:12] 28 Ryans Hill sewer.
[2:02:14] It's just over $6.1 million.
[2:02:17] The engineering of
[2:02:18] that project is in the fiscal year 26 budget.
[2:02:21] We just finished a qualifications based selection process
[2:02:25] for an engineer to move forward with that design.
[2:02:30] That project will be funded through
[2:02:33] a combination of sources.
[2:02:35] We had a couple years ago now secured a congressionally
[2:02:41] directed spending EPA grant.
[2:02:42] It was for 80% of the project.
[2:02:45] 80% was a fixed number some three years ago.
[2:02:48] Those costs have since escalated,
[2:02:50] but that's 2.7 2,724,000 will be
[2:02:54] coming from that grant.
[2:02:57] Another 306,000 will be coming from
[2:03:00] the Economic Development Trust.
[2:03:01] That's an account that was set up by the Town council
[2:03:04] that is funded through the wheeling charges from the
[2:03:07] Southern Hampshire Regional Water Project.
[2:03:09] Every, every year
[2:03:11] that funds are transferred from those wheeling
[2:03:14] charges into this fund.
[2:03:16] For one of the designated purposes
[2:03:17] for which it was established is
[2:03:19] for the Ryan sale sewer project
[2:03:20] and the balance of that would be
[2:03:22] through a state revolving loan
[2:03:24] or a bond in the amount of 3.15 that would,
[2:03:27] those are all reflecting the construction costs.
[2:03:31] We have in this budget a $1.4 million upgrade
[2:03:36] to the wastewater effluent force main.
[2:03:37] It's about 1500 feet of, of Maine.
[2:03:40] It's a project we had actually included in the budget a
[2:03:43] couple years ago, cost escalations
[2:03:45] and just the complexity of the project
[2:03:49] resulted in it being way over budget.
[2:03:51] So we are back this year to secure the additional funding
[2:03:54] to move that project forward.
[2:03:56] That is funded through a, a combination of capital reserve
[2:04:00] and fund balance of 750,000
[2:04:02] with 650,000 coming from the, the rate payers.
[2:04:07] We are moving forward with the wastewater treatment,
[2:04:10] plant improvements, pre-engineering.
[2:04:11] That's the upgrade to the wastewater treatment plant.
[2:04:15] We had sort of been deferring that project
[2:04:17] until we secured our EPA discharge permit,
[2:04:21] which we did get over the last couple of months.
[2:04:23] It goes into effect actually this month.
[2:04:27] Fortunately, there are no significant changes,
[2:04:30] no treatment requirements.
[2:04:32] So we're ready to move forward with the final design of,
[2:04:35] of the upgrades to that facility.
[2:04:37] So we are in pre-engineering right now.
[2:04:40] We did secure a $100,000 loan
[2:04:43] with principal forgiveness from the state to advance
[2:04:46] that part of the project.
[2:04:49] Quick look at the rates as adjusted.
[2:04:51] Again, the FY 26 rates of 47
[2:04:54] and $54 base charges going up to 50
[2:04:57] and $57 respectively for our in town
[2:05:00] and out of town customers.
[2:05:01] And the rates $4 and 5 cents
[2:05:04] and 4 65 up to 4 25
[2:05:06] and 4 89 again respectively for our in town
[2:05:10] and out of town customers.
[2:05:12] The actual impacts on a quarterly bill
[2:05:16] for the average single family users, $6 and 86 cents.
[2:05:20] That's $2
[2:05:21] and 29 cents a month impact as a result of that
[2:05:25] requested adjustment.
[2:05:28] Just looking at where, where dairy would land in comparison,
[2:05:31] we look at our rates every year on where we are respective
[2:05:34] of our peer communities.
[2:05:37] With the increase as proposed.
[2:05:39] Average sewer bill will be about $524.
[2:05:43] As you can see that, that's favorable.
[2:05:45] It's about 24% less than the average of those,
[2:05:47] those peer communities of $692.
[2:05:50] So, so dairy's in the top four, well,
[2:05:53] I should say the bottom four as far
[2:05:56] as having the least expensive sewer rates.
[2:06:00] So with that, again,
[2:06:02] we will be having a more detailed conversation
[2:06:05] and public hearing at the council's May 5th meeting
[2:06:08] to go more in depth on the rates,
[2:06:11] but they are embedded in this particular budget.
[2:06:14] With that, we'll open up
[2:06:15] to any questions the council may have on specific line
[2:06:18] items, not qualified to
[2:06:22] Answer a question on waste water.
[2:06:24] Thank you. We
[2:06:27] Yep. Council.
[2:06:28] Thank you. Madam Chair on the lagoons.
[2:06:30] How are the lagoons looking? Are they in good shape?
[2:06:37] So over the last couple years we've done some assessments.
[2:06:40] We are being told that the liners, which again,
[2:06:44] there are three ponds out there.
[2:06:47] We had replaced one of the liners in the ponds, some,
[2:06:51] some several years ago that has already begun
[2:06:54] to deteriorate that.
[2:06:55] So was a high densely polyethylene HEP liner compared
[2:06:59] to a hypo on liner, which are in the other two.
[2:07:01] But the other two are also at their useful life.
[2:07:04] So it's sort of a process.
[2:07:08] In order to replace the liner, you have
[2:07:10] to remove the air system.
[2:07:12] In order to remove the air system,
[2:07:13] you have to remove the sludge.
[2:07:14] In order to do all of that, you have
[2:07:16] to take the lagoon offline and put the other lagoon online.
[2:07:18] So it's sort of a domino effect. But we, we have time.
[2:07:22] We figure this is going to be a multi-year process.
[2:07:26] So we haven't had any issues
[2:07:28] with the other two, two liners yet.
[2:07:30] So we're being proactive.
[2:07:32] So I guess I'm getting, so is that something
[2:07:33] that would be under the capital improvement
[2:07:35] or is there grants for that, something that, does
[2:07:37] that fall under any kind of grant at all,
[2:07:38] or is that just gonna be on us to
[2:07:41] put in the capital improvement?
[2:07:42] So we, we will continue to look at funding sources
[2:07:45] that congressionally directed spending seems to be,
[2:07:47] have res seems to have been resurrected recently.
[2:07:49] So that is is one option.
[2:07:53] State grants with PR principal forgiveness, 20
[2:07:58] to 30% reimbursement from the state seems
[2:08:01] to be the going rate right now.
[2:08:03] So as far as I know, those are the two potential sources of,
[2:08:07] of offsetting revenues for those projects.
[2:08:10] So operationally this, we should, we're not
[2:08:14] anticipating any kind of problems currently with
[2:08:17] the way things are right now. Our,
[2:08:19] Our flows are less than half
[2:08:22] of the treatment capacity right now, so we're in good shape.
[2:08:25] We're not actually worried about the treatment capacity
[2:08:29] of the treatment quality right now.
[2:08:31] So we're in good shape there.
[2:08:32] Thank you.
[2:08:37] Councillor Haley, do you have anything? Nothing. Okay.
[2:08:43] Madam Chair, I'd like
[2:08:44] to move the figure
[2:08:45] $10,340,334
[2:08:50] for the Wastewater Activity Center.
[2:08:53] Second. All right. Motion a second on the motion.
[2:08:57] Council mills? Yes. Council Webb? Yes. Councilor Chase? Yes.
[2:09:01] Councilor Foot? Yes. Councilor Healy?
[2:09:04] Yes, I vote yes as well.
[2:09:05] Motion passes, six zero, not least water.
[2:09:11] Moving on to the water division,
[2:09:13] page 3 72 in the council book, 4,520
[2:09:18] service connections within our water system.
[2:09:20] We have 90 miles of Maine.
[2:09:22] We've had some pretty significant
[2:09:24] expansion in the last few years.
[2:09:26] That's, that's up from 72 miles back in 2017.
[2:09:30] We have three community water systems,
[2:09:33] six booster pump stations,
[2:09:36] 700 municipal fire hydrants throughout the system.
[2:09:38] That's also part of the expansion.
[2:09:40] We're up from 614 hydrants back in 2014.
[2:09:44] So the system is, is growing
[2:09:46] our expenses equal revenues at
[2:09:48] $4,391,599.
[2:09:52] Similarly with water, we are looking at adjusting the rates
[2:09:57] with the in town rate at $3
[2:10:00] and 88 cents per 100 cubic feet from $3
[2:10:04] and 47 cents.
[2:10:05] With the out of town lending dairy user rate at $4
[2:10:08] and 45 cents from $3 and 99 cents.
[2:10:12] Base charge also at $36 up $34
[2:10:17] for the in town users and $41 up from 39 for our out
[2:10:21] of town users revenues include
[2:10:24] 398,356 in hydrant rental charges.
[2:10:28] That's a fee that we, the water department
[2:10:33] bills the town of dairy as well as the town of London Dairy
[2:10:36] for municipal fire protection
[2:10:37] that remains unchanged over the last couple of years.
[2:10:41] It also includes $271,000 in, in revenues
[2:10:45] and gross revenues from the Southern
[2:10:46] Hampshire regional water sales.
[2:10:47] And that's based on a current flow
[2:10:49] of about 557,000 gallons a day.
[2:10:52] Their current capacity is, is 1 million.
[2:10:55] What we seeing them do is pull closer
[2:10:58] to the million gallons a day in the,
[2:10:59] in the summer months when they need it, and then,
[2:11:02] and then drop to their minimum usage
[2:11:04] in the, in the winter months.
[2:11:06] So the, the revenues in average out to just a,
[2:11:10] a little over half a million gallons a day.
[2:11:15] The budget includes $300,000 in water main replacements.
[2:11:19] It's a also includes a $220,000 increase
[2:11:25] for the first loan payment for the
[2:11:26] Ranch Shepherd Hill Project.
[2:11:29] When the council approved the Rand Project two years ago,
[2:11:33] I believe it was, there was a resolution that was passed
[2:11:37] to offset the cost
[2:11:38] with a 41 cent per hundred cubic foot increase in the water rate.
[2:11:42] And that was reflected
[2:11:43] in the number that we just showed you.
[2:11:44] Again, we'll be coming back on May 5th for a public hearing
[2:11:48] and talk a little bit more in detail about that.
[2:11:51] It also includes the use
[2:11:52] of $46,000 in unrestricted water fund balance.
[2:11:57] Again, a quick look,
[2:11:58] we charge different rates based on the meter size,
[2:12:01] but for the average residential, you see it going from 34
[2:12:04] to $36 for in town
[2:12:06] and 39 to $41 a quarter for our out of town users.
[2:12:11] And the rates at 3 47 and 3 99 to 3 88
[2:12:15] and $4 and 45 cents for our in town
[2:12:18] and out of town users respectively.
[2:12:20] Again, we'll go into that more detail on May 5th.
[2:12:24] Looking at the rate impacts as presented, $9
[2:12:29] and 77 cents would be the impact on the average quarterly
[2:12:32] bill for the single family user.
[2:12:34] That's a little over $3 a month.
[2:12:38] And that, again, is, is based on the average.
[2:12:43] Average users. Again, looking at where dairy compares
[2:12:47] with its peer communities,
[2:12:49] average water bill would be about $439 a year.
[2:12:54] That compares 20% less than our peer communities at
[2:12:58] $551.
[2:13:00] So we're in the, again, in the top four here.
[2:13:03] And when you look at both the water rate
[2:13:05] and the sewer rates as adjusted
[2:13:07] dairy's annual charge would be about $963.
[2:13:12] That would put us in the top three
[2:13:14] of our peer communities in 24% less than the average
[2:13:18] of those other communities, which is $1,261.
[2:13:23] So we're still very favorable as far as our,
[2:13:25] and competitive as far as our water
[2:13:27] and sewer rates are concerned.
[2:13:29] With that, I turn it back to the council
[2:13:31] with any specific questions on the water budget.
[2:13:35] Council mills. So I take it that these figures still
[2:13:39] do not include the CHU system
[2:13:43] and East Area, or do they,
[2:13:46] So the east, That the Penant Chuck system
[2:13:48] that's owned by Nashua?
[2:13:50] Yes. So they pay the same in town rates.
[2:13:54] So we treat them as a single user, a single dairy user.
[2:13:57] So they pay the same rate as the dairy,
[2:14:00] dairy water customer does.
[2:14:03] Thank you. Council Web. I
[2:14:06] Had the same question, so I'm all set.
[2:14:07] Okay, great. Well then I'll have a follow up question
[2:14:11] is, is there, because this was years ago
[2:14:13] that Nashville bought this
[2:14:15] and back then there was an opportunity for dairy to buy it,
[2:14:20] purchase that system from them in the future.
[2:14:22] I take it, we've never really considered it is of no benefit
[2:14:25] to the town of Dairy.
[2:14:28] So in order to make that happen, we would have to pay the
[2:14:32] PUCs market rate and the Public Utilities Commission sets an
[2:14:35] assessment of, of the value.
[2:14:38] So in order for us to pay for that system as well
[2:14:41] as recover the operation
[2:14:43] and maintenance costs, it would actually cost more money
[2:14:48] to the users of, of that development.
[2:14:51] One of the things that Pench actually went through,
[2:14:54] they went through a big rate change.
[2:14:55] So they used to have, well they still have Pench East
[2:14:58] Utility and Pench Waterworks
[2:15:00] and their Pench East utility rates were significantly higher
[2:15:02] than Pench Waterworks.
[2:15:04] So they sort of equalized those rates
[2:15:06] that actually re resulted in a cost savings for the town,
[2:15:09] for the hydrant rental charges that they were charging us.
[2:15:13] So right now I think
[2:15:16] they're paying competitive rates.
[2:15:20] Still dairies are favorable,
[2:15:21] but if we were to add on the cost of purchasing that system,
[2:15:25] it would put those rates much
[2:15:27] higher than they currently are.
[2:15:29] Thank you.
[2:15:32] Councillor Healey, do you have anything?
[2:15:35] No questions. Me either.
[2:15:41] So no further questions.
[2:15:43] Madam Chair, I move the figure
[2:15:45] $4,391,599
[2:15:50] for the Water Activity Center.
[2:15:53] I'll second that. Okay. On the motion. Council Mills?
[2:15:57] Yes. Council Webb? Yes. Councilor Chase? Yes. Council Foot?
[2:16:01] Yes. Councilor Healy? Yes. And Chair votes? Yes.
[2:16:05] Motion passes. Six zero. Thank you. We did it. Council.
[2:16:10] Appreciate. Thank you. We aren't done. We forgot one.
[2:16:13] We forgot to move the, on page 17, the emergency management.
[2:16:17] We just need to vote that bottom line.
[2:16:22] I, I skipped it. I was thinking it was
[2:16:24] encompassed in the fire.
[2:16:28] I dunno if, would you like to make that motion?
[2:16:33] Council Mills?
[2:16:35] I'm getting to it. Page what?
[2:16:37] 1730
[2:16:40] Pages into my book.
[2:16:41] I'm on page five, eh? Yep.
[2:16:44] I'll give you a hint. It's 48,300.
[2:16:50] Yep, That's what I said. I moved the figure.
[2:16:53] $48,300 for emergency management.
[2:16:58] I'll second that. Alright. On the motion.
[2:17:01] Council mills? Yes. Council Webb? Yes. Councilor Chase? Yes.
[2:17:04] Councilor Foot? Yes. Councilor Healy. Yes. And chair votes?
[2:17:09] Yes. Motion passes. Six zero. Thank you everybody.
[2:17:12] We did it halfway there.
[2:17:16] So we will meet again on April 16th at 6:00 PM
[2:17:20] to do the executive and finance operations. Yes.
[2:17:25] I just have one comment.
[2:17:27] I wanna follow up to that comment
[2:17:28] that I made on the emergency work system
[2:17:31] for building inspectors.
[2:17:33] And the more I thought about that,
[2:17:35] I think it's probably something that important to consider,
[2:17:37] maybe even as part of this budget, as
[2:17:41] they're out in the field, they're by themselves to be want,
[2:17:45] some of them are women and they're at higher risk.
[2:17:48] And I think there has been a
[2:17:53] history of assaults in other communities with inspectors.
[2:17:58] So I think it would be a prudent idea
[2:18:01] to figure out some way we could protect them, at least
[2:18:03] with an emergency alert system.
[2:18:06] Or if there's better ideas out there,
[2:18:09] be welcome to those as well. Okay.
[2:18:11] That'll be something that I'll touch base with Carrie
[2:18:13] and Tom and see what some
[2:18:15] of those options would be in report back to the council.
[2:18:18] Thank you. Is a time for my favorite motion?
[2:18:22] I believe it is. I move to adjourn.
[2:18:25] Second. All right, I'll, I'll,
[2:18:27] no, it's, we're not all here.
[2:18:28] Yes. On the motion. Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Webb?
[2:18:31] Yes. Councilor Chase? Yes. Councilor Foote? Yes.
[2:18:34] Councilor Healy. Yes. And chair votes? Yes.
[2:18:37] We are adjourned. Have a good evening everyone.