Board of Selectmen Minutes

Board of Selectmen                                      Present:        Kenneth F. Troup

                                                                                Panny Gerken

Advisory Committee:                                     Present:Christopher Slade

                                                                                David Lindsay

                                                                                David Bosselait

May 15, 2005                                                            Wendy Rogers    

        

The Board of Selectmen and Advisory Committee met at the Town Hall at 5:30 p.m.  

 Others Present:  Ken Swanton, Richard Heaton, Mr. & Mrs. Roemer, Mickie Simpson and Jodi Ross

MASTER PLANNING FINANCIAL SUMMARY

Mr. Heaton explained where the Master Planning Committee was in their process.  They held a public workshop on March 24, 2005 and have a second workshop scheduled for May 23, 2005.  

The Master Planning Committee wanted the Plan completed by July.  They are looking at the plan and cost to implement.  They are also looking at the school situation and budget which adds a level of complexity.

There will be 8 or 9 chapters to the plan.  Mr. Heaton is responsible for the financial implications.  He said the first goal would be to have tax growth not greater than inflation. It was noted no other towns have done this.  Mr. Lindsay asked if per capita or population should be added per household expenditures and Mr. Heaton indicated that’s been considered.   The second goal is to focus on debt service.  As a town we need to put infrastructure into place to handle growth.  This is considered an investment period now.

Mr. Heaton stated that we really need to focus on expenses.  When the library comes forward they will look at both the capital expense and operating expense; not just capital expense.  

Mr. Heaton would like to hire a professional to do a population study.  He would like to land bank a school site now and decide whether to renovate Emerson School and build one school or build 2 schools in the future.  The estimated cost is $40 million.  Moving municipal officers where others have been vacated would also need to be considered.

Mr. Heaton would also like to see a professional hired to look at what we can do with Route 117.

Economical development is not a high priority.

The cost of municipal buildings (Library $4.5; Police $3.5, Smith, Town Hall and Septic)

is an estimated $13million.

Mr. Swanton stated that the strategies and model are in the early stages and the Master Planning Committee has not agreed with all of this yet.

Ms. Gerken would like to see back up for the model to understand where all the numbers come from and asked how the information from the model will be used.  Mr. Bosselait felt that the capital plan is a good start and it can be improved upon.

Meeting adjourned 6:50 p.m.