BOARD OF FINANCE
SPECIAL MEETING
MARCH 16, 2010
Page 1 of 2

Attendance: Chairman Janet Brunwin, Stephen Squinto, John Grabowski, Chip Spear, Robert Brinton Jr., Sally Huyser joined the meeting at 7:45 p.m.
Visitors: Buff Bachenheimer, Roderick White, Alan Green, Robert McSherry, David Merriam

Chairman Brunwin called the special meeting of the Board of Finance to order at 7:02 p.m. The meeting was held in the Conference Room of the Bethany Town Hall.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Chairman Brunwin called for a motion of approval for the minutes of the previous meeting of March 9, 2010. The motion of approval was moved by Robert Brinton Jr. and seconded by Chip Spear. The minutes were then approved without change on a vote of four yes and one abstention from Stephen Squinto as he was absent from that meeting.

LIBRARY
Buff Bachenheimer, member of the Bethany Library Board was present to discuss with the Board of Finance the budget of the Library. Buff explained that the endowment funds started in 1936, and used to offset expenditures for the Library, are slowly disappearing as interest rates drop. The question of insurance coverage is also an issue as it was assumed that they were covered under the Town policy. It is only recently that this coverage was questioned and the company advises that they should get their own coverage since the building does not belong to the town of Bethany. This also will put an added burden on their operation costs. The Library Board of Directors will meet tonight to discuss how much longer they can remain an independent association due to operating costs.

FIRE MARSHAL
The budget request of the Fire Marshal has increased 13% over last year’s request. The extra expenditure request is for repairs to the car driven by the Fire Marshal. Chairman Brunwin asked the Fire Marshal to update the Board of Finance on his multi-job assignments as EMS Chairman, Fire Marshal and Building Maintenance Manager. Roderick gave a report.

PUBLIC WORKS BUDGET
Alan Green presented the budget for Public Works. Alan indicated that the two line items increased in his budget over last year were Street Signs and Snow and Ice. The Federal Traffic Sign Standards are now requiring towns and cities to replace all street and traffic signs by 2018 to meet the minimum retro-reflective requirements. An allocation would have to be made each year to meet the deadline. Board members questioned total cost of replacement. That figure was not available. The Board questioned the total cost for complete road repair throughout the town to see if bonding for this purpose would be feasible. This figure will have to be formulated.

There is a $103,700 balance in the Major Road account. The overall Public Works budget will be monitored closely. If all over expended accounts are covered and a balance still exists, then the Major Road account will be spent for further road repairs.


FIRE DEPARTMENT
Chief Robert McSherry discussed with the Board of Finance the budget for the Bethany Volunteer Firemen’s Association. The department submitted the same budget as last year of $187,750. The department received a grant from the Town for fiscal year 2009-10 of $180,000 a reduction of $7,750 less than their request toward their operations. Chief McSherry is requesting no cuts this year as he finds it very hard to meet all necessary requirement i.e. hose testing and necessary mandates. They are making no Capital Expenditure requests for fiscal year2010-11

RESIDENT TROOPER
The budget of the Resident Trooper/Constable has increased only slightly due to the allocation for the Resource Office at Amity. All other line items remain the same.

CAPITAL EXPENDITURES
The Board reviewed the spread sheet listing the Capital expenditures from 2009 to the present. Several of the items listed are complete. Following discussion Chairman Brunwin moved to close out completed Capital items as listed on spread sheet and transfer unexpended balances to the undesignated Fund Balance. The motion was seconded by Sally Huyser. The vote taken was unanimous.

BOARD OF EDUCATION BUDGET
Chairman Brunwin discussed with Superintendent Connellan the suggestions made by the Board of Finance for reduction to their budget. The Board of Finance feels that a $150,000 reduction is realistic.

EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS PERSONNEL AND CONTRACT ISSUES
At 9:05 p.m. Sally Huyser moved a motion to go into executive session to discuss personnel and contract issues. Chip Spear seconded the motion. The vote taken was unanimous. At 9:25 p.m. Sally Huyser moved to exit the executive session. Chip Spear seconded the motion. The vote taken was unanimous.
There were no motion made after exiting the executive session pertaining to personnel and contract issues.

ADJOURNMENT
Adjournment was called at 9:27 p.m. after a motion was moved by Chip Spear and seconded by Sally Huyser. The vote taken was unanimous.


Respectfully submitted,


June G. Riley
Clerk, Board of Finance