DRAFT
Attendance: Chairman
John Grabowski, Sharon Huxley, Katie Erickson, Sally Huyser joined the meeting
at 7:50 p.m.
Visitor: First
Selectman Elect Paula CoFrancesco, John Paul Garcia, Lars Demander, Chris
Pittenger, Fred Bartolini, Edward Maher, Angelo Amato, Coleen Murray, Brandy
Spargo
The meeting was unofficially called to order at 7:19 p.m. by
Chairman Grabowski. The meeting was held
in the Selectmen’s Conference Room of the Bethany Town Hall. The meeting was officially called to order at
7:50 p.m. when Sally Huyser arrived at the meeting to make a quorum.
APPROVAL OF
MINUTES
Chairman Grabowski called for a motion to approve the
minutes of the meeting of April 2, 2019.
The motion was moved by Sharon Huxley and seconded by Sally Huyser. The minutes were amended by Chairman
Grabowski regarding the surplus amount for Amity. The vote was called. The vote taken was three yes votes and one
abstention that of Sally Huyser.
Chairman Grabowski called for a motion to approve the minutes
of the meeting of April 22, 2019. The
motion was moved by Katie Erickson and seconded by Sharon Huxley. There were no changes to the minutes. The minutes were then approved on a vote of
three yes and one abstention that of Sally Huyser.
Chairman
Grabowski called for a motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of April
30, 2019. The motion was moved by Katie
Erickson and seconded by Sharon Huxley.
The minutes were amended by Sharon Huxley under Budget 2019-20. .
The vote was called. The vote
taken was three yes votes and one abstention that of Sally Huyser.
Chairman Grabowski called for a motion to approve the
minutes of May 9, 2019. The Board tabled
approval until a question regarding Betsy Thornquist’s status could be
clarified.
Chairman Grabowski called for a motion to approve the
minutes of May 20, 2019. The motion of
approval was moved by Katie Erickson and seconded by Sharon Huxley. There were no changes to the minutes. The vote was called. The vote taken was three yes votes and one
abstention that of Sally Huyser.
CHAIRMAN’S
REPORT
Chairman
Grabowski reported that the Amity surplus of $1,502,297 has been reduced to
$1,100,000. The Amity Board of Education
approved using $409,259 of the surplus for a security system.
FIRST SELECTWOMAN’S REPORT
First Selectwoman
Gorski reported to the Board of Finance, results on the water testing for the
well contamination of three homes on Knollwood Road. After curbing was installed on Knollwood Road
a second test was taken. There was no improvement
from the first test taken. First
Selectwoman Gorski is getting prices on the digging of new wells and
casing. First Selectwoman Gorski felt it
was better to address the issue than to wait until litigation was brought on
the Town because of this contamination.
FINANCE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Sheila Lane,
Finance Director distributed Revenue and Expenditure Reports. The reports with one month left in the fiscal
year indicates that 89% of the budget has been expended.
Sheila indicated
to the Board that she would be talking to a Financial Advisor regarding the
Firemen’s pension plan.
BOARD OF EDUCATION SURPLUS- BETHANY ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
Chris Pittenger
spoke to the Board of Finance regarding a $121,000 surplus in the Board of
Education budget for fiscal year 2018-19.
The Board of Education is requesting that this surplus be put into the
Capital Fund for the renovation of Annex #2.
The Board of Finance questioned cost to make this Annex functional. Chris indicated that approximately $325,000
would be needed to renovate the building, suitable for storage area and
possible office space for the Superintendent’s Office. This would include costs for removal of
PCB’s. Sally Huyser and Katie Erickson
were not in favor of this idea. They
felt that before monies were spent it should go before a Town Meeting to get
the consensus of the Town. John Garcia,
member of the Board of Education and an engineer, told the Board of Finance
that the PCB’s would have to be removed if the building was demolished. The cost for removal would be $100,000. He felt that the building was still
structurally sound. Following further
discussion Sally Huyser moved to accept the approximate $121,000 surplus from
the Board of Education, to be deposited into the Capital Expenditure Fund
earmarked for Annex #2 renovations pending legal approval. Sharon Huxley seconded the motion. The vote taken was unanimous.
ACCEPTANCE OF SUSPENSE LIST FOR TAX COLLECTOR
Fran Doba, Tax
Collector presented the suspense list for approval to the Board of
Finance. After a review Sharon Huxley
moved a motion to accept the suspense list as presented by Fran Doba, Tax
Collector. Katie Erickson seconded the
motion. The vote taken was
unanimous.
HARVEST FESTIVAL LINE ITEM
Park and
Recreation Commission has requested a line item to be created for the Harvest
Festival for expenditures and revenue.
Since money is often left after the Festival they would like it to be
held over for the next year. They did
not want the money returned to the General Fund. Sharon Huxley moved a motion to create an
account for the Park & Recreation Harvest Fest where bills would be paid
and revenues would be credited. Katie
Erickson seconded the motion. The vote
taken was unanimous.
CLOSE SMALL ACCOUNTS
Katie Erickson
moved a motion to close the Playhouse and Farmers Market accounts and to return
the money to the General Fund. Sharon
Huxley seconded the motion. The vote
taken was unanimous.
CENTER FIRE HOUSE WATER TREATMENT
Rod White has
requested a water treatment system for the Center Fire House. The cost will be $4,500 for this system. Sally Huyser moved the motion to take $4,500
from the Contingency Fund to pay for a water treatment system for Center Fire
House per the recommendation of Rod White.
The motion was seconded by Sharon Huxley. The vote taken was unanimous.
ADJOURNMENT
Adjournment was
called at 8:55 p.m. after a motion was moved by Sharon Huxley and seconded by
Sally Huyser. The vote taken was
unanimous.
Respectfully
submitted
June
G. Riley, Clerk Board of Finance