===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Finance Committee Meeting Minutes Bilotta Meeting Room Lunenburg Town Hall January 8, 2026 Present Members: Chair Chris Menard, Vice Chair Jean Russell, Clerk Tom Gray, Committee Member Tanya Dall, Committee Member Ana Lockwood, Committee Member Mike Rupp, Committee Member Jay Simeone 1. Call to Order The meeting opened at 7:00 PM. 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Announcements Chris Menard states the final 2 Tri-Board meetings are scheduled for January 12, 2026 and January 26, 2026. 4. Public Comment Stephanie (LAST NAME) participated in the meeting as a newly appointed representative who began her role on October 1, 2025. 5. Town Manager & Finance Director Reports Jennifer Warren-Dyment shared several updates regarding staƯing. Katherine McKenna was hired as the Finance Director. She felt this wasn’t a good fit and gave her 60-day notice. Her last day of service was December 31, 2025. Retired Finance Director, Karen Brochu, has come forward to work part time as the Interim Finance Director/Town Accountant. Her first priority is to close out FY 2025 Nancy O’Rourke has retired as the Manager of Payroll and Benefits. Currently, there is a temp in place from Robert Half. There have been numerous interviews, and an oƯer was extended to a candidate today. Town Manager has signed an agreement with Complete StaƯing to recruit and fill the Finance Director position. There have been numerous interviews for this position. Ana Lockwood shared her concern about the title of Finance Director and Town Accountant. There is concern about who this person should report to. Jennifer Warren-Dyment confirms that larger towns with larger budgets are able to split the position. The town accountant would be the primary duty for this position. ===PAGE 2=== Town Manager has sent notification to the 11 customers in town who received a water bill from the town. Their regular quarterly bills were not sent to them in a timely manner, and they will be issued a catch-up bill to cover January 2025 through November 2025. 6. Current Business a. FY27 Budget Calendar Chris Menard is requesting that Monty Tech provide their presentation earlier than usual. Chris Menard believes there may need to be cutbacks similar to what the public schools have had to do. The Committee wants to have a conversation prior to them presenting their budget. The Committee agrees that Monty Techs assessment should be aligned with the Lunenberg Public Schools. Jennifer Warren-Dyment has heard that the schools want to present a true ask of the Town Manager for their budget that is unrelated to available revenue. The Town Manager and the Finance Committee request they present their budget earlier than usual. b. Town Meeting discussions Ana Lockwood was uncomfortable with the last town meeting and felt not enough information was provided. She suggests having items added to the operational budget but Town Manager states there is no capacity to add to the operational budget. c. Summary of Capital Planning Committee Ana Lockwood shared her concern about ongoing conversations that are pertinent to the Finance Committee but haven’t been brought in front of the Committee. Jennifer Warren-Dyment states that the Capital Planning Committee is currently focusing on getting through FY27 requests and then will be focusing on the out years. Furthermore, the Capital Planning Committee has initiated a request to implement a standardized template or format for use by all department heads. d. Discussions on potential FY27 Prop 2 ½ Override Chris Menard indicates that there may be a Proposition 2 ½ override proposed by the schools, the consideration of a fourth shift for the Fire Department, and additional measures to address the needs of the town. Ana Lockwood states there needs to be a solution found as opposed to an override. Some areas to focus on included recycling, TCP building, and ===PAGE 3=== ambulance receipts. She will create a spreadsheet and disperse to the Committee. The Town Manager confirmed that there would need to be service cuts and realignments to have a balanced budget without an override. Jennifer Warren-Dyment has spoken to department heads to update their budget as well as include a budget with a 5% reduction. Chris Menard suggests holding additional Tri-Board meetings to iron things out. e. Tri-Board Discussions (Previous and Upcoming) Chris Menard requested information from the Committee and Town Manager about whether the Stormwater Task Force would present a proposal for an enterprise fund. Town Manager states she would be surprised if they were ready for the town meeting in May. 7. Old Business No additional discussion on this topic took place. 8. Minutes (10/23/25, 11/13/2025) There was a motion to approve minutes of October 23, 2025, and November 13, 2025 as amended by Ana Lockwood, seconded by Tom Gray. Roll call vote. Jean Russell aye, Mike Rupp aye, Ana Lockwood aye, Tanya Dall aye, Jay Simeone aye, Tom Gray aye, Chris Menard aye. 9. Committee Reports Several members have not been assigned to Committees. This topic will be added to the upcoming agenda. 10. Actions and Topics for Future Meetings Committee Assignments Monty Tech Presentation 11. Important Dates & Upcoming Meetings a. Tri-Board Meetings – January 12 & 26 b. Finance Committee – February 5- Monty Tech Presentation. This meeting was originally scheduled for January 29. 12. Public Comment There were no comments from the public. ===PAGE 4=== 13. Adjourn There was a motion to adjourn by Jay Simeone, seconded by Ana Lockwood. Roll call vote. Jean Russell aye, Mike Rupp aye, Ana Lockwood aye, Tanya Dall aye, Jay Simeone aye, Tom Gray aye, Chris Menard aye. The meeting closed at 9:08 PM.