===OCR macOS Vision===
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Finance Committee:
Terri Burchfield, Chairman
Michelle Walton, Vice-Chairman
Peter Beardmore, Secretary
John Henshaw
Jay Simeone
David Passios
17 Main Street, P.O. Box 135
Lunenburg, MA 01462-0135
978.582.4139
FAX 978.582.4148
Lunenburg Finance Committee
September 26, 2019 Meeting
Location:
Present:
Town Hall
Terri Burchfield, Dave Passios, Jay Simeone, Peter Beardmore, Michelle
Walton
Absent:
John Henshaw
1. Call to Order
Terri Burchfield, Chair called the meeting to order at 7pm. This meeting is
being recorded for broadcast on the Lunenburg Public Access channel.
2. Communication
• Terri Burchfield outlined that the grants that were sought for land
acquisition (both conversation and parks) were approved in full totaling
approximately $500K for the land on Northfield Road that is under
consideration for acquisition.
3. Town Manager Presentation on Budget Development Process
The town manager delivered a powerpoint presentation outlining all the
elements of the town budget including revenues (property tax, state aid,
local receipts and other available funds), expenditures ( including
discretionary and non-discretionary), non-appropriated costs, enterprise
funds, and other expenditures (stabilization, special-purpose stabilization,
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when information (such as local aid and insurance numbers) become
available.
• Discussion ensued about the policy to incrementally increase full time
positions in the police and fire departments, and the cascading etfects on
overtime pay. David Passios asked what the effect would be on
accelerating the hiring of new fire fighters, if that would result in a
diminishing effect on overtime?
• Discussion on whether the town and school department could or should
agree to a long term 'get-healthy' plan. The town manager relayed an
agreement between her and the superintendent of schools that budget
planning would involve considering the school department's 5-year
strategic plan.
Discussion on the factors that are considered and the timing of the
financial forecast. Could or should that happen after town meeting (or in
the summer months), rather than in January?
4. Joint meeting
• Joint meeting will be on October 29th at LMHS auditorium involving
Finance Committee, Board of Selectmen, and School Committee.
Terri Burchfield has proposed general guidelines for the speakers and has
proposed that the committee chairs jointly run the meeting. The format is
strictly Question and Answers directed to the speakers (through the
chairs).
• All involved committees will be posted in accordance with the open
meeting law.
5. Committee reports
Peter Beadmore reported that the School Committee met on September
18th. The meeting included building improvement reports. The high
school will be going through an accreditation process this year. Mr. Londa
presented a forecast of anticipated capital needs over the next several
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meeting (2na, Michelle Walton). Approved unanimously.
7. Public Comment
Resident Rhonda Lissio spoke in support of the plan to incrementally
increase the staffing levels in the police and fire departments, particularly
because the fire department now has 24 hour coverage.
8. Next Meeting
October 3, 2019, 6:00 PM (review draft of warrant articles, non-televised)
October 10, 2019 (public hearing for warrant articles)
9.
Adjournment
• David Passios motioned/ Peter Beardmore seconded; unanimous approval
RECEIVED & FILED
FEB 13 2020
LUNENBURG TOWN
CLERK OFFICE