===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Finance Committee Meeting Minutes Bilotta Meeting Room Lunenburg Town Hall January 9, 2025 Present Members: Chair Chris Menard, Vice Chair Jean Russell (Zoom), Committee Member Tanya Dall, Committee Member Jay Simeone Absent Member: Clerk Tom Gray Agenda 1. Call to Order The meeting opened at 7:31 PM. 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Announcements Chris Menard states that the Superintendent announced to the town and the School Committee that she is retiring at the end of this year. 4. Public Comment John Bowen, 162 Highland Street, reiterates a previous comment related to the Cemetery Commission. There has been a misuse of $6,000 over an 18-month period by the Cemetery Commission through the sale of lot funds. This morning there was an open meeting about law violations. This was in regard to a vital records program that is under the purview of the Town Clerk, Kathy Herrick. John Bowen doesn’t believe the Cemetery Commission has any reason to access it and anticipates proposing a warrant article to rein in spending. 5. Scheduled Meetings There are no meetings. 6. Town Manager & Finance Director Reports The Town Manager and Finance Director have conflicts and will not be presenting any reports. 7. New Business a. Review Budget Season Schedule Chris Menard has emailed an outline with deadlines provided by the interim town manager with key dates. The Finance Committee report is due to the Town Manager on Monday March 31 st. The public hearing for the Finance Committee is scheduled for March 13th. There will be a notice in the ledger 10 days prior to the public hearing. ===PAGE 2=== Chris Menard provided a proposed schedule for department hearings and other monied article reports. The suggested school department report is March 6th. There was a motion by Jay Simeone, seconded by Tanya Dall to relay to Carter Terenzi that the Committee is all in agreement with his suggested timeline and the individual topics by date. Jean Russell aye, Tanya Dall aye, Jay Simeone aye, Chris Menard aye. b. FY26 Budget Discussions Chris Menard provided a note from Carter Terenzini stating currently there are no estimates for health insurance rates but did say that market trends are running %12 to 15%. 8. Old Business a. Town Manager Search Committee Update Chris Menard confirms that next Tuesday there will be a marathon session at the library where the 3 candidates will be interviewed. 2 candidates were former Town Managers, and the other is currently a DPW Director. The Select Board will provide their recommendations on Wednesday. b. School Funding Formula for Hold Harmless Communities The town is no longer in the hold harmless category. c. Grant Writing Services Chris Menard reiterates that there needs to be procedures and policies created. Chris Menard will inquire with Caesar Nuzzolo and the Select Board and ask them to bring this up at their next meeting. d. Budget Task Force Recommendations There were no discussions. 9. Minutes Jay Simeone had 1 minor correction on the minutes from December 19th. There was a motion to approve the minutes from December 19th by Jay Simeone, seconded by Tanya Dall. Jean Russell aye, Tanya Dall aye, Jay Simeone aye, Chris Menard aye. Chris Menard confirmed that the formatting on the web is diƯerent than in the actual app where the documents are in proper order. Chris Menard will change the documents to PDF before sending them to the Clerk’s OƯice. 10. Committee Reports Jean Russell states that the School Committee had a meeting last night. ===PAGE 3=== Arrangements have been made to have the security company replace the fire alarms at Turkey Hill. The schools have ordered a new truck and plow that will be available next summer. A former Lunenburg student awarded a 15,000 dollars scholarship to the athletics department. There were no committee reports from Chris Menard, Jay Simeone, Tanya Dall. 11. Actions and Topics for Future Meetings There are no additional topics to add to future agendas. 12. Important Dates There are no additional important dates. 13. Upcoming Meetings a. 1/23/2025 – tentatively scheduled b. 2/13/2025 Budget Season begins 14. Public Comment There were no comments from the public. Jay Simeone reiterates that there are 2 vacancies on the Board. 15. Adjourn There was a motion to adjourn by Jay Simeone, seconded by Tanya Dall. Roll call vote. Jean Russell aye, Tanya Dall aye, Jay Simeone aye, Chris Menard aye. The meeting closed at 8:00 PM.