Town of Atkinson

Budget Committee Meeting Minutes

October 3, 2006

Attending: Mark Acciard-Chairman, Jim Blackadar – Vice Chairman, Dave Paquette, Marianne Princiotta, and Paul Sullivan.

 

Mark called the meeting to order at 7:36 PM. The first order of business was to approve the minutes from the April 4, 2006 meeting. Marianne po9inted out that her name was misspelled. Mark motioned to amend the minutes to correct the spelling of Marianne’s name/Seconded by Paul/Motion passed 5-0. Paul motioned to accept the minutes as amended/Seconded by Mark/Motioned passed 5-0.

The next order of business was for the board to address the vacancy due to Marsha Bassi’s resignation. The board received one letter of interest regarding the vacancy from Mr. Brian Boyle. Dave motioned to accept Brian as a member of the committee/Seconded by Paul/Motion passed 5-0. Brian will take over Marsh’s departments as liaison (Cemetery, Recycling, Waste Disposal, Health Dues & Memorial Day).

The next order of business was to establish a preliminary schedule for meetings with Department heads. The schedule is as follows:

Oct 10 – No meeting

Oct 17 – Recreation, Memorial Day, Community Center, Cable

Oct 24 – Russ McAllister, Town Administrator will present his budgets

Oct 31 – No meeting

Nov 07 – Hospitals/Ambulance, Fire, Homeland Security

Nov 14 – Library

Nov 21 – Highway

Nov 28 – Police, Elderly Affairs – All $$ Warrant Articles Due

Dec 05 – Open

Dec 12 – Finalize $$ Warrant Articles

Dec 19 – Open

Dec 26 – Open

Jan 02 – Open

Jan 09 – Open

Jan 16 – Public Hearing

 

 

 

Mark then asked the board if there were any goals we’d like to set. The goals discussed are as follows:

Mark stated he’d like the board to be open, accountable, proactive and pursue accurate information so that we can make informed decisions,

Jim suggested that a facilitator be appointed each meeting to assist the board in staying on point, and

Dave suggested that we get copies of budgets prior to meeting with the Department Heads. He also suggested that the Dept. Heads only discuss changes to their budgets during the meetings instead of reviewing their budget line by line.

 

Paul motioned to adjourn the meeting/Seconded by Jim/Motion passed 5-0. Mark adjourned the meeting at 8:35 PM.

Respectively submitted,

kjb