Members Present: Robin Pelletier, Carol Merrill, William Barnett, Thomas Gilligan, Robin McAfee, Jennifer Morin, Gabby Daneault, Henriette Girard, David Baker, Brian Duchesne, Tom Irzyk and Ben Fontaine

Excused Absent: Gene Vallee and Mona McCready

Others Present: David Jodoin, Chief Jim McGonigle

Jennifer Morin opened the meeting at 7 p.m.

Brian made a motion to approve the minutes of the September 18, meeting, seconded by Gabby.

David Baker mentioned that in the last minutes that when they stated that Brian was speaking it was actually him. Also, Robin P. was actually the person who seconded Gene’s nomination to the Committee.

Someone made a motion to accept the minutes of the September 18, 2003 meeting as read, Brian seconded. Motion passed with one abstaining vote (Tom G.)

Chief McGonigle reviewed the budget for the committee. He stated that with two exceptions, the budget has decreased.

Part-Time Salary remains at $1. The Department has again been able to go through the year without using part-time officers. We do not want to use part-time officers, but with the shortages that we have been experiencing this year, it has been considered. But the benefits of using part-time officers are outweighed by the liabilities so we have no plans to use part-time officers. So it remains funded at $1 just to keep the account active in the event that some day a future chief may decide to use part-time officers.

Secretarial – this includes a 2.5% increase which is the annual merit increase. All salary accounts in the Police Department includes a merit raise that is tied directly to the employees annual performance evaluation. If an employee does not receive an acceptable performance evaluation the employee is denied the merit increase. This is the first year that someone has not been denied the merit increase.

Legal – decrease to $1,000 – which is explained by the increase in the next line by the addition of the Prosecutor.

Prosecutor - $37,763 – Those who have been on this committee for a number of years have heard me speak each year that the day would come when the Department should go to having an attorney as a full time prosecutor. That day has arrived.

There has been a couple of efforts in the legislature to make it illegal for a police officers to prosecute in District Court. It is now illegal for a police officer to prosecute in Superior Court, but it has also been a practice in New Hampshire that police officers can prosecute.

The role of the prosecutor in the Allenstown Police Department has evolved to the point where it is no longer a two or three day a week job. It is now a full time job. In July of 2002, Cathy Rodgers, a friend of the Chiefs, graduated from Suffolk Law School and passed the NH Bar exam. When the Chief called to congratulate her on passing the bar, she asked that since she did not have any experience as a lawyer what would she do now. The Chief asked her to apply for the prosecutor position in Allenstown. She began in September in an unpaid apprentice position. She remained in this position until February of 2003 working 40+ hours per week. At that time Lt. Mulholland, who was the lead prosecutor, was activated to Iraq (where he still is). When he was activated, Cathy took over the position as prosecutor after being trained by Lt. Mulholland and she has been doing a very good job.

The other thing that this position will allow the Police Department to do, is save the Town some legal fees. Currently when there are zoning or code violations, the practice has been to write up the paperwork, forward it to the Town attorney, who then files the violation as a civil action in District Court. There is a $100 filing fee plus the attorney fee. The Prosecutor can now handle these cases. The Board of Selectmen voted a couple of months ago, that with the exception of a couple of cases that are on going, that from now on any code violations will be sent to the Police Prosecutor. The Police Department does not pay a filing fee, the department will issue a summons to the person to appear in court and it will not cost the Town any additional money.

The Chief stated that he received a call from the Town Attorney who had read the article in the Concord Monitor that stated that the Chief was seeking to have a full time attorney/prosecutor. He wanted to bid for the job, to have his law firm provide this service to the Police Department. The Chief asked him to send a bid for review. He then asked which lawyer would be reporting to the police station at 7:15 each morning and staying until 4:30 or 5 each afternoon, Monday thru Friday like Attorney Rodgers does. He stated that they would not do that. There would be an attorney available to the Department to do prosecution as needed. The Chief stated that the need is to have an attorney available Monday thru Friday to do the prosecution and sometimes on Saturday. The Town Attorney then stated his concern that if there was a full time attorney in the Police Department it won’t be long before matters that are now handled by us, the Selectmen will cross the line and have it handled by you. The Chief then asked him to write up a proposal and send it to him and he will give it due consideration.

Having the prosecutor on board will cost less money then using the County Prosecutor’s office. Pembroke uses the County Attorney, on the day of court, the attorney goes to the Pembroke Police Department, picks up the case (the first time they have seen them) walks into court and prosecutes the cases. This is a disservice to the victims who are entitled to have there day in court and have justice served.

When Lt. Mulholland returns, his services are needed as a supervisor in the Police Department. The Department has never had the supervisors that are really needed. When things go wrong and the Department gets sued, there are currently two suits pending; the things that are attacked are the Chief for negligently hiring people, negligent supervisor (failing to supervise at all or failing to have adequate supervision) and negligent training.

The Department has a large turnover problem. So there are untrained officers training officers with no training and this is a liability to the Town. So maintaining the Prosecutor position is a win-win situation. If a year from now the Legislature makes it illegal for a police officer to prosecute, we would not be able to find an attorney to do this job for $37,763 a year.

Jennifer asked if Cathy was interested in this position, yes, absolutely. An update on Lt. Mulholland, the Chief e-mailed him and he stated that he may not be back until next year. The Chief stated that Lt. Mulholland has done a good job and he wants him back with the Department.

Henriette stated that she would like to see this as a warrant article rather than in the budget. This is something that is unexpected and the Committee was under the impression that when Lt. Mulholland returns he will take over that position. This will allow people to be aware of this position. The Chief disagreed. He stated that this is an operational function of the Department to provide Prosecution services as we always have. The only thing that the Department is doing is transferring the responsibility from within the Police Department as a police officer role, to that of a qualified lawyer.

Henriette stated that it seems that we will have two lawyers in Town, a firm that does all the other legal work and Cathy Rodgers. The Chief stated that it is a plus for the Town. Henriette stated that she sees it as a big expense for the Town. Robin P. stated that eventually she may take over a lot of what the Town is paying Byron to do now. Jennifer asked if the current attorney specialized in Municipal Government?

Tom I. stated that this is two different things, one is criminal prosecution and the other is litigation on real estate matters, or other different issues that affect the Town.

Robin P. stated that Cathy could handle both the criminal prosecution and zoning problems. The Chief stated that anything that is a code violation that has currently been handled by Byron at larger costs, can be handled by the Police Department now.

David B. stated that this is a surprise, but a pleasant one. He stated that he knows the demands of the job on Cathy. Shawn is a gifted supervisor and police officer and there is no way that he can do both jobs effectively. Shawn is a lieutenant and that should be his job, we have an outside prosecutor and the other attorney that is working for the Town who is charging hundreds of dollars, Cathy is willing to come here for $37,000 a year (you will not be able to find anyone else to do that) and the police officers deserve the supervisors they desperately need and the level of professionalism a prosecutor would bring to the Department and the Town as far as liability and overall integrity is concerned. An actual prosecutor would do this and then have a lieutenant that is a lieutenant.

Jennifer asked about the Hooksett prosecutor – Chief McGonigle stated that they have a prosecutor and her salary is $54,000 per year. Jennifer stated that she felt that the $37,000 would not last that long. The Chief stated that Cathy understands that the Town’s expenses are what they are and that she would be entitled to a 2.5% merit increase in July.

David B. stated that this woman came here on her own time, 40 hours a week for five months, just because she is so enthusiastic. When you have someone who is willing to do a position like that, it is not for the money.

Tom I. stated that he agrees with the idea of doing this, asked if this is being added to the line salary, does it take a position away from the Department? Chief McGonigle stated that they are adding a position as the Attorney/Prosecutor. The Chief stated that he could have added this position in the full-time salary line, but there was some concern that it might appear that the Department was trying to hide something.

Tom I. stated that he remembered that when the Department restructured, when the Captain retired, you wanted to have the two lieutenants. If the prosecutor position is added to the department, you would not need an extra position to be hired because you would have two lieutenants in the field doing their job, would that then coincide down the chain of command. The Chief stated that this would still not give the Department all the supervision that is really needed.

The calls for service are such that the Department needs the bodies on the street, and the Department needs the supervision to be there also. He stated he is not willing to trade the Prosecutor for a police officer. The Police Officer is doing the work for the prosecutor.

Robin P. asked for some clarification on the costs associated with Byron filing papers. The Chief stated that each time he files paperwork in the District Court or any other court, it is $100 which I am told that this fee is going up to $150. So if Cathy does the filing, there is no fee.

Since this is the Prosecutors salary, if she is in court, it is not costing the Town any money. What does Byron get per hour; David J. stated that he is paid $85 per hour. David J. stated that every time Byron gets called, the Town is charged on a month-to-month basis, the Town has paid approximately $10,000 so far. Robin P. asked if he handled any police cases, no.

David B. asked if Cathy could handle any of the Town issues. Chief McGonigle stated that anything that is a violation of any of the codes, she can serve the paperwork and handle the prosecution. But is she at the point that she or the Chief would be comfortable to say that it would be fine to get rid of the Town attorney effective immediately and she would handle everything, no, will she get to that point, I have no doubt.

Ben stated that there are times when Byron calls the Municipal Association to get involved in things that the Town is paying him to take care of. Rather than doing the legwork that is needed, he goes elsewhere for the information. Of course the Municipal Association is set up to help cities and towns and they are glad to give him whatever he needs. Tom I. stated that since the Town pays a fee to the Municipal Association then all Town Departments have access to the Municipal Association without having to go through Byron. The Chief stated that he never calls Byron. If the Chief gets a message from Byron, he will call him back and make it clear that he does not want to be charged for the call.

Robin P. asked how the Chief how many cases they had prosecuted this past year. The Chief stated it was several hundred, we are in court 4 ½ days per week. Robin P. stated that if we take the filing fee of $100 plus the charge per hour for Byron to be in court ($85) that would be $185 times the number of cases he works on. The Chief stated that his cases are all encompassing. They are all traffic violations, criminal violations, DWI, etc. We have handled three cases since the Board asked us to handle the zoning violations.

Tom G asked about Shawn’s position. Did Shawn bill the department or did the department bill out separately or was his salary all encompassing? Was it the same rate per hour regardless of the work? Yes, it was. The Chief stated that Shawn was first and foremost a police department supervisor. When the decision was made for the need of a change in prosecution, Shawn unwillingly agreed to take this position.

Tom G asked that when Shawn returns to the Department, hopefully in April, is there going to be an increase to the Budget amount for his salary? No, because he is still a full-time employee. So the increase will only be this position? Yes.

Tom G asked what the difference was between last year’s salary approval and this year proposed salary. Chief McGonigle stated that it is only the 2.5% merit increase.

Jennifer asked Ben if the Board of Selectmen had discussed placing this position as a warrant article? No, we felt it was warranted and did not consider it.

Brian stated that if it is placed as a warrant article most people will feel that it is just a high paid lawyer doing the job and we will lose out on a good opportunity. Having a lawyer this energetic and willing to do her job is straight forward and a golden deal. Brian stated that having spent time in Court with Captain Montplaiser, it does not stop all day long.

David B. stated that it is more than that all day, there is no way that we should not have this.

Tom I. stated that he did not feel it should be a warrant article. We have not asked for a salaried employee to be part of a warrant article. Adding an employee is just part of the department’s budget. If you are going to make improvements to the School, Highway Department or anyone else and they want to add a position, it is just part of the budget.

Tom G. stated that he agreed completely. He feels that it is up to the Budget Committee, but it should be left up to the discretion to the Chief and the job that he is doing running the department. The Department head is really the best person to judge if they need a position like this. It is not like you are putting a piece of capital into a warrant article you are actually putting a position that the Police Department says that they need.

Overtime is an increase of 2.5%.

Telephone, Computer Expense and Office Repair/Equipment have not increased.

Training is just a 2.5% increase.

Brian asked what the difference was between the Computer Expense and the Capital Reserve account for computers. The Chief stated that the Capital Reserve account is a rainy day fund in the event that the Department should suffer once again like we did in August of 1998 when we had to purchase all new equipment.

Dues/Subscription, Supplies and Postage – no change.

Gasoline – no change – the Department is holding its own this year despite the gas prices at the pump. We are currently paying $1.279 per gallon and am somewhat sure that we should be all set. The Chief stated he thought about going up on this account, and may regret not having done so. But he was trying to hold the line on just about everything.

Vehicle Repairs – increased by $500. As of this afternoon there was another bill for $200 for tie rods and front-end alignment at $50 per hour labor. The miles that are put on the cars are hard miles. The cars are running for the entire 8-hour shift. All of the cars are out of warranty except for the newest car. Whenever the Department purchases a new car we also purchase an extended warranty. It has been well worth the cost. The newest car needed to have the transmission replaced and it was covered by the warranty.

Police Cruiser – the Department is asking once again to have a cruiser placed in their operating budget. It is an operation necessity. The police officer cannot do their job if they do not have adequate, safe and dependable equipment. In 1999 the Budget Committee agreed to place this item in the operating budget, and someone also placed this request in a warrant article. So the department was able to replace two vehicles that year.

The Chief and the Board of Selectmen agreed that the cruiser be placed in the operational budget because that is where it belongs, not as a warrant article. Each of the part several years, the votes for a cruiser have gotten worse. There can be any number of political reasons for this vote, not the lease being that the police officers and chief are frequently in the role of telling people what they cannot do something. They can’t run the stop sign, they can’t speed etc. Although people might not say anything at the time they are getting the ticket, they are registered voters.

If we don’t replace a cruiser every year, as we were in the habit of doing for the last 6 years, then we will be seeing a significant increase in the maintenance cost and we will not be in as good a shape as we should be.

Ben stated that if the Board of Selectmen approved something, if only two people voted for it, it was approved. So if something is on the budget, it was approved.

Tom I. stated that he agreed, if it passes then the Board approved it, if it does not pass, then the Board does not approve it, you do not list 5 for or 2 against.

Ben stated that it is one line approval or not approval, he may not agree with it, but at least the majority of people did. Tom I. stated that the Budget Committee members had discussed this last year, that the budgets would be approved or not approved, not the majority approved or disapproved.

Tom I. stated that he agreed that the attorney should be in the budget, but any capital expenditures that the Town is going to buy, as in fire trucks, he feels it should go back to a warrant article. He has always felt that way. Tom I. stated that he understood about that vehicle maintenance would go up if the article is not approved.

The Chief stated that he felt that a cruiser was not a capital expenditure. It is an operational expense. It is part of the cost of doing their day-to-day business, just like paying for electricity, phone, police officers, health care, etc. It is not a capital expenditure like it would be if he wanted a warrant article for $429,000 for new police station. You cannot purchase a fire truck for $30,000. They are true capital expenditures, because it takes several years to either accumulate the money in a capital reserve account to be able to acquire the truck without an increase in the tax rate or a number of years to pay for it if you bond it. You do not bond a cruiser. Although I respect your position, I respectfully disagree with it. This is an operational function of the agency and if the agency went two or three years without the warrant article being approved, we would be in significant straight.

Tom I. agreed, because the Town was in that position a few years ago. The Chief stated that in April of 1996 when he came here, there were three cruisers, two of which were on their last legs, and the third one had already died but no one was kind enough to shoot it and put it out of its misery.

Bill stated that during the summer the Department was down three cruisers. There was only one cruiser on the road and two officers. The Chief stated this was due to maintenance problems.

David B. stated that if he needed to call the police and the cruiser broke down on the way because it is junk and it needs to be replaced, we would all agree that the Town should have purchased two cruisers. When it comes to peoples personal safety, it is a necessity.

Tom I. stated that he still felt it should be up to the people. He stated that he gets told the same thing at public hearings about the school, that they should sell it better to the Town and explain why it is needed. He agreed that it is a tool that is needed to do the job, but the ultimate decision should be left on a warrant article.

David asked how you can sell a cruiser to the Town, Tom I. stated that you sell it by purpose and maintenance logs on each vehicle, telling how many miles are on it and what is needed. David B. asked if people who may have a grudge because they have been stopped or arrested really care. Tom I. stated that when he goes to try to sell something for the school and he is trying to sell it the senior citizens, do you think they care.

David B. stated that you cannot but a price on safety. I would like to know that the cruisers are safe, especially when the officers are spending 8 to 12 hours a day in them. It would be nice to know that they do not have to worry about breaking down.

Tom I. asked if it was really necessary to replace a car each year. The Chief stated that if there is a vehicle maintenance program that we have had up until last year where we were replacing the highest mileage car every year, then you would have a really good chance of not going over 80,000 miles on the cars. Once these cars have 80,000 miles they should not be out there being used as a police car. There is a national standard that once a vehicle reaches 80,000 miles it should not be used as a patrol vehicle.

The Chief stated that the number of miles is not a true indicator of the wear and tear on a car, because the engine is running whether the speedometer is running or not.

Tom I. asked if there were hour meters on them at one time? The Chief stated that years ago this was done, but they were not reliable.

Brian stated that sometimes the cars are running radar and they must take off which is not good on an engine, then when you catch up to the car, you must step on the brakes, which is wear on the brakes. That’s why the cruisers have a police package on them.

Robin P. asked which cruiser would be replaced, the Chief stated that it would be the current admin car, vehicle #2 a 1994 model. The 86,000 mileage is not a true mileage, because the speedometer has already rolled over, so it really is 186,000 miles.

David B. asked which 1999 cruiser would be removed from the patrol, the Chief indicated whichever one had the highest mileage. Right now it would be vehicle #1, but this one has been down for quite a while for maintenance issues so, #5 may have caught up on mileage issues. We keep maintenance records on each vehicle and these will be checked to see which vehicle has given the department the most problems and take that one out of patrol.

Robin P. asked if they were considering D.A.R.E. vehicle as the one they would replace, no.

The reason the admin vehicle would be replaced is that it has some significant issues that the Chief does not have money in his budget to pay for. The steering is off, the A/C is gone, there is a death rattle in it when it is driven, no one can find out what is wrong with it.

David B. asked how many cars are run on each shift. The Chief indicated that when they are at full staff (if that ever happens), there are two duty cars during the day, two cars every evening, one 3 to 11 car and a cover car from either 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. or 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. We have been experimenting with having a 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. then there is one car from 1 or 2 a.m. to 7 a.m.

Carol asked which car the prosecutor is using. The Chief stated that it is vehicle #2. Currently Cathy does not drive a police vehicle. She is allowed to, and is qualified to, but she prefers to drive her own vehicle and does not charge the Town mileage.

Henriette asked if Shawn used a police vehicle, yes he did.

COPS Grant is no longer available.

Uniforms – no change. Henriette asked why the uniforms were so expensive? Since there is a lot of turnover, you must have a lot of good uniforms that people could use. The Chief stated that they don’t always fit the new people who are being hired. The Chief stated that when a new officer is hired, the first thing that they do is take the new person upstairs to see what will fit them or with a few alterations, could fit them. So when things do not fit, we must purchase pants that are $85 a pair, shirts are $44 a piece. There are only a certain number of places where we can buy a uniform and they charge quite a bit.

Henriette stated that most girls are about the same size and the Town has had more than one girl officer and we just got a new officer and she has a new uniform. That is because nothing that we had fit her. This new officer did initially wear a uniform that was upstairs and they did not fit in certain areas.

We try to recycle uniforms as best we can. We frequently are on a spending freeze so we wait until the end of the year and in the last two weeks, we have had four people purchase uniforms that they really needed.

We do suffer damage to some of the uniforms and we don’t want the police officers wearing a pair of uniform pants that have been stitched across the knee. They would look very unprofessional. We want them to project a professional image to the public. The $7,000 equals $700 per employee and that is less than half of what every other department of comparable size budgets annually for uniforms.

Full Time Salary – as previously indicated, this change is the 2.5% merit increase.

Maint/Repair – Radios – no change. This also covers the State fee to certify the radar equipment, which must be certified once a year. It also pays for the repairs to the in cruiser video cameras.

Crossing Guard – includes 2.5% merit increase. Henriette asked if they deserved more than the 2.5% increase. The Chief agreed, the only reason I don’t request more is an equity thing. How can I request more for the crossing guard without requesting more for the secretary and more for the officers. But the Budget Committee clearly has the authority to increase that line and I do not have a problem telling that to my employees. They are both good people, Paul is the most loyal crossing guard I have ever had. He never misses a day. If you want to make a motion to increase that line by an additional 2.5% or 5% I would be very happy with that.

Dispatch – approximate $7,000 decrease. The $20,772 is what I have been led to believe that the $18,000 to Bow Dispatch (we are very happy with this service, they continue to do a good job for us. The radio reception throughout the community is a lot better than it ever was through Hooksett) would increase by no more than $2,500 to $2,700. We have been arguing that there should not be an increase, due to the fact that they dispatched for Pembroke for five years and there was no increase. It is only fair that they extend me the same service and provide the same service for the next three years for $18,000.

Someone asked why this went down. The Chief indicated that $11,000 on the dispatch account was for the acquisition of portable radios. It was the plan last year, to start this year the four year process of phasing in digital portable radios. We were able (with the blessing of the Board) to get a grant for $11,371.83 so that we could purchase five portable radios. The Chief complained to Senator Sununu’s staff that all the money comes into the State and stays in the State and it does not filter down to the people who actually do the work. I was then told to call the State Police and they might be able to find three portables for me. I made the phone call and they found three portables for me at no cost to the Town. So with the money that was in this year’s budget for portables we will, by the end of the year, be able to acquire all 12 portables at very little cost to the Town. So if the dispatch fee does not go up, this line will go down even more.

Police Detail - $1,000 – this money is never spent, but DRA says it must be there.

Warrant Articles are all the same as the last few years.

D.A.R.E. program - $10,000 there has been no change in this request since the program started. This is a very popular program.

The fifth grade program will be 10 weeks, the middle school program is 10 weeks and we also do the K thru 4 program in the elementary school. We are the only department in the area that offers all three programs. If they move Pembroke Academy to Allenstown where it should be, we would do the D.A.R.E. program at the high school. Jennifer asked if Pembroke had a program at the high school, no, they are missing a golden opportunity.

Police Computers – our rainy day fund so that when our computers crash, we don’t burn at the same time.

Police Safety Equipment is primarily to purchase safety vests for the officers. We still have approximately $1,200 in an account of matching funds with the federal government so as vest are purchased, the Department can be reimbursed for half of that cost. President Bush has eliminated all these grants so this capital reserve account is the only way we can purchase safety equipment.

The change in this budget is a trade off with the Board of Selectmen. The Chief wanted to give the Animal Control officer an increase that he has not had. So the $300 increase is a merit increase. He is limited to 24 hours per week at a salary of $10.25 per hour. So it would take a motion of the board of increase this line to 2.5%. This is a thankless job.

The Supplies line has decreased by $300 at the request of the Board of Selectmen so that there is no increase in the bottom line.

We have some supplies to purchase before the end of the year. The serum that is used for the tranquilizer guns so that we can humanly stop animals as opposed to injuring them needs to be purchased every year because it expires. Those drugs are kept in a locked cabinet downstairs and only two people have access to it. So there is money in that account that has not yet been spent that will be spent before the end of the year. We also need to put in a dog run at the kennel.

Ben made a motion to accept the Police Department bottom line of $549,224, Robin P. seconded.

The committee then reviewed each line item.

Henriette made a motion that the prosecutor line of $37,763 be a warrant article, Gabby seconded. Henriette reminded everyone that they are there because people have elected them and they are not only here for themselves. Tom G. stated that he felt that was an inappropriate remark. We know that the populace has elected us and knew that when we took the oath.

Tom G. stated for the record that he does not feel this should be a warrant article specifically for what Brian and the Chief said. Where just knowing the history of the Town it is not going to have a very good chance of passing and he believes that the case has been made that it is a needed expense for the Police Department to do their job.

Robin P. stated that just doing the math, it will certainly benefit the Town more than it will hurt the Town to put this position into play. She did not think a warrant article is necessary. David B. agreed.

Henriette stated she had the right to say what she feels and it was not inappropriate.

The motion failed by a vote of 3 for and 8 against.

Henriette made a motion to change the merit increase for the Crossing Guard from 2.5% to 5%, Carol seconded. Tom I. stated that it is not a lot of money for the job they do, but he did not feel it was warranted to increase their salary line when police officers are putting their life on the line every day and they will not be getting a bigger increase than 2.5%.

Carol stated that we did the rest of the people last year. Jennifer stated that this is not part of the research that was done. Ben stated that these are all based on the 2.5%. The Board of Selectmen wanted the bottom line to be the same. The research was done on existing full time positions.

Robin P. asked if the 2.5% is what all departments will request. Ben stated that is what the Selectmen have requested. The Board has set the 2.5% as a cap for the last two or three years.

Henriette stated that in the past few years, each department has had more than 2.5% and she did not believe that the Crossing Guards have ever had more than the minimum.

Carol stated that it is not an easy job, especially with the bad weather. Tom I. stated that they are not doing this to make a living but as extra income. He does not see justifying a higher rate for only a certain group without including everyone else.

Carol stated that they did not get a raise when everyone else did. The Chief stated that two years ago, they were fortunate that the Selectmen as well as the Budget Committee agreed to an across the board salary increase as well as the merit increase for the Police Department. At that time the Crossing Guards did not get a salary increase, it they had, they would have gotten $1.50 more as all of the other full-time employers did. The Chief feels that the salary the Crossing Guards receive is artificially low given the job they do. If the Guards are not there, then the Chief must send a police officer to do this job that costs more than the 2.5% increase they would get.

The Chief stated he did not have a problem, as your Chief, if you decide to increase their salaries by another 2.5% being able to adequately and intelligently explain to my people why these folks got 5% and they only got 2.5%.

Tom G. stated that the additional 2.5% would increase the Crossing Guard line by only $242 for the year. But if the police officers salaries would be increase by the same amount, it would be a bigger hit. The Chief stated that the senior Crossing Guard is paid $8.76 - $8.99 per hour and the junior Crossing Guard is paid $8.38 - $8.59.

The Chief stated that we will never be able to pay the police officers what they are worth. Carol stated that this is a poor Town, there is not much business and the taxes are very high. The Chief stated that he understood this, but we either need to pay the officers an adequate rate so that they stay here, or we keep paying to train new officers.

Tom I. stated that they have the same problem at the school. The Town cannot keep up with the salaries of the other Towns.

Ben amended his motion to accept the Police Budget bottom line $549,466, Robin P. seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Ben made a motion to accept the Animal Control budget bottom line of $14,000, Robin M. seconded.

Tom G. made a motion that the animal control officer’s salary should also be increased by an additional 2.5%, David B. seconded. Based on what has been in the news, the Animal Control officer is just as busy as the other officers and it is a thankless job. It would be a symbol of respect from the Town to bump them up as well. The new line item would be $12,608. The motion passed.

Ben amended his motion to accept the Animal Control bottom line of $14,308, Robin M. seconded. The motion passed.

Jennifer stated that a couple of dates need to be changed. The Committee had set the Fire Department for October 16 and the Chief is unable to make that meeting. He is available on October 30. The Committee had scheduled Library and Highway for that night. David J. stated that the Selectmen have finished with the Library and Highway, the Highway is done contingent upon a couple of numbers coming in such as tonnage and paving. Jimmy should have numbers by Monday.

Library and Highway will be discussed on October 16 and the Fire Department on October 30.

Tom I. stated that the School Board will be meeting on October 23 to discuss budget issues so the subcommittee is invited to attend. The meeting will be held at AES in the library at 6:30.

The fire chief would like to meet with the Committee at the Fire Station instead of the Town Hall. Everyone agreed. He would also like to start at 6:30 instead of 7 p.m. Everyone agreed. He would like to also give a tour of the station for any new member for the committee.

The school will present their budget to the Committee on November 20, 2003. This meeting will be at AES starting 6:30 p.m.

Jennifer stated that the gym is very noisy when the heat is on. Tom I. stated that he will bring this up at the next regular School Board meeting and will let everyone know on the 16^th.

Review:

October 16 – meet at the Town hall at 7 p.m. to discuss the Library and Highway budget

October 30 – meet at 6:30 at the Fire Station to review the Fire Department budget

November 6 – meet at 7 p.m. at the Town hall to discuss the Sewer budget.

November 20 – the School will present their budget to the Committee at 6:30 at AES.

Need a new date for Tax, Health and Welfare, the Committee will reschedule these budgets at their next meeting.

Jennifer asked if there would be a Recreation Budget this year, David J. stated that Jim Rodger and Patty Gardner are in charge of this.

Tom I. spoke on the grant they are applying for. The Governor requested the principal attend a meeting for a pilot program to give laptop computers to all seventh graders. The School Board is writing the grant now and the Governor’s Council has stressed the point that they want a representative from Allenstown to be at the meeting and they want the Town to fill out the paperwork for this grant. Tom feels that he is very confident that they will receive the grant for the seventh graders. This program will run for a few years and will be fully funded by the Governor’s office.

The School Board is debating including money in their budget to carry on the program for the seventh graders when they move into the eight grade. How do you give someone a tool and know if it really works if you are going to pull it away from him or her the next year. So we are looking into funding the program through the School budget to continue it for seventh and eight grade. We should have the figures by November 20^th.

At one of the facilities committee meetings the State came and looked at all the blue prints for the addition that lost by 6 votes last year, they looked at all the proposals and with the new law that was signed in by the Governor this year and will take into effect in 2005, the School could be granted 60% funding for the school. Currently the State is paying 30% of new construction. Now with the new law, your funding gets allocated by property values and we would fall into the 60% category.

So the School Board will probably be looking for a warrant article for all the work to be done by the architect, to be funded so that the complete construction drawings done by the architect so that when this law passes, construction could begin the next day.

The State also stated that if the Town should need to get temporary mobile classrooms while construction is underway, this would be taken care of completely.

Ben made a motion to recess, David B. seconded.