Allenstown Budget Committee

Minutes – 10/03/2002

Members Present: David Eaton, Jennifer Morin, Ben Fontaine, Carol Angowski, Tom Irsyk, Gabby Daneault, Don Bergevin, Henriette Girard, Karen Gendreau, Gene Vallee, Mona McCready, and Carol Merrill

Excused Absent: Robin McAfee, Colin Egan

Others Present: David Jodoin, Police Chief Jim McGonigle, Sgt. Shaun Mulholland

Dave Eaton called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Dave asked all members to speak up for the tape; the first tape from the last meeting was difficult to hear due to mumbling and the tape stretching. If this problem persists, we will start using new tapes.

June 6 meeting minutes

Carol A. make a motion to accept the minutes of the June 6 meeting, Tom seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

September 19 meeting minutes

Dave noted that Henriette made some changes to the minutes and Lou made some changes. Gene made a motion to accept the September 19 minutes, Carol A. seconded. Dave indicated that Lou had sent some updates that he would like to see in the minutes. Tom noted that he had read through them and thought that Lou just wanted to adjust some of the numbers. Karen indicated that Lou made the notes on items that he had not said correctly or the minutes were not written the way he thought he had said it.

Carol A. had asked a question on line item 2640-433, whether this line is used for maintenance services and Lou’s response was yes. He then made a note on the minutes which read “2640-433 is used mainly for service agreements on copiers, however, this past year the Board contracted to have asbestos studies done at both school with an approximate cost of $4,000 per building.”

Tom indicated that the reason the asbestos study was done on both buildings is that the studies that they had were out of date and the board was also looking at maybe changing some carpeting at ARD and the floors underneath were asbestos. Gene asked about the asbestos removal about eight years ago. Tom indicated that almost all of the asbestos was removed, but some of the carpet was glued over the asbestos floor and never actually pulled out.

Tom made a motion to accept the motions as corrected, Gene seconded. Ben stated that usually the minutes are accepted subject to correction, the corrections are then noted on the minutes of the following meeting. The corrections are not made on the drafted minutes.

Dave suggested that the changes be made, copies be distributed to all members, and a vote be taken at the next meeting. Carol A. suggested that Tom and Gene withdraw their motion and then vote on the original minutes. The amendments will not be accepted until everyone has the chance to read the notes and then vote on them at the next meeting. Tom then withdrew his motion. Tom then made a motion to table the minutes until the next meeting, Mona seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Mapping

The budget has been zeroed out and the mapping budget will be a warrant article. Dave asked David to explain this budget. David stated that this year the Town had $3,000 in this budget to update the maps. The last maps were done in April of 2002. The maps are all up to date and current. A warrant article for $1,000 will be placed on the ballot to set aside funds in capital reserve to make updates next year. This will be an account to build upon each year and keep the maps up to date. It will probably not be more than $750 per year. The warrant article may not be $1,000 each year because we should be able to determine each year what will need to be changed.

Dave asked if a vote really needed to be taken since the line item is $0. David stated that the warrant articles will come at the end. You can vote yes on the $0 if you want to. Gene asked if it would be a good idea if there was $1 in the line. Dave asked what happens to this line item if it is zeroed out this year. David indicated that you can add it back in. If the line item is zeroed out and the warrant article does not pass and something has to be done, then you would have to over spend the budget.

Gene made a motion to accept the Tax Map expense account, Mona seconded.

Gene then made a motion to make this line $1, Carol M. seconded. Tom asked if the Board was adding $1 to this line so the line item would not go away. Yes, in case the money is needed and the warrant article does not pass at Town meeting, the Selectmen can still use this line item as long as the bottom line of the full budget is not over spent. Tom then asked if there was no money in this line item, then no mapping could be done. No, David stated that we need a specific purpose for the expenditure. The committee then voted on the motion, the motion passed unanimously.

Jennifer made a motion to accept the bottom line of $1 for Mapping, Gene seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Utility Revaluation

Mona made a motion to open discussion on this budget, Jennifer seconded. David indicated that $1,012 has been spent on this item so far. In 1994, the Town hired Corcoran Consulting to put a value on all the poles and lines that go through Town, for Public Service, NH Co-op, Keyspan, Gas Company, and Tennessee Gas Pipeline. This man is an engineer who every year sends out to Public Service, and all the other entities, a listing of any new lines that are updated and he puts a value on them. He then submits this information to the Town and then they are placed on the MS1 for the tax rate purpose.

Gene asked why the $500 increase. David stated that Public Service filed an appeal, which usually results in a lot of manpower on their part as well as sometimes the Town attorney getting involved in the negotiations. David stated that he is trying to play it safe since $1,012 has been spent, with just the normal updates being done, this year there is a case pending at $125 per hour, it will not take long to spend $500.

The committee then voted on the motion to accept the Utility Revaluation of $1,500, the motion passed unanimously.

Legal Services

Gene made a motion to accept the Legal Services line, Tom seconded. David indicated that this line is level funded. As of August, there has been $16,894 spent. Gene asked how much has been spent in previous years, David indicated that the entire $40,000 has been spent due to pending cases. Gene asked if $40,000 was really needed. David indicated that it is really a safety buffer, if it is not all used, then the money goes to offset taxes. Dave said it is really like the Special Education line in the School, you may not really need all the funds, but if you do, it is there to spend. David stated that if Public Service decides to go to court, these cases usually go to Superior Court and the Town is represented by an attorney.

The committee then voted on the motion, the motion passed with two opposing votes (Gene, Henriette).

Property Insurance

Gene made a motion to accept the bottom line of $40,000, Carol A. seconded. Gene asked why the insurance had gone down. David indicated that they were locked into a five-year agreement with the Municipal Association that gives the Town a 5% discount on insurance. Last year the Town spent $38,000, the additional $2,000 will be to cover any new vehicles that may be purchased.

The committee then voted on the bottom line of $40,000 for the Property Insurance, the motion passed unanimously.

Patriotic Purposes

Gene made a motion to accept the Patriotic Purposes budget, Tom seconded. David indicated that the only new line item was the Christmas in Suncook line for $250. This raises the total from $2,550 to $2,800. Gene asked who is Christmas in Suncook, Gabby indicated that it is the Pembroke Women’s Club who sponsors this event. Gene asked if they were a non-profit organization? Yes they are. Gene stated that when the Friends of Bear Brook asked for funds, they had to show there non-profit status. Can this be obtained? Jennifer will find out. Ben stated that they are non-profit. Henriette made a motion to table this motion until the non-profit status is determined, Mona seconded.

The committee then voted on the motion to table this item, the motion passed with two opposing votes (Ben, Tom).

Economic Development

Carol A. made a motion to accept the bottom line of $500, Tom seconded. Karen asked if this item is ever used. David indicated that this item is in the budget each year. Ben stated that at one time there was an Economic Development committee, they could not get the cooperation of the businesses in Town so it was phased out. Gene made a motion to amend the line to $1, Mona seconded.

The committee then voted on amending the line item to $1, the motion passed unanimously.

Carol A. made a motion to accept the bottom line of $1, Carol M. seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Debt

Gene made a motion to accept the debt line, Carol A. seconded. David indicated that the Sewer bond is paid for, the only debt is the judgement, last item is in case the Town has to borrow funds in anticipation of taxes. Carol A. asked how many more years were left on the judgement, David stated 20 more years.

The committee then voted on the motion, the motion passed unanimously.

Dave indicated that David checked on the number of years left on the judgement, it is eight years not 20.

Police Department

Chief McGonigle began by thanking the Chairman and the members of the committee for meeting with him to discuss the budget. The selectmen asked that the budget not be increased by more than 2.5% and this budget as proposed by the Police Department comes in just under a 2% increase.

Part-time Salary – This is funded $1 just to keep the line open. We have been successful for another year with not having to use part-time officers. It is our hope that we will not have to use part-time officers again. Carol A. asked if for some reason an extreme case happens and a part time officer is needed, is there a pool of people you can draw from. No, in 1996 we had 12 to 13 part time officers, a lot of them were part timers so they could say they were police officers.

Police Secretaries – Increase of $2,980. Currently there is a 1 hour gap Monday thru Friday, weekends and after 8 p.m. there is no secretary/receptionist. Currently the hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. What we would like to propose is to add one hour to the daily shift to close the gap. It is not uncommon that the door will have to be locked. This would make both positions 30 hours per week, there would be no Town paid benefits and the remainder of the increase would be the 2.5% increase.

Gene asked why the Selectmen had cut this line to $25,000. David stated that this was his fault. The Selectmen voted on the bottom line and there was a difference, so it had to be taken out of somewhere, so I took it out of the secretaries line. Dave asked if this number includes the 2.5% minus the hour of coverage. He just took it out of the bottom line. Jennifer asked if they had approved the bottom line of $27,720, David stated that they approved the bottom line of $472,184, because there was a change in the salary. When he changed the salary, the bottom line was off between the department request on secretarial and the Selectmen revised. David stated that $25,000 is not enough to add the extra hour and the 2.5% increase.

Dave stated that the committee can look at this again later to see if this can be adjusted.

Overtime – no change – as of September there is still $5,500 in this account due to the fact that the department has been watching the overtime budget very closely. This account will be depleted in the month of October by $3,500 to cover vacancies and for training.

Legal – County – no change – This is an annual $1,000 expense to cover instances where Sgt. Mulholland, who is the prosecutor and supervisor of support services (Sean may be leaving us to be activated to serve with Uncle Sam once again). This $1,000 is used when he needs the added legal expertise of the County Attorney. This used to be $8,000, it was then cut to $4,000 and then down to $1,000 for the last few years.

Telephone – decrease of $268 – this is largely due to a decrease in the internet service. This account pays for the department pagers, local and long distance service, cell phones and internet service.

Computer Expense – increase of $2,500 – The Department is in the process of seeking a grant from the State of New Hampshire to change the records management system. The system is obsolete, officers are working at the computer, go answer the phone, then when they return to the computer, there report is gone. The grant has a 10% match, and whatever program the department decides on, there will be a maintenance contract for the program. The high-end price of this will be $2,500 and that is why the account has been increased by this amount.

Office Repairs and Equipment – no change – Maintenance contract on copier, this has been increased from $480 for 18,000 copies per year, to 30,000 copies per year for just under $600.

Training – increase of $255 – this is due to the merit increase. This account covers the cost of all training, each employee attends a minimum of five 8 hour training days per year. This is also used for other employees who cover other employees while they are training. We usually do not send people to train if it costs us money. There are a couple of schools that I would like to send the supervisors to, they may go next year.

Dues/Subscriptions – no change – this is for professional dues, to keep the set of RSAs updated and current, the outdated ones are brought upstairs in the Town Hall and then they go to the Library so the public can have access to them.

Supplies – no change – This is for paper, recharging fire extinguishers, etc.

Postage – no change – so far this year we have used $256. We are required to send out copies of police reports to attorneys and we were charging the attorneys for the postage. About two years ago, a lawyer challenged this charge in court, the judge stated that they could either charge the lawyer or they could come and get it. Then another lawyer challenged this decision a couple of months ago and the judge decided that the attorney could not be charged postage.

Gasoline - $400 increase – it is really hard to know what gasoline will cost. This account is monitored very closely. So far this year, we have exceeded the budget amount each month. The Chief reported that so far this year they have placed 102,987 miles on the cruisers. Carol A. asked if this was actual driving mileage, yes it is.

Vehicle Repairs – no change – this is due to the fact that we have been able to replace a vehicle each year. The actual mileage on vehicle #3 is 34,389 not 12,470. There is not much money left in this account right now.

Uniforms – no change.

Full Time Salary – this represented a 2.5% increase for the officers. Captain Montplaisir will be retiring on January 3, 2003. His last day will be December 3, and he will be on vacation until January 3. In trying to determine the best way to go after the retirement, the Chief met with the supervisors to see if they wanted to compete for a Captain’s seat or they should restructure. Currently, Sgt. Neal handles patrol and evidence and Sgt. Mulholland handles vehicle maintenance, supervises the secretarial staff, crossing guards, prosecutions and anything else put on his desk.

It was decided that they did not want to compete for a Captain’s promotion, they would rather have a rank change to lieutenant. Therefore, one sergeant’s salary of $35,692 was deducted from the captain’s salary which left a balance of $8,000+ and this was divided in two, which comes out to a $2 an hour raise for each employee. The Selectmen’s revision was to deduct a patrolman’s salary from the captain’s and came up with a difference of $16,000 and they felt it was $8,000 too much. They forgot that there was a sergeant’s pay in there also. I would request that the salary line remain as we had recommended.

Karen asked about the department request. It states a salary of $332,418 and on the top $294,387. The Chief stated that if you add in the grant amount to the $294,387 it adds up to the $345,404. The actual cost for the full time salary line is $345,404. Our match for the cops grant is $22,987.

Tom asked if there were some officers leaving. Officers Gagne and Padilla have both left. Officer Rondeau starts October 6, Officer Kelley is not on board yet, but should start on or about October 20.

Dave asked if the role of a Lieutenant is different that the role of a sergeant. Yes, the sergeant is primarily a shift supervisor. When the department is at full strength, the second car on at night is usually a sergeant. One of the areas where this profession is more vulnerable for a lawsuit is inadequate or lack of supervision. To not have that Sergeant available to give guidance and on-going training on a daily basis presents a significant liability.

Are Sgt. Mulholland’s duties going to change if he is promoted to lieutenant? No not really, this is a feeble attempt on the Chief’s part to take the money that has previously been prorated, add 2.5% for the merit increase and rearrange the salaries to adequately compensate them. The Chief noted that there are two lieutenant vacancies in Litchfield that are paying $55,000 per year with a company car. Sgt. Mulholland stated that he would not be leaving if he were not promoted.

Dave stated that the reason he was asking is that a Sergeant has certain responsibilities and a Lieutenant usually has more responsibility. Yes this is true.

Carol A. stated if it is true that some civil law suits are due to lack of supervision and the sergeant position is restructured, the lieutenants would have more responsibility and there will be a sergeant to fill in the ‘to be named’ position, would part of the lieutenants responsibilities be to cover the day and night shift so there is a supervisory position there 24/7? No, we would not have a supervisor 24/7, but there would be supervisory coverage for 16 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Carol A. asked if there were two people on third shift. No, we have a cover shift, which is 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. or 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. depending on the day of the week. So from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. there is only one officer on duty.

Maintenance/Repair Radios/Radars – no change – we are required to have the radar units certified once a year now, which cost $40 each time. This also pays for maintenance of in-cruiser video camera. These cameras are very helpful, it also helps when people have complained that the officer did something or behaved in a manner that we would not want an officer to behave. We would then watch the videotape and it usually changes their whole attitude.

We have applied for a grant to place a camera in our last marked vehicle, if it is approved before the end of the year, we will pay our match out of this year’s budget.

The downside to the video cameras is that they breakdown and are expensive to repair.

Crossing Guards – This has always been the responsibility of the Police Department. The Chief has often wondered if this should really be an expense that comes out of the school district budget. I had a brief discussion with the Assistant Superintendent and asked how he would feel about assuming this cost in the school budget, he said he did not see any problem with it. I therefore wrote him a letter on September 23 detailing the cost and we will see what happens as the school board goes through their budget process.

I have left it in this year’s budget in case the school department decides they do not want it in their budget. The guards do an outstanding job and we are very fortunate to have them. Therefore, it remains in our budget for now. Tom asked about the flashing lights at the schools. The Chief stated that the State sets them to flash just before the school year, they begin to flash 30 minutes before the start of school and when school starts they stop. Then they run for a period of time in the afternoon. The State Department of Transportation is responsible for these lights.

Dispatch – We are starting our second year with Bow Dispatch with a flat rate of $18,000 per year. It is a much better service then we ever received from Hooksett.

The reason for the amount requested here is that the law enforcement in the entire State of New Hampshire is switching to digital radios. We received brand new cruiser radios last year from the Feds through the State for all our cruisers and the base station at no cost to the Town. The radios ran $6,500 each. There was talk last year of federal money being available to purchase portable radios, which are very valuable. This did not happen.

We have checked with Senator Gregg’s office and there are no plans to have grant money for the radios. The State of New Hampshire just received $4 million dollars for digital radios, but that is for dispatch centers, it is not going to be available for portable radios. So rather than decrease this from $28,960 to $18,000, I would like to propose a four year plan to replace the portable radios without an impact on the tax rate and leave it as it is. It is anticipated that the State will be totally digital by the year 2004. By fazing this in, we will be about a year behind. We do not have a choice; we must change over to digital. If they are out of the cruiser and they need to talk to dispatch, they will have to return to the cruiser to do that.

Police Detail – no change – this is an in and out account. The $1,000 never gets spent. Whenever there is a request for an officer to work outside detail, the department charges $45, the officer gets $30, $10 is for the vehicle use and the other $5 is for the administrative cost, worker’s comp and the Town’s share of retirement benefits. So far this year we have taken in $8,415 in vehicle use which goes to the general fund. We have taken in $19,137, the majority of which goes to the officers.

Animal Control – not proposing anything different than last year. Last year we proposed to hire a part-time animal control officer who is paid $10 per hour who would work 24 hours per week. We now have a second animal control officer. The proposal is for $12,000 with no benefits and $4,000 for various supplies.

The supplies would be in case an animal needs to be put down we must pay for that. We do not take a dog out and shot them, this will not happen unless a dog is attacking another dog or human being, and by law an officer is allowed to shot that dog.

We are looking at acquiring a tranquilizer gun that will allow us to shoot an animal to put it to sleep and transport it to the pound. Our pound is in the best shape it has ever been in. Thanks to the efforts of Sgt. Mulholland and Clinton Jones who have put lighting, fans and we are buying a heater. The animals are not kept in the pound very long. We are usually very successful in finding the owner or an animal lover who will keep the animal for 10 days. After 10 days we can find a new home for the animal. Only one animal has been put down this year because the vet told us he was so sick that nothing could be done.

Gene asked if 24 hours a week was too much. No, he does more than dog complaints. He responded and saved two horses from being seriously injured because someone passing by saw the horses tangled up in wire and he was able to untangle the horses and call the owner.

Gene asked if he worked certain hours or if he was on call. The Chief stated that he was on call but that he gets paid only for the hours he actually works. He works a maximum of 24 hours per week. He may work 2 hours one day and longer the next. If he works more than 24 hours in one week, then he would have to work less hours the next.

Warrant Article

There will be one to replace a cruiser; the vehicle to be replaced will be equipment #1. It has the second highest mileage. The vehicle that has the highest mileage is the administrative vehicle used by Sgt. Mulholland. The mileage being put on this vehicle now are softer miles, it is our feeling that this vehicle will last at least one more year. The vehicle to be replaced has 62,734 miles as of this afternoon. This vehicle has cost the most in repairs this year.

Carol A. asked about the DARE vehicle. The Chief stated that this vehicle gets very little use. It is used for outside details and back and forth to school.

Computer Capital Reserve – this is an annual $1,000 capital reserve to replace computers as needed.

Equipment – this is primarily for the officer’s vests, which cost $583 each. Bulletproof vest is an item of clothing that cannot be transferred from one person to another.

Carol A. asked what happens to the vest when an officer leaves. The Chief stated that they stay here. These vest are all custom fitted and if we are lucky enough to hire an employee that the vest fits, then he can replace just the cover.

So if we get a very large or very small person and none of the vest fit, you have to purchase a new one. Yes. The Chief stated that none of the vests are thrown away and the officer cannot take the vest with him/her. Prior to the demise of Officer Jeremy Cherron, this department did not buy bulletproof vests. Back then the Board made the decision that this would no longer be the case. We also have on an annual basis, matching federal grant money. Sgt. Neal is currently wearing a newer style but has never gone down to be fitted for his own. If Officer Kelley comes on board, he would already be full time certified officer. Anytime you can hire a full time certified officer, who is not bringing with him/her a lot of baggage it is really helpful.

DARE Program – Sgt. Mulholland will be teaching the DARE program. Officer Huard is in the academy and will graduating in November. We are trying to find a DARE class that he can attend to be a certified instructor. Officer Huard is very interested in teaching DARE.

Sgt. Mulholland will be leaving for active duty in the near future. The good news is that Cathy Rogers just passed the bar two weeks ago. During the past two weeks, she has been going through unpaid training with Sgt. Mulholland and when he leaves, Cathy has agreed to take the position of prosecutor. The County Attorney’s office made an informal proposal that they would be willing to take over the prosecution when Shaun left for $8,000 to $10,000. What you get for this money is that they stand in court after someone else in your department has done all the leg work, done all the discovery, filed all the motions, subpoenaed all the witnesses, and done 90% of the work, they gone in and ask if they swear to tell the truth.

Gene asked about the transportation of prisoner’s line, shouldn’t that be the responsibility of the sheriff’s office. The Chief stated that the responsibility of the Sheriff’s office to transport prisoners does not start until after they are in jail. It is our responsibility to transport them to the jail. The Sheriff’s department transports the prisoner from jail to court, then from court to wherever else they are going.

Dave stated that the Chief met with the subcommittee on Monday night. The committee members are Jennifer, Don, Colin and Robin.

Gene made a motion to accept the bottom line of $472,184, Tom seconded.

Gene made a motion to change the secretarial line from $25,538 to $27,720, Carol M. seconded. The motion passed with one opposing vote (Henriette).

Computer Expense went up $2,500 for the new program. The Chief stated that they are looking at two programs and they have a preference for the program that they think is a better program. The program is still being evaluated by the powers that be at the Department of Safety. Every police department in the country is supposed to report statistical data to the State and then forward it to the Feds. Federal dollars come back into the State based on crime data per population. We currently cannot report this data. The program that the State appears to be pushing, Shaun has done exhaustive research on, and it appears to be a piece of junk, it is not even appropriate. If we end up being told that it is the only one there is a grant for, we will come up with something else. We may hire a computer consultant to fix what we currently have. We will not spend $50,000 of taxpayer money and have a piece of garbage. If the State decided that the program that we really want is acceptable to them, we will be going with that and we will need the maintenance contract. It may be a little less than the $2,500.

Tom asked if the maintenance contract was per year, yes it is.

Supplies – this includes paperclips, toilet paper, paper towels, fire extinguisher recharged ($49), whatever does not fit in computer expense or vehicle maintenance, then it comes out of supplies. Tom asked if the department used the entire $4,000 each year, it is very close.

Gene asked if all these supplies were going to be handled centrally for all departments, David indicated that only the Town stuff (planning, zoning, town clerk, tax, welfare, health) are handled in this manner.

Full Time Salary

The Chief requested $322,418 and the Selectmen changed this amount. Carol A. stated that she would like to know a little bit more on how they decided on the $314,322. Dave asked Ben to explain the Selectmen’s decision. Ben then asked the Chief to explain what he said and then Ben will tell how the decision was made.

The Chief took the Captain’s salary of $44,252 then deducted the Sergeant’s salary of $35,692 and this left a balance of $8,000. He then divided that and eliminated the Captain’s title, then made two of the three sergeants Lieutenants. Then I took the $8,000 difference between the Captain’s salary and divided it in half and gave each Lieutenant $4,000, which is roughly a $2.03 per employee. That leaves $35,692 to pay the sergeant.

The Board of Selectmen deducted the salary of a entry level patrolman ($28,059) from the Captain’s salary, this is a $16,000 difference. They then felt this was going to be an $8,000 raise per lieutenant and that this was inappropriate. That is not the case. Even if you deduct a patrolman’s pay from the captain’s pay, you still need to leave $35,692 for a sergeant. One of the things we do is to bump everyone up. This is one of the ways that we try to hang on to people.

Ben stated that in the original presentation, everyone agreed that this was ok. Overnight, or somewhere in the process, some members of the board started to question the decision. What they did was eliminate the sergeant position, allowing the $16,000 difference. Jennifer asked if the Board’s thinking was that there would only be patrolmen and two lieutenants? Yes. There is still the same number of employees.

Henriette asked what happened to the 2.5%. Last year the police officers received $1.50 across the board increase for all officers effective 1/1/02 plus 2.5%. They were the only ones that got that. This year the Budget Committee said that the Town Hall people would be getting the raise. If you look at this, Officer Neal, two years ago his pay was $25,000, if this works, he is going up to $39,000. That is $14,000 in two years. It is a bit much. You have to work for your title.

Dave asked what a base pay is for a lieutenant. The Chief stated that in 1999 the base pay for a lieutenant was $15.52, currently the base pay for a lieutenant is $17.96 per hour.

Henriette stated that the figures were too high, they should get 2.5% like everyone else. If you are going to be fair, they received the $1.50 last year.

Karen stated that this is different because they are moving up a level. Tom stated that with the promotion there is an increase of responsibility. Dave stated that the base pay for a lieutenant annually is $37,356.80. The Chief is proposing $39,967. Henriette stated that Officer Neal was just a patrolmen when he started two or three years ago. Chief McGonigle stated that when he was promoted to sergeant, he received a sergeant’s pay.

Chief McGonigle asked everyone to consider the fact that the reason there is a salary scale which was approved by this board in 1996 was to adequately compensate people for their performance. As of right now, because of the salary that is paid in this Town there are only two patrolmen that are certified. The others are not certified yet. One of the Board of Selectmen jokingly said, I hope that person was joking, is that Allenstown is a wonderful training ground for police officers.

The survey that was sent out as part of the Master Plan, one of the comments that appeared a couple of times by residents of this community, is that it would be nice if we kept our police officers long enough so that we could get to know who they are. The Chief feels the same way. If we do not stay on schedule with the salary steps, we will lose more officers. Henriette stated that they do not all leave because of salary, there are other reasons.

Gene stated to Henriette that we as a committee are here to look at the positions and not personnel themselves. A police chief is hired to handle his personnel; we are here to vote on the positions salary. Even if someone has been with the department one month, if the chief feels that he deserves to be a lieutenant, then that should be the chief’s prerogative, not the Boards. We are here to vote on a position not on the name. Henriette stated that a $14,000 raise in two years is a lot of money.

Tom stated that he did not feel that the debate is whether an officer has been here two years or three years, this is the salary for that position, and if you have performed your job adequately you will be promoted and move up as time goes on. Some people do not want to go any higher than a patrolmen others work harder to get to a higher position, it is all in goals that people obtain as to how fast they move up. Henriette stated that has never been a problem here, I have never seen them go from lieutenant and up and up, it just happened.

Gene stated that if tomorrow the police officers all leave and he wants to hire people, he could hire a lieutenant from Concord, if he is hired as a lieutenant here, he will not start at a patrolman’s salary, he will start at a lieutenant’s salary because he is hired at a lieutenant rate. It is not our concern who that person is.

Henriette stated that she has nothing against Sergeant Neal, it is a quite a large amount of money to give one person in two years.

Dave stated that this also happens in the business world.

Carol A. stated that regardless who the people are, it does not matter if you are a secretary going to executive secretary to administrative assistant, or in this case patrolman to sergeant to lieutenant, you usually start at the bottom of the pay scale not in the middle somewhere. So if a lieutenant is starting at $17.96 per hour, then that position should start there, not at $39,967. They should start at the entry-level position.

Karen stated that she understands Carol’s position, but she thought that the Chief really wanted to promote them both to Captain but could not do that, so he settled for two lieutenants which are worth it and gave a higher increase to the merit they are worth.

The Chief stated that part of his thought process was that he could not go any higher in the salary count than 2.5%. So the Captain was making this amount, a sergeant makes this amount, deduct the difference and split it between the two sergeants that will be lieutenants.

Dave asked if all the other personnel were only getting 2.5%, yes.

Gene stated that the Chief knows how best the community will be served by distributing the authority so that all shifts do have proper supervision. I think it is a smart move to delegate more authority to different individuals and spreading it out fairly.

Tom asked if you have another sergeant task, how then will you breakup the work. Will the two lieutenant’s breakup the captain’s work plus a sergeant’s work? If the reduction goes through, the lieutenant’s will have captain’s duties, lieutenant’s duties and sergeant’s duties.

Gene made a motion to change the full time salary line from $314,322 to $322,418, Jennifer seconded.

Tom asked if the increase would just be the $4,000 salary increase for the two lieutenants. Yes.

The motion passed with two opposing votes (Henriette, Carol A.)

Crossing Guard - This may come out of the bottom line if the School Board agrees.

Jennifer commented that normally when we have a purchase that goes over a certain amount of years, a warrant article is written. He really only has $18,000 for dispatch and wants to use the rest of the money to buy portable digital radios, but normally this is pulled out for a warrant article. But warrant articles are not passing, if this is a desperate purchase we should keep it in here.

The Chief stated that some budget items that some people consider that it would be nice to have, but the portable digital radios are a necessity. We must convert our probable radios to digital or we will not be able to communicate with our officers.

Carol A. asked if the fire department had a four-year plan to replace air tanks, which was a necessity for them to have.

Gene made a motion to accept the bottom line of $482,462, Karen seconded.

Jennifer stated that she had a problem with not breaking out the portable radios into a warrant article. Karen stated that she felt this was different because it is something they have to do. Maybe the fire department article was an error in judgement, but I would worry that it would not pass.

Dave stated it is similar to the cruiser, this used to be in the operating budget and it was taken out, but it is an annual thing. Personally, he does not mind leaving this in here because we have to do this. We don’t know what the mood of the people will be in March. I’m sure the board will go along with approving the warrant article if it does change to one.

Jennifer asked if it was a State regulation that they have digital, Sgt. Mulholland stated that the new radios are a digital frequency, the current radios are an analog frequency. There will be no one who will hear me on this radio when they switch over. It used to be 2007, now the State is saying that by the end of 2004 we have to be completely ready to go.

Tom stated that you cannot have an officer on a routine stop then something goes wrong and he cannot communicate with anyone.

The board then voted on the new bottom line, the motion passed with two opposing votes (Henriette, Carol A.)

Tom stated that the School Board should have an answer on the Crossing Guard after its next board meeting.

Dave stated that at the Board’s next meeting we will discuss the minutes and Patriotic budget.

Dave notified all members that Fire Chief Dionne resigned and Rob Martin (Deputy Chief) will be here to present the fire department budget in two weeks.

On November 7, he would like to discuss elections, planning, town clerk, parks and recreation, November 21 will be the school. December we will be discussing the Town, tax collection, executive, assessing, sewer, and whatever else may come up.

Henriette stated that she had heard that some one of the Budget Committee was questioning why she was on this committee since she works at the Town Hall. Dave stated that as a part-time employee she is able to be on the committee, but a full time employee cannot be on the board, that is why Lois had to resign from the board.

Henriette stated someone was also questioning Karen as a Commissioner of Parks and Recreation. Karen stated that she talked with the lawyer at the NH Municipal Association because they gave us conflicting documents. Karen stated that they brought it up to the Selectmen because we received information to the Municipal Association that said that Department heads who are employees cannot serve as budget committee members. Obviously, I am not an employee, but you could technically say that I am a Department head. But it also said, that the person in charge of submitting the budget could not be on the Board. We asked her in the full session and she really did not answer the questions. Karen went up to her after the session and asked again and the lady said there was no problem. Then David talked with our lawyer and he stated that there is no real conflict. Karen stated that she is planning on abstaining when the Parks and Recreation vote is taken.

Gene stated to stop any legal challenge it is usually better to abstain. Tom asked Henriette who was questioning her being on the Board, she stated that he is not here.

Gene stated that last year, the Board voted that the tapes of the meetings would be kept for a period of three years, is this being done? Yes. Gene asked if they are being recorded over, no.

Dave stated that he does not want to reuse the tape because last year one of the tapes broke and we could not get all the information off of it. And this year the first one was not in the best shape. Gene stated that if the Board needs tapes, he could supply a whole box.

Karen stated that if anyone has an issue with her being a Parks and Recreation Commissioner and on the Budget Committee, and feels that she should step down from the Parks and Rec department, please tell her because she does not want to cause any problems.

Dave stated that he did not think there were any problems with the people that were at the meeting today. Jennifer stated that only reason she questioned it was that it did seem like a conflict with Karen with two positions and I just wanted to make sure that we did not get to the end of the budget process and then find out that all the votes were null and void because it is an illegal board.

Carol A. stated that in the past Jennifer was abstaining from all the fire department budgetary process because her husband was on the fire department.

Karen stated that the afternoon part of the seminar was kind of useless, they came out with no answers to anything, but the morning was useful. There was a lot of materials handed out. According to the NH Municipal Association the decision on what should be a warrant article rests with the selectmen.

Gene made a motion to recess, Tom seconded.

The meeting recessed at 9:27 p.m.