Select Board Meeting ~ December 27, 2022

2022-12-27 · Select Board · 1:40:19 · watch on YouTube →

The Select Board met on December 27, 2022 with three of its five members present. Most of the meeting was a presentation of the town's 2021 audit by Jennifer Conners, who performed it, followed by questions from the board and from budget committee members who had been invited to attend. The board approved a club-with-catering liquor license for the Durham AmVets and a quit claim deed returning 128 North Durham Road to its owner after back taxes were paid. The fire chief reported on the December 23 storm and two structure fires, and asked the board to consider raising ambulance rates; no vote was taken on rates and the board asked for more information. The board also reviewed a draft RFP for a solid waste contract to run from July 2023 to June 2026, heard the town manager's report, approved the consent agenda and adjourned.

What was discussed

1. 0:52
   Opening and agenda amendments

   The opening is garbled in the transcript. The chair noted a change affecting item six because someone due to attend would not be there, and opened the public comment portion.

2. 0:52
   2021 audit presentation

   Jennifer Conners presented the audit of the year ended December 31, 2021. Fieldwork was done the week of March 14, 2022, later than usual, and the reports were dated August 25, 2022. The financial statements received an unmodified (clean) opinion.

3. 0:52
   Audit findings: one material weakness, two significant deficiencies

   The material weakness concerned cash account reconciliation, which the auditor described as the most serious level of finding. The two significant deficiencies were segregation of duties and the preparation of the financial statements and audit adjustments.

4. 6:48
   Bank reconciliations and fund balance categories

   The auditor said full bank reconciliations had not been done since April 2021, leaving unreported activity on the bank statements, most of it revenue in the town's favor. She then explained the five fund balance categories: non-spendable, restricted, committed, assigned and unassigned.

5. 11:56
   2021 general fund results

   Fund balance rose about $216,000 from 2020 to 2021. Taxes came in about $61,000 over budget from prior-year collections and supplementals, and charges for services about $115,000 over budget on unbudgeted fire department revenue including about $99,000 of ambulance billings. Expenditures were under budget, with unclassified under by about $106,000. Education made up 56 percent of general fund expenditures.

6. 17:06
   Committed fund balances and corrections to the reserves

   The reserve total shown on the financial statements was $473,000; after adjustments it should be about $790,000. Unspent appropriations for telecommunications, recreation, fire and rescue capital and public works capital should still have been transferred to reserves, and two amounts had been double counted, a $57,000 fire and rescue expenditure and $180,600 in public works capital for a plow truck voted in 2020 but delivered and paid for in 2021. Board members asked for a simpler way to document these balances going forward.

7. 22:36
   Restricted balances, bank accounts and the cash position

   Most restricted and committed balances sit in the general operating account; only the restoration fund, unspent bond proceeds and scholarship funds are in separate accounts. Total operating cash on December 31, 2021 was $4,038,000, of which about $13,000 was restricted and about $711,000 committed, leaving roughly $3.3 million for operations, about four months of expense. A rough calculation showed a shortfall of about $247,000 over the first seven and a quarter months of the year, before capital spending of about $215,000 is added back.

8. 28:05
   Segregation of duties with a small staff

   Kevin Nadeau asked how the town can segregate duties with two or three office staff. The auditor said the town needs a second set of eyes on the cash and reconciliation process; the town manager, Jerry Douglass (?), said he would take over the reconciliations, and described staff cashing out their own drawers rather than each other's.

9. 33:22
   Budget committee questions on the audit

   A budget committee member noted the segregation of duties finding had been raised in prior years. Discussion followed on whether reserve balances should be tracked in Trio rather than the existing spreadsheet, which several people described as convoluted and inconsistently labelled.

10. 38:22
    Next audit date and staff training

    The next audit is scheduled for February 6, with the report hoped for sooner than August, possibly around April 1 if records are ready. A budget committee member asked what training staff need to use Trio and keep the records organised, and suggested ARPA funds could pay for it as a one-time expense.

11. 44:12
    Cash handling at the counter

    Further questions on whether taking cash at the window could be reduced. The auditor said the less cash handled the better, but receipts, checks, credit card payments and ACH still need reconciling.

12. 44:12
    AmVets liquor licence: club with catering

    A representative of the Durham AmVets (?) asked the board to approve a club-with-catering licence. The current on-premise licence covers the basement only, and events elsewhere in the building are BYOB, which brings repeated permit requests to the town; under the new licence the club would cater with its own bartender and BYOB permits would end. Members-only access to the downstairs is unchanged, and the town receives no fee.

13. 54:59
    Minimum wage increase and the fire department

    The fire chief reported that the state minimum wage rises $1.05 on January 1, from $12.75 to $13.80, affecting roughly 14 fire department members paid at minimum wage. He said the effect is being worked into the 2023 budget.

14. 1:00:36
    December 23 storm and two structure fires

    The fire department handled roughly 14 to 15 calls for service during the storm, mostly wires and trees down blocking roads, with Route 125 completely shut. The chief said the town gets no ETAs from CMP and no notice when roads reopen, and that a primary line down on Bowie Hill was not attended to until the day before the meeting. A structure fire on Bowie Hill caused roughly $10,000 in damage, and a second fire at the same house two days later, from a wood stove being used without power, caused about $75,000.

15. 1:05:59
    Ambulance rate schedule

    The chief presented a comparison from the town's ambulance billing company (Comstar (?)) of Medicare allowances, the top-50 average and the town's current rates. Rates have not been raised since the town contracted with the company; he said doubling them would still not reach the average and recommended moving to the average, but asked for no vote that night.

16. 1:11:25
    Board discussion of ambulance rates

    Board members said the charge falls on people using the service, that the town cannot charge residents and non-residents differently, and asked what cost basis the figures rest on. One suggestion was an intermediate step of raising rates at least to the Medicare reimbursement level before any larger discussion.

17. 1:17:05
    Comparison towns and call volume

    A budget committee member asked for a comparison against similar towns rather than the top 50 in New England. The chief said call volume is up about five percent for the year and that the town supplements the rescue service through taxes.

18. 1:22:10
    Warming centre and storm communications

    In response to a question raised on Facebook, the chief said a regional warming centre was used and the Lisbon Police Department served as the centre for this area; one call came in. Residents on home oxygen were assisted, including one who was brought a generator. Board members said the warming centre information should have been on the town web page rather than only on Facebook.

19. 1:22:10
    Roadside debris and a Route 9 passing zone

    A resident asked about trees stacked along the roadside and on guardrails after storms, particularly on Route 9. Discussion (?) moved to the passing zone on the Lisbon side of the curve, and it was suggested the board draft a letter to the Department of Transportation expressing concern.

20. 1:27:12
    Quit claim deed, 128 North Durham Road

    The town had foreclosed on the property for non-payment of taxes and the owner has since met the tax obligation. The deed transfers the property back and releases the town's claim. This was the second such deed; the first was handled at the previous meeting.

21. 1:32:40
    Solid waste contract RFP

    The current contract ends June 30; the draft RFP runs July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026 and would go to Casella, Waste Management, Riverside and Triano (?), plus the Maine Municipal and town websites, open for about three weeks. A board member noted section eight lists only number one and number two plastics while Appendix A lists numbers one through seven, and asked that the language be made consistent. Bidders will again be asked to price bulky waste and universal waste separately so those can go on the warrant as separate questions.

22. 1:38:17
    Town manager report

    The town manager said fee schedules across departments will be brought to a 2023 meeting for the board to set, that John Tyler (?) could not attend to discuss article language, and that he is working on the budget after a budget committee meet and greet. He said he is four months into the job and that commingled sections of past budgets make the work difficult.

23. 1:38:17
    Consent agenda, upcoming meetings and adjournment

    The consent agenda covered the minutes and the payables warrant. Upcoming meetings are the select board and budget committee on January 10, with board business first and a budget presentation after, and departments presenting their budgets on the 12th. No executive session was held.

What was decided

• 54:59
  Approve the club with catering liquor licence application for the Durham AmVets. The transcript records a 3-0 vote.passed
• 1:11:25
  No vote was taken on raising ambulance rates. The fire chief said the decision is not time dependent and agreed to bring back cost information and a comparison with similar towns.tabled
• 1:27:12
  The town issue a quit claim deed as presented for the property at 128 North Durham Road, tax map 6, lot 114B. The transcript does not state the result; the minutes record the motion by Kevin Nadeau, seconded by Josh Klein-Golden, carried 3-0.passed
• 1:38:17
  Consent the agenda as presented, covering the minutes and the payables warrant. The transcript records a 3-0 vote; the minutes record the motion by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George, carried 3-0.passed
• 1:38:17
  Adjourn. The transcript records the chair saying the meeting was adjourned; the minutes record the motion by Richard George, seconded by Kevin Nadeau, carried 3-0.passed

An outcome reads "unclear" where the recording does not state it plainly. The recogniser drops short words, and "the motion does not carry" is one missing word from its opposite.

Motions the minutes record

The town's own written account of what was decided, taken from bosminutes_12_27_22_0.txt. It owes nothing to the recording or to a model: the clerk typed it, with the vote. Where the summary above claims a decision this list does not carry, the summary is the part to doubt.

• Motion not recorded in wordscarried 3-0

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George

• the town issue a quit claim deed as presentedcarried 3-0

  Moved by Kevin Nadeau, seconded by Josh Klein-Golden

• consent the agenda as presentedcarried 3-0

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George

• adjourncarried 3-0

  Moved by Richard George, seconded by Kevin Nadeau

Worth knowing

• 6:48
  The auditor said full bank reconciliations had not been done since April 2021, a gap of about 11 months. This produced the material weakness, which she described as the most serious level of audit finding.
• 17:06
  Reserve balances were understated. The financial statements showed $473,000; after adding unspent appropriations that should have been transferred and reversing two double-counted amounts, $57,000 for fire and rescue capital and $180,600 for a public works plow truck, the total is about $790,000.
• 1:00:36
  A primary power line was down across Bowie Hill and was not attended to until the day before the meeting. The chief said the town gets no ETAs from CMP and no notice when roads reopen, so staff cannot tell residents when a road is passable.
• 1:05:59
  Ambulance rates have not been raised since the town contracted with its billing company. Current charges are below what Medicare allows, and the chief said doubling them would still be below the top-50 average; Medicare allows $8.40 per mile of transport.

Motion language found in the transcript

Located by pattern matching, with no model involved: "I move that", "I'll second", "all those in favour". This is an independent check on the summary above: 1 passage of motion language, against 5 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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