1993-FINANCE COMMITTEE - Laserfiche WebLink

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Finance Committee Fiscal Year 1994 Proposed Budget Page 3. Lifeguard Program: The Selectmen propose the reinstitution of a lifeguard and gatekeeper program for our town beaches. With the substantial water-related recreational areas in this community,it is felt that a major initiative is required to properly manage these in order to ensure the safe, full and productive use of these resources by all of our residents. The Town should be extremely proud of its water-related recreational amenities, and along with this pride comes the responsibility to actively manage these areas. It is noted here that a$5.00 per sticker increase in beach permit fees will create enough funds from these fees to cover the cost of lifeguards. Vehicle Maintenance Program: In order to streamline vehicle maintenance, and to make the most efficient use of Town resources, the Board of Selectmen has proposed the creation of a Town-wide vehicle maintenance program to be operated through the Department of Public Works. One full-time mechanic/laborer will be added to utilize the DPW garage for maintaining Town vehicles, and all vehicle maintenance and fuel funds have been concolidated into a single maintenance account under the jurisdiction of the Board of Selectmen. While repairs and fuel usage will continue to be tracked by department, this consolidation of expenses and in-house maintenance will create permanent savings in this area. Privatization of Building Maintenance: Staff and resources for the maintenance of the Town Hall,Archives,Police Station and Senior Center have for some time been woefully inadequate to protect the condition of these buildings.Rather than adding new staff to develop a program to care for these buildings, the determination has been reached that it would be more efficient in this instance to privatize these services. A single town- wide maintenance person will remain on staff to perform maintenance and caretaker duties to address the many needs which cannot be met by a cleaning service. As noted, these important initiatives have been proposed from a fiscally conservative perspective, which means that they are being accomplished within the context of a fully- balanced budget, with no use of the Town's free cash reserves. It is the feeling of the Board that this approach will keep the Town on track during these tight times, while keeping pace with our mounting service delivery needs. In reviewing the overall budget, the Board asks that you take extra care in reviewing departmental expense budget accounts,especially in die Police and Fire expense and communication areas in order to fully examine these areas, which have grown rather rapidly since FYI992. Other areas to take a close look at in formulating your recommendations include Police and Fire overtime and Fire callback wages. The Board hopes to review these areas with the Committee at a later date. Ile Board thanks you for your important role in the budget review process, and looks forward to meeting with you and working closely to develop a coordinated package for presentation to our voters at our annual town meeting. Feel free to contact me at any time if you should have any questions concerning the proposed budget.