10/27/1981 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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NOTES ON ADMINISTRATIVE MEETING • BOARD OF SELECTMEN October 27 , 1981 1) Regarding the subject of next year' s budget preparation and the necessity for warning Department Heads of the restraints imposed by Proposition 2;, the Selectmen concurred that some guidelines should be provided. Chm. Garland felt it might be appropriate to issue two memos, one now and one later, after the Special Town Meeting. Both Selectmen agreed that there will be a strong impact felt. Mr. Murphy stated his real concern will be for the following year . Chm. Garland wondered if the memo could be written so as to give the Unions a message, also? Mr. Murphy felt it was a valid point - that the Union Stewards should be apprised of the situa- tion. He will give some "early warnings" to those attending the Data Processing Meeting this Thursday, and will meet later with the Union Ste- wards. The Department Heads will need to start thinking about the process very soon, and we must give some consideration to the budget im- pact of non-union employees. Mr. Murphy reminded the Selectmen that the Fire and Highway contracts contain a wage re-opener. Chm. Garland said we must all be mindful that there are certain fixed costs that are ines- capable, and can ' t be reduced. Mr. Murphy said there will have to be changes in the levels of service the Town offers , which will result from changes in the operational procedure, such as new policies on the filling of shifts. Sel. Thomas stated that we have no hard evidence that there will have to • any lay-offs next year , so she feels this should not be mentioned, as the inevitable result of such rumors is the creation of panic. Chm. Garland agreed that there should be no thought at this time of lay-offs . He added that attrition may take care of some of that problem. Mr. Murphy stated he will recommend placing a "Reduction In Force" clause in the contracts when they are re-opened. Sel. Thomas feels the first notice out of this office should lean on Proposition 2;. The Selectmen instructed the Execu- tive Secretary to draft a memo, and set up the budget schedule. Chm. Garland said the Department Heads should have stressed to them the impor- tance of realistically predicating their costs. Sel. Thomas said that part of the problem in the past has been that we don't make enough allow- ances for unforeseen expenses. If we are going to keep the budgets really lean, we should beef up the Municipal Equipment and Repair Account. 2) Regarding the request from the Dunstable Board of Selectmen that this Board write a letter to the Governor supporting the Bottle Bill, Mr. Murphy pointed out that on each Monday during the summer season , our High- way Department becomes a "Litt/er Dept. " , as it takes them a full day to clean up the debris from the week-end. The Selectmen agreed that the Executive Secretary should prepare a letter to Governor King expressing g Mashpee' s support for the Bottle Bill. 3) Regarding the repairs to the Health Agent ' s car , the Selectmen directed the matter be put on the Agenda for the meeting the next day. Now that the low estimater has been identified, they are ready to cast a vote. I � But they stressed that their approval was to carry the condition that the repairs not exceed $300. 00.