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Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes

Town of Hingham
Advisory Committee

February 24, 2010 Meeting Minutes

Hingham Town Hall
Present:  Committee Members Seelen, Manning, Asher, Eldredge, Farrell, Innis, Lauter, MacCune, Marwill, O’Meara
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Chair Jerry Seelen called the Advisory Committee meeting to order at 7:10 PM.

The Committee reviewed and unanimously approved the minutes for February 23rd.

Department

% Change from FY10

Comments

Police Department

-4.8%

The $4,236,404 budget presented to the Board of Selectmen by the Town Administrator would fund 44 officers, down from 47 in the department’s requested budget.   
Implementation of the Selectmen-approved budget would likely result in:

  • elimination of the last School resource officer—the Middle School DARE officer
  • movement of one or both detectives back to patrol status
  • greater expenditure of overtime to properly staff each shift

FBI best-practices guideline would have the HPD at more than 50 officers.
The Police sub-committee recommends funding for 47 officers for a total FY11 budget of $4,384,258.

Dispatch Services

-37.2%

The $279,263 budget presented to the Board of Selectmen by the Town Administrator was predicated on a Fall 2010 implementation of the Regional Emergency Communications Center (RECC) generating $200K in savings.
The sub-committee recommends adding $200K back into the FY11 budget given delays in RECC contractual negotiations. 

Weights and Measures

-2.5%

 

Animal Control

-5.0%

The budget cut was achieved by reducing allotments for overtime, supplies, and kennel services.

Harbormaster/Shellfish Constable

-3.7%

The Board of Selectmen-approved budget of $109,256 would result in:

  • elimination of assistants to operate the pump-out boat
  • elimination of some harbor-patrol work
  • inability to optimize the inner harbor or optimize the World’s End mooring area

FY11 Local Receipts have been increased by $200K of harbor-derived revenue from existing and new initiatives.
Harbormaster Ken Corson applied for and was awarded a $250K DCR-Waterways grant that requires no matching funds from the Town.
The sub-committee recommends adding $19,924 for payroll resulting in a total FY11 budget of $129,180.


Two Reserve Fund Transfers for the Harbormaster were unanimously approved:

The following proposed Warrant articles were reviewed and voted.


#

Proposed Article

Committee Vote

7

Disbursement of Electric Light Department Receipts

Affirmative – Unanimous

8

Transfer Light Plant Investment Income

Affirmative – Unanimous

The Capital Outlay Committee will report its FY11 Five-Year Capital Plan recommendations to the Board of Selectmen at 6:30 PM on February 25th in the Town Hall Central Hearing Room.

The Committee will meet in the Central Hearing Room at 7:00 PM on February 25th.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:26 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,  
Jonathan R. Asher, Secretary