City Council - Finance Committee

Finance Committee Minutes May 13, 2025 Members present: Chair Tom Peake, Councilor Koni Denham, Councilor Peg Conni Members absent: None Also in Attendance: Nicole LaChapelle, Mayor; Hetal Patel - City Auditor; Michael Owens, Treasurer; Greg Nuttelman, Director, DPW; John Mason, Director, Parks & Rec; Chuck McCollouch, Williston; Salem Derby; Tamara Smith; Kira Henninger Meeting called to order by Councilor Peake at 5:30 pm 1. Public Speak Time: No one from the public chose to speak 2. Approval of the Prior Meeting Minutes: None to approve 3. Mayor’s Communications: None 4. New Business: FY 2026 Budget review and discussion: 4.1 PUBLIC WORKS (a) DPW Admin Budget is for the DPW O ce and Administration i. Noted additional funding due to the hiring of a Sustainability Coordinator and electric hybrid leases payments. Vehicles have been ordered but are not here yet. Will be here in the fall. For preferred IRS treatment, the money needs to come out of Capitalization. This allows a 30% direct pay incentive back from the Fed Gov’t each year through 2032. (b) Discussed Fuel - no surprises; (c) Engineering Positions - i. One engineer position has gone down a grade level from 26 to 25 because the current engineer does not have the same level of experience as the engineer who left (d) Highway - Straightforward i. Education and Training - It has been di cult getting positions lled so beginning to hire students and bringing in sta as laborers. The department helps them get their licenses. This is why this budget is higher that in the past. ii. Curb Iron Castings -New because. Of the tree grates on union street (e) Snow i. Sand/Gravel/Loam - More expensive due to shortage of salt (f) Street Lights - Flat budget (g) Motor Repair - Salary increase due to union agreement. ffi ff ffi fi ff  (h) Tra c - Street signs budget increased. New street signs and line painting (i) Recycling - Flat budget (j) Trash - Recycling and Hazardous waste for all city residents (k) Land ll - Maintenance of 2 cap land lls. Regulatory compliance 4.2 ENTERPRISE (a) Sewer i. Salaries are up due to union contracts (b) Water i. Salaries are up due to union contracts ii. New meters are needed to replace some old meters so money was added to the budget for this (c) WasteWater i. Salaries up due to union contracts ii. Expenses for Electric hybrid vehicle replaced oversized v8 (d) Tree Warden Paid via stipend (e) Building Operations - Custodial work 4.3 CULTURE AND RECREATION (a) Library - Chuck McCulloch - Williston spoke. A good plan is mapped out for the Library for the next several years with increases from city will provide steady funding. Cirt money and canabis money is being invested and will allow a 6 year operating budget of $100k annually. The Library board is also looking toward increasing fundraising activities. (b) Parks & Recreation - No signi cant salary increases. Money from park entrance fees go directly to P&R. i. Pool lifeguards are needed for the new pool. Ratio of 25.1 and 3 lifeguards are on deck no matter how many are in the pool area. (c) Cemetery - Budget for sta ng salaries and any increases to their pay plan. Also included is lawn maintenance. 6. Next Meeting: 5/19/25 @ 5:30pm No additional business to discuss. Councilor Denham made motion to adjourn, Councilor Conni seconded. Vote: 3-0. Meeting adjourned at 6:30 pm. ff fi fi ffi fi ffi Respectfully submitted, Councilor Peg Conni ff