Selectmen focus on budget issues after town meeting
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

The budget and future meetings dominated the discussion during the Ashburnham Selectmen's meeting on Monday, May 5, as the board met for the first time after town meeting.

The board set the election date of Tuesday, June 17, for a special election for voters to decide on issues from the town meeting, and they called a special meeting for May 12 to review the ballot questions.

Selectman Christopher Gagnon said the board and town officials will be conducting another review of the recently passed operating budget for Fiscal Year 2009 as they start to look towards the FY10 budget.

One of the first steps for the board will be to review the process of setting the town's tax rate and will meet with the treasurer, assessors, tax collector and the Advisory Board. The Selectmen hope to set up a timeline for the town's end of the process.

The state Department of Revenue has delayed the setting of the tax rate for two years in a row because of a variety of issues.

"We need to have the tax rate set so we're not worried about that in December and January," Selectman Jonathan Dennehy said. "We will not have a late tax rate set this year."

Selectman Margaret Whitney said she wants to make sure the next budget is released to the Selectmen on Jan. 30, which is the date laid out in the Special Act (the legislation that governs town operations).

Interim Town Administrator Paul Boushell said he was concerned because the local aid numbers from the state are released so late.

"If we don't have a draft document by Feb. 1, we're going to be in trouble," Dennehy said.

In other business:

• Gagnon was elected by his colleagues to serve as chairman for the upcoming year. Whitney will serve as clerk.

• The Selectmen appointed Debra Bickford, of High Street, to fill a vacant spot on the Water and Sewer Commission. The five-member board has had a vacancy since Gil Carreiro resigned when he moved out of town. Gagnon abstained from vote because he knows Bickford.

• The Selectmen discussed possible meeting spaces for their upcoming meetings as the Town Hall renovation project nears completion.

Dennehy said he wants to find a space for meetings in the Town Hall, because he does not want to keep meeting at "temporary" locations.

Boushell said the project manager and the general contractor are developing an unofficial punch list and the project is being inspected.

Selectmen asked to meet with the project manager and someone from the building committee at their next meeting.

• Dennehy said any discussion on the potential property requests for the potential move of the Department of Public Works should be held in executive session.