Office of the Select Board
Town of Orange, New Hampshire
Minutes of October 18, 2015

(Special meeting to sign the MS-5 and conduct other business)

 

Present: Dorothy Heinrichs, Chair; Robert Ells, Lyell ‘Skip’ Smith, and Sandi Pierson (clerical) Meeting opened at 5:00 PM.

MS-5: The Board approved and signed the MS-5 (Financial Report of the Town). This was a collaborate effort of the tax collector, treasurer, Board secretary, and the Board. Sandi will upload the document to the DRA web portal the following morning. She will also email Shelley Gerlaneau the signature page and 2014 Treasurer’s report as submitted by Tessa Michetti. This wraps up all documents required by the DRA in order to set the 2015 tax rate.

Dorothy stated that there is significant confusion and concern as to why there was an ending cash-on-hand balance of $94,400.65 for 2014 when historically year-end balances have always been between $175,000 and $225,000. She said this disparity is the primary reason the town is in deficit. She also said there is confusion of why the unassigned fund balance went from a 2014 ending balance of $138,000 to zero dollars. Dorothy said that given these two perplexities, she recommends that the Board approve an external audit to answer these questions. Bob and Skip agreed that an outside audit was warranted.

Dorothy said she received an auditor recommendation from the Hanover Town Manager. The auditor is presently fulfilling the same need for another town. She has emailed the auditor regarding his availability. She suggested that in the future he might also be retained to annually prepare the town’s MS-5.

Legal funds: The Board discussed the idea earlier suggested by Judith Lindahl of putting unused revenue from the 2015 legal budget line item into a retainer account of the attorney the town may use if confronted with an industrial wind project application. This would be an alternative to letting the revenue lapse at the end of the year. At an earlier Board meeting, Judith had explained that it preserves the money that may be required in the future but that it cannot be spent without prior Board approval and the Board can terminate the retainer contract at any time for a full refund. Skip stated that he would rather the Board support establishing a capital reserve fund for the purpose of legal representation for wind turbine applications. If in the future, the town deems the capital reserve fund is not needed, they can vote to change its intent or to discontinue it altogether at which time any revenue accumulated would revert to the town’s general fund. It was agreed that presently capital reserves have been generating no interest. Dorothy and Bob said they were open to Skip’s suggestion and that the Board can discuss it further.

Septic: Bob reported that the bathroom had flushing issues during the Harvest Festival. After discussion, it was agreed that Bob would follow up with JBC Septic Services to see when the last time the septic was pumped and if it presently needed to be.

Vouchers: The Board signed two vouchers that were not processed by the previous treasurer and/or administration:

  • Canaan Library: $4000 for the annual contribution per town meeting

  • ď‚·Gardner Fulton and Waugh: $6000 for the attorney’s annual retainer fee
    Tessa will cut the checks immediately and Sandi will hand-deliver them on Wednesday.

Meeting adjourned 5:30 P.M.

Respectfully submitted, Sandi Pierson

Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs

Robert Ells

Lyell Smith