Staff Writer
LIMESTONE — Limestone Town Manager Donna Bernier announced during the Selectpeople meeting on Feb. 3 that the Davis Long-term Care Group has chosen Limestone as the location to build their new facility. “We certainly wanted to keep them here, and the decision has been made that they are going to stay in Limestone,” Bernier said. Officials from the Davis Long-Term Care Group are scheduling to meet with town officials later this month.
Along with that good news, Bernier also informed the selectpeople that the town, as an owner community of the Tri-Community Landfill, will be receiving $89,674; Bernier mentioned that she’d hoped to speak with the selectpeople about the option of using those funds to offset the approximately $54,000 the town will be losing from the state due to revenue sharing.
Regardless of the increased funds obtained through the landfill, the focus on the selectperson meeting was the FY2011 budget and exactly how tightly that budget is going to be squeezed. Deliberation regarding where funds should be decreased or if, in fact, they should be ranged through the evening and were cut short through time constraints. The selectpeople plan on resuming the budget discussion during their next meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 17 at the Municipal Building in Limestone at 6:30 p.m.
As apparent during the meeting, community members, department heads and selectpeople feel very different regarding budget cuts; Selectperson Mary Morin, for instance, expressed her interest in decreasing the amount of funds available for department spending, suggesting that reserve accounts be tapped into in order to lower taxes in the town. Morin frequently mentions many who have lived in the town for years who have recently fallen upon hard times, some of which are forced to make a decision between paying for medication or paying taxes.
With that in mind, Morin suggested many ways that departments could cut costs, including transferring funds from their reserve accounts to pay for vehicle maintenance during FY2011. While the budget is still malleable, it is suggested that the Public Works Department requires $30,000 for vehicle maintenance (down from $39,000 last year), the Police Department requires $8,000 for vehicle maintenance (same as FY10), and the Fire Department requires $8,000 for vehicle maintenance (same as FY10). The Recreation Department requires $1,400 for vehicle maintenance (same as FY10).
Budget discussion will continue during the next selectperson’s meeting.
During the elected officials’ report, Selectperson Jim Leighton suggested that the town office look into accepting credit/debit card transactions, which would add convenience for residents.
The selectpeople also received an update from the code enforcement officer regarding the status of the town code-compliance initiative that has been under way in the town, and the Downtown Revitalization Committee member Adam Kohler was present to inform the selectpeople that the committee is progressing rapidly toward the creation of a walking path in downtown Limestone.
