Committee reviews building-inspection staffing, transfer-station costs and traffic-signal upgrades

Councilors reviewed several operational budgets affecting public property, building inspections and traffic infrastructure.

Bill Moranti, commissioner of public buildings, said the building inspection budget includes a step increase and 3% cost-of-living adjustment for the full-time clerk and reclassification of the director of inspection services; assistant building inspector Roger Lamar was recently hired and is budgeted for a full year, producing a net salary increase of $54,414.50 for inspection services.

On the transfer station, staff said waste-removal costs paid to Casella have risen because of higher fuel prices and market pressures; overtime and colder-weather equipment issues also increased costs. The Berkshire Health Alliance contract was aligned to the written agreement at $10,530 for consultation services.

Traffic and lighting line items include funding to upgrade cameras, sensors and controls at the Maine/State/American Legion Drive intersection to improve traffic flow; the budget reflects a $76,000 allocation for that intersection reprogramming and camera/sensor work, and staff said other intersections would be addressed through a pending award for a larger project.

Councilors pressed for clearer accounting of which departmental IT and software subscriptions are managed centrally and which are department-controlled; police staff outlined subscriptions for evidence storage, records management and speed-board telemetry that are recurring costs. The committee also asked staff to supply campground usage statistics (seasonal vs. short‑term, local vs. out‑of‑area) for a future discussion of economic impact.

Separately, the meeting packet was amended to reflect classification changes for the building inspector and health director; the committee will include those updates in its forthcoming recommendation process.