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Lebanon board schedules Feb. 12 budget review, debates departmental participation and museum governance
Summary
Board members set budget review dates (Feb. 12 and Feb. 26), discussed whether departments should appear before the board, emphasized transparent line-by-line cuts, and considered whether historians and the museum should be merged or remain separate volunteer functions.
The Township of Lebanon board set a budget calendar and debated whether department heads should attend the Feb. 12 review in person or be handled internally by staff. "We have a budget meeting on the 12th," a board member said; members discussed calling in liaisons and asking department heads (police, fire, DPW) to justify requests and show operational needs.
Members emphasized transparency and using spreadsheets or worksheets to evaluate requests line by line. "When we have those meetings, those books are in front of us because we want to go through them," one member said, noting that Lorraine has handled some work internally but that the board could require departments to appear.
Separately, members discussed museum governance: historians were historically curators in the building, but the historians now oversee the museum as volunteers and there are no longer curator staff. Members suggested reviewing the historian-committee ordinance and deciding whether to keep the roles separate or reorganize them.
The board did not make final decisions beyond scheduling and directing informal follow-up; several members agreed to review previous records and preparatory materials before the next meeting.
