New meeting date to set mill rate

FALLS VILLAGE — The Board of Finance approved a supplemental appropriation of $1,100 for the Inland Wetlands Commission during the regular monthly meeting Monday, May 9.The $1,100 is a donation received by the town for use by the commission for costs associated with their work on the proposed cell tower on Barnes Road.The commission has been opposed to placing a tower at the Barnes Road-Cobble Hill site. This gave finance board member George Elling pause.He said he was concerned that the Board of Finance or the town in general might be endorsing a particular position by approving the appropriation.But the other members of the board saw no conflict. Lou Timolat said, “We assume that as officers of the town [the Inland Wetlands Commission] is acting in the town’s best interests,” and added that any position taken on whether or not to put a cell tower in a particular place is irrelevant to the appropriation.The board passed the motion, with Elling voting against.Elling also asked when the board planned to schedule the meeting that sets the mill rate (assuming the proposed spending plans for town government and the Board of Education are approved at town meeting May 18). Such special finance meetings are often scheduled to begin right after the town meeting adjourns, but Elling said he would prefer a different time. “There’s a lot of hubbub” after town meetings, he said.And with the finance board having reduced the Board of Education’s bottom line by $24,000 (at a special meeting May 2), the result of the vote is not certain. So the special meeting that sets the mill rate for the 2011-12 fiscal year will be Monday, May 23, 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall. The town meeting on the proposed spending plans is Thursday, May 19, 7 p.m. at the Lee H. Kellogg school.