Town budget meeting May 22 at the school

CORNWALL — The budget town meeting will be held May 22 at Cornwall Consolidated School, at 7:30 p.m.

First up will be a vote on the proposed  town and school budgets for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1. The total $6,055,747 spending plan represents a reduction, compared to current spending, of 4.09 percent.

Adjustments to the current budget will also be sought at the town meeting.

An extra $40,000 is needed to cover overruns in the snow removal budget. The Board of Finance is proposing $20,000 be taken out of each of the road improvement line item and the contingency line item.

Small surpluses in several line items, totaling $6,000, are hoped to be made available for some needed highway truck maintenance. Proposed is the transfer of $2,000 from the health insurance line item, $1,000 from the land use legal fund, $2,000 from the land use consulting fund and $1,000 from the tax refunds line.

As is often the case, the agenda includes an odd piece of “housekeeping.� A proposed amendment will be sought to a town ordinance, “Regulating Fire Alarm Systems.�

Adopted in February 1999, the ordinance requires anyone who has an automatic fire alarm installed at their home or business to register that information with the fire marshal’s office. It includes a contact list.

The process has been problematic because the fire marshal’s office is in Sharon. People don’t know how to go about filing, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway said.

The proposed change would allow the Cornwall building official to accept  and file registrations.

That will leave the fire marshal to handle infractions, which can be enforced in the case of repeated false alarms at a property.

Copies of the budget proposal and the meeting agenda are available at the town office.