In a civil, orderly two-hour workshop tonight, Administrator Bob Driscoll continued presenting the proposed FY08 budget to the Portsmouth Town Council and an audience of about 18 citizens. Driscoll sat at a long table facing the Council, and as items were discussed, the department head responsible for the relevant item would take their place in the hot seat beside him.

I feel the need to paint a word picture because none of the massive technical expertise of the PCC and their crew of video folks managed to show up. Hmm. I wonder if it could have had something to do with this being the first Tuesday of the month, their meeting night? No, couldn't be. They wouldn't blow off their promise to bring transparency to the dark backward and abysm of Town Hall just so they could indulge in a Troll-spew fueled, consensual hallucination about their next Tent Meeting, could they? Eh?

The Fire Department budget was up first, and despite massive overtime numbers, the Council voiced their reluctance to entertain additional hires. Because overtime is spotty, they would have to hire 4 firefighters, at a cost of $240K in order to eliminate about half of the overtime (about 200K, so essentially, spending 240 to save 100.) In one of the lighter moments, Tailgunner Gleason had to have the difference between fiscal and calendar years pointed out to her.

With David Dolce, the tax assessor, Driscoll explained the opportunities that come with setting tax policy. Take the farmland exemption, which forgoes about $560K in potential tax revenue. While that might seem like easy money to grab, Driscoll reminded the Council, "You're investing in preserving farmland, which you would otherwise be buying for open space, or paying for the services if there are new houses." The Council tasked Dolce with thinking about a workshop to look at the Town's tax exemption structure.

DPW painted a fairly grim scenario. With 90 miles of road in Portsmouth, and a lifespan of 30 years, about 4.5 miles of road needs repaving each year, but budget constraints have kept the Town to a fraction of that over the last few years. You will not be surprised to learn that timely repaving by putting a topcoat of asphalt on a mildly worn road costs only 89K/mile. Wait until the road is so far gone it needs full resurfacing, and that balloons to $258K/mile. The lesson of the Sakonnet River Bridge should not be lost on anyone here, and the Council actively discussed the notion of floating a bond.

In what was the most emotional moment of the evening, the lifeguards at Sandy Point took their seats next to Driscoll to argue for the 50K allocation that keeps the beach protected over the summer. Councilor Len Katzman read into the record the story of Sandy Point lifeguards saving a kayaker just two summers ago, and urged the Council to find the money. "This goes to the fabric of what Portsmouth is. I would hope that we are a town that wants lifeguards at our beach."

Tailgunner saw this as an opportunity for some free piling on. "I'm surprised you took 50K out of this particular budget. I would like to mandate public safety as the first priority of this town."

I intend to personally ask Councilor Gleason about this commitment a week from Monday when the School budget comes up and we have to talk about cutting a nurse from the elementary schools.

The Council did end up tentatively approving the 50K, but Jim Seveney asked Driscoll to do some analysis about options for getting Sandy Point to a self-sustaining point.

Only two bright spots this evening: Melville Campground and the Glen Manor House. Richard Wimpress noted that since 1992, the Manor house "has contributed more than 800K to the town." Although it shows up as a cost item in the budget, he wanted to be very clear that on the revenue side, it more than pays for itself, returning 75% of receipts to the Town general fund (the rest is used for maintenance and updates.) That is one of the jewels of Portsmouth, and a star performer financially.

Meeting was continued to May 16th, when the School budget discussion takes center stage; the next meeting, the "civic support" items, will be on May 21st.