City of Sandwich Budget Committee met Feb. 4.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
Alderman Kreinbrink called the meeting to order at 4:41pm
Roll call was taken:
Present: Alderwoman Erickson, Alderman Ketchum, Alderman Kreinbrink Also Present: Administrator Penman, Angela Seville, and Alderman Arnett Absent: Alderman Chunn
New Business:
1. Approve the Budget Committee Meeting minutes from December 2, 2025 – Alderwoman Erickson made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and Alderman Ketchum 2nd the motion – All in favor via voice vote.
2. Review preliminary budget staff has compiled for the Committee – Administrator Penman presented two PowerPoint presentations relating to how the account structure is set up, managed, and how the accounts operate.
Also discussed was that the current feel is for the merit increase for non-union personnel. Alderman Kreinbrink felt that there should be data pulled to substantiate what the market is forecasting as a rate of increase such as the World at Work Data to aid the council on making these decisions.
New employee requests were also discussed. In past budgets, new personnel were blended into the headcount, and the Committee felt that it would be best if those numbers could be pulled out and separated as a single cost but then include a breakdown of dollar values for pay, compensation, benefits, taxes, and such. Seeing this as a separate line item should be beneficial to better illustrate the true costs associated with adding additional personnel.
For new personnel, the Committee needs to know more of what is not being completed that should done versus the group needs additional personnel. “Need and bleed” items need to be listed – What needs to be done that isn’t, and what bleeding aspects of the job are not being performed as they should potentially causing long term problems down the road. The committee needs to know what KPI’s (Key Performing Indicators) or measurement milestones have been used to determine additional resources are needed, and how can we be certain that the addition of personnel will actually fix the issues at hand?
A vehicle replacement fund was discussed. Alderman Kreinbrink felt that if we could just start saving 5% of the current replacement value for the current fleet, we would be in a far better position when the time came to purchase the replacements. Ideally, if the life expectancy of a vehicle is 10 years, we should be saving 10% annually to have the funds to replace it in 10 years, but that may be too aggressive considering this is new, and we can start small and work our way upward.
There were several times when the upcoming SWOT analysis was brought up as something that may have great impact on our processes for general operations and with our budgeting strategy. This exercise also has the possibility of making a positive change on how we function as a Council and operate as a City.
3. Discuss next steps of budgeting cycle to ensure timeline is on target – The committee discussed the next three meetings consisting of a combination of Streets/Police, Sewer/Water, and Admin/Engineering/EMA. At each meeting the departments would have 30 minutes each and would go over both their respective O&M and Capital Budgets. Thought was that for Administrator Penman work with the various supervisors to come up with the best lineup to make this happen.
Old Business:
1. None
Audience Comments –
Alderman Arnett supported a capital fund to be constructed for larger projects such as the $1.5M belt press at the Sewer Treatment Plant and vehicles.
He also inquired as to if an SSA for Deerpath Woods could be imposed to cover the residents who do and will live in the subdivisions now and in the future to cover the expense of the Pratt Road Bridge Project. No one knew if this was something that could be imposed or not, but something that our Attorney could be asked.
Adjournment:
There being no further business to come before the Committee, a motion made by Alderwoman Erickson and seconded by Alderman Ketchum to adjourn were made. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote at 6:52pm
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