Town of Becket Finance Committee
January 8, 2009 Minutes
Present: Mike Falk, Ann Spadafora, Steve LaBelle, Jeremy Dunn
Absent: Amy Fyden
Also Present: Richard Furlong, Kathy Hayn Burtt, Maddy Elovirta
The meeting was called to order at 7:05pm.
- December 4, 2008 minutes Approved
- FY2010 Planning
- The Beacon headline says “Outlook for fiscal 2010: Bleak”. Cuts are expected in state aid, but not sure how much.
- For planning purposes, start with level-funding all accounts (but no capital Articles), except those out of our control. FinCom letter was sent to Select Board with this request.
Goal is to maintain town services
- First Town Administrator prepared budget draft has 2.5% COLA for all town employees. Otherwise essentially the same as FY2009 with slight revisions.
Option to join State Health Insurance program discussed. RichardF believes it is not an attractive option. We must offer an indemnity plan that would be more expensive. Many insurers in the plan don’t have good W. Mass. provider networks. Our current insurer (BCBS) is offering a plan that is competitive with the state offering.
Capital:
- No capital articles.
- New ambulance was discussed @ $150k. Current ambulance is 2001 Diesel w/ ~100k miles. There are safety and maintenance implications to keeping the existing rig. Steve L looked at current Ambulance several months ago. Wires rubbing on frame needed insulation. Not sure if this has been addressed. The State does not do mechanical inspection, but will press the town to replace a rig after a certain age; probably next year. It’s difficult to assess in advance what level of repairs may be needed. Proposal: keep the existing rig; repair if needed; lease a temporary vehicle if repairs take rig out of service. Richard F says Jim K increased Ambulance expense budget in anticipation of needed repairs, and is ok holding off on replacement for one year.
- Highway: no new truck planned. Truck approved in FY2009 not yet purchased.
No police vehicle replacements planned
Town Hall deferred maintenance. Funds are in municipal budget but are often used for unexpected issues. Main item is rotting sills on entry doors that need rebuilding. Need ADA-compliant entrances.
- REVISED schedule of 2009 FinCom meetings:
- WEDS Jan 28, 2009 MEETING IS CANCELLED. No new information expected by this date, and both Mike & Jeremy are out of town. Richard F will send email updates when available. Governor’s first budget not expected till end of January.
- Meeting with Department Heads. Scheduled for Weds 1/14 @ noon. FinCom members are welcome (2 max) and Select Board welcome (1 max).
Discussed potential personnel cost reductions if needed to balance budget. Option to cut hours, days, people. Richard F stated he wished to take the lead on any cuts. He believes that it is not FinCom role to do so. It is premature to discuss any such cuts until State and CBRSD budget figures are available.
- Anticipated Revenue Reductions. Proforma Cuts to State Aid, Local Receipts, Permit Fees included in Town Administrator’s 1st draft.
Transfer Station. Should we increase per-bag or per-year fees? Richard F recommends not. Recycling revenue is down since there’s a much smaller market for recycled materials.
Ambulance Rate increase? 70% of runs are paid; 30% no payments. Payments are capped by insurers. Billing company recommends we set fees @ Medicare+30% which is usually the max rate.
- FY2009 Actual review. No changes since last meeting
FEMA / MEMA reimbursements for ice storm. FEMA approved 75% reimbursements. FEMA letter stressed there are no “FEMA-Approved Contractors”. Regular bidding process must be followed. Becket not yet cleaned up due to 1-month bid process. Typical brush cleanup is $20/cu.yd. (unchipped). Estimate 6,000-7,000 cu.yds. of material -> $120-140,000 in costs. Town portion is 25% of this. Lenny & Richard will attend FEMA meeting in Pittsfield Thurs 1/15. DEP prefers towns not burn the brush; chipped material hauled by contractors for use in power plants.
Transfers from Reserve – none
STRAP grants – no new info
McNerny Rd. bridge – went to bid 12/15; bids due by 2/18
Yokum Pond Rd. bridge – still waiting on Mass. Highway
- Letter received from Lt. Governor’s office, inviting towns to solicit federal funds for “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects to stimulate economy. RichardF submitted list of projects, including: Bancroft Rd. bridge repairs; Bonnie Rigg/Algerie Rd rebuild; Wade Inn Rd grind/resurface/culverts; Yokum Pond Rd. bridge (even thought it’s already funded); Becket/Washington school brick & gutter repairs. Did not put in for Highway/Police facility since it’s not designed/ready to build. There may be a 2nd chance to submit projects later on.
- CBRSD still needs Becket representative for the 7 Town Agreement committee. Bill Cavanaugh offered to do it if nobody else volunteered.
Town Administrator search committee meets 1/9 (now 1/14) for the first time.
Non-contribution by YMCA. There are several residences on YMCA property, housing families of YMCA employees, with children that use schools, including one that is sent to Otis at town expense. YMCA pays $750/yr to each of Fire/Police/Ambulance; but nothing directly “in lieu of taxes”.
TASK: RichardF to refer this to Tax Assessor to see if they should be assessed and taxed
- FinCom annual report for Town. TASK: Mike will write a draft; submit to FinCom for review
- Dalton Select Board & Town Mgr. wrote to CBRSD requesting no more than 2% increase in Operating Budget.
Lee Traffic Study: all Becket options are off the table
- Annual Campaign Finance reports are due from each FINCOM member to Town Clerk by 1/20/09
- Grant-writing for Ambulance. FinCom agreed we should pursue any/all opportunities for funding. Nobody on FinCom has grant-writing experience. Grant-writing is generally a paid function; typical fees are a percentage of the grant amount, and are included in the grant.
Fire Truck grant is nearly done. Truck should arrive by end of January. This was a Homeland Security grant from 2007, written by Maddy Elovirta as a volunteer.
2nd grant for $94k for (2) Fire Station exhaust systems was applied for in 2008. Homeland Security is currently in the 26th round of funding, which demonstrates it is worth being persistent and applying.
February is grant season. Grants are open for 60-90 days. Grants can be for new, refurbished, or used equipment. Supplies are not included in the grant, so the existing ambulance equipment must be transferred to a new rig.
Maddy Elovirta offered to write a grant for replacing the ambulance, on a paid basis. Her original request was for one-year tax-abatement as payment, but there is no legal mechanism to do so. FinCom offered $2000 flat fee, regardless of outcome, to be paid from certified FreeCash transferred at STM. Town Administrator concurs. She accepted.
Maddy stated the “Narrative” was key part of successful grant application. Must tell a good story. It is not possible to see other towns’ applications online; but we can ask neighboring towns for their grants to seek examples.
Key facts: Replacing an unsafe vehicle. Example: Ambulance sat in Elovirta’s yard with hospital-bound patients on board, but was unable to start.
Town of Washington does not directly pay for Becket Ambulance services; we have shared transport agreement for Smith Voc.
Becket is small, rural town. Ambulance mutual-aid covers 5 adjacent towns with no rig: Washington, Tyringham, Middlefield, Chester. Otis rig out of service? Plus Turnpike calls are covered. 73 calls outside of Becket in 2008.
Ambulance expenses: $220-240k for salaries. $18-20k for operations. Billing covers only $70-80k of these amounts; remainder is funded from general revenues. Need to determine cost/run.
The town must match 5% of Homeland Security grants.
TASK: Richard F to ask Jim K if he has any objection to town pursuing grant-funded rig.
There was no public input.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:05 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeremy Dunn
Clerk
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