DRAFT
Finance Committee Minutes
Town of Bellingham – Municipal Center
Monday, March 28, 2011 at 7:15 p.m.
1. FinCom Present: Raymond Szczepan, Roland Lavallee, Joseph Collamati, Katie Quinn, Carol Dill, Toni Picariello, Henri Masson
2. FinCom Absent: NA
3. Meeting called to order: 7:15 p.m.
4. RESERVE FUND TRANSFER: Board of Selectmen (Labor Counsel)
Police and Fire Department
Marilyn Mathieu and Denis Fraine appeared. $10,000 is requested to be transferred to the Selectmen Budget. The purpose is for Labor Counsel because of continued arbitration and related hearings with the Fire and Police Departments. There is a balance of $345.00 left in the account.
There are 4 police issues:
1. An officer on extended leave for 1 1/2 years was retired.
2. There is an unfair labor case.
3. There is an on-the-job-injury ("OJI") claim.
4. Holiday issue.
There are 2 Fire issues:
1. Retirement
3. OJI Claim.
Joseph Collamati/Carol Dill motion to transfer $10,000 from the Reserve Fund to the Board of Selectmen Expenses. VOTE: 6/0 (Henri Masson was not present).
5. ARTICLE 14 - RESTAURANT ALL ALCOHOL LICENSE (Gary A. Jolicoeur, 508-889-4723)
Scott Ambler, Esq. and Mr. Jolicoeur appeared. They are requesting the Board of Selectmen petition the Legislature for an all alcohol license for the "old" Beverly Club location n 28 Wrentham Road. Mr. Jolicoeur owns the property, renovations have started and he will be seeking a tenant. Having the license is a positive for trying to find a person who wants to operate a restaurant.
Joseph Collamati mentioned that he did not want to see a nightclub on the property. Denis Fraine explained that the restaurant owner would need to go before the Board of Selectmen for an entertainment license.
Carol Dill asked what happened to the Ma Glockner's liquor license. Denis Fraine said that the person who got it at the MADOR auction is holding the license, so there are no available licenses in Bellingham.
Joseph Collamati/Katie Quinn motion to recommend this Article. VOTE: 6/0 (Henri Masson was not present).
6. ARTICLE 13 - APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS-SEWER DISPOSAL SYSTEMS, FUEL STORAGE TANKS & DELEADING DWELLINGS. (Board of Health)
Vincent Forte appeared. They are requesting $300,000.
This Article allows the Town to offer a loan to homeowners in order to repair their residential failing septic system through the Department of Environmental (“DEP”) Revolving Fund. This is only for existing septic systems. A homeowner with a problem must get 3 bids for the job, apply for the loan and if they receive the loan, will need to pay it back at 2% interest. There is a 20 year repayment period where the Town puts a lien on the property for the amount. Repayments are made to the DEP and the Town keeps the 2% interest. This program helps homeowners with the cost of replacing their septic system, which can cost up to $30,000, but the average cost is about $25,000.
Raymond Szczepan/Carol Dill motion to authorize borrowing up-to-$300,000 for repairs to septic systems. VOTE: 6/0 (Henri Masson was not present).
7. ARTICLE 12 - REVOLVING FUNDS (Library, Department of Public Works, Board of Health, Commission on Disability, Police Department, Conservation Commission)
Toni Picariello will have the revolving funds balances by April 5, 2011. All the revolving funds are the same as last year, except for the Conservation Commission revolving fund.
To allow the Bellingham Conservation Commission to create a special revolving fund from revenues received by applicants under the Town’s local wetlands protection by-law; not to exceed $5,000; and to authorize the Commission to use said funds for potential land purchases, in supplementation of funds in the Town’s Land Acquisition Trust; or act or do anything in relation thereto.
This would be for the fees the Conservation Commission charges with regard to the wetlands protection by-law and would be used for land purchases. The Conservation Commission has a land trust to acquire land, would this be in addition? The FinCom would like a schedule of the fees they charge. Toni Picariello will request it.
There were no questions regarding the other revolving funds. The Conservation Commission revolving fund hearing will be rescheduled to Tuesday, April 19, 2011.
Joseph Collamati/Raymond Szczepan motion to recommend the Revolving Funds for Library. VOTE: 6/1 (Carol Dill voted against, she believes that all salaries should be included in Article 1 budget).
Joseph Collamati/Raymond Szczepan motion to recommend the Revolving Funds for Department of Public Works, Board of Health, Commission on Disability, Police Department. VOTE: 6/0.
8. GENERAL DISCUSSION
A. Toni Picariello watched the Planning Board meeting and they will be sending someone to meeting on May 4, 2011. Stacey Weinstein mentioned that the FinCom was out of their jurisdiction by hold hearing on Articles before the Planning Board has held their hearings.
B. The Road Committee will be meeting to discuss if it would be possible to borrow for 10 years $5M at the May Town Meeting to fix roads. We will schedule a meeting on April 11, 2011.
C. Toni Picariello brought up an email received in February from the Fire Chief re: the cost of ambulance supplies that will be brought up at the Fall Town Meeting. Milford Hospital used to replace the used supplies, but they will no longer do that and we will need to purchase our own supplies.
Email from Fire Chief: On Tuesday, 2/8 I received a letter from Milford Medical Center relative to their change of policy effective 7/1/11 in which the hospital will no longer replenish supplies on a 1 for 1 basis. Currently and for many years we have been able to replace supplies (collars, IV solutions, IV needle sets, ambu bags, oxygen cannulas, linen, etc.) when we brought in patients to their facility. Two months ago the administration of Milford Medical Center held a meeting with all the heads and ALS Coordinators of the ambulances that go to their facility, both public and private. At that meeting they announced that due to budget constraints and lower reimbursements that they would no longer be able to replenish our equipment and meds. As you can imagine the chiefs
and coordinators raised concerns about this and how it was going to impact their services. At the meeting they stated that they would review what was said and would advice the services of their decision. As stated on Tuesday we received a letter that states they will no longer replenish supplies but would continue the med and narcotics swaps. This means that we will need to buy collars, IV solutions and set ups, linen, etc and this will be expensive. I have asked Lt. Lachapelle, ALS Coordinator, to try to estimate what impact this will have on us financially. He is going to go through the calls for the past year to get and estimate what we used and then will try to price it out to give us an idea.
Relative to the budget increase how do you want to handle this once we get the approximate numbers? Would you prefer to amend the expense budget at the fall town meeting or add a number in at this time? I noticed an article in the Milford News where Mendon is increasing their expense budget for the FD by $10,000. Again until we can estimate the impact based on last year's projections, I am not able to give you a legitimate estimate. Let me know your thoughts on this.
Denis and Marilyn: I requested that Lt. Lachapelle, ALS Coordinator, try to estimate the approximate costs based on 2010 calls what we would need as a supplemental budget for expenses to purchase items that were previously supplied on an exchange basis with Milford Regional Medical Center . He came up with a ball park number of approximately $16,000. This certainly is going to have a major impact on all the area FD’s with us being no different. At this point I don’t know what you want to do in terms of adding to the budget in May or wait until the Fall Town meeting
Email from Marilyn Mathieu:
Let's plan on amending this in the fall....I will alert the Finance Committee regarding this change and tell them that we will have a 3-month average use/cost.....there should certainly be no dispute as to amending the budget due to the changes implemented by Milford Regional Medical Center....thanks
D. Accept the following Minutes:
February 28, 2011.
Joseph Collamati/Katie Quinn motion to accept the February 28, 2011 minutes. VOTE: 7/0.
E. Toni Picariello asked if Joseph Collamati, Raymond Szczepan, and Carol Dill wanted to be reappointed since their appointments are up at ATM. Joseph Collamati would like to say on. Raymond Szczepan and Carol Dill said they would let me know.
Adjourned:
FinCom: Joseph Collamati/Raymond Szczepan motion to adjourn. VOTE: 7/0. 8:10 a.m.
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