Advisory Committee Present: Scott Powell
February 6, 2007 David Lindsay
Burt Shnitzler
Richard Fly
Andrew Burnett
The Advisory Committee met at the Town Hall at 7:00 p.m.
BORROWING FOR TREATMENT PLANT
Present: Jodi Ross, Town Administrator; Donna Madden, Town Treasurer; Julie Costello, Town Accountant.
Ms. Ross reported that based on a meeting with Mary Carney, Financial Advisor, Ms. Madden, Town Treasurer and Ms. Costello, Town Accountant their recommendation is to do a permanent bond for treatment plant as of June 2007 with one principal payment of $125,000 and two interest payments totaling $106,000.
The impact on average home is approximately $120.00 for 2008.
On a motion made by Lindsay and seconded by Fly, the Advisory Committee voted to recommend that the Board of Selectmen vote to bond the estimated cost of the wastewater treatment plant, between $2,000,000 and $2,500,000 before the end of the fiscal year. (Powell – yes, Lindsay – yes, Shnitzler – yes, Fly – yes, Burnett – yes)
CAPITAL PLANNING COMMITTEE
Mr. Shnitzler informed the Advisory Committee that according to the minutes of the Capital Planning Committee for January 29, 2007, the Committee was awaiting a preliminary capital budget capacity from the Advisory Committee. In the meantime they agreed to start interviewing department heads. Mr. Shnitzler will talk with the Capital Planning Committee meeting about their request at the next Capital Planning Committee Meeting.
BOARD OF ASSESSORS
Present: Jeff Nichols, Charlotte Johnson and Stephen Bonina
The Purchase of Services line item in the amount of $70,400 reflects the cost for the contract of Harald Scheid and an additional $10,000 for special appraisals. The Assessors explained that although this line item may have doubled to pay the salary of the consultant, the salary line item has been zeroed out. The Wages line item reflects a step increase and the addition of two hours for the Administrative Assistant.
The Training line item is for the Assessors to attend an annual training session and funds for the administrative assistant to take courses to keep certifications up to date. The In-State Travel line item is budgeted at $600.00. As of December 31, 2006 there is a balance of $79.13.
The Board of Assessors agreed to forward a copy of the Recap spreadsheet to the Advisory Committee.
PUBLIC WAYS SAFETY COMMITTEE
Present: Dan Senie
Dan Senie of the Public Ways Safety Committee met with the Advisory Committee to discuss traffic engineering and funding for these services.
1. Fog lines: At last week’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting there was a discussion regarding fog lines. Mr. Senie asked the Advisory Committee to approve any funds budgeted for the fog lines which will be in the DPW’s budget. The cost is an estimated $5,000. The preference of the Public Ways Committee is to have fog lines on every road and anticipate an annual expense for this. The Public Ways Safety Committee does not favor center lines as some of the roads are not wide enough to pass.
2. Engineering funds: The Public Ways Safety Committee is working on several different projects including redesigns of intersections and proper placement of sidewalks. The Public Ways Safety Committee recommended that a line item be placed in the DPW budget for the required engineering work. Mr. Lindsay stated he was reluctant to having a line item each year for these projects and would rather see each issue worked on individually. The Advisory Committee recommended that the projects be prioritized and each year the specific projects be budgeted for within the DPW budget. The Advisory Committee also recommended that the Public Ways Safety Committee attend the budget discussion meetings with Mr. Brown.
3. Sidewalk maintenance: Many of the existing sidewalks are in need of on-going maintenance repairs. An article was placed on the annual town meeting warrant for funds to do these repairs. It is the Public Ways Safety Committee understanding that repairs to the sidewalk would not trigger the need to meet the ADA requirements but that any new sidewalks would have to meet the ADA requirements. Advisory Committee members informed Mr. Senie that they thought Mr. Brown had pulled the sidewalk repair article from the warrant. Mr. Senie will continue discussions with Mr. Brown regarding these funds.
LIBRARY TRUSTEES
Present: Bob Zak, Trustee; Kelly Collins, Library Director
Tour of the Year: Mr. Zak gave a summary of the year that included:
The approval for the expansion of the library; the pledge to raise over a $1 million with $840,000 being raised thus far; the appointment of a nine member construction committee; the request for proposal for the project manager being available for distribution next week; the circulation increasing with 23,400 visits to the library, 90 people per day.
Budget: Mr. Zak reported that the heat and electric line items will actually be over this year, and he will need to request a transfer before the end of the year. Mr. Zak did some research and found that .6 gallons per degree per day is used. Based on this information the Advisory Committee recommended that the heat line item be increased to $5,500 and the electric line item be increased to $4,000 for fiscal year 2008. Mr. Zak will make this adjustment to the Library budget and submit.
The State requires 20% of the overall budget be spent on books/periodicals with a population under 5,000 and 19% with a population of over 5,000.
The repairs line item of $450 is for minor repairs of equipment at the library (i.e. typewriter). Funds for repair to the building can be found in 190 Building Account managed by DPW.
The misc./programs line item of $8,000 will be broken down further into separate line items based on the purpose of the funds being requested. Ms. Collins, Library Director will discuss this with Town Accountant Julie Costello for appropriate line items.
The overall budget is up 3%.
RESIGNATION
Mr. Powell informed the Advisory Committee that because of a new assignment at work he no longer has the time to devote to the Advisory Committee. Mr. Powell stated that he felt bad because of the timing but on the other had felt good about the Committee makeup and the financial support coming from town government. Scott will be missed!
The Advisory Committee chose to wait until they had all members present to vote on a new chairman.
The Committee will advertise for a new member via the Bolton Common.
The Committee will meet on Thursday, February 15, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. to reorganize and attend the Community Preservation Act informational meeting.
The Committee will not meet on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 but members may attend the Board of Health meeting regarding the Town Nurse vs. Nashoba Nursing discussion.
Meeting adjourned.
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