Advisory Committee Present: David Lindsay
February 3, 2009 Burt Shnitzler
Connie Benjamin
Bob Czekanski
Lawrence Delaney
The Advisory Committee met at the Town Hall at 7:30 p.m.
Present: Board of Selectmen Curt Plante, Kenneth Troup and Stanley Wysocki
DPW BUDGET REVIEW
Present: DPW Director Harold Brown and Administrative Assistant Shelly O’Toole
190 Town Buildings: Budget revisions included: Maintenance was increased to $49,250 from $30,250; This line item includes a janitor for 8 hours per day for the new library. Repairs were reduced from $21,800 to $18,000. The carpet runner for the town hall was deleted, and the funds to demolish the relocatable was eliminated as this work has already been done.
Miscellaneous was reduced from $19,200 to $14,200. This reduction included the elimination of the funds to touch up the surface on Murphy Court. The Advisory Committee will ask the Parks/Recreation Commission to give an explanation as to why these funds are needed for the new court.
293 Traffic Lights: Electric was reduced from $2,500 to $2,000; repairs were reduced from $2,200 to $1,700.
294 Tree Warden: The wages line item which is for detail officers was reduced from $3,000 to $2,500. Tree trimming was reduced from $38,000 to $37,000. Mr. Brown noted that they are getting more and more calls from residents requesting that trees abutting their property and located on town property be taken down. The miscellaneous line item is for the disposal of logs that can’t be chipped and for the pine that has rotted. Mr. Plante suggested that Mr. Brown look at stockpiling at the transfer station for chipping later and selling chips.
421 Highway: The Highway Department’s budget was reviewed and the following revisions were made: Purchase of services was reduced from $4,000 to $2,500; heating was reduced from $4,500 to $4,000; repairs were increased from $40,000 to $42,000; gasoline was reduced from $9,000 to $6,000; oil/lube was increased from $1,500 to $2,000; diesel was reduced from $15,000 to $12,000; equipment was reduced from $4,000 to $2,000; and training was reduced from $1,500 to $1,200.
422 Highway Improvements: The local improvements line item was reduced from $205,000 to $200,000.
424 Street Lighting: Electric was reduced from $8,000 to $7,000; repairs were reduced from $2,000 to $1,500.
433 Transfer Station: Wages – overtime was reduced from $10,000 to $5,000; electric was reduced from $2,500 to $2,000; trash hauling was reduced from $14,000 to $13,500; equipment was reduced from $2,000 to $1,000.
491 Cemetery: The purchase of service line item was reduced from $4,000 to $2,000.
692 Celebration Memorial Day: The supplies line item was reduced from $1,600 to $1,500.
Articles: An article was submitted to raise and appropriate the amount of $15,000 to cover capital costs associated with implementing a permanent regional household hazardous waste facility to be located in Devens, MA. Ms. O’Toole stated that there are 14 towns working to get the facility up and running. The cost per town will be determined depending on the number of towns that will participate. There is another article proposed related to the Small Roads Assistant Program (STRAP) for a grant for the reconstruction of roads. The town must authorize the payment for this project which will be reimbursed by MassHighway if the town receives grant.
PLANNING BOARD
Present: Douglas Storey, Planning Board chairman and Jenny Atwood Burney, Town Planner
Mr. Storey stated that they never spend more than $20,000 in the purchase of service line item, and could not say what they would be spending in FY10. There are ongoing subdivisions (Northwoods, Century Mill Estates, and the Oaks) that are still being reviewed. This line item was reduced from $24,362 to $10,000 with the understanding that the Planning Board could go to the Advisory Committee for a transfer if needed.
There is a prior year article for the master plan that has a balance of $7,067.84. Ms. Burney stated that a portion of the UMass Amherst consultant fee was paid out of the Planning Board budget with the approval from Town Administrator Jodi Ross, but it has since been determined that this fee could have been paid for out of the existing article. Ms. Burney will discuss the possibility of using the article for the expenditure.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Present: Doug Storey, Affordable Housing Partnership Chairman
The affordable housing partnership budget was reduced from $500 to $100.
OVERALL BUDGET REVIEW
Mr. Lindsay provided spreadsheets that showed required cuts, budget changes from the previous meeting that totaled $33,662 and a free cash analysis. With free cash targeted at $750,000, the proposal to use the stabilization fund for the $175,000 wireless communications abatement and reducing the Nashoba Assessment to 4%, the net improvement to the budget position is $35,509. Mr. King stated that Bolton’s assessment is up 6.5% because of a complicated formula that has changed, enrollment has increased, and Bolton has become wealthier than other towns in the Commonwealth. The Board of Selectmen agreed to send a letter to the School Committee informing them that the 6.5% increase in the Town of Bolton’s assessment is substantially more than the Town can afford. On a motion made by
Shnitzler and seconded by Czekanski, the Advisory Committee voted to support the Board of Selectmen’s letter. (Lindsay – yes, Shnitzler – yes, Delaney – yes, Benjamin – yes, Czekanski – yes) Mr. Plante questioned whether it is time to re-discuss the district paying rent, for its space, in the Emerson School. Mr. Troup stated that he did not feel they were unwilling to pay the rent but did not have it in their budget.
A placeholder for an article for the transfer of funds from the stabilization will be submitted.
Mr. Troup expressed his serious reservation for not giving the non-union employees a cost of living adjustment (COLA) when the union employees would be receiving one. He was concerned that this would hurt morale and cause them to unionize, which he did not feel would be beneficial to the town for the amount of money it would be saving. Ms. Day was asked to contact surrounding towns to see what their planned COLAs were.
Another suggestion was to check with the union representatives to see if they would be willing to open the union contracts, although some did not feel it was realistic to try to negotiate a different COLA. Selectmen agreed that the liaisons will contact the union presidents (Mr. Plante – DPW and Mr. Wysocki – police and dispatch)
Meeting adjourned at 10:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Linda L. Day
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