Date of Meeting: Monday, April 5, 2010
Location: Town Hall, 221 Main Street
Time: 6:30PM – 9:15 PM
Members Present: Chairman James Stanton; Roger Deal; Ken Sydow
Others Present: Stephen Madaus, Town Counsel; Nancy Colbert, Town Administrator; Lori Esposito, Administrative Assistant; others as listed on the attached sign-in sheet
Financial Warrant Signed in approval.
Report of the Town Administrator to the Board of Selectmen:
· FY’11 Budget Revisions: The School Department revised line numbers, not overall, cost. The Earth Removal Board requested $100; the Town Administrator changed it.
· Retiree Health Plan Proposed Change: MIIA presented an alternative plan for retirees with a 26% reduction in premiums, with coverage comparable to the existing plan. The majority of people will save; some will not save due to prescriptions. Roger Deal asked what the increase would be to those people. The Town Administrator explained it from a chart: it depends upon types of drugs being used and how the prescriptions are filled (retail, mail order, etc.). She would ask retirees to bring prescriptions to calculate savings or cost increase to each. If we want to pursue this, we need to begin immediately. Motion was made and seconded to pursue the insurance change. Voted all in favor.
· Compass Pointe Water Line: Installation ongoing; 320 feet have been installed as of April 1.
· GASB45 Analysis: Three quotes were solicited. The Town Administrator checked the references of the qualified firm which provided the most competitive price. Ricci Consulting will perform this analysis for $5,000. The Town Administrator has requested a transfer from the Reserve Fund to cover the expense. Jim Stanton asked about the annual cost to keep this updated. The Town Administrator said she doesn’t have an annual cost. Motion was made to approve the transfer of $5,000 to cover this expense. Motion was seconded and voted all in favor.
Library Budget: (Brad Barker appeared before the Board.)
· The Library budget has been reduced to $152,940, which still meets the minimum requirement of the MBLC to avoid a waiver. He is concerned regarding a waiver, due to the fact that this would be the third year we have requested a waiver and we are putting ourselves at extended risk. An amount of $782 over the requested budget amount would eliminate the waiver process.
o Jim Stanton stated that, with the exception of insurance and pension, other departments have a zero increase.
o Brad said they could stick to it if they didn’t have a minimum requirement set by the State to meet. Reduction of any other lines wouldn’t matter – the Library still needs that amount to meet the objective.
o Jim asked for year-to-date expenditures.
o Town Administrator: YTD Salaries: $69,407 Balance: $33,994 (32% remaining)
YTD Expenses: $27,948 Balance: $18,739 (40% remaining)
o Roger Deal thinks they can come back with what the Board requested.
o Jim said he understands about State requirements but other departments can’t have an increase, even with State requirements.
o Brad said the Trustees came in with the State (MBLC) minimum. $152,940 has to be the entire budget, regardless of whether it is salaries or expenses.
o Ken Sydow: with an additional $782 the Library would not have to go through the waiver process? Brad said they have 2,000 library card holders; Trustee vote.
o Jim asked what would happen if we level-funded and the Library loses certification. Then can we come back and review the budget for the Library?
o Brad said he is not sure that would work; they haven’t gone down that path before. Sue Therriault of the Library Board said, regarding Jim’s question on level-funding and lost certification, if, at some time during the fiscal year the Town can appropriate the $782, we should be okay. She wants to check to be sure but thinks that is the way it would work.
Monthly Report of the Chief of Police to the Board of Selectmen:
· The new vehicle to replace Car 5 is ready for pickup. It will be ready on Wednesday, after the striping and lettering is done.
· On April 7 a mock car crash will be held at Tahanto.
· On April 13 the IT officer will be attending training in Westborough.
· On April 29 both detectives will be attending training.
· The dispatcher contract ratification meeting is still to be held.
At 7:10 PM on a motion made by Selectman Kenneth Sydow, and seconded by Roger Deal, the following roll call vote was recorded to go into Executive Session under MGLc. 39 §23 ¶6 to consider purchase, etc., of real property: James Stanton – yes; Roger Deal – yes; Kenneth Sydow – yes. The Board agreed they would return to open session. At 8:20 PM the Board returned to open session.
Monthly Report of the Building Inspector to the Board of Selectmen:
· The Building Inspector discussed the new “lead-safe remodeling” law. The Town is to register with the EPA and have someone lead-safe-certified to oversee projects. We need to hire lead-safe-certified renovators. This will become effective April 22, 2010. The Building Inspector said he could do it or a school maintenance person could do it.
· 19 permits were issued with a value of $252K; fees collected for those permits were $2,300.
· The Building Inspector attended two seminars in March.
Y.O.U., Inc. Lease Renewal: (Moe Boisvert, President/CEO of Y.O.U., Inc., and Gene Symms, Project Director of Flagg House, appeared before the Board.)
· Mr. Boisvert provided information regarding Y.O.U., Inc. and the Flagg House budget. They were originally asking for level-funding of the lease. They have been spending an average of $40K (in addition to rent) in betterments to the building. The rent is $40K/year.
· Y.O.U., Inc. has negotiated reductions in rent in Fitchburg, Webster and Worcester this year.
· Y.O.U., Inc. recently learned of costs incurred by the Town and the School Department for transportation of students living at Flagg House. The possibility is to create an IEP Plan. Travel would then be covered 100%. It is also possible for them to drive some students themselves. All other programs do not pay towns for transportation costs; each town is responsible for paying all transportation costs. They will honor their agreement to cover costs for this year. They will need to raise funds privately since this is not an acceptable expense to be covered by the Foundation.
· Jim said we need to get a Town Meeting vote to reauthorize the land to be leased.
· John Roy, School Financial Director, would like to speak with Moe and Gene for ideas to mitigate costs. Jim Stanton said he would like to find a way to make it keep working.
· They will meet again after the Town Meeting vote.
Town Building Project: (Brian McDermott, Superintendent of Schools, appeared before the Board.)
· MSBA will pay for demolition, not asbestos (or legal fees); Up to 51/21% MSBA reimbursement.
· Jim Stanton asked what the current split is between towns. Mr. McDermott said it s Berlin $31.68 and Boylston $68.32.
· The total from both towns is $21,238.725. Boylston -- $15.5M with $40,679 grant/reimbursable amount. The tax rate increase would be $1.82 for 20 years (Boylston) and $1.68 for 25 years (Boylston) and $.96 for Berlin.
· They will be meting with Town Treasurers, Accountants and Financial Committees for recommendations regarding 20-year versus 25-year borrowing.
· Jim Stanton asked if there is an alternative number for the cost to renovate/fix Tahanto as it is today.
· Mr. McDermott said it would cost $23M, with no accreditation or MSBA reimbursement. $30M with accreditation and no MSBA reimbursement. It would cost more out of the Town’s pocket.
· Her Cronin of the Finance Committee said an alternative method of taxing would be level debt over the entire time (versus declining principal balance (higher up front, less in last years).
Minutes Approved: Regular session February 22, 2010; Regular/Executive Session March 15, 2010 and March 22, 2010. Motion made to approve minutes; motion seconded and voted all in favor.
Town Meeting Warrant Review:
· Stephen Madaus regarding Article No. 26: re transfer to General Fund of $74K. He does not feel it is necessary. Jim Stanton said the Board is doing it so we show exactly what we’re spending and the budget reflects accurate expenditures by the Fire Department. Stephen said he understands but the expenses allowed under the Ambulatory Revolving Account are included in this transfer to the General Fund.
Roger Deal left the meeting at 9:10 PM.
Further FY’11 Budget Review:
· Re: Assessors’ motion to change salary line to 2% and expenses to 0%.
· Re: The Library’s need for $782: Ken Sydow said the figure is so small and it will save them hours of time filing a waiver. Ken made a motion to approve the additional $82 as presented this evening: Salary 2%; Expenses 21.6%.
· Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget to present it to the Town Meeting. Voted all in favor.
Motion made to adjourn; motion seconded; voted all in favor.
Meeting adjourned at 9:15 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori Esposito, Administrative Assistant
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