APPROVED MINUTES
Chilmark Board of Selectman / Finance Committee Minutes February 22, 2006
Members present:
Board of Selectmen: Frank Fenner and Riggs Parker
Finance Committee: Sarah Shipway, Doug Sederholm, Kathleen Cameron,
William Randol, Frank Yeomans, Katie Upson and Marshall Carroll (Chair).
Town Hall: Tim Carroll, Melanie Becker and Annette Anthony.
Marshall C. called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm.
Tim C. began the meeting by stating he wanted to review the Reserve Fund Transfers.
He said that on the Agenda there were 3 Fiscal 2006 reserve fund transfers.
The first was for the Dog Officer for $ 800.00. He said the money was for a deficit that currently existed. He said it was for 2 pagers and for training that he had attended.
Kathleen C. made a motion to accept, Sarah S. seconded the motion and all Members voted unanimously to accept.
Tim C. said the second transfer was from the Conservation Officer. He said the amount was $3,275.00 and that the money was for the Administrative Assistant. He explained to the Members why the money was needed and what incumbent meant. Kathleen C. made a motion to accept and Sarah S. seconded the motion and all Members voted unanimously to accept.
Tim C. said the last transfer was regarding gun permits. He explained the recent current change to the Mass. State law regarding the fees for gun permits. He said the amount was $5,675.00. There was a brief, general discussion about guns, cost of gun permits, the split on where fees were applied and how many gun permits were issued a year.
Sarah S. made a motion to accept and Kathleen C. seconded the motion. All Members voted unanimously to accept.
Tim C. said that he would give a final review of the 2007 budget and asked if there were any questions and/or comments.
Frank F. said that he thought the cost of raising the hourly rate from $ 40.00 to $ 55.00 for the Highway Equipment usage was excessive and had talked with Keith E. and Keith E. had agreed to change the request to $ 45.00 per hour. Frank F. said that changed the budget from $ 9,825.00 to $ 3,275.00 therefore the end result for that line item is $ 29,475.00 instead of $ 36,025.00. There was a brief discussion, mostly between Marshall C. and Frank F. on how Frank F. determined that the Highway rate increase was excessive. Frank F. explained how he compared other rates in town to determine that Keith’s rate was too high. Riggs P. made a motion to accept the new line item of $ 29,475.00 and Katie U. seconded the motion. All Members voted unanimously to accept.
Bill R. said just for the record that changed the total for the Highway to $146,935.38.
He said that this dropped the total budget to below $5.9 million.
Marshall C. asked if there were any questions and Frank Y. said he had one on the Refuse District fee. He said at the February 8th meeting with Refuse District Don Hatch said he would come back to the Finance Committee with information on proportional share amounts that Chilmark is paying and asked if he had done so, the Members said they had not heard any additional information from him. Frank Y. said that if the Town were charged proportionately then the figures would be $ 37,182.00 and said that it was about a $10,558.00 difference. There was a brief discussion about the Refuse District, the dump capping percentage costs and how the Town paid for the capping of the dump.
Tim C. asked Doug S. if he was going to write a letter and Doug S. said he did not see any reason for the Finance Committee to write a letter. Marshall C. asked if there were any budget questions and there were none.
Doug S. asked what the bottom line number was and Bill R. said the total was $5,897,728.19. Tim C. said the Board would review the Warrant Articles. Frank F. said he wanted to clarify something before they moved into a discussion about Warrant Articles. He asked about Selectmen’s Maintenance Account and what the end result was and Tim C. said it was left at $30,000.00.
WARRANT ARTICLES:
Fire Department: Transfer of $ 30,000.00 to Fire Dept. stabilization fund. Tim C. asked if there was a motion to recommend or not recommend. Frank Y. made a motion to recommend and Sarah S. seconded the motion. All members voted unanimously in favor.
Housing Reserve Fund: Transfer into Rental Assistance Program, $ 55,000.00 Sarah S. made a motion to recommend and Bill R. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Historical Reserve Fund: Transfer from the CPC Historic Reserve $ 12,000.00 plus $3,005.00 from a previous Warrant Article for a total of $ 15,005.00 to further repair of historic stonewalls. Frank Y. made a motion to recommend and Sarah S. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Tim C. said that the Selectmen had reviewed the outstanding Warrant Articles and had managed to close up some old articles in the amount of $ 27,565.50. There was a brief discussion about the old Warrant Articles, how many years they went back, how they were justified and how recently the total amount of old Articles had been cut in half.
Tim C. said the Town had increased the reduction of the debt to from $ 150,000.00 to $200,000.00, so instead of borrowing $ 750,000.00 the Town will borrow $ 550,000.00 if necessary. He said that Frank F. had asked for an analysis of 5, 7 and 10 year borrowing.
Melanie. B. explained the Town’s existing debt and proposed debt. She said that in September 2005 the Town authorized $ 750,000.00 in borrowing that passed at Special Town Meeting. She said that the Town had reduced that amount by $ 200,000.00 for a total of $ 550,000.00.
She explained what the cost to the Town was if they borrowed for 5 years at 5%, 7 years at 6% and 10 years at 7%. She said that this was not in Bonds, but Permanent State House Notes. She explained a little about State House bonds, and the recent Notes used by local Municipalities like Gosnold and the Town of Shelbourne, Mass. She said that these were ballpark percentage figures and not exact. There was a brief conversation about bank percentage rates, State House Notes and Bond rates, previous year’s rate. Tim C. said they wouldn’t know what the real impact on the town would be until they knew what the Dock Project would cost. Melanie B. said that she currently budgeted $ 75,000.00 for principal and $28,500.00 for interest. Tim C. said the decision was for a 5-year or 7 year, and once that was chosen would
the Town need more money. Melanie B. explained that if the Town borrowed for 7 years the principal payment for the first 5 years would be $ 80,000.00 and that the Town would need another $5,000.00. She said that a 7-year interest payment in 2007 was $ 33,000.00.
She said 5-year interest at 5%, the principal payment would be $ 11,000.00 and the interest would be $ 27,500.00. The 10 year at 7 % the principal payment would be $ 55,000.00 and the interest would be $ 28,500.00 Riggs P. asked if the State Notes had pre-payment penalties and Melanie said no. There was a general conversation led by Tim C. regarding the years needed to borrow, and the possibility of asking for $ 5,000.00 transfer. There was a brief discussion about the amount of revenue the Harbor took in. Frank Y. reviewed that in the last 4 years the Harbor revenue was $ 258,000.00, 240,000.00, 243,000.00 and 266,000.00 and Frank F. noted that the $ 266,000.00 was only until December 21, 2005, and that there were still 6 more months left in the year.
Tim C. said that the first thing that was before the Board Members was if they recommend the Warrant Article for $ 200,000.00 to reduce the debt. Bill R. made a motion to recommend and Kathleen C. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor. Frank Y. reiterated that this would reduce the borrowing from $ 750,000.00 to $550,000.00. There was a general conversation about bid process, interest rates for borrowing, length of years borrowed, State House Notes, Bonds in general, short term debt, and long term debt. Tim C. said that the Board could either amend Melanie’s (Treasurer) budget or leave it alone. Tim C. asked for the record that it be noted that the Board may need to come up with additional principal payments. Annette A. clarified that the Board did not make any changes to the Treasure’s
budget.
Tim C. said the next Article was for $ 80,000.00 from Free Cash to fund The Capital Plan, which was recommended by the Capital Improvement Committee and approved by the Board of Selectmen. He said that there is $ 80,000.00 to put towards Capital Improvements, he said that the Board could choose not to appropriate the money until there was a recommendation from the Capital Planning Committee, or you put it off until September or put if off until the Annual Town Meeting next year. There was a long, general conversation with all Members about the Capital Plan, Capital Improvement Committee, the amount of money that is set aside yearly, members of the Committee, anticipated future purchases with money, paving a portion of Middle Rd., how the Committee functioned, if the Committee Plan should begin without any money and
the fact that currently no public members served on the Committee. After a lengthy discussion on the article Doug S. made a motion to strike $ 80,000.00 for Capital Improvement Plan and Sarah S. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Paving: Marshall C. said the next item on the list was a paving Article for $ 120,000.00, Sarah S. made a motion to recommend and Katie U. seconded, all members voted unanimously in favor.
Chilmark Community Center Joint Maintenance Account: Marshall C. said this was the yearly $ 5,000.00 and Bill R. made a motion to recommend and Sarah S. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Landfill Project: Tim C. said transfer from Landfill Project back into Stabilization Fund
$ 50,000.00 Sarah S. made a motion to recommend and Katie U. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Free Cash: Tim C. said transfer $ 25,000.00 from Free Cash to Stabilization Fund, Doug S. made a motion to recommend and Bill R. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Mass. Estuaries: Tim C. said the Article was for $ 13,750.00. Doug S. made a motion to recommend and Sarah S. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Finance Committee Reserve: Tim C. said was $ 32,000.00 from Overlay Surplus and $8,000.00 for a total of $ 40,000.00. Bill R. made a motion to recommend and Katie U. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Chilmark Community Center Ceiling: Tim C. said $ 5,000.00 to pay the Town’s half of the cost of applying acoustic ceiling treatment to the Center’s ceiling. Sarah S. made a motion to recommend and Kathleen C. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Town Office: Tim C. said $ 8,000.00 to upgrade computer software and system. Bill R. made a motion to recommend and Katie U. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Medex Bill: There was a brief discussion about the outstanding Medex bill for $684.00 of a prior fiscal year. Tim C. stated that the Selectmen said that until the Insurance Company came forward with a justification for what the bill was for then they won’t put this as a Warrant Article before the Town Meeting. Doug S. made a motion to take no action and Bill R. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor to take no action.
Planning Board Water Testing, Prior Fiscal Year: Tim C. said the Planning Board owed the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah $ 2,000.00 for water testing from prior fiscal year. Bill R. made a motion to recommend and Sarah S. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council: There was a general discussion about the proposed $1,500.00 for the MV Cultural Council. Doug S. said he thought that the money was already in the budget and therefore would not need to be a Warrant Article. The Members said no it was not in the budget and that at one of the first Finance Committee meetings Frank Y. asked for more information before voting on the $ 1,500.00. Doug S. said he received information from Bonnie George, who was the Cultural Councils representative Tim C. explained how the Cultural Council had changed from Chilmark Council to Island wide MV Cultural Council. After much discussion it was agreed on by all members that the $ 1,500.00 did not belong in the actual budget, and should be put as a Warrant Article every year. Sarah S. made a motion to
remove the $1,500.00 from the budget and put as a Warrant Article and Doug S. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Adopt Bylaw:
House Signs: Tim C. said the Fire Chief had asked for a Bylaw to have all Chilmark houses numbered and located in such a place so that emergency vehicles could see them. He also said the Fire Chief had asked that road signs be placed so that emergency vehicle and personnel could see them. Doug S. made a motion to take no action and Kathleen C. seconded, all members voted unanimously in favor.
Trouble Alarms: There was a long, general conversation on what the fee should be (if any) for false burglar or fire alarms. The Members discussed how much the fee should be if the house had more than 2 false alarms per year. After much discussion, all Members agreed that the fees should be as written: First offense, $ 100.00; $ 150.00 for second and each subsequent offense. Doug S. made a motion to recommend as written and Frank Y. seconded the motion. Members voted 6 Ayes and 1 Nay.
Water Quality Protection: All Members voted unanimously to take no action.
Tri-Town Ambulance: Tim C. explained in detail about the proposed Enterprise Fund. He said that Tri-Town Ambulance thought that the Enterprise Fund was the best way to collect fees for ambulance runs. There was a long conversation about what other towns used an Enterprise Fund to collect fees, the pros and cons of Enterprise Fund, which town would collect fees for 3 Up-Island towns, how would central fund be set up, what companies could bill on behalf of Tri-Town, when Enterprise Fund would begin and what other funds were usable beside the Enterprise Fund. Tim C.said that they could start to collect fees for ambulance runs as of July 1, 2007 and would put the money in an Ambulance Receipts Reserve Fund. Sarah S. made a motion to recommend and Doug S. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Frank F. said he a question on page 10 of the budget book, Legal department for a $ 20,000.00 increase. There was a small, general discussion about the increase in the Legal Fund.
Doug S. said the original proposal was for $ 60,000.00 and suggested that it be made $50,000.00.
Doug S. made a motion to make Legal $ 50,000.00 instead of the proposed $ 60,000.00 and Kathleen C. seconded, all Members voted unanimously in favor.
Kathleen C.s aid she would like to address the number of employee’s increase in hours and asked if possible that if one committee needed some extra hours that another committee might be able to assist. Riggs P.said that this same request had come up at Personnel Board and said he would like to see the administrative services of the Town Hall be provided by a staff of people, and if one department had their work done they would help another department and share the workload. Katie U. said it sounded good, but in reality it might be difficult to expect.
Bill R. said according to his calculations the budget was $ 5,886,228.19.
Members said they wanted to thank Marshall C. for his Chairmanship to the Committee.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 pm
Respectfully submitted
Annette Anthony
Assistant to Executive Secretary
Approved 4-19-06
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