Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes of April 27, 1999
Present: Charles Flynn, Judy Murdoch, Cathy Kuchinski, Dan Webster and Executive Secretary Joseph Nugent. ( Chairman Jones was not present)
I. Vice Chairman Flynn called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. by announcing a Visioning Meeting on Thursday, April 29th at the new Hanson Middle School at 7:00 p.m.
II. Set meeting dates for June, July and August - Motion by Webster to set the dates as 6/1/99, 6/15/99, 6/29/99, 7/13/99, 7/27/99, 8/10/99, 8/24/99, second by Murdoch. 4-0 Vote. (Jones absent)
III. Accept minutes of 3/30/99 Motion by Kuchinski to accept minutes of 3/30/99, second by Murdoch. 3-0-1 (Webster abstained)
IV. Action Requests:
Murdoch - what is the status on the South Shore Women’s Center article. They have not sent backup inf. as of yet. Murdoch will try to call again.
Kuchinski - heard that Representative Hailey has proposed a bill to tack on MBTA Assessments Kuchinski requested that we get all the information that we can and take a strong stance against this bill. Kuchinski also announced a Water Supply forum on Thursday, May 13th at Stonehill College.
Webster brought the Board up to date on the Sub-Committee for the Evaluation Process:
they are initiating the process of redesigning the evaluation tool and the goal is to revamp the evaluation by September and have all departments adopt the tool and have this evaluation done in October allowing plenty of time to submit to Wage and Personnel.
Webster also announced that the sub-committee will be holding a public forum regarding the evaluation tool and they would welcome input from citizens and employees. The public forum will be held May 19th. The hope is to tie salary increases in with not only the evaluation process but also the Town’s Budget.
Webster concluded by thanking the Wage and Personnel Board for their extensive work on this process.
Kuchinski mentioned a memo from Carole McCormack regarding the possibility of E.A.P. providing some input regarding performance appraisal for the Town.
Flynn - asked if we were planning to have an open house or ribbon cutting ceremony for the Town Hall. He suggested a Saturday Open House somewhat like the Town of Whitman’s Open House.
V. Executive Secretary’s Report
Nugent received a letter from Rick Connole asking a correction be made regarding the release of 61A land voted in February. The Lot was listed as 1124 but should have been listed as 1126. The configuration of lot the does not change. Motion by Murdoch to rescind the previous vote on 2/23/99 releasing lot 1124, 2nd by Kuchinski. 4-0 Vote Murdoch made a motion to release lot 1126, 2nd by Webster. 4-0 Vote.
VI. Finance Committee
The Board invited the Finance Committee to the meeting to discuss the Town Meeting Warrant Articles.
The first discussion was regarding Articles 22 and 26 of the Annual Town Meeting which were held by the Board of Selectmen taking into consideration that the source would likely be the Stabilization Fund. The Finance Committee did not recommend these articles also due to the source of funding.
The Board questioned how many UHF Radios units will be purchased for the Fire Department. The Finance Committee believes there will be 30 Units.
Chairman Tuffo of the Finance Committee updated the Board quickly on the Budget Article. Flynn commended the Finance Committee for the many hours the committee puts in. He also asked if any services have been cut. Tuffo explained the budget is a level service budget this year. Tuffo did point out that the lines that do cause concern are the Salary Lines - they are unable to fine tune the budget until the evaluations and salary negotiations are complete. Tuffo suggested evaluations be completed earlier in the Budget Process next year. Flynn explained that the Selectmen are working on this evaluation process and will be holding a public forum on May 19th to discuss the evaluation tool.
Webster asked the Finance Committee how they will prevent the large budget increases on a year to year basis. Tuffo believes they may need to look at the Capital Improvements and certain expenditures in the budget. Manuel DePina would like to see a ceiling of 4% put on the evaluation increases, he believes that is the easiest way to control a budget. Murdoch reminded the members that not long ago there were employees that did not get salary increases for years.
The Board discussed the School Committee Budget, the Finance Committee informed the Board of the difficult decisions they had to make and they did a great job.
Manuel Depina mentioned the SEMASS Rates are rising and wanted to know if this was considered for the Board of Health article. Flynn explained that Hanson signed on early with SEMASS, consequently, receiving favorable rates. Next year may have more of an impact.
Kuchinski expressed her concern to have a budget established for Thomas Mill Committee and Town Forest Committee.
Depina would like to remind voters to review all articles since they may have their own priority list.
The Board thanked the Finance Committee for their hard work.
IV. Discussion of the Annual Town Meeting Articles not yet recommended
Motion by Murdoch to support Article 11, 2nd by Kuchinski 4-0 Vote
Motion by Webster not to recommend Articles 22 & 26, 2nd Murdoch for discussion: The Board discussed holding these articles for the Funding Source. Webster withdrew the motion.
The Board will also hold Articles 24 and 34 for additional information.
V. The Board asked Barbara Gomez, Town Accountant to join the meeting while Kuchinski asked about Chapter 90 Funds. Gomez explained that the Town does not know what the additional entitlements are. State legislature is working on changing the rules. Gomez also noted that the Ambulance Fund has been balancing, they have been working hard to keep this fund balanced.
VI. Kuchinski asked if the duck problem for the Town Hall has been solved yet. There are no definitive plans but they are going to put up fencing around the pond.
VII. Adjournment: Motion by Murdoch to adjourn, second by Kuchinski. 4-0 Vote
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