Town of Hanson - Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes – Hanson Town Hall
May 24, 2011 – 7:30 p.m.
Members Present: Stephen Amico, James Egan, Richard Flynn, Donald Howard and David Soper
Members Absent:
Others Present: Rene’ J. Read, Town Administrator and Executive Assistant Meredith Marini
I 7:33 p.m.~~~~~~~Town Administrator Rene’ Read called the meeting to order. Mr. Read lead the Pledge Allegiance and read the announcements and upcoming meeting schedule.
II SWEAR IN NEWLY ELECTED OFFICIALS – Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan was present to swear in the newly elected officials, Donald Ellis, Jim Egan, Richard Flynn, Gerard LeBlanc, Rob O’Brien, Marcus Linn, Helen Levesque. All the parties were sworn to their new positions.
III REORGANIZE THE BOARD – Mr. Read announced the Board needed to reorganize and opened nominations for Chairman. Mr. Howard nominated Steve Amico as Chairman. Mr. Egan seconded the nomination. No other nominations were heard. Voted 5 – 0 to elect Mr. Amico as Chairman.
Mr. Read passed the gavel to Mr. Amico. Mr. Amico called for nominations for Vice Chairman.
Mr. Egan nominated Donald Howard as Vice-Chairman. Mr. Soper seconded the nomination. No other nominations were heard. Voted 5 – 0 to elect Mr. Howard as Vice-Chairman.
Mr. Amico called for nominations for Clerk. Mr. Howard nominated David Soper as Clerk. Mr. Egan seconded the nomination. No other nominations were heard. Voted 5 – 0 to elect Mr. Soper as Clerk.
IV TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT- Mr. Read informed the Board that his report would be to discuss the budget under old business. Mrs. Marini pointed out in light of the override vote results, the Board needed to call for a special town meeting to complete the budget. Due to posting requirements, the earliest a meeting could be held would be June 13th. Mrs. Marini provided the Board with the following article for the Special Town Meeting.
ARTICLE 1: To determine what sums of money the Town will appropriate and raise by taxation, transfer from free cash, transfer from Town Ambulance Funds, Water Department Revenue, Water Surplus, Title V Special Revenue Fund, MWPAT Loan Repayments Receipts Reserved for Appropriation, Conservation Notice of Intent Fund, Overlay Surplus, Fund Balance Reserved for Reduction of Future Excluded Debt to defray charges and expenses of the Town, including Debt and
Interest, and to provide for a reserve fund for the 2012 Fiscal Year or take any other action in relation thereto.
MOTION by Howard, second by Egan to hold a special town meeting on Monday, June 13, 2011.
Voted 5 - 0
MOTION by Soper, second by Howard to open the Special Town Meeting Warrant and place the article as presented on the warrant. Voted 5 - 0
MOTION by Egan, second by Soper to close the warrant. Voted 5 - 0
V NEW BUSINESS
Set meeting dates for July – December – Mr. Read presented the Board with a calendar of proposed meeting dates through the end of 2011. Mr. Read recommended meeting on July 12 & 19; August 9 & 23; September 13, 20 and 27; October 3 & 4 for Town Meeting and October 18th; November 1 & 15 and December 6 & 20.
MOTION by Egan, second by Howard to set the meeting dates as presented. Voted 5 - 0
Vote new precinct lines – Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan informed the Board that the Town is required to set new precinct lines due to the increase in population reported from the 2010 Federal Census. Ms. Sloan outlined the map while Mr. Read read the new boundaries.
Hanson Town
Precinct 1
All of that portion of Hanson Town bounded and described as follows: Beginning at the point of intersection of the Whitman/Hanson town line and the East Bridgewater/Hanson town line, and proceeding easterly along the Whitman/Hanson town line to the Rockland/Hanson town line, and proceeding easterly along the Rockland/Hanson town line to the Hanover/Hanson town line, and proceeding easterly along the Hanover/Hanson town line to Winter St, and proceeding southerly along Winter St to Brook St, and proceeding easterly along Brook St to Indian Head Brk, and proceeding southerly along Indian Head Brk to Gorwin Dr, and proceeding westerly along Gorwin Dr to Liberty St, and proceeding westerly along Liberty St to High St, and proceeding southerly along High St to Holmes St, and proceeding westerly along Holmes
St to W Washington St, and proceeding westerly along W Washington St to the East Bridgewater/Hanson town line, and proceeding northerly along the East Bridgewater/Hanson town line to the point of beginning.
Precinct 2
All of that portion of Hanson Town bounded and described as follows: Beginning at the point of intersection of Wampatuck Pond shoreline and Indian Head Brk, and proceeding northerly along Wampatuck Pond shoreline to Indian Head Brk, and proceeding northerly along Indian Head Brk to Liberty St, and proceeding easterly along Liberty St to Gorwin Dr, and proceeding northerly along Gorwin Dr to Indian Head Brk, and proceeding northerly along Indian Head Brk to Brook St, and proceeding westerly along Brook St to Winter St, and proceeding northerly along Winter St to the Hanover/Hanson town line, and proceeding easterly along the Hanover/Hanson town line to the Pembroke/Hanson town line, and proceeding southerly along the Pembroke/Hanson town line to Main St, and proceeding westerly along Main St to Indian
Head St, and proceeding northerly along Indian Head St to Indian Head Brk, and proceeding southerly then northerly along Indian Head Brk to the point of beginning.
Precinct 3
All of that portion of Hanson Town bounded and described as follows: Beginning at the point of intersection of W Washington St and the East Bridgewater/Hanson town line, and proceeding northerly along W Washington St to Holmes St, and proceeding southerly along Holmes St to High St, and proceeding northerly along High St to Liberty St, and proceeding easterly along Liberty St to Indian Head Brk, and proceeding southerly along Indian Head Brk to Wampatuck Pond shoreline, and proceeding southerly along Wampatuck Pond shoreline to Indian Head Brk, and proceeding southerly along Indian Head Brk to Indian Head St, and proceeding southerly along Indian Head St to Main St, and proceeding easterly along Main St to the Pembroke/Hanson town line, and proceeding southerly along the Pembroke/Hanson town line to the
Halifax/Hanson town line, and proceeding westerly along the Halifax/Hanson town line to the East Bridgewater/Hanson town line, and proceeding northerly along the East Bridgewater/Hanson town line to the point of beginning.
MOTION by Howard, second by Egan to approve the new precinct lines as read and presented.
Voted 5 - 0
Appoint representative to the Plymouth County Advisory Board -– Mr. Howard indicated that he would be willing to serve as the member.
MOTION by Egan, second by Soper to appoint Donald Howard as the Plymouth County Advisory Board member. Voted 5 - 0
MOTION by Soper, second by Egan to appoint Richard Flynn as the Plymouth County Advisory Board alternate. Voted 5 - 0
VI ONE DAY LIQUOR LICENSES
Cheryl Siciliano, Whitman, Sun., June 19th 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Party
MOTION by Howard, second by Egan to approve the one day liquor license as presented. Voted 5 - 0
VII ACCEPT MINUTES
April 12, 2011
May 17, 2011
MOTION by Egan, second by Howard to approve the minutes of April 12, 2011 as printed.
Voted 3 - 0 – 2 (Soper & Flynn)
MOTION by Egan, second by Howard to approve the minutes of May 17, 2011 as printed.
Voted 3 - 0 – 2 (Soper & Flynn)
VIII OLD/UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Review budget with Finance Comm. – Mr. Read read the following statement.
“Now that the Override didn’t pass…”
As you all know, this past Saturday the voters of the Town of Hanson chose not to approve a ballot question approving the FY12 budget contingent upon passage of an override.
Having been down this road before, in the wake of the failed override, I believe it is extremely important to employ a calm and measured approach with respect to the FY12 budget and make every attempt to avoid a knee-jerk reaction and make short-sighted decisions which could have adverse long-term implications.
Since both the question concerning the operating budget and the school roof were defeated, I believe the result of the votes on Saturday is very simple to interpret – the voters don’t want their taxes increased.
That said, as a result of the voters actions, I am recommending a series of changes to the budget which I will outline on the attached document.
Firstly, I am recommending the use of +/- $215,000 Free Cash to balance the budget.
As I mentioned to the voters at Town Meeting, many Towns in the state use Free Cash to balance their budgets and this practice is commonplace - every community I’ve worked in has done it and continues to do so. Through the passage of the override, I was hoping that we might be able to reduce our reliance on the use of Free Cash to balance the budget with the understanding that our ability to do so would not occur overnight.
I further stated that we recognized that we may not be able to sever our connection to Free Cash every year but that we had to try. Some of the other well-run communities that were used as models for this plan have taken years to accomplish a similar feat. In the meantime, to use free cash to balance the budget is not fiscally irresponsible however; it is still our long-term objective to move away from this practice but obviously it will take some time.
The budget for the Town of Hanson has been balanced for many, many years with the use of free cash and may continue to be balanced that way for a few more years to come. But as long as I am here, I will continue to look for ways to remove our reliance upon it but I will not recommend doing so at the cost of our employees.
The restoration of the Fire, Highway and Library positions have all been removed in addition to the proposed mid-year salary increases for unions. Further reductions have been made in the Snow and Ice, Gasoline, Unemployment, and various other budget lines which were not level funded (+/-$1,600). Following these cuts, the budget I am recommending as presented is balanced.
It is my belief that the citizens still want their government to run effectively and efficiently with what we have for funds now. There may come a time when we can implement more progressive changes (such as reducing our reliance on Free Cash) but it is apparent that the preference is not to do that at this time.
I will not and am not recommending that any further reductions in hours for any employees or departments be implemented at this time. Based on the budget recommendations I am offering this evening, it is not necessary to do so. I believe that if additional reductions in hours were to occur, it would be the result of an overreaching reaction based on a misinterpretation of the citizens’ desires. While I am keenly aware that there are some who may not concur with this opinion (and you may have had occasion to hear from these people personally as I have), I believe they are a group comprised of a small but vocal minority. It does not appear that the issue here is about making radical cuts or reductions which could result in punishing our current workforce or decimating
departments but more of a message on a simpler scale – live within our means. I believe that to do anything further than what is necessary will not serve the townspeople well nor will it be responsive to their intent.
Mr. Read highlighted the various changes he made to the budget in order to present a balance budget. The revisions included reducing the following lines: Town Benefits, unemployment, gasoline, computer services, legal, utilities, clerical wages, assessors expense, building expense, gas expense, wiring expenses, VNA services, highway wages, snow and ice, com. center dispatch, fire wages, Whitman Hanson Regional assessment.
There was lengthy discussion between the Selectmen and Finance Committee relative to balancing the budget using free cash. Finance Committee Chairman Steve MacKinnon is not in favor of using any free cash. He said the Town is “kicking the can down the road” and feels that more cuts are needed. Finance Committee member Pepper Santalucia inquired about the capital improvement items which will need to be passed over if free cash was used to balance the budget. Mr. Read indicated that he is not in favor of making large cuts this year and would always advocate for staff over funding capital projects. Mr. Read listed some of the cuts that had been suggested to him by others which included, consolidating land use departments, no increases for department heads, cut the police chief,
police lieutenant, cut or reduce the hours of the town planner, conservation agent and health agent.
Mr. Amico feels that Town needs to start looking at cuts now and suggested looking at other communities relative to how they handle Town Planner and Conservation agent. Mr. Soper inquired if there was any analysis relative to departmental activities and the effects of reduction of hours. Mr. Read indicated he would have to check with the chairman of the committees. Mr. Read pointed out that if the hours for both the planner and the conservation agent were reduced to 21 hour per week, the total annual savings would be $20,000.00. There was discussion relative to consolidating offices and the possibility of the department heads doing the administrative functions. Planning and Conservation Chairman Philip Lindquist pointed out that both the department requires specialty work.
Mr. Egan feels that the budget as presented is reasonable and should be considered for this year in order to give the Town Administrator time to reorganize departments. Mr. Read reminded the Board that his budget has a 3% increase for the schools. The Finance Committee had recommended 2%. School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes informed the group that the School Committee would be meeting on Wednesday to discuss the budget and the Indian Head Roof. Mr. Hayes clarified some misconceptions that the slate roof was only 20 years old. The roof is 60 years old and has never been replaced. The slates are not the problem. The fasteners are failing and need to be replaced. Mr. Hayes suggested a joint meeting between the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and School Committee.
The Board agreed to meeting again on Tuesday, May 31st with the Finance Committee and School Committee.
IX COMMITTEE REPORTS – None heard – Mr. Soper requested permission to bring up new business. Chairman Amico suggested the matter be discussed on June 7th. Mr. Soper indicated that time was an issue as the event being requested would be in July. Mr. Soper requested the Board consider a bon fire which would be sponsored by the Republican Town Committee and the Patriotic Observance Committee. A definitive date has not been set. Mr. Soper indicated that he spoke with both the Police Chief and the Fire Chief and they were in favor of the event and would be able to provide coverage. Mr. Soper said the Plymouth County Hospital site would be the location. Mr. Howard inquired about the cost. Mr.
Soper informed the Board that both chiefs indicated they have funds in their overtime lines. Mr. Howard was not in favor of spending money uselessly on overtime for a bon fire when they Town is struggling to balance a budget and possibly laying people off. Mr. Amico requested the matter be placed on the agenda for June 7th at which time more details would be need to be presented including overtime costs and clean-up costs.
MOTION by Egan, second by Soper to adjourn. Voted 5 - 0
8:55 p.m. Meeting Adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Meredith Marini,
Executive Assistant
Approved and Voted 5 – 0
June 7, 2011
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