HOLDEN BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 13, 2012
7:50AM Starbard Building
Present: Chairman Anthony Renzoni, Robert Lavigne, James Jumonville,
Mark Ferguson, Kenneth Lipka (arrived 8:07AM)
Others Present: Jacquie Kelly, Assistant Town Manager
Elizabeth Helder, Recording Secretary
Chairman Renzoni opened the meeting at 7:50AM.
Move to Executive Session
Motion by Sel. Lavigne, seconded by Sel. Jumonville, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 7:51AM TO CONDUCT STRATEGY SESSIONS IN PREPARATION FOR NEGOTIATIONS WITH NON-UNION PERSONNEL AND TO CONDUCT CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH NON-UNION PERSONNEL/TOWN MANAGER AND RETURN TO REGULAR SESSION TO CONTINUE WITH GOALS PLANNING. ROLL CALL VOTE: FERGUSON: YES; RENZONI: YES; JUMONVILLE: YES; LAVIGNE: YES.
FY14 Selectmen Goals
Acting Town Manager Kelly updated the budget forecast. She said revenue projections are up due to increases in excise taxes and new construction. Free Cash will be higher because of one-time revenues (reimbursement from the 2008 Ice Storm). However, energy costs will be up due to increases in gas and oil prices. She said the DPW contract had been settled. The Light Department union has chosen to go to mediation. The two police union negotiations are ongoing.
Sel. Lipka arrived at 8:07AM.
The Board discussed setting the budget cap at 2 ¼ %. Sel. Ferguson said he would like to see the number at 2%. He said he felt that relying on Free Cash to bail the budget out was lazy budgeting and that he would like to see tighter/leaner budgets. He said he expected to see more tax revenue from Val’s addition and the Oriol expansion. Sel. Lipka said that the town should consider inflation into its budget and said he would like to keep the cap at 2 ¼. The State is behind in its tax collections, which might mean less money being distributed to the municipalities.
Ms. Kelly said her recommendation was to cap the budget for 2 ¼. The Board can try to reduce that number in FY15. Chairman Renzoni concurred adding that this would be good news to the tax payers. The Board agreed to set a goal to cap the budget at 2 ¼ without decreasing services in town.
Sale of the former Police Station was discussed. Sel. Lavigne said that that he would like to have a plan no later than November 2013 for the disposition of the building. Sel. Ferguson said that any zoning changes must be approved at the Annual Town Meeting and not a Special Town Meeting. The Board agreed to work with abutters and neighbors to rezone the area and come up with a plan to suit them. Ms. Kelly said the town is currently working on the building to make it more sellable. An underground tank on the property must be pumped to determine if it has leaked. The building will also be shut down for the winter to save on heating/maintenance costs. There has been some discussion with a potential buyer, but it is a big decision. The Board was in agreement with these plans because as Chairman
Renzoni said “zone it and sell it.” Ms. Kelly will update the Board on the underground tank removal at its first meeting in November.
The Board discussed the goal of reducing unaccounted for water. Ms. Kelly said that the formula for calculating unaccounted for water is a DEP formula. She said this number is a very difficult calculation that varies from town to town and can be very hard to achieve. She said that the remotely read water meters can change over time and report slight inaccuracies. There may be the possibility that this may factor into the unaccounted for water. Replacement of these meters would be costly and might not offset the money being lost in the unaccounted for water. She agreed that there are water leaks in town. Testing was ongoing during the summer/early fall. She said she was with the Board to reduce the water loss; however, she cautioned that setting an exact number to achieve was not an
achievable goal especially in the short amount of time the Board has set (one-year). She said she needed to get a better handle on all the facts before committing to a hard and fast goal.
Sel. Lipka suggested setting a goal to develop a plan to reduce unaccounted for water.
Sel. Ferguson said he was not happy with the way water/sewer issues have been handled and felt that the Administration has been “kicking and screaming” during the whole way. However, it is a “new day and a new sheriff and it is Ms. Kelly.” He said the Town needs to come up with a plan to replace the water meters. The town needs to get on top of the situation. He said he wants to see the Administration generate a monthly report to detail the “great and wonderful things” being accomplished to meet this goal and to tell him what is required to get there. The water system must be tightened in order to gain permission from the DEP to explore new well/water sources.
The Board agreed that this is a high priority goal. They agreed to develop and implement a plan to reduce unaccounted for water and reduce I&I.
Sel. Ferguson said the DPW Director should come forward with a list of items that need to be accomplished in town (removal of underground tank at former police station etc.). Chairman Renzoni concurred that many of these items have been around for the three years that he has been on the Board.
Sel. Ferguson said he had been told by the Chairman that the Board would discuss water rates at the October 15 Board meeting.
The Board discussed the water rate structure. Sel. Lavigne said he would like to hear a presentation from Mr. Elbag, Water/Sewer Superintendent, about what water rates choices the town has to choose from. He said he does not want to hear from Camp, Dresser, & McKee again.
Ms. Kelly said there is very little “magic” to the rate structure. The Administration would be willing to present all the options for the Board to choose from. Beware however, that if one rate goes down, another must go up in order to sustain the reserves and capital projects because the system must be maintained. A rate increase is in the forecast to cover increases in Upper Blackstone charges. The Town can access 0% loans in order to borrow from the State for capital projects. Chairman Renzoni said that he was open to another way to do business and still balance the budget. However, he reminded the Board that the current rate structure was necessary to balance the budget and get the account back on its feet. Sel. Ferguson and Jumonville said they were opposed to the current rate
structure.
The Board directed the Administration to direct the Water Superintendent to review and propose a new rate structure and present it to the Selectmen.
The Board directed the Administration to investigate the conversion of municipal buildings to natural gas and report back to the Board.
Ms. Kelly said that the Starbard Building was on track to be converted to natural gas this fall.
The Board directed the Manager to investigate funding the Library on an additional week night.
Sel. Lavigne requested money to fund the EDC to allow them to create more publicity to attract future businesses to town. The Board directed the Manager to creating funding for the EDC. Ms. Kelly will look into having students from Monty Tech create a website for the EDC.
The Board discussed setting a 2.5% baseline to a maximum of 4% for the School District’s voluntary budget contribution.
Sel. Lavigne said he was encouraged to sit down with the new District Administration and discuss budget transparency.
The Board discussed the possibility of the State stepping in to take over the school budget due to the District’s repeated serious budget discrepancies.
Ms. Kelly said she would like to set the goal at 4% because she was unsure what the request would be from the School District.
It was agreed that Holden cannot contribute extra money to the District Budget to make up for less money contributed by other towns. Sel. Jumonville expressed the need to remove K-8 education from the District/Regional Agreement.
The Board agreed to schedule discussion on the school budget/regional agreement at its first meeting in November.
Sel. Lavigne left the meeting at 9:29AM.
The Board directed Ms. Kelly to set the town’s voluntary education contribution to a maximum of 4%.
Sel. Jumonville asked the Administration to sell any and all town owned parcels/strips of land to abutters. He also said he would like to see the town find a new home for the Recreation Department.
Ms. Kelly said she has been working for quite a while to acquire DCR owned land at the Dawson Recreation property. The DCR is interested in making a land swap with the town in exchange for this land. It would then be possible to move the Recreation Department to space on this land or convert space in the current pool building on site.
The Board was in agreement that it would like to dispose of the current house that houses the Recreation Department.
The Board directed the Administration to seek a solution in order to find new office space for the Recreation Department.
Chairman Renzoni discussed his goal of creating a fund to purchase open space in town. Ms. Kelly will make a presentation about this goal during the budget process.
Chairman Renzoni said it was very important to fund the purchase of two police cruisers. Ms. Kelly said that because the Finance Committee only supported the purchase of one cruiser last year, it might be necessary to purchase three cruisers in FY14. The Board was in agreement to support this request during the budget proce
Sel. Ferguson discussed a town “take-over” of the ECC property for future site use. It is important to clean up this site. The Board agreed to place this item under Goal 5: Real Estate Planning.
The Board set its goal priorities:
- Setting Prop. 2 ½ %cap at 2 ¼%
- Develop a plan for unaccounted for water
- Water/Sewer Rate Structure
- Natural Gas Conversion of Town Owned Buildings
- Real Estate Planning (Disposal of former police station/Recreation Department/Open Space/ECC)
- Education Budget at a Maximum Voluntary Contribution of 4%
- Extension of hours at Gale Free Library
- Funding of EDC
The Board agreed to re-request its request for electronic request for the school budget through MUNIS.
Adjournment
Motion by Sel. Jumonville, seconded by Sel. Lipka, it was UNANIMOUSLY TO ADJOURN THE OCTOBER 13, 2012 MEETING AT 9:51AM.
APPROVED: Approved November 5, 2012
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