MONSON BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2004
The regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen convened at 7:00 p.m. in the Conference Room at 110 Main Street. In attendance were James R. Manning, Kathleen C. Norbut and Richard E. Guertin. Also present were the Town Administrator and the media. Town Counsel was not present.
Mr. Guertin made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of December 14, 2004 – open and executive sessions. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Recently Mr. Guertin wrote a letter to the Board of Selectmen regarding the creation of the Long Range Financial Planning Committee, explaining the need for the creation of this committee and the type of action steps this committee might take. Mr. Guertin read this letter, as attached, into the record. Mr. Guertin stated these are only observations at this time. The biggest challenge will be where is the money is going to come from. If approved, the committee would identify all the needs and place them in a prioritized data base and then look for sources to pre-fund these items, so when the need arises, the funds would be in place.
Mr. Manning agreed there is a need to look at this, as there are things that need to be done. Ms. Neggers added the town has been deferring a lot during the economic downturn. The $100,000.00 a year capital appropriation has been lost, and Ms. Neggers said however meager, it did go a long way to help. Ms. Neggers explained the financial components met with Mr. Guertin and reviewed this, having a very honest and frank discussion about it. Some of the comments that were made pertained to the revenue problem as well as the availability and time commitments for a project of this magnitude. Ms. Neggers added that Mr. Guertin is aware of all this based on his description of it as a long-term process. It is a process that is going to remain dynamic, constantly changing and re-acting to circumstances.
Mr. Manning said it would be helpful if he could look at a list prioritizing items along with identifying the problems and the needs of departments, and to know what some of the recurring problems where. Mr. Manning agreed the hard part would be with the funding.
Ms. Norbut added Monson has been very fiscally conservative due to Ms. Neggers, the financial components and the department heads working very closely together. Monson is not in a fiscal debt situation; however if capital needs are not addressed she feels it would cost the town more in the long run. Ms. Norbut agreed that prioritizing would be very helpful.
Ms. Neggers said she hasn’t had the chance to speak with anyone from the Finance Committee yet, but they have been quite concerned about the needs out-pacing the available revenue, as growth impacts the services provided. If this committee is approved, Mr. Guertin said he would send this to each Finance Committee member seeking his or her input. Mr. Guertin added he would proceed slowly and be sensitive to peoples needs and feels this must be a team effort.
John Morrell, who was in the audience, said it is important to have someone with knowledge of equipment on the committee as well, as the needs aren’t necessarily always the same. Mr. Morrell added it isn’t just a truck, it’s how it is used and how often. Mr. Morrell took the opportunity to explain he has seven wooden 10 X 12 overhead garage doors that are forty years old. When these doors are wet they weigh several hundred pounds more and it is hard to get them open. The other day, Mr. Morrell said he tried to open one of these doors four times to let a truck back in and had to hold the door open with a rake. In the process Mr. Morrell hurt his back. Mr. Morrell feels this isn’t just a safety issue as heat is being lost also. To correct this problem, it would cost $17,000.00. New overhead
garage doors have been on the capital list for several years.
Ms. Norbut made a motion to approve the creation of the Long-Range Financial Planning Committee following the guidelines submitted by Mr. Guertin this evening and chaired by Mr. Guertin. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Neggers explained, several years ago, salary grid and classification plans were created with the help of a Consulting Group for management and AFSME union employees. As part of that plan, they created a salary grid with steps and classifications and placed each department head within them. The union contracts remain outstanding at this time, and therefore do not have a negotiated salary increase as yet for next year. In the past, raises have been riding on what the union has negotiated. Ms. Neggers feels personally the town is at a point where the town needs to separate between union negotiated increases and management increases, as it is hard to negotiate an increase they are going to get, becoming almost contradictory in the process. Ms. Neggers explained the spreadsheet prepared by Debi Mahar, which the Board of
Selectmen also had, which showed the majority of department heads are entitled to step increases next year. The spreadsheet also showed a 1% increase on top of the step increases. To honor just the steps is a $10,000.00 increase. A 1% increase for all the department heads would cost an additional $6,859.00. To inflate the salary grid to apply a cost of living increase of 3% would total $20,577.00 in addition to the $10,000.00. The steps represent a 2.2% increase in between steps. Ms. Neggers said there is a structural deficit where the town is relying on free cash or reserves to the tune of about $400,000.00 or actually $500,000.00, and therefore is concerned with moving forward. The Hampden County Pension costs have increased by $118,000.00 for fiscal 2006. This is a 22% increase. Ms. Norbut added the Margaret Street landfill site was also bad news for the pending budget. Health Insurance is over $1.1 million a year for town employees. Also, mandatory increases in Net School
Spending and where we land in the Ice and Snow deficit will have an effect as well. Ms. Neggers said she feels uncomfortable with inflating the salary grid if in fact it is going to cause the town to fall further behind in the reduction of services.
Ms. Norbut said she would tend to lean toward yes to the steps and yes to the 1%, but also knows she doesn’t have all the information needed to make this decision and therefore isn’t comfortable at this point in making a decision. Mr. Guertin agreed with Ms. Norbut about giving this some thought prior to making a decision. Mr. Guertin said he would advise the department heads when preparing their budgets, to add the steps while the Board of Selectmen evaluate the other portion. This was deferred until the first Board of Selectmen’s meeting in February.
Ms. Neggers said Program Income through the Community Development Block Grant was identified as the source of funding to pay for the removal of the barrels from South Main Street School. The use of that funding required obtaining the necessary procurement quotes. The low quote received was from Oil Recovery Corporation for $31,975.42. Jim Gray, from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, has worked with this firm in the past. Mr. Guertin made a motion to award the removal of the barrels at South Main Street School to Oil Recovery Corporation of West Springfield for the amount of $31,975.42. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
Correspondence was read and completed.
Ms. Norbut said this is the last meeting of 2004 and added it has been quite a year. Town wide, there have been some loses and hard times as well as successes. Ms. Norbut went on to say, most of us have a lot to be grateful for and she wishes everyone a very happy and safe New Year. Mr. Manning and Mr. Guertin also wished everyone a happy New Year and Happy Holidays.
At 8:05 p.m. Mr. Guertin made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing contractual items, collective bargaining items and potential litigation, not to return to open session. Ms. Norbut seconded and it was so VOTED.
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Richard E. Guertin, Clerk
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