BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY MARCH 29, 2011
The regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen convened at 6:00 p.m. In attendance were Edward S. Harrison, John F. Goodrich II and Dr. Richard M. Smith. Also present was Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers. Mr. Goodrich made a motion to go into executive session at 6:00 p.m. for a discussion of ongoing litigation. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED. At 7:00 p.m. Mr. Goodrich made a motion to adjourn from executive session to return to open session. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED. The media was now present.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Acceptance of Meeting Minutes:
Mr. Goodrich made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of March 22, 2011 – open and executive sessions. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
Meeting with Finance Committee to Discuss FY 2012 Budget Development Status and Establish Priorities:
Ms. Neggers brought everyone up to date on the status of the budget. Ms. Neggers explained she and Finance Director Deborah Mahar have been tracking various numbers as they develop and noted the numbers are still constantly changing. They are still tracking the Snow and Ice deficit spending numbers as there is a possible snow storm coming this Friday. They are using the Governor’s numbers for State Aid and the legislature is indicating this number may come out even lower. There are two numbers for Pathfinder, a high number and a low number, depending how towns go with their Capital proposals. John Morrell has been working with regional Highway Superintendents on an appeal of an order from FEMA regarding a major snowstorm we had in January and the allocation of funds, in which we could receive a reimbursement of
$40,000 to $50,000 in emergency funds from the Federal government. Ms. Neggers noted the cost of fuel is up, the cost of health insurance is up, and this has been a very difficult challenging winter. Local aid received from the State has been reduced, and we have had declining revenue for the past four years.
Ms. Neggers explained through working with the Finance Committee, the Selectmen and the department heads, over the past three years, the town has essentially been able to maintain the services for the residents in the community. Some services have been downsized and some have been part-time, but they have been maintained and working on some level. Within those years, the town had a break in health insurance one year, last year we had a mild winter, and another year we were in a recession which dropped the cost of fuel oil, which all helped greatly and to our benefit in the towns’ budget. This year all the elements are working against us, making it far more challenging.
James Pennington, Chairman of the Finance Committee, approached the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Pennington noted Monson has declining revenue from excise taxes and property taxes due to the declining population. Mr. Pennington explained the Finance Committee has been trying to look at making cuts that won’t impact services while at the same time trying not to cut personnel. This has gotten more and more difficult every year with declining money from the State and declining money from the Town while salaries and budgets are going up. Mr. Pennington noted they have reached a point where they are going to have to cut services, personnel or go for an override, and ultimately it will be up to the Town’s people to decide. If the town votes the proposed budget down, there will be major problems and it may force an
override. Mr. Pennington stated the town just can’t sustain what we have on the money that’s coming in, as that is just impossible to do. Mr. Pennington added the town has been using free cash every year along with reserve money, however, the town hasn’t used any stabilization money, as this has an impact on bond ratings, etc.
Mr. Pennington explained in coming up with budget cuts, the Finance Committee has focused on making the least amount of impact on personnel and services in their recommendations, which are:
- Pull $4,500 from the Law Account, based on past years and what was left over.
- To level fund the Fire Department.
- If the override for the EMT’s doesn’t pass, to not fund those EMT services.
- The Police Chief has stated he could contribute $10,000 from his 9-1-1 fund.
- The Highway has stated they can use $25,000 from Chapter 90 money to offset salaries.
- To not fund an additional person at the Cemetery if the current employee decides to leave. This will bring the department down to just the Superintendent; saving approximately $30,000; and have other departments assist the Cemetery Dept. if help is needed.
- The Finance Committee has voted “no” to the School Transportation’s request for the purchase of three new buses, saving approximately $90,000. Mr. Pennington noted the buses each have a significant amount of mileage on them, however the Finance Committee couldn’t fund the purchase this year. Instead, they have added a maintenance line item this year to try to keep the current fleet going for now. This figure has not yet been determined.
The shortfall is $155,000. The proposed budget with cuts totals $149,500.
Dr. Smith asked Mr. Pennington what would happen if the person from the Cemetery decides not to go for another position once he completes his training. Mr. Pennington responded the town still would have to come up with that $30,000 cut from somewhere.
Mr. Goodrich asked if the Finance Committee looked at any of the individual budgets submitted by departments, or if they just swept through trying to identify possible fund locations. Mr. Pennington explained they have trimmed every department pretty much as low as they can go in the past. When you have contractual raises for employees, you are boosting that budget up; the question is where’s the money going to come from? Mr. Pennington said the Finance Committee feels the aforementioned proposal has the least impact on services and personnel.
Mr. Goodrich asked about the age of the school busses to be replaced. School Superintendent Patrice Dardenne, who was in the audience, replied five of the busses are 2000 models, eight are 2005 models, there is a 1999 model and a 2010 model. It was noted the average recommended lifespan of a school bus is five to seven years.
Mr. Goodrich asked Mr. Pennington if the Finance Committee looked at the Parks and Recreation budget, Senior Center budget or the Library budget. Mr. Pennington responded they did look at those budgets, but didn’t want to impact services or personnel. He felt going after the elderly was a bad decision as many are on fixed incomes and rely on the meals, transportation and programs the Senior Center provides. Mr. Pennington also noted most of the elderly have paid taxes for many, many years. The Library, Mr. Pennington said, has been trimmed back so much over the past years they have to seek a waiver from the State in order to be certified every year. They talked about Parks and Recreation and felt this needs to be worked out between the Selectmen and the Commissions, in trying to get the Cemetery, Parks and
Recreation and the Highway Departments to work together. Mr. Pennington said the Finance Committee has to look at what has the least impact on services and personnel, not at combining departments.
Mr. Goodrich noted the Parks and Recreation Department has the ability to generate a certain amount of revenue, making them somewhat self-sustaining. Mr. Pennington stated he was told the Parks and Recreation Department generates $90,000 per year.
Mr. Harrison said when he looks at the list of proposed cuts it’s all what he would call public safety and he finds that disturbing, even having children riding on busses that are eleven and twelve years old for another two or three years is a public safety issue. Mr. Harrison said he feels public safety should be the highest priority when prioritizing.
Finance Committee member William Dominguez was in the audience and stated, the Finance Committee can’t recommend eliminating departments; they can only make recommendations on line items within the budgets.
Dr. Smith said he has a problem with the fact the town has so many part-time departments, yet we have a full-time Parks and Recreation Department, and he considers this less essential to the well being of the town.
Mr. Pennington noted the Parks and Recreation Department provides a big service, not only to the town, but to the schools in maintaining the fields and mowing the grass.
Mr. Dominguez said by eliminating the Cemetery employee they felt they would save money by not having to lay someone off from the Parks and Recreation Department and paying unemployment, especially if the Cemetery employee were to move to another department instead. Mr. Dominguez added the Finance Committee felt between the three departments, Highway, Cemetery and Parks and Recreation; they could share the services and find a way to get it done by forcing them to work together.
Highway Surveyor John Morrell, who was in the audience, said he used to have eleven people and now he is down to five. Mr. Morrell said he does currently have a vacancy in his department after having lost an employee a few months ago. Mr. Morrell said if he does get the man from the Cemetery, he can’t give him back to the Cemetery to assist, as he will need him. He maintains 106 miles of roads which are falling apart. He is busy all four seasons and in the summer half of his men are on vacation. This position has to be posted and union members have the first option to apply.
Mr. Goodrich told Mr. Morrell he understands it would be nothing more than a shell game if he fills his vacancy with a man from another department and it was expected that person would be working in another department, and this isn’t what his expectation is. However, this doesn’t have anything to do with the mutual aid with other departments, when it’s appropriate and it’s available.
Cemetery Superintendent Paul Lovell was in the audience and stated he has 40 acres of cemetery land to mow and questioned the safety and liability of working with machinery alone. He also said he needs a second person up there as someone needs to know how to locate graves as a back up if he wasn’t there for some reason. Mr. Lovell stated every burial is always a different situation and it takes someone who won’t forget how the locating is done.
Mr. Goodrich said he feels the majority of concern in this particular discussion right now is being focused on the mowing. He felt the long term solution is finding a way to move forward with a more manageable structure that is within one budget that would accomplish a lot of seasonal labor issues.
Mr. Pennington said right now there are two directors who are mowing lawns when you could hire someone from the outside at a cheaper rate to mow the lawns.
Cemetery Commission member James Metzger noted Mr. Lovell also works on the truck, mowers, weed whackers, etc. himself saving $75 to $100 an hour in labor costs.
Mr. Pennington reiterated the question where is the money going to come from, and added a decision has to be made about the mowing and helping these people out. Mr. Pennington also reiterated cuts are going to have to be made somewhere, something has to be eliminated and not everyone is going to like it.
Mr. Harrison reiterated he is uncomfortable cutting things that are mostly in the safety areas versus cutting from the discretional areas.
School Committee member Ed Maia noted the School Department pays Parks and Recreation $23,000 for cutting the grass at the schools.
It was asked if there was anyone in the audience representing the Parks and Recreation Department who could answer if it had ever been considered to hire out the mowing of the fields. There weren’t any representatives, however Cemetery Commission member James Duggan was in the audience and stated when he was the Director of Parks and Recreation it was looked into. At that time the entire budget for the whole department was $54,000. The lowest bid they received was for $54,000 just to maintain the properties. This did not include setting up the athletic fields, which would have been an extra charge.
Mr. Goodrich wondered in regards to the mowing, if the town could do sponsorships with local landscapers in town on the highly visible locations such as the memorials, and in return they would be allowed to place a nice sign stating this is proudly maintained by. It was noted from someone in the audience this is done in the City of Springfield.
Library Director Katie Krol was in the audience and said the Library has mandates from the state, just like the educational department. Ms. Krol noted if the Library is unduly cut proportionately to other departments in the town, they will lose their state funding and their certification. If they lose certification, they will have to close and no Monson resident will be allowed to use any public library in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Ms. Krol added it takes years to recover from a closure like that and noted the Town of Hampden just went through this. The library has been level funded at a rate that is lower than what is mandated by the state and they have had to apply for waivers. The state mandates the library, for our population, to be open no less than 25 hours a week, otherwise they lose certification. The
Monson library is currently open 28 hours a week. Salaries have been cut over the past two and a half years to a 16.3% reduction and there has been a 46% reduction in open hours. Ms. Krol said a 10% reduction in the total Library budget would be hard but doable. The Library budget is $218,725.
Senior Center Director Lori Stacy said one of the areas she hears spoken about often for reducing by a couple of days a week, is the nutrition program. Ms. Stacy noted the nutrition program at the Senior Center is not funded by the town; it is funded by grants and donations. Therefore this wouldn’t help the town any and she would lose her grant money. Another area often talked about cutting is the transportation. Ms. Stacy explained the town does fund part of the van driver, but this is also funded by grants and donations. Ms. Stacy said her budget is down to $133,000. They have had to take off $16,000 to $17,000 in utilities this past year. They have had to use gift money to pay the difference in heating, from what was budgeted and what was spent. They rely on donations for postage. Over the last five years the
number of people requiring services from the Health and Human Resources and Outreach people has gone from 900 to over 2,000. Due to cuts in services at the Senior Center, they have had to stop assisting people age 60 and under with fuel assistance, etc.
Ms. Stacy said she has seen an increase in the population at the Senior Center, either because they just moved into town, are now in need help with food stamps, or they are preparing to retire and need help in figuring things out.
Town Clerk Nancy Morrell was in the audience and stated she just received the new Federal census for 2010 which stated Monson had an increase of 300 to 400 people over the past ten years.
Mr. Pennington reiterated there isn’t enough revenue to cover the expenses and the town has to come up with the money, and added if this were a business, it would fold.
Mr. Dardenne said the school is a mandate with legal expectations. The school cannot generate revenue. The school has lost full-time employees and the class sizes are approaching 30 students.
Mr. Goodrich noted one of the biggest budgets in town is the School budget. The proposal put forth by the School Department is the net school spending number, which is the lowest number allowable by state law, and the transportation number is a .6% increase from last year.
Dr. Smith said if the town population is going down and felt when people consider moving into town; one of the things they look at is the school system.
Mr. Harrison said you have to sell an override, and explained the Community Preservation Committee was asking homeowners for just $35 per year added to property taxes, and the town had a hard time selling it.
Mr. Pennington reiterated we are putting children on buses that aren’t safe, we are going to put a Cemetery worker out in the cemetery alone to mow where something could happen and he might not be discovered for hours, etc.
Finance Director Deborah Mahar was in the audience and said good points have been brought up in what the towns’ budget is looking like, and added there is a possibility for change. Ms. Mahar felt there were good ideas from the Library and the Council on Aging regarding their budgets, and felt this was a healthy discussion.
Mr. Goodrich noted in outlining the possible funding, not once did he hear a department would be closing because they aren’t performing or doing their job well. Everyone is performing their duties to the best of their abilities.
It was suggested by someone in the audience to do one override covering everything and to explain to the town’s people about the school busses and burying the dead, etc. and by lumping it all together maybe it would have a better chance of passing.
Ms. Neggers noted the budgets are very lean, and its important people come out to the polls to vote. Efforts are being made in a very methodical method in the budget process as we want Monson to be a nice place to live, educate the children, and be safe in our homes. Ms. Neggers added the challenge is we have done this for three years now and managed to maintain the services, and we may not be able to do this any longer. Ms. Neggers noted there is a $700,000 structural deficit that’s very serious and we need to look at the long term.
Ms. Morrell reminded the listening audience the elections will be held Monday, April 4th from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Mr. Harrison reminded the listening audience the Town Meeting will be held on May 9th.
Mr. Goodrich thanked everyone for coming out tonight on their own time, the Council on Aging, Finance Director, Finance Committee, Cemetery Superintendent and Cemetery Commissioners, Police Chief, Town Clerk, Library, Highway, School Department and School Committee.
Consider any Requested Articles and Annual Town Meeting Warrants:
Ms. Neggers explained there are two pending bylaws. One is the acceptance of the Stretch Energy Code, and noted this will require a public hearing. Ms. Neggers said this will be maintained in the Town Clerks office while the warrants are open for anyone wanting to look at it.
Mr. Goodrich made a motion to hold a public hearing on the Stretch Code bylaw on April 12, 2011. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Neggers said there are two Right-to-Farm bylaws. The Agricultural Committee will be voting this Thursday at their meeting on the acceptance of the Right-to-Farm bylaw they have drafted, and a resident submitted a petitioned article, a state template for the Right-to-Farm bylaw, but it doesn’t have the modifications. The two bylaws have about a nine word difference between them Ms. Neggers explained, and they are hoping to have a single bylaw to present at Town meeting.
It was agreed to have Ms. Neggers post the public hearing for April 12th on the Agricultural Commission’s Right-to-Farm bylaw. It was noted this is a republishing of all the state laws and agreeing we will be committed to be supportive of it. This is posted on the town’s web site under “What is a Right-to-Farm Bylaw”.
Ms. Neggers explained the two articles submitted by the Highway Department for the Special Town meeting. One is to transfer the sum of $7,000 from the salary and wages account to the road machinery account; and the second is to transfer the sum of $3,000 from the salary and wages account to the General Highways and Bridges Account. These are extra funds he has in has account due to the vacant position.
Mr. Goodrich made a motion to place the two articles submitted by the Highway Department as read on the Special Town meeting warrant. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
Ms. Neggers said she has been in contact with Mass DOT on the bridge replacement for Hospital Road. The bridge has been closed for eight or nine years and Mass DOT is in the process of redesigning the design for the bridge to meet the federal guidelines. They are requesting an article authorizing the town and the Selectmen to do any necessary eminent domain or right-of-way easements. The only abutter to the bridge is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Mr. Goodrich made a motion to place this article on the warrant. Dr. Smith seconded and it was so VOTED.
Appoint PT Emergency Dispatcher and Auxiliary Police Officer:
Police Chief Stephen Kozloski stated Mr. Carroll has completed the in-house training program.
Mr. Goodrich made a motion to appoint Matthew Carroll as an Auxiliary Police Officer effective immediately through June 30, 2011. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Police Chief Stephen Kozloski stated Ms. Treat has also completed her in-house training program and is now ready to begin unsupervised work as a part-time dispatcher.
Mr. Goodrich made a motion to appoint Rebecca Treat as a part-time Emergency Dispatcher effective immediately through June 30, 2011. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
In Other Business to Come Before the Board of Selectmen:
- Ms. Neggers explained an emergency situation in the Town Office Building has closed the restrooms on the south side of the building. The sewer connection on the south side of the building had caused a back-up last week. Water/Sewer Superintendent Craig Jalbert looked at it and found the pipe to be an old clay pipe that had broken, with pieces blocking the pipe. They are trying to work on a solution and identify costs. There is a concern with the public restrooms in the lobby being open 24 hours a day, subjecting them to extreme abuse from people coming in to use them. Ms. Neggers noted the custodian currently spends three to four hours a day cleaning these two restrooms.
Mr. Goodrich said if at 4:00 p.m. the building is closed to the public, the facilities
should be closed as well.
Mr. Goodrich made a motion to authorize the closing of the facilities whenever
the Office Building is closed. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously
VOTED.
- Ms. Neggers stated this will be Mr. Harrison’s last Selectmen’s meeting as the elections will be held on Monday and Mr. Harrison isn’t running for re-election. Ms. Neggers said she has enjoyed working with him for the many years he has served and noted Mr. Harrison has done so many good things for the community, serving with his heart more than anything and everyone is going to miss him.
Mr. Harrison said he has loved serving the Town of Monson and he isn’t going away, he will still be around town and serving on a few committees; he just needed time for a few personal things and family.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 8:50 p.m. Mr. Goodrich made a motion to adjourn from open session to return to executive session for the purpose of M.G.L. c. 30A, Sec. 21, #2 non-union personnel contractual strategy and negotiations, not to return to open session. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
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Dr. Richard M. Smith, Clerk
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