Town of Newbury
Finance Committee Meeting
Tuesday November 15, 2011 7:00 am, Town Hall
Meeting Summary
Committee (alphabetical): Gene Case (Vice Chair), Bob Connors, Larry Guay, Erica Jacobsen,
Frank Remley (Chair), Anna Tenaglia
Ex-Officio: Tracy Blais, Town Administrator/Finance Director
1. Oct. 18 Meeting Summary: Unanimously approved with one minor correction.
2. Oct YTD Revenue and Expense Summaries (Town Administrator):
• Oct YTD Revenues: Tracking well vs. FY 11 at almost $800,000 ahead of
prior year. There were no immediate concerns.
• Oct YTD Expenditures: the Town operating budget is 31.88% expended
through October vs. benchmark of 33.42%. No department is currently over
budget through the first third of the year. As a result there were no immediate
concerns.
3. Reserve Fund update (Town Administrator): There were no new requests for
Reserve Fund transfers, thus the fund remains at a balance of $90,000.
4. Report from Chief Pearson on financial status of Fire Company No. 2: Chief
Pearson did not attend. Three members of Fire Company No. 2 attended but were not
prepared for a financial status report, and also stated that there were no real issues to
their knowledge at this time. It was stressed again that, as a critical public safety
service, the FinCom needed to know the financial condition of the Fire Department
including both fire companies and that this information should be provided and
transparent. Therefore it was proposed that Chief Pearson once again be invited to
the December 20 meeting.
5. TRSD Regional Agreement: The Chairperson of the TRSC has requested feedback
from the towns regarding proposed changes to the Triton Regional School
Agreement by early December for summarization at its December 14 meeting. It was
concluded that this should entail conferral between members of the Finance
Committee and BOS, and possibly also the Newbury members of the TRSC. It was
concluded that it would likely not be possible to report the TRSC by Dec 14. Also, a
representative to the 12/14 TRSC meeting should be identified. It was not clear that
this was an urgent issue (except for possible impact on the funding formulas for FY
13). Frank Remley would advise Dina of a delay. Issues mentioned briefly to be
considered were:
• Adoption of the DOE enrollment procedures for TRSD
• Return to a 3 to 5 year rolling average vs. current sole reliance on Oct
1 enrollment
• Clarification of the capital financing and operational funding of
elementary school costs.
• Hosting costs for Newbury public services to Middle and High School
campus
• Funding of up to two school resource or safety officers (one male and
one female)
• Issue of uneven distribution of choice in students at elementary
schools
The Town Administrator will make a request to the selectmen on how they want to proceed
as well as to ask for their input by the Nov. 29 BOS meeting.
6. Other:
a. Town Barn progress: Work is 98% complete and should be finalized by end
of November. The Barn is now in full operation and repairs should be “more
than temporary safety improvements.”
b. Surplus Land Sale update: Except for the 5.4 acre parcel on PI, all five
properties are under agreement. The large PI property is still being contested
by local residents and may entail a legal challenge.
c. Capital Planning Committee (CPC) update: Bob Connors reported on the
substantial progress of the CPC. He presented the current 28 page draft plan
which is based on a widely accepted format for cities and towns in the
Commonwealth. The Committee agreed that this was an excellent start and
addressed the right issues. Bob advanced an CPC proposal to identify an
“Associate Director of Facilities”, which would be a part time position to
oversee the condition of capital assets, periodically report on needs and
issues, oversee needed maintenance and repairs, replacements and/or
upgrade; and ensure compliance with state and local procurement,
occupational, safety and construction codes. Cost of this position was
estimated at up to $15,000 per year. There was some discussion of possible
strategies to address this need with no conclusion. Bob advised that the
preliminary job description should be reviewed by the Personnel Board. All
agreed.
7. Next Meeting: Tuesday December 20, 7:00 pm, Byfield Fire Hall
| 
