The Board of Finance held a regular meeting on Monday, November 14, 2005 in the meeting room at Town Hall South, Three Main Street, Newtown, CT. Chairman John Kortze called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm.
PRESENT: John Kortze, James Gaston, Harrison Waterbury, Michael Portnoy, Joseph Kearney, Peter Giarratano
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal; Finance Director Ben Spragg; Schools Superintendent Dr. Evan Pitkoff; Schools Business Manager Ron Bienkowski; Doug Lajoie (CES), Board of Education Chairman Elaine McClure and members Andrew Buzzi, David Nanavaty, Paul Mangiafico; 5 members of public; one member of press
VOTER PARTICIPATION: Ms. Po Murray, 38 Charter Ridge Road, encouraged the board to make long-term decisions that could save millions of dollars. She does not think that the high school expansion option c is a good option. The cost of a third addition will be enormous as state re-imbursement is decreasing. She gave statistics from other towns spending on schools.
Ms. Elaine McClure, Board of Education Chairman, stated that they have listened to the Board of Finance. They held a special meeting last Wednesday where questions were raised as to whether the high school addition will be enough. They are working hard to explore all possibilities and decide what is best for the town. She hopes the Board of Finance will work with them to come to the right solution.
Mr. Andy Buzzi, Board of Education member, stated that the Hawley HVAC is an important project. They have made presentations to this board and to the Legislative Council. They are available tonight for any more questions. He hopes they can expect a vote tonight. Tonight is the last opportunity for this project.
COMMUNICATIONS: None
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Upon motion by Mr. Gaston, the minutes of the 10/27/05 regular meeting were unanimously approved as presented.
Upon motion by Mr. Portnoy, the minutes of the 11/1/05 special meeting were unanimously approved as presented.
FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT: Mr. Spragg distributed copies of the schedule for the upcoming budget, advising that departments will be submitting their budget requests within the next two weeks. The Board of Finance needs to decide about scheduling their budget deliberation meetings.
FIRST SELECTMAN REPORT: First Selectman Rosenthal reported that the legislature is looking at appointing a review committee to look at the issue of taxation in Connecticut. He recently gave testimony, as President of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, requesting that the state take a serious look at how residents are being taxed and the impact of the tax structure on local municipalities. Connecticut relies heavily on property taxes.
OLD BUSINESS
Capital Improvement Plan
After the last meeting, Finance Director Ben Spragg was asked to have a bonding scenario prepared with the following changes, 1) moving all projects out one year, 2) dropping off the lower priority projects, and 3) scaling back the high school addition to $30 million. Mr. Spragg distributed the chart showing what bonding levels would be with these modifications (attached to original minutes). Mr. Kortze asked if we have exhausted all time available or could the bid price still be extended beyond December 1. Dr. Pitkoff replied that the low bidder gave him a non-committal answer to that question. They cannot guarantee that the vendors who supply the materials can hold their prices after 12/1. Mr. Kortze feels that we should take more time to get these projects right, even if it does cost more
and other measures are necessary in the interim, i.e. portables, different schedules.
Mr. Portnoy showed members the high school option c that is being recommended. He does not agree with the state projections for student populations. He feels we should take more time to see what other options we have, other than an addition on the high school and plan for further in the future.
Mr. Gaston disagreed. Future growth of the town may be changed by the purchasing of open space and will certainly depend on the economy. The recent growth can be attributed to historically low interest rates. This growth rate will not necessarily continue for the next 5-10 years. To talk about a high school for 30 years down the road as opposed to addressing problems on a “step basis” would be possibly spending an astronomical amount of money based on conjecture. He believes this board should go through the Capital Improvement Plan and figure out the town’s financial position and what we can afford for the high school.
Mr. Giarratano reminded that the CIP is a working document. We need to put numbers in and go forward, continuing to plan. We review this every year. As new information is available, the numbers will change.
Mr. Kearny feels that we need to be looking at a “modular” approach to the high school needs. We need to “build to the need” but look forward to possible future expansions.
Resolution – Hawley School HVAC System
Mr. Gaston moved to ADD “possible action” to the agenda. Motion seconded and carried: 5 YES – 1 NO (Portnoy)
Mr. Gaston feels that the Hawley School HVAC project had to be looked at in respect to the Capital Improvement Plan and the proposed high school project. We now have projections showing a working baseline staying below the 10% bonding cap. Mr. Giarratano is still concerned about the cost of this project. He feels we should look at options such as deleting the air conditioning, using money from the Hawley Fund and possibly the operating budget. Mr. Kortze does not feel he can support this project. It is hard to make decisions and evaluate projects when being “up against the gun” on projects. This is going way above the number approved by the town. Mr. Portnoy suggests getting together with the Board of Education,
Board of Selectman and Legislative Council to do some long-term planning. He does not support the bonding resolution.
Mr. Gaston moved that the resolution entitled “Resolution Appropriating $5,400,000 For Renovations To The HVAC System At Hawley Elementary School And Authorizing The Issuance Of $5,400,000 Bonds Of The Town To Meet Said Appropriation And Pending The Issuance Thereof The Making Of Temporary Borrowings For Such Purpose”, a copy of which is attached hereto, is hereby adopted and recommended to the Legislative Council for consideration and action. Motion seconded and upon roll call vote motion failed: 5 NO (Giarratano, Kearney, Kortze, Waterbury, Portnoy) – 1 YES (Gaston)
Mr. Kearney moved a resolution entitled “Resolution Appropriating $4,970,000 For Renovations To The HVAC System At Hawley Elementary School And Authorizing The Issuance Of $4,970,000 Bonds Of The Town To Meet Said Appropriation And Pending The Issuance Thereof The Making Of Temporary Borrowings For Such Purpose”, a copy of which is attached hereto, is hereby adopted and recommended to the Legislative Council for consideration and action. Motion seconded for discussion.
Mr. Kearney advised that he is making this motion to reflect that the amount of bonding for this project be reduced by $440,000 by deducting the hard cost for air conditioning and by $50,000 to be funded by other means, i.e. Hawley Fund, operating budget, energy rebates.
Upon roll call vote the motion carried: 4 YES (Waterbury, Gaston, Kearney, Giarratano) – 2 NO (Kortze, Portnoy)
Capital Improvement Plan
Mr. Gaston moved to add “possible action on CIP” to the agenda. Motion seconded and carried: 5 YES – 1 NO (Portnoy)
After discussion, it was decided not to take action on the Capital Improvement Plan. This will be on a future agenda.
NEW BUSINESS
Report on recent teacher assistant negotiations
Mr. Gaston moved to enter executive session to hear a presentation on the teacher assistant negotiations and to invite Mr. Paul Mangiafico and Mr. David Nanavaty of the Board of Education to attend. Motion seconded and unanimously carried.
Meeting entered executive session at 9:30 pm at which time the clerk left the meeting.
Jan Andras, Clerk
Attachments
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