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Town Of Sutton Board of Selectmen |
Meeting Minutes
Minutes Accepted and filed with the Town Clerk on 3/20/2018 by a vote of 4-0
7:00p.m. – March 6, 2018
Sutton Town Hall, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
Members in Attendance:
Chairman Jesse Limanek, Vice Chair John L. Hebert, Clerk David Hall and Selectman Michael Kenney
Town Administrator James Smith & Deb Jacques, secretary
Chairman Limanek calls the meeting to order at 7:00pm followed by the Pledge of Allegiance
Public Forum: N/A
Selectman Hall motions to accept as presented the February 20, 2018 meeting minutes, Vice Chair Hebert seconds passes 4-0
Selectman Hall motions to accept Executive Session Minutes from February 20, 2018, Selectman Kenney seconds passes 4-0
Melanson & Heath FY17 Audit presentation: present from M&H is Scott McIntyre and Town Accountant Tim Harrison. Scott begins by saying the FY17 audit went very well, the books and records were in good working order and this audit was done in accordance with Govt. Auditing Standards. Scott goes on to say this will be a quick overview of the basic financial statements as well as a management letter which discusses recommendations by the Auditing Firm. Highlighted was the Net OPEB obligation and the Net pension liability. These are both long term unfunded liabilities. Scott went on to the General fund balances which includes the Stabilization fund, these showed nice stability and were unchanged from the prior year. Under the Fiduciary Funds the OPEB trust fund showed a total amount of $821,117. This balance will
help to mitigate the liability which come June 30th, 2018 we will need to show the full value of our OPEB liability on our Audits. There were two recommendations in the Management letter. The first was to improve segregation of duties for the Assistant Accountant, this position collects payments, reconciles receipts, prepares sewer bills and reconciles sewer and tax receivables. The second recommendation was to ensure compliance with uniform guidance requirements which included four bullet items. Vice Chair Hebert thanks Scott for coming before us tonight and always being very professional. The Town adheres to all recommendations as these are steps to reduce financial burdens. Sutton remains solid and is a cut above the rest. With OPEB we will never be on a positive side but we take it very serious. Selectman Hall says this is a dense read and he focused on the most important areas. The funding policy for OPEB is being worked on and the pension liability plan
exists at state level. The bottom line is we are being told we are financially in good shape. The management letter is thinner than normal which is good, the areas being mentioned are minor issues. Selectman Kenney thanks Scott for the presentation, Mike goes on to say it is nice to have another set of eyes and asks in comparison to us last year (us to ourselves) how did we rate. Scott replied same grade as last year. Chairman Limanek says he is very happy with the audit, no major red flags and all numbers are in line. These presentations are to show transparency and accountability and assures the community we are successful. We do have to continue to raise awareness of OPEB.
Home Rule petition – Military Tax abatement: this was brought up at the annual goals meeting this past summer by Chairman Limanek. This is to offer a property tax abatement to those serving in the military and are deployed overseas. This is to cover only the time they are overseas. Chairman Limanek sat with the Assessor’s office (Knick Nunnemacher and Joyce Sardagnola are present tonight) to discuss. TA Smith says Town Council has approved to form the wording on the proposed Warrant Article. The town of New Braintree offers this. Knick said we do not know the impact this would have until we begin offering the abatement but it would be up to the homeowner to submit all necessary paper work to qualify. The cost to the town would be minimal and the amount would vary depending on the value of each person’s
property. The abatements will be paid out of the overlay fund, it is a gift from the Town of Sutton tax payers. Vice Chair Hebert feels this is imperative but the burden to file all necessary paper work is on the individual. The Assessor’s office cannot take on the role to find all the needed documentation. Selectman Hall says thankyou to all that worked on this, it is hard to know the impact but this is a great idea. Selectman Kenney says fantastic idea, this is the least we can do, and this is a small price we as a town can pay. Chairman Limanek says this is for individuals that lay down their life for the wellbeing of us on our home front. Any little gift is justifiable. Joyce Sardagnola states this will be a gift, it will not be refunded by the DOR. Pat Morris (resident as well as a Fincom member is present). Pat states he serves as a Veterans officer in Hopedale and he applauds what the town is proposing. Pat has polled the few communities that offer this and says
it is very minimal, pennies on the dollar. Vice Chair Hebert motions to approve the proposed Military Tax Abatement to be placed on the May Town Meeting warrant Selectman Kenney seconds passes 4-0
TA Update:
- School Safety meeting: held on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018 at the school. There were 160 people that attended. Superintendent Friend, Chief Towle, Sgt. Sullivan all did a great job.
- Primetals Technologies: TA Smith received a call from Kevin O’Steen (treasurer for Primetals) saying the company would not make the March EACC Meeting, they are looking to present to the ACC in June.
- Plastics recycling at the Transfer station- Dave Arsenault is working to eliminate plastic bags in the plastics container. Plastic bags should be thrown in the trash. If we do not comply with eliminating the plastic bags, Blackstone recycling center will refuse to take our containers.
- Grant of Easement: NGrid has requested the BOS sign an easement for town owned property (Police Station project) to allow poles be erected for the new station.
Announcements/Round Table:
- Selectman Hall says Jen Hager has held two presentations regarding recreational marijuana. She held it in a very professional manner she did an excellent job.
- Selectman Kenney says Sutton has a half day of school tomorrow due to impending storm. Mike also offers congratulations to the boys and girls basketball teams as well as the hockey team. All advancing to the next phase of the playoffs.
- Chairman Limanek also offers his compliments to Jen Hager on the meetings she held. She had a very respectful tone. Congratulations to SEFT for the recent fund raiser held at Pleasant Valley.
Sutton Fire Dept. is holding a boot fund raiser at Market 32 noon - 4–the next 2 Saturdays.
Michelle Saucier is holding a March for Meals fund raiser, included is a chance to get a meal prepared by Diane Handley
List of Food Pantry items needed is read.
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