MINUTES
BOARD OF FINANCE
JULY 15, 2003
A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Finance was held on Tuesday, July 15, 2003, in the Council Chambers.
In attendance was Mayor Owen J. Quinn, Jr., members of the Board of Finance Theodore Miasek, Diane Libby, Roger Dickinson, and Bruce Cornish, Comptroller Alice Proulx, Business Services Administrator Hugh Murphy, and Board of Education member Laurene Pesce.
Mayor Quinn called the meeting to order at 4:06 p.m.
MINUTES #020
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the public hearing on the school budget held May 6, 2003.
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Miasek, the board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the public hearing on the city budget held May 8, 2003.
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the joint meeting with the City Council held May 19, 2003.
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the regular meeting held May 20, 2003.
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Miasek, the board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the joint meeting with the City Council held May 20, 2003.
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the special meeting held May 27, 2003.
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the special joint meeting with the Council held May 28, 2003.
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the special meeting to adopt the budget held on May 28, 2003.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #110
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public.
SCULLY & WOLF #120
Dominic Barone from Scully & Wolf gave a brief presentation on the update of the financial system for the City of Torrington.
The accounts payable, general ledger, and purchasing modules went live during the first week of July. The Chart of Accounts has been completed and the training was done prior to installing the system and some data conversion and input was completed. The new system will be relied upon for the new fiscal year and any issues that may arise will be addressed. The Chart of Accounts was restructured for the Board of Education and is presently in the system. The general structure of the Chart of Accounts is the same between the city and the Board of Education, however, the city has not been converted because of audit purposes.
Mr. Miasek inquired whether parallel systems were used.
Mr. Barone indicated that they had not run parallel systems for Accounts Payable, General Ledger or Purchasing because it had been up and running for several years. Multiple parallels would be utilized, however, on payroll because of calculation issues. He explained that last year’s payroll for the Board of Education is on the old system and the current year is on New World.
Mr. Barone indicated that the Board of Education’s administration building, the high school, and Southeast School are connected to City Hall and the remaining sites are in the process of being connected.
In regard to processing, the budgets have been input, the requisitions and P.O’s are being input and sent out, and the Board of Education has done a small check run using city checks. They are expected to begin custom reports as soon as the report writing tools are received. They will journal payroll postings for the next six months in order to have a cleaner cut off and avoid having to issue two W-2 Forms to employees.
Mr. Barone indicated that they would continue with the Human Resource module and Payroll, which was the most challenging. The budget development would be worked on during January to April and the ED001 Reporting in May - July.
Mr. Miasek inquired how the departure of Hugh Murphy would affect the ongoing operations.
Mrs. Pesce indicated that interviews had already been set for July 30 and 31 to find a replacement. Mr. Murphy had supplied the board with an entire list of projects.
Mrs. Libby inquired as to how issues were being addressed.
Ms. Proulx stated that she, Bill Hoffman and Mr. Barone have addressed issues as they have arisen. Most of the issues have been resolved in-house, however, New World has been very responsive on certain issues.
TRANSFER FUNDS: BOARD OF EDUCATION #500
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mrs. Libby, the board voted unanimously to transfer $219,000.00 from the Board of Education’s 2002 - 2003 Capital Budget to the Operational Budget.
P & G PEPPER #520
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted unanimously to accept the Council’s request for the payment of $28,481.18 from the Sanitary Sewer Capital Improvement Fund #490 to P & G Pepper Construction Services, Inc., for the Greenridge Road Sanitary and Storm Sewer Installation.
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SCOTTSDALE INSURANCE #530
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mrs. Libby, the board voted unanimously to accept the Council’s request for the payment of $972.30 from Contingency to Scottsdale Insurance Company for the deductible in the Carpenter matter.
MURDOCK CLAIM MANAGEMENT CO. #540
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mrs. Libby, the board voted unanimously to accept the Council’s request for the payment of $748.00 from Contingency to Murdock Claim Management Co. F/B/O The Hanover Insurance Company for the deductible in the Zavatkay matter.
MURDOCK CLAIM MANAGEMENT CO. #550
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mr. Cornish, the board voted unanimously to accept the Council’s request for the payment of $12,488.76 from Contingency to Murdock Claim Management Co. F/B/O The Hanover Insurance Company for the deductible in the Hepburn matter.
TRUMBULL CONSTRUCTION #570
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mr. Miasek, the board voted, with the exception of Mr. Cornish who abstained, to accept the Council’s request for the payment of $15,414.52 from Sanitary Sewer Capital Improvement Fund #490 to Trumbull Construction for sanitary sewer improvements to Oakbrook Lane/West Horace Street and Perkins Street.
TRANSFER FUNDS: SOCIAL SERVICES #600
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mr. Cornish, the board voted unanimously to accept the Council’s request to transfer $1,637.00 from various line items in the Social Services 2002-2003 Budget to the Eviction Account to cover the overdraft.
BUDGET PROCESS #610
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted unanimously to discuss the budget process.
Mayor Quinn said “The budget process is going extremely well. For the record I think the progress that Roger Dickinson has made with his Kaizan effort and critical thinking and working with the Fire Department, and the enthusiasm by this member of the Board of Finance and the Chief and Deputy Chief is encouraging to me as the Mayor, and I wholeheartedly support efforts to make the Fire Department as efficient as it can be, and taking it apart piece by piece and reassembling it. It’s kudos to all who are doing their best, good job done by all.”
BUS: MAYOR & MEMBERS #670
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mr. Cornish, the board voted unanimously to consider business presented by Mayor Quinn and members of the Board of Finance.
Mr. Miasek inquired whether they would proceed to discuss the need, and how to go about filling the position of Finance Director.
Mayor Quinn said “We will have conversations and we’ll come back with something at the next meeting for you. I’ll be contacting you individually and collectively. I haven’t put it on my agenda, but it certainly is a useful reminder that it needs to be there.”
Mr. Dickinson indicated that the 4 X 4 Plan developed by this board basically had a list of functions for a Director of Finance which would be a good start for a job description.
Mayor Quinn asked Mr. Dickinson to forward the information to the Personnel Director.
Mr. Miasek indicated that he had received a number of job descriptions for a Finance Director from CCM and he would forward copies to Mayor Quinn.
Mr. Miasek inquired about the truck rotation schedule for the Torringford Volunteer Fire Department. He said “I got a letter from the Fire Department asking for a donation, and then all the things that have been in the paper relative to how they are going to pay for this. They want to mortgage their building again, and all that type of thing. With the Haz Mat truck being on the agenda as a purchase vehicle, it’s my recollection of a meeting that we had early on three years ago when I first came on the board, that we had a program to fund and to purchase replacement vehicles that could be rotated to the various volunteer fire departments. As far as I know, that hasn’t taken place at all, nothing has been rotated. As a matter of fact, that first year we bought two new
vehicles because of a large sum that we got from the state that we were able to purchase two in one year. I’m not sure what happened to the vehicles that they replaced, or if they did, in fact, get rid of them or if they were still in use, however the program is not working as I remember it to work. Now they want to buy a Haz Mat truck and I don’t know that there’s a real need or a justification for it. Some of the statistics from the state that I’ve read, the calls in the areas of the companies and businesses in town who have and don’t have hazardous materials, don’t add up to what the Fire Department has presented to the Board of Safety. I’m concerned about that type of justification to be used to purchase a vehicle, and I don’t know where we’re going to go on this thing. At the time I was for it and I’m still for this rotation, but I’m reluctant to appropriate any kind of funds for
haz mat materials based upon the presentation that they made to the Board of Safety. I know what your feelings are, because this has been going on . . . (sentence unfinished). . . I know you (Mayor) haven’t made up your mind yet, however, it’s been a football, and it’s something that’s gnawing at me.”
Mayor Quinn stated he is not in a position to respond but has started to research and review minutes, and is going over it piece by piece. He is putting together a report that will end the political football, as Mr. Miasek refers to it, because it involves him and it also coincides with what Roger is looking at. He stated he has had discussions about capitol budgets and regular operating expenses, and how to justify them. He thought the information that he would want to see is: If you’re going to put a capital outlay, where is the savings and is it going to be a savings? Will it make them more efficient or is it going to require capital outlay and more people, and what are the options? He didn’t think they’ve spoken about plans, and didn’t think a plan has come forward
that is spelled out as he would like to see it to make a decision and also research the volunteer stuff. There are a lot of things in play, and he would get back to Mr. Miasek on both of those matters.
Mrs. Libby asked Ms. Proulx if they needed to make any further budget adjustments to avoid ending up with negative positions within any budget.
Ms. Proulx indicated that she was working on adjustments.
Mrs. Libby asked Ms. Proulx to make certain any adjustments come before them during their next meeting.
Mrs. Libby pointed out that the consensus of this board had been to reschedule any regular meeting canceled due to a lack of a quorum and that the June meeting had not been reschedule.
Asst. City Clerk Joline LeBlanc stated that she would attempt to reschedule any canceled meetings in the future to the following Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT #970
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted unanimously to adjourn at 4:35 p.m.
ATTEST: JOLINE LeBLANC
ASST. CITY CLERK
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