MINUTES
BOARD OF FINANCE
JULY 19, 2005
A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Finance was held on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 in the Council Chambers.
Those in attendance included Mayor Owen J. Quinn, Jr., members of the Board of Finance Daniel Farley, James Zeller, Joseph Nader, and Bruce Cornish. Also present was Comptroller Alice Proulx. Absent was Board of Finance member James Nichol, and Corp. Counsel Albert Vasko.
Mayor Quinn called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
MINUTES #020
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held 6/21/05.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #030
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public. There was no public participation.
SCULLY & WOLF #040
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Farley, the board voted unanimously to authorize Mayor Quinn to enter into a contract with Scully & Wolf to perform an analysis of the functions in the finance departments of the Board of Education and the City, as the next step in moving ahead with shared services.
Mr. Nader inquired about the scope of the contract.
Mayor Quinn explained that Scully & Wolf was the firm used to analyze and guide the merge of the city’s financial system with that of the Board of Education. The Board of Finance already encumbered funds for this purpose. The next step is to find out whether the city could consolidate any other services with the Board of Education. Scully & Wolf will compare the job descriptions in the Comptroller’s Office, the Purchasing Office and the Board of Education position located at City Hall, with those equal positions at the Board of Education, and provide us with a road map on how they could be streamlined.
Ms. Proulx stated that Scully & Wolf previously submitted documentation in regard to addressing the next step, which was to research and analyze the co-location of these positions in order to achieve better internal controls and more productivity by perhaps eliminating some processes that are no longer necessary.
Mr. Nader inquired whether Scully & Wolf had given the city a cost analysis and an idea of what the potential savings could be.
Ms. Proulx indicated that she didn’t believe they could furnish the city with dollar amounts because there may be some processes that aren’t being done that need to be done, or perhaps there may be efficiencies that would allow us to merge some positions in the future.
Mayor Quinn stated that he hoped to get one super financial person on board at this time since the Board of Education was without a Business Manager. However, Dr. O’Brien and the Board of Education felt they wanted to get their financial house in order with a new person in place who was comfortable with the budget process.
Mayor Quinn thought this was a perfect time to have Scully & Wolf do an analysis and find areas of cost benefits. Bargaining in good faith with the unions representing those positions that could be affected in the future will also have to take place. In his estimation, Scully & Wolf would finalize the last step, which is the full merger of the Board of Education with the City.
Mr. Cornish inquired whether the next step would be to negotiate a scope and a fee.
Mayor Quinn said yes. Scully & Wolf will analyze both systems and make recommendations. The next step will be to implement the process, which could cost up to and not exceed $15,000.00. The exact details of the scope have not been negotiated item by item. They are familiar with the hardware and software, and they have given us technical assistance on New World in the past. The next step will entail the physical co-location of some of the functions, an analysis of the job descriptions and the implementation of a time table.
Mr. Cornish said he was surprised that the cost wasn’t higher.
Ms. Proulx stated that the $15,000.00 would only pay for the financial departments. Mayor Quinn had previously discussed shared services for Facilities and Vehicle Maintenance, however, these will not be included in the work performed by Scully & Wolf at this time.
Mr. Zeller inquired wether a consultant was necessary for these departments to obtain the types of efficiencies that were discussed.
Mayor Quinn said the sentiment of the Superintendent and the Board of Education was that it was a good idea but one that needed hard data analyzed before they would feel comfortable with it.
Mr. Zeller asked if it would make sense to look for a Business Manager who would look for those efficiencies as part of his regular duties.
Mayor Quinn indicated that Dr. O’Brien has placed someone who was conversant in the New World system and has experience in municipal, as well as Board of Education financing.
Mayor Quinn thought it would have been an opportunity to come together with a new Finance Director; however, Dr. O’Brien preferred having a Business Manager who could report to her in the way she was accustomed to and members of the Board of Education felt they needed a traditional Business Manager to overcome some of their recent difficulties. He informed Dr. O’Brien that funds were put aside several years ago for a new Finance Director, but that action was delayed because it didn’t make sense to pay someone that kind of money if the City and the Board of Education weren’t merged. If they were to change the job description to a super Financial Manager for the City and the Board of Education, he would support budgeting funds for that position.
Mr. Cornish said he felt it was necessary to hire Scully & Wolf in order to move the process into the next step and that it was important to move forward with full speed.
In terms of getting a new Business Manager, Mr. Cornish said the timing was bad for the Board of Education because of their year’s end and the start of the new year, as well as state requirements that need to be filed. The quicker they get a Business Manager, the better off they are; however, he agreed with Mayor Quinn that they might have been in a better position to move forward if they had more of a concept of what a Finance Director was.
Mr. Nader inquired whether there were other towns that have already implemented similar shared services that we could use as a model and get feedback.
Mayor Quinn indicated that several towns are at various stages of shared services but there are too many variables involved, such as software and hardware.
Ms. Proulx further stated that CCM research on the matter indicated that there was much resistance in communities that attempted to co-locate and have shared services. However, the communities that did move forward were pleased with the end result. She was awaiting further feedback from CCM.
CARDINAL ENGINEERING #1230
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Farley, the board voted unanimously to approve the payments of $1,099.37 and $2,213.75 from Sanitary Sewer Capital Improvement Fund #490 to Cardinal Engineering Asso., for engineering services on the East Main Street/New Harwinton Road sanitary sewer improvements.
CARDINAL ENGINEERING #1240
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Farley, the board voted unanimously to approve the payment of $373.75 from Sanitary Sewer Capital Improvement Fund #490 to Cardinal Engineering Asso., for engineering services on the Tara Drive Sanitary Sewer.
P & G PEPPER CONST. #1260
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Farley, the board voted unanimously to approve the payment of $119,034.30 from Sanitary Sewer Capital Improvement Fund #490 to P & G Pepper Construction for storm drainage work on the New Harwinton Road Sanitary Sewer Project.
P & G PEPPER CONST. #1360
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to approve the payment of $1,665.26 from Sanitary Sewer Capital Improvement Fund #490 to P & G Pepper Construction held as retainage on the Greenridge Road Sanitary Sewer & Storm Sewer Project.
BUS: MAYOR & MEMBERS #1380
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Nader, the board voted unanimously to consider business presented by Mayor Quinn and members of the Board of Finance.
Mr. Cornish pointed out that the Vehicle Equipment Maintenance Report doesn’t tie into the financial statements and requested a briefing during the next quarter on how it ties in to what they are spending.
Ms. Proulx said she would go over the report with Mr. Michaud to get a greater understanding on what information he is trying to convey, and the board could request his presence during a meeting if they still felt it was necessary.
Mr. Nader agreed with Mr. Cornish and questioned the formula.
Mr. Cornish inquired whether the consolidation of systems would provide for the posting of information from both the City and the Board of Education at the same time, noting that the Board of Education’s information is currently being posted at a later time.
Ms. Proulx indicated that she manually posts the Board of Education’s numbers into the City’s side of the financials. Typically, she waits until she gets the financial reports from the Board of Education to make certain that whatever report they are generating matches the numbers that we have in our fund.
Mayor Quinn thanked the board for allowing a small amount of money to be placed in the budget for fireworks for the 4th of July.
ADJOURNMENT #1680
On a motion by Mr. Nader, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to adjourn at 4:50 p.m.
ATTEST: JOLINE LeBLANC
ASST. CITY CLERK
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