MINUTES
BOARD OF FINANCE
JANUARY 17, 2006
A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Finance was held on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 in the Council Chambers.
Those in attendance included Mayor Ryan J. Bingham, 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 the Corp. Counsel, Albert Vasko.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 4:25 p.m.
MINUTES #005
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Farley, the board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the regular meeting held December 20, 2005.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #020
On a motion by Mr. Nader, seconded by Mr. Cornish, the board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public. There was no public participation.
DESELL CONSTRUCTION #035
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Farley, the board voted unanimously to accept the Council’s request for the payment of $6,370.00 from Sanitary Sewer Capital Improvement Fund #490 to Desell Construction, LLC for Invoice #574 for manhole adjustment work.
WORK STATIONS IN ASSESSOR’S OFFICE #090
On a motion by Mr. Zeller, seconded by Mr. Cornish, the board, after a lengthy discussion, voted unanimously to make $1,874.95 available from Contingency to ergonomically correct two workstations in the Assessor’s Office, and left the final decision to the City Council.
Mr. Nader noted that the approval of this request could set a precedent.
Purchasing Agent Charlene Antonelli informed the board that the Assessor has had surgery in each elbow and one shoulder and her physical therapist has recommended a change to her work station. The Deputy Assessor has a similar situation with carpel tunnel. The Assessor didn’t budget for new furniture because she didn’t anticipate these physical problems. She further informed the board that the city has been purchasing ergonomically correct furniture over the years to alleviate any future problems. She assured the board that the gentleman who designed the workstations for the Assessor’s Office specializes in this type of situation and the furniture was quoted from a state contract bid.
Mr. Cornish inquired whether the city has a safety officer who reviews, evaluates, and endorses these matters?
Comptroller Ms. Proulx said it was her belief that the only thing the city had in place was related to safety issues, like making certain that people can’t trip on something, as opposed to the efficiency of work stations and whether or not repetitive motion can create an injury.
Mr. Nader stated that possibly our comprehension carrier could perform an ergonomic study for us.
Mayor Bingham expressed the same concern that it may set a precedence for others who may want a new work station. He agreed that the city should have a safety officer and that we should have CIRMA do a study.
Mr. Zeller indicated that a positive vote by this board would merely make the funds available should the Council vote to move forward on this matter. He asked that the Council be made aware of the Board of Finance’s comments prior to their making the final vote.
Mr. Zeller felt the concerns expressed should also be made clear to the Personnel Director and whoever is responsible for ADA compliance.
QUARTERLY TRANSFERS #600
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Farley, the board voted unanimously to authorize the quarterly transfers.
BUDGET TRANSFERS #615
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to authorize the budget transfers for fiscal year ending June 30, 2006 in regard to approved contracts.
BUDGET AMENDMENT: CITY CLERK’S OFFICE #640
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to authorize the budget amendment of $225,000.00 for the City Clerk’s Office, with regard to state fees for Land Protection, Affordable Housing & Historic Preservation Account in accordance with PA 05-228 which passed the Legislature in July of 2005 effective October 1, 2005.
BYRNE & BYRNE #670
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to authorize the payments of $2,975.00 for invoice dated 12/16/05 and $3,475.00 for invoice dated 9/16/05 from Contingency, to Byrne & Byrne for professional services performed on the Dziedzic Properties LLC vs. Zoning Board of Appeals matter. (This matter was tabled by the City Council on January 17, 2006)
BUS: MAYOR & MEMBERS #700
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to consider business presented by Mayor Bingham and members of the Board of Finance.
Mr. Cornish indicated that he was looking forward to a presentation from the Chairman of the Municipal Consortium for Fiscal Responsibility.
In regard to Mayor Bingham’s suggestion to start thinking about where the mill rate should be, Mr. Cornish pointed out that the current budget was structured by taking $1.2 million from surplus and by not contributing at the same levels to the pension fund as they had in the past. While the board contributed the actual minimum to the pension fund, they should be conscious of the fact that there is still a fairly large unfunded obligation to maintaining the appropriate level of funding so our children’s future dollars are not spent to finance today’s programs. Contracts will create more demand on the salary accounts. This will create some problem in trying to maintain a zero mill increase in the future. If everyone spends their maximum budget amounts, they will have to come up with $1.2 million+
to maintain the same level of service.
Mr. Nader said he looked forward to working with this administration.
Mr. Farley asked several questions on the quarterly transfers.
Mr. Zeller noted that he had heard there was going to be a re-convening of the City Hall Renovation Committee.
Mayor Bingham stated that minor fire code violations in city hall were taken care of. We were now faced with tending to the larger items such as fire doors, sprinkler systems, walls, structural problems, etc. Ultimately, he made the decision to reconvene the Building Committee to tackle this problem. Perhaps the matter should be brought to referendum at the next election.
ADD ITEM TO AGENDA #1070
On a motion by Mr. Nader, seconded by Mr. Cornish, the board voted unanimously to add an item to the agenda concerning the repair of the Lanier Recorder.
On a motion by Mr. Zeller, seconded by Mr. Farley, the board voted unanimously to approve the payment of $289.90 from Contingency to Superior Office Systems for the repair of the Lanier Recorder, contingent upon the City Council approval.
City Clerk Joseph L. Quartiero informed the board that Superior Office Systems has quoted him a price of $2,299.00 for a new Recorder compared to the $3,295.00 price quoted by Lanier. This item will appear on the next Board of Finance agenda.
ADJOURNMENT #1130
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to adjourn at 5:00 P.M.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO
CITY CLERK
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