CORRECTED MINUTES
BOARD OF FINANCE SPECIAL MEETING
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
A SPECIAL MEETING of the Board of Finance was held in the City Hall Auditorium on Tuesday,
September 27, 2011.
Present were Acting Mayor Gregg Cogswell, Corporation Counsel Ernestine Yuille Weaver, Board of Finance members Laurene Pesce, Mark Bushka, Thomas Scoville, Daniel Farley, Brian Paganini and Wendy Traub, Fire Training Officer Larry Hepburn, Fire Chief John Field and Comptroller Alice Proulx. Also present from the Board of Education were the Business Manager Danielle Batchelder, Acing Superintendent Cheryl Kloczko, and the Director of Human Resources William Joslyn.
Acting Mayor Cogswell called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
MINUTES
On a motion by Mr. Farley, seconded by Mr. Paganini, the Board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of
the Special Meeting held jointly with City Council on June 9, 2011.
MINUTES
On a motion by Mrs. Pesce, seconded by Mr. Scoville, the Board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of
the Regular Meeting held on August 23, 2011.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
On a motion by Mrs. Traub, seconded by Mr. Bushka, the Board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public. There was no one who wished to speak.
DISCUSSION: Collective Bargaining, Board of Education
Mr. Joslyn explained their statutory obligation was fulfilled by the informational meeting held on September 20, 2011. He repeated that state statutes require the Board of Education to meet and confer with the municipal fiscal authority, the Board of Finance, when they are entering negotiations with a teacher group, which includes the administrative group. He said this provides an opportunity for the two boards to share information about upcoming negotiations, and allows a member of that fiscal authority to be present during negotiations. The meetings will start October 4th at Migeon Ave. We'll begin collective bargaining with our administrators for salary and benefits only, he said, and will talk to the teachers about the entire contract – salary, benefits and language. He said the Board of Education is very aware of
the City's economic challenges, and balance that understanding with trying to retain and attract professionals to our school district.
Mrs. Pesce noted the possible expense of a large capital project and the need to go out to bond for that.
Mr. Joslyn added that the Board of Education works with the same insurance consultant that the City does, and they plan on using those services to provide information and ideas that can be presented to the negotiating groups.
Mrs. Pesce asked about timelines. Mr. Joslyn said they are specifically dictated by state statute, based on the City's budget process, which unfortunately puts their negotiation period right in the middle of the holidays. The non-certified bargaining unit doesn't have such stringent timelines, leaving those negotiations to drag on.
BUDGET TRANSFERS FY10/11
On a motion by Mr. Farley, seconded by Mr. Bushka, the board voted unanimously to authorize budget transfers for FY2010/2011 identified in the Comptroller's Memo dated September 14, 2011, having been approved by City Council on September 19, 2011.
TRANSFER BUDGET BALANCES
On a motion by Mrs. Traub, seconded by Mr. Farley, the board voted unanimously to authorize the transfer of FY2010/2011 general fund budget balances to Capital Projects fund 0310 and/or Capital Reserve Fund 0311 identified in the Comptroller's Memo dated September 19, 2011, having been approved by City Council on September 19, 2011.
Mrs. Traub asked that a clarification be made on where that money would be transferred to. Ms. Proulx said it was set up on the Board of Education side of the financial management system as a tracking fund so that the Board of Education could input and approve requests, process purchase orders and make payments on their projects. She said a Capital Reserve fund on the City side would be maintained which will mirror the activity that is in the tracking fund that the Board of Education will be maintaining. It will be contained within the financial statements under the Capital Reserve fund being maintained by the City, but all of the tracking and processing will be handled through the Board of Education.
LIVE BURN TRAILER
On a motion by Mrs. Traub, seconded by Mr. Paganini, the board voted unanimously to authorize the expenditure of $167,500.00 for the purchase of the Class A Live Fire Burn Trailer from American Fire Training Systems, Inc., of Lockport, IL, per the recommendation of the Purchasing Agent and the Fire Dept. Training Officer, having been approved by the Board of Public Safety on September 7, 2011 and by City Council on September 19, 2011.
Training Officer Hepburn clarified that the City will cover 10% of the grant money. He said training has been held at the Regional Fire School in Burrville, whose burn building has been closed due to structural concerns with that building. They are currently using the CT Fire Academy which is a gas-fired training facility located in Windsor Locks, which causes fire volunteers to be away from town and unable to respond to fires. In answer
LIVE BURN TRAILER Continued
to Mr. Farley's question, Mr. Hepburn explained that along with avoiding the CT Fire Academy fee, this live burn trailer could be offered to other Fire Departments and a fee collected. He explained that unlike gas-fired training, this trailer uses pallets and straw. He has already found a distributor willing to donate pallets, making the costs minimal.
Mrs. Traub asked if the 10% being financed was in the current Fire Department budget. Chief Field said these were transferred out of encumbered funds.
TRANSFER FUNDS: BOARD OF EDUCATION
On a motion by Mrs. Pesce, seconded by Mr. Paganini, the board voted unanimously to authorize transfer of $70,000 from the BOE Capital Budget (5101) to the BOE Operating Budget (5100) per Director of Business Services Memo of September 22, 2011.
Mr. Scoville said he thought the Capital budget was to be set aside for Capital Improvements.
Ms. Batchelder said in the Board of Education budget process, they asked to carry over $180,000, but at year-end they had $70,000 more. She explained that they are allowed to carry that over now, and planned for two other projects -- the Forbes "Building Bridges" in the summertime, and $60,000 for Credit Recovery. She said $250,000 was requested with the notion that, with Board of Education approval, the $70,000 would be transferred out of Capital into Operating for those two programs. She said the Board of Finance had approved a $180,000 budget to use for Capital expenditures, but a total of $250,000 was requested to be carried over, and she is now requesting $70,000 of that be used in the Operating budget. Ms. Batchelder said she is asking to transfer $70,000 from the Board of Education's current Capital
budget into their Operating budget.
Mrs. Traub pointed out that we are used to the Board of Education being required to give any money back, but the state statute was changed, allowing them to keep up to 1% of their budget. This statute doesn't specify whether it goes for Operational or Capital, she said, and the Board of Finance may approve that they carry forward money which they have never been able to do before. She said her concern is same as Mr. Scoville's – what capital projects were not accomplished last year leaving money to be carried forward?
Ms. Batchelder gave an example of $100,000 set aside for an audit of all the schools for a 2013/14 construction proposal, but the audit only came to $48,000. She said other things resulted in a lower cost than expected. Mrs. Traub expressed concern that projects aren't put by the wayside in order to transfer funds that are previously committed to Capital projects.
Ms. Batchelder assured her that no project was neglected. She gave another example of $10,000 aside for initiating a roof at Forbes School. It was decided to put the roof into one big project in 2013/14, she said, so that $10,000 was returned to the budget.
Mrs. Traub asked if the Board of Education has exhausted all their efforts to find these dollars, and cautioned against getting in the habit of using Capital for Operating.
Mrs. Pesce asked if the Forbes reading program was held this past summer. Ms. Batchelder explained that it was a program the former superintendent had received a grant or donation for, from a private company. When he gave his resignation, she said, they pulled the $10,000 that was promised, but teachers had already been told to start the whole process of putting this program together. She said the Board of Education allowed the program to go ahead with the hope that money could be transferred back in to the Operating budget.
In answer to Mr. Farley's question, Ms. Batchelder confirmed the money for these programs was not in the operating budget. She said the $10,000 for "Building Bridges" at Forbes School was expected from another source, but the Credit Recovery program was not on the horizon, having come about in July when "Our Piece of the Pie" fell through. She said the Board of Education is trying to do something to help these students in the current fiscal year.
Mrs. Pesce asked if any funds are available in 2011/12 for the Our Piece of the Pie project. Ms. Batchelder replied that all those funds would have come about from layoffs, and that's one of the reasons why the Board of Education did not approve it.
Mrs. Traub said that, in retrospect, it was very detrimental not to consider including funding for the alternative school in the current budget knowing there were going to be discussions about it. She added that she can't fault the Board of Education, however, for something that was in process under an Administrator that is no longer here.
Mr. Scoville asked what the total dollar value was. Ms. Batchelder said Our Piece of the Pie was estimated at $900,000 for the first year, with 80 prospective students at $10,500, with additional transportation, food, and supply costs.
BUSINESS: MAYOR & BOARD MEMBERS
On a motion by Mr. Scoville, seconded by Mr. Bushka, the Board voted unanimously to consider business by the Mayor and the Board of Finance.
Mr. Farley asked if the Mayor has enacted a program to deal with the situation if we have a problem with
*a taxpayer the tax collector, as the initial tax collector contract approval called for a panel to be set up to
deal with potential tax collector removal. Atty. Weaver said nothing has been established yet. Mr. Farley said it is important
that this be taken care of. *Corrected 10/18/2011
BUSINESS: MAYOR & BOARD MEMBERS Continued
Mrs. Traub thanked the Board of Education for a combined effort on the bonding committee meeting. They met with Mr. Mattiello and a representative from the bonding company, and reviewed all the issues going on and both the Board of Education's needs and the City's needs. She said it was very educational, and thinks the cooperation is great. She added that things are looking good for bonding in the City of Torrington, we're in a great financial situation and the rates are low. People will be looking to see bonding happen in the next year or so.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Mr. Farley, seconded by Mr. Paganini, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn at 5:27 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
Respectfully Submitted,
Carol L. Anderson, CCTC
Asst. City Clerk
| 
