Wellfleet Finance Committee
Minutes of Meeting of April 22, 2004
Town Hall Hearing Room
Present: Berta Bruinooge, Chair; Patricia Foley, Arlene Kirsch, John Makely,
Sylvia Smith, MacGregor Hay
Excused: Carl Caruso
Absent: Nancy Bone
Chair Bruinooge called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.
Requests for transfers from the Reserve Fund. No transfers were requested at this meeting.
Review of Town Meeting Warrant.
Chair Bruinooge noted the lack of correspondence in language between Ballot Question 3 and Article 8 on the warrant, which were supposed to address the same question, noting that this lack of connection had caused some concern and discussion in the Pre-town Meeting. She stated that Question 3 implied that the funding asked was to pay for the whole water tower project, rather than for engineering, design services and site evaluation, as stated in Article 8.
Arlene Kirsch suggested sending email letters to the Editors of the Cape Cod Times, Banner, and Cape Codder to alert voters to the language differences between Question 3 and Article 8. The Chair felt that Moderator Dan Silverman should be asked to allow FinCom time to inform the voters of these differences before presentation at the Annual Town Meeting on April 26; John Makely moved and Arlene Kirsch seconded that the above should be done; the motion carried, 6-0.
Arlene Kirsch proposed the following wording for the Letter to the Editor:
The Wellfleet Finance Committee wants to alert voters that the wording in Question 3 on the ballot for the May 3 election is significantly different from Article 8 in the Town Meeting Warrant in that the ballot asks voters to pay for a new water tower whereas Article 8 asks voters to pay only for engineering, design services, and site evaluation.
The Committee agreed to the wording; the Chair stated that she would submit this letter from her computer the next day.
Town Meeting Strategies. Discussion of FinCom's role at the ATM ensued.
Chair Bruinooge suggested that after the Selectmen's budget was moved and seconded, a FinCom member could stand and move to amend by listing the FinCom budget for the lower numbers the Committee proposes for certain line items. This action would get the FinCom proposals on the table for discussion, allowing the FinCom to review the differences between the bottom lines of the two budgets. The Chair added, quoting a town auditor on the topic of possible future overrides, that Wellfleet has a "financial structural inbalance" leading to more overrides. It was decided that Chair Bruinooge would move to amend the Selectmen's budget.
Arlene Kirsch noted that FinCom members needed to be prepared to address the difference between Debt Exclusion and Proposition 2 ½ Overrides and their effects upon taxes; the Chair volunteered to take this on.
Comment was made on the extra legal expenses from last year's budget.
Minutes of March 24, 2004. John Makely moved and Arlene Kirsch seconded these minutes as amended; the motion carried, 6-0.
Review of Mail. The Chair noted receipt of the 3-17-03 letter from McGregor and Associates, Attorneys at Law, concerning the water problems of the Wellfleet Harbor Condominium and requesting FinCom's recommendation to Town Meeting that it pass Warrant Article 8 (which FinCom did not recommend). Mac Hay stated that this letter is an example of what is to follow and should not be taken lightly. In the subsequent discussion of the water system, comments were made on the density of the downtown and the work of the Local Comprehensive Plan Committee.
Other Business.
The Chair praised as excellent the Provincetown Finance Committee's report to the townspeople in the April 1st Banner.
The next FinCom meeting will be held on May 27, 2004 at 7 p.m. at the Council on Aging. John Makely suggested as an agenda item a look into areas of preparation for next Town Meeting. The Chair noted that if the override does not pass, the FinCom would receive a new Operating Budget and possibly a new Capital Budget; in this case, the next Town Meeting would take place in June.
Bruinooge added that, according to the auditor, Wellfleet had overspent its free cash by $92,000 in FY2003.
John Makely moved and Patricia Foley seconded adjournment of the meeting, which ended at 8:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
____________________________________ _______________________________
Frances J. Castillo, Committee Secretary Berta Bruinooge, Chair
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