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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-07-25 Finance Committee Minutes Finance Committee Meeting July 25, 2011 Superintendent’s Conference Room, Reading Memorial High School The meeting convened at 7:30 PM at RMHS. FINCOM Members Present : Chair Marsie West, Barry Berman, Mark Dockser, Paula Perry and Hal Torman. Members Absent: John Arena and Kevin Leyne. Present but not yet sworn in : David Greenfield (cannot vote). Resigned : Frank Fardy. Also Present: Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Town Accountant Gail LaPointe, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, resident Bill Brown and Matt Casey from Patch. There being a quorum the FINCOM meeting was called to order at 7:35 PM. Ms. West gave an overview of the Agenda, which included about 30 minutes of FINCOM business before a joint meeting with the School Committee was scheduled to begin at 8:00pm. Ms. West reviewed some suggested Bylaw changes that would be offered by FINCOM for the November th 2011 Subsequent Town Meeting. Mr. Hechenbleikner mentioned that the Warrant closes on September 28 for that Town Meeting. Ms. West highlighted ‘3.3.2.1 Duties’ and after some discussion Mr. Brown suggested this section does not conflict with the Town Charter. Town Counsel will work with Ms. West to prepare the desired Bylaw changes. Ms. Perry volunteered to be the liaison to the Board of Assessors this year – a new assignment in light of some of the issues that came up during the past year. Ms. West asked for any other comments before next meeting concerning the liaison assignments. She also mentioned that Frank Fardy had submitted his resignation, so there is a vacancy on the Committee. Ms. LaPointe reviewed the recent IGR issued on the Assessors overlay account, and said there are no changes needed to current practices in Reading. Mr. Hechenbleikner mentioned that the overlay account is raised by 2.5% each year to keep pace with general property taxes. Ms. LaPointe plans to attend the August nd 2 Board of Assessors meeting to review their overlay account. On a motion by Mr. Torman, seconded by Mr. Dockser, FINCOM voted to approve the Minutes of June 29, 2011 by a vote of 5-0-0. At 8:09 pm the School Committee called their meeting to order. Following are the minutes from this joint meeting: Report from NEC and SEEM Dr. Doherty introduced Mrs. Dolan (NEC) and Ms. Lawson (SEEM) and gave a brief background of the two collaboratives. Mrs. Dolan and Ms. Lawson thanked the committees for the opportunity to speak this evening. Mrs. Dolan went on to explain how a collaborative is defined according to Massachusetts General Laws. She explained that both NEC and SEEM take the spending of taxpayer’s money seriously and understand that districts struggle to balance their budgets. 1 Ms. Lawson described the governance and structure of the SEEM Collaborative which consists of the Executive Director and a Board of Directors, which is comprised of the ten Superintendents of the member districts. The Chair and Financial Representative rotate annually among the Board of Directors. The Treasurer for the SEEM Collaborative is Board appointed and is an outside agent. Mrs. Dolan explained the make-up of NEC. As with SEEM, the NEC Board of Directors is made up of 18 member Superintendents with members serving as Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. The Northshore Education Consortium also has a support group (Friends of NEC) which provides funding for the items that would not ordinarily be included in the annual budget. This group supports only NEC. Each organization also has sub-committees with each member serving on the sub-committees. NEC has a Budget, Facility and Personnel sub-committee. SEEM has a Finance Committee that functions as an Executive Committee. Mrs. Dolan and Ms. Lawson went on to review the checks and balances in place to ensure that all safeguards are taken to protect the consortium funds. Both SEEM and NEC have done extensive policy and procedure review over the past year as well. Mr. Dockser asked about check signing procedures. Mrs. Dolan said that she, as Executive Director, signs the checks. Any check over $5,000 requires a second signature. NEC also requires all 18 members to sign the warrants. Ms. Lawson explained that the Treasurer is responsible for signing all checks for SEEM. Mr. Torman asked if either Consortium used purchasing cards. Ms. Lawson indicated SEEM will, at times, use credit cards at Home Depot or similar retailers. All credit card purchases must be authorized by the Executive Director. Mr. Berman asked Dr. Doherty about the time commitment to the two consortiums. Dr. Doherty explained that he is not involved in the day-to-day operation of the consortiums. His role is similar that that of the School Committee in Reading. Membership in the two consortiums has provided for significant professional development opportunities. Mr. Greenfield asked about wire transfers. Mrs. Dolan stated that the Executive Director and the CFO are authorized to perform these transfers. Mr. Berman asked how many students we had enrolled in the programs at NEC and SEEM. Reading has approximately 20 students enrolled in different programs. Chair Mr. Robinson thanked Mrs. Dolan and Ms. Lawson for attending the meeting. Award of Memorial Wall Replacement Contract Ms. DeLai indicated that two bids were submitted however one bid came in after the bid deadline so was disqualified. This left Advantage Glass of Cranston, RI as the only qualified bidder. Ms. DeLai is recommending that the contract be awarded to Advantage Glass. She indicated that the project deadline is September 1, 2011 and that there is a five year warranty. Upon further discussions and negotiations with Advantage Glass, they agreed to reduce the contract price to $59,000. Mrs. Janowski moved, seconded by Mr. Caruso, to authorize the Superintendent to enter into an agreement with Advantage Glass Company of Cranston, RI to provide for the Installation and 2 Construction of a Laminated Glass Panel Armed Services Memorial Wall at Reading Memorial High School. The motion carried 5-0-0. Mr. Caruso asked if anything could be done with the old panels. Ms. DeLai said there had been discussion on this subject. Ideas included auctioning off the unbroken panels or to use them in district as tabletops or other ways. Mr. Berman asked about the design. Mr. Michaud stated the design is basically the same but the support system design has been improved. The contrast will be better making the detail more legible. Mr. LeLacheur explained the motion needed for a FINCOM Reserve Fund transfer. Mrs. Perry asked if we were confident in the design. Mr. Michaud said that we were. Mr. Greenfield asked if there was any recourse against the prior contractor. Ms. DeLai said there was not. Move to approve a FINCOM Reserve Fund transfer in the Mr. LeLacheur read the proposed motion: amount of $59,000 to the FY12 School Department budget (facilities). Ms West so moved, seconded by Mr. Berman. The motion carried 5-0-0. Update on Contract Negotiations Dr. Doherty reported that the School Committee has reached agreement with all five collective bargaining units. The agreements provide for fiscal stability for the next three years. He thanked the unions for the good faith bargaining sessions and also Ms. DeLai, Ms. Conway and Mrs. deGaravilla for their hard work during the negotiating sessions. The FINCOM asked some clarifying questions to which Dr. Doherty provided detailed responses. On a motion by Ms. West, seconded by Mr. Dockser, FINCOM voted 5-0-0 to adjourn at 8:57pm. Respectfully submitted, Recording Secretary 3