Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-01-21 Board of Selectmen Minutes N Town of Reading ' Meeting Minutes o - Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Board of Selectmen tiq t�f�Y 2 A Date: 2014-01-21 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Selectmen Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: General Business Attendees: Members - Present: Vice Chairma John Arena, Secretary Ben Tafoya, Selectmen Daniel Ensminger and Marsie West Members - Not Present: Chairman James Bonazoli Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Tom Procopio, Any Lannon, Cherrie Dubois, Vicki Yablonsky, Jane Burns, John Halsey, Kevin Sexton, David Hutchinson, George Zambouras, James Cormier, Greg Burns, Barry Berman, Ruth Urell, Alice Collins Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Secretary Ben Tafoya Topics of Discussion: Discussion/Action Items FY15 Budget -- Public Library - David Hutchinson, Chairman of the Library Board of Trustees called their meeting to order. Mr. Hutchinson noted that the salaries line in the proposed Library budget has the 1.50% COLA and the steps for those who are eligible. They expect the Library will be involved in the Pay and Class study that has been budgeted separately. The significant unfunded position Is the creation of a Digital Services and Information Technology Librarian. This is replacement and enhancement of a position that was taken out In 2009 and has never been restored. The person will have to be fluent with the current technology and digital services and would be the point person to assist the public and train the librarians, and advise on equipment. The job description is in tonight's handout. They feel this position is essential to be in the FY15 budget to help with the planning of technology for the new library. They are looking at staffing changes during the time they are in temporary space. Professional development - the staff needs to stay current. The professional development budget has been quite small and usually comes out of the friends of the library budget. Library Director Ruth Urell noted that they are proposing substitute coverage for five hours/week at $6482 for the year. They have also added a line for transportation for local travel at$1000. Marsie West noted that they will be operating on fewer hours in a smaller space and they want to Increase their costs. This is a perception problem. Ruth Urell noted that the Sunday hours will affect three divisions and they have shaved the circulation staffing and are losing their pages through attrition. Marsie West asked why those staffing changes can't cover for substitutions and how has transportation been covered in the past. Ruth Urell noted that the transportation In the past has come from the Town's professional development line. John Arena noted that the travel budget line is separate from the / Page I 1 ca Board of Selectmen Minutes - January 21 2014 professional development line but it is still in the budget and a new line is added for transportation. Ruth Urell noted that Is for people going to classes, delivering books and doing outreach. She noted that they have never been able to fully cover that so the former Town Accountant suggested creating a new line just for transportation. Since they have a lot of plans next year for outreach and activities outside the library, they think they will have a much more need to cover travel and that Is also part of their staffing plan. They feel that since there will be activities outside the library that creates the need for extra coverage. Marsle West asked if they have considered using volunteers to do deliveries and Ruth Urell noted that most of the deliveries are done by volunteers. Marsie West asked how substitutes have been covered in the past and Ruth Urell noted that their non-service staff covers for them and that has become more problematic because a majority of the employees have a lot of benefits and there is no money to cover vacation and sick time. How does this address safety Issues when your temporary space Is not on three floors. Ruth Urell noted that until they are sure where the temp space will be they have to make sure they have coverage for three service desks. Daniel Ensminger asked the Town Manager if the new Digital Services and Technology Technician could be part time since we already have an IT department In administrative services. The Town Manager noted that when that position was removed In 2088-2009 we hired an additional person to be shared by the Town. Technology believes that the Library is covered very well. They dedicate someone there all day on Thursdays and other days as needed and no other department gets that kind of dedication and coverage. There are a fair amount of things listed under #1 that are done by staff. There are some ideas that are not covered by our technology staff which is the power user compared to the nuts and bolts repair person. Ruth Urell noted this is not a technician position, this is more of a person managing the technology planning. A lot of their data bases and online services are fairly complex. Daniel Ensminger asked for some examples of their requirements for script writing, html, etc. Ruth Urell noted they run programs such as Mine Craft and that has to be put on machines and taken off. Marsie West asked Ruth Urell to explain the difference between Tech Services and Digital Services. Ruth Urell noted that the cataloging processing department Is called technical services and that is material handling and upkeep of the data base management. John Arena asked how much temp space they will be occupying and Ruth Urell noted approximately 1/3 of what they have now. They are aiming for 9000 square feet of public space. John Arena asked if their intent is to run services out of that temp space or just use for cold storage? Ruth Urell noted they are required to run services out of that space. David Hutchinson noted that there will be additional space for cold storage. Ben Tafoya asked how much will be in cold storage and Ruth Urell noted about 2/3. John Arena asked if they will be providing services through the schools and Ruth Urell noted they are looking at that and also the senior center. They are looking at spaces to have storytime and education programming for adults, They are planning to have a very small program space at their temp space. Ruth Urell handed out the Lib'rary's plan of service. John Arena noted this is a year of change and should be the time when services are curtailed. David Hutchinson noted their intent is to provide as much services as possible. John Arena noted that if the Digital Services librarian position is taken out then the budget is still up 5%. Ruth Urell noted If the Digital Services Librarian is taken out the salaries are up 3.5% as a, whole. John Arena asked if they have been in touch with the Mass Library Commissioners to get a waiver of the municipal appropriation requirement or the circulation requirement and Ruth Urell indicated they are required to maintain both. John Arena asked for that in writing and Ruth Urell indicated she will get that for him. John Arena noted on the website is says the Board can grant as many waivers of the MAR as needed on demonstrated fiscal hardship and he would think that this situation would lend itself to that appropriation. He suggested looking at that for some relieve because this Is a budget issue due to the construction. Page 12 t0 Board f Selectmen Minutes - January 21 2014 - Marsie West asked if they require the same amount of staffing to offer the same services. Ruth Urell noted that in order to have adequate staff in the temp space they need additional coverage at the three other locations. Marsie West Indicated she found it hard to understand why they need the same amount of staff when they will be In 1/3 of the space all on one floor. Ruth Urell noted they will also being staffing 64 hours per week and staff who are not waiting on the public will be doing administration and outreach. The Town Manager noted that the Superintendent of Schools is aware that the library will be In need of space and they are willing to help out. Ben Tafoya asked about their outreach to other departments and Ruth Urell noted she has spoken with the Superintendent and the summer reading program is something they will work with them on. Public Works - Public Works Director Jeff Zager noted that the divisions are up 2.6% and he is bumping up snow and ice 4%. Trash and recycling are doing very well. - He noted that staffing changes Include an intern for Engineering at $60,000. They have a number of projects coming up this year and there will be a lot of activity. Salaries are in-line with the 1.5% COLA and they have started negotiations. The Increase In Police details is due to the number of projects. He hopes to eliminate some of the construction material at the compost center. Biggest change in personnel is the retirement of three key employees. There have been meetings regarding the garage site and everything Is being looked at. The Assistant Public Works Director position will assume some of the business administrator duties. Ben Tafoya asked if we are able to keep up with patching pot holes and Jeff Zager noted it Is a challenge. John Arena asked how much Is budgeted for pothole repair and Jeff Zager indicated $30,000. Ben Tafoya asked about getting patched into the public notification system to report potholes and the Town Manager Indicated we are joining the City of Boston and looking at a March launch. We'll see how it goes because staffing could be an issue if we did this on our own. We will use technology as best we can. Ben Tafoya suggested regionalizing this moving forward. Enterprise Funds - The Town Manager noted that rates will be approximately 2% next year. Our reserves have ballooned. The only change going forward we will try to take a more realistic look at the projects we schedule because we can't possibly do everything at once. The MWRA is looking at a future rate increase of 6 - 8%. The Town Manager noted that the Board has a rate setting hearing scheduled before Town Meeting. The Town Manager noted he budgeted a 7% increase In health insurance. There Is also $470,000 budget for OPEB. Between those two they are our health insurance cushion. We will know our health Insurance amount the second week In February. If it is less, we will use less free cash. He Is not proposing using any 40R funds for at least a couple of years when West Street is done. Ben Tafoya noted asked if the Library debt exclusion is in this year's tax bill and the Town Manager indicated he is not sure if that will happen this year. The Town Manager noted that the unfunded Department Head requests should be reviewed by the Selectmen. He also noted that the Fire Chief will come back and talk to the Board about Increasing fees and he is here to discuss that this evening. Fire Chief Greg Burns noted that a private vendor Is doing the ambulance billing and they have asked that we r 13 Page 13 (Od Board of Selectmen Minutes January 21 2n14 {Zage 4 change our mileage and advanced life support fees. He noted that some communities are bundling fees. Reading is low for these services but he does not recommend a high Increase. Medicare does not pay separate for mileage. Ben Tafoya asked what Insurance companies pay and Chief Burns noted that Medicare will pay $519 for ALS and mileage combined. Private Insurance companies pay a little more. Chief Burns noted that prior Boards had concerns that some patients will not be able to afford it. He did note that if a person has a hardship there Is a process to waive the fee. Ben Tafoya noted that Chief Bums had several requests in unfunded requests and asked what his priorities are. Chief Burns noted the second in command, then training then EMS. The Town Manager noted he put his rankings on the unfunded requests. Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios noted there is a request for a part time social worker. A couple of years ago Community Services had deep cuts. There Is a memo In the packet from the Council on Aging. This is a direct service provider. Ruth Clay and Jane Bums work very closely together on Issues of hoarding, etc. Jean Delios noted this is her highest priority. Ben Tafoya asked about Police overtime and the Town Manager noted that anything that is left over from the amount that the Selectmen approve will go to Police overtime. He would like to spend money on nonrecurring items. Overtime is very hard to predict. Marsie West noted that state funding In the past was based on how much the city or town had over funded snow and ice and It was more of a benefit to level fund. This might be a good time to level fund snow and ice. The Town Manager noted that It Is reasonable for the Library to budget for overtime because If someone calls In sick they don't have a lot of leeway. A motion by Ensminaer seconded by Tafoya to adjourn at 8.30 was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Secretary Page 14 �d �