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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-03-05 Finance Commitee MinutesN MFR O� r Ya •^ by 839./NCORgO� Town of Reading Meeting Minutes CtIVE0 WN CLERK _r >DING, M ASS. Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Finance Committee Date: 2014 -03 -05 Building: Reading Town Hall Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: General Business Attendees: Members - Present: -`1U JUN -u P 4: 46 Time: 7:30 PM Location: Conference Room Chairman Barry Berman, Vice Chairman Mark Dockser, David Greenfield, Peter Lydecker, Craig Merry, Paul McNiece, Jeffrey Perkins Members - Not Present: Paula Perry and Karen Herrick Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom, Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios, Superintendent of Schools John Doherty, Police Lt. Robbins, Mary Delai, Elder Services Administrator Jane Burns, Council on Aging Chairman Steve Oston, Fire Chief Greg Burns, Health Director Ruth Clay, Library Director Ruth Urell, Office Manager Paula Schena Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Chairman Barry Berman Topics of Discussion: Discussion /Action Items Community Services FY15 Budget - Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios noted that the reorganization plan called for changes including promoting the Staff Planner to the position of Community Development Administrator; hiring a Zoning Enforcement Officer to enforce the signage and vacant properties Bylaw; hiring a Regional Housing Services Coordinator with Wilmington, North Reading and Saugus. Reading is the lead community for this grant and we will have a ready buyer and renters list. This budget also adds a part time Social Worker at 16 hours per week. Mrs. Delios noted that a Zoning Consultant was hired for the revamp of the Zoning Bylaws and this person has been enormously helpful. The permitting software is a helpful tool. Mr. Berman asked if regional health services is successful and Mrs. Delios indicated it is. The Town Manager noted that he met with the two other communities and they are thrilled and will renew for three years. Mr. Greenfield indicated that a 3.5% increase in wages is high and set us up with an increase that is hard to sustain. The Town Manager noted that the Finance Committee allowed a 3.5% increase in budgets and that is allowable. If there are any changes then we can do 0% increases in the future. We have had 0% increases in the past. Mr. Berman asked what the social services needs are and Mrs. Delios noted that the number of calls are on the incline. If we are going to provide social services then we don't want anyone to slip through the cracks. We currently have 100+ cases with 20 calls and 2 walk - ins per day. Paul McNeice asked if we need more than what we are asking for and Mr. Berman noted this is a leading factor of how the Town is changing and we should do an update in the summer. Ms. Clay noted that there is a population between the ages of 30 - Page 1 1 Finance Committee Minutes - March 5, 2014 - page 2 60 who doesn't have any services available which is why this Social Worker is so helpful. Mrs. Burns noted that they are receiving more calls from the schools because they are "Human Services" not just "Elder Services." Recreation Administrator John Feudo was present to answer questions regarding turf replacement at the High School. Mr. Dockser asked about the expected life of the turf and asked if we are maintaining them. Mr. Feudo indicated that the turf was installed nine years ago and it was the right choice. He was told the replacement cost would be approximately one half of the installation fee but the cost now is $450,000 - $500,000 to replace each. They are getting to the end of their useful life. The new turf fields now have a 12 - 15 year life span. Mr. McNeice asked if the injury rate has declined and Mr. Feudo noted that they are seeing more minor injuries but less concussions and breaks. He also noted that maintenance is more predictable than with the grass field. Mr. Berman asked how much money we save on maintenance and Mr. Feudo handed out a chart with the breakdown of expenses and noted that we save on water irrigation, fertilizing, etc. Mr. Berman noted that an adequate facilities charge should go into a fund for replacement. Mr. Feudo noted that soccer, lacrosse and youth baseball each contributed $25,000 for the fields. Ms. Delai noted that they do not charge a lot for fees because there is not a lot of time left over after the schools and recreation events. Facilities only take in $2,000 - $3,000 per year. Mr. Feudo noted that he would like to do the replacements at the end and beginning of the fiscal years and the sense of the community is to extend the turf to the fence line at turf 2. Library FY15 Budget - Library Director Ruth Urell, Library Trustees Cherrie Dubois, David Hutchinson, Vicki Yablonsky were present. Ms. Urell noted that they are not doing an Open House this year so they received a grant to do a community read on the "Namesake ". They purchased 200 copies and received freebies from another community. Ms. Urell noted that they are proposing a digital services librarian position. They will be fully operational next year and are setting up remote services. They will circulate approximately 60,000 through inter - library lending. She has reduced circulation staffing and pages but otherwise, staffing remains level. Materials are budgeted at 15% of the budget. They will purchase more newspapers and magazine subscriptions. There is an increase in professional development for additional staff training. They have cut back on equipment next year. Mr. Hutchinson noted that they are expecting the number of transactions with the public to remain the same and they expect to provide more service which will be more work per transaction. Mr. Berman asked about the cost savings of the reductions in circulation and Ms. Urell noted it is not much - less than 1% for circulation and 39% for pages but they work at minimum wage. Mr. Dockser asked about the E book usage and Ms. Urell noted it is up 38% from last year. Publishers contract agreements are trying to lock libraries out and it is very hard to track usage. The licensing is restrictive and they are purchasing in consortium. Ms. Urell handed out the job description for the Digital Services and Technology Librarian. She noted that they had a technology person but she burnt out quickly and resigned so they used the funds to hire technicians. She is hoping to have this new person on board next year. Mr. Greenfield asked what the plan is without this person and Ms. Urell noted they Page 1 2 Finance Committee Minutes - March 5, 2014 - page 3 will work with outside person regarding the building needs. Ms. Yablonsky noted that this person will focus on technology and everyone will be trained but they have other duties. Mr. McNeice asked if they will focus on this as a high priority and perhaps focus less on traditional services and Ms. Urell noted that this is an add on - it doesn't replace traditional services. Mr. Greenfield indicated he would appeal to Town meeting to invest in this because it takes a certain amount of time and skill to produce the service. Mr. Dockser asked if this person will be doing hard drive technology and Ms. Urell noted it is actually cataloging. Mr. Dockser noted that tech services increased 20% and Ms. Urell noted that was due to the increase in hours. Mr. Berman asked if this needs to be an FY15 position and Ms. Urell noted if not they will lose the advantage of planning. Mr. McNeice asked if this person will be making decisions on what goes into the building and Ms. Urell noted it will help them make less mistakes. Mr. McNeice asked if they could cut from somewhere else and Ms. Urell noted they don't have any forthcoming turnovers. The Town Manager noted that the Town's technology people are very involved in the new library technology needs. Mr. Berman asked about the status of the project and Mr. Hutchinson noted that the project proceeds on pace. Ms. Urell noted that they are planning to move in June. The Town Manager noted that there are very restrictive rules and no Town resources can be used to advocate for the project. Ms. Delios noted that they need to go before the Planning Commission at 50% design and she asked where they are now. Ms. Urell noted they are at 30% design and she will put it on the website. Ms. Delios asked for the estimated bid dates and Ms. Urell noted in June. Discussion Re: Finance Committee Role in Library Building Project - Mr. Berman noted that the Finance Committee voted to support the project and asked what role they can play. The Town Manager noted that they can disseminate information. Page 4 of tonight's handout has the question and it is the only format that the state allows. The voters approved it the last time assuming a certain amount of money. Mr. Dockser asked who can publish information and the Town Manager noted that the Finance Committee can put out the facts for Town Meeting. The Finance Committee can draft a letter and he'll help with the facts. Library Trustee Andrew Grimes noted that for best results it should be written as a press release instead of a letter to the editor. Police /Dispatch FY15 Budget - The Town Manager noted that the Police Chief is not present because he is sick so Lt. Dick Robbins was present to answer any questions. The Town Manager noted that there are virtually no changes in the Police budget. He attended the very intense assessment center for the Assistant Police Chief position and there were excellent results. The Town Manager noted that the Selectmen had a chance to cut and add department wish items. They chose not to fund the Library overtime but did agree to fund the Police overtime at $15,000 so there is an increase from the original budget. Page 1 3 Finance Committee Minutes - March 5, 2014 - page 4 Mr. Greenfield asked what is driving overtime and the Town Manager noted there is no one specific item, just a lot of work. Mr. Greenfield noted for the new members that Police details are separate from overtime. Mr. Greenfield asked if there are rules in the union contracts that increase overtime and the Town Manager noted that it is not necessarily the rules that drive overtime in the Police budget. He noted that he is in collective bargaining with all of the unions so the amount in the budget is an estimate. Mr. Greenfield asked if growth creates more Police business and the Town Manager indicated it does and we added two new Officers a couple of years ago and the Chief is happy with that. Mr. Berman asked if they are seeing an increase in heroin overdoses and Lt. Robbins indicated they have. He noted it is cheap, local and easy to get. The Police have had occasion to use the pen and were able to bring people back after an overdose. The Town Manager reviewed the history of the Reading Coalition Against Substance Abuse and noted we are fully funding 1.50 FTE's. He also noted that overtime is driven by what is going on in the community not just the number of Officers we have. The Town Manager noted that regionalizing Dispatch has lost its momentum. It would not save Reading money anyway. The Town Manager noted that it is very difficult for one Dispatcher to cover a shift due to new technology and the Chief would love to have two more Dispatchers. Fire /EMS FY15 Budget - The Town Manager noted that page 2 of the handout is a memo from Chief Burns indicating the need for money for overtime. Chief Burns reviewed the reasons for the shortfall in the overtime budget. He noted that two Fire Fighters are out on injury and there were a lot of illnesses during the summer when people were also on vacation. He noted they have minimum staffing requirements and the size of the department was increased years ago. Chief Burns noted that we provide EMS services and there are training costs for that. They also bring in EMS revenue of approximately $600,000 /year. He noted that we provide fire and EMS services and Reading gets a lot of bang for the buck. Mr. Greenfield asked why he doesn't hire someone to cover vacation time. Chief Burns noted that he could guarantee savings in the first and second years and then it would level off to revenue neutral. He thinks we are at the point to hire an additional person but he has to look at it more. There is a grant available. The Town Manager noted that we can reduce overtime but we will never eliminate it. We're bargaining another position now. He also noted that the Board of Selectmen voted to increase ambulance fees and that added $85,000 into the budget for the Deputy Chief position. Chief Burns noted that the non -union wages increased according to the pay and class plan and union wages are budgeted at 3 %. The Fire alarm crew assists with the flag display and flags need to be replaced. There is an increase in ALS medical supplies because everything is disposable and there are ALS supplies on all fire equipment. Mr. Dockser asked if sick leave buyback is still in the contract and Chief Burns indicated they can sell back sick leave. Page 1 4 Finance Committee Minutes - March 5, 2014 - page 6 Mr. Merry asked about fire truck replacement and it was noted that is in the Capital Improvement Plan. The Town Manager noted that the Finance Committee should attend the School Committee meeting next Monday. Mr. Dockser noted that the schools are looking at different options for early childhood education and a recommendation will be presented to the School Committee on Monday and then a feasibility study will be requested. The preferred location is the parking lot at the Performing Arts Center but the issues with parking need to be addressed. Mr. Dockser noted they will be asking Town Meeting for $500,000 - $1 million for this. The Town Manager noted that the Committee heard the request from the Library for an additional librarian but there are many requests that they didn't hear. There are a lot of unmet needs in the budget and the list is on page 3. Mr. Berman suggested looking at the unfunded items next week and Mr. Greenfield indicated it would be nice to know the value for the Town. Approval of Minutes A motion by Greenfield seconded by Dockser to approve the minutes of February 26, 2014 as amended was approved by a vote of 7 -0 -0. A motion by Berman seconded by Greenfield to adiourn the meeting at 10:45 p.m. was approved by a vote of 7 -0 -0. Respectfully submitted, Secretary Page 1 5