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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-05-28 Finance Committee Minutes0`�a or'R of Town of Reading ?a� Meeting Minutes A �r`y ItECEIYED TOWN CLERK '"M(aPPO FADING, MASS. Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Finance Committee io14 JUL —8 P 3103 Date: 2014 -05 -28 Time: 7:30 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Conference Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: General Business Attendees: Members - Present: Chairman Barry Berman, Vice Chair Mark Dockser, FINCOM members David Greenfield, Craig Merry, Paula Perry, and Peter Lydecker. Members - Not Present: FINCOM members Karen Herrick, Paul McNeice, and Jeff Perkins Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur and Administrative Secretary Caitlin Saunders Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Mr. Berman called the meeting to order and wanted to start off with getting the committee's thoughts and feelings on the budget and everything since Town Meeting. Ms. Perry stated the question now is how do we handle this unsustainable path we are on? She thinks It needs to be done with effort and meetings from all the boards /committees together. Mr. Greenfield stated FINCOM did their job and presented the information, now the other boards /committees need to decide what services they think are important to have. He suggested talking about this early with all the boards /committees and have a joint recommendation to Town Meeting. Mr. Dockser said the town needs to be the one to set the values. He also agreed that FINCOM should go to Town Meeting with the other boards /committees early on and present the options the town has. Mr. Greenfield stated the operating budget needs an override or we are going to have to keep tightening up on things. Mr. Berman said FINCOM should work with the other boards to figure out which services are really essential to the town. Ms. Perry agreed, however, stated that FINCOMs role is to state the town's financial situation, but It Is NOT our role to decide which services are valuable to the town. Mr. Dockser mentioned that free cash does not have enough life left to keep putting this off like we have been. Mr. Merry asked If there was a way we could have the town vote on the services they would like to see stay, or rank them in order of importance. Page I 1 Finance Committee Minutes - Mal 28, 2014 - pacie 2 Mr. Greenfield also said the discussion shouldn't be about taxes either. The people should decide if they want these services or not and if they do, then they're going to have to pay a little extra for them. Mr. LeLacheur commented that the Selectman and Department Heads had a retreat and made four working groups, one in which will deal with making a list of services the town offers and really figuring out which ones the town wants. Mr. Greenfield stated he felt FINCOM made a small mistake at Town Meeting with how they explained why they voted the way they did for the school project. He said FINCOM voted for the school project even though they kind of knew there was no town support for it and he thinks they should have stated while presenting, that they were unsure where the town stood on the project. Mr. Dockser disagreed and said FINCOMS only responsibility it to present to the town if the project is financially okay and then It is up to Town Meeting to decide if the town wants the project. Mr. Greenfield agreed with Mr. Dockser and said FINCOM should only be voting on the financials and we stand by our vote, however, we were not clear in our comments on that. Mr. Dockser stated the timing was simply terrible for the school project and the right information was not in the right hands. Mr. LeLacheur said the most complaints he got about the school project was the location. He said of course taxes were an issue too but mostly the school projects big downfall was the location in the RMHS parking lot. Mr. Dockser commented that the most cost effective decision was picked; however, maybe it wasn't the RIGHT decision. He also made a note that FINCOM should be hearing more details about town projects as they come about. Mr. Greenfield said FINCOM should have an earlier financial forum meeting to get everyone working together and on the same page going into more detailed discussions. He also said we need to start talking early before we are In serious trouble. Mr. Berman stated he thinks it is an appropriate time to appoint the new chair at this time. A MOTION BY PERRY TO NOMINATE DOCKSER FOR CHAIR OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE. SECOND BY GREENFIELD AND MERRY CARRIED WITH A 6 -0 VOTE A MOTION BY GREENFIELD TO NOMINATE PERRY FOR VICE CHAIR OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE. SECOND BY DOCKSER CARRIED WITH A 6 -0 VOTE BERMAN MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MARCH S. 2014 MINUTES AS WRITTEN SECOND BY GREENFIELD CARRIED WITH A 5 -0 -1 VOTE WITH PERRY OBSTAINING. BERMAN MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MARCH 19, 2014 MINUTES AS WRITTEN SECOND BY LYDECKER CARRIED WITH A 6 -0 VOTE. GREENFIELD MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MARCH 26 2014 MINUTES AS WRITTEN SECOND BY LYDECKER CARRIED WITH A 6 -0 VOTE Page 12 Finance Committee Minutes - May 28. 2014 - page 3 GREENFIELD MOVED TO ACCEPT APRIL 9, 2014 MINUTES AS WRITTEN. SECOND BY BERMAN CARRIED WITH A 6 -0 VOTE. DOCKSER MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 9PM WITH A SECOND BY PERRY, THE MOTION CARRIED WITH A 6 -0 VOTE. Respectfully submitted, Secretary 1 ,�� i- P,' 1 3