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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-07-16 Finance Committee Minutesp� rHfgO Town of Reading e Meeting Minutes RECEIVED IOWN CLERK ADING. MASS. Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 1014 SEP IS P 3 34 Finance Committee Date: 2014 -07 -16 Time: 7:30 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Conference Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: General Business Attendees: Members - Present: Chairman Mark Dockser, Vice Chair Paula Perry, FINCOM members Marc Moll, Peter Lydecker, Anne Landry, and Craig Merry. Members - Not Present: FINCOM members Karren Herrick and Paul McNeice. Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur and Administrative Secretary Caitlin Saunders Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Mr. Dockser called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm. Mr. LeLacheur stated the Massachusetts General Law changed from $5,000 to $10,000 when disposing of a tangible supply. However, the Towns bylaw takes precedence to the States so Mr. LeLacheur is asking the Bylaw Committee to change the Town to $10,000 as well. Mr. LeLacheur asked FINCOM to declare a list of about 10 Items as surplus. He stated most Items get traded in for newer ones but they cannot be traded in until they are declared surplus. Ms. Perry made a motion to declare the named items as surplus effective July 16`h, 2014, second by Mr. Merry, and approved with a 6 -0 -0 vote. FINCOM then took a look at the Warrant outline for the September Special Town Meeting. Article 7 is Transferring debt authorization. The town has about $94,000 that was not used for projects that are done and that can be transferred to other projects that meet the requirements of the debt. Articles 8, 9, and 10 are the major reasons for having the September meeting. Article 8 is a school issue that does not have a lot of information to be shared at the moment. Article 9 is the Zoning Bylaw changes for the medical marijuana. The town needs to make a plan and submit it to the state to be approved first. Article 10 is also • Zoning Bylaw change for Accessory Apartments. This is on the list because it has received • lot of public attention. Mr. LeLacheur stated he hopes to amend both zoning Issues in September and also made note that the medical marijuana is not optional and must be done at some point. FINCOM then took a look at the Warrant outline for the November Subsequent Town Meeting. Mr. LeLacheur said he would first like to fill FINCOM in on what has been going on with RMLD. He stated RMLD is under investigation by the Town Accountant for breaking Page I I Finance Committee Minutes - July 16. 2014 - procurement laws. He noted 3 trucks estimated at a value of $30,000 - $60,000 were sold to an employee for a total of $350. Mr. LeLacheur said RMLD has a history of doing this because they have a policy that allows It however, the policy is not legal and they will be changing it. He noted he got wind of this thru an anonymous letter and after the Town Accountant found legitimation in the letter she started her investigation. They went public with this information on Tuesday, July 15`h to the Board of Selectmen. Mr. LeLacheur felt FINCOM needed to know in case they need to step in. Mr. LeLacheur provided an updated list of Revenue Enhancement Ideas. With that list he explained'EDSAT'. EDSAT stands for Economic Development Self Assessment Tool and It rates how the community does on various things compared to about 100 other communities around us. We were below average when it came to working with businesses communicating and marketing. We also should have a full time web master whose sole priority Is the website. We ranked high in house and rent prices. We have very low commercial rates and slightly high residential rates, but our electric rates are low as well. Mr. Dockser asked the group what they would like to accomplish at the July 301h Financial Forum. Mr. LeLacheur stated it is too early and we won't have any estimates by then. He said the best thing to probably do, would be to assume the pattern of the past couple years. He said we will probably have estimates for the September forum however we won't have anything on the budgets until the October meeting. Mr. Dockser said the July meeting is a good time to set the tone /overview for the rest of the Financial Forums and to work on getting all the boards to work together to help each other. He also stated this first forum would be a good time to figure out how to set/assess the priorities of the town. Mr. Dockser said we should also ask the boards what their most Important things to accomplish in their budget are. Mr. LeLacheur Informed the group that our Legislative will be attending the September forum. Mr. Dockser said the September forum will be more of a working session while the October forum will be dealing with the budgets. Ms. Perry said she would like to look at a multi -year budget and thinks that will help people understand the financial road we are on. The committee was brainstorming ideas to better communicate with the community and thought it would be a good idea to use email to try and reach the public about meetings they can attend and other financial news. Mr. Dockser wanted the committee to come up with some ways they could help the Library Building Committee. The group asked if they could get regular updates on the project. Mr. LeLacheur said that will be possible but the financials are still hard to look at right now until the bids come back. FINCOM said they will try and brainstorm ways to raise money if needed besides asking the town for more. Ms. Perry made a motion to accept the minutes from June 250 as written, second by Mr. Merry, and approved with a 6 -0 -0 vote. Mr. Lydecker made a motion to accept the executive session minutes from June 25`h as written, second by Mr. Dockser, the votes were as followed: Mr. Merry - Yes Mr. Lydecker - Yes Mr. Moll - Yes Ms. Landry - Yes Ms. Perry - Yes Mr. Dockser- Yes Page 1 2 Finance committee Minutes - luly 16 2014 - page 3 The Motion carried with a 6 -0 -0 vote. Ms. Perry made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9pm, second by Mr. Lydecker, the motion carried with a 6 -0 -0 vote. Respectfully submitted, Secretary p W4 Page 1 3