HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-03-21 Finance Committee Minutes 6 -0
Finance Committee Meeting y/2'1/5ly
March 21 , 1994
The meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. in the conference room at 16 Lowell
Street, Reading, MA. Present were Chairman Richard Coco; Vice Chairman
Fred Van Magness; FinCom Members Jim Keigley, Nate White, Gerry
MacDonald, Steve Blewitt, Bill Murphy and Carol Grimm. Also present
were Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner; Reading Municipal Light
Department General Manager Len Rucker; Reading Municipal Light Board
Chairman Phil Pacino; Reading Municipal Board Members: Dave Swyter,
John Hanlon, Bill Hughes, School Committee Member Tom Stohlman and
from the Chronicle Ken McGuire.
On motion by Fred Van Magness seconded by Gerry MacDonald the
committee voted to approve the March 17, 1994 Minutes. The motion was
approved with a vote of 5-0-0. Steve Blewitt, Bill Murphy and Carol
Grimm arrived late, which is the reason for the vote tally difference.
On motion by Nate White seconded by Gerry MacDonald the committee
voted to approve the March 17, 1994 Executive Session Minutes as
submitted. The motion was approved with a vote of 5-0-0.
On Thursday, April 7, 1994 will be a meeting at 7:30 p.m. for Town Meeting
Members to review the FY95 Budget in the High School lecture hall.
Fred Van Magness questioned the PWR6 sidewalk improvement program.
$245,000 is available for sidewalks on West Street.
Fred Van Magness felt that sidewalks are needed on Franklin Street as
well as many other streets. The Town Manager stated if he had more
money he would definitely spend it on additional sidewalks throughout the
town and he will look into other sources of funding. He also felt he could
spend 2 million dollars for sidewalks alone in Reading.
On motion by Fred Van Magness seconded by Gerry MacDonald the
committee voted to approve the 10 year Capital Improvement Program as
assembled by the Capital Improvement Advisory Sub-Committee and the
[ Town Manager. The motion was approved with a vote of 7-0-0.
♦/ Steve Blewitt felt that the Capital Improvement Plan is a great product
Finance Committee Meeting
March 21, 1994
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and would like to see inflation built in next time; just one line at the
bottom.
Nate White suggested to keep the boiler replacements in the Capital Plan,
because it can't be done unless it is in the plan.
On motion by Gerry MacDonald seconded by Nate White the committee
voted to accept the intent of Article 16, the Haven Street Reading
Municipal Light Department property sale, as amended by adding the
clause, "not less than the appraised value and adding the word "net"
before the word amount. The motion was approved with a vote of 7-0-0.
The funding for the road which will lead to the ice rink will be from a
PWED grant, however it needs to be appropriated in our budget and it will
be reimbursed by the state.
On motion by Fred Van Magness seconded by Gerry MacDonald the
committee voted to accept the intent of Article 8 which appropriates
$253,442, which will be reimbursed the the state. The motion was
approved with a vote of 8-0-0.
On motion by Nate White seconded by Bill Murphy the committee voted not
to submit a report on Article 9. The motion did not pass with a vote of
1 -7-0.
On motion by Fred Van Magness seconded by Jim Keigley the committee
voted to accept the intent of Article 9. The motion was approved with a
vote of 7-0-1 with Nate White abstaining.
Article 12 consists of the town's surplus property, which needs to be
sold, auctioned or traded in.
Fred Van Magness questioned the use of the old police cars, "can't they be
used by town employees for town purposes to save spending money on
mileage reimbursements?" The Town Manager responded that he wants to
downsize the vehicle fleet in town, not maintain it.
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March 21 , 1994
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Bill Murphy was concerned with having an open ended motion and wanted
to set a minimum value on each surplus item. The Town Manager explained
that they will run for the appraised value, which is a matter of law.
On motion by Steve Blewitt seconded by Jim Keigley the committee voted
to accept the intent of Article 12, the selling of surplus items. The
motion was approved with a vote of 5-3-0.
The Town Manager requested FinCom to report Article 13 as action pending
due to the fact that snow/ice money may still be reimbursed from the
state.
Also discussed were the health insurance benefits and the fire department
overtime budget. Group Health & Life Insurance has increased about 6%
also the number of retirees have increased. The overtime for the Fire
Department is due to the departments need to cover the hours of 5
firefighters out due to off duty injuries and 2 firefighters whom have
retired that were on long term injury leave.
Fred Van Magness stated he wasn't happy to see additional amounts added
to the fire budget due to the fact that it is a fairly large town budget.
Elder Services has increased also, and questions arose regarding the
Senior Center. Nate White stated that the town needs to have services for
the elders to encourage them to stay in the town.
The next Finance Committee Meeting is scheduled for April 21 , 1994 at
7:30 p.m. Also meetings will be posted for FinCom 1/2 hour prior to each
Town Meeting.
On motion by Fred Van Magness seconded by Gerry MacDonald the
committee voted not to take action on Article 15. The motion was
approved with a vote of 7-0-1 with Fred Van Magness abstaining.
At 8:30 p.m. the committee adjorned for a recess and reconvened at 8:40
p.m.
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March 21 , 1994
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Article's 20, 21 & 22 requires no cost to the town.
On motion by Nate White seconded by Carol Grimm the committe voted to
approved line item J-2 for the assessment for the Northeast Vocational
School in the amount of $123,144. The motion was approved with a vote
of 8-0-0.
On motion by Fred Van Magness seconded by Jim Keigley the committee
voted to approve line item L-4 for Group Health and Life Insurance in the
amount of $2,518,819. The motion was approved with a vote of 8-0-0.
On motion by Fred Van Magness seconded by Nate White the committee
voted to approve line item L-5 for Medicare and Social Security in the
amount of $205,759. The motion was approved with a vote of 8-0-0.
Tom Stohlman addressed FinCom with the idea to consider using a full tax
levy. "I think it's bad policy by not levying to full capacity and overides
will be more frequent and more expensive in the future."
The Town Manager stated that using the full levy capacity is contrary to
the intent of the overide.
FinCom as a whole disagreed with Tom Stohlman and felt that this is a
policy decision.
Fred Van Magness stated his perspective is worrisome for future years
and he doesn't want to tax citizens on a greater expense.
On motion by Fred Van Magness seconded by Jim Keigley the committee
voted not to support increasing the tax levy limit. On motion by Carol
Grimm seconded by Gerry MacDonald the committee voted to table the
motion with a vote of 6-2-0.
FinCom's concern with the Parker Middle School Renovation/Replacement
Project is that at the beginning the cost projected was 7 1/2 million and
now it's at 13 million.
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March 21 , 1994
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Fred Van Magness stated that we need to discuss reducing this cost or
better yet, ask the architects what can we get for 10 million dollars for a
turn key start.
Jim Keigley on the other hand felt that the project will cost at least 15
million and questioned why has the School Building Committee waited so
long for renovations.
Bill Murphy stated we are suppose to support and report the financing of
the town, we are not a policy board.
The Finance Committee decided to request a meeting with the School
Building Committee and the Town Manager will be setting up a meeting
which will include the Board of Selectmen, The Finance Committee, The
School Building Committee and the School Committee for the discussion of
the Parker Middle School Project, as of this meeting, it is tentatively
scheduled for May 25, 1994.
The Town Manager requested that FinCom write out their questions for the
School Building Committee and give them to the Town Manager so that
each issue can be addressed entirely at the scheduled meeting.
Bill Murphy said we should agree on an amount and ask what can be done
for that amount.
Nate White stated that "you just don't pluck a number out of the air, you
need to back it up with data and justify it financially."
On motion by Steve Blewitt seconded by Gerry MacDonald the committee
voted to adjorn the meeting at 9:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa ZanPu
Secretary