HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-01-04 Finance Committee Minutes i
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� Finance Committee Meeting
January 4, 1995 _a
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e meeting was convened at 7 : 30 P.M. in the Confe e'Room
at Town Hall, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts.
Present were Chairman Richard Coco, Vice Chairman Fred
VanMagness, FinCom members Gerry MacDonald, Jim Keigley, Nate
White, Carol Grimm, Gerry Vitale, Bill Murphy, Steve Blewitt.
Also present were Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, School
Committee member Matthew Cummings.
Chairman Dick Coco expressed his concerns of where we are
going with the finances of this town. There seems to be a
feeling of feeding frenzy and an attitude around town that we
have to start doing some spending. He asked that now through
the end of March FinCom members start putting "lines in the
sand" while reviewing budgets. He wants members to start
being critical on were we are spending, what' s reasonable and
what isn't. The town does not have unlimited resources and
needs to remain viable.
RMHS 2000 Committee was formed to look at the High School
physical plant. The committee is still in the early stages
and has nothing yet to report. It was mentioned that there
aren't FinCom or School Committee members on the committee.
Dick Coco will call the superintendent and ask that a member
of FinCom be appointed.
Approval of Minutes
On motion by VanMagness seconded by Blewitt, the minutes of
November 30, 1994 were approved, as amended, by a vote of
7-0-2 with Murphy and Blewitt abstaining.
Liaison Reports
Fred VanMagness reported on the 25 Haven Street Sale Task
Force. The Committee met on December 21 , 1994 to review the
data. Because both proposals received failed to meet the
minimum appraised value of $450,000, there was nothing to
review. The appraisal was received and opened on the same
day that the bids were received. One of the bidders did
appear in case there was a need for any additional input.
The task force decided that it would not require additional
input from the bidder based on the fact that additional
information may prejudice him in competition with other
bidders in the second round. The task force ultimately
recommended and approved as part of the process to put the
property back out for re-bid and that is ongoing at this
time. The task force plans to address this issue at the
annual town meeting. Their hope is to receive bids at or
above the appraised value. Current bids are at $404,000 and
$50,000.
Bill Murphy wants to go on record as saying he feels we
should hold out for the full appraised value. This would be
his recommendation if the question were proposed to FinCom.
Fred VanMagness recommended an executive session discussion
on the strategy before a vote is taken.
Peter Hechenbleikner is expecting a final report from the
Swimming Pool Task force. The last meeting of the task force
is January 10, 1995. The information from the task force was
requested by the Town Manager because he needs the
information for part of the Capital Planning Process.
Gerry Vitale reported on the open space and recreation task
force which met 1 week before Christmas. 350 surveys were
returned out of the 8,000 household potential. They have
started to compile all of the data. Chairperson Nancy Eaton
would like to meet with FinCom to explain their position as
to why they are requesting financial assistance. FinCom has
invited her to attend the meeting on February 1 , 1995 . It is
Gerry' s understanding that the recommendation from the task
force will be to purchase more open space to be used for
recreation and conservation.
Nate White reported on the School Board. They are expecting a
1 . 1% increase in enrollment and are requesting a 9 .7%
increase in funds . This is a requested increase of $1 .6
million over last year. He feels this request is very well
documented as to how they arrived at this figure. They have
not incorporated their wish list into the budget this year.
Discussion Of Items
Peter Hechenbleikner received the Early Retirement Incentive
actuary report and sent a copy to the Town Accountant and the
School Department. The School Department will be getting a
bill effective 1/l/96 for a 5 year payout. The bill will be
for $56,317 per year every year for 5 years through he year
2000. This is part of the School Department ' s budget and not
the Town budget. There is no effect for 1995.
The next issue is the sale of bond anticipation notes of
$865,000. Carol Grimm had asked the Town Manager in December
if the $8,818,000 was all we were going to be selling at that
time. Two additional items have been added. The first is for
rolling over the bond anticipation note on the cleanup of the
former Department of Public Works site. This will be paid off
in 1996 but it rolls it over 6 months. The second item is for
the Parker Middle school design costs which is roughly
$785 ,000. The rates were 4.04% for the first $250,000 and
4 .74% for the remainder.
Jim Kiely reported on the Capital Improvement task force. We
don't have any money to put towards the acquisition of open
space or conservation land. They plan to put a bandaid on
the swimming pool instead of building a new one; replacement
of the fire vehicle is not of main concern; there are several
other issues that will need to pushed back for at least 10
years eg. the shading tree nursery. The committee logged
. each request, set the criteria and prioritized them. Jim
feels that the plan is a good start but changes would
certainly be made from year to year.
Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner presented the preliminary
report on the Capital Improvement Plan for FY 1996 through FY
2005. A copy of the plan went to RMLD, the School Committee,
Municipal Light Board and the Board of Selectmen. Each group
will review the plan from January 1 to February 1 and give
their comments to the Capital Improvement Advisory Sub
Committee. The Capital Advisory Sub Committee will evaluate
the comments and try to work out any discrepancies by
February 15. There were some concerns about the final costs
on the following projects : Police station renovation,
swimming pool reconstruction, land fill closure, renovation
of the High School and the School Department technology
equipment. These projects will be funded solely on the sale
of two real estate properties, Pearl Street School and Bear
Hill.
The next meeting of the Finance Committee is scheduled for
January 18 , 1995 at 7:30 p.m. in the Conference Room at the
Main Street Fire Station.
On a motion by Coco seconded by Keigley the Finance Committee
adjourned at 10 : 35 p.m. by a vote of 9-0-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Secretary