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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-01-06 Board of Selectmen Minutes D R A F T s MEETING NOTES January 6, 1986 Members Present: P. Landers, M. Ziegler, J. Russell, E. Nigro P. Dustin absent. The meeting opened at 7:35 and the Board was informed they had an appoint- ment with the FinCom at 7:30 on Thursday, January 9th, to discuss their transfer requests. Mr. Nigro reported he had attended the opening ceremonies of the new community residence home for handicapped on Bancroft Ave. At that time Mr. Dempster of the Housing Authority inquired about the status of the Fair Housing Committee's report, and the delegation of responsibility for the proposed Rivers housing units. Mr. Russell reported that the four new firefighters had started today, and would be trained under Captain Campbell. Mrs. Ziegler read a proclamation for United Cerebral Palsy Week into the record, and the Board voted unanimously to declare January 12-18 as United Cerebral Palsy Week. Mr. Landers reqttsted the Adm. Assistant to contact the State Board of Educa- tion to determine what is necessary to comply with the vote of the School Committee in authorizing the Selectmen to locate the Senior Citizens' , Drop-In Center at Pearl Street. Mrs. Ziegler requested Adm. Assistant to check on proper form for article requested by the Voke School regarding acceptance of Sec. 13 of Chapter 188. The Board met with Mr. Farrell and discussed the Veterans' budget. en theeincreased the Board that a tranfer of over $700 would be necessary to co in his new clerk's salary for this fiscal year, and indicated that he had made reductions in the expenses, and reduced the Aid BeaeTeasonableits from 4considera0tion0. ,He mentioned that a further reduction to 40 might b The Board then met with Beth Klepeis, Joe Schlotman, Dave Pratt to discuss insurance matters. Mrs. Klepeis reviewed the situation of the HMO's drawing away subscribers and leaving a pool of retirees and chronically ill employees in the BC program, the ever, increasing costs, and the status of the Master Health Plus program in light of the recently signed 3 year firefighters contract which includes our present program. She also requested that the Board consider taking the necessary action to change the anniversary dates to July 1st to make fiscal planning more practical. rMp. Pratt expressed his concern that even after the recent James report, we still don't know if BC practices and charges are accurate and fair. He introduced Kevin Connelly of Coopers Lybrand who discussed his proposal to do an actuarial study to answer these questions. ia r , L -2- The possibility of self-insurance and hiring a claims monitoring service were discussed, and also the implications of 'grandfathering" some employees if changes are made. Mr. Connelly stated that as a former BC employee he would acquire much more recent data and in a different format for his study, and although he could not project any clear cost savings; he felt the study would be definitive in deciding if we are in a deficit position with BC or are paying too much, and aid in administrative decisions. In response to questions, he stated that his experience has indicated that BC has a good to average rating in administering claims, and there is a consistent 2 to 22% margin of error. He also stated his experience leaves him unconvinced of savings in claim monitoring services. Beth Klepeis was asked to obtain the necessary information from our carriers regarding the changeover to July lst, and it was decided that Allan Drachman and Ted Cohen would be contacted regarding the various issues involved such as 'grandfathering' and labor contract obligations. The Insurance Committee was asked to review the Coopers $ Lybrand proposal and get back to the Selectmen with a recommendation. At 8:2S the Board met with Chief Marchand and reviewed his budget request. The Chief did report that the traffic light situation in the square was worse, that there were no parts available for replacement, and the costs involved were 100 to 300,000 dollars to the best of his knowledge. If they should have to dig, the costs would be even higher. Since the budget was over the FinCom guidelines. most of the conversation involved potential cuts. Chief Marchand said he felt there was little he could cut from his expenses, and he would have to consider laying off up to 6 patrolmen in order to meet guidelines and cover the unemploy- ment expense incurred by these layoffs. This would make it necessary to make internal changes within the department such as putting detectives in uniform. He indicated he would rather lose his special article requests over manpower. The Board asked him to review the expense portion of his budget, and to prioritize cutbacks at $20,000 increments in the event it will be necessary to level fund. The Selectmen asked the Adm. Assistant to request the Personnel Administrator to verify exactly what the Town's liability would be regarding possible layoff of personnel. They also requested that Mr. Agnew prepare a summary sheet listing salaries, expenses and special articles and totals for all their depart- ments. After additional discussion regarding budgets, the Board asked the Adm. Assistant to contact Mr. Farrell and request that he reduce the Aid portion of his budget to $40,000.