HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-04-12 Finance Committee MinutesFinance Committee Meeting; I E G
April 12, 2006 f ! i I CLERK
t~E_i;i~►I'iG, MASS.
The meeting convened at 7:45 p.m. in the Town Hall Berger Room, 16 Lowell F'pe#;JRa in& o,: 5h
Massachusetts. Present were Chairman Chuck Robinson, Vice Chairman Andrew Grimes,
Finance Committee Members Paul Bolger, David Greenfield and Ronald Powell. (Finance
Committee Member George Hines arrived at 7:55 p.m.) Also present were Assistant Town
Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur. Town Counsel Ellen Doucette and Board of
Selectmen Chairman Camille Anthony joined the meeting at 9:00 p.m.
Aporoval of Minutes
On motion by Grimes seconded by Greenfield, the Finance Committee approved the
Minutes from the February 8, 2006 Meeting by a vote of 5-0-0.
On motion by Greenfield seconded by Bolger, the Finance Committee approved the
Minutes from the February 15, 2006 Financial Forum Meeting by a vote of 5-0-0. This
approval included the addition of an opening statement from Chairman Chuck Robinson and
some minor edits.
On motion by Bolger seconded by Grimes, the Finance Committee approved the Minutes
from the February 22, 2006 Meeting by a vote of 5-0-0.
On motion by Powell seconded by Greenfield, the Finance Committee approved the
Minutes from the March 1, 2006 Meetinst by a vote of 6-0-0.
On motion by Greenfield seconded by Hines, the Finance Committee approved the Minutes
from the March 8, 2006 Meeting by a vote of 6-0-0.
On motion by Bolger seconded by Hines, the Finance Committee approved the Minutes
from the March 22, 2006 Meeting by a vote of 6-0-0.
On motion by Hines seconded by Powell, the Finance Committee approved the Minutes
from the March 29, 2006 MeetinI4 by a vote of 6-0-0.
Discussion/Action Items
Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur presented the results of the Rubbish
Collection and Recycling RFP. In total, there was a significant amount eight (8) of bids - many
of these bids were at or above the budgeted amount for FY07 and beyond. The leading bid was
$112,900 below the amount budgeted for in FY07, with a few open items that might reduce that
savings by a few thousand dollars. The best bid, which the Town will seek to award in the next
10 days, was for a five year, period, and would have the same vendor do both the rubbish and
recycling pick-ups.
Chairman Chuck Robinson agreed to use a round $100,000 figure for discussion, and suggested
that the best use of this savings was to utilize less free cash in the FY 2007 Budget. Vice
Chairman Andrew Grimes agreed, especially in light of the uncertain Chapter 70 State Aid.
Finance Committee Meeting_ April 12, 2006 - Page 2
George Hines suggested that the taxes collected be reduced by $ l OOK for FY07. After some brief
discussion, the majority of the Finance Committee instructed Bob LeLacheur to present a budget
for Annual Spring Town Meeting that used $400K of free cash instead of the previous $500K.
They also agreed to leave State Aid as the Governor's Budget number for purposes of the
presentation to Town Meeting, with a note of what the House has initially proposed ($197K less
for the Town).
Bob LeLacheur presented additional FY 2006 Budget transfers (enclosed) to the Finance
Committee. A lengthy discussion of the proposed wide area network ensued. George Hines
suggested that without knowing how many subscribers Verizon had signed up, he could not
support the concept of moving funds from the FY 2,007 Budget to the FY 2006 Budget, in order
to let them have local cable access.
Paul Bolger suggested that the Town find a way to do the entire project as soon as possible,
despite the fact that the Verizon grant would only pay for two of the three WAN loops. He
suggested using free cash to fund the balance. George Hines objected to the water reserves
transfer, without a more complete description of the CDM consulting expenses.
On motion by Grimes seconded by Hines, the Finance Committee approved the FY 2006
transfers in Lines F7, F8, F16 and F17 (DPW) by a vote of 6-0-0.
On motion by Greenfield seconded by Bober, the Finance Committee approved the FY
2006 transfer in Lines J2 (WAN) by a vote of 5-1-0.
On motion by Powell seconded by Greenfield, the Finance Committee approved the FY
2006 transfers in Lines L2 and L4 by a vote of 6-0-0.
On motion by Grimes seconded by Greenfield, the Finance Committee did not approve
amending the FY 200 Budget Line J15 Wide Area Network capital by a vote of 4-1-1.
On motion by Bolger seconded by Grimes, the Finance Committee approved a motion to
reconsider Line J15 by a vote of 5-1-0.
On motion by Bolger seconded by Greenfield, the Finance Committee approved amending
the FY 2007 Budget Line J15 Wide Area Network capital by a vote of 6-0-0. This line item
will be reduced from $245K to $195K in the FY 2007 Budget, this vote amending both the
source and use of said funds to the lesser amount.
Chairman Chuck Robinson introduced the discussion of the Storm Water Enterprise fund as well
as new Town Counsel Ellen Doucette and Board of Selectmen Chairman Camille Anthony.
Chuck Robinson stated that apparently now new information has been brought to the Finance
Committee since last Fall when they voted against this proposal. Camille Anthony described that
the Selectmen supported this Article by a unanimous 5-0-0 vote.
David Greenfield reviewed the `three tests' outlined by previous Town Counsel Joan Langsam.
Town Counsel Ellen Doucette described the Emerson case and the implications. David
Finance Committee Meeting - April 12, 2006 - Page 3
Greenfield agreed that there was a direct benefit to the property owner in avoiding a storm water
backup, a point he had not previously considered. Andrew Grimes noted that sharing the cost of
a municipal storm water management system relieved each property owner of needing to deal
with the matter on their own, thus creating thousands of individual systems. He agreed that his
view is now changed.
Paul Bolger insisted that this cost belonged in the general fund budget, and should be prioritized
as any other municipal service each year. He wondered how quickly the expenses would grow
from the proposed small amount to something much larger. Bob LeLacheur stated that the FY
2007 proposal was unambiguous - only $280,000 in new capital and $77,527 in new wages and
expenses. For illustration purposes, the current storm water amount that was funded by the
general fund was shown. He agreed that in future years, the Finance Committee and ultimately
Town Meeting will have an annual say on how much said enterprise fund might charge, and
what those costs would be.
Paul Bolger asked if a motion might be made at the Town Meeting to immediately include all of
the expenses in such a fund, and Bob LeLacheur stated that no such motion would be made by
Town staff, but any such motion might be possible. Town Counsel Ellen Doucette pointed out
that the State legislature now uses language to address storm water issues in an identical fashion
as sewer funds.
On motion by Hines seconded by Grimes, the Finance Committee approved Article 8,
establish a Storm Water Enterprise Fund by a vote of 5-1-0. Andrew Grimes will give the
Finance Committee report at Town Meeting.
Bob LeLacheur mentioned that there was no appraisal yet for the property on Article 18. He
described that the Town would not spend any funds to purchase the property, instead a combined
grant and resident donation was proposed as the source of funding. The amount of the resident
donation was confidential, but may not be sufficient if the appraisal was high and the grant was
low. George Hines asked about the use of the property and the annual cost of upkeep.
On motion by Grimes seconded by Powell, the Finance Committee did not approve Article
18 by a vote of 0-6-0. They agreed to continue the discussion on the first night of Town
Meeting, presuming the annual costs and appraisal figures would be known.
On motion by Hines seconded by Powell, the Finance Committee approved Lines N1, N2,
N3 and N4 in the FY 2007 Budget in the amount of $357,529 by a vote of 5-1-0.
On motion by Grimes seconded by Hines, the Finance Committee voted to adiourn their
meeting of April 12, 2006 at 9:45 p.m. by a vote of 6-04.
1 submitted,
tcretary