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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-04-06 Finance Committee MinutesMinutes of the Finance Committee Meeting April 6, 1992 Present were Vice Chairman Fred Van Magness, members Gerry Mac- Donald, Pete Dahl, Carroll McMillan, Dick Coco, Liz Greene, Town Manager Peter I. Hechenbleikner, and the following list of inter- ested residents: Jim Keigley, Steve Thomases, Arthur O'.Brien, Marlene Cohen, Bill Burditt, Maria Silvaggi and Nancy Eaton. The meeting convened at 7:31 p.m. Bill Burditt chaired the meet- ing for the purpose of electing a new chairman of the Finance Committee. Bill thanked the members of the FinCom for their past support. Nominations for Chairman were opened. On motion by Van Magness, seconded by Greene, the name of Gerald MacDonald was placed into nomination. On motion by Gerry MacDonald, seconded by Pete Dahl, Richard Coco's name was placed in nomination. Mac- Donald indicated that he wanted to decline the nomination. On roll call vote, two members voted for MacDonald, and four members voted for Coco, and Coco was elected. Dick Coco thanked the Committee for their support, and indicated that he would try to run a very organized meeting. He thanked Fred Van Magness for developing an agenda for this evening and indicated that he would try to have agendas for all meetings. The FinCom reviewed the art.icles.of the Annual Town Meeting War- rant that had not previously been reviewed and voted by FinCom. Article 19, the Capital Improvements Program, was discussed. On motion by Van Magness, seconded by MacDonald, the FinCom voted to recommend the subject matter of Article 19 by a vote of 5-1-0, with McMillan against. The FinCom discussed Article 8, creating a Capital Improvements Advisory Committee. Concerns expressed by FinCom members were that it impinges on some of the duties and responsibilities of the FinCom, sets up a separate committee which the Town really doesn't need; complicates the FinCom's mission; and would confuse and complicate things. There was some thought that perhaps there should be a sub committee of the FinCom to deal with capital im- provements. All present felt that additional focus on capital improvements was important. On motion by MacDonald, seconded by Greene, a motion to recommend the subject matter of Article`8 was defeated by a vote of 0-6-0. Article 20 would amend the Capital Improvement Program and there is no action expected on this item. Article 21 was discussed. This would ..transfer- Seventy-Six Thousand Dollars ($76,000) to other capital projects. The Town Manager recommended Thirty-Eight Thousand Dollars ($38,000) to go to the RMHS to renovate the elevator in the old building. FinCom decided to hold it until the next meeting until they could evaluate a full package. Fincom minutes - 4/6/92 - Page 2 i The Town Manager presented the Reserve Fund Transfer Request for Six Thousand Seven Hundred Two Dollars and Thirty-Two Cents ($6,702.32) for Labor Counsel. On motion by MacDonald, seconded by McMillan, FinCom voted to approve a Reserve Fund Transfer as noted by a vote of 6-0-0. George Hines joined the meeting at this point. The item of dis- cussion was Article 5 of the Special Town Meeting the Ice Rink. Hines indicated that he was available to answer questions but had no formal presentation. He indicated that the project involved no Town dollars for construction or operation of the rink and there are no financial articles involved. One aspect that FinCom might be interested in would be alternative uses of the property if it was not used as a rink. The only serious proposal for use of this land in the past ten years was for a DPW facility and that was dropped. Other uses considered at that time which were conceptually considered were residential. However, the Master Plan proposes that the site be recreational and open space. The feasibility committee had been concerned that the facility not become a financial drain on the community. The proponent has shown that the Town could, in fact, receive money from the facility.after all debt had been paid off. Carroll McMillan indicated that Town Counsel feels that the Town is sufficiently insulated from any drain on the Town. He asked how Town Counsel has done this work. It was replied that this was under retainer and most of the work done was related to the access issues which need to be cleared regardless of the use of the site. He'indicated parenthetically he was surprised that the vehicle count on Haverhill Street north of Charles at 9700 vehicles per day and south of Charles at 7800. These figures are accurate. Van Magness was concerned about the extraordinary costs of the time spent. It was responded that the traffic study will take up to forty (40) hours and the planner and engineer had each spent approximately fifteen (15) hours and conservation had spent ten (10) hours. Van Magness was concerned that Town Counsel was diverted from other.work and it was responded that all other work of the Town has continued to be done. With regard to the finan- cial implications of the site, he is concerned about the issue of alternative uses of the site. It was indicated that one of the criteria in evaluating sites was the uses that were permitted-- the overlay zoning. The Master Plan recommends this site as recreational. Van Magness was concerned that additional study might have played a role in evaluating this site. He feels that recreation is not a priority in the community at this point. The feasibility and site selection committees had asked about land trades and no one was interested. MacDonald reviewed the feasibility report and was concerned about the high cost of utility installation and insurance. The response was that Mas- sachusetts DPW has indicated that the project is eligible for a P.W.E.D. Grant for the roadway and utilities. Any additional FinCom Minutes - 4/6/92 - Page 3 premiums for insurance would be passed along to the ice rink. He asked if other ice rinks in other communities would lose money because of the construction of this facility. The comment was that all major rinks are healthy except for Stoneham which is a town-operated rink. All ice time is used to the maximum and the demand is high. There is unmet demand in this community for figure skating and other uses. Pete Dahl asked what would happen if the non-profit corporation lost money for more than one year. It was responded that they are proposing to build up a contin- gency fund to handle capital costs. The non-profit corporation is responsible if they lose money. They can either raise revenues or cut costs. The worst case would be that the non- profit would cease to exist and the building would be torn down. Mr. Coco presented the local ice rink financial survey that was done by the Haverhill Street neighbors. MacDonald raised the question of the feasibility of raising money through donations, et cetera. to retire the balance of the construction debt. The lease should require the maintenance of the buildings to stan- dards that the Town could enforce. Mr. Coco expressed concern that there were only two pages dealing with finances in the reports. He has concern about the Town's financial respon- sibilities with regard to the project. He asked about the width of the right-of-way and how the access will be handled. Liz Greene asked what the major benefits would be, financial or otherwise. Hines responded that the Town would get a first class recreational facility that the Town does not have; it would be at no cost to the Town; would provide a location for wholesome family activities; and it is a once- in-a-lifetime offer. Steve Thomases reviewed material that he presented to the FinCom. He expressed concern that many residents are concerned about the small amount of information available. His analysis shows a duplication of revenues and shows a first-year loss of one Hundred Fifty-Five Thousand Dollars ($155,000). Pete Dahl sug- gested.that when looking at the financial situation of other com- munities' rinks, you should have the full information about each site. FinCom indicated that an additional meeting might be necessary and the Committee settled on Wednesday, April 22. Marlene Cohen presented a local ice rink financial survey and a copy of other material from ISIA. Nancy Eaton from the Reading Rifle & Revolver Club expressed concern about long-term mitiga- tion, the fact that the property used to belong to Reading Rifle & Revolver before it was taken by the Federal Government, that they have submitted a written offer to the Board of Selectmen which the Board of Selectmen has deferred until such time as the decision is made on the ice rink, was concerned about conserva- tion issues and the Nike silos. Coco indicated that FinCom's concern is about any future liability to the Town and opportunity costs. Dahl asked for an analysis of major expense groups by-rink. The FinCom reviewed Article 1 on the Special Town Meeting War- rant, transferring funds. On motion by Dahl, seconded by Mac- Donald, the Committee voted to recommend the subject matter of FinCom Minutes - 4/6/92 - Page 4 Article 1 in the amount of $181,895.00. An amendment by Van Mag- ness, seconded by Dahl to eliminate $8,000 from line. 40 and add $8,000 to line 101 for textbooks was defeated by a vote of 2-3-1 with Greene abstaining. On motion by Van Magness, seconded by MacDonald, to reduce the line item to $173,895 by deleting $8,000 from line 40 was withdrawn. The vote on the original motion was 6-0-0. On motion by Van Magness, seconded by MacDonald, the meeting was adjourned at 10:10 p.m. b a vote of 6-0-0. R s ectf 11 s limit e , S cretary