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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFCMeetingMinutes_01.05.16 TOWN OF NORTH ANDOVER FINANCE COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes Meeting Date January 5, 2016 Meeting Location: Police Station Community Meeting Room, CTO 6:43 Bill Callahan, BC Chairman X Susan Almono, SA X Donald Elliot, DE Vice Chair X Timothy Tschirhart, TT X Karin Blake, KB X Liz Gerron, LG X Thomas Ringler, TR X Angela Ciofolo, AC X Chris Nobile, CN X Jennifer Goldman, JG X Non Fincom Members in Attendance Andrew Maylor (Maylor), Town Manager Lynn Savage (Savage), Town Accountant Bruce Thibodeau (Thibodeau), DPW Director Note: All FINCOM votes are subject to change upon receipt of new information. Note: Documents used in this meeting are listed in Document Table, herein. Agenda A. Approval of Minutes th DE: Made a motion to adopt the 15 of December minutes KB: Second the motion All were in favor BC: Stated that he will be going out of order on the agenda. Thibodeau will start CIP for the DPW Agenda C, CIP Introduction DPW Director, Bruce Thibodeau Thibodeau: Welcome everyone, for those who do not know me I am the Director in charge of all Public Works and Water and Sewerage Enterprise Fund. Thibodeau directed everyone to page 45. 1 January 5, 2016 TT: interjected and asked Savage if she could give a quick overview of the CIP General Fund Enterprise Fund Booklet that was handed out (an overall layout and flow). Savage: stated she will go through the process of where it starts. Savage stated that in the beginning of September time (sent from Savage and the Town Manager) detailed instructions go out to all the Departments on the implementing of the 5 year forecast of the CIP. They need to make sure they are following the same plan. Any new changes that are made need to be justified and departments will include the addition of the th 5 year. Savage: process they (Town Manager, Savage and Assistant Town Manager) review all the projects submitted by the Department Heads and do a rating criteria based on page 12 (CIP booklet). They meet with the department heads and discuss the projects sometimes making changes or additions. Savage: stated when this is all complete this is when she starts to put the book together, the book is then distributed to the BOS and then goes to all of you, the Finance Committee. Thibodeau: Directed the Committee to page 45, and explained the way that someone goes around and rates every road in town and what each road may need for repairs(such as grading, drainage, improvements, and various repairs). We take all the ratings submitted to us in the report and we review and submit our requested proposed report for each road, then we put together the 5 year plan. Thibodeau: spoke of how the Town receives money; we have two sources of funding for roadway repair. One is from Chapter 90 funds (gas taxes). The town receives about $860,000 a year from this fund. We do about 10 roads a year. Thibodeau: Also stating that is very good for a Town this size. We supplement it with about $400,000 a year. The money is ready usually around spring and that is when we are ready to get started. We do try and stick to the ratings on what roads need to be done first. Thibodeau: also stated that the Town has no jurisdiction on roads for Route 125 and Route 114. SA: asked of the potholes that are created after a winter season, filling holes. Does that come out of the regular budget? Thibodeau: responded yes it does. JG: Asked if any of the money in the budget is for improvements or is it just for repairs? Thibodeau: Explained that repairs come out of the budget and improvements from the CIP. Thibodeau: for the second item sidewalk reconstruction, Thibodeau directed everyone to page 57. We direct about $75,000. towards sidewalks. We reconstruct existing sidewalks in the older sections of Town, with priority to school areas, elderly housing areas and downtown (this is not to create new sidewalks, we fix what we have). TR: Noticed page 58 of the booklet listed the same streets for Proposed Sidewalk repairs, as last year. 2 January 5, 2016 Savage: stated it was an error and apologized and she will replace page 58 of the booklet with the corrected page. Thibodeau: Commented that sidewalks do not hold up very well on roads and sidewalks that are tree lined. Thibodeau: Directed the Committee back to the booklet and to page 59. Thibodeau: went on to say that this is a Special Request for a brand new sweeper that he would really like to have and needs( new sweeper cost $197,000), we are going to fund some from the budget and some will come out of the CIP ($185,000, Town Manager recommends). Thibodeau: My next request is Streetscape improvements for Water and High Street, (intersection) page 61. Thibodeau: commented on the ongoing project and how very nice these new lights look on High Street. The next phase is for intersection improvements, streetscape improvements, from the Main Street intersection including Elm, High and Water. Thibodeau also spoke of the safety of pedestrians, handicap accessibility, roadway, sidewalks and upgrades. These changes and upgrades are for both aesthetic and safety reasons. Thibodeau spoke of the important historic value of this area. Thibodeau: spoke of the dump truck requests and replacements over the next few years. Every so many years we replace one. Over the period of the Capital Plan they will be getting three. Thibodeau: Directed everyone to page 115, improvements to various sewer pump stations. There are 22 sewer stations. Some of these pump stations are anywhere between 5 to over 25 years old. An assessment is needed to evaluate the conditions of these stations in order to plan for any future repairs or upgrades. The station generator that needs replacing is next to Lake Cochichewick and could be a threat to the water supply in the event of a power outage. Also other stations may need repairs or possibly replacements in the future. Thibodeau: stated that sewer pump stations are all run by the mechanics at the Water Treatment Plant. Most pump stations have a generator backup (not all). Savage: stated that there are no debt issues on this recommendation, because we have retained earnings that will offset this cost. We are following policy and we are not adding more projects. We will be able to use the retained earningsover the next 5 years. Also it helps that the rates have not changed in 5 years and we have kept everything steady. There will be no borrowing, we are using the retained earnings. Thibodeau: Then spoke of the ozone system that will be upgraded to the latest technology, more state of the art (page 133). These improvements will provide for a safer and cleaner drinking water at a lower operational and maintenance cost. Thibodeau: spoke of the Chemical Storage Tanks and Feed System improvements and updates, to improve safety and reliability at the plant. 3 January 5, 2016 BC: Thanked Thibodeau for coming. Agenda B, CIP Introduction Town Manager, Andrew Maylor BC: Thank you for coming back. Maylor: stated that he is going to give a brief overview. Maylor stated his focus on the Capital Plan is to make it consistent with the previous years. Sometimes changes happen but you would have to come with the justification if a change is made. We try to honor and keep within the 5% Net Debt Ratio. Our target has been to continue to be at or below the 5% unless circumstances arise, such as increased interest rates. Maylor: stated that we are seeing construction cost escalation. Maylor: -as- The library roof was also discussed by Maylor, some will be replaced by CPA funds and it will be done incrementally (about 5 years). Tiles falling off the roof were also a concern because of liabilities. The install was done about 20 years ago and was not done correctly. Maylor: then spoke of playground improvement plans. This will be about an 8-9 year plan to upgrade these playgrounds. These playgrounds are a combination of open space owned by the Town and playgrounds on school space property. Maylor: We had a specialist who ranked all the playgrounds to systematically make plans to replace and upgrade the 11 playgrounds (with the exception of Sergeant Playground). We would get funds from the CPC of about $100,000 and the rest would be funded by the PTO, unless it was not school associated and those would get $100,000. Drummonds would get $200,000. Maylor: Stated that we are in the process of moving out of Town Hall. It will be the first time in many years that Town Hall and the Community Development will be together. Maylor: We have some clearing on Technology side. I know technology has been around for a bit of time and now with our new School Superintendent, Dr. Price, Mike Grant on the school side for IT and Chris McClure for the Town's IT we now have this opportunity. They will see through the budget process helping us. Maylor: McClure has helped us with MUNIS and has shaken things up in a very positive way with IT. Maylor: There is a single dedicated line item for school technology and it will largely be instructional technology. Maylor: We are redefining our own terminology to make sure we are all saying the same thing. 4 January 5, 2016 Maylor: We have $100,000 being committed and used by the school department. The Town Technology components effect how the town operates. The amount of money set aside has not changed. TR: A question on the Capital Budget, what is next, can we afford what is next. Especially in keeping within the 5% Net Ratio seen in the Facility Master Plan, will it limit us going forward? Maylor: responded that in the plan it calls for bringing out a consultant to evaluate for a Facility Master Plan II. Maylor: went on to say what could possibly come out of that is possibly more substantial work to the library, youth center, maybe an expansion ( it is a wood structure) and possibly renovations to the tation. Maylor: spoke of possibly another phase of the middle schools and possibly some type of elementary school improvements. We do more preventative maintenance now. We have done some big ticket plans. If interest rates change over the years this could make a difference on what gets done. BC: thank you very much. Agenda D, Adjournment 9:05 DE: Made a motion to adjourn SA: Second the motion All were in favor Document Table SUBJECT FROM TO 1.Finance Committee Minutes December 15, 2015 Angela Fincom 2.Capital Improvement Plan General Fund (2017-2021) Town Manager Fincom 5 January 5, 2016