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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-02-28 Finance Committee Minutes TOWN OF NORTH ANDOVER FINANCE COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes Meeting Date February 28, 2017 Meeting Location: Board of Selectmen Meeting Room, 120 Main Street Bill Callahan, BC, Chairman X Sasha Weinreich, SW Jennifer Goldman, JG, Vice Chair X Divya Bhatnagar, DB X Karin Blake, KB X Angela Ciofolo, AC X Thomas Ringler, TR X Chris Nobile, CN Timothy Tschirhart, TT X Liz Gerron, LG 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. Non Finance Committee Members in attendance Lynn Savage, (Savage) Town Accountant John Borgesi (Borgesi) Director of Engineering (interim) Call to order 6:49 Operating Budget Overview-Public Works plus Enterprising Funds Discussion starts on or about 6:50pm/00:35 on video time (Pages 153-161 in Town Manager's Recommended Budget FY2018) Public Works: BC: Tonight we have the DPW to talk about their budget. BC: Asked Borgesi to introduce himself to the Finance Committee. Borgesi: Responded that he is the interim Director of the DPW, currently here in North Andover. Borgesi: The Proposed DPW Budget mimics the FY2017 budget with a slight increase. Borgesi: Stated that he and Bruce Thibodeau worked on the Budget together. We did propose to raise the snow budget this year. Thibodeau worked with the Town Manager to raise the snow budget closer to the 1 million dollar mark. Savage: Commented we budgeted on $934,000. Borgesi: Besides snow budget most resources remain the same and some with a slight increase. Savage: Commented on some of the other increases such as trash and salaries. Also stating that 1 February 28,2017 there is a 4.9% increase in snow and ice. Borgesi: Commented that the Water and Sewage Budget Enterprise is similar to the DPW still trying to mimic FY2017 Budget. Savage: Commented that they move money around from different line items. They looked at the FYI Budget to see what they needed and did not need and they shifted money around and most of it got shifted into snow and ice. KB: Asked of other Charges and Expenses of$40,000 (listed on page 157) Borgesi: Stated that a portion of this money goes into the cleanup of Steven's Pond. Savage: Every union contract salary is negotiated at about a 2% increase. KB: Asked of the Overtime line (listed on page 157) as it relates to snow and ice, is it for employees or contractors? Borgesi: Responded it is for employees DB: Asked of the advertising line listed on page 157 Borgesi: stated that it is usually public informational notices that are included with the water bills, and that is required. BC: Asked of the last bullet on page 155 requesting to bring in more staffing and capabilities to the department. Can you talk a little about that? Borgesi: Responded that with his hiring along with the hiring of Curtis Johnson, Staff engineer, who is a Land Surveyor. This results in bringing more services in house and less outside consultants. The savings are in-house. Borgesi: spoke of Johnson's and his contributions to the town. Both he and Johnson are experienced in GIS. Where we need assistance we will reach out to a consultant. TR: asked of the new Administration Building and how is it coming along Borgesi: Responded that it is going pretty well, we have the foundation in, the elevator shaft mortared up. The steel will be on site very soon, it is being manufactured. JG: When is it expected to be done? Borgesi: We are expected to be complete around November 2017. Discussion starts on or about 7:13pm/023:00 on video time (Pages 205-211 in Town Manager's Recommended Budget FY2018) Enterprise: Borgesi: We also tried to mimic FYI with only slight increases. Savage: realized that a section was omitted in the budget book and went to print out that section for the Committee. TT: Asked of last year's goal regarding the Drinking Water Plant and has it been done? Borgesi: Responded that it is currently being done. TT: Do we flush all public hydrants every year. Borgesi: We flush a portion of them, we work in sections. We can't get to all of them in 1 year it takes about 3 years. 2 February 28,2017 The Committee reviewed the corrected pages that Savage had just printed out and passed out for them. Borgesi: Stated that the water in the lake went up a foot. It is getting better,but we are still in the drought stage. We are about 2 feet below where it should be. DB: Asked of the flooding that took place about 6-7 years ago in North Andover, due to all the rain. What are your plans to prevent that in the future? Borgesi: Stated that they are going to start a pilot program. They are going to use the GIS to help them locate all infrastructures and to help them access, culverts, manhole covers,pipes, drains, catch basins etc. This will help them develop a program to see what needs maintenance, updating and repairs. Borgesi: Also spoke of the work being done on Sutton Street. This is an old stone culvert and needs work. We also need to be sensitive to the environment. Borgesi: Spoke of the beavers and what is done with the beaver dams and that it is a bit restrictive. They can only do what the state allows them to do. BC and the Committee thanked Borgesi for coming and talking to them. Sections of the Finance Committee Report Discussion starts on or about 7:39pm/050:00 on video time BC: Spoke of last year's Finance Committee letter and this year's upcoming Finance Committee Letter. BC: Spoke of various sections and what members and what sections would be assigned to them. The Committee spoke of how they would address the letter this year, along with using Google Does verses Word. BC: There are 2 parts to this letter first is the independent part and the second is group editing. BC: Commented that he is happy with everything in this Budget but would like to see more money in OPEB. Ad'ournment 8:02 PM KB: made a motion to adjourn TT: Second the motion All in favor to adjourn 3 February 28,2017 Document Table *Capital Improvement Plan FY 2018-2022 *Town Manager's Recommended Budget Book Fiscal Year 2018. * Finance Committee letter signup sheet * Collective Bargaining Unit * Corrected pages for Budget Book for Sewer Budget (current year analysis), and Water Operating Budget (current year analysis) --------------------------------------------------------------- Hard copy ** Hard Copy and on Google Drive 4 February 28,2017