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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-01-24 Board of Selectmen Minutes BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES JANUARY 24, 2000 CALL TO ORDER: Keith Mitchell called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. ATTENDANCE: The following were present: Keith A. Mitchell, Chairman;William B. Duffy, Jr.; John R. Leeman, Jr.; Donald B. Stewart; James M. Xenakis; Robert J. Halpin, Town Manager. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: James Xenakis made a MOTION, seconded by John Leeman,to approve the amended Executive Session Minutes, and the Open Session Minutes of December 20, 1999; vote approved 5 — 0. COMMUNICATIONS,ANNOUNCEMENTS,AND PUBLIC COMMENT: Census Day in North Andover. Town Clerk Joyce Bradshaw requested that a Proclamation be issued asking for full cooperation with the 2000 Census. John Leeman made a MOTION, seconded by James Xenakis, proclaiming February 2, 2000 Census Day in North Andover; vote approved 5 — 0. Next Board of Selectmen Meeting. Keith Mitchell announced that the next Board of Selectmen's meeting will be held on January 31, 2000 at 6:30 p.m. at the High School prior to the Special Town Meeting. Town Clerk's Office. Keith Mitchell announced that the Town Clerk's Office will be open until 8:00 p.m. on January 26, 2000. This is the last day to register to vote for the February 15th election. Additional Agenda Items. William Duffy requested that two agenda items be added. One is the settlement of the Police contract including the terms and the second the problem with the delivery of the Board of Selectmen's packages. CONSENT ITEMS: Youth Services Carnival. Rick Gorman, Director of Youth Services requests permission to hold the annual Youth Services Carnival on April 27, 2000 to April 30, 2000 at North Andover High School. Donald Stewart voiced concern about smoking on the High School grounds. He said he would speak to someone at the High School. John Leeman made a MOTION, seconded by James Xenakis,to approve this request; vote approved 5 — 0. OLD BUSINESS: Water& Sewer Rate Study and Fixed Assets Report. Wes Gardner of Consultants to Management presented his conclusions on the water and sewer rates. He said he used the estimated expenditures for 2001, 2002 and 2003 (used a three year average) and looked at the potential for additional debt service. He first spoke about water rates. He said the current rate is $2.73 and with$100,000 in additional debt service the rate would be $2.72. He said that with the proposed$200,000 increase,the rate would be Board of Selectmen Minutes January 24,2000 Page 2 $2.81. With a$700,00 increase,the rate would increase to $3.21 and with$1 million,the rate would be $3.46. Mr. Gardner recommended that the Town not rely on debt service to pay for water rehabilitation and consider it an operating expense. He also said he did not include hook-up charges in the rate structure. William Duffy questioned the reliability of the billing. Mr. Gardner said it has improved greatly and he needs 12 months of information and currently only has six months. Mr. Gardner then presented his study of sewer rates. The current rate is $2.75. With no new capital the rate should be $3.73; $100,000 increase - $3.87; $200,000 increase - $4.01; $700,000 - $4.69 and a$1 million increase would raise the rate to $5.11. He said the burden of sewer rates is placed on fewer customers. He said part of the increase is because of the GLSD projected cost increase. John Leeman asked how much of the rate is paying for debt service. The Town Manager said the Town marginally broke even last year. The reason it broke even is because a debt payment for the Water Pollution Abatement Trust will not begin until FY 2001. William Duffy asked about the West Side sewer debt service. The Town Manager said including all the current authorized but unissued sewer debt is $5.1 million which would increase the debt service by $157,000 a year beginning in FY 2003. When questioned by John Leeman about the Water Pollution Abatement Trust interest rate, Mr. Gardner said effectively it is 0%and in that case the Town should borrow. William Hmurciak, DPW Director, discussed the difficulty in receiving these funds. Police Department Staffing Proposals. Chief Richard Stanley and Lieutenant Glenn Annson made a presentation seeking additional officers. Chief Stanley said there is a three year grant available, and the Department of Justice has established a record of providing additional funding. The Town does have an obligation to increase funding over the three years. Four different options were presented. Option A7 assumes seven new officers with a start date of July 1, 2000; Option B7 assumes seven officers with a start date of March 1, 2000. Options CIO and D 10 assumes ten new officers with start dates of July 1, 2000 and March 1, 2000 respectively. Both Chief Stanley and Lieutenant Annson stressed the critical shortage of officers in the department. John Leeman also said the immediate problem is there are only three cars patrolling. William Duffy said there are two conflicting recommendations. One is the recommendation of the Police Department and the other is the Management Study. Keith Mitchell said he felt a comparison of the two recommendations should be done. James Xenakis made a MOTION, seconded by John Leeman,to appoint Keith Mitchell and John Leeman to a sub-committee to do a comparison of the two recommendations; vote approved 5 — 0. FY 2001 Operating g Budget—Town Manager Recommended Spending Levels for FY 2001. The Town —Town Manager Recommended Spending Levels for FY 2001. The Town Manager said the current FY 2000 represented a 4.6%increase over FY 1999 budget. He said the Board of Selectmen adopted a policy statement in October that asked that a budget be submitted with an increase of approximately 2.8%based on lower revenue estimates. Requests from departments total $59.3 million which is a$5.86 million over the revenue that would be available. The first cut was to ask departments to absorb all salary and wage increases including steps. Board of Selectmen Minutes January 24,2000 Page 3 The Town Manager said he had funded all union contracts and steps but generally had level funded all other expense budgets. The School Department has been provided with a 3%increase. He said in order to meet the Board's recommendations, another$357,000 will have to be reduced from the budget. The Town Manager suggested that the Board ask that the Department Directors present their budgets to the Board on February 7tn William Duffy felt that the 4%increase for health insurance is inadequate. The Town Manager said there is analysis that will show it is a reasonable number. Special Town Meeting—Actions to be taken prior to January 31, 2000 Town Meeting. The Town Manager reviewed the Articles. James Xenakis made a MOTION, seconded by John Leeman,to make a favorable recommendation on Article 1,New North Andover High School; vote approved 4— 1 (William Duffy opposed). James Xenakis made a MOTION, seconded by Donald Stewart,to make a favorable recommendation on Article 2, Replacement of Athletic Fields; vote approved 4— 1 (William Duffy opposed). John Leeman made a MOTION, seconded by James Xenakis,to make a favorable recommendation on Article 3, Tax Increment Financing Plan for North Andover Commerce Center; vote approved 5 - 0. Appointment of Veteran's Agent. This agenda item is deferred until January 31, 2000. Interim Town Manager—Follow-up. Keith Mitchell reminded the Board they would be meeting on Thursday, January 27, 2000 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss this appointment. Police Contract Settlement—Disclosure of Terms. Keith Mitchell said last summer the Board voted to make terms of contracts public. William Duffy wanted the impact by a percentage basis disclosed. William Duffy said the three year cost to the Town is 12.6%. The Town Manager said the impact isn't as great because a Lieutenant's position was eliminated. Delivery of Board of Selectmen Packages. William Duffy stated his concerns about the Police delivering the Selectmen's packages on a timely basis. There was discussion about other methods to receive them. John Leeman made a MOTION, seconded by William Duffy,to have each Selectman pick-up his package at the Town Manager's office on Friday after 3:00 p.m.; vote approved 4— 1 (Donald Stewart opposed). NEW BUSINESS: Proposed Solid Waste Advisory Committee Mission Statement and Goals. The Town Manager introduced citizens who want to form a solid waste advisory committee. A draft mission statement was read. It hopes to advise the Town and Selectmen on solid waste issues. The agenda item was continued until February 7, 2000. Town Accountant Report— Six Month Expenditure and Revenue Report. Laurie Elliott, Town Accountant, presented her report for six months. Some revenue concerns include fees. She discussed a MRI fee that was incorrectly posted and another will be used for legal fees. Twenty-five thousand will be put into an account for the Health Department to perform monitoring. Another area of concern is the reimbursement to the School Department for Medicare reimbursement. She said it is not going smoothly. Board of Selectmen Minutes January 24,2000 Page 4 She also said the revenues are on target. Expenses are right where they should be. Enterprise expenses are a little high. ADJOURNMENT: James Xenakis made a MOTION, seconded by John Leeman,to adjourn the meeting at 10:10 p.m.; vote approved 5 — 0. Ann M. Keating Administrative Secretary James M. Xenakis, Clerk of the Board