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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-03-26 Finance Committee Minutes TOWN OF NORTH ANDOVER FINANCE COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes Meeting Date March 26th, 2018 Meeting Location: North Andover Police Station Community Room, 1475 Osgood Street Timothy Tschirhart, TT, Chairman X Ed MacMillian EM X Jennifer Goldman, JG,Vice Chair Divya Bhatnagar, DB Karin Blake, KB X Charles Trafton CT X Thomas Ringler, TR Angela Ciofolo, AC X Liz Gerron, LG X Sasha Weinreich, SW X 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 Cathy Darby(CD),Director of Human Resources Kathleen Keene(KK), Library Director Ann Cavanaugh(ANC), Steven Memorial Library Trustee, and Vice Chair of Investment Committee Eva E. Hamori (EH), Steven Memorial Library Board of Trustees, Chair John Simon, (JS), Chairman of the Community Preservation Committee Andrew Maylor(AM),Town Manager Lyne Savage (LS), Town Accountant Call to order 6:53 Continued Review of Operating Budget TT: Welcomed our guests tonight, and reminded everyone in the room that we are being recorded. Culture and Recreation, Stevens Library-Kathleen Keenan and Cathv Darby Discussion starts on or about 6:54 vm/00:01:06 on video time (Reference pages 186-188 of the FY19 Budget Book) KK: Like all good libraries we do try and do what people ask us. We may not be able to do it now,but we will put it on the list,maybe it can happen in the future. KK: Commented on how libraries have changed from in the past. People stay in libraries much longer now, then in the past.Now they have a chance to talk to the librarians. Also spoke of the dynamics of how I March 26,2018 the library has changed, and spoke of programs such as story time for young children(Under 5 years old) and how the attendance for this program has grown. KK: Also stated that new moms with babies are desperate to get out of the house and come to the library for the children's programs and how they end up making friends with other moms too. KK: Spoke of how they recycle in the library and stated that what we have we share, when we cleared some of the shelves in the children's library we gave some of our books to the Atkinson and Kittredge School Libraries, since they did not have a budget to buy books. KK: Computer books don't stay current long, so they usually go every 6 months. KK: The best comment I ever heard was from a mother of two children(2 years and 4 years old) and this mother told me that as a child she was never raised as a reader, but one of her friends brought her to the library for the children's story time, she now finds herself reading to her 4 year old child, and she also now enjoys reading herself. We changed the dynamics in her household. KK: That story to me is the best testimony for whatever we are doing with the money at the library. KK: Our biggest challenge is with the teen area,the teens in North Andover have tremendous resources, a good school system, and great after school programs, they do not use the library as much. These teens also have sports,jobs, driver's licenses, they use the Youth Center, etc. We are still looking at what we can do to bring them back into the library, it will never be at the same scale as the Children's Storytime. But we are looking all the time not to be static. KK: Spoke of School collaboration with the High School and the library and also the libraries' relationship with Jennifer Price and also some of the strong ties with various departments and individuals working or living in the Town. KK Also spoke of the benefits of having a Shared Librarian from the school. KK: Commented on the Stem Grant of$7,500 that they were awarded to be used for the libraries children's room. KK: Commented how they used the library for the middle school children for various type concerts, monologues, and also spoke of the art exhibits and of the future poetry exhibit that will be hosted at the library too. KK: Commented on the ongoing program at the library, "Girls that Code",this is the second year with this program, and that the library will be hosting it again next fall. KK: Also spoke of how they upgraded their computer system. KK: Commented on how they take a general count of different programs to measure if it is successful and if the times or days need to be changed. The Finance Committee asked questions to KK and discussed such things as staffing,purchasing, statistics, and KK also commented on the library bringing in resources that some cannot afford. ANC: Spoke of how the money is divided up into two different accounts. The Town gets the statement. Also spoke of money that is donated and how they look into spending it the right way. ANC: Spoke of how they hired a consultant to do our new long range plans. It was a great use of money. 2 March 26,2018 KK: Spoke of the support that they received from the Community Preservation Fund. Parking at the library was discussed and at times it is a problem,but other than that KK stated that she was funded and supported at the library and did not really have a wish list. She has been satisfied and thankful for the support of the Town. TT and Finance Committee thanked everyone for coming tonight,it was a great presentation. Community Preservation Committee CPA-John Simons Discussion starts on or about 7:37 pm/:00:42:00 on video time JS: Spoke of all the individual list of approved projects and also spoke of the projects that did not get funded. Spoke of the various approved funding,under the category of Affordable Housing(4 projects), funding these projects help give these people a better quality of life. Spoke of one of these approved projects,the emergency generator, especially with all the outages last year. AM: We are only looking to install emergency generators in the Community rooms,this money will fund 3 out of the 6 Housing Authority complexes. JS: Moved onto the category of the Open Space/Recreation that the Community Preservation also funded. JS: One of my take a-ways from the Library presentation tonight was the importance of Community Spirit and involvement. JS: Commented that because we didn't fund any historical type projects we had to reserve 10% of the money. This is a requirement under the law. JS: Stated that we did not fund the Episcopal Church,because we were not sure what we can and can't do and it was a mixed verdict. Because of the uncertainly on funding this project we decided not to fund it (this year). We needed more clarity. JS: Also spoke of the $50,000 listed under Administrative/Operating Expenses. It is used for appraisals or something like that. JS: Commented on how they have implemented to everyone that they give money to, that they are required to sign a grant letter,they have certain obligations in terms of reporting back to us. Haves Stadium Recreation Complex Funding (Town Manager's Office) Discussion starts on or about 8:04 pm/00: 1:11 on video time TT: We are going to move onto the big ticket item, the field and recreation complex for$6,000.000. JS: The general feeling is that this is an extremely valuable project. It will provide a service to the entire community. We had a strong interest in funding this project. When AM came in with the overall project plan and the share of the funding of CPC and other sources we had a very, very robust discussion on who was going to fund the remaining balance. Will it take away too much of the money from CPC, and will it compromise the CPC to fund in other future projects. 3 March 26,2018 JS: We talked about if we should do this in phases, but in the end we decided to do it all at once and it will keep the cost down. JS: Looking at the spreadsheet and FYI we realized we had about 3.9 million dollars and when you add in the extra 2 million dollars (amount that we would get this year)we could cover the cost for this proposed project. We feel the finances are there, we have been frugal in the past. We have the money and it is a great project. JS: Commented that the CPC cannot fund such things as artificial turf and parking. AM: Spoke to the Finance Committee of the Conceptual Plans regarding the Middle School Fields and recreation Complex. The Finance Committee asked questions to AM and JS and also discussed the proposed recreation Complex and the history and timeline of how it came to where we are today. AM: Commented of how they could fund the proposed project and presented it to the Committee. AM: This is an expensive project the estimated project cost is $8,750,000. I have recommended that the CPC fund 6 million. AM: There will be an additional 148 parking spots. AM: stated that it will be necessary to fund 1.5 million of town funding. With the use of Capital Stabilization Funding,bond premiums and the sale of the Bradstreet School. TT and the Finance Committee members thanked JS for attending the meeting. Transfer$250K from the Health Insurance Trust Fund to the OPEB Trust. (Town Manager's Office Discussion starts on or about 8:52 pm/00:01:59 on video time (Reference page 199-203 of the FY19 Budget Book) AM: Started with speaking of the Town's employee's Health Insurance and how they moved from Blue Cross Blue Shield to a GIC that offers various insurance choice types. AM: Also spoke to the Finance Committee Members regarding the Health Insurance Trust Fund and PEC Mitigation Fund handout(this was supplied to all of the Finance Committee members). AM: Explained all the columns and costs listed on the handouts. AM: Spoke of the Employees cost share of insurance and the Town's share. AM: Commented on the savings of the Town and expects significant savings during the next several years. AM: Stated that he had recommend that in spring of 2014 that they move 1 million dollars from the Health Insurance Trust to the OPEB Stabilization Fund and they continued to move money from the Health Trust Fund in December of 2015, and moved $500,000 and also in July of 2016 moved $250,000 into the OPEB Trust Fund. AM: Stated that he is recommending at this annual Town Meeting to transfer$500,000 into the Trust from stabilization to get a return on their investment. TT and the Finance Committee thanked AM and LS for coming tonight. Review-Finance Committee Town Warrant Letter Discussion starts on or about 9:30 pm/00:02:35 on video time 4 March 26,2018 The Finance Committee continued with the ongoing editing and discussion of the Finance Committee Town Warrant Letter. Public Comment There was no Public Comment at the meeting New Business No new Business Ad'ournment10:37 PM LG: made a motion to adjourn SW: Second the motion All in favor to adjourn Document Table -Agenda Finance Committee Meeting for March 26, 2018 -Town Manager's Recommended Budget Book for FY19 Budget Book -List of Approved Project Community Preservation Fund (2) -Misc., Financial Articles, Hayes Stadium Recreation Complex etc. (from Andrew Maylor dated 3-20, 2018) -Letter from Andrew Maylor to Community Preservation Committee (Dated 3-19-2018) -Hayes Stadium Recreation Complex Construction Cash Flow -Middle School Field & recreation Complex February 22, 2018 -North Andover Community Preservation Committee—Long Range Plan (spread sheet) -Middle School Fields and Recreation Complex (conceptual layout March 2018) -Materials from Andrew Maylor regarding Recreational Complex includes preliminary budget and minutes from Middle School Fields Improvement Committee From 2016-2017. -Health Insurance Trust Fund & Pec Mitigation Fund. 5 March 26,2018