HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-03-10 Finance Committee Minutes r
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TOWN OF NORTH ANDOVER
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes
Meeting Date March 10, 2020
Meeting Location: School Administration Building
Sasha Weinreich, SW Chairman X Ed MacMillian EM, Vice Chair
Timothy Tschirhart, TT X Divya Bhatnagar, DB X
Charles Trafton, CT Jennifer Luz, JL X
Thomas Ringler, TR Kevin Foley, KF
Christine Allen, CA Angela Ciofolo, AC X
Note: All FINCOM votes are subject to a re-vote upon receipt of new information.
Note: Documents used in this meeting are listed in Document Table, herein.
Non Finance Committee Members in attendance
Lyne Savage (LS), Finance Director/Town Accountant
Jim Stanford(JS), Director of Public Works
Pledge of Allegiance
Call to Order
Discussion starts on or about 0:00 pm/:07:04 on video time
SW: We will start our conversation with Water& Sewer Enterprise Funds.
Jim Stanford will start the presentation.
Discussion of Water/Sewer Buduet and future needs
Discussion starts on or about 7:05 pm/0:01:00 on video time
JS: I am Jim Stanford, Director of Public Works. I am the Town's Representative on the
Commission for the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District (GLSD). It is located in North Andover,
but it is a regional facility it is a sewerage treatment plant.
A vast majority of the sewerage in North Andover is piped through the Town's collection system
and pumped eventually into the plant.
JS: The plant processes about 30 million gallons per day and it varies depending on wet weather,
since you will have more of a flow.
JS: Stated that the plant was envisioned in 1968, but came on line sometime in the 1970's.
March 10, 2020 Page 1
JS: Continued to speak of the Sewer Plant speaking on a variety of items with regards to the
Sewer Plant such as of the process, all the benefits, discharge, upgrades, projects on the plant,
regulations, and what can and will happen in the future, treating rainwater, etc.
The Finance Committee and JS made comments on the topic and also asked JS a variety of
questions such as contamination, discharge, cleanliness, dilution, treating phosphorous, EPA,
pollution, drainage, waste and what do they do with that, how are we charged by the GLSD,
biofuel, solar panels, operating costs, chemicals that need to be purchased, rates, etc.
JS: Spoke of the time when the Town lost power for a week and the facility went down for 13
hours and the facility could not pump. We have since then installed a generator and we do not
worry about the plant going down.
JS: Spoke of the clay pipes and how it lets in a lot of infiltration.
JS: Regarding the Amazon project(Route 125) JS spoke of the Grant of 2.3 million dollars from
the State also combined with what was approved at Town Meeting along with Amazon's
contribution.
JS: Stated that most water and sewer expansions are done by development.
JS: Commented on how they benefit from selling the gray water to Wheelabrator.
JS: Also spoke of trees and it is one of those constant maintenance items, it can be a problem at
times. Trees are always on my mind.
SW and the Finance Committee thanked JS for taking the time to be here tonight. We really do
appreciate it.
SW: The Senior Center is not on our agenda, but I would like LS to speak on this. She also
prepared some info for us (discussion 7:45pm/0:43:00 on video time)
LS: Stated that we got our bids in for the Senior Center finally and discovered in order to
proceed with the Senior Center project (as it is designed) our project expenses have increased so
our Capital request is an additional $500,000.00 more.
LS: Stated that the Finance Committee will need to revote on this additional cost.
NOTE: There was no public Comment tonight.
Finance Committee Warrant Letter Format Discussion
Discussion starts on or about 7:55 pm/0:55:00 on video time
SW and the Finance Committee discussed the warrant letter and also spoke of last year's 2019
Finance Committee Warrant letter that was included in the Finance Committee packets.
Format, executive summary, and various topics of focus were discussed.
SW: Would love if everyone could have their topics ready with key points,bullets, data and
outline ready for our next meeting. It does not have to be fully written.
March 10, 2020 Page 2
Approval of Minutes February 18, 2020
Discussion starts on or about 8:00 um/01:00:00 on video time
Note: that we will not vote on the minutes tonight, since we do not have a quorum.
Old Business
Discussion starts on or about 8:01 pm/01:01:00 on video time
JL: Talked on the Stevens Estate meeting that she has been attending and stated they are
continuing to make good progress,but it may take a little longer then what they were expecting
and are not quite ready to give a recommendation. The Committee started in November, so they
have not had adequate time to come up with recommendations.
JL: Stated that they are looking at visions and viable operating models and also spoke of the
survey that they have been receiving from about 50 plus residents.
SW: Praised JL and commented that we are lucky to have you as a rep for the Sevens Estate..
SW: Also spoke of non-disclosure agreements and how policy will eventually be in place in the
future.
Also I want to thank our town Manager, Melisa Rodrigues for being so transparent.
8:17 PM Adiourn
TT: Made a motion to adjourn the meeting
JL: Second the motion
All were in favor to adjourn
Document Table
-Agenda Finance Committee Meeting for March 10,2020
-Minutes from February 18,2020
-Capital Improvement Plan General Fund 2021-2025
-Town Manager's Recommended Budget FY 2021
-Warrant Letter Sections from SW
-2019 Finance Committee Warrant Letter
-Senior Center Project Budget Balance
March 10, 2020 Page 3