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Christopher Menard
David Passios
Jay Simeone
Evan Watters
Lunenburg Fina 6, Committee
Location:
Present:
Zoom Virtual Meeting
Terri Burchfield, Peter Beardmore Dave Passios, Jay Simeone, Chris
Menard, Evan Watters, Heather Sroka
Absent:
1. Call to Order
Terri Burchfield, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM and read the
COVID-19 / Zoom meeting advisory statement.
This meeting was recorded and is viewable on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSOVTrqv66U6:30
2. Chair Report
None.
3. Public Comment
Heather S. - Would like to ask the Committee for permission to request
information from both the Town and the Schools regarding Department Staffing
and Union Steps. How many employees in each department? The Step Schedule
for each department. In each department how many employees fall into each
step? What a 2% and 2.5% increase in each contract negotiation would look like
financially?
For the Towns this would be the Police, Fire, DPW, Clerical, COA, Library.
For the Schools this would be the LEA, Paraprofessionals, Clerical, Custodial,
Admins -Principals, Superintendent, HR, Sped Director, Guidance.
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4. FinCom Report/TM Warrant
Terri - the timeline for the FinCom Report
draft due March 11th
committee comments and concerns March 18th
final review March 25th
Last year's warrant can be found on the Town Website - but it will be added to
the OneDrive documents.
IT Director and the Schools will present their budgets on March 18th. The
Department Schedule can be found in the OneDrive documents.
The Warrant closes on March 14th at 4:00 p.m.
The Money Articles will be presented at the March 18th meeting.
5. Minutes
Terri will take a motion to approve the meeting minutes for November 12th.
Chris motion, Peter seconded,
Yes votes - Chris, Peter, Terri, Dave, Evan and Heather.
Jay not yet present at the meeting.
6. Committee Reports
Dave
Parks - Skate Park Presentation was given at the last meeting. Bringing all the
new members up to speed and on the same page with the project. Marshall Park
is the only location that the Parks Department supports for a partnership with the
committee. If the Skate Park continues to pursue the land on TCP Parks will not
stand in the way - however, the Parks Committee's preference is Marshall Park.
The next meeting is 2/12
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Capital Planning - No meeting. The next meeting is 2/ 2 to review the projects
that were not prioritized and Discuss Fiscal Policy.
Terri - Regarding the TCP Project - Is the TCP Committee expecting to provide a
presentation for this Spring Town Meeting?
Chris - $21M is a very high figure and not what he expected. Expected
around$15M.
Dave - The TCP Project is expected to be presented at the Spring Town Meeting.
TCP is an old building that needs new everything.
Chris - Maybe the plan shouldn't be to reuse but rather to level and rebuild.
What would the cost of that be?
Dave - A lot of $ figures were thrown around at last night's meeting. He believes
the committee will be looking to compare the total figure to rebuild with the
renovation figures. Prevailing wage is part of the reason the renovation figure is
so high. Speculative numbers are not ok in my mind. They stick in people's heads
if they're shocking.
Peter - wondered how the interest rates will be.
Jay - arrived to the meeting at 7:34
Peter - he feels like the Town is in a football game at the 2 min warning with a
thin narrow path as currently planned. Once there is a plan the Town needs to
buy in and support the project. He has serious concerns because the renovation
figure is so high. There should be a Public Hearing at Town Meeting with a straw
poll to assess and provide guidance to the Committee. THES Project - what are
the costs associated with that project - should also make the community aware of
that.
Dave - wondered how the TCP project impacted the Town Budget.
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Building Improvements - Capital Planning is not looking at Debt Exclusion. Pire
Department has some heavy hitters coming down the pike - rotation of the Fire
Truck - $1m+. Good luck to the TCP Building Committee. Looking forward to
the information session.
Heather S. - Perhaps providing the Community with the opportunity to have a
walking tour of the TCP Building to sell the project.
Dave - because of the age of the building many of the upgrades will be invisible
on the surface- electrical, systemic.
Peter - The Governers Budget was released yesterday. Does Heather L. have any
information on that?
Heather L. - MontyTech has FY21 $12,086 to reappropriate.
MIIA renewal rate range
•6% low - 2.9% average - 6.8% high
Budgeted a 3% increase with the renewal in mid-February.
The Governor's proposed budget released 3.5% unrestricted Chapter 70 which
was down and not as much of an increase in assessment of state aid compared to
November - however, compared to our Spring Town Meeting estimates it's a bit
more.
Karen B. - will reach out to the Fin Advisor and the Actuary to set up a date to
meet with the FinCom.
Peter - The Governor's Budget says it's fully funding the Education Reform Bill
which is 7-8% increase for the towns around us while we are less than 1% in
Chapter 70 funds. State Reps Sena and Cronin must be told we need more
revenue. There are no answers from legislators- we need to send them a list of
important items in our Town. They need to focus on the local level and know our
issues.
Sena is from the East - not local. Cronin is more in tune. How can we address
our key concerns with them?
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What are the demographics used by DESE? Interesting income level changing -
Lunenburg in a bracket the schools cannot keep up with.
Chris- It is all about Boston. Is there a region consortium in the legislature that
an address this?
Terri - There is a formula person that we can bring in after the Budget Hearings
- she believed his name was Mark Abrams.
7. Policies
Dave - no real chance to review the policies since they were dropped in the
OneDrive.
FinCom agrees that Capital Planning Committee will review their portion of the
Fiscal Policies and come to FinCom with recommendations. Hoping the policy
changes can be made and implemented for FY23 Budget Process.
Goals are to change the Threshold to $30K moving small projects into the
operating budget. Shift revenue to maintain infrastructure better.
Peter - Has never been on the CP Committee and relies on them for guidance.
He's skeptical of changes and would need the logic behind any policy changes.
Suggests that Policy should be added as a place holder on the agenda and areas of
discussion -
Authority to spend $ off budget items
Borrowing Limits
Structured approach to that - state law with background on policy development,
Town Charter, Town Bylaws
Chris - there are currently 4 seats on the Town Bylaw Committee.
Terri - we'll look at policy in April after the Budget season.
8. Public Comment
None.
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