===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Finance Committee Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 2, 2023 Location: In-person at Lunenburg Town Hall and broadcast on YouTube. Present: Chairperson Evan Watters, Vice Chairperson Chris Menard, Tom Gray, Tom Balish, Caesar Nuzzolo, Jay Simeone (Remote) Guests: Town Manager Heather Lemieux, Town Accountant Karen Brochu (remote), Suzor IT Casey Chisholm, Lunenburg Chief of Police Thomas Gammel, Public Safety Coordinator Amanda Moore 1. Call to Order Mr. Watters called the meeting to order at 7p.m. and read a statement concerning the Open Meeting Law, and how all public meetings are legally being held remotely. This meeting was recorded and is viewable on YouTube at https://youtu.be/52iZmZ8WSsk 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Announcements: Mr. Watters announced that it is the last day SNAP Emergency Allotments, which included an additional $177 per month, were dispersed. According to Mr. Watters, there are 590 households in Lunenburg that receive SNAP benefits. Mr. Watters drew attention to the Lions Club food pantry located at the T.C. Passios, who have collaborated with the Worcester County Food Bank to feed those in need. 4. New Business: a. IT Budget Presentation: Ms. Chisholm presented the FY24 IT Budget requests. The IT department is seeking a $83,545 increase, which entails $23,545 for a non-benefited administrative assistant, and a remote meeting coordinator for $5,000. Hardware maintenance upgrades include $12,000 to upgrade the current phone system, $30,000 to upgrade computers, and $13,000 for an updated camera system at the library. Internet access will be upgraded from copper connections to fiber at Town Hall, the Ritter Building, and DPW, which will cost $17,172, and $7,526 for Email cloud hosting. Software maintenance increased 2 percent (totaling approximately $15,000) from last year Mr. Menard asked whether broadcasting board and committee meetings will be improved. Ms. Chisholm explained improvement would be a collaborative effort between IT and public access cable. b. Police Department Budget Presentation: Chief Gammel informed the committee that police services have increased as the town has grown. For FY24 the police department is requesting $2,843,973. The Town Manager has requested $2,757,597 for the department. Approved by Finance Committee at March 9, 2023 Finance Committee meeting. ===PAGE 2=== Chief Gammel explained that his 10-year hiring plan has been put on hold for FY24, and his request for another detective was not included in the Town Manager’s recommendation, which trimmed the budget regarding uniform allowance, education incentive, overtime, and holiday pay as well as firearms training and less lethal training. Chief Gammel’s goals for FY24 include developing a response team for mental health calls, and maintaining department training to comply with state mandates. Chief Gammel also wants to develop and implement an evaluation process, and maintain standards to achieve accreditation by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission. 5. Town Manager/Finance Director Report: Ms. Lemieux reported the town has received five bids for the 30 School Street hazardous materials/demolition project, and went with the lowest bid at $216,649 from Costello Dismantling Company. The Town Hall building envelope project only received one bid in the amount of $258,800, which far exceeded the $75,000 that was appropriated. Budget Adjustments: Cherry Sheet/Local Aid numbers have been released, the town will receive an additional $40,659 in revenue. A decrease in assessments regarding school choice and charter at $194,537 (expenditure). The Select Board took action to spend $986,000 in ARPA funds on two dump trucks and an ambulance, which calculates as revenue as special purpose stabilization funds are not being used. Heath insurance is coming in at a 6.2 percent increase as opposed to the previously anticipated 8.5 percent increase, which comes out to $39,214 in revenue. Ms. Lemieux added that as a result of the decreased percentage, the school committee will be voting on adjusting their budget. A $2,971 difference in the patrolmen line for the police budget has now been accounted for. The change in Capital Plan figures reflect an expenditure of $986,000 from the usage of ARPA funds for the ambulance and two dump trucks. Monty Tech Chapter 70 came in at $100,654, which is a 12 percent increase as opposed to the anticipated 2 percent increase, which accounts for enrollment, and the state’s mandate. Ms. Lemieux will request $1.5 million in free cash be reserved for the overlay account in order to be prepared to fund all filed abatements at Annual Town Meeting. Ms. Lemieux will revise her recommendation for the rest of certified free cash, and inform the committee at their next meeting. Snow and Ice is operating in a deficit of $291,493. 6. Old Business: ===PAGE 3=== a. Town Meeting Finance Committee Report: Mr. Watters reported that the Town Manager has put out the first draft of warrant articles, and the committee can discuss their report at their next regular meeting. b. Capital Plan: No new report c. Tax Assessment and Abatement: No update d. State Representative Meeting Preparation: The committee will only have ten minutes with the representatives during their joint meeting with the Select Board and School Committee. The committee will focus on how the financial formulas are developed on the state level, and how those formulas affect the town. 7. Minutes: Mr. Menard motioned to approve the minutes from the February 23, 2023 meeting. Mr. Nuzzolo seconded. On vote, motion carried unanimously. 8. Committee Reports: Committee members updated each other on their respective liaison assignments. 9. Future Meetings: 10. Public Comment: none 11. Upcoming meetings: a. March 7 –Joint Meeting with Select Board and School Committee b. March 9 –Budget Presentations: DPW, Facilities c. March 16 –Fire, Lunenburg Public Schools d. March 22 –Administration, Unclassified, Debt Service, Monty Tech e. March 23 –PACC, Sewer, Other Moneyed Articles f. March 30 –Public Hearing 12. Adjourn At 9:33 p.m. Mr. Menard motioned to adjourn, Mr. Nuzzolo seconded. On vote, motion carried unanimously.