HomeMy Public PortalAboutTA Report 09.09.19
Town of Brewster
2198 Main Street
Brewster, MA 02631-1898
Phone: (508) 896-3701
Fax: (508) 896-8089
MEMORANDUM
TO: Select Board
FROM: Peter Lombardi, Town Administrator
RE: Town Administrator Report
DATE: September 9, 2019
Millstone Road Project
Following up on the Select Board’s discussion about this project in July, we hosted an
informational forum last Thursday, September 5, to update residents on the status of
early design work, to continue to solicit community input, and to discuss the proposed
project timeline. With approximately 100 residents in attendance, many of whom spoke
during the hour and a half public comment segment of the meeting, Town officials were
provided considerable feedback which we will continue to take into consideration as we
move through the next steps of the design process with the project engineer. The
presentation and related preliminary design details are available on the homepage of
the Town website, with hard copies available at the Library, Town Hall, and the DPW
office. The next community outreach session is tentatively planned for next summer
once we have more design details. At this early date, construction is not anticipated to
commence until sometime in 2021.
Town Finance Forum
The Brewster Community Network is hosting a forum this Thursday, September 12, at
7PM at the Ladies Library that will broadly cover our current and near-term financial
situation, particularly in the context of the proposed Nauset Regional High School
project. I plan to discuss the DOR report and related programmatic/policy
recommendations, as well as implementation of financial best practices around
forecasting, capital planning, budget development, and budget presentation. I will also
talk about our ongoing strategic planning processes and how those will inform our
decision making going forward. Select Board David Whitney, Finance Committee Chair
Michael Fitzgerald, and School Building Committee Chair Greg Levasseur will join me for
a panel discussion.
Free Cash Certification
On August 29, our FY19 Free Cash was certified by the Department of Revenue at
$2,937,130, returning to FY15 and FY16 levels. In FY17 and FY18, the Town’s Free
Cash position was closer to $2M. In addition to our $800k starting balance from FY18,
Office of:
Select Board
Town Administrator
primary drivers for this year’s Free Cash balance were $947k in unexpended
appropriations (double historical averages) and $848k in one-time revenues. As has
been previously discussed, now that our Free Cash has been certified and is available
for appropriation, we intend to return to our standard capital planning schedule where
most capital requests are proposed at Special Town Meeting in the fall. To that end,
we have scheduled a joint Select Board and Finance Committee meeting on September
30, 2019 where our FY20 recommended capital projects will be reviewed and discussed.