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HomeMy Public PortalAbout11/4/20 Fincom Packet Town of Brewster Finance Committee 2198 Main St., Brewster, MA 02631 fincommeeting@brewster-ma.gov (508) 896-3701 MEETING AGENDA Remote Participation Only November 4, 2020 at 4:00PM This meeting will be conducted by remote participation pursuant to Governor Baker’s March 2020 orders suspending certain Open Meeting Law provisions and imposing limits on public gatherings. No in-person meeting attendance will be permitted. If the Town is unable to live broadcast this meeting, a record of the proceedings will be provided on the Town website as soon as possible. The Town has established specific email addresses for each board and committee so the public can submit comments either before or during the meeting. To submit public comment or questions to the Finance Committee, please email: fincommeeting@brewster-ma.gov. To view the:  Live broadcast: Tune to Brewster Government TV Channel 18  Livestream: Go to www.livestream.brewster-ma.gov  Audio/video recording: Go to www.tv.brewster-ma.gov To submit public comments or questions before or during the meeting email: selectboardmeeting@brewster-ma.gov Finance Committee Harvey (Pete) Dahl Chair Frank Bridges Vice Chair William Meehan Clerk Andrew Evans Larissa Haynes Honey Pivorotto Robert Tobias Robert Young Town Administrator Peter Lombardi Finance Director Mimi Bernardo 1. Call to Order 2. Declaration of a Quorum 3. Meeting Participation Statement 4. Welcome new member – Alex Hopper 5. TA/FD Report (Peter Lombardi and Mimi Bernardo) 6. Budget and Town Meeting Calendar FY2022 7. Audit Committee Update 8. NRHS Building Project Update/Subcommittee Report/ Review of SBC meeting of Oct 28, 2020 9. Liaison Policy and Assignments 10. Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair 11. Review of Minutes from 10/7/2020 12. Liaison reports 13. Adjournment Date Posted: Date Revised: Received by Town Clerk: 11/2/20 DRAFT 10.22.20 TOWN OF BREWSTER BUDGET & TOWN MEETING CALENDAR FISCAL YEAR 2022 1.November 9, 2020: FY21 Capital requests due to Town Administrator and Finance Director. 2.November 12, 2020: Capital Planning Committee meets to review FY21 Capital requests. 3.November 18, 2020: FY22-26 Budget forecast presentation to Select Board and Finance Committee, including recommended FY22 budget development guidelines. 4.December 4, 2020: FY22-26 Capital requests due to Town Administrator and Finance Director. 5.December 10 and 17, 2020 and January 7, 2021: Capital Planning Committee meetings with Department Heads to review Capital requests. 6.December 21, 2020: FY22 Town Operating Budget requests due to Town Administrator and Finance Director. 7.Weeks of January 4 and 11, 2021: Preliminary budget reviews by the Town Administrator and Finance Director with Departments and Boards/Commissions. 8.January 28, 2021: Deadline for Capital Planning Committee to finalize FY21-26 Capital Improvement Program. 9.February 1, 2021: FY22 Town Operating Budget Overview delivered to the Select Board and Finance Committee. 10. February 6, 2021: Department Head budget presentations to Select Board and Finance Committee. 11. February 16, 2021: Capital Planning Committee presentation to Select Board and Finance Committee on FY22-26 Capital Improvement Plan and supplemental FY21 Capital requests. DRAFT 10.22.20 12. February 17, 2021: Town Code final deadline for submittal of warrant articles for inclusion within the 2021 Annual Town Meeting warrant. 13. February 24, 2021: Schools (Nauset and Cape Cod Tech) budget presentations to Select Board and Finance Committee. 14.March 19, 2021: Administrative deadline to finalize warrant articles for the May 2021 Special and Annual Town Meetings. 15. March 29, 2021: Deadline for Select Board’s and Finance Committee’s recommendations on the May 2021 Special and Annual Town Meeting warrant articles. 16. March 31, 2021: Send the May 2021 Special & Annual Town Meeting warrants to the printer. 17. April 12, 2021: Deadline to post warrants. 18.April 13, 2021: Deadline for Select Board to place a ballot question on the Annual Town Election. 19. April 16, 2021: FY22 Budget and Town Meeting warrant book distributed to the general public as an insert in the Cape Codder and on the Town’s website. 20. April 27, 2021: Town Meeting public information session. 21.May 3, 2021: 2021 Special and Annual Town Meeting held at Stony Brook Elementary School. 22.May 18, 2021: 2021 Annual Town Election. Fincom Meeting & Budget Schedule 2020-2021 as of:10.30.2020 Month Date Day Meeting Tuype Nov 4 Wed Fincom See Agenda Nov 18 Wed Joint Meeting w/ SB Budget Forecast Dec 2 Wed Fincom Dec 16 Wed Fincom Jan 6 Wed Fincom Jan 13 Wed Fincom Jan 20 Wed Fincom Jan 27 Wed Fincom Feb 1 Monday Joint Meeting with Select Board and TA Feb 6 Saturday Joint Saturday all-day Budget Presentations Feb 16 Tuesday Joint Tuesday - Capital Planning Requests Feb 24 Wed Joint School Budget Presentations Mar 3 Wed Fincom Budget Deliberations and Votes Mar 10 Wed Fincom Budget Deliberations and Votes Mar 17 Wed Fincom Budget Deliberations and Votes Mar 24 Wed Fincom Budget Deliberations and Votes Last day for vote to be recored in Warrant Mar 31 Wed Fincom Apr 7 Wed Fincom Apr 14 Wed Fincom Apr 21 Wed Fincom Apr 29 Wed Fincom May 3 Town Meeting Feb 17 Final Day to Submit Warrant Articles March 29 Printing Deadline April 13 Deadline for Ballot Questions expect NRHS Debt Exclusion May 3 Town Meeting May 18 Annual Town Election Other Dates Brewster Finance Committee Liaison Assignments 2020 – 2021 Group Member Select Board/Town Administrator Pete Dahl – Chairperson 1 Board of Assessors Bob Young 1 DPW (TA) Police (TA) COA Honey Pivirotto 1 Fire (TA) Crosby Mansion Andy Evans 1 Planning Board Honey Pivirotto 2 Nauset Regional Schools** Bob Young 2 Brewster Elementary Schools ** Robert Tobias 1 Brewster Ladies Library** Andy Evans 2 Cape Cod Tech** Pete Dahl 2 Golf Dept. * Bill Meehan 1 Water Department * New Member Recreation Department (TA) Community Preservation Committee Alex Hopper 1 Human Services Board of Health Alex Hopper 2 Housing Trust Robert Tobias 2 Energy Committee Non Resident Taxpayers Assoc. Pete Dahl 3 Recycling Commission Frank Bridges 1 Capital Planning Committee Frank Bridges 2 Personnel Bylaw Committee OPEN Vision Planning Honey Pivirotto 3 *Enterprise Fund - Require Liaison ** School Committee – Independent Board – Requires Liaison Inactive Committees Comprehensive Water Planning Brewster Taxpayers Association Building Needs Committee All Citizens Access Committee Brewster Finance Committee Liaison Guidelines A. PURPOSE. Brewster Finance Committee members act as liaisons to Town boards, committees, and commissions to facilitate effective communication between those groups and the Finance Committee. As the primary role of the Finance Committee is to review budgets and make recommendations to Town Meeting, the role of a Finance Committee liaison will be primarily of a financial nature. B. LIAISON ROLE. A Finance Committee Liaison will: 1. Establish a relationship with the chair of each public body to which they are assigned and be available for consultation as needed. 2. Announce board, committee, and commission activities likely to be of interest to the Finance Committee and public during “Finance Committee Liaison Reports” at Finance Committee, facilitates communication and action, when feasible. 5. Serve as a resource to their assigned boards, committees, and commissions. 6. Not be a voting member of the board, committee, or commission unless so specified. 7. Speak as an individual Finance Committee member when participating in board, committee, or commission meetings, and not representing the voice of the full Finance Committee. 8. Be included on the meeting agenda distribution list for the public bodies they are assigned to. C. APPOINTMENTS. 1. Following reorganization of Finance Committee leadership at year-end (June) the Chair will make liaison assignments. 2. Finance Committee members will be invited to request specific assignments and the Chair will accommodate requests where possible. 3. When assignments are made, Finance Committee members are encouraged to contact the chair of each assigned group to inform that chair of the liaison assignment. Kickoff Meeting –November 2, 2020 Sharon Rooney, AICP, RLA, Principal Planner Vesna Maneva, RLA, Senior Landscape Architect BREWSTER LOCAL COMPREHENSIVE PLAN This is to be used to for general overview slides for interviews Replace pics PROJECT TEAM Tracy J. Adamski, AICP Vice President Project Director Sharon Rooney, AICP, RLA Principal Planner Project Manager Vesna Maneva, RLA Senior Landscape Architect Community Engagement Kristin Dippold Environmental Planner Katie Weaver GIS Analyst II Albert Good Planner PROJECT MANAGEMENT KEY PERSONNEL •Project Goals •Scope of Work •Project Schedule •CCC Certification Review Requirements •Public Outreach Strategy AGENDA PROJECT GOALS •Define Growth Policy for the Town •Prioritize Vision Plan Actions •Engage Community and Stakeholders •Develop Required LCP Elements •Receive LCP Certification from CCC •Task 1: Project Coordination •Task 2: Vision Plan Implementation and Growth Policy •Task 3: Develop LCP Elements •Task 4: Cape Cod Commission Certification Review SCOPE OF WORK QUALITY SCOPE COSTTIME •Kickoff Meeting •Participate in VPC Committee meetings •Quarterly Progress Updates to Selectboard •Meetings with Planning Board, Selectboard and Finance Committee •Monthly conference calls w/Town staff and meetings with CCC Staff TASK 1: PROJECT COORDINATION •Review Vision Plan recommendations and implementation progress •Facilitate stakeholder workshop •GIS Mapping •Cape Cod Placetypes TASK 2: VISION PLAN IMPLEMENTATION & GROWTH POLICY TASK 3: DEVELOP LCP ELEMENTS •Land Use •Vision Statement •Inventory of Existing Assets/Conditions •LCP Goals •Capital Facilities Plan •Housing Plan •Open Space & Natural Resources •Targeted Action Plan & Schedule •Performance Measures •Draft and Final LCP •Participate in up to two meetings of Cape Cod Commission Committee on Planning and Regulation and/or full Commission TASK 4: CAPE COD COMMISSION CERTIFICATION REVIEW Public/Stakeholder Engagement Selectboard Vision Plan Implementation Develop LCP Elements Develop Growth Policy Cape Cod Commission Certification Review STAYING ON TRACK Project Duration 12 –14 months Draft/Final LCP CCC Coordination SelectboardSelectboard FinCom, Planning Board Town Meeting PROJECT SCHEDULE COMMUNITY AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT •Formation of Stakeholders Group •Up to 3 workshops Engagement Tools: •Updates on Town webpage •Televised meetings •Online survey •Submit photos •Virtual open house •Other virtual tools BREWSTER LOCAL COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Sharon Rooney, AICP, RLA srooney@tighebond.com Vesna Maneva, RLA vmaneva@halvorsondesign.com QUESTIONS?Questions? Finance Committee Minutes October 7, 2020 Page 1 of 4 TOWN OF BREWSTER FINANCE COMMITTEE Date: October 7, 2020 Time: 4:00 PM VIRTUAL MEETING MINUTES Present: Chair Pete Dahl, Vice Chair Frank Bridges, Bill Meehan, Honey Pivirotto, Bob Young, Andy Evans, Robert Tobias Also present: Mimi Bernardo, Finance Director; Peter Lombardi, Town Administrator; Tom Fitzgibbons, School Committee Absent: Larissa Haynes The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm. This meeting will be conducted by remote participation pursuant to Governor Baker’s March 2020 orders suspending certain Open Meeting Law provisions and imposing limits on public gatherings. No in-person meeting attendance will be permitted. If the Town is unable to live broadcast this meeting, a record of the proceedings will be provided on the Town website as soon as possible. The Town has established specific email addresses for each board and committee so the public can submit comments either before or during the meeting. To submit public comment or questions to the Finance Committee, please email: fincommeeting@brewster-ma.gov. To view the: Live broadcast: Tune to Brewster Government TV Channel 18 Livestream: Go to www.livestream.brewster-ma.gov Audio/video recording: Go to www.tv.brewster-ma.gov 1.TA/FD Report Peter Lombardi discussed the approved FY21/FY22 Strategic Plan from Select Board approved Monday night. The Priority Sheet decided on holds a total of 40 goals for this year going into next. We included a separating out an identifying party to each goal, where the Finance Committee is a key stake holder in 7 or 8 of those key goals. We also clearly identified the highest priority goals where the Finance Committee is a stake holder in a handful of those as well. Mimi Bernardo and Lisa Vitale and Jim submitted the recap to set the FY21 tax rate of $8.58/$1000 which is a few cents less than last year. Residents can expect to receive the tax bills next week. Frank asked if addressing any vacant Committee positions was in the Select Board Plan. Peter Lombardi said it was certainly discussed during the Select Board 2nd Annual Retreat in July. Vacancies and consolidations came up several times. Ultimately, with 40 goals, ½ dozen which were Pandemic related, we had to hone in where our priorities were, and it did not make the list. However, just because it’s not on the plan, does not mean we will not work on it. We realize there are many committees and more seem to be popping up on a regular basis which is an issue we want to continue addressing. There has not been any further interest in the Audit Committee open positions. Pete asked Peter Lombardi to raise the issue regarding a Select Board member joining the committee so the Audit Committee could begin its work. Peter replied he would. Frank also queried the goal of working more closely with the Nauset Regional School Committee and fostering a deeper relationship with them. Peter Lombardi said he sent these goals and the feasibility study to the Approved: VOTE: Finance Committee Minutes October 7, 2020 Page 2 of 4 Nauset Regional School Officials. He mentioned some information in the past reaching the Select Board and Finance Committee right before their meetings and not having sufficient time to review before meeting. This was something they were hoping to avoid in the future. 2.NRHS Building Project Update, Sub-Committee Report As Chair of the Sub-Committee, Frank said this work began last fall where a number of meetings were held. The Subcommittee convened in December with its first meetings to start the process off. The report’s goal was to present, as impartially as we could, the facts we developed over the course of the past 12 months. He said that if the Committee sees anything in the report where you don’t feel we have evaluated the information correctly, we really want to hear that. It’s impossible when going through a process like that to not come to your own conclusions, but we tried our best to stay as impartial as we could. Honey said she really enjoyed seeing Rob Tobias’ questions as a new member of the Finance Committee and suggested everyone look at them and give feedback, as well as ask their own questions should they have more. Frank went through Rob’s questions with everyone and gave responses. Pete mentioned having a commitment from the School Committee to have P-Town and Truro join the district to take on a portion of the new school costs and feels this would go a long way in possibly passing this Capital Item. Bill Meehan MOVED to accept this as a report of progress subject to edits and revisions as information changes. Robert Tobias second. Roll Call Vote: Bob Young – yes, Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes. The Committee voted: 7-yes 0-no Pete asked if there had been any questions from the public sent in at this point. None were submitted. 3.Discussion of Financial Management Policies and Practices and Department of Revenue recommendations Peter Lombardi said that the 3rd Goal of the Strategic Plan from the Select Board was to specifically look at adopting financial policies from the DOR report and implementing some of their recommendations in the short and medium term identified as one of the 12 high priorities. We plan on starting our regular Finance Team meetings to dive into those policies. This was one of those projects put on the shelf due to the Pandemic, but now we can start back up. Robert asked about a template of policy and procedures to work from. Peter Lombardi said that there was a DOR report produced and appendices included some template policies for Brewster. We started working through them with priority items first. We didn’t have a policy to deal with what we are trying to do here. Pete said they did present a manual on policy and procedure, and when we were trying to get that looked at, the Pandemic hit. Now is the time to look at this again. The final reports show that many things are done well, but it’s important to have a documented policy to follow. Finance Committee Minutes October 7, 2020 Page 3 of 4 Mimi Bernardo felt it important to share in her experience, that long term, policies are important to get in writing, but the Town financially has really followed the Letter of the Law in their procedures. 4.Liaison Policy and Assignments Pete said he circulated a statement or guideline to the committee for review before the meeting. The Select Board has a policy for this. Pete distilled their policy down to make it more appropriate for this committee in guideline form. He said we are a committee that makes recommendations to Town Meeting and takes positions on Town Warrant. He made the liaison guidelines and asked for feedback from the Committee. Bill said he thinks the guidelines are inclusive and appropriate. Guidelines give everyone guidance and give members information on what it means to be a liaison. Bill Meehan MOVED to accept these guidelines as how this committee will approach liaison work. Frank Bridges second. Roll Call Vote: Bob Young – yes, Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes. The Committee voted: 7-yes 0-no Pete mentioned there are a variety of openings and would like the Committee to look over and decide what they would like to cover, what they are interested in, and take positions they would enjoy and request an assignment. Please send to Pete and he will recirculate the list. 5. Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair - none 6. Review of Minutes from 8/12, 9/2, & 9/12 Frank Bridges MOVED to accept the Minutes from 8/12/20. Robert Tobias second. Roll Call Vote: Bob Young – yes, Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes. The Committee voted: 7-yes 0-no Bill Meehan MOVED to accept the Minutes from 9/2/20. Robert Tobias second. Roll Call Vote: Bob Young – yes, Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes. The Committee voted: 7-yes 0-no Bill Meehan MOVED to accept the Minutes from 9/12/20. Frank Bridges second. Roll Call Vote: Bob Young – yes, Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes. The Committee voted: 7-yes 0-no Finance Committee Minutes October 7, 2020 Page 4 of 4 7.Liaison reports Bill sent an email to the Chair and provided updates on the Golf Committee. A new Superintendent has been hired named Colin Walsh who comes to us from Blue Rock. Mark O’Brien has announced his retirement, leaving January of next year. Mark O’Brien’s reports have shown record numbers over the last two periods. 8. Adjournment Bill Meehan MOVED to adjourn the meeting at 5:57 PM. Frank Bridges second. Roll Call Vote: Bob Young – yes, Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes. The Committee voted: 7-yes 0-no Respectfully submitted, Beth Devine Packet of additional documents on website for public review.