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Home My Public Portal About06.23.21 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 June 23, 2021 at 6:00 PM This meeting will be conducted by remote participation pursuant to Gov. 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 meeting may be viewed by: Live broadcast (Brewster Government TV Channel 18), Livestream (livestream.brewster- ma.gov), or Video recording (tv.brewster-ma.gov). Meetings may be joined by: 1. Phone: Call (929) 436-2866 or (301) 715-8592. Webinar ID: 862 2956 9696 Passcode: 565167 To request to speak: Press *9 and wait to be recognized. 2. Zoom Webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86229569696?pwd=MUhJNGpoU3VocTZ0cTU0VGpYcWdVQT09 Passcode: 565167 To request to speak: Tap Zoom “Raise Hand” button or type “Chat” comment with your name and address, then wait to be recognized. Finance Committee Harvey (Pete) Dahl Chair Frank Bridges Vice Chair William Meehan Clerk Andrew Evans Alex Hopper Honey Pivirotto 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. Recording Statement 5. Public Announcements and Comment: Members of the public may address the Finance Committee on matters not on the meeting’s agenda for a maximum 3-5 minutes at the Chair’s discretion. Under the Open Meeting Law, the Finance Committee is unable to reply but may add items presented to a future agenda. 6. Town Administrator/Finance Director Report – including ARPA funds 7. Policies and Procedures Update (Standing Item) 8. Status Update on Finance Team’s Progress Implementing Recommendations from MA Department of Revenue’s 2019 Report 9. Discussion – Nauset Regional Public Schools, Budget and Finance issues. 10. Brewster Visioning Committee – Update and Discussion 11. Liaison Reports 12. Review and Approval of Minutes 13. Request for agenda items for future meetings. 14. Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair 15. Next Finance Committee Meeting – 07/14/21 16. Adjournment Date Posted: Date Revised: Received by Town Clerk: ,.,;-a ''-..:-. rr- . *:l + ) [ :--J-Jr J*--r INSIDb Attractions Business Directory Event Calendar H istory Town Ma^f' Town lnformation l; Eti € lil *s f .3. ' - '- :-.' .- 'l=o'.: -:- '.-.. riii...:':+. .,,.'.::..:'': -.. .i:- = _ ffi'','&#, E ; E } - E'GEGT-. E T. G: }T trJl-J. ,,, .i=i"',.*ti--..'t'tu,.+gti;=€ffiE geal # llllu*l ttI u]lstl|f,NltDll Stvd rSY]SOd Sfl 0$ rtE&l li9Z1) V!{ tISi,SM=dE u! [rv\o ss] NJ ls Trs/l bJf 0 rs: u I f.t=u,y n:) !;00 U.-/tCC!SS/\n U3;,..*++stlsr!.e*"r'****** 0[) ! .lF.;-ffifiiffiiilffiE BTTHWSTER tSPI,ANhJTNG E]ORT}{}i iltT I-T-I ll ) L--[- Li x uFtL i{: ii .i : ,f,a -znZi Brewster is looking to the future. In 2018 Brewster asked its citizens what kind of communiry they value and what they would like to see in the future as the town evolves' Through citizen worl<shoPs, a town wide survey and individual conversations, Brewster citizens identi6ed what they valued and ,vhat they want to maintain. High on the list are preservinp; our oPen space and ensuring we continue to have clean water. People want to Preserve our historicai setting, our rural stnall cown feel with amenities for our se- niors as ,psll 25 our young families and to Partner with local businesses. Btewr;ter is a welcoming and inclusive commu- niry that celebrates our diversiry and special character' Planning for gro,wth and change is also important' People want growth thar is appropriately sca-led and sited both for housing and business. In short, people want to move forward througlL careful planning and coordination to improve the con:rmuniry and protect what is valued' The Brewster 2018 Vision Plan built on this communiry input. The plan identified eight areas of importance: Com- muniry Character;'Water Resources; Open Space; Housing; Coastai Management; Local Economy; Governance; and Communiry Infrastructure. These building blocla are the townt foundation. Each has goals and actions that provide guidance for the Select Board, Town boards and commit- tees as they make near and longer term decisions for the future. Bre'*'ster is now developing a Local Comprehensive Pian following the guidelines from the Cape Cod Commission. Based upon the V'ision Plan's building blocks and goals, the LCP is a way for the town to de6ne its vision on how to plan for growth and change while protecting the shared resources of Cape Cod. The LCP will guide zoning changes refective of communiw goals for future land use. Once the plan is certified by the Cape Cod Commission, Brewster will have access to technical assistance and other resources from the Commission. Like the Vision Plan the LCP is communiry focused. Stakeholders who have a direct role in the implementation of each of the buiiding blocks have been interviewed, asked to describe the achievements over the past two years and the roadblocks that have hindered them in achieving their goals. The 2018 Vision Plan has not been left on the shelf but has become a living document guiding the decisions made by the town. Based on their experience stakeholders were then asked for recommendations for what needs to be included in the LCP to enable the town to move forward' As climate change is a critical issue, stakeholders were also asked to think about how climate change is impacting our communiry our beaches and our housing. The public will have numefous opportunities for 6ne tun- ing the actions in the LCP Through further interviews, workshops and surveys the communiry will shape the plan and ensure that the future reflects Brewster's shared values' This past year has been challenging for everyone' But it has presented an opportuniry for refection on what is impor- tant to us in our lives. Brewster citizens have used this time to identif' what they value about Brewster and they have given thought to what they want Brewster to be in the fu- ture. The Local Comprehensive Plan is the document that will captr-rre these thoughts and turn them into actions' The 2018 Vision Plan and Local Comprehensive Plan Guide- lines can be found on the town website www.brewster-ma' 90v. Becf of Brewster 2021-22 31 From:HONEY PIVIROTTO pivaz@aol.com Subject:Fwd: DrummerBoy Date:June 4, 2021 at 10:55 AM To :Harvey Pete Dahl hjdahl23@gmail.com,Harvey Pete Dahl pdahl@brewster-ma.gov Good morning Please circulate with agenda for FINCOM on the 23rd as part of my update on the vision committee. Thank you Honey Pivirotto Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Cynthia Bingham <cbingham@brewster-ma.gov> Date: June 4, 2021 at 10:06:13 AM EDT To: anevins <anevins@verizon.net> Cc: HONEY PIVIROTTO <pivaz@aol.com> Subject: Re: DrummerBoy Andrea, Thanks for your email. Listen in if you can, it is on Monday night. I will make a push for this. Cindy Sent from Cindy Bingham Chair of Select Board, Town of Brewster Cbingham@brewster-ma.gov On Jun 4, 2021, at 9:47 AM, anevins <anevins@verizon.net> wrote: As a member for both the COA Board and the Drummer Boy Committee I am writing to you regarding the DB plan that will be presented to the Select Board shortly. As you know, the COA has been very interested in the Park as a venue for both exercise and socialization for older adults year round. We have been promoting the paved walkway in the COA’s newsletter, and DBCommittee members have noticed how many more adults are using the park. Likewise, during the pandemic I have noticed groups of older adults meeting in circles under the shade trees. In the absence of a community center, restricted access to the town’s school gyms and the unsuitability of the COA building for exercise programming, we would like to keep up this momentum for park use going. One of the proposed changes (for Phase 2) of the DB plan is a Shade Pavilion (to replace the old gift shop building) to enable activities/events to occur regardless of the weather. Since two barriers that prevent older adults from using parks are weather issues and lack of shade (see below) such a pavilion would be important. I include an example of a “shade pavilion”, obviously larger than one that would replace the old gift shop, but it gives you an idea of what one would look like. The budget for Phase One of the DB Park Plan calls for a new playground costing between $300,000 and $500,000. I’m hoping in your evaluation and deliberations of the Plan that the shade pavilion might take precedence over the playground since the pavilion could be used by all age groups in the town’s demographic throughout the year, and since there are already two playgrounds for children in town. Not to eliminate the idea of a new playground but to defer it to Phase Two instead. I refer to you again the attached article documenting the need for U.S. communities to “design parks for older adults” and that most U.S. park “reﬂect a bias toward the young". POTENTIAL BARRIERS TO PARK USE BY OLDER ADULTS . BROKEN SIDEWALKS/UNEVEN PAVEMENT . LACK OF BENCHES TO SIT ON . INADEQUATE LIGHTING . SHADE FROM THE SUN LACKING . WEATHER ISSUES . HILLS AND INCLINES . ISOLATION/SAFETY CONCERNS SAMPLE SHADE STRUCTURE SAMPLE SHADE STRUCTURE [X] Why US communities should be designing parks for older adults by Jay Maddock, The Conversation<https://theconversation.com/> [Why US communities should be designing parks for older adults]Older people in a park in Nanchang, China. As America grays, healthy aging becomes essential. Physical activity or exercise is an important piece of this. Getting regular exercise of just 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week has been linked to a reduction in heart disease, cancer, falls and cognitive impairment due to dementia, including Alzheimer-type dementia<https://books.google.com/books? hl=en&lr=&id=7XbRBQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA151&dq=physical+activity+and+healthy+aging&ots=-wBmh- 8NmJ&sig=d3y9LigilDU4s9AgHp3Wv7nMO4Q#v=onepage&q=physical%20activity%20and%20healthy%20aging&f=false >. The physical environment of where a person lives has been shown to inﬂuence how much physical activity<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK154491/> they get. This is especially important for the rising number of older people in the U.S. Parks are an important public health resource in our country, connecting Americans to nature, providing access to physical activity<https://phys.org/tags/physical+activity/> opportunities, and serving as a safe space for making social connections. With the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016, national parks received a great deal of attention. Community parks offer most Americans the opportunity to be active daily, but a study of 75 American cities found that just under 10 percent of total landmass was devoted to city parks<http://www.rff.org/ﬁles/sharepoint/WorkImages/Download/RFF-BCK-ORRG_Local%20Parks.pdf>. Despite the many beneﬁts of public parks, few American older adults take advantage of them. In a recent review<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27311337> we conducted of observational studies in parks, the median percentage of older adults in parks was only 5 percent. Our studies in Chicago, Tampa<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18374243> and Honolulu<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181180/> showed that almost all neighborhood parks<https://phys.org/tags/neighborhood+parks/> in these cities had basketball courts, playgrounds, baseball diamonds and other open ﬁelds for soccer and other team sports. An assessment from the Trust for Public Lands<http://www.tpl.org/sites/default/ﬁles/2016%20City%20Park%20Facts_0.pdf> found that playgrounds, tennis court and ball grounds accounted for over 60 percent of city park facilities in the U.S., which reﬂects a bias toward the young. But with about 15 percent of the population currently being over age 65, we need to rethink how we design parks so that they offer place for older people<https://phys.org/tags/older+people/>, too. Finance Committee Minutes April 7, 2021 Page 1 of 4 TOWN OF BREWSTER FINANCE COMMITTEE Date: May 5, 2021 Time: 6:00 PM VIRTUAL MEETING MINUTES Present: Chair Pete Dahl, Vice Chair Frank Bridges, Clerk Bill Meehan, Honey Pivirotto, Bob Young, Andy Evans (6:00/6:45 technical difficulties), Robert Tobias, Alex Hopper Also present: Mimi Bernardo, Finance Director; Peter Lombardi, Town Administrator; Dave Whitney, Select Board Absent: The Chair called the meeting to order at 6:02 pm. This meeting will be conducted by remote participation pursuant to Gov. 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 meeting may be viewed by: Live broadcast (Brewster Government TV Channel 18), Livestream (livestream.brerwster-ma.gov), or Video recording (tv.brewster-ma.gov). A quorum was declared for the Finance Committee. 1.Public Announcements and Comment- none 2.Town Administrator/Finance Director Report Peter Lombardi sent over a handful of documents for the meeting tonight, and they are all covered under different agenda items. There is nothing else to report currently. 3. Policies & Procedures Update Peter Lombardi said the Select Board approved the new Short Term Rental Revenues Policy on Monday night. The revenue is a new funding stream for the General Fund. We were not able to project any revenues in the first year. FY21 is the first time we could count it as a revenue. We were very careful and conservative due to the pandemic and projected $100,000 in FY21; in FY22, we bumped that up to $500,000 based on more and better data received. This policy reflects the fact we have been very conservative initially in estimates and lays out why and how we are able to make better projections. In the meantime, our Free Cash totals will be higher. We thought we should use some of these to cover building our Capital Stabilization Fund, etc. On the expense side, the policy lays out a plan where we would project 50% of those expected revenues to the Affordable Housing Trust, at least 25% to Capital Stabilization, up to where that totals 10% of the town’s general fund annual operating budget which is consistent with the Financial Reserve Policy developed last year. No more than 10% going to the Operating Budget – and only targeted to advance specific goals. We have talked about a lot of this Approved: VOTE: Finance Committee Minutes April 7, 2021 Page 2 of 4 with the Finance Committee as well. Pete said this has been in the works for a while. It is entirely consistent with what we have been talking about for at least the past year. Bob observed that this year, there seems to be inflation in rental pricing and short-term rental revenues will be much higher. Peter Lombardi said that everything we are hearing is that demand is through the roof and things have been booked out far in advance, trending above their peak historically and charging rates significantly higher than before the pandemic. We do not have the data and we do not regulate short term rental rates. We will not know exact numbers until early fall. Bob asked about the Capital Stabilization Fund component will continue until we hit 10% of the operating budget; with the Affordable Housing Trust and wondered if there was any thought about it going on in perpetuity to 50% or does it fill up at some point and then monies are freed up for other things. Peter Lombardi said it is a fair question and with the known and anticipated need with the trust and the exponential increase in the cost of construction we are seeing right now, we are inclined to put a cap on it. The goal next year is for the trust to present a 5-year plan in terms of projects and programs connecting back to this funding stream and what the CPC funds’ structure will be and how that is set up for all different areas. In the meantime, we were not inclined to put a cap on it now, but in a year or so, there will be more conversations. Pete said he thinks it is a strong policy and addresses the priorities established for this money. 4.Discussion and Vote on remaining Town Meeting Warrant Articles Article 14A, IAFF transferring from available funds in this instance. Bill Meehan MOVED to approve Article 14A as printed in the Warrant. Frank Bridges second. Roll Call Vote: Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Bob Young – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Alex Hopper – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes. The Committee voted: 8-yes 0-no Article 15, Police Collective Bargaining Agreement Bill Meehan MOVED to approve Article 15 as printed in the Warrant. Frank Bridges second. Roll Call Vote: Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Bob Young – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Alex Hopper – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes. The Committee voted: 8-yes 0-no Article 16, Police Sergeants Union Collective Bargaining Agreement Bill Meehan MOVED to approve Article 16 as printed in the Warrant. Frank Bridges second. Roll Call Vote: Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Bob Young – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Alex Hopper – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes. The Committee voted: 8-yes 0-no 5.FY 2020 Audit – Audit Committee Presentation, Discussion and vote Honey will present a summary, and then we will open it up to questions. She thought it would be helpful to recap the background on the Audit Committee. The Town Meeting in 2019, the Town Code Amendment was approved. The catalyst was a desire for greater transparency and more focus on financial review. There was difficulty in recruiting some members for the committee. There have now been two formal meetings of the committee. We have looked at the contract with the Town Auditor. Prior to the meeting, we had a lengthy list of questions. We had a robust review of the 2019 audit. We drilled down a bit into the Cape Cod Municipal Health Audit which Peter Lombardi and others followed up on with some very good outcome and action. In April, we Finance Committee Minutes April 7, 2021 Page 3 of 4 focused on the 2020 audit which focused on the reconciliation issues between the Water Department and the Finance Department. We achieved the optimal outcome in this audit from the auditors. Three highlights – assets exceeded liabilities by $62M; the Town had combined ending fund balances of $18.9M, and the total costs of all town services is now at $50.45M of which government activities were at $45M and business type activities were $5.45M. Then she opened it up to Pete and David Whitney to provide highlights. Dave Whitney wanted to repeat that this is a clean audit and thanks to Peter Lombardi and Mimi Bernardo and the Finance Team for their efforts. This is a great step forward. This is an excellent audit. Pete said he echoes everything Dave Whitney said and wanted to comment on a couple issues. The work of this committee saw that we were able to get extensive access where Mr. Brown and his staff were able to provide good answers. The audit showcased the management letter which highlighted an issue of reconciliation and this issue is being addressed with software. There is strong corrective action. The overall presentation was very clear, and the flow of the financial statements seemed like there were a lot of additions making it easy to follow the presentation. There were full fund level statements included. Because this committee has focused on OPEB in the past, while there is no real summary, the type of activities represented by the schools are mentioned in the statements as far as the liabilities and expenses of other outside groups with which we have joint business. When the discussion showed the discount rate from OPEB, they present a sensitivity analysis to see as that rate changes, the liability can go up or down. There is some degree of flexibility to assess where the liability is going. Mimi Bernardo said she enjoys working with Bob Brown and his team very much. It is a smooth process working with him. That DOR report of findings and with what Bob Brown found, we have cleaned up everything that was easy to clean up. The issue with the Water Department is being cleaned up with their software. Since the kickoff, we have met bi-weekly, and it is going very smoothly. She has been assured that the most important piece of this conversion is to make sure the data is reconciled. As of the last meeting, they are going through the real estate data base linking through the water account. They are scrubbing that data and it is the smoothest conversion of which she has been a part. Peter Lombardi said in follow up, it will be two years in June from the DOR report, and we are planning on getting a status update to the Select Board and Finance Committee sometime in June. It is upcoming and he assured everyone that it is still on our radar. Frank said this is still a draft and has not been finalized. Honey’s memo talks about the Municipal Health Group with significant deficiencies, what were they? Pete said the significant issue was there was not enough separation of duties. Peter Lombardi said our concerns were relayed and corrective action was taken. They have made changes to have some separation of duties. It is a very small outfit, and it is not unique to have this happen. Frank went on to ask about depreciation. It is not broken out in any of the departments, is it supposed to be in there somewhere? Robert said he recalled a footnote regarding depreciation. Andy asked when we are going out to bid for the audit services. Pete said there will be an RFD for the audit services sometime in the next 6 months. He said the presentation from Mr. Brown was first class. The quality of this audit speaks to all that hard work. Bill Meehan MOVED to accept the FY20 audit. Frank Bridges second. Roll Call Vote: Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Bob Young – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Alex Hopper – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes. The Committee voted: 8-yes 0-no 6. Liaison Reports Finance Committee Minutes April 7, 2021 Page 4 of 4 Bill said the Charter Committee recorded and released a public information video regarding the May 15th Town Meeting vote on the Charter. They will still ferry this article through Town Meeting, then the Select Board, then it goes to general court. This is a relatively quiet period in the Charter Committee, but their work is not done. Frank said the Recycling Commission has sent a letter to the merchants in town to offer assistance in implementing the bag ban and the bottle ban. In the letter there is a reference to go through the Town Administrator’s Office with questions regarding compliance with those bans. We are composting now at the town dump. The swap shop will not be opening anytime soon. Pete said they had a very successful visit a week ½ ago and had a great tour at Cape Tech. As a community we can be very proud of the work they do there. This is a first-class facility, and their enrollment is going up. 7. Review and Approval of Minutes- 3/31/21 & 4/7/21 Bill Meehan MOVED to approve Minutes from 3/31/21 & 4/7/21 as presented. Frank Bridges second. Roll Call Vote: Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Bob Young – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Alex Hopper – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes. The Committee voted: 8-yes 0-no 8. Request for agenda items for future meetings – please email Pete 9. Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair- none 10. Next Finance Committee Meetings – 9AM prior to Town Meeting 5/15 11. Adjournment Bill Meehan MOVED to adjourn the meeting at 7:29 PM. Frank Bridges second. Roll Call Vote: Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Bob Young – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Alex Hopper – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes. The Committee voted: 8-yes 0-no Respectfully submitted, Beth Devine Packet of additional materials for public review posted on the website.