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HomeMy Public PortalAboutSelect Board -- 2022-02-14 Minutes \\\� �a� �O EOWOS��iiJ00 Office of 'own of Brewster AN 6p� Of E`° fi" a �9 % Select Board 2198 Main Street Town Administrator 3 p a = Brewster, MA 02631 - 1898 Y co Phone : (508) 896-3701 Fax : ( 508) 896-8089 n�imimimmn�������o`O"\\ MINUTES OF THE JOINT MEETING WITH SELECT BOARD & FINANCE COMMITTEE REGULAR SESSION DATE : February 14, 2022 TIME $ 6 : 00 PM PLACE : Remote Participation REMOTE PARTICIPANTS : Chair Bingham , Selectperson Whitney, Selectperson Chaffee, Selectperson Hoffmann , Selectperson Chatelain, Town Administrator Peter Lombardi , Assistant Town Administrator Donna Kalinick, Betsy Smith , Joe Breda Call to Order Declaration of a Quorum , Meeting Participation Statement and Recording Statement Chair Bingham called the meeting to order at 6 : OOpm . A quorum was declared , with all five Select Board members present . Chair Bingham read the meeting participation and recording statements . Public Announcements and Comment : None Select Board Announcements and Liaison Reports : Chair Bingham commented that this week we lost a member who had been very active in Brewster as part of the All -Access Committee , Finance Committee, and the Nauset School Committee, sadly we have learned that Jim O' Leary has passed away . Town Administrator' s Report . Mr . Lombardi started with an update on the pandemic : • The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education ( DESE ) is lifting the statewide school mask mandate on February 28th ; the Nauset School Committees will meet jointly this Wednesday to decide on next steps and the Board of Health will revisit the Town building mask requirement at their March 2nd meeting . • Looking at both regional and local data in terms of new positive cases, we are doing much better, back down to our November benchmarks . This past week were single digits in Brewster . • Working with the County to secure test kits, we will host a distribution event for residents on Saturday March 5th at the Captains' Golf Course parking lot from 10am until 2 : 30pm . There will be three different time frames for pickup and 4 tests per household , additional details will be posted on the Town website . The Town held a public forum in January on the Long Pond boat ramp project, residents are invited to submit comments through February 1St . Several comments have been addressed to the Select Board and are available in the FYI section of the packet . A summary of responses to these comments have been provided in the Town Administrator' s report, this has also been posted on the Town website . The Town has submitted a notice of intent and will be going through the Conservation Commissions review of the project as proposed , following both local permitting processes and other State permit requirements . In the Capital and Special Projects article there will be a funding request to cover the balance of these project costs . Looking to cover a portion of the costs with the local Brewster ARPA funds . BoS 02 . 14 . 2022 www . brewster- ma . gov Page 1 of 6 Doc ID : e9f5f8603c9a3ba944ce278150c5a68c089caOe3 o0\01111111111111.S Niiiii iii��� T 'Town of Brewster Office of: \`� p�C 4$ Select Board FN 3 2198 Main Street Town Administrator 3 p a = Brewster, MA 026314898 ° Phone : (508) 896-3701 �--- Fax , ( 508) 896 -8089 /iiirriiimniumn000 `��\ A copy of the letter that was sent to County officials in terms of our feedback on allocation on the ARPA funding is included in the packet, we are hopeful that this will come to a conclusion at the County level soon . The Town is looking to make the funds available quickly and to direct a majority, if not all , the funds directly to Brewster . There are several major capital projects that if we aren ' t able to secure some portion of the County funds in the next 6 - 12 months that we will have an issue in moving forward with projects . Mr . Lombardi shared good news that the Town was awarded for the first time $ 1 . 3M in Community Development Block Grant ( CDBG ) funding . These are Federal funds through HUD that are awarded at the State level by the Department of Housing and Community Development . We are able to provide two new programs for Brewster residents, a housing rehab program with up $40k with a 0 % forgivable loan for necessary home improvements for income eligible residents and childcare voucher program up to $ 6k per child per year . The demand for these programs has been significant . Mr . Lombardi thanked Donna Kalinick and Jill Scalise as well as Bailey Bond Associates . We are in the last year of our first Housing Production Plan and will be starting the process on updating the plan . The Town has hired Barrett Planning Group to assist in updating the 5 -year plan this summer . Over the next few months there will be extensive community outreach to get input about what is important to identify as goals and priorities . Information on the outreach will be on the website this week . Ms . Kalinick added that the Select Board and the Planning Board both have a regulatory role in the adoption of the Housing Production Plan . Reminder that there is a public forum on the Millstone Road construction project this Thursday from 6 to 8pm . The Town will be providing an update on changes to project design and will be requesting resident feedback through March . Consent Agenda a . Meeting Minutes : January 27, 2022 and January 31, 2022 b . Appointment Rescission : Gregory Wright- Bikeways Committee c . Appointments : Griffin Ryder and Katherine Scott- Recycling Commission d . Applications for Facility Use : Massachusetts Kayak Bassin ' , Parking Area and Ramp Use for Upper Mill Pond ; Brewster Chamber of Commerce , Drummer Boy Park; ( 2 ) Brewster Conservation Trust, Mother' s Bog and Eagle Point e . ( 3 ) One - Day Liquor License Applications : . Brewster Chamber of Commerce Networking Event at the Kitchen Cafe, 2671 Main Street, ( 2 ) Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters, 2624 Main Street Selectperson Chatelain moved the consent agenda for February 14, 2022 . Selectperson Chaffee second . A roll call vote was taken . Selectperson Chatelain -yes, Selectperson Chaffee - yes, Selectperson Hoffmann -yes , Selectperson Whitney-yes, Chair Bingham -yes . The Board vote was 5 -Yes, 0- No . Presentations and Votes on Citizens Petitions for Spring 2022 Annual Town Meeting : Punkhorn Hunting Ban Bylaw- Betsy Smith BoS 02 . 14 . 2022 www . brewster- ma . gov Page 2 of 6 Doc ID : e9f5f8603c9a3ba944ce278150c5a68c089ca0e3 SiN/iiiiii \\ OQ E1.osq �9 lC��i/ . Tower. of Brewster - Office of: Select Board 2 a 3 = 2198 Main Street Town Administrator 3 a = Brewster, MA 02631 - 1898 _ 0 — Phone : (508) 896-3701 Fax : (508) 896 -8089 too 11111111M I Betsy Smith joined the meeting to present the petition for the second time, Ms . Smith stated that this petition belongs to a group of Brewster residents who years ago at a Conservation Commission meeting discovered that the unelected members of the commission had the ability to decide on whether to allow hunting in the Punkhorns . Ms . Smith thanked everyone at Town Hall who helped with the original petition , although it was passed through the Attorney General ' s office as a bylaw, it was determined by Town Counsel that the petition was not correctly worded and would be advisory only . Ms . Smith is back with updated language with the hope that this will be a bylaw and not allow hunting in the Punkhorns at any time . Selectperson Chatelain stated that on the merits of the bylaw that some discretion is appropriate to be exercised by the Select Board and the other boards and committees that have jurisdiction over the parcels . Mr . Lombardi added that we do not anticipate that the Attorney General will have any issue with this article as a bylaw in terms of the State approval process . Punkhorn Hunting Restrictions Bylaw- Joe Breda Joe Breda joined the meeting to present the petition . Mr . Breda reviewed some public safety statistics and reviewed that this petition is to allow bow hunting only starting the first Monday in December for 3 weeks . Mr . Breda doesn ' t believe that a lot of people will take part in this, and the time frame is when children will be in school and includes only three Saturdays . He listed other locations on the Lower Cape that offer full hunting seasons . During this period , it would be strictly bow hunting for deer . Mr . Lombardi responded to a question that this has not gone before Conservation Commission as of yet, the deadline for citizen petitions is this Wednesday . Mr . Lombardi clarified that both petitions have been checked by the Town Clerk' s office and meet all the requirements under the bylaws and are placed on the warrant . Selectperson Chaffee pointed out that Mr . Breda in his presentation made two significant statements, one is that there wouldn ' t be a huge population that would participate, and he provided other locations that are designated for hunting in Brewster . Selectperson Chatelain moved that the Select Board approve the citizens petition as represented by Ms . Smith to ban hunting in the Punkhorn Parklands . Selectperson Hoffmann second . A roll call vote was taken . Selectperson Chatelain - no, Selectperson Chaffee - yes, Selectperson Hoffmann -yes, Selectperson Whitney- no, Chair Bingham -yes . The Board vote was 3 -Yes, 2- 1\lo . Selectperson Chatelain moved that the Select Board approve citizens petition as proposed by Mr . Breda to ban all hunting in the Punkhorn apart from bow hunting during 3 weeks in December . Selectperson Whitney second . A roll call vote was taken . Selectperson Chatelain -yes, Selectperson Chaffee - no, Selectperson Hoffmann - no, Selectperson Whitney-yes, Chair Bingham - no . The Board vote was 2 -Yes, 3 - 1Vo . BoS 02 . 14 . 2022 www . brewster- ma . gov Page 3 of 6 Doc ID : e9f5f8603c9a3ba944ce278150c5a68c089ca0e3 zz\\10110 I I1�llINN///p/� S i4 Office of. Town. ® Brewster �`°� o° ELD6p a �'9 �% Select Board 2 164 3 2198 Main Street Town Administrator 3 A n = Brewster, MA 026314898 ° _ co Phone : (508) 896-3701 r Fax : ( 508) 896-8089 lot mn�\U\\\�oo��``\\ Discuss and Vote on Upcoming Public Meeting Schedule / Format for Town Committees Mr . Lombardi stated that there is pending legislation to extend the expanded remote participation provisions for public bodies , but right now we continue to have access to those provisions into April . If the extension is granted , the legislation would carry the provisions through July . Based on where we are in terms of the pandemic, Town Administration is recommending that we keep the same format for all Town boards and committees since last July . Allowing for a hybrid format, though no boards or committees are currently meeting in person . The recommendation is to continue the current format through March . Selectperson Chatelain moved to adopt the remote meeting policy as proposed by Town Administration . Selectperson Chaffee second . A roll call vote was taken . Selectperson Chatelain -yes, Selectperson Chaffee - yes, Selectperson Hoffmann -yes, Selectperson Whitney-yes, Chair Bingham -yes . The Board vote was 5 -Yes, OW No . Update on Town ' s Recent l3kannual Other Postemployment Benefits ( OPEB ) Actuarial Analysis Mr . Lombardi gave some background on this topic; the Town is required by law to have an actuarial analysis conducted by a neutral third party every two years . This was recently completed by Segal , who completes these for all members of the Cape Cod Municipal Health Group . They have met with the finance team to review the analysis . Mr . Lombardi noted that in the packet there is a copy of the financial policy that the Select Board adopted relative to OPEB and our unfunded liability . In fiscal 2020 we were funding our unfunded liability at $ 200k/year in the operating budget with the funds being transferred to our OPEB Trust fund . In FY21 it was increased by $ 50k and in FY22 it increased to $ 300k and then in FY23 and beyond , we plan on maintaining the $ 300k appropriation in the operating budget . This was decided on so that we wouldn ' t crowd out other important services and budget priorities . The water and golf departments make their own proportional contributions each year, about $ 33k per year combined . The balance of $ 267k is funded in the general fund . Mr . Lombardi noted that the most important page in the report is on page 100 of the packet, this goes through and identifies that our unfunded liability decreased by $ 800k to just under $ 17M , this is a positive change . This is our unfunded liability for both Town employees and Brewster school employees . The discount rate for all clients was changed in the most recent analysis from 7 . 5 % to 7%, to align the rate as much as possible with what is fair but conservative . The schools through our assessments ultimately have responsibility for the Nauset Districts OPEB liability, which is proportional to student enrollment, their unfunded liability went up incrementally, less than 2 % over the past 2 years . It is currently at $ 23 . 8M and they allocate $ 450k in their annual operating budget, which is consistent with past several fiscal years and Mr . Lombardi noted we don ' t anticipate it increasing . Part of the Federal accounting standards that have changed is their reporting requirements and now requires Towns to show the unfunded liability on the books . Mr . Lombardi noted that the concern at the time was if we had this unfunded liability and didn ' t have a policy it could negatively impact our credit rating . The good news is that we are making headway even if incremental , we have just issued significant long-term debt for the acquisition of the sea camps property and maintained our triple A rating through it all . On pages 103 - 104 of the report is a chart that shows how funded our plan is against our total liability, we are at 18 . 1 %, just two years ago we were under 12 % funded . Mr . Lombardi stated that it is good to see the results of the work and our commitment BoS 02 . 14 . 2022 www . brewster- ma . gov Page 4 of 6 Doc ID : e9f5f8603c9a3ba944ce278150c5a68c089caOe3 oZA IEllllspiiip��// Office of: 'Town of Brewster p� of °E a9 �9 % Select Board 2198 Main Street Town Administrator a = Brewster, MA 02631 - 1898 ° Phone : (508) 896-3701 �Y= Fax ; ( 508) 896 -8089 to funding it, we need to continue to watch this and keep it in discussions of the operating budget and staffing as it has a net effect on the benefits side . Review and Discuss Anticipated Warrant Articles for Spring 2022 Town Meeting High level overview of what is anticipated for the warrant, date of the Town Meeting will be discussed in upcoming meetings . Special Town meeting 1 . FY21 Unpaid Bills 2 . Budget Appropriation Transfer to Short-term Debt Obligations- non - excluded debt within our levy capacity . We have a balance of about $ 400k from earlier obligations set to be rolled over this spring, if possible, would like to use available funds in this year' s budget to pay down some or all short-term debt obligations so we can open capacity in FY23 & FY24 to pay down the $ 650k of short-term debt we have taken on for the Long Pond Property . The amount is to be determined . 3 . Officially transition the Golf Department to an Enterprise Fund effective FY23 Annual Town meeting 1 . FY23 Cape Cod Regional Technical High School Operating Budget 2 . FY23 Brewster Elementary School Operating Budget 3 . Creation of New Brewster Elementary Schools Special Education Stabilization Fund - a vote of both the School Committee and Town Meeting . 4 . FY23 Nauset Regional Schools Operating Budget 5 . Annual Reallocation of Nauset Regional School Assessment Formula 6 . FY23 Town Operating Budgets 7 . FY23 Water Enterprise Fund Budget 8 . Creation of New Golf Capital Stabilization Fund 9 , FY23 Golf Enterprise Fund Budget 10 . Community Preservation Act article 11 . Remaining FY22 Capital and Special Project Expenditures 12 . Bond Premium Reallocation 13 , Special Revenue Fund : Cable Franchise Fee 14 . Acceptance of Grants & Gifts 15 . Road Repairs ( Chapter 90 State Aid ) 16 . Town Code Amendment to Community Preservation Committee bylaw ( § 17 ) 17 , Cape Cod & Islands Water Protection Fund ( CCIWPF ) Opt Out ( MGL Ch 29C Sec 3C ) 18 . Acceptance of MGL CG 64G Sec 3D ( Local Option ) - new 3 % Community Impact Fee from Short-term Rental Revenues for Water Quality, Affordable Housing, and Town Infrastructure 19 , Special Act to Establish Brewster-Specific CCIWPF Equivalent to Fund Local Water Quality Initiatives- the State Legislator will have to approve; this could take 2 + years for a Special Act to be approved . In the meantime, need to consider if we want to adopt the local option . BoS 02 . 14 . 2022 www . brewster- ma . gov Page 5 of 6 Doc ID : e9f5f8603c9a3ba944ce278150c5a68c089caOe3 F� IV Office of Loan Town of Brewster a Select Board fo'% 0 2198 Main Street Town Administrator Brewster, MA 02631ool1898 0 Phonev (508) 89 &3701 Faxv ( 508) 89 &8089 "% Pe P Igloo Mr . Lombardi commented that the interpretation of the statute is that these funds can and should be used to finance projects , such as innovative , alternative septic that we think are potential solutions to our water quality issues . The way the regulations were developed and adopted by the CCIWPF board , preclude accessing those funds for those purposes . One potential solution would be to revise the regulations , this means that we would have access to those funds in a much greater proportion than what was included in the report and presentation . Ultimately this is a decision of the CCIWPF board . 20 , 361 Slough Road Utility Easement 21 . Citizens Petition % Punkhorn Hunting Ban 22 . Citizens Petition : Punkhorn Hunting Restrictions For Your Information . No Comments Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair : None Questions from the Media . None Next Meetings : February 16 (Joint with Finance Committee and Capital Planning Committee� 5 Year Capital Improvement Plan ) , February 28 (Joint with Finance Committee� FY23 School Budgets ) , March 7 , and March 21 , 2022 Adiournment Selectperson Hoffmann moved to adjourn at 7oO5pm . Selecotperson Chatelain second . A roll call vote was taken . Selectperson Chatelainw,,yes, Selectperson Chaoffee � yes, Selecotperson Hoffmann �yes, Selectperson Whitney,-,yes, Chair Bingham �yes . The Board vote was 5 �Yes, 0,,,, No . Respectfully submitted by Erika Mawn , Executive Assistant 03 / 08 / 2022 Approved : Signed . Date Selectperson Chatelain , Clerk of the Select Board Accompanying Documents in Packet : Agenda, TA Report, Consent Agenda, Citizens Petitions, Public Meeting Schedule & Format packet, 131 �annual Other Postemployment Benefits, Town Meeting anticipated warrant articles, FYI packet BoS 02 . 14 . 2022 www . brewster� ma . gov Page 6 of 6 Doc ID : e9f5f8603c9a3ba944ce278l5Oc5a68cO89caOe3 HELL SIGN Audit Trall TITLE Approved Meeting Minute - Feb 14 , 2022 FILE NAME 1 . BoS 02 . 14 . 22 . doc DOCUMENT ID e9f5f8603c9a3ba944ce278150c5a68c089caOe3 AUDIT TRAIL DATE FORMAT MM / DD / YYYY STATUS Signed Document History 03 / 08 / 2022 Sent for signature to Ned Chatelain SENT 15 : 21 : 45 UTC ( nchatelain@brewster-ma . gov) from emawn@brewster- ma . gov IP : 131 . 109 . 131 . 20 o> 03 / 08 / 2022 Viewed by Ned Chatelain ( nchatelain@brewster- ma . gov ) VIEWED 18 : 14 : 25 UTC IP : 73 . 167 . 45 . 86 �✓ 03 / 08 / 2022 Signed by Ned Chatelain ( nchatelain@brewster- ma . gov) SIGNED 18 : 14 : 38 UTC IP : 73 . 167 . 45 . 86 G 03 / 08 / 2022 The document has been completed . COMPLETED 18 : 14 : 38 UTC i I i i Powered by ® HELLOSIGN