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HomeMy Public PortalAboutCommunity Preservation Committee -- 2014-02-19 Minutes Accepted: 2/26/14 VOTE: 7-0-1 • TOWN OF BREWSTER FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Location: 2198 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631 Date: February 19, 2014 Time: 6:00 PM 4 Members present: Mike Fitzgerald, Greg Levasseur, Herb Montgomery, Nate Pettengill, Daniel Guertin, James O'Leary, Madhavi Venkatesan and Dennis Hanson Attending: Nancy Ellis Ice, Ellen O. Bearse, Roland Bassett, and Chief Robert Moran Absent: Susan Ballantine Recording or Taping Notification "As required by the Open Meeting Law we are informing you that the Town will be audio and video taping this public meeting. In addition,if anyone else intends to either video or audio tape this meeting they are required to inform the chair."We request that all cell phones be turned off or to vibrate. Dan,Guertin lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Chair Fitzgerald called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. • Agenda: 1. Review&Vote Health Department Operating Budget—Nancy Ellis Ice 2. Review& Vote Recreation Operating Budget, Capital Article & Article 14—Ellen O. Bearse, Roland Bassett 3. Review& Vote Fire Department Operating Budget& Capital Articles—Chief Moran 4. Review& Vote Articles 9, 10, 11, & 13 —Committee 5. Update Committee on Meeting Schedule for February & March—Mike Fitzgerald 6. Sub Committee Update—Greg Levasseur • 7. Report$OS Liaison—Ben deRuyter 8. Liaison Reports 9. Approt'e Minutes Feb 12, 2014 Meeting Topics the Chair did not reasonably anticipate Adjournment • Finance Committee Minutes February 19, 2014 Page 1 of 7 1. Review& Vote Board of Health/Health Department Operating Budget. —Nancy Ellis Ice Nancy Ellis Ice reviewed the Board of Health/Health Department Operating Budget. The Board of Health has accepted the bid from the Visiting Nurse Association and the amount charged for this service has not changed for about seven years. The Longevity amount listed in the budget was questioned and Nancy Ellis Ice will review and correct this figure with Lisa Souve. Most of the increases in the budget are due to wage increases and the average increase in the budget has been about 2.5 percent per year. The Visiting Nurse Association has been providing the same level of services over the years as well as providing flu clinics. The Board of Health has a vehicle available through a vehicle pool however when the car is unavailable a personal vehicle may need to be used. Clothing allowance of$200 is a contract item and must remain in the budget even though the person has opted not to use it. Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve the Board of Health Wages for FY '15 at 189,886 to be raised and appropriated. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve the Visiting Nurses' Contract Services for FY `15 at $18,357 to be raised and appropriated. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve the Board of Health General Expenses for FY '15 at $3,850 to be raised and appropriated. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 2. Review& Vote Recreation Operating Budget, Capital Article &Article 14. —Ellen O. Bearse, Roland Bassett Ellen O. Bearse and Roland Bassett gave an overview of the Recreation Department Operating Budget and the Revolving Account Budget. The Operating budget covers the staff salaries as well as temporary and seasonal staff such as lifeguards, swimming instructors, playground staff, sports programs, etc. Due to increased interest in the playground programs, the seasonal wages have increased to keep a good ratio of staff to children. Some temporary staff salaries that have come from the Revolving Account in previous years will be coming out of the Operating Budget this year so that all salaries will be in one place. Since the salaries will no longer be taken out of the Revolving account, that account will show an increase at the end of the season. The Warrant Article for Bayside Skippers for$4,500 is a non-profit competition team and not part of the Recreation Department. Revenues for the Recreation Department are expected at about $140,000 this year. Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve Recreation Department FY'15 Wages at $109,607 to be raised and appropriated. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve the Recreation Department FY '15 Operating Budget at $17,625 to come from fees. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Finance Committee Minutes February 19, 2014 Page 2 of 7 The capital article for the Recreation Department is for$62,000 for capital updates to the recreational fields and includes Freeman's Way, town hall, and Gage's fields such as infield repairs, fence repairs, and dugout repairs. A grant has been applied for through the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) for Community Preservation funds and they will be voting on this at their next meeting. Whatever is not covered by the grant, will remain in the capital article. The Finance Committee will vote on the capital article following the CPC decision. There was a discussion on the Revolving Account and the surplus in this revolving account. The Revolving account funds the Recreational Assistant Director. There is approximately $80,000 in the Revolving Account that is used to cover salaries should programs not be able to run. It is estimated that about $125,000 needs to be spent to repair recreational fields. The DPW and the Recreation Revolving monies of approximately $62,000 will be used on the fields in April before Town Meeting. The balance of the $62,000 is hoped to be funded by a grant from the CPC. CPC funds cannot be used before July 1 and they cannot reimburse for work already completed. There was discussion on why this expense is so large and how projects are prioritized. The fencing is 20 years old at Freeman's Field and some vandalism occurred at the field where the grass was torn up by vehicles driving on it. The grass has needed to be replanted and time on the fields was lost due to the replanting. Now the field is unsafe for a team to use and safety is the priority. The DPW has an annual maintenance budget for these fields. The facility will be locked during the winter to discourage the vandalism. The field will still be available to those who walk their dogs. There have not been any issues with dogs in this area. Concern was raised that since we are putting money into the field that precautions be put into place to keep the field safe from vandalism. It appears after a meeting today that the recreation programs this summer will not need to be relocated from the Eddy School during the roof/HVAC project. There was a request for information on the utilization rate of the recreational department as it pertains to elementary school children in the town, however it was determined that the software used by the Recreation Department is unable to break the information out in this format. There was discussion about whether or not raising the amount requested by Article 14 from $200,000 to $250,000 to help with maintenance issues should be done and this will be investigated with Lisa Souve. There was a review of the receipts that come in and when they come in to the Recreation Department. There is currently a cap,on Article 14 of$200,000. The Recreation Commission regulates the fees collected and amount to be spent from the Revolving Account. The Revolving account monies are rolled over from year to year. Motion made by Greg Levasseur regarding Article 14 to authorize the Revolving Fund for the Recreation Department. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 3. Review& Vote Fire Department Operating Budget& Capital Articles. —Chief Moran Chief Moran reviewed the Fire Department Operating Budget. There is a request for a couple of increases in some of the line items in the budget. The Fire Department is requesting a$2,990 increase in the computer line item to update thirteen mobile computers used with the county care system and to be used to pay the $230 annual maintenance fee for the software needed. The rescue expense for contracted services for 2013 was overspent and there is a request for an increase of$1,200 for this year to allow the Fire Department to operate in the black. The other request is for new programs as the Fire Department is being reorganized through the 5-year plan. There is a request for a $20,000 increase in the overtime line item. Two new firefighters were added a couple of years ago so that three career firefighters were on duty during the night and all overtime money was eliminated at that time. Currently, the Fire Department is no longer able to continue with no overtime as these new people have now accrued time off. This increase in overtime will allow the Fire Department to continue the three career firefighter night staffing. Another request is for Finance Committee Minutes February 19, 2014 Page 3 of 7 a new hourly pay rate for a Senior Call Fire Fighter. There was a review of the Fire Department staffing as it currently exists and how the Fire Chief would like to reorganize some of the outdated positions. The four Senior Call Fire Fighters will be helping the Career Captain with administrative and training duties and will receive a$1.39 hourly increase in each of the steps limited to 400 hours per year for an additional amount of $2,000 in the budget. A full-time Deputy Chief position is a position that the Fire Chief feels is needed, but due to personnel changes, this position will be revisited at another time. There is a request this year for a full-time EMS officer. Currently the Shift Captain does the duties of the EMS officer for the Department. There was a review of current staffing and how a full-time EMS officer would fit into the organization. Most calls to the Fire Department are now EMS related. The EMS/paramedic positions need to acquire national certification with recertification every two years. This has increased the workload required for the Shift Captain. The addition of this position would also allow an extra person in the Fire Station on Tuesday through Thursday increasing staffing on these days. The Fire Prevention Captain works Monday through Thursday. The EMS officer would work Tuesday through Friday. Currently, the Fire Prevention Captain has to go on EMS calls and may fall behind or need to reschedule his fire inspections. The EMS Officer would be the first staff to respond to an EMS call, allowing the Fire Prevention Captain to be in a backup position. This will require an over-ride and if not approved this year, will be requested again in the future and is part of the five-year plan. The operating budget has increased about $4,100 or a 1.68 percent increase not including the wages and falls within the parameters set out by the Board Of Selectmen. There are 25 on-call firefighters. The total manpower availability is 43 and the goal is to have ten fire fighters/EMTs in each group—three career firefighters and seven call fire fighters. There are four Shift Captains, one Call Captain, and one Fire Prevention Captain. In 2013, $270,000 was overtime amount and this line item is usually overspent. Three new fire fighters recently hired did not receive vacation time, comp time, personal time and this is why the amount was less than requested for FY `15. Historically, the overtime has been running about $340,000 and this has been requested for FY '15. There was a review of how the fire department is staffed during a call for transport and multiple ambulance calls. All calls and transports are tracked. Shift coverage is the major need for overtime. There was a review of overtime needs and usage. A financial model was put together when the request for the additional manpower was originally made. Due to storms, calls etc. it is difficult to always know how much overtime will be necessary and this is out of the Chief's control. The Special Town Meeting Warrant Article 2 is the placeholder for this overtime increase for $25,000 though up to this point in time this has not been necessary to use it. This overtime amount in the Special Town Meeting Warrant will be re-evaluated to make sure it is sufficient. The Fire Department budget is $1,681,297 without the new programs. The BOS have not voted the Fire Department budget yet due to the unknown with regard to the electrical expense and the problems with the solar array. The Chief is trying to adjust the Fire Department Budget to where the money will actually be spent. Some line items will be over spent but the bottom line will not be. The educational stipend has been increased by $2,000 while the tuition education has been reduced by $2,000 and Chief Moran explained that two captains this year will obtain their bachelor's degrees and one will receive his master's degree and by contract will they will receive a stipend and that is the reason for the line item changes. There was a review of the protocol and standards used on how mutual aid calls are made with other communities. The roll of staff was briefly reviewed and out of 14 career Fire Fighters, 11 are Paramedics and three are EMTs. Only a few people are just a firefighter or just an EMT and dual roles are and have been encouraged as cross training is the most efficient use of the staff. Most of the wage increases are due to contractual obligations. It was suggested that part-time wages could be used to fund part-time Senior Call Officers and there was a brief discussion on the management ramifications. There was clarification on how the overtime was accounted for in the budget. There is no cost to the town for any training other than a$400 physical and they are not on the payroll during their training. There are Finance Committee Minutes February 19, 2014 Page 4 of 7 four nights where the fire department gives an overview of what will occur at the academy and this cost would be for overtime for the one doing the overview. Every year for the past four years the increase requested by the Fire Department has been smaller. The Chief reviewed the Capital Expenditures requested and why each request is necessary and all of these requests will come from the Ambulance Receipts Account. There was a brief discussion on leasing versus purchasing a new ambulance. Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve the Fire Department Article 8, Section 2a Dispatch Services for$35,000 from Ambulance Receipts reserved for appropriation. Dan Guertin seconded. 8-0-0 Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve Fire Department Article 8, Section 2b Rescue Services Service for$17,000 from Ambulance Receipts reserved for appropriation. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve Fire Department Article 8, Section 2c the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus Lease payment $25,000 from Ambulance Receipts reserved for appropriation. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve Fire Department Article 8, Section 2d the C-MED for $5,000 from the Ambulance Receipts Account. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve Fire Department Article 8, Section 2e Ambulance lease payment for$25,000 from the Ambulance Receipts reserved for appropriation. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Motion made by Nate Pettengill to approve Fire Department Article 8, Section 2f Hose Replacement for$15,000 to come from the Ambulance Receipts Account. Dennis Hanson seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve Fire Department Article 8, Section 2g Personnel Protection Equipment for$20,000 from the Ambulance Receipts Account. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve Fire Department Article 8, Section 2h the mobile computer software license for$15,600 from the Ambulance Receipts Account. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Chief Moran reviewed the Ambulance Receipts account and the changes that have been made to it such as increasing rates and leasing some capital items. By better management, this account should be in the black for the near future and the revenue from this account is used to fund life saving equipment. Last year, 1,318 transports went to the hospital. There are instances when an ambulance request for assistance is not a transport to the hospital. There was a review of calls to assisted living facilities and nursing homes; those that are transports to the hospital and those that are for assistance. Transportation to the hospital is a charge Finance Committee Minutes February 19, 2014 Page 5 of 7 to the person and their health insurance and the costs vary depending on the services rendered. Ninety percent of ambulance bills submitted are paid and the Chief reviewed how hardship cases were handled. Concern was raised about private companies using the Fire Department due to understaffing. There was a brief discussion on how rescues are classified. The guidelines require a ninety percent rate of response within six minutes and for the most time we meet this rate for first and second calls. However,there are times when multiple calls will not make this response time and in cases such as this, mutual aid may be requested. Chief Moran has been the Fire Chief for about four years and during this time, there has not been any mortality directly related to ambulance response time. The Chief is unaware of any charges to nursing homes for assistance from any Fire Department and nursing homes do pay taxes. The Chief was able to obtain a better insurance rating through the Insurance Services Organization and the Town of Brewster was rated 4/10 and the first number has been reduced to a 3 and this reduces the insurance premium for those insurance companies that use ISO. Hydrants have been added around town. National Fire codes are used to classify calls and the "other" classified was discussed. The requests of the Fire Department are prioritized according to need. 4. ' Review& Vote Articles 9, 10, 11, & 13. —Committee Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve Article 9 for Local Business funding for$26,000 from Free Cash to fund the Brewster Chamber of Commerce Guide. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve Article 10 for$3,500 the Town Band from Free Cash. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve Article 11 Bayside Skippers for $4500 from Free Cash. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 7-0-1 Article 13 has been postponed. 5. Update Committee on Meeting Schedule for February& March. —Mike Fitzgerald April 2 Meeting currently is the DPW, Selectmen, and Planning Board Articles March 19, Meeting is currently Nauset Schools and Golf April 9 Meeting—Would like to move DPW to this night, tentative four citizens petitions have been added. 6. Sub Committee Update. —Greg Levasseur There was no Sub Committee Update. 7. Report BOS Liaison. —Ben deRuyter There was no BOS report. 8. Liaison Reports. Finance Committee Minutes February 19, 2014 Page 6 of 7 The Maintenance Department may come before the Finance Committee for a reserve fund transfer to purchase a snow blower. It was suggested that this come from the Snow and Ice Budget. BNAC—Fire Station Project Liaison, Mike Fitzgerald stated that there was a review of fire station design and two new additional options were discussed and rejected. One design had the living area in the basement and the other design had a flat roof. The BNAC have decided to go with originally proposed design and an exemption will be requested from the building bylaw for a public building. Ralph Ingegneri is Chair of Fire Station Subcommittee and on March 1, 2014, there will be a citizens' forum at the fire station beginning at 10 a.m. The footprint of the building has been reduced and the elevator is back in the project. BNAC—Eddy School Liaison, Greg Levasseur updated the committee on the Eddy School the roof project. It is hoped to have the 60% cost design by next week and the 90% cost design should be ready the following week. The timing of approving the project, approval of the funding and when the funds become available to design the equipment is being discussed as the HVAC equipment on the roof has a lead-time of 6 to 8 weeks. A vote is necessary for the debt exclusion and needs be coordinated with the Annual Town Meeting and a special election is being looked at in April before the town meeting. The timing of the project is difficult and an expedited order is being looked into. It has been suggested to look at the costs of the project running into the fall and those costs be weighed against the additional costs of expediting the order. It was suggested if the project runs into the school year, that money be placed in the project for additional security. More detail will be reported back to the Finance Committee when available. Greg Levasseur stated that he has reviewed of the spec sheets for the last phase of the window replacement project for the Stony Book School and this project is moving forward. 9. Approve Minutes Feb 12, 2014 Meeting. Motion made by Greg Levasseur to approve the February 12, 2014 meeting minutes as amended. Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 7-0-1 Topes the Chair did not reasonably anticipate. There were no other topics discussed. Adjo4rnment Motion made by Greg Levasseur to adjourn the meeting at 8:44 pm Dan Guertin seconded. VOTE: 8-0-0 Respectfully submitted, ,(0-2r Donna J. Moberg, Reco ding Secretary Finance Committee Minutes February 19, 2014 Page 7 of 7