HomeMy Public PortalAbout20120118 - Appropriations Committee - Meeting MinutesTown of Hopkinton Appropriations Committee (AC)
Minutes of Meeting on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Room 107, Town Hall, Hopkinton, MA
In attendance:
Mike Manning Norman Khumalo
Pam Waxlax Troy Mick
Jon Graziano John Ferrari
Ron Eldridge Dave Daltorio
Chairman Manning called the meeting to order at 6:02 PM.
Ron moved and Jon seconded a motion to approve the minutes of our 12/12/2011 meeting. The motion
passed by a vote of 4 – 0.
Ron moved and Pam seconded a motion to approve the minutes of our 1/17/2012 meeting. The motion
passed by a vote of 4 – 0.
John Ferrari, Permanent Building Committee, and Dave Daltorio, Town Facilities Coordinator, presented
a reserve fund transfer request for professional services related to a town-wide capital needs
assessment for town buildings (9 are included in the project.) This was not budgeted in FY12 but
identified early in the fiscal year by the Selectmen at an all hands meeting. The request is for $30,000.
The study will provide a 5 year plan with life safety the number 1 priority and project life of the asset the
second priority. The idea is to level set the projects. The schools completed studies in 2000 and 2006,
the latter of which was updated in 2012 and paid within the school budget.
The last report for the town was completed in 2000. No complete report has been found and it was
more of a space-needs assessment rather than looking at the facilities (mechanical, electrical, plumbing,
etc.) The proposed process will include an inventory of systems and what to build up for capital needs. It
will identify issues in each building along with estimates to fix/replace items. Interdependencies will also
be identified.
Ron moved and Jon seconded a motion to transfer $25,000 from the reserve fund to Other Professional
Services – 01-4-411-5380-07-1161 in accordance with MA General Laws, Chapter 40, Section 6. The
motion passed by a vote of 4-0. Discussion prior to the approval of the motion noted that this was a gray
area in relation to being sudden and unforeseen, but the needs to have an understanding of the town
buildings, identify any safety issues and to have this completed prior to Annual Town Meeting were seen
as imperative.
Norman provided an update on the budget process to date. The town is projecting new growth at
$700,000 related to permit fees. They are projecting $2.2M in capital pay as you go items for FY13. The
Governor is holding a meeting next Friday for (hopefully) initial budget projections
Norman updated the committee as to what was discussed at the recent Board of Selectmen meeting
with regards to remote access and Open Meeting Law. They have added new verbiage and need to go
back to town departments for comments. Per MA Law the remote member won’t count towards the
quorum but will have voting rights. The towns do have to follow MA Law but can also add further
restrictions. The Selectmen determined that all Town committees will need to use the same technology.
Additionally, remote members may not use a speakerphone on their end and nobody may be in the
room with the remote member interfering with participation. Remote members must have the ability to
access anything new brought to the meeting and if the call is dropped, the remote member is
considered to have left the meeting.
Mike and Jon provided an update of the School budget process. Currently it stands at a 3.95% increase
but this will change down. The current teacher contract expires June 30, 2012. $1.3M of the increase
relates to contractual obligations. (Last year this was $700k.) Overall the student population is down 2%.
They have asked if they can increase 2.5% over prior year as well as considering if they can tap into any
of the unused levy the town has.
At 8:05 PM Ron moved and Jon seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously, 4-0.