Back to Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes
November 10, 2009
Regular Session 7:00 pm
Ms. Burns, Mr. Rabuffo, Mr. Riley
Questions from the Public
Mr. Hersey said that he had spoken to the Board some weeks ago about the lack of signage on the center islands on Beal Street. Recently there have been two accidents resulting in flat tires when people came upon the island is the dark and did not see it. Mr. Hersey met with representatives of the DPW on this matter and suggested there should be a center line and a Keep Right sign.
Medium Term Financial Strategy
Ms. Burns said that she felt that the Board needed to put together a medium term financial strategy. She suggested four goals:
1. Hold the reserves steady for FY 2011 Rather than try to improve the reserves this year. When revenues improve then begin to build reserves. Adopt a target of 15% of expenditures as a target to achieve in the next five years.
2. Fund capital, exclusive of borrowing, entirely from tax levy.
3. Preserve Balance in the operating budget.
4 Avoid operating override
Ms. Burns then outlined a plan for achieving those goals:
• Fund OPEB entirely going forward
• Fund $1 M in capital from the tax levy in FY2011
• Appropriate sufficient funds to reserves from the levy to prevent a decline in reserves
• Adopt meals tax to be deposited in general reserves for the purpose of offsetting debt exclusion overrides for capital projects. Ms. Burns noted that it is difficult to set aside money for future needs but this would allow the direct reduction of property tax dollar levy for large capital projects that would require a debt exclusion.
In order to achieve goals #3 and #4 Ms. Burns suggested identifying savings in departmental reorganizations and efficiencies; Identifying returns from revenue initiatives that are underway; and adopting a fee for the use of the transfer station in FY11 to close the remaining budget gap. .
Mr. Rabuffo said there are some “no brainers” such as avoiding an operating override. All members of the Board agreed. The Board agreed that funding the entire OPEB liability going forward was important.
As far as the transfer station fee, Mr. Rabuffo suggested the Board adopt a policy of fees should cover our costs (in general). Mr. Paicos said suggested the fee be adopted then adopt enterprise fee legislation. He noted that there will be a good income stream through the scale and the compost and this could offset the fee.
As far as holding reserves steady, Mr. Rabuffo noted that Richard Tortora was speaking generically. This is not the message from Moody’s. It is his opinion that we should begin the process of overfunding. This will send the message back that we got the message. The target of 15% is less daunting than 20%. Ms. Burns asked what the bond rating worth to the Town is. She noted that she is not willing to destabilize the operating budgets in order to reach the goal. Mr. Rabuffo said the Board needs to talk more about the reserve fund strategy. He noted that the Town has to put money back in the bank to prepare for the rainy day.
Ms. Burns remarked that the $500,000 proposal doesn’t get the Town there for 20 years. The triple A is a statement of financial management and a whole lot more. She noted that the Town is a service delivery organization. The taxpayers are not paying for a triple A they are paying for services.
Mr. Riley said when he first came to the office he did not think the triple A was that important but if we did not have a triple A rating a lot of the projects would not have come to fruition. He said he has a problem with the ¾ % meal tax because the state wants us to do their dirty work. We have to put up with the wrath of the restaurateurs. Ms Burns remarked that this is a more reliable revenue stream than state aid.
Mr. Paicos said that the $500,000 suggested takes the Town in a different direction, however it does it just barely. What is vastly more important is that we collect the money we need. This Town has had extraordinarily good tax collections. Some towns are finding tax revenues dropping by up to 10%. The goal of trying to get back to 20% in five years is totally unrealistic. Are we really committed to making the kind of cuts in the budget to make reserves a triple A standard. This would require a fundamental shift in how we spend our money by 3-5 million dollars. Mr. Paicos said he didn’t think the Town was prepared to make the kind of changes in the operating budget that will reach that goal. The period of time between tonight and when we next issue a bond is how long we have to turn things around.
Mr. Rabuffo noted that is the question of what was said at the economic summit –we have lived beyond our means and we have to get back. Ms. Burns said she felt that funding OPEB at 100% would impress Moody’s and it makes sense. If we don’t pay now we will pay later with interest.
Mr. Rabuffo said that Moody’s had one comment and it was “fix your reserves”. That’s what this is about. To fund OPEB and to fund reserves at $500,000 will not impress Moody’s. Mr. Paicos noted that the question is whether this community is prepared to make the sacrifices necessary. Dennis Friedman summed things up saying the decision we have to make is “do we want to do this?”
Inter-Municipal Agreement between the Towns of Hingham, Hull, Cohasset and Norwell
Mr. Paicos reported that this document had been reworked by three separate town counsels and all of them were satisfied. It is necessary to get at least two towns signatures on this document in order to pay bills. The clock is ticking and we have two weeks to get this done. This has been vetted thoroughly by town counsels, town managers, etc. The first year of operation is likely to yield changes that the Board will want incorporated in the agreement. Mr. Paicos said that at the end of the day this rests on the good faith of the four communities and has potential multi-tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings. This is the document that creates the first regional public safety dispatch capability. This was not done for the purpose of saving money – it was done to improve public safety dispatch for the public. Ms. Burns said this would be on the agenda for approval at the next meeting.
Middle School Statement of interest
The Board heard comments from the public on the proposed Statement of Interest. Dr. Galo reported that the School Department will be exploring options to deal with the enrollment the next school year but that will not fix the condition of the Middle School.
Ms. Burns said that she feels the Board should sign the Statement of Interest. The new MSBA plan allows the Town only to say there is a problem and we would like to work with the state. There can be a school project with state reimbursement, or one without state reimbursement. She said she did not think the MSBA would accept the SOI this year but, if it was not submitted it would make the Town’s planning look strange. Submission would demonstrate awareness of the problem and planning. Town meeting has already voted in favor of this project.
Mr. Riley said he was torn but he could sign the SOI if it did not include overcrowding. As he sees it the only way to alleviate the core space problems is a full blown school project. He said he had been elected to look at the overall health of the town. If the SOI is for immediate repairs, he said he will sign it but not for the overcrowding issue. He said he could not see getting on the track for a huge sum of money.
Mr. Rabuffo said Hingham is facing two problems – the state of the middle school and, the state of fiscal affairs. I see this as one. We have a business problem, we have to do something about it and we do not know what that something is. We do need to begin the process. Mr. Rabuffo said he has heard that the MSBA is not as strong as it was. When we voted in the past it was a very different time - we had money and so did the state. The Town cannot commit to solutions it cannot afford. When you put overcrowding with the facilities issue it is a problem. Mr. Rabuffo said he could support the SOI if it was modified enough to get to the point where we do not commit ourselves to something we can’t pay for.
Ms. Burns said the purpose of an SOI is to make a case to the state that we would like their attention to our problem. To remove the reasons that we would like their attention could remove their attention. It is overcrowded. We won’t get there if we don’t make our strongest case to the state. It is all about collaboration with the state. We have no idea of what will come out of this process. It would not be in their interest to press for the more expensive option.
Mr. Riley said he thought the Board needed to make a decision – fix the immediate problem or look at the long term. He said to suggest that you can fix that school through repairs is not feasible but he doesn’t think the Board is ready to suggest that it can make a commitment to fix a problem of overcrowding with the creation of an expensive new school. He would like to see how things make out this year. He would also like to get the financial house in order to have the triple A bond rating.
Mr. Paicos urged everyone to accept that that the Board has said it can sign the SOI with modification and get it into the mill. This is a compromise but it achieves getting the SOI and staying in the queue.
Voted - To sign the Statement of Interest for the Middle School subject to removal of the two criteria (#2 and #4) and submit the Statement of Interest on the basis of criteria # 5, Replacement, renovation or modernization of school facility systems, such as roofs, windows, boilers, heating and ventilations systems, to increase energy conservation and decrease energy related costs in a school facility and #7, Replacement of or addition to obsolete buildings in order to provide for a full range of programs consistent with the state and approved local requirements.
Department of Public Works Reorganization
Mr. Paicos presented the DPW reorganization plan. This reduces from 13 managers to 12. The assistant superintendent is eliminated. Under the proposed structure the Projects Engineer reports directly to the Town Administrator. The vast majority of communities have DPW involved in the inspection process. He said it is not necessary to have a PE to determine if a road is constructed according to specifications. Inspections will be done in a far more cost effective manner. There are also some new laws which require inspection of trenches over three feet deep. With the new structure we will have someone who can do these inspections. The remote reader capability at the transfer station will replace a position that is currently vacant. This balances the DPW budget for FY 2011 with the 5% cut.
Mr. Riley said the Department of Public Works Super visor would oversee the working foremen. The department has had past problems in funding. Mr. Rabuffo asked if the proposed structure would make the funding situation better. Mr. Sylvester said there would be more of a joint effort.
The DPW Supervisor would oversee each division to make sure that the work that needs to be done is getting done. Assistant Projects Engineer does not have an engineering background but he does have 25 years of experience. Mr. Fernandes said that the important part of the new design is the flexibility of the personnel. From time to time when the Assistant Projects Engineer is not being tasked with inspection work he will be able to do some things over at highway operational control. In this scenario the DPW supervisor gets the call when it snows.
The Board will take this matter under advisement.
Reports
Mr. Rabuffo said he had attended ceremony at the Middle School this morning. He also noted that there are on-going discussions on the Farmers Market and they will be meeting with the Harbor Task Force. The quarterly budget reviews were interesting – two departments are being pressed by the economic situation in Hull and this needs to be more actively addressed. Mr. Riley and Mr. Rabuffo attended the 375th program at St. John’s church. Mr. Riley reported the Harbor Task force had another successful meeting. The acting Harbormaster would like to enact some changes. There is an ongoing discussion as to zoning in that area and some people would like to extend the historic district from the Iron Horse to the traffic lights at Worlds End. Ms. Burns advised that the Sewer Commission voted to contribute $10,000 to the sewer study. Katy Lacy will work on amending the scope of services for this study.
Mr. Rabuffo said the Shipyard developers have agreed to $180,000 to fund future work on the Beal Street Light. This change requires a vote from the Board.
Voted – to appoint John Churchward to the Energy Action Committee
Mr. Paicos reported that the Town Hall Building will close and employees will use earned time to cover those hours. The Ullmans have filed an appeal on the recent dog ruling and that is being heard on Thursday morning.
Voted - to grant the Congregation Sha’Aray Shalom a temporary liquor license for their Gala concert to celebrate their 30th anniversary November 14, 2009.
Motion to adjourn 10:40 pm.
Betty Foley, Clerk