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July 26, 2017, Finance Committee Meeting. Minutes

Finance Committee · Record date 2017-07-26 · Record 9222d37be9214f7d8d

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Canton Finance Committee                      Minutes Voted on: 10/10/17
                                          Meeting Minutes                           Vote: 3-0-2

                                       Wednesday, July 26, 2017



 Members Present:
 Rob Barker, Nichola Gallagher, Dianne Gustafson, Tim McKenna and Barbara Saint Andre.

 Members Absent:
 Cynthia Holcombe and Cindy Thomas.

 Guests Present:
 Charlie Aspinwall, Town Administrator
 Tracy Kenney, Town Clerk
 Karen Zukauskas, Assessing Director
 Jim Murgia, Finance Director
 Ellen Jones, Finance Committee Secretary

 Opening: A meeting of the Canton Finance Committee was called to order by Chair Saint Andre at 7:00
 p m. on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 in the Salah Meeting Room of Town Hall.

 A.      Approval of Agenda

Chair Saint Andre reviewed the items on the agenda which included reorganization of the Finance
Committee members by voting a Chair and a Vice Chair and to vote on a few reserve fund transfer
requests.

B.       Announcements

Chair Saint Andre announced that by a vote at the Annual Town Meeting in May the Finance Committee
would be reduced from 12 members to nine members. She also stated that there were currently seven
members on the Committee with two vacancies and that if anyone from the public was interested in
serving on the Finance Committee that they should contact Town Moderator Alan Hines. Chair Saint
Andre thanked the Finance Committee Secretary, Jim Murgia, Kathy Butters and the various Town
Department staff for a great job done over the past fiscal year.

C.       New Business

Election of Chair and Vice Chair

A nomination made by Chair Saint Andre to elect Mr. Barker as the Finance Committee Chair was
seconded by Ms. Gustafson. There were no other nominations made for Chair. Vote: 5-0-0.

A nomination made by Chair Saint Andre to elect Mr. McKenna as the Finance Committee Vice Chair
was seconded by Mr. Barker. There were no other nominations made for Vice Chair. Vote: 5-0-0.

Ms. Saint Andre congratulated Mr. Barker and Mr. McKenna. The members of the Finance Committee
thanked Ms. Saint Andre for her work as the Finance Committee Chair. Ms. Saint Andre continued to
chair the meeting.



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Reserve Fund Transfer Requests — FY17

Gridley School Roof Repairs - $152.000 — Mr. Aspinwall explained that the $152,000 Reserve Fund
Transfer Request was for structural repairs only and would not include shingles for the roof. Mr.
Aspinwall referred to a handout of photographs, particular Photo #7 in which indicates that rafter
supports had shifted. He also referred to Photos #8, 9, 10 and 11 in which various issues had been
detected by the insurance company (including cracked roof rafters). On Page 2 there were five items in
w hich the insurance company expressed an opinion, in particular Item #2 "the roof structure was prone
to outward displacement of the rafters that resulted in a gap at the roots south eave edge and was due
to its historical construction methods, in the form of insufficient rafter tie connections to resist the
wind." The 150-year old structure had not been built to standards to withstand wind. Mr. Aspinwall
further stated that the engineers would closely monitor the project during construction and if there was
a need to appeal the decision by the insurance company the Town would do so.

The intent of the bid was to stabilize the roof in place to prevent further splaying and not necessarily
prop the roof to its original position. The bid was awarded to Eagle Point Builders from Belmont for
$137,752. References have been checked and the company is DCAM certified. The Reserve Fund
Transfer Request also seeks $2,000 for construction administration and a 9%contingency of $12,248.

I n response to Ms. Gustafson's inquiry as to how the roof problem was originally discovered, Mr.
Aspinwall stated that this was discovered during amulti-building survey of 20 Town buildings (school
buildings not included). Ms. Gustafson further stated concern about the structural soundness of other
Town-owned buildings and how these buildings would be periodically inspected to avoid costly repairs
in the future. Mr. Aspinwall explained that the Town now has a comprehensive report to rely on which
i ncludes 20 properties that were assessed. Of these 20 properties there are three buildings (including
the Gridley) that have issues. Mr. Aspinwall reassured Ms. Gustafson that the Capital Planning
Committee has a copy of the report and that buildings would be addressed annually through the capital
process. Mr. Murgia stated that the last time buildings had been reviewed was 1992.

There was no insurance reimbursement for the Gridley School roof repairs. If the construction
contractor and the engineer determine repairs are not pre-2011 as stated by the insurance company,
the Town will pursue an appeal of the insurance company's decision.

A motion made by Mr. Barker to approve a reserve fund transfer request of $152,000 to the structural
repairs to the Gridley School project code for FY17 was seconded by Mr. McKenna. Vote: 5-0-0.

Assessing Department - $3,000 — Ms. Zukauskas explained that her department had a few unforeseen
expenses in FY17 which included the payment of a salary for an employee on maternity leave plus the
payment of overtime and salary expenses to cover for this employee's absence. This caused a $2,100
deficit in the Assessing budget. The other unforeseen expense was approximately $800 for toner
cartridges that could not be covered by the MIS budget.

A motion made by Mr. Barker to approve a reserve fund transfer request of $3,000 to the Assessing
Department FY17 budget to cover unforeseen expenses was seconded by Mr. McKenna. Vote: 5-0-0.

Town Clerk &Elections - $20,000 - Ms. Kenney explained that the Town Clerk &Elections budget
shortfall was due to additional expenses incurred for early voting. According to Ms. Kenney, there were
over 5,000 voters in Canton that took part in early voting over the 2-week period, in which the Town
Clerk's office was open for 92 hours, including Saturday. Maintenance staff was also called into assist
with assembly of voting booths. FY17 included three elections. The next possibility of early voting
would take place for the state election in 2018.

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Ms. Kenney explained that under the law for absentee voting a voter has to be unavailable with a valid
 excuse (religious belief, illness, traveling out of the area or employment located out of the community)
 of their unavailability to attend voting at their assigned election polling site. Early voting does not
 require an excuse by a voter to take advantage of early voting. Absentee ballot voting is still available
 d uring an early voting period.

 I n response to Ms. Saint Andre's inquiry about extra funds being budgeted for the next early voting
 period, Ms. Kenney stated that she would request additional funds for FY19 for the November 2018
 election.

I n response to Ms. Gallagher's inquiry as to why the budget shortfall was $18,000 but the reserve fund
transfer request was for $20,000 Mr. Murgia explained that an amount was for an encumbrance to
cover a COLA for an AFSCME (Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees) employee
in the Town Clerk's office.

M r. Murgia stated if the Town had received funds from the state prior to the 2017 ATM to cover the
u nfunded state mandate for early voting, funds for any shortfall would have been requested through
the Town Meeting process instead of through the reserve fund transfer process.

A motion made by Mr. McKenna to approve a reserve fund transfer request of $20,000 to the Town
Clerk and Elections budget for FY17 was seconded by Mr. Barker. Vote: 5-0-0.

Trash Collection - $20,000 — Mr. Murgia explained that the trash collection budget incurred a shortfall
d ue to the expansion of the Pine Street yard facility with dumpsters to accommodate additional trash
from residents. The tonnage cost was greater than the amount budgeted.

A motion made by Mr. McKenna to approve a reserve fund transfer request of $20,000 to the Trash
Collection budget for FY17 was seconded by Mr. Barker. Vote: 5-0-0.

Health Insurance - $75,000 — Mr. Murgia stated that an overage in the health insurance budget was
caused by a difference in the number of plans budgeted (HMO & PPO) versus actual family plan
enrollments. The cost to the Town is approximately $12,000 more for a family plan versus an individual
plan. Currently the Town has over 1,000 plans for employees/retirees enrolled in insurance plans. Any
shift from an individual plan to a family plan can cause a budget shortfall. In response to Ms.
G ustafson's inquiry as to when open enrollment occurs with respect to setting the health insurance
budget. Mr. Murgia replied that open enrollment occurs in May for an effective date of July. Open
enrollment takes place after Town Meeting has occurred and the budget has been set for the next fiscal
year.

A motion made by Mr. Barker to approve a reserve fund transfer request of $75,000 to the health
insurance budget for FY 17 was seconded by Mr. McKenna. Vote: 5-0-0.

Vote to establish the Finance Committee Secretary's FY18 hourly rate of pav as per an email from
Town Accountant — Mr. Murgia stated that in October of 2014 the position of the Secretary in the
Finance Department was reclassified with an established rate of pay and that the rate of pay for the
work that is done for the Finance Committee would match that same rate of pay as the Finance
Director's Secretary. The Town Accountant is seeking the Finance Committee to reaffirm that it was the
intent of the Finance Committee that the rate of pay for their secretary would be the same rate of pay
as the position for the Finance Director.


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A motion made by Ms. Gallagher that the rate of pay for the position of the Finance Committee
Secretary be the same rate of pay for the position of the Finance Department Administrative
Secretary was seconded by Ms. Gustafson. Vote: 5-0-0.

D.       Other Business/Open Issues

Ms. Saint Andre stated that the Association of Town Finance Committee's Annual Meeting would take
place in Franklin on Saturday, October 21. The Finance Committee secretary would send the agenda to
the Committee members once it has been sent to the Town.

E.       Approval of Minutes

A motion made by Mr. McKenna to approve the minutes as written for May 8, 2017 was seconded by
Mr. Barker. Vote: 5-0-0.

F.       Next Meeting Date: The next meeting date would be decided in the near future.

Adjournment: A motion made by Ms. Saint Andre to adjourn the meeting at 7:45 p.m. was seconded
by Ms. Gustafson. Vote: 5-0-0.

Minutes reviewed by: Rob Barker

 esp tfu ly submi ted,
             ~            ~~
          ~•.

Rob Barker
Chair, Canton Finance Committee




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Canton Finance Committee Meeting
                                          Wednesday,luly 26, 2017
                                             Meeting Documents

Please note: These meeting documents may also be found on the Town's website under the Posted Minutes
section (Laser Fiche).

Agenda (1 page).

Fiscal 2017 Reserve Fund Transfers —Summary(1 page).

Reserve Fund Transfer Request — FY17 - $152,000 —Executive Area (2 pages).
Report of Findings, Gridley School, 314 Washington Street, Report Date: May 9, 2017(9 pages).
Roof/Attic Framing Details, Gridley School (3 pages).

Reserve Fund Transfer Request — FY17- $3,000 —Assessing (2 pages).

Reserve Fund Transfer Request — FY17 - $20,000 —Town Clerk &Elections (2 pages).

Reserve Fund Transfer Request — FY17 - $20,000 —Trash Collection (2 pages).

Reserve Fund Transfer Request — FY17 - $75,000 —Health Insurance (2 pages).

Finance Committee Secretary Rate of Pay —page from Minutes of 10/28/14(1 page).
Email from Kathy Butters dated June 6, 2017.




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