good evening um my name is Kurt fres Kowski and welcome to the finance committee meeting of the town of air for Thursday June 20th 2024 at 6: p.m. um this is in the first floor meeting room of town hall and it is a hybrid meeting this meeting of the finance committee will be held in person at the location provided on this notice members of the public are welcome to attend this in person meeting please please note that while an option for remote attendance Andor participation via Zoom is being provided as a courtesy to the public the meeting hearing will not be suspended or terminated if technological problems interrupt the virtual broadcast unless otherwise required by law members of the public with particular interest in a specific item on this agenda should make plans for imperson versus virtual attendance accordingly this meeting will be live on Zoom the public May access the precedings by joining Zoom meeting ID 860 8777519121 6099 for additional information about remote participation please contact Carly antonellis assistant Town manager at ATM a.m. us or 978-772-4864 100 prior to the meeting uh I'm going to call the meeting to order um first item on the agenda is the review of the May 16th 2024 meeting [Applause] minutes I have no comments I have no comments comment none okay I move to approve the meeting minutes from May 16th 2024 as is second okay um all those in favor I hi I and J Hi and hi very good meeting minutes are approved um the first item on the agenda are um two uh Reserve fund trans excuse me three Reserve fund transfers um we'll take a look at let's [Music] go which one you want to do first uh bear with me here let's do the Let's do let's do them in ascending order unemployment compensation it and then Legal [Music] Services okay so um I've got them open here bear with me oh okay you assume my eyes are that good we can zoom in as need how about this okay here you go Kurt okay the first Reserve fund transfer request is for um unemployment compensation uh the amount requested is $2,178 um the present balance budget is a ne1 1725 and the amount is being requested for unemployment charges and the expense is extraordinary because of unforeseen discharge of employee for performance so um discussion questions sounds explanatory to me I have no questions I would just ask why the dollars are different why 1725 and it's projecting out until June 30th oh okay okay all right uh I'll make a motion to approve the request for transfer on unemployment compensation of $2,178 seconded okay all those in favor I I I and j i all in favor okay you're good the second item is for it this is for IT services the amount requested is $40,000 the present balance in the budget is a negative 15,500 the amount requested will be to fund IC te services and payroll through June 30th 2024 and the notes are the it budget was underfunded in FY 24 due to unknown new costs for Town email server security requirements and other client-based security uh enhancements so questions discussions always get confused about the fiscal year so we're talking about this year June I guess it's similar to Eric's uh earlier question uh the request amount is more than the deficit so uh is it that the expected expense is more than 50,000 so this is a 50,000 negative is what you don't have enough now but you still expect to spend more than that till June 30 is that right yes Mr chair yes Robert yeah to answer Jin to answer your question yes so that you have the the the shortage was 15,500 and what we do is we projected out in addition to the shortage how much we're going to need uh to close out the fiscal year and that's why they we're requesting 40,000 to take us through June 30th and as the fincom is aware if we don't need the full amount it will revert back um to the town I see thank you robt right and then uh Rob Bob you had question in fiscal year 24 yes got it yeah after June 30th we're in 2 the new budget yep yeah the same factors that drove the it budget for FY 25 or what what has caused this okay okay and I just wanted to observe I I was sort of expecting this and actually M glad for it because of the well one out the new outlook is is very easy to use and two I I don't think there can be enough Security on our town it systems they feel the same way okay and those did you guys know I assume you guys have read that recently there was a Globe article talking about both the Town of Arlington and the town of orange um because of their Town email problems they end up paying scammers in the case of Arington I think over $400,000 and the CH the orange like is 300 something yeah pretty bad it is it is you just have to say on top of it all and they keep coming out with new tools and you know as many as we can Implement is what we want want to do okay so yeah so on that and just to sort of reflect Jin what you mentioned is and then so Cindy and Robert where our town is up to dat on security yep okay yep special yeah Cindy's in topnotch we've got the maximum security yes yeah okay very good um so um we have a motion I move to approve the transfer of $40,000 from the reserve fund to cover the it expenses second all those in favor I I I I I and JY says I so all in uh unanimous thank you good thank you right and then the last Reserve fund transfer request is um for Legal Services the amount requested is $30,000 um the present balance in the budget is $3,824 73 the amount requested will be used for April 24th invoice May 2024 invoice June 2024 invoice excuse me that was April 2024 invoice um and ongoing property enforcement matters and the expense is extraordinary or unforeseen for the following reasons beginning in February 2024 the town has been involved in an ongoing property enforcement man matter which has which was unforeseen at the time the FY 2024 Legal Services budget was developed Additionally the legal cost of this enforcement matter has been EX extraordinary in scope so again the amount requested is 30,000 um so um questions discussions can anyone explain little bit what is leg property enforcement matter is I'm kind of ignorant about it Mr chair yes Robert so just a couple just background info so obviously the the Town Council budget which this is for uh the Town manager is responsible for so all departments that need Town Council Services go through um my office this is designed we've done this for many years to control costs and so forth and when we do the Town Council budget we base it off the previous year and try to take into account um the legal needs of the town and so we budgeted for fy4 last year for $75,000 and I should point out that the Town Council budget has been generally coming down um several years ago it was at a much higher level of almost 200,000 due to various litigation matters the challenge with this budget is we can't foresee all of the legal matters that may just present themselves to the town and so actually if you look on the um shared screen you can see that we were doing very well so we we're build monthly so you could see we're building monthly and then as I pointed out and uh to the extent possi I can say starting in February um there was a significant property enforcement matter um at 17 Taff Street um which was in the news um it was unforeseen um it has both um civil and uh criminal implications on it and you can see the legal service budget jump considerably to 14,251 from 4,900 in that month and then this is an ongoing matter you can see the March bill and we still have the April the May and the June Bill to get through so I calculated taking the maximum exposure from February um at 14,000 factored in um looking and I consulted with Town Council and we feel that $30,000 will be sufficient for the Town Council account um to get us to July uh 1st so when a property enforcement matter presents itself not only does it involve various Town departments it often invol will involve um Town Council it involves often going to court so the these costs uh go up um considerably we had no way of knowing that this issue would present itself until it did um in February so from time to time this budget in particular really falls under the extraordinary um and unforeseen um category I I can fully understand on Rob just the um I wonder in a little bit of a layman's term the properly enfor M what does it mean is it that the the town is ceasing someone's residential property or or yeah so excellent question so when we say property enforcement what that means is that there is a property that is in violation of it could be several things it could be in violation of the town's nuisance bylaw which sets forth um all you know requirements for property it could violate um the building code um Provisions in the building code it could violate um issues in the fire code and also important is the Board of Health um it could violate issues um uh from the board of Board of Health and keep in mind on these issues we work very hard with individuals through the boards and committees and that the legal venue is always the sort of the last Resort so I want to you know stress that we don't just get to this point this particular case the said property um involved violations of the building code it involved um issues with animals um so it fell under the Board of Health um some fire concerns uh as well so in order to bring the property into compliance to protect the public health and the public safety of not only the public but the owner um we are have gone into court um to have the court remedy this I want to stress we do not as a matter of when I say property enforcement the town is not looking uh to take any property like through eminent domain and so forth so this is to bring the the property into compliance understood thank you very much yeah no problem question y so given that it's ongoing I know this is only through June 30th that we're dealing with but does the the budget for the next fiscal year did was that taken into account do you just wait until the end of the year to to fix it if need be excellent question so when talking with Town Council we anticipate the bulk of the actual cost impacts to be this February March April May point of view things are moving rapidly forward we should costs after that should begin to balance out and we should be okay with the FY 25 budget I should also add as part of the town's position but this isn't a given there is an opportunity potentially to recoup some of these legal costs the reality is that may not be for 24 to 36 months from now but the good news is if success F we could recoup some of those costs but we should be good for FY 25 thank you Robert thank you very much my my you just answered my question is do we when we work through these things do we try to uh have the the judge uh set up something where the defendants could pay be required to pay court cost so y good nothing any other questions observation okay um I move that um we approve the reserve fund transort excuse me I move that we approve the reserve fund transfer request for $30,000 for Legal Services second all those in favor I I I I we have unanimous very good so the reserve fund transfer requests have been approved uh the next item is uh the FY 2026 budget planning Robert if we'll have we're going to have a question for you sure um in the next few minutes okay so um I'll come back okay and and thank you for your support of the transfer thank you um okay so I was looking at the um the minutes from last uh meeting and um Andrew had updated me also and um um two things want to talk about clear. goov um but let's let's come back to that um I think the uh we can discuss and and this is where I was going to sort of call on Robert the idea of having a department heads give us reports sooner than later no so I'm think so I guess that's we are we would we consider August September quarterly say 6 months quarterly I mean so technically 6 months would be the summer yes well that's that that's where I was hoping for um Robert's input um so and Robert before we asked for your input so what I was saying is we want to look at get getting department head updates um and uh what I've heard what I'm reading and um is um we want to include as we get this scheduled is um we don't need a full report but an update where they uh are from last year and I'm I'm reading from the minutes last meeting um uh any uh and adding any up new items that will be be on the horizon we should be the town should be aware of um any cost savings that they're pursuing and then also any Revenue generating and grants that there are pursuing so want to look at having the Department's heads give us an update Robert we're going to ask for a minute maybe what the timing on this but would include uh updates on um current items new items uh cost savings and revenues so so what would the timing what would be a sure to look at the timing for us yeah so a couple things Mr chair and I'm glad that the the committee is looking to the FY 26 budget already um as are we so couple things one is I'll be coming back um to the fincom shortly because we want your input on the annual budget schedule that we do and um there is some uh changes we'd like to potentially make to that schedule that would be in everybody's best interest so for example um the tax classification hearing has traditionally been in December uh we'd like to move that up a little bit um also as you probably have noticed um in more significantly in the budget so the initial budget has been due right before January 1st and then Barbera and I get it to the fincom and the select board and we've had that first budget hearing in January one of the challenges is in January we don't have all of the information the reality is we have all of the information for the FY 26 budget more in February with the schools so my first um thing that I offer is we'll be coming back with a draft sort of schedule of the the year and we want you know your input and so forth on that secondly more specifically to your question um here um any Department and I'd be happy to facilitate schedule that come before the fincom for any information or questions that this committee would like so we can facilitate that um it's very early in terms of the revenue you know projections for next year um but we could start a discussion because about a lot of the general conversation about the the proposed you know budgets moving forward or major issues and grants and so forth are you when you talk about having them come in for updates and reports and whatnot are you referring to okay so FY like 25 what we're moving into how that how expenditures are going and everything for essentially what will be the current fiscal year or are you referring to the Future fiscal year well that's that's what we we so right now we are entering FY 202 okay because it ends in 2025 okay so um and next February and March we're going to be having the town departments do their presentations for actually FY 26 right right okay so what I was reading in the minutes and was hoping for is sort of a midyear update from the department heads on we're in the midst of 2025 here's how we're doing so far with the budget um and again by the way here are some new things that are coming up um and here's again the cost savings we've been looking at in Revenue uh again and I think the idea was what I sort of picked up from Andrew and picked up from the meeting minutes was that instead of waiting until February March and just um finding out everything at once and this way we would just stay sort of stay on top on things I don't think it needs to be I was just throwing out to the committee a full-fledged presentation is just more of a hey how you doing and uh so what I was wondering is August would August and September I'm throwing out this to Robert and the group be a good time to start scheduling that September October whatever's fine well so if essentially the fiscal year starts July so if we're say meeting in August or something I don't know if would that be enough time for any department heads to get any kind of sense let me ask a question first so I'm running my business I get a monthly M statement of you know our financial statement and then our Revenue our expenditures and it's all categorized by call it cost code for sake of a better word I'm assuming that that happens within the town is that a good ass so carry the town accountant and I think we post it on do your website and the town website does a monthly report so you can see in the monthly report she puts it's from munice it'll show you I'm oversimplifying but the original appropriation amount used to date so that comes out every every month right um so we make that posted um that does happen so that's available so I guess I'm what I'm saying is do we really need a full-fledged presentation are we able to just look at those monthly statements and get an assessment I would have said it was more of like the police chief shows up and he's like yeah we had a shootout so now we got to buy a new car or something right we didn't account for that's extreme like maybe Dan's saying he's got needs a new truck at broker like the dam let go somewhere and got to fix it okay all right no surprises kind of thing got I think a a couple things um that I would suggest is one I would say after as we were entering summer mode and a lot happens I would say after Labor Day would be sufficient to start um that but it's up to the committee um I think some topics in in addition to these mid-year checks and I know what you're saying with the Departments we can um work on the annual budget calendar as I mentioned as we want you involved in your input the clear go piece which though we've launched I think we could do um you know a further Deep dive at one of your meetings um with the cleargov you know module and that tool um and we're also going to be using clear gov for the capital process so that could be another um topic and then yeah I think if the fincom would like we could do you know some brief midyear Department you know updates on the major on the major issues um that we know at this time or or anticipate at this time moving into the year ahead okay all right so um what I'm hearing and I'm thinking is maybe we what because hopefully in September and October we're going to go back to two meetings a month so maybe October would be a good time to start looking into this and then maybe in September we'll just reach out to you Robert and say hey U if we can just have at our meetings on uh in October the department has just give us a quick um year-to dat snapshot of their Department budget wise and um and everything and I think it just would give us a just we're monitoring things for so essentially kind of what you're saying and just so like let's say yeah the chief Gil comes and it's like how are things going or what's has there been any surprises somewhere or fill his vacancies in his Department yeah no not not an actual like presentation just to sort of yeah and they could give an update like on grants and so forth yeah that that was the other thing is I I just think is one thing that we can sort of stress at this that these meetings uh would be remember because I was thinking about we were talking is you know at budget when you send out your budget requests you always let the Departments know this is your coming up with your budget make sure you're um fine-tuning your budget what cost savings and stuff that you're doing so I think this would be an opportunity and let looking at October saying hey make sure you know what are you working on to save money this year and and the flip-flop are you getting as many grants as you can are you making sure that your Revenue ources are update and everything again I think just as our role as a watchdog for the town I think it would it be yeah literally throwing it out there and yeah is that um so along those same lines do we is there a list of grants that we're going after now uh is it is it an internal um list within each department or is it a general list of so we could get you that information what I have historically done before the first budget presentation is get a list from all Departments of the grants that they've successfully applied for we could obviously do that you know sooner that that's easy enough ask departments you know what have you applied for and received and what do you anticipate we could we could get that together and they could even if you do these mid checks with them that could be part of their mid check we can also get it um all together for the committee on one page as they said right well I don't want to create more work that's everybody's got their job to do so the objective is not to create more work but use the existing or available reports that we have yeah and we like to I think it's important because all of our departments do a excellent job in securing a lot of Grants and it's important for the public to know that and what they AFF so that's a good idea Mr chair I also just propose so the fall town meeting will be the fall the 4th Monday in October which is probably like October 24th I don't have a calendar in front of me and though we traditionally though traditionally that meeting is not for financial matters it doesn't mean that there are never any uh so it' be the 208th yep the 28th that doesn't mean there isn't the possibility of there being some type of financial issue so obviously we put that on our list we'd want to be coming to the fincom much sooner and get you in the loop couple things I'm thinking of one is the storm water utility as we know there's the public hearing is uh on Monday upstairs at 6 and um I know that the utility group would like to come to the fincom to give it and I know JY has is on the working group and has done a great job on that but as we get closer to you know fully update the fincom and and see where you stand on the storm water utility cuz that would ultimately have to be approved by town meeting and right now the working group's Target is for this fall town meeting the other one which we're not at yet and so there's no definitive but as you probably know there's a committee actively looking for the site for the future Senior Center they had sort of narrowing that down the good news is it it appears it looks like it's going to be a public land site so we don't have to worry about the land costs but the the cost of the project and we're not there yet I I know that Barbara um and probably the chair of the committee and myself when we have more information and more specifics would like to present and discuss with the fincom um the financing approach to that and it's still early I mean we've got some steps to do um but that's going to be um on the horizon as well so I would just add and I'll keep the the chair updated as of right now um I would say the storm water is probably the most definitive one that we know but if other financial matters once we know them that require town meeting approval we'd want you to be informed and weigh in sooner than later good so um very very good so just to summarize um for the minutes um in October we'll be looking at um having department heads do quick updates um so as we get close uh in September we'll be reaching out to Robert for that um and then and Robert Bob you just sort of mention this and um the other thing um sort of part of the budget is the clear. goov feature um I think it's important that we just get a better handle on how we're using that and um my God thank you for do name s car Carrie you said it's there's something on our website right now there is a town Budget on the website um for Clear go and we have come to decision that it is a process to upload the um expenditures so we're going to be doing it on a quarterly basis so basically it will be updated for July 1 obviously with the budget that's in there now which it's there but it'll also be the expenditure part for FY 24 will be then in there as well so and then on September 30th we will update FY 25's expenses as of September 30th and then so forth so it'll be on a quarterly basis that we will be updating in Clear G so will be every 3 months so you'll have an idea there but as um Robert did indicate that um every month I submit a report that it's the expenditure up to the previous month so I just submitted a report um just recently which would have been May 31st up to May 31st expenditures so it shows the budget it shows the expenses and it shows what to remain it that's your monthly report right M so it's the town accountants monthly report so if you go to the department uh monthly reports under my page and click on the town accountant it'll have that month so let me ask could we um so would this be ready our next meeting is going to be in the third Thursday of July would that would your first round of reports be ready by then unfortunately I cannot indicate that because we actually don't forget our vendors you know have invoices and I don't get them until like the second third week in July so we're going to date them for July 1st but they probably won't be posted to cleargo until like probably late August because we're we're still finalizing the books ourselves we still have Revenue coming in we still have invoices that are dated June 30th um so it it's we're we're getting invoices like until July 15th for June so it probably won't be until closer to the middle of August okay so this here's why I was asking is that um so we've got meetings in July August and then I'm think as as we're talking we'll probably go back to to two meetings a month in September so what I was hoping is um to ask if if if it's going to be a meeting in August or maybe the first meeting in September you can do a presentation for the group so just say here's how to use here's how we're going to use show us how to use clear doove on the site absolutely I think that would be really neat to have to to walk us through and then you know it's very user friendly um as you if you went into the website now you can see that what we have up there it is showing the FY 25 budget already in there so that's great to just to look and see the you know um but yeah I'll absolutely can show you walk you through everything that's not a problem okay yeah I think because it would be valuable because this will be the first time that it's all updated and so it'll be it'll have a a lot of meaning to everyone that you know would August be an appropriate time to do it or would September be better I think um personally this is my first year with Cleo so I I would really rather do it a little bit later than earlier because I actually have to close out State reporting as well so the the uh fiscal year 24 reconciliation do that happen during July is that what the it actually happens between July and September it's it's a long process absolutely so I'm going let's make a note then for the first meeting of September tentatively or a meeting in September to have Carrie do a presentation on clear. goov on and how to look at it on the website with the the most upto-date information that would be that would be so because we can all Poke around but having someone walk us through would be really valuable now this is just the financial part of it as for the capital part of it that would be the finance manager Bob Rock so there's two different parts of clear go that we have to indicate so so can we do both or Capital process uh we just signed up for July 1st contract to start implementing it so I can try my best to have it ready SE will be ready for the my plan is to have it ready for the capital actual Capital process which starts the end of October starts the end of October so then let's just keep it simple we'll just have your presentation here okay so we'll so we'll have a note for the one of our September meetings have car to a presentation on clear. goov and so we can can get we in the town of anyone can use our the website for that information that's terrific okay um so I think that's for the 2026 budget uh the next item on the agenda um is the uh committee's um updates and um Robert Bob I'm sorry is it Robert or Bob do you B Bob you want to give us a quick quick update on that raid review meeting uh I was I was not there no the one a couple weeks ago yes were we I am drawn a blank um transfer station on the study yes right yes that was that was the RW meeting oh boy now you're testing me I mean mean I can do it too I mean just yeah um I'll let you do it because I'm you know I uh it'll take me a little bit to okay yeah no I just remember exactly what to point and I sort of knew that this I was um so I just you for the um at the rate review meeting the uh outside group that we um Town hired to do a presentation on the transfer station um gave a summary of their pres of their uh study um has that Robert has that is is a the formal study been submitted and is available for review on the website yes okay y all right and I think the main takeaway is that uh was one that the transportation is well-run is doing a good job um and uh and then the second takeaway is that uh and Robert I'm going to look at you again to correct that I'm wrong is that uh the DPW is going to uh prepare some analysis and on uh future uh uh uh fees fees and and um permit sticker fees sticker fees bag fees I bag fees on the for the July meeting of the committee DPW will have further refined the recommendations okay that's a July meeting of rev okay about that all right I'm going to step ahead skip ahead to the capital committee which I'm on and there's nothing going on right now and then JY I'm going to put you on the hot seat um and just a quick update on the storm water uh sure uh okay I didn't want to cut you off so oh no no no you yeah just I mean I know we have the meeting on Monday I just wonder if you have any other insights or uh you want to share with us uh not much Insight but I can give you a quick update of what the uh St water uh working group have been doing so there are um the a few aspects that um that they have uh the group had down is one is they had drafted a policy for say that if we do get up uh get to implement this uh storm Water Utility Fund then um how we're going to charge people and you know how we Define certain typ like right now they are uh thinking of a uh charging uh residential um homeowners by the you know individual residential units and so basically like how they're going to run this thing so they have drafted a document for the policy and then there were also the um people have had an extensive discussion about how to uh charge the rate and so the town has fired an outside consulting company and to kind of propose the Ray and you know in reference to the other towns that have already implemented this type of a a funding structure and so um and then of course with the ray you know there probably will be you know I think the T that um motivation of implementing this store Water Utility Fund is a um also it's a way to encourage businesses like you know real estate developers to um put in better practice to kind of limit the the the you know um the burden to the town Sage system sort of you know limit your own storm water run out to the to the uh Town St system so that they said that you know if you there are certain ways that you can you know like a build a rain Garden there were some other ways I don't remember now that will kind of a um uh so if you do enough of those things you can get credit so that you will pay less into this uh you know so there was a you know a lot of discussion of how to do this and and and so on I think that the credit policies probably apply more to businesses than you know individual homeowners but you know the thing is that if we uh implement this STW fund the uh businesses are going to be affected more than the homeowners the what the proposed fee for homeowners to me is is really you know not much of not a big deal but you know it's my personal opinion other people may disagree um but the two businesses you know that have like big parking lots they can end up paying quite a bit so so you know the time needs to kind of get those people prepared you know to accept that so so that's a um yeah so that's pretty much what the group had done is a you know um CU I think the one thing the group completely agreed on is that we need to have a dedicated Revenue Source uh for St water treatment for various reasons and then how to you know reach that is is you know so that's what the group have been working on so on Monday you know Dan the DP director will give a a very full presentation on the whole great great thank you Jim thank you sure um so I'm I'm throw I'm going to plan on uh attending that meeting on Monday um you know since I'm retired I have nothing else to do so um Jen are you going to um you think you're going to try to attend yeah I'm going to attend bya Zoom again okay okay all right good um and then I'm just going to throw out Robert you had mentioned that uh the storm water is will be you think this will be something that might come up in town meeting so what I'm wondering is and maybe either in our July or August meeting we should be looking at having Robert do an updated presentation on the storm water do you mean Dan Dan Dan I'm sorry Dan thank you I mean I'm not sure how much you Robert would be that would be fair I would think either either your July or August meeting okay um then I will be nice to if they have the meeting I think maybe J August would probably be a better time frame to allow for them to yeah cuz I didn't realize they were going to have an out they're going to have an outdoor Outside Agency get involved now also Jen is that right Jen to work on the you said that there going to have the Dan and DPW In This Storm water thing is going to have an outside agency also help with the uh formulating this no no no they have been using that consulting company I think for quite some time oh okay it like yeah it's not an outside agency it's I believe it's just a private company but it's a private company that have been working with the uh Municipal governments seem like a fa extensive they they have a material for like 20 some different towns that they have work with so so it seem like it's probably a fair normal practice that that town would hire this kind of Consulting companies to help them to to go through this whole process so do you think H if I reach out to Dan and see if and tentatively schedule for him to do a presentation to us on our August meeting would be a good idea sure us to okay all right well I'll follow up then so August storm water okay all right um and then we'll also keep uh that senior Setter um on our radar it's going to be a fun topic everything costs money yes okay I think we've covered everything on the agenda um and our next meeting is the 18th it looked like Thursday July 18th 6: p.m. on by me all right and do we have any public comments anything online there's no one else besides Jin oh okay all right I think we've covered everything for the this meeting thank you I would like to make a motion to adjourn second all those in favor good meeting is nowour