##VIDEO ID:dagWemiVNPc## Thursday September 19th 2024 meeting of the finance committee took order tonight will be following the published posted agenda uh it will be recorded uh via Tor Tel media and recorded for future viewing uh we will also be available through Zoom this evening and we have one of our members is on Zoom this evening we also have one of presenters on Zoom as well uh going forward with announcements um the Community Vision is continuing there was a community visioning meeting last night at 5:30 I hear it was well attended and and it was uh well appreciated uh there's a survey available on on the town's website if you go on the town's website there's a code to uh to scan to look at and to review and to offer your insight into what you'd like to look for uh in the future for the town uh next on the agenda this evening we have the approval of minutes uh we have a set from September 12th 2024 has everyone had an opportunity to review those yes yes do I have a motion I make a motion to approve the minutes of September 12th 2024 I make a move to second that motion okay any discussion all those in favor I all right moving along we have a public comment do we have any public comment at this time seeing none in the zoom room and none in the room I'd ask uh next we have a presentation of the fiscal year 2024 budgetary report and certified free cash with us this evening is Darlene lucier Our Town accountant good evening Mr chairman board um tonight I'll just um go over um how we ended the fiscal year 24 um I'm happy to report though that we did end um positive uh we got a nice free cash number U but I'm just going to run through some of first start off with the revenues and where we um how we F on those um we'll start with the local receipts uh um and one of the largest um line item in our local receipts is motor vehicle excise um we actually um collected about $550,000 more than what our expected budget of 5.6 was and we it was a 7.6% higher than the prior fiscal year of collections um I think the reason we're saying that is the cost of vehicles um and people are I think there's still some shortages but that brilliat just the cost and with people buying Vehicles we're seeing those increases uh permit fees exceeded um by$ 1.65 million of our budget this really was due to we had a1. um8 million um I'm sorry a million dollar permit free from 2 255 Princeton Street so that's kind of a one-time hit we probably you know won't see that for next year but when we do have those large projects we see those permits and that raises that per that um actual amount versus what we actually budgeted for uh we don't always know um when we're budgeting that something like that's going to actually be hitting or what when when it's going to be hitting so um next year you know we won't be seeing something like that um happen but that definitely helps us with our positive free cash amount is that million dollars uh males tax collection um also came in a little bit over what we budgeted for um there was a 15% increase from the prior year so I think think people are um you know Co is is is pretty much uh behind us and we're the restaurants are fully back open and where the males taxes are doing well uh room tax we're a little bit over uh what we budgeted for and we have about a 16% increase from the prior year um we do have um the hotels are are have some people standing in there like the homeless and um things so we're seeing the really little bit of increase that we're seeing there is that's what's what's driving that Revenue uh fines and uh fees uh also exceeded what we had for our Cur budget for about 6% um in total and we are the town dep departments are reviewing all of their schedules for fees and fines we haven't done that the last time I kind of looked at it was somewhere around 20178 um so I think the Departments now are going to start looking and see if we can increase those fees uh our alcohol licensing um we again we we a little bit more than um what we budgeted and it was about an 8% increase from prior year this is a little just due from covid um we during covid we actually um we're trying to help out the um the package stores and the the restaurants and with their fee structure during covid but now everybody's back open um and they're paying the full amount so that's kind of why you're seeing that difference from the prior year investment income as everybody knows um we had a significant increase from prior year um of about almost a half a million dollars from prior year this is really due to the strong Market um bond market that you're seeing um so we've we've seen a very large collection in that um we actually had a gain um like I said of of almost a half milon from what was budgeted uh real estate and property tax uh that always remains solid we do um do a great job collecting taxes uh John suer our finance director tax collector um it's got a 99% tax collection rating there so he always does good overall our local receipts actually came $3.1 million over budget and you'll see how that is what was a main contributor to um our free cash amount any questions on um where we were um other revenues uh smaller revenues miscellaneous um we have the our um our SRE our solar we have the the solar Farms that we have um and just small miscellaneous sales of real estate things like that um they prob really no big changes from the prior or any any of those on expenditures um the Departments I always say the department heads do a very good job managing their budgets we did have um turn backs of about um almost 1.2 million that seems like a lot of money but that's less than 1% of $160 million budget so um you know there just it's there's just that uh we did have about um .2 million of incumbered money um the schools were more than half of that there about 733,000 um the rest were smaller departments that um had projects that were already committed uh that did not had were not invoiced and that's the only way that we can encumber is the projects have to be already um committed um but the invoicing did not come in before June 30th so look at our um our free cash C cash calculation excuse me how this really is how the Department of Revenue um certifies your free cashes they take your undesignated fund balance When I close everything out to the general fund they then will back out your open receivables for Real Estate any deficits that you may have on the books which I had just a very small amount of deficit and then they um add back your deferred revenue which is revenue that has been committed but has not been collected as of yet uh so we were certified at uh 4.7 42 81720 was our certified um just a little note we had an increase in our undesignated fund balance from the prior year which the bond rate our bond rating agencies like to see that basically what that's telling a bond rating agency that you're not taking one times one times money to fund your general operating budget um when you start drawing down on things like that this is weird um this is where it falls out and from one year to the next you'll see a deficit um when you have we've actually had a one $1.6 million increase from 23 to 24 so there'll be when we go to um out for when the the team goes out to um Bond rating to borrow this is a positive look to do that um free cash um the sources uh like I told you we did have some turn Backs from the the expenditure is from departments we had some turn backs for prior year incumbrances and then our Surplus from our local receipts and then we had a small transfer from a town meeting last year um for free cash transfer to the general fund which actually does help out to your um free free cash to get that certified balance any questions with that before I yeah just a couple clarifi so the the um real estate receivable what is that so the real estate receivables that's basically your that's your kind of your like your open receivable yep so what we do is the the the treasury Department the the tax department will commit to me an amount and then we collect it and basically what it is is at the end of the year there's a balance that's sitting out there um so it's be um an it's like an open receivable and the the real estate is Town owned is it just proper no no no it's your property taxes sorry I'm sorry so it's property it's real estate property tax and personal property tax bills that are out on those streets yes and then just the other clarifier question is on the investment income what's the asset base that we're earning interest on I would actually going to have John come up and answer that question because he's keeper of that fund yeah really what drove our returns in FY 24 as everybody knows short-term rates or the highest they've been in a long time and we're actually in a unique circumstance where short-term rates were even higher than you know we kind of had the inverted yield curve and uh we were getting on some of our um most of our money is in you know it's in checking type accounts savings accounts some CDs uh we really only have Bonds in like our special purpose funds like stabilization things like that but because we're able to earn 5% and even some money market funds like the mmdt the mass Municipal depository trust that was paying over five at one point so um we it was just a great year for short-term rates so we haven't seen that environment I would say you'll laugh most of the time that I've served as treasure we were in an ultra low interest rate environment so it's this is quite a change I will say just to just to caution everyone the members of the finance committee is when the town manager and I work on the coming Year's budget we're going to have to be mindful that this is not likely going to repeat because today we saw the the Federal Reserve lowered key interest rates by half a percent and they're expecting more of those moves in the in the months ahead so it's likely that I guess what I'm saying that rates are going down we we expect not up we just don't know the exact timing so well for that reason are you trying to lock in um whatever rate you can we have on CD renewals and that uh we've gone out you know long as we can um a lot of our money is kind of working capital it comes in from tax payments and goes out to pay payroll bills payable so it's that's why it's in you know the the the interest rate that we earn is going to fluctuate on those so it's really just the float right so that we're earning interest on or is it all across like all the different special use cases we we basically sweep it together into one account and say this is sort of the overall investment income that we had across all asset all of the um all of the interest you see here reported under local receipts as our general fund interest so that doesn't include like special purp like stabilization funds our OPB because that the interest by law stays with those funds yeah got it okay thank you thank you John um now I'd like to go in into just to we have to certify the do actually certifies each of the Enterprise funds Enterprise funds are their their own fund so they are their expenditures their revenues um any interest that they earn stays with the fund it's kind of like their own little business so the first one we have is our sewer Enterprise fund the um do certified them to have $1.2 Million worth of free cash and basically all that really is is just the difference between their revenue and their expenses so they actually um and then they add that to their to their prior year undesignated fund balance so for the year of 24 the sewer Enterprise fund actually had a positive of 321,750townhouse the same thing with our storm water um they they were certified at 457,000 57555 they had an increase for fiscal 24 of 110,000 762 was added to their prior year fund balance and that's how they get certified and it's just the difference between their re with their revenue and expenditures that comes in our Golf Course Enterprise uh we had a small increase there between our revenue and expenditures actually we didn't really even have any expenditures at our at the golf course so it was PL it was just all revenue of 93,00 35890 added to what their prior year number was certifi them at the 424 789 uh Peg and uh Peg access which is our tele media Department um they they had a difference they actually had an negative um number this year but they still have a positive free cash number so the difference between their revenue and their expenses they actually had a deficit of 54,500 um P puller who is the director of tele media expected that that's not a surprise he was doing projects He was going he knew he was going to be taking some of his um free cash and undesignated fund balance so he still had a positive free cash certified by the Department of Revenue of the um $452,000 and I'm sorry he's he had a negative of $84,000 I was looking at his reserve for expenditure he had a negative number of $84,000 like I said he knew um that that was going to be happening and they allow the the Enterprise friends are allowed to do that as long as they have enough money in their undesignated fund balance um if not that would be considered a negative free cash which is really not allowed so did he buy equipment and yes he was doing um yes he was um redoing this um he was redoing his Studio actually and buying a lot of equipment new equipment for that studio yeah that was that was through town meeting too it was a yep y um we have the Forum our ice skate rink um this year there actually was um really no activity with the Forum um so it really there their free cash there was no Revenue that was generated and there was no expenses that was generated um we are talking with the management company there um to see what they can start doing there to start generating some revenue for us from over there um and they their Li I think their licens is up for Renewal the new company that the company that's there so I know that the management our manager's office is talking with them and they're talking about their contract and what they're going to do but they do have a um an undesignated fund balance of $434,900 like John was saying kind of like our stabilization funds opep funds those are funds that the interest stays with the fund so our stabilization fund had a a a healthy investment amount added um to the to the account of $722,000 so that was again due to the interest rates um and where John invests in with the stabilization fund so that fund is um doing very healthy we're at this $15 million 338 in there that hovers right around the 8% um Benchmark that the that are auditing firms and um the bond rating companies they like to see your stabilization fund at that level but what percent was the yield in other words um John how much did we yield on that money John can probably answer sorry I have that uh not with me tonight but I'm in the town report but I want to say from memory it's I believe it's between it was either six to 7% I can get you an exact amount it was better this year than last because the stock market did better and I just wanted to mention unlike a lot of um investment vehicles um we're only allowed to invest in a small list of stocks that's approved by the Commonwealth of mass so we can't buy like an S&P 500 Index Fund so um most of our stabilization I would say 80 to 85% is in fixed income Investments and we have two firms that help us with that can you do bond funds you can do certain bond funds certain ETFs but they have to be in you know mostly government bonds um treasuries treasuries are very a great asset class for us this year because the safety and like I said the the you know where I'm going with this right I mean um on this stuff um is it make sense to lock up some stuff interest rates bound to go down or right go down right that's we have in guarantee it right that's where our investment advisers help us and try the you know when when interest rates are going up we try not to they they we try to keep the duration down so we're not buying bonds for the long term that are only going to go down in value so that's we have some professional help with that but we do have fixed income Investments that we can you know that are not going to go up and down um with the with the market where our general fund money is not it's invested more shorter term like I mentioned so that's more susceptible to Market interest rates well 7% is very good congratulations I'll have I can send you um the OPB fund return I just don't have the exact with me tonight so I just don't want to give you guesstimates that are wrong but yeah absolutely I can send the whole committee the OPB fund returns and the stabilization stay for has a question um opep uh the other fund we have is our um our OPB fund which is our um liability fund um that John can speak to that too about the investment there we had an investment of $2.1 million this year it's invest with the prim which is a state um investment so we actually haded or transferred um two $2 million a town meeting into the fund but we actually had you know $2.1 million added to that just through the investment account so now in that fund there's 25 million 686 1775 and we're currently having um our Actuarial study is being done um we be done for the audit for this fiscal 24 audit um and so they'll be coming in probably in November to be able to tell talk to you about where we are with other communities and investing with our open PEB fund does anybody have any questions about the investment on there cuz John can okay thanks John and there the last F I thought I just um Everybody kind of always wants to know where we are with CPC and I know we have um David Henderson coming in so um I thought I would just kind of tell you or give you a little rundown of where we are with the CPC um we actually had um we had $1.4 million of commitment um um we had a million 46 actually come in that's a collection of some prior year monies because you don't collect everything all in one year uh we had a match this year of 295 uh so our net revenue amount there was 1 uh7 million to the CPC fund um we the do the do doesn't um certify they do have an undesignated fund balance it doesn't get certified I actually have to do send reports to the Department of Revenue but they don't actually do actually don't do a like a free cash but we currently have as an undesignated fund balance in CPC is $4.3 million um that sounds like a lot but if CPC if the if town meeting ever voted for CPC to go away any outstanding debt that we have on the books would have to be paid through CPC um so I always caution that we should always keep some money in our undesignated fund balance and also to keep it in case a large projects comes up you when we go to borrow they still look at our borrowing capacity in this fund if we would could able to cover the debt if if something ever happened um so for instance Kess that was a big contributor in that MH yes and if you the the what I did is I actually gave you a uh a debt schedule for where we um for for CPC um and you see the coolest farm is is it's it's coming on in 25 we had did have a payment uh we're going to had payment in 25 so the other small projects that are out there at Sheen Farm uh the athletic fields chener board Varney's um be dropping off Roberts field uh Warren pole you know those are going to be dropping dropping off in in 31 and then we're also have declining debt with the coolish farm every year when you pay it off so we do have good capacity and the balance in that fund a healthy capacity for another project to borrow for um and and to cover any debt that was out that's out there so it's the fund is in very good shape we did have probably five or eight years ago that the fund kind of got depleted a little bit they were using their cash instead of borrowing um so I always recommend the that committee that if they can goow out to borrow you get better rates we get better rates than just go ahead and spending out our cash but that's really how we ended 24 um and it was very positive so we $4.7 million I'm sure will help out for some projects that are going to be going forward at Tom meeting our certainly any question any have any other questions darling thank you very much thank you does a great job m moving right along we have a review and discussion of Warren article 18 the community preservation fund uh one Smith Street Community Housing and with us this evening we have the executive director of the chel Housing Authority David hadison hi good evening uh Mr chairman and finance committee uh David hederson director chenford Housing Authority in Choice Inc our nonprofit affiliate um I'm asking tonight for your support um for 2.6 U million do of community preservation fund funds I'm designated from community housing for the Redevelopment of Chumps arms over on one Smith Street so what you'll see on the slide is the over the bird's eye view um of the site this site is older than I am it was built in 1969 and you can see three distinct buildings um two larger ones and one in the center there are 32 units a community building and 32 additional units it's a two-story walkup we added elevators about 25 years ago and these buildings are over 50 years old and very very tired it was state public housing and it is still considered state public housing we recently received permission to transfer the property um from chumford housing authority to our nonprofit affiliate for the purposes of Redevelopment redeveloping this whole site as I always say to everyone when I'm doing an affordable housing project it's a three to fiveyear window that we're working with 3 to 5 Years From when we start you know putting together the funds to actually make this happen we recently engaged with um SV Architects and they're going to be starting um a master planning for the site what we envision for the site is going to be um going from 64 units a two-story building up to a three-story building that will all be connected as it stands right now residents have to leave their apartment building to go over to the community room to do their laundry or to you know participate in activities when it rains when it snows it becomes really difficult difficult and I'd say at times unsafe for our residents on top of that the buildings you know were built back at a certain time when codes were very different and we are thrilled to have many new options with the affordable um Housing Act that was passed um and with your support of 2.6 million we're looking to secure an additional $40 million over the next uh 12 to 24 months with the hope of starting this project in 2027 and um how all this U plays in together is our offices which are located at 10 Wilson Street McFarland Manor we received funding back in I want to say 2019 of $4 million over the years um we've been able to increase that award to over $17 million now we're gutting that building when that building is ready to be occupied in about 16 to 18 months we will be relocating everyone at chelsford Arms one Smith Street over to McFarland Manor freeing up the site so we can work towards Demolition and Redevelopment um what you see on the screen is the breakdown of our anticipated sources and uses where we will get our funds and how we will spend it this will all be underwritten again in um two years time when we are actually looking to secure the additional um funding from the state and federal government we're seeking 2.6 million to cover um a number of the pre-development costs associated with um architectural design demolition um we were also able to secure $1 million in the affordable um housing um Bond bill um which will also help defray some of these costs and I'm happy to answer any questions about our requests these are some renderings from the um when the architect submitted some proposals but these are just some very very preliminary um things we need to go back to the zoning board for a new permit and it's going to be a much nicer development than it is today it's like me being brand new again it'd be wonderful if it could happen thank you I have a question um what's the level of risk uh in receiving the additional funding that you outlined here good question zero zero risk yes so it's already secured it's in your bank checks it's cash no no no I don't want to say it's um we've already so let me say this to you the state has already signed off on the transfer of the property to Choice are nonprofit these are State housing assets that were transferred to the nonprofit um what I'll say is nothing is ever guaranteed as far as they're not going to put money in my account until I've gone through all my due diligence and due diligence means you know securing our comprehensive permit before that having all the designs done yeah um as it stands right now um we have secured um let me just I'm going to take just a moment to explain a few things to you so when you are seeking funds to develop affordable housing you cannot knock on the door of the executive office of house um housing and livable communities until you've secured your local funding sources your local permits and you're ready to put a shovel on the ground I've knocked on the door UMass West up at 255 Princeton Street we just secured that property in January of 2024 so when the door was going to be opened to apply for the funds we needed for the UMass West development that was October of 20123 I could not knock on the door until it was in our name so what happens is now we're going back next month to the state knocking on the door for UMass West and we will hopefully have within the next six months to nine months an award of funds that will be paper it will not actually be dollars we will go to a closing where as if when you're getting a mortgage on your own home we will have you know six different major funding sources together with legal counsel and at which time they will not release all the funds to us it'll be released based upon requisitions on the project so we assume well we hope to have UMass West all set funded within the next year then we have a period of time where will'll be waiting finishing up the due diligence and process for the Redevelopment of chelsford arms we'll knock on the door in 2026 most likely 2027 and we secure the funds 2027 or 2028 thank you are there any um will there be any Clauses in place that are going to or requirements in place that if you don't fulfill it they pull it back or pull back a certain percentage or are there any requirements around using this funding other than using it for the site that you I'm not sure I understand because this is a site specific so everything I'm working on is site specific everything is monitored and audited by you know by my funding sources so I have to actually list out this 2.6 million if we're talking CPC funds on all of our documentation with the state and they're going to track every penny of this as well as the affordable housing restriction that we've placed on the site so just like all the other $40 million the CH of chel will have um priority they'll be listed in the priority of mortgages on this Pro on this site okay thank you you're welcome thanks for the questions sure how how many units are at um McFarland Manor are there more units than there are at Smith Street um there's 51 and what will happen is like we did mcf manner we will begin um holding off on leasing units when we have a firmer time frame so we have we have two developments that people can transfer to when we make the decision to start transferring people out of jums with arms they'll be able to go to Delany Terrace or go back to the new building at McFarland Manor quite frankly you know with our residents um most of them being elderly we see about you know a 3 to 5% you know turnover each year so it's 64 units over one year we could assume to have you know three or four units that could become vacant so as this project moves forward there'll be a point where the 64 units will not be fully leased it will drop down to 60 it may drop down to 58 it may drop down to we'll be we'll be working towards getting to that 51 you the number of 51 um and what is happening at Wilson Street currently um I drive by it every day and it it just looks empty it is it is so right now we just finished qualifying the contractors this is still a state public housing building we secured the $4.3 million and I have been fighting with the state for well over a year we um initially the building was just going to be for Windows flooring and some minor modifications to the inside I had to go and show them that the electrical was out of code that the windows were horribly drafty and not really accessible that the um HVAC was almost you know 40 some years old past its life and they did not want to actually increase the dollars why would we move people out to only do half a building or you know 25% of the work that needs to get done so I'm a very pushy person and for them to move this forward I had to vacate the building a year ago I then secured funds from the lean program which provides free um equipment for HVAC the state did not want to provide central air conditioning and as we're investing brand new windows in all the buildings do we want to see 51 air conditioners hanging out of the brand new windows of an old historic school no so they said to they' give me time to secure free equipment from Mass leine so at this point we have about $3.4 million of free mechanical equipment for electric hot water um central air conditioning Central you know we're going to be the building is going to be brand new it's going to be a compl complete gut rehab down to the studs so we're hoping by the end of November the contract will be signed so that we will so as I drive by there I'll see those shoots with the w where junk flying out of the window yes you're going to see a trailer with me moving into it hopefully soon but I'll tell you something like my board knows and they hear me like complaining every single month the worst part is is we are the housing authority and we're a nonprofit if people are not performing when we are the nonprofit We have recourse when certain firms and I'm not going to say anything in a public meeting when certain firms are not performing up to my standards I am not able to be our organization is not able to fire someone necessarily we have to go through the state and when you've invested millions of dollars into architectural services but the architectural firm you're working with has been bought out three different times by three different larger corporations and has been turnover from architectural and Engineering staff um I lose my mind and I've pushed and pushed and pushed and at this point I'm praying I'm praying because I made promises to my residents that we get them back as soon as possible but I realized doing business in the public housing sector where funds have been very finite I am thrilled that we're going to be one of the largest public housing projects in a suburban community that's going to see a development completely rehabed and not have to turn it over to a nonprofit so the uh so Wilson Street is not po of choice but uh Smith Street would be and uh UMass West um three different answers on that um chumford Housing Authority has three state public housing elderly disabled that's what they're called developments 10 Wilson Street one one 10 Wilson Street one Smith Street 8 Sheila a 10 Wilson Street will remain state public housing one Smith Street has been transferred on paper to Choice which will have to keep 64 units as public housing managed by choice the nonprofit armor of the housing authority and add 32 more units that will be owned and maintained by the nonprofit of the Housing Authority H Sheil AV Delaney Terrace will remain state public housing um the units over on um 255 Princeton Street are chumford I'm sorry Choice Inc in partnership with atford Capital because those are um those are tax those are specific tax credit developments where we don't we're not able to use tax credits because we are a nonprofit We have to bring in a for-profit partner who can use those tax credits and buy them from us and that tax credit gives you the running money to do the building yes so two things I can just give you a quick primer on this so Blaine um if you were if you had had a lot of money and you wanted to find a way to preserve your wealth you would enter into a potential partnership with an develop a developer that has tax credits I would receive $30 million of tax credits from the state from which they receive them from the federal government Elaine you'd give me $29 million and I'd give you $30 million of credits ah okay but hold on even better but wait there's more there's more because this is where you really make your money and as an investor on these projects um you become a partner on this project and you're able to depreciate 99.9% of that development over you know a much shorter period of time not 27 and a half years but a much shorter time period so each year you're able to take off your tax returns over a million dollars of depreciation or losses so this is why affordable housing is a lot sexier to both political parties than public housing because it's actually benefiting the rich who want to reduce tax liability where public housing is just a complete you know Handover of funds for housing thank you no problem sorry I bore you with all these fun facts no that's not boring any other questions for David one last question is how many incremental units again is the prop 32 and then last time we heard about some constraints on sewer capacity what's the plan with sewer capacity with those incremental units we've already um begin those conversations with the town um we're going to be paying um a a fee um for those that additional capacity because we'll be considered um I don't have the the correct words but there is we've been working with Christine and the town um on securing those 32 um we're going to be paying an Ann annual fee on that okay thank you um one more question and most of these units in all these places we're discussing are mostly individual uh one bedrooms one bedrooms yes and usually individual occupancy um yeah for the most part yeah okay yeah we hope people couples survive together for a while but most of the time these are individuals but we do have a few couples all right any other questions all right David thank you very much for your presentation and for answering all the questions thank you for all your work all of you do I appreciate you thank you take care moving right along this evening we have a discussion review and discussion of Warren article 16 for the fire station reconstruction article uh with us this evening we have that committee's chair the fire station study committee Virginia Crocker Timmons and we also have have uh the chief here as well Chief Ryan in the audience if there's any other questions regarding he's also a member of the committee and so is actually uh our town maner Paul Cohen all right good evening good evening Mr chair and members of the committee um so I'm going to go over Warren article 16 I just want to point out on the cover page we do have a detailed um website public information repository that we put in place to help inform the public prior to town meeting in the ballot in November um next Slide the top I I'm going to cover I'll talk a little bit about why article 16 um I'll go through uh the fire station study committee's work and how we arrived at the conclusions we did and then we'll talk about uh the specifics of the station three and five proposed renovation and reconstruction builds and The Debt Service public um analysis so uh Warren article 16 the bottom line of uh you can go ahead to the next Slide the bottom line of uh the station recommendations are that it's going to cost between 20 and 25 million to reconstruct stations three and five and the town does not have the capacity to do that in its non-excluded debt service so we're recommending uh the town managers going to recommend $25 million in warrant article 16 for the vote for the construction and renovation of those two fire stations um funding the projects requires a prop 2 and a half debt exclusion as I I mentioned and that will require a two-thirds vote at town meeting and a majority vote at the ballot in November it requires both the fundamentals of if you can just slip back for a minute the fundamentals of why we arrived at this conclusion are from a public safety standpoint there is no scenario um involving elimination of either station five or station three uh that was acceptable to us from a public safety standpoint and having the respon resp times that we need to keep the public safe given that there's no scenario under which we wouldn't recommend reconstruction of stations 5 and three um from a firefighter safety and health standpoint and we'll get into that a little bit more the next slide I just put article 16 and the language that manager Cohen got approved by the state for the ballot for reference and if you go ahead and progress to the next section um like to talk a little bit about the fire station committee and the work that we did uh this slide shows the members of the committee and some of the approach that we took which I'll talk about uh you know Chief Ryan Paul Cohen and I uh I just want to say a little bit about the other members on the slide we have two firefighter Representatives uh Rob albon is a chelsford resident and uh is currently serving in the chelsford fire department and is also the president of the Union Greg sagini is a graduate of chelsford high school having grown up in chelsford serves on the chelsford fire department uh firefighter staff and is the secretary treasurer of the Union uh Cheryl odonnell um is are we have two resident Representatives Cheryl and um Rob dpy Cheryl is a um retired police state police officer she served 23 years with the state police and that included 18 years um assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshall as a certified fire and explosion investigator Bob Dy is also a chelsford resident he's a career firefighter who has served in the city of LEL for 30 years and has been one of their Deputy Fire Chiefs for 11 years so it's really been an honor to work with this committee um over the last couple of years if you go to the next slide this is an overview of the current stations and the station conditions and the two that we're talking about are in the lower left station three and the lower right station five um these stations have become inadequate because they are past their 50-year lifespan and we'll get into it a little bit more but there are just issues in the stations where they are um not safe from the firefighters from the standpoint of exposure to contaminants and the ability to decontaminate gear and people and um the sleeping and the living quarters being uh unacceptable both from that standpoint and from the standpoint of accommodating a Workforce with multiple genders if you go to the next Slide the trades that we did during the study involved um five critical success factors and so as we looked at different scenarios these are the this is the trade space that we weighed off weit weighed one the first one is the station conditions again are the stations adequate both for the firefighters and the apparatus um the number of stations that we would need and how they are used in the fire fire um Department operations the second is the Staffing and the firefighter safety we looked at both um how many firefighters we're Staffing per apparatus what is our shift strength for each shift how many firefighters do we have and span of control issues um where we we don't always we we don't have officers right now for Clear chain of command um when they're called to an emergency so we have other accommodations that we make in the operations of the fire department and then we looked at the apparatus what are we housing in these stations how are they used um and from a public safety standpoint again it was response times and you'll see an example of that uh going forward but we looked at both the First Response due which is the first company on the scene and the second company on the scene they both have different functions and both critical functions and when you look at response times you have to look at not only the how long it takes the first company to arrive but also how long it takes the second and then of course we looked at the investment um and and the cost to do this so on the next slide um the committee unanimously came to the conclusion that we need to recommend maintaining five stations uh we went through a number of different scenarios looking at three four and five station configurations uh there was no case in which three station configuration was acceptable from a response time standpoint and then the important Point here was that again either a four station or a five-station scenario both of those required the rebuild and um reconstruction of stations three and five there was no um four or five station scenario where it was acceptable to eliminate one of those stations so if we go to the next slide this just summarizes the conditions of Station 3 and five and there is um an appendix in your packet in appendix a that goes through this in more detail and I also put a link to a video where you can um watch and and get hosted by the fire department to see the insides of the stations I mentioned the building integrity and that they're beyond their 50-year lifespan if we look at firefighter safety and operations the the top two pictures where you see the little white box um and then you can see the beds in the bottom center enter that white structure is the sleeping quarters in station 5 and in the in the top right you can see how close that the sleeping quarters are to the engine it's right in the apparatus Bay the gear is hung up um on the wall of the sleeping quarters and when they come back from a fire that deer that gear is off gassing with contaminants um you see in the middle right there's a locker uh in both stations the lockers are exposed to contaminants from the apparatus Bay and in the bottom left you can see the um example of the restrooms that are in both both stations where they were built um for a male Workforce over 50 years ago in the middle left I just want to point out it looks very cluttered and it is um the the red to the right and that picture is a fire engine uh what you see in the foreground is the firefighters exercise equipment again in the apparatus Bay with the air contaminants and then if you look past the um exercise equipment there is a rescue boat there that is used for har pond so another challenge that we have right now is because um the apparatus from 50 years ago is larger than it is we have more equipment and physical fitness is a um more prominent requirement for our firefighters there's not enough room in the apparatus Bay even to use like both both doors for entrance and egress they can only go out in and out one way um the next slide just shows you the heat map for a five station scenario on the left so those the the dark red areas are where the fire stations currently are and where we recommend keeping them if you look at the the lower left um that red heat map is station five and the one above it on the left Center is station three so you can see if we were to eliminate one of those just kind of eyeballing that that it would take away um response times that were that are not acceptable uh from the standpoint of Public Safety the right side just shows how the stations would be staffed ideally in the future um the re renovation of the stations will also allow for increased Staffing as the needs of the town have increased um it was impossible to satisfy you know every ideal State and standard and so in the middle um there's just I made a note of the critical problems that are still left unresolved in that at the center Station we would have to still cross staff some apparatus and there will be still two stations that are staffed with only two firefighters and no officers that was a compromise that the committee felt um was worthwhile to keep all five stations open and that the firefighters are also comfortable with if you go to the next slide we took a close look at the um population over time in Chelmsford and how our call data has changed so across the top you see the 10year census data and in the 1960s early' 70s when the stations were built from um up to the last census data in 2020 our population has more than doubled um in the green box on the lower left uh Chief Ryan H looked at data over uh two decades or yes two decades from 2002 to 12 and then from 12 to 22 and so you can see the increase in the overall calls during that time um and with that the number of medical calls um that the fire department receives has um significantly escalated over the last 20 years um I mentioned uh it's in the the video too in the 1960s the fire department was seeing about 850 calls a year uh what I found interesting as you can see in 2022 we're at a little over 6,000 but just one-ear increment from 2022 to 2023 there's an additional 354 calls um that that that went up in the in the Department's um requirements and then in the bottom of the green box just a comment that as the population of the town has increased and the number of calls has increased our staffing today is the same as it was about 25 years ago so again the stations would allow for future growth um as the town is able to to increase the staff and then in the box to the right is just other things in town that are going to contribute to population increases um and and increases in calls things like the UMass West development and Princeton Street um the MBTA zoning could play into that and you're familiar with some of those other things that are there on the next slide this is just a I I talked about earlier um the first and second due response time so this is just an example the first due company um to arrive on scene is responsible primarily for victim safety and immediate fire suppression they only have um 3 minutes worth of water on the truck if that water is expended at a maximum flow rate and so the second du company one of their critical roles is to provide water beyond that 3 minutes as we started looking at different configurations there were um scenarios where we couldn't meet an acceptable some an acceptable first due time but others an acceptable second due time the next slide just shows um different response scenarios that our firefighters are um called upon for and so we've been talking about structure fires I mentioned on the top right um medical emergencies and those calls as you as we talked about have really escalated over the last two decades um they're also called to on scene for motor vehicle accidents and then for Mutual Aid when other communities need support at a structure fire and so really what it comes down to is those response time considerations come down to um literally life or death or property or loss of property considerations and the response times that we used and the Staffing that we looked at are all based on National standards that are developed based on scientific data the next slide um there is a proposed new OSHA standard that we expect to be um implemented soon on the left side it's it's for emergency service organizations so there's a the old standard that used to be for fire emergency firefighters is now emergency responders in General on the left side you can see some of the categories in that new OSHA standard the one that we're concerned about is the the bottom one the facility safety and basically um OSHA is now going to be coming down on exposure to carcinogens and carbon dioxide uh so if we don't do something about the fire stations we will also be non-compliant with the new oia standards so in the next section um I want to thank the permanent building committee uh the fire station study committee asked them to engage in this to get some um I'd say more legitimate uh Concepts and cost estimates so they um worked with Weston and Samson and the slide you're looking at now is the concept drawing for um Station 3 so the little gray area is the existing apparatus Bay and then the yellow box is what would be added onto the station and the floor layout is to the right but essentially what we're doing you can see the green boxes on the floor layout those would add decontamination um capabilities for both gear and people that are insulated from Living Spaces and the Living Spaces would then be insulated from the contaminate contaminant areas um the the cost estimates are in the Box they varied between uh stick and modular approaches so we were between uh 8 and 1 12 and 10 and 1 12 million for Station 3 and then as I said before the total range for both stations was 20 to 25 million the next CH slide shows the approach um that Weston and Samson came up with for station five station five is on a very small Odd odd-sized Lot so really the only option here is to tear it down and build a twostory um station and this the floor plans are are on the the slide the first floor plan is where you would have the apparatus Bay again the green boxes would be the facilities to decontaminate gear and people um we have a fitness facility now de um insulated from the contaminated areas and then the second floor uh living facilities also insulated from the contaminated areas and built out to accommodate multiple genders uh manager Cohen and um Finance director soua helped us look at The Debt Service projections so this first slide shows what The Debt Service impact would be to the average ass assed household um at the time that we looked at this the average assessed household value in Chelmsford was $629,000 and um the tax impact to that household would be $157 in the first year or about $3 a week and then over time over the The Debt Service period it would drop to about $90 a year um I want to point out on this slide there there there's a link to the website that I mentioned and on that website um there's a a place where you can have instructions and you can um look up your assessed value for the property that you own and put it in there and see what your estimated tax impact would be individually and then there's other sources of funding that we're trying to track um one notable one is there's a Senate bill um that is an act to create a Massachusetts public safety building authority and the idea is to create a trust um for to help municipalities with public safety building reconstruction um that has not yet progressed through its its current stage in the next slide um Mr Souza helped us look at what the historical and projected Debt Service projection looks like from a town standpoint and so what you see here is in fiscal 24 with the um the green box of the circle the sewer um project debt was paid off in fiscal 25 the secondary school building debt will be paid off and then in the orange that's in fiscal 26 where the fire station reconstruction projects would kick in at a net I mean at a gross number of two 2.25 million but because the school building project is dropping off in 24 the net effect that we'll see on the town's Debt Service is 1.42 and therefore the net effect that that average household would see it is going to be a little bit less than 157 and then the last slide is just um you know the committee worked uh to try to put as much information out there that we could to help educate town meeting reps in the public um this is an example of what's on the website it includes video summary details depending what kind of learner you are so that's all I have any questions thank you your questions um I saw a stick in modular and modular was cheaper what does stick invol um give any advantages yeah do you want to talk to that Chief you've lived through it so good evening Mr chairman board members so to um I would say specifically for the engine five project um we met with Wesson and Samson did a analysis of the needs of the building um that site is very small it's like just about a third of an acre um and due to the oddsides oddside lot and how it cuts in the back that particular project engine five would probably be a candidate for um traditional stick build because you your modulos tend to be confined to a certain size and not really ideal for apparatus Bay so you could use modula for engine 3 that's a possibility but for engine five I think the recommendation would be for traditional stick build because of the um the the gap between the floor the size of you know the the space required from the floor to the ceiling because you're going to have two floors you're going to have a larger apparatus Bay stairwells so that lends itself in that particular case to traditional stick build so um you're saying is that stick allows more customization due to a weird weird lot it does because your your modular buildings are I mean when we did the engine to well but they were they're confined and then they're they have to you're being shipped from in this particular case engine two from Pennsylvania so they have to uh be sized appropriately to be able to be transported on flat beds and also make it on a bridge abutment so okay um you have more flexibility with the obviously to stick build and would these be done sorry sorry go ahead uh would these be done you know 53 35 both at the same time how would you handle that t you know do any any recommendation the the timing of the build same time yeah same time yeah it's it would be done the to get it done at the same time now in one case you're adding on so obviously that station can still stay open while the adding on but when you have the the station you talking about yeah it looks so what I would Envision kind of what we did with engine two we would have to kind of replicate that model where we um assign the firefighters to a different site temporary housing temporary accommodations for the truck because it's very difficult go to have construction active very busy construction and run a very busy fire station so in that case we would probably relocate and try to replicate what we did a couple years ago at Engine 2 yeah thank you where they Ed the uh Road property as as a temporary correct yes say again so when they were working on on on Station 2 and did the modular work the richon road property for DBW was used as a temporary uh location for the fire station where was that Richardson Road richardon Road DPW the old dping oh okay yeah so something similar to that you need find a location in the same area to try to they would put a structure for the firefighers to be housed in and then we had the town had a garage for the Y I'm sorry Anita wait hold on hi can you hear me yes sorry I just have a couple question um why are you doing two at the same time and not one at a time yeah did we look at that I think it would be I think when we did look at it was more cost effective to try to get these both done at the same time because it was priced for 2026 correct one man yeah one project manager you know um you know just and then you know trying to also operationally trying to get this done in a fine period of time and and I imagine you'd still need a two and a half exclusion either way and to to ask once as supposed twice right asking once I mean there obviously the financial impact I get it but also operationally we were trying to look at how this would try to manage this project run the department and and get this done Jim if you can hear me there's no volume we can't hear you there's no volume you can't hear us that is a issue that I can't handle are we muted you want to make sure the ctm box is not muted yeah it is now not muted there you go there it go there it is okay so I didn't hear the answer at all sorry so it was it was a it was a two-part answer with multiple uh multiple people speaking but essentially um and and chief Ryan can jump in oh go ahead there there's a cost effectiveness of of the project being done uh with one project manager materials at the same time things of that nature but also uh you'd have to keep in mind that e either way you'd need to request a two and a half uh de exclusion and and you'd have to do it more than once if you're doing a different project at a different time and also they mindful of the operational impact of the department yeah and the operational impact yes can I uh what is the difference between a debt excl I usion and an override that is not going to be my [Laughter] answer good evening everyone there're somewhat similar but I'll explain the difference so if we were doing an operational override say we were short 2 million in our budget and we we would have to go to the voters and ask the voters would you permit an excl a proposition 2 and a half override that's a permanent increase in the tax base so it would never go away unless the the community voted what's called an underride which is rare a Deb exclusion allows if the voters approve it allows the town to increase the levy by enough to cover the debt service for the bond so in this case it'd be a 20-year Bond it'll it permits the town to increase the levy just enough to cover the debt service for the bonds for 20 years and then it goes away so it's not a permanent increase in your property taxes M just for the next 20 years 20 years for the life of the BN uh more questions fiscal well if we're go to do another debt exclusion don't we also have a school coming up for um consideration and how does that play into this I think we'll tag the to maner in yes make sure they can hear you no go the town is as you know is as you know is in the infancy stages of the project eligibility for a middle school project um we we are in fact we met on that today um with the superintendent and Public Works director and so forth uh we're submitting our required submittals they they'll be completed by the end of December and then we anticipate being invited in feasibility stage in February which was the appropriation we received at the spring town meeting to that phase the estimate at this point is that we would be participating going to the voters in 2026 at the earliest which is two years from now for debt exclusion for that project so yeah every on on these projects be we each project would have to go to the voters for voter approval um that that as opposed you know so that's how it's going to play out there because and and obviously the cost magnitude for that project is you know we're talking 25 million for this project you're probably adding another zero to to um to the school project um and that and that's why the voters they each at each uh opportunity choose what to fund and whether to fund I just think that the voters need to know that this might not be the only one that's correct and so and we're talking an increase over the tax rate um and that may ask a dist question how many tax taxpayers in this town are over 65 years old I don't know the number off hand I believe that roughly is probably about 40% yeah of the community is is a rough estimate what I understand uh I never equate age with wealth um but because I I think that's sort of being presumptuous quite frankly there are many people who are old who are wealthy and as many young parents who who are not wealthy but roughly 40% uh are over 60 and obviously there's a minority of the parents who have children in the schools in the community as well okay can I make a recommendation um going off of that comment regarding the school on the debt schedule that you're showing that things are coming off and can we add the proposed like at least a line item so when people looking at this they know that in the future there is going to be a school initiative and it's going to cost something and it's going to be on that so I think it's a little misleading to just kind of say okay everything's coming off or just going to put this on when we know something else is going to be coming on the next three to five years but but here's the issue we don't know what that's going to be we we are being required by the M the school building authority to explore all options for the Middle School configuration as as we explained at Springtown meeting we have to study a replacement in kind meaning the same grade configuration at the Parker school which would be you know Fifth and fifth and sixth we also have to study a fifth through 8 Parker school and we also have talked about studying a fourth through six Parker school we don't know what the outcome of that's going to be what the requirements of that going to be in terms of space enrollment and so forth so I think to do that would be speculative uh and basically very inexact so I think to sit here put on a piece of paper we we have a range of our project where we don't even know our reimburse our reimbursement rate either I think is is you can we can put a a note that gee the town is is moving forward with a school project but I think that's as far as you can go at this point yeah no I would just put a line item with no dollar amount but at least it's on the on the slide that we know that there's going to be something there like it's not because again when you look at it it looks great and it looks like this is the only project but like holistically as a town there needs to be a line on that we know something's coming at least that way we can talk or you can at least talk to it that you know there's something else coming so just be aware of it perhaps I mean I think the town meeting reps who just set of which 90 plus per of them just sat at town meeting in April and funded the feasibility study should be aware their one of their resp responsibilties of the town meeting rep is to be aware of the financial needs and conditions of the town I think that's also making a presumption that if we're going to go out to 2031 or whatever year we're going to go on a chart that that is there is there nothing else in the future um and and I again I I don't like to get into speculation I think it can be discussed at town meeting and will be discussed that there is a school project on the horizon but I I just don't know how to effectively quantify that and a financial chart um without speculating yeah neita I would say and we can have more discussion next week when we make our recommendations and discuss each article um but this is the presentation of the fire station study committee for this article um and while I appreciate what you're saying it it is their it's their article it's what they're proposing I don't think that it's everything else is speculative so I think it's left more for committees like us to discuss or for the town meeting members discuss at to meeting um but I'm not sure it would be appropriate in their presentation to provide [Music] that understood thanks that's fair yeah I'm buy that so I have a question $25 million honestly doesn't sound like a lot for this project I know it's early on I'm wondering if there's any consider consideration of any potential scope creep or the building that you're raising you know could there be contaminated soil I mean have you gotten that far into the project and really what would happen if it if it the 25 million turned into 30 what happens with the Deb exclusion so when we when we met with was a Samson there was an escalator on there um we worked with them close actually they designed our fire headquarters next door so they're very aware of those issues that come up you talk about contaminated soil it was the first cost overrun we had next store MH so they're very uh in tune to that I think that's why um they're very conservative and building those potential issues into the price mhm okay because we don't we we understand I right I think I can speak for you know we don't want to have to go back M but what if we what if we do you can't yeah so but we want we we wouldn't want to leave the fire station half built or no no for if something arises and this this has come out recently from the from the State Department of Revenue because of the inflation that occurred during the pandemic where projects came in above the excluded amount the in those instances the B basically the the Mass Department of Revenue made a judgment call in terms of if your $25 million project came in at $27 million recognizing that period of inflation they were like okay you can proceed MH meaning you don't have to go back to the ballot and ask for another question but the key thing is and so of go to your risk is if the if the town puts the project out to bid and it comes in above the appropriation we can't sign the contract because that woman right there the town accountant has to sign a certification of funds so if it comes in over over bid we'd have to go back to the town meeting and ask for an additional appropriation if it was extreme like the 25 million became 32 million do then you're going to have to go back to the ballot or find some other way to bridge that Gulf because you just can't you know you can't sort of do you know a quick slide of hand of saying well we thought it was 25 it's 32 oh that's great you know we're going forward the state is very strict on that so so no there we nothing is expended uh until the bids Comm in and then like I said there's a certification by the town accountant on those bid documents at the availability of appropriation which is also signed by by me as manager with the after the vote of the select board and it's also signed by Town Council that's the legality so because again this is you know this is the financial commitment of the town okay thank you questions yeah can we go back to the Staffing for a second uh I thought I heard you say that there would only be two people Staffing one of the fire stations is that correct two slides this one or you want the one in the append I think he wants the you want this one or do you want this one shows two two yeah two two which which one would you like I I just no I I didn't clearly hear it so I'm asking the question I don't I I didn't get talking about two St two step two fighters so this model had would still again when we looked at all the scenarios stations configuration Staffing this is there yes there will still be two firefighters that you can see right there engines three and four so station three and station five of the two that are being renovated staff with two people yes yes but as as they said in the presentation that the they the build would make sense to increase the availability of space for future use uh if there's an increase in Staffing over the years so it doesn't make sense you don't you don't build you don't build a a 105 million facility for today and have it be out outsized in five years I I think that's the and with the fact that we I also apply for Stafford St for to try to especially bring the Staffing especially where we have so much more space we can build so many more houses I can see a point no we we again we we'll review and debate on next week at Thursday can I ask one more question sure how much I just from a dollar again this both of them it look kind of low how much was the center fire when we did the center Station how much was that9 thought that was in the 20s 6.9 that was been done back yep 6.9 all right okay then these numbers seem more reasonable for some reason I had 20 in my head okay thank you good any other questions all right thank you very much thank you thank you okay next we have discussion of future meetings and timeline for the finance committee warrant book production I said last week uh we'll have our and I said multiple times past past 10 15 minutes we'll we'll be voting next week um uh but prior to that we'll have two presentations by our citizen petitioners uh Paul regaz will be coming in on his article regarding the uh transfer of uh free cash funds uh in relation to the uh Parker Middle School study vote that was taken previously and then uh Mar Donovan will be coming in first to speak about her uh resolution regarding pet cemeteries uh they both asked to come in next week so they'll be in on in in first and then we'll move along after public comment to uh a review and discussion of each article and our recommendations regarding them um I ask a question because the sure the I understand the pet cemetery one at least conceptually um but what it seems that the free cash movement seems to be just a left hand to right hand how does it change anything it it he'll be able to explain it's not my article he'll be able to explain what he what he envisions regarding it but essentially it's a it's a different funding source he's looking for um and he'll I'm not going to put words into his mouth it's just all right that's that's an answer yep um so uh after which we'll uh again as as we do every every six months we'll go through if there's uh any departure in our vote I'll ask for people to uh provide a little write up on on as to what why they voted the way they voted that'll be uh put into the letter and then we'll put our book together get that off the printers and have it hopefully available for the um pre-own meeting uh which is going to be the north town hall uh this this year uh we even I think this is one of the earliest nights we can have fall Town meetings start on October 21st so uh that's why we've kind of uh soldiered along and and try to make sure we get everything voted on next by next week um is there any additional public comment seeing none in the audience and I'm not seeing any on the uh Zoom room I will entertain a motion to dismiss so moved second all those in favor all see you next week