all right good morning folks this is the second part of our meetings in regards to the budget I would like to make a motion to open the meeting finance committee side motion was made by Dr Z is there a second seconded seconded all those in favor Joe B Mar [Music] Shar last yeah good morning how are you today D good do i v no I would make a motion to open your meeting you should make a motion to open your meeting yeah Doug Mogan [Laughter] I all right select where is open their meeting wonderful up first we have Board of assessors there he is come on up sir it's wonderful can you state your name all right level funded like we asked you think does anyone have any questions for um is there going to be the money to do the office moves how where where do we stand on that you're asking the assessor or you're asking me well I'm asking you well yes I would hope there's funding somewhere to okay finish this project yeah and uh I'm not sure when that's going to happen but so doing a musical office thing right so the good news is I believe the governor or somebody wrote back it's already signed we that process is over land and fund and F his budget so we have it for July 1st or for the special probably put it on the special for cash that way started okay yeah other than that it's does anyone else have any questions I do great go ahead uh reevaluation consultant can you shed some light on that for me I looked at the prior years it was 6,000 9,000 then it was 2600 and 2600 does that go in some kind of cycle yes works on threee cycle three year when they do the do the toal so coming up to the three yeah to the heed looks at everything uh IND kind of like you know double check yeah he comes in and double checks and state comes in he does it for six or eight towns so he's well mod keeps everything real quick people State he's happy send that stuff and get a tax rate so that's that's why you you'll you'll see that jump year yeah okay for the record Paul how long were you in the assessor's office about 16 years so sorry okay thank you so we are all good thank you for your time good day everyone guys we're g to getan from planning board he was abent last week come on up sir how are you today just thank you second a professional P have come do yet am that right yeah I think we just not yet either haven't come do yet or not using them a ton um that and professional and and Conference and travel right so I haven't looked back farther to see whether he used it last year but [Applause] yes that's on our list of uh things that need to get done this year I think that's already Works to to get done so yeah and or no I'm sorry not uh yeah yeah yeah so it's La drive right yeah and so when the when a road is approved is that what it is like it's approved by the town so that correct formally accepted and so what do um I don't know lot on the town look back and because we've done this a number of times before um I think the most recent ones um but we've done them in the last say 10 years um look back see what potentially what was budgeted what could potentially happen um I think this is mostly for potential um you don't always need to do the takings you know as much takings as other roads you know so just a question of potential so but that that doesn't get uh part of become part of the DPW um water and sewer and such my understanding is that the process needs to run through um the planning board so we've always kept it under the planning board as far as the budget it's just the way I think it's been done historically I don't I don't have a dog in that fight so I'm not sure I care either way but um DBW doesn't usually accept roads there's a the legal side of it which which gets us there through the planning board the mechanisms so some roads some roads they came in with the blueprints done rolled them up and said hold off because they might put another addition onto that road in two years and then 20 years went by the road sat in a in a piece of paper all done ready to go but never finished and I think that's the case with this one most of the stuff is done unlike Robin Road nothing was done that was 300,000 to do plus a gazillion dollars to get in survey so when it's approved and they put a stamp on the yes Road say now this is the Town Road yeah and we get the chapter 90 funding for that and what he's doing now is basically they go through our records to see what roads we didn't accept why we didn't accept them and they bring it up to speed which then gets us the chapter 90 M it's almost $20,000 capital yeah go to exactly it's going to be sort of you have surveys you're going to have potential takings you're going to have all the notices that need to go out um trying to think of what else but it's going to be more administrative legal work than it is going to be any kind of DPW sort of physical yeah it's everything you won't see you say where do we where do we blow 20 I don't see it you think it's an expense not Capital oh 20 grand it's not ongoing so one time cost that is incurred usually these are subdivision roads that never got accepted properly the way they were supposed to so Dave like the greens that just finished you know they went through the process they built the the development they then came back in front of the town with the as builts and then we accepted the road at town meeting uh the one that's on there right now is you know Lori and uh Cody that the developer never and and frankly the planning board um under previous administration never followed up and closed out the road and had it taken by the town now time is gone by so the plans don't exist so we have to have it laid out um surveyed we may have to do a taking to to get the lands back that are part of the road um and then go in front of town meeting to accept the road and then the town owns it forever so it's really not a capital acquisition I I guess one could look at it kind of that way but it really isn't it's a one-time expense to get the road accepted then it becomes an asset of the town we we just uh Mr chairman we generally vote the monies as a capital project so that they can Bridge from one year to another because sometimes this can take more than one year so properly carry them over from a municipal Finance point of view we generally voted that way thank you any other questions yes um Rivier road is one that was kind of fell through the cracks in the past and ry's been looking into that and thought it needed a new survey or something kind of left there was a little pie slice left out of it needs a taking D so do we need to account for that um as well I am happy to it's just not it's not necessarily to us at this point I mean I it's not something that i' I've been at least aware of um so this is one that has sort of that has already got through that has already you know to my attention and so we're putting it on the budget because it's going to happen reasonably soon so that may be next year okay that guess to us yeah that there was a previous vote for I think somewhere in the Rivier Road area that Randy was working on with Mark beglane and the survey firm has identified additional um description of square feet and that may give rise to an additional warrant article to expand the square feet in description from a previous vote so that's being examined Now by LX firm in Town Council in Randy not part of it just comes it's to us at the very end uh you know there's a lot of stuff that goes on before it gets to our attention and to Carl's point he mentioned this just a minute ago that Riv Road was monies were allocated a couple of years ago to do that so we've probably been working at it I don't know that there'll be a big expense for the taking it just has to be drawn out and then each you know resident on that street has to be notified and then and sign on to a taking who else any questions for us the only other thing to mention is um there is some request for funding for the master plan implementation committee budget um it may Doug and I had a discussion about it we obviously need to talk to our fors about it and and see where it plays out but obviously it may not fall under us it may fall under um select for um but you know I just think regardless of who it falls under there should be some allocation and I think, 1500 is a pretty reasonable amount for that first year um Doug um didn't didn't I ask Tom scandin to see whether or not the leftover master plan committee uh funds that are still in place as a balance could be used for that purpose and he ruled on that uh to be honest Carl I don't recall all right it would be great if it could but I I will check those because I think Mike we might determine that uh those other available funds that I had John Gard speak with um uh laara about you know what the actual balances outside of our remaining contract obligations to see whether or not those funds U could be used for that next phase for that Master Plan because they are very much connected to the project yeah I mean I would the only thing I would say uh is my understanding or at least I guess ultimately my preference was that the leftover funds were going to be used for um to to engage or to have pbpc essentially do a diagnostic of the bylaws and look at the bylaws to sort of see where there's potential for um you know revisiting uh because some of those BW looked at in years and it's worth I think having someone who does this professionally come in and and look at it and since we have that budgeted amount this is sort of a again a a um connected with the master plan to have them come in and look at that I think it's how we intended to use the rest of that that would be my preference I think um though this is not a small I mean this is a pretty small amount so I think carving out a little bit wouldn't be a big deal but as a primary goal that would be my preference I think for that remaining money but that was that like added after I don't see like the 1500 you're talking about he's got the line but no value in it oh I have it in mind but uh all I can tell you but that's how we had I that's what our 1500 was the number that's that's what our discussion landed on I mean I think it's a bit master plan yeah under that line it's a bit of an unknown I think for it you know me who knows what they're going to do but um they need have something to just at least accomplish some things the first year thank you for your time thank you have a good [Applause] day good morning how are you today good your name for the record sir Ross Anderson 28 Davis thank you looks like we're just going to move numbers around yeah so coming into the existing account Laur and I had numerous discussions and I'm not sure what final version you got versus what was submitted okay we've had a couple discussions but long story short operations never had a supply line never had a um General supplies and some other things so we've been offsetting accounts all year gotta so what we did was level fund but open up some of those line items to be General supplies that that fit the the operation okay um additionally under the under the salary account coming into it the assistant director was I don't know how this number got to 1734 as their their position but long story short I just rounded that off to 1800 and then when I walked into it found out that Charlie in the past had divided that and had two assistant directors which really wasn't on the books that way or sworn in that way gotcha so all I did will split those to a $1,900 $900 for the two of those and will make it um the other thing I I propose adding was um new would be $500 we have one gentleman and who every month uh comes down and does a radio CH all the area communities so I just I just added a $500 stien for his time to come and do that under Capital um one of the first things um I brought Inland norcom Communications work on the Police insire radios go through through our radio system so those that don't know downstairs is our EOC which has all the radios that the police fire have plus stuff that connects to Emergency Management and across the state had them go through all those radios because they're all 20 years old plus sure and found that the antennas on the building here are starting to delaminate the original antennas are not working effectively so the line item on the capital is uh the 14 14,000 estimated is different quot around that range to replace all the antennas here so so my goal so we have a EOC here then we have a backup one at the DPW yes the my goal is first to get this to be the running the way it is it's on generator it's on backup power it's the EOC Town Hall um is to get that running top shelf so the capital is required is to replace all these antennas well this is running the way it should okay and how are the antennas at the other store um okay more of a radio issue there then we got some work to do but okay um when 911 we went to Westfield and got the 911 grand um part of that is as youw is a Million Dollar Plus radio Grant right when those that system goes in our hope is to re utilize those radios both DPW and utilize it for some of this as well and we're included in some of the the Westfield stuff so we should be in good shape within a year or two down there do you see yourself thinning out any of that equipment down there that a nice way to say thank you thank you any questions folks are you good Diane are you sure up for the next one which is fineing nice having one little page yeah thank you have a good day CDC good morning how are you today perfect how are you good sir your name for the record Christopher Bratt yeah again we're like well we appreciate you coming in Chris we really do yeah there's not really a on the right Town Line for CPC we do our own income y we do have a few projects coming forward discuss those from that sure we have a pickle ball project coming in we're two pickle ball courts coming to town meeting for out here behind the town hall to Walley Park also there's a like a library walk behind the library that's coming forward um you're trying to do like a little story book walk in the outdoor area for people to enjoy behind the library so yeah be nice but I'll come forward at our to meeting right and spray parks moving forward um as much as it can yeah okay but it's there it's coming oh yeah we'll see yeah didn't we approve pickall cours last year or these are in yeah they're approved saying they're in the process they have to go to the town meeting to the um no they were approved they were approved right those come through yeah I thought they were approved at me they were they were right but those are things that have happened since they've been here last right oh okay yeah so they asked them what I I thought you were talking about new projects that were going to go to town hall for new project sounds like the library might be coming in with something for a star book walking on the back yeah I read something about that and there's also a dredging project from um Lake management has brought in to supplement a drudging project at the South boat ramp um try to clean up the Waterway there and uh hopefully get some flow through GRE Brook right we'll see that's going to take more work than was proposed at the moment but yeah so given that you guys have revenue and your self funded so to speak the are these budget items do they come from the general budget or out of out of the revenue that um it's a sech charge on the taxes it's a 3% search charge so whatever you're paying in taxes you're paying another 3% on correct the tax is over $100,000 so is that treated separately so these line items in this budget there is no budget what you look it's empty proba so CPC has its own funding source through through our real estate tax understood yeah okay yes I thought I was looking at the no conservation yeah yes yeah there nothing that comes my while you guys carry on right so CPC has projects they do them unfortunately CPC can't Finance the funding of the maintenance and then we see that the following okay you know whatever is needed to keep continue with those projects as they move forward go the yeah decide whether to do that or not now what are the balances I'm not really sure right now they change um or I don't have them in front of me um yeah they change from time to time um I'm not we're going to be getting this year for a state match so right depending on that we'll determine what we get we do have some estimates of what they will be um that are coming through an warrant article to show 10% of uh housing uh open space and um Recreation that will be going in to our uh our funds and the rest will remain in general unreserved then we're going to probably vote again to do with 5% um administrative fee have we had any projects come through for the historical or for the housing because those two sub accounts seem to have a large balance they do we're hoping we really don't have a lot of representation from historical uh our historical person has not shown up at a meeting since I've been back on um we've been trying to reach out to them to get we we do I'd like to um add on I know Chris you're aware that we've been trying to get something from uh the architect on the town hall other projects and one of those uh potential projects that we had spoken to many members of your board about was the um masonry uh issues and some Foundation issues related to the original uh town hall building and that is a project that would be um eligible for these funds but we just not have have not been able to get the information to go forward with a selectman vote to submit an application for consideration by Chris's board so that's still out there as a potential project and if anybody uh takes the time to go and walk around the building they'll see it needs to have that original masonry needs to be waterproofed and there is some um cracking and deterioration on the facade of the building which is the original 1928 Art Deco um um stonework so that uh that's still out there is a potential project it just has not got to the point where we could submit it to Chris's board there you go so you will have no problem programming that money when those types of things come uh come in front of you and way she was a little while ago to do some work across the street there there was some there that a couple years ago I think it is yeah lighting and something else carpets last year I think I remember that so it's picked away a little bit but it's not big projects you watch the number come down yeah basically housing authority projects just growing it is at this point with that amount of money and I want to say unfortunately we have to put 10% into those places because they could be used other places just because it has gotten so large is there one large project that we could do in town that would be great I don't know people would have come forward with a project I don't have something in mind you know other communities have done uh revamping of say Mills and turned them into uh community housing um things like that been a big budget item I guess that's that's my question do we have something here in account that would require hundreds of thousands of dollars that we could really renovate and use towards glow income housing I have initiated uh Communications and dealing with the South Housing Authority trying to get something off the ground on that going to take a while um because they don't have any experience with it either but we are making contacts with every agency regionally and with the state to purchase some land or or other housing in town and so we got something in the works okay good but it's at Ground flow unfortunately the town doesn't have tracks the land that we own makeing much easier we just don't have it we don't have the old M don't have infrastructure does support what other communities are doing the state say you have to do it but you need the buildings to do it right yeah and I I was just wondering if we were looking into that because I know that part of the well I you know it's something that's been lacking for $400,000 but I was on the committee soarer and larger it's probably over half million there's no cap on it huh no once you 10% each year that get voted into the budget we could do a big project that would really benefit this community absolutely it's Ved in by town uh it gets approved at town meeting but is it law that it's aot at least 10% has to go into each of those categories does the state always hold a third end of the funding yeah they do but it's different every year it's not the same amount beginning when we first started it was 100% match which now you have so many communities that are bought into the program depends on the budget in the state how much is funded into each Community what is it approxim um I'm not really even sure we we buy in at 3% so we get a better return from the state than other communities that do 1% or 2% so the 3% thing is a good thing as far as the money we get back which is you know the investment it's investment wise I would say it depends on how you look at it right I mean we're spending more to get more that we don't we can't use so well we're using a lot of it well I think we're demonstrating in this conversation there's a need for spending and we don't really have it well for certain areas hopefully we will I mean you also wanted on meaningful spending yeah right that housing can do a meaningful project yeah parking general fund we we have no point that it's the those are projects right anything else does the interest on the trust fund for the for the CPC funds have to roll back into its respective accounts so if there's a million dollars out there for historical earning a unfortunately horrible rate because of the way the state tells you what you have to where you can invest the money but does the interest have to roll back in historical does it across General I think the deposit was the 10% each year that goes in I don't know about the interest we goes back in yes ma'am so sorry our coordinator for interest does go into the general unreserved okay and that's another positive thing that we do have a large stru right now specifically for housing I think that's what we're talking about um but we're still auring interest on it so that's essentially free money and these projects are housing projects are really expensive so it's good that we're getting this accumulation over the years so when we have a up plan in the future which I do think we will dian's doing a great job we're going to have that money to back up the project so it's not like it's not going to you to be used we're just waiting for the right moment and Doug don't forget we had our uh investment committee meeting the other day and that is a separate trust fund um investment mechanism through Bartholomew group yeah it was kind of a leading question because the they have a uh the CPC Trust funds separate but they don't have a a view of the amounts in each bucket so what I was kind of alluding to was that the interest benefits all of the account not just the historical so if it roll as Sabrina said it rolls into General unreserved it it helps all the categories not just historical to have that balance out there and as we saw the other day the uh that CPC trust fund is is actually the best performing uh mechanism we have out of all the trust funds it's almost keeping Pace with inflation almost almost that's good very good anything else these folks all right conservation is next thank you Chris you're welcome thank you thank you Doug thank you right so I guess we're coming we're asking for a little bit of money this year for um administrative uh increases um right now we have a coordinator and a secretary who are shouldn't say overburdened but overwhelmed maybe a better word but the amount of work and the lot of time um allowed do the work we have lpp process in town that does take up a lot of time that is it wasn't originally part of what conservation is um so that is a big chunk of uh time that's being taken away from the DU of what the conservation does right as far as filing far as out and and looking at different places for site visits um just the amount of paperwor you know people don't really understand the amount of paper that goes on in each filing and the things that have to happen for each meeting um does get overwhelming and then our coordinator right now is working her amount of time so sometimes there's not enough time for her to get things done for a or for um somebody's project which is unfortunate for the person filing um and I think that falls not just it falls on the town yep and that's you're talking about hours in a raise yes yeah so that's all select when that's wonderful thank you that's our recommendation they heard you okay yeah I mean we've been you know I guess voicing this concern for many years and uh you know it's it's hard to find people to come to do the job oh it is yeah so no doubt you don't want to lose anybody else oh well that's one way of saying it so that's an add to an add to staff or we're talking about the 17939 we're not we're not going to talk about their finances that is strictly select made a point to that okay I just wondering if it's a new ad or if it's additional hours once again I asked that said it's both so that's up to the select okay okay the rest looks pretty good okay you're up on your dues yes we're on our dues yeah so that's you know not every year but they have gone up this year so we have asked for a little bit of increase on the D yeah understood and then I think everything else is flatlined like you requested except for supplies um are we out of supplies or you just trying to match a number you used to have no I'm going to need more more money for supplies like I anticipate doing theur in this year and refiling system in there so we're definitely going to need some money for that so on the next page is the um the deal with their pay and their hours just so you see and salaries operations Capital most Rec they have operations moving forward in years this is for trash pickup where does the trash pickup fall in your budget for this year yeah you got the projections it's proba the expenditure to this point no what line it what line land m is it in there that's a separate that's under salary as well parttime maintenance how do you pay for your trash pickup now uh through that part-time maintenance separate line item okay so it's working out well I think we just put a 2% raise just to match everybody else we're just trying to see where it comes from part-time maintenance yep that we got a separate line last want me to stop talk no you know the answers anything else for them anyone on Zoom where we thank you y thank you the North Pond issue I'm sure they're planting away and the grass came in beautiful and there's no one cross spikes on it right we're planning on doing some kind of things over there we can't really discuss right now we've been talking about still doing it yeah the process we're in the process of keeping an eye on things can say yeah and ever since we put we put a new f um like fencing over in the parking area that's actually helped a little bit with the I guess nuisances that's been happening on the property um last year it was toned down a little more since the year previously so hopefully the culture will start to turn I guess towards more of a less party area and more area can't have a p party oh we didn't put one in no no so we'll find out this summer how things yeah work you know yeah there could be a p body like up in the uh parking area in that little area that doesn't go underneath the um State's offices for conservation restriction so there are a few places that there could be one and we can take part of that out there might be a future development for water pump or things like that the water department I couldn't remember we did we we we did budget and then it just didn't really you guys weren't comfortable with the whole message might create I thought and that's kind of why it didn't go in but we did budget one of sorts but you guys take that out um that part of that yeah the separate funding and we're going to go to the select board to try to rearrange that yes David to your at one time there was there was an attempt but yeah I couldn't remember that's their world not ours all right where's the tree removal is that uh the tree removal was done by the state was up further up the hill um the one on the the ROP swinging trees oh that's not we didn't do anything with that going to was that part of last year you cut one tree down they put it on another tree I mean I don't know what good it's going to do to cut trees down you know you might limb something you get you know there's one that's really lending itself to being used that way you might get rid of a limb but they're going to find some place else to put a rope swing I was a kid once had many ROP swings yeah yeah you good I'm good thank you folks have a great day thanks for coming on thank you morning folks you answer the agricultural commission stury we just a quick note we brought our open Farm day sign for two reasons one was that this committee last year said why don't you make these signs generic enough so you can use them year to year so we did and also wanted you to know that this year's open Farm day will be August 18th so uh third Sunday in August yeah would be among the first to know yes thank you so we're level funded thank you for that I know listening to your meetings there was some talk back and forth amongst your board about the whole funding process do you have any issues with it I to know about uh no I Exel I have a couple of meetings with um Laura and Melissa and accting just to be sure we doing it right yeah I think I think we're good you see it's level funded but we did break it out into different line items things sure a little bit better yeah CER too Y and that's all County so that's great it'll help you p po too it really will yeah and you know enough to pull the pro shoulder first right you're learning I've learned that kind of the hard way but yes we do know I don't know I don't because if you do screw up they tend to break the rulers on you I'm not going to say me but they're tough up there is the first yeah last year yeah our wildest expectations we had a total of about 300 people come through about 180 average per farm and this was wonderful yeah this was great and this is during another event that was happening in Westfield they their fair so we were competing and we made a pretty big uh success that's good yeah is at the same time as Westfield Fair again this year but just because just the way it worked out the way it works out the third Sunday in August is what the farmers want you know so yeah that's what we do great does anyone have any questions Douglas I'm good thank you folks have a great day thanks for the opportunity Library time to yeah yeah we got question yes doing great your name for the record please Michael oh Michael thank you how you guys doing today so right so we're just I'm just talking out loud again so building and ground maintenance they're just showing that that it's building in grounds okay yeah I double checked with them just to make sure before we put it in our budget because as as you guys know we have to account for our whole budget right to figure out certain numbers so I double checked with them and that's the numbers they gave me right now didn't we discuss phones last year while we were here we did yes um but it wasn't approved so we decided to bring it back again this year just because each year they're getting older and older and the price is getting more and more expensive to to replace things and wasn't the rationale for not doing it Doug maybe refresh our memory um we were anticipating some telecommunications around among the campuses uh including the school I think this is an issue of timing uh David um and I've talked to Lynn about this you know we're still a couple three years away from having a Muni fiber Network installed and operational and that you know so that the library would appear to be on the same network as town hall and fire police you know the campus so for now the library DPW and any other you know remote parts of town hall of the Town complex cannot be on the same phone network as um FR uh you know the town hall police and fire so they're going to have to do something I think she's done a good job here of looking of how they would probably get to somewhere that would be adaptable you know if they invest in the infrastructure for the cabling and so on and that when we do get them un fiber then we could get them eventually connected to the same telephone system we have in town hall without wasting the the cabling investment but obviously you know probably the phones and then the monthly service would would either switch over to the um the service we have now or or what have you thanks so the 3886 is is that just for the but not you so 3886 is the entire um amount Communications um quoted me for cabling and six new phones um the monthly fees will be about 117 um but that's not included in the final amount the final amount there just reflects you know the the hardware the wiring the phones themselves okay so the part that we could possibly lose if we do this now is the six phones at $189 each and then the cabling is with $2,700 which we should be able to roll over into whatever that fber system is yeah the I'm certain these are IP phones especially if the phones are only $189 I'm sure they are so um more than likely that whatever we switch over to will work with this infrastructure that they're putting in ly does excuse me Mr chairman Lyn does your um technology grants that you get from other entities in the state is the use of those funds um eligible for the acquisition price for this equipment because if this is voice over Internet Protocol it it does have that technology overlap I mean to to my knowledge there there may be something out there but I mean we could potentially use our state aid for it but you know we just put it in as as a capital request um because the price I mean we don't want to eat away too much of our state aid funds because we do use those for for for all of our progam all of our programs a good portion of our programs um all of our computer purchases and any furniture yeah we we just bought new shelving in the last couple of months yeah we did just do quite a large uh purchase of of shelving so we're we're grateful to our state aid funds for that but um other additional technology funds I think that's what Carl is asking above and beyond that are specifically for this Tech to my knowledge specific from the NC from thec that I'm aware of the state aid under the M this the state aid is given to us um obviously from the state so our Municipal appropriation requirement is what we have to meet every year we also have to meet other certain requirements obviously you know we discussed the 19% of our budget has to be spent on um informational materials basically anything that patrons can borrow and check out um and we have to meet um open requirements we have to be open based on our population size a certain number of hours a week certain number of evenings a week um and so if we meet all these requirements we get um two payments from the state each year that is essentially our state aid funds which like I said we don't have anything in our budget for um computers furniture and um our programs line item only gets us so far so we do use a lot of the state aid funds for programs as well so we jump around a little bit to Capital but go back to the oper so the looks like you consistently spend like 13 Grand or at least you did in 2023 on building in ground and there's a contract for 3600 um so is what's the majority of that um that's handled by buildings and grounds because five or six years ago finc con and the select board decided instead of having building and grounds as one line item in town hall they said no let's close up by building so that's why all the department budgets now you see so much at DPW so much everywhere else so Dave Su give l a number and say this is what it cost for the part-time custodian to concern was their stuff we've got an alarm system in the various Town buildings here's your share of it plug those numbers in so the library never sees the bills when see anything so he would know that as far as as far as the maintenance line um I can't speak to that that's just what David handles for our repairs and anything we need like that um the maintenance contracts we do have a few things that come out of that again very small mostly handled by David um you know that's the line that like you know our copier Conor photocopy contract comes out but again very small percentage of what we handle most of that is what handles okay thanks yeah David um the other thing that comes out of some of these locations are their allocations for the Landscaping so that facility has Landscaping needs so just like Town Hall the police and fire under the public safety bill DPW under its Park and wreck under its budgets they all get cost allocated sheares to a single vendor contract that is broken down by the vendors when they submit for those uh respective locations so it's a better way to track how much it does cost you to maintain uh the different locations in town yeah this may be a question for Dave then but most of this 36 600 he's saying excuse me the 13 Grand that would be outdoors right that would be the trimming the trees and no that might be that that maintenance can be calling in plumbers and electricians all the issues that that happen in a building just like they happen in your home you've got plumbers because it's got Plumbing in there you've got alarms You' got sprinklers so you have all sorts of things running a public building and those are the types of things that have to be repaired if there's an issue with vandalism and so forth so that is usually the number they start with and if anything goes over that number during the course of the year then that department head can submit for a emergency transfer request from the select board and the finance committee thanks car question electricity has been I see that that's nice 21 in 2021 it was 21,000 2022 it was 21,000 2023 it's 20,000 how are we budgeting 33 every year we decided to leave it again the same this year because we did have um in the last fiscal year I believe it was our fuel line that went over um and so we needed to borrow from the electricity line to cover for the overe expenses in the fuel so we decided to leave the lines again the same this year in the event that we are going to go over see one of the things when it comes to Electric the town uses some outside vendor and comes up with with whatever deal for kilowatt hour that's handled all by the town we have no idea even what that's going to be to come you if you look at your own home electric the rates bounce twice a year if you have ever Source you know so you don't get the bills for electric the all goes to town hall you don't see it right what Mike is referring to is the town is um we do get a separate energy supply company and we use um eversource as our Distribution Company so we do split those through our um generalized Commodities purchasing that the select board do through the collaborative that we we piggy back onto these organizations that also help Supply utilities to the schools so we've come out uh you know in a better way than if we were just buying the supply of electricity from the electric company under the default rate that Mike just mentioned that is set twice a year but we're we're in our last year of that deal so when things were really spiking we actually did pretty good but you know time will tell in the future on the next round of procurements my next question if I yeah my next question was on fuel again historically it was 556 and 8400 we budgeted 8424 so leaving that at 8,400 should cover any excess since fuel has gone down a bit now so it still seems like that electric is basically that 8400 is the natural gas if you go back historically with the library it was 8400 12 15 years ago and that's when the town finally decided let's insulate the library because I'm not4 so it dropped from 16, to 8400 10 or 12 years ago and then 8,400 basically except for the current year was been juggling a little bit it's covered everything and of course whatever's left on June 30th goes into free cash three to four million town has every year over the last three or four years I'm saying 8,400 should cover you you said you had to move some things to cover the electric we did we had we had to move well we had to move um we had to move from Electric to the fuel line yeah to cover and basically I mean we decided to keep these level funded because the lines can just be so so unpredictable it all depends on on the year the prices the weather so right the library hbac I know I don't you know what they might have done to it we had budgeted 70,000 under a capital and looks like it came in at three which is wonderful yeah yeah so again the hbac something to do again that's a question for D I know we've had a lot of trouble with the HVAC system in the basement he can give you more details on that that's that is definitely not my area of it is working it was working when it we shut it off in the fall it was working it's as of right now everything is working fine okay thank you gotcha ools do you have any questions yeah so can you can we talk about these salary uh increases salaries are not us and the positions can be salaries and positions are not us not any Monday night you're more than welcome to go the select meeting and they'll bring it up and it's great talk that's that's really where it belongs I talk about as Mr moldan says stay in your lane and that's what we will do anything else for Li AR we all citizens no no you are citizens and on Monday night you can go and reache all you want about salaries and raises we will not deal with it today in this for thank you anything else with liary so folks have a great day you hear me coming out well it's the way it is cultural Council Council how about we jump in front and grab cemetery next the cemetery last one to let you down last one's to let you down yeah last one's your good morning your name for the record please andonis good morning good morning Lisa so you're level funded you asked for it to be level funded so we did apprciate but I am here to ask escavator again y um for the same reasons as yeah for the first time um lower me in so we can keep our price down for the residents and but since last year you've done your homework yes and have you found something that was more usable we did we went to three different places to get quotes um they ranged from 75 um down I think Tri County was the cheapest at 55 maybe an extra bucket or an extra tool about 5560 by time you know we're all said and done so that was a good price um for what we need um obviously we will in the future want to house it properly so it lasts forever for us for what we're using it for you know we're not DPW we're not out on the road late doing digging cks in the elements of the yeah so we would like to house it and um I think out of our um Regular line item budgets I can account for um our one full-time employee that would go and get insy license which isn't a good deal so in 2021 we had 51 um that was 28,000 um that went toward um the price was 550 um a burial 2022 was 47 um 2023 was 38 so we range anywhere from 30 to 50 a year and we'll probably be going up on our price we're looking at at 750 instead of 550 and then we're going to try and work with um accounting to see that other 250 goes in a revolving account so if we need maintenance on it we'll have money built up in there and stuff you have a revolving account now we have a revolving account which which the money for the five like if you bought a um had a funeral you give me a check for 550 it goes in there and then I turn around and I um put it out to the um I pay the the guy who digs right right gotcha okay um yeah understood so we have one we would just have to establish if that's the right one to keep it in or make another one or whatever understood Paving Lisa excuse me Joe Joe on that tractor where it says that initial sheet said 35,000 didn't your latest research show 55,000 it didn't I changed it on mine and we'll uh yeah at our budget process we'll discuss you know the difference but it is few folks could change from 35 to 55 because initially we were looking at a different we thought a tractor would do it but a bigger tractor right and you told me to go and share and we've never seen the tractor we haven't don't have access to that tractor correct so sharing it wasn't a isn't a possibility and he went and bought something that we can't use so that's why right no I I just want everybody to know the number we're looking at there to yeah he did buy it was more L between 28 and 30 35 so that's where that price came yeah that's not going to work for that Cemetery uh application so corre the other number that you got from that newer vendor that went through Capcom that is the one that's going to work yeah correct and we Chang it on our paperwork okay so Paving you got 20,000 there b you gave us um the first year I think you gave me 12,000 124 um and then we went and got tried to get quotes and they just basically that wouldn't even bring their um equipment into so then we came back and asked you for a little bit more money and so that will be getting in because of the rain all last year every contractor was pushed back on every job he had so I of course you know Cemetery they don't think it's really a priority um other than streets and and stuff like that so we just got pushed off and they're supposed to come back this spr so so Lisa I see on those two years between fiscal year 23 and 24 between them you still have about 30 32,000 do you also need another 20,000 for fiscal year 25 or is that necessary at this point I honestly I with the way their prices just just jumped I couldn't tell you what it would be I mean it could I was going to do it in sections cuz that's what our cemetery is at sections so everyone thinks when I ask for the paving it was to do what was already paved to go over that right that's not happening that's just top coat and we can do that probably out of my regular line item budget this year um the other stuff is actually where we got three new sections and it's all dirt and it just makes a mess when it's muddy and everything just so that's what the paving would be around those three new sections right that's actually Road that's actual Road building it's not just Paving it's a full Road build with base uh so that's why it's more money correct but I believe it's about 60,000 we talked a couple years ago already went down like okay he already came he didn't just when he did the roads and built the section the base is there he put the base there already so okay that's what I'm asking the base is already there cuz we just want to make sure we're caring for that too cuz that's that's just as important when you're doing a project as the the base in the drainage right correct so the base is already there I think we're just gonna it would just go be the top okay okay so so one last time is that enough money to do the payment I know you came in a couple years ago with 60,000 it was 20 20 and 20 y because we are all shell shock that what it was going to really cost right and I don't see added 20,000 in this year if you want me because you wanted level fund and if you wanted me to do my section at a time and just use this money and see how far I get I can come back to you next year and ask for either another 20 or whatever the rest of it would be so you feel that's enough to started yeah I'll start I'll see where I can go okay you know I just want to get around the sections where we have people buried in the new sections now correct the 20,000 in 2024's budget you will spend the spring you said right and then another 20 in 25 but it's not there yes it is where is it I see Road multiple phase 20 20,000 the level that the same 20, 101 she hasn't spent oh she didn't put it on this sheet right right right right okay it's in the line but it's not sheet so it's the same number should I have put it on that sheet so well yeah should I have added it on that she if you want another yeah but you're rolling that 20,000 over because you didn't spend it right yet so it's really not you're not asking for 20 more it's there accounting is allowing you to keep the 20 there right plus the 12450 is still there correct she's going to use 2024 before see I don't even see the where do you where are you seeing the 1250 I'm seeing 12450 under Capital 223 it's on the far left Lisa it's the fiscal year 23 budget column farle okay right so I would have 30 that's I'm getting 32 right yeah I think I can just try to see what 30 is gonna get me if I can get around Section 8 because that's where people are buried I'm now burying in section nine which is huge and 10 is even bigger I I'll come back next year and ask for whatever it is to do that I can do it in sections and that's not a big deal okay what am I buing I'm another those section you're in Section 8 SE SE I I will take your all personally SE I apprciate that that's got a whole new meeting meeting yeah we're in oh boy so the only other question I had um because I don't know if you guys is is um the finance committee going to meet again after this of course we have two meetings we have two more meetings but not public just you're more than welcome to go down there and give us the glare you're more than welcome I just was gonna you know how we changed the capital um line item to buy something without going to you I that is the uh oh yes the the dollar Str right yes so I just come back to you on that yeah your next Tuesday next Tuesday one more question ground supplies historically was 0 1.4 1.3 2023 you spent six y because um we're getting rid of weeds and planting grass and that's expensive so I have a guy that comes in every spring and fall and does the um kills out weeds will be take probably five years to actually get rid of the weeds that we have it's a certain weed it just keeps coming back but by time you put the um stuff down it'll it takes like four or five years to actually get rid of it completely and well when so then he comes in and fertiliz does a winter fertilizer for us they'll come in in the spring and each time that's like 24ish 24ish $100 to to do that um so yeah we're we're kind of taking care of the grounds like we're supposed to okay where do you find that in the ground supplies Brown supplies yeah and now you know and that's the other thing before we only just took everything out of repairs and maintenance line item we didn't have all these line items so Laura made us have these line items so that's where you're seeing normally I would have 30 40,000 in my regular budget line item one line item where I had five years ago a mix of Stu and a mix of stuff and I used to just take everything out of there now she wants it to fine so oh that's better yeah no no because you know what I'm spending Lisa does that go out to bid every year or do you just Sho the same person no I have to go out to bid unless it's over 10,000 right sure something like that yeah yeah I'm just asking because sometimes when you just getfor ping use use a person over and over again sometimes it's good to go get another bid to keep them honest oh I I have so I'll I'll call around and get the pricing and then I I usually go with him because okay so you you verify it okay good yeah I verify that so that I'm not overpaying for something and a lot of it we we have um Dave has a um I should say park and wreck has a um machine that we can do our own seating so we'll borrow that this year and then we'll do our own seating so that'll save us a lot of money too yeah and then they also piggy back on to the DPW contracts to with that anything well because we're doing a cul right now and you're going to see that come out of my line item Diane that's going to be like $6,400 the Calvert that goes between the old cemetery and the new cemetery is um decapitating so we're um got a quote from Quest Crest View and we're going to be using like Carl said we're going to go under the DPW ump no D um paperwork oh because it's part of the town and right so we can get under that and get it done fast because there's there's like supposed to be this much popping over the pipe and we have like this much that'll come out of that line brown supplies probably I'll probably have to um take it out of one or two yeah and how much was split them it was going to be 6,400 yeah and we'll be putting a um new new gate there to the old Cemetery that will close in the winter time because people are going in there and there's really those roads over there are really narrow and they're turning around like on the graves up on the hill it's so we we'll keep them out of there in the winter time so good changes any questions for thank you you're doing a great job over does look really thank you at least the vi from this thank you Lisa well at least someone will be visiting me a protest sign in a building inspector is next yes sir good morning Hi how are you wonderful how are you today good like you level funded other than the code books need to be updated code books we in a cycle for up date so um we're going to Massachusetts is going to 2021 and also changing Mass amendments to the 10th edition so I need to update all the books um so there's a little rise there uh they got pretty pricey I'm going to try to get cheaper and do online subscriptions more than I used to right so thank you and my other item is updating the computer software under Capital items and projects y um the software for the department is out of date and full circle Technologies told me that I need to update it or they won't be able to service it much longer um I do run different versions of it elsewhere the newer system runs much better it's a lot easier to integrate other departments into so um like Board of Health is looking at coming on this which some communities do all your Municipal departments on one system so we can all see what we're working on which is really great if the municipalities can afford it yeah they all share yeah great barington we do a lot of work up there and that's how their system is yeah the intercommunication is really good where you can see what and a you know tax collector gets notification if somebody ow taxes you don't issue certain permits um you can see wiring gas plumbing uh DPW Health fire and all those other communities that are around on City so it' be nice if everybody got on one system eventually yeah is it working out for you that system it works it actually works great there are more steps to this old version um like you have to actually me after the person pays you have to go back in and review the permit again and then issue it in multiple steps where it's much easier to set fees and everything with the uh with the newer version of the software and it doesn't make as many mistakes or it doesn't error as much okay but with the fee increases in the building department we've been actually been financially doing very well so I just going to ask about the fees so that doing decent as you know I increased the fees when I started yeah and um how long have you been with us four years years now yeah so we went from uh when I took over to being on a losing Street basically to now we plus we we're doing well and you think there's enough in there to absorb some of this as we I think absorb it all okay yeah it's a very positive cash flow in that department I run it like a business I look at I let that leak out no but you know I you gota you got to look at being responsible with your budget and being competitive with the other times I don't want to be a gouger I don't want to be the highest in the right in the area you want to be fair and just make sure your expenses are covered so we're talking about the 11,7 on the software and is the 6570 in addition to that yeah that's the annual subscription and so this is a is this an existing system and this is like an upgrade it's an existing system and it's updating a version of the software because um I believe it was originally done under the old inspector I think it was 2017 maybe yeah it was a while ago yeah and it's a necessary I mean it's a necessary upgrade cuz uh it's outdated and it'll be unserviceable uh probably I would say within a year they won't be able to maintain it any longer will our fees go up for the maintenance on it or is it still the same more of a capital upgrade period Capital up okay well than done any questions folks the license fees for that are in the weights and measures contract line is that where that is the weights and measures it's a separate separate it that's not on that system so so where are the license fees for your online permitting the license fees are in the system built into the system yeah so you don't have an ongoing no okay all right and we also just as a matter of course we contract with the city of Westfield under an agreement and they Supply the sealer of weights and measures who comes into our community and performs all of those legally required uh measurements in uh permits each year yes I've never seen weights and measures Carl actually get on that type of system so it would be kind of a difficult thing to get on that computerized system like that so we and we sub out Mees I think right Carl yeah I mean Dennis works for the mayor of Westfield and and they handle that function for us so maybe they may be obviously um you know tracking what he does over there too so and this is an important you know in terms of upgrading this for you know when when uh art Lawler had first proposed it and we went ahead and did it and now we're going to update this one and then add more stuff for uh Tom and the Board of Health so this is an important initiative we need to do for both of these departments because they're very much involved in code um enforcement and regulating things so this gives them tools to do other things and other purposes with this information more more efficient operation so I want to make sure I'm connecting the Dos correctly here you were talking about increasing your fees to people who come in for permit this was done two two three years ago yeah what do we use that money for to pay the expenses of the building department and sta the structure of the department and running the department and then um the Surplus would go over into other you know other budgets in town I imagine yes Carl that money goes into the it's yeah it's general fund what he's really what he's saying is he's he wants to let you know that through his fee structure he's covering the cost of his department so you know self self I was curious to see if that money was going to go towards this um online permitting system yeah the money taken in certainly will yeah some of them's going to be able to pay for it himself all right still in our budget but he takes enough Revenue in to sustain his Department we don't see it because it goes back in the general fund Karen it comes in as a local receipt it's not real estate tax revenue money when you look at your overall model of all your revenues and expenditures it's a local receipt okay I just wanted to make sure that when we're taking our red pen over the next couple weeks that this right here would be something that we would not take our red pen to yeah you don't want to take the red he covered it absolutely and that's what I [Laughter] made one question certification your full circle permitting program is is that different than the one coming up next or is it are you talking about one system that you both it's a building block it's a it's a it's a it's one block of a municipal system that could have added many departments block and we're talking about what I currently have would be upgraded to newer verion right he's the base unit add to that base unit yeah I have gas plumbing electrical um and complete building sheet metal every any any building item you can think of generator everything's on there permits yes that's just your portion the only thing I don't have and sometimes have it is public view where the public can look up permits but that's very costly I looked into it and it's like Jacks it way up so most towns aren't doing that anymore okay I just know it's coming up again and we got something last week I just putting that together yeah that's his piece of it and the board of he that's their piece of it so the system together would be 222 okay okay right and we we originally asked them to break it up for department so it's mine mine is a needed upgrade even keep it right regardless and you can do the two piece separately if you wanted to or they both have to be done together you could probably do them separately well if he upgrades then he can get the newest version right if you're going to go do it together it's best to integrate them so they both talk to each other yeah but we can't do Tom without doing you right your support's not them that's right it's going to fall apart okay that's what I was trying to put together I'm a little slow sometimes so no just making sure I understood the flow here yeah any questions from Mr M no sir thank you sir have a great day now guys it's break time but I do see bard of Health here any interest in grabbing as everyone here from Board of Health can we grab them quick and then what's up let's just do that yeah come on up folks thank you is that okay with you Mr mland I keep forgetting to check the chairman that's all right it's fine with me I'm not going anywhere okay no Murphy's Donuts where I am I'm sure the confidental is good um your name for the record I'm suasa with the Board of Health and this is Tom hibbit our um Health director who we've had for about a year and he does a wonderful wonderful job so we're happy with it we'll keep them yes by the way you're also getting re interviewed tonight so so we got one saying you're staying and the rest the rest of the board they're not [Music] here surv so our operations are Level funded we have to take um create a dues line item y per accounting because we were taking any membership dues out of the education Conference travel and that was confusing accounting right and they wanted us to do a separate line item so we just took some money out of there and created the dues um this e- permitting that you've already I'm talking about or familiar with I'll turn over to Tom to see if he has anything to add to that all right so yeah so um Kyle already has the eering software the previous version uh and there I I see how there could be a lot of benefit for the health department for we have about I think about 20 different types of permits um septic systems Wells um as well as all of our restaurants um the body art tobacco licenses uh pools Funeral Directors Wells so there's a lot of different permits and we currently process everything paper applications we track it all in an Excel spreadsheet we need signups for other departments we bring the sheet down to treasure collectors or to conservation so it's um it's a fairly simple process but it's time consuming um so I think by going onto the software that um that building's already using um it's it's very efficient um you know I the business owners can apply online and then you know I can review it send it to other departments for sign off all instantaneously so that will um be a huge huge Improvement and also we've had in our we building and health we share a full-time secretary Karen um and then Health also has a part-time secretary position that's shared which is currently vacant um and there's been a decent amount of turnover in that part-time position um so I think with this system it would be a little easier if that position's vacant or you know if the part-time person just doesn't have enough time for Karen to help out a little more with um the with the health side of things because it'll be a little bit more straightforward and kind of all on the system so it's easier to update things and automate and um so that's just some of the some of the benefits to it um I'm sure there's plenty more than I'm not thinking of but um one other thing I wanted to mention is that we we haven't officially talked about it at a a Board of Health meeting yet so I don't know what exactly we would come up with but I was looking at our permits from um 2023 um that because we permit annual on calendar year not fiscal year so 23 was our last full year and we brought in with all of our different permits about 34,000 445 um and I was based on those numbers which can fluctuate you know depending on how much building there is um with new septic and Wells and you know if restaurants are open or closed um but based on the permits we had for 23 um with a fairly modest increase to most of our permit fees I think we could bring up our annual revenue to by about $10,000 to 45,000 465 um so that's something in the coming months that we'll be talking about at the Board of Health meetings and um wouldn't necessarily be I I think our prices are on the low side um so I I don't want to make it seem like oh I really want the software we're going to make everybody pay for it um but I I think it it our our fees could be raised and more accurately reflect the amount of work that goes into each permit that we issue on inspections and all of that I I agree with that because then that that you would generate those funds during next fiscal year as a local receipt and then that would help on the budget process if the selectman and the finance committee appropriate the funds for the acquisition and operating costs for new software then the funds would be flowing into the budget as additional local receipts in the accountant can uh document that for the Department of Revenue so they'll see the source documents that substantiate our increase of our local receipt line item under our tax recap sheet and your research will to to figure out what those dollars are anyways yeah yeah yeah um and then the one other thing I wanted to mention is um doesn't go into this budget but we're also part of a um shared service Grant with the mass dph um so that Grant each year is for $300,000 and it's for five other towns um Granville Holland Montgomery Russell and blanford um so through that we're south is the lead Agency for that um so some you know inspection equipment U we pay for our our Public Health nurses through that and the other purchase I was able to make is um getting inspection software so um so I have a tablet and I can do all of the food housing all those inspections on a tablet so kind of on the inspection side of things I'm also looking to modernize there but and luckily was able to do that with Grant funds so appreciate that and a portion of those Grant funds does go to as a lead agency it goes into the general funding I think right I think $35,000 that goes to the general fund to the town for for the work that I put in and naine and accounting I just going to say right it does affect our accounting and n and whatnot so so but that's I just wanted to share that because that's not necessarily reflected in no it never is right you get a grant and someone else administers it and we hear from other department screaming nicely that oh great yeah Jim got the grant but we're stuck paying the bills right so you're right it's nice to know that some West Springfield yeah yeah we're also not the lead we're West Springfield um we've been able to upgrade use that money we upgraded most of the computers in our office and we've gotten some other things too that's what we've been getting all the covid tests with is with the grant funds from West Springfield did you realize you'd be writing grants when you took this job no you're we appreciate that thank you oh yeah I guess one other one other thing with the grants um is we we have uh it's been posted for a long time but we have a lot of applicants for the um it's a shared service coordinator positions so they for the past year I've been running the shared services Grant and it's very timec consuming um so we just kind of reworked that Grant budget with dph and um that's going to be a full-time position um so that will hopefully get built in the next month or so and that will take a lot of first off of me so I can I can focus more on South than than our grant so and that that position comes with the grant y so when go position exactly will that person be based in town hall they'll be um mainly based in town hall and and remot it'll be kind of a hybrid hybrid position you have room for it well that's why it's hybrid because we don't have yeah so but there's the there the nurses have a small office and then our our part-time secretary has a desk and neither one of those is filled all the time so we have some shared some shared space shared space do you think this process will help you with um the world famous restaurants delaying to get permits from you oh yes I think so I think it's a problem for you guys you didn't create it yeah but they just seem not here yeah I've heard from um from other towns that that have switched over the first year can be a little rough the adjustment uh but after that everyone everyone loves it the health department loves it the restaurants love it um because they can log they lose their permit they can log on and print another one right they lose their certifications they uploaded them they can log on and and see it and if something's missing I can just put a note in and say hey can you upload this certification I right now I still have everyone's paid this year they were good with that but I still have three three or four establishments that I'm I need your choke saer certificate I need your Sur sa certificate that I I haven't officially issued their permit yet um because just chasing down these last few things so I think that will that will save some of my time too if it's all all out there so a tree with all that paper Yeah couple trees probably maybe any other questions no yes sound so the base permitting software does not have an annual fee but your module so I my understanding is the I put it separately in the capital projects and then operations so the capital I did ask the owner of the company this the um the capital project would be paid in I think he said three installments and the final the final payment would be when they go live with the software okay and then once we go live that's when the annual would start gotcha so depending on when everything gets done it wouldn't necessarily be paying the full 11 plus probably a few months before before that goes um yeah so yeah your continuing cost would be the 60 6570 y so that would be paid the the day we go live is when the 6570 would start so M Mr chairman I would Envision if this is approved for both of these departments the one before this one in Board of Health that you'd have the capital acquisition costs in one of the budgets and then Lara would have to roll under her hardware and software line items under the it budget these other expenses going forward as Opex Opex expenses so that we know we put them on her list that she gave everybody a few weeks ago where you you list all the different um modules that she's got all over the place that support other departments and that's where those costs would go they would not stay under the Board of Health and building inspector at going forward so everybody should just so you want to know that it won't show up the way you think it does in the bud when it's approved actually one big unit so we want to put certain costs in certain departments track of there right you don't want it all over the place okay so it is it okay thank you any other questions folks have a great day thanks for coming up thank Youk I'm going to take a break and we'll come back for build and GRS I'm extend so you want mute e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e folks we're back thanks for waiting we'll give uh dougen everyone a minute to catch up well dou we're gonna St so up next will be buildings and grounds how are you today you please take your not for the record sure Hillary gild good morning good morning you don't look like Dave S you're fing so you you will answer questions the best of your ability I sure yes understood level funding is easy we appreciate that very much y looks like your tractor came in it did it did beautiful working well when it works all right so up next is capital elevator upgrade so I do have one question on the yeah yeah goad the accounting for the uh so when we had the discussion with library and they said well dat cares out the building and grounds amount for us and because it's kind of distributed among the various areas um so the amount the contracted services and supplies that this must be in addition to all of those other budget items that like in the library David are you are you talking about just the Tom Town complex uh budget oh yeah okay okay that's Town Hall so each each building there's public safety building this town hall um W so they all have each one of them has repair and maintenance and contracted and agreements line items as well as the utility budgets that are developed through the accounting department okay thank yes sir so David ground's contracted Services look like it's down they spent 18,000 out of the 30 in FY 23 was same thing 177,000 under maintenance activities and there's 33,000 budgeted that was that year it went up for 2024 a global question on this budget yeah was 135 budgeted 95 spent 40,000 variants y Cal 23 runs backwards pretty consistently so why are we budgeting so high consistent so FY 24 went up uh 30,000 is what you're saying right so 134 they spent 95 on the budget on the budget it's been 40 it's been a $40,000 variance hiso plus or minus historically 24 we budgeted more and are carrying it to 25 right and without David here I'll give you my version of the explanation I I really think in 24 they probably moved some line items around and then created this um the services right uh contracts because it went up if you look 6,000 went up in ground Contract Services I do believe that like covers the Landscaping contract I do believe a portion of that and that did go up last year the contract did not a lot it wouldn't make up for the huge discrepancy there but um so that direct the BRS contracted services that takes care of like a big chunk of that does pay for the Landscaping right um when when we get to reconciling oh yeah between us these 24 numbers are going to be updated yes I assume yes and we'll have a better idea we will where and we will also look back because and and try to find out why it went up last year what was the behind the scenes version because because we one went up 6,000 maintenance significant yeah yeah and we did that and we don't seem to be spending it then why did we do that right yeah I wouldn't want to carry it if it no estimated it didn't happen yeah and going to correct okay so C we have an elevator yes we do need to um actually both of the elevators the one at fire department and Town Hall yeah both need to have this stock switch upgrade as um a code a new code like changing the code book for the elevator so they are requiring us to do it so we're asking for the amount for Town Hall through um PK elevator it's 12,000 through Otis which is the company from fire department it's uh 12,500 get and and it possible oh it is here the quote is here yeah yeah right and long term let's remember I believe the board just went through a Community Development block grant hearing with Erica Johnson and I believe long term we're looking at trying to secure funds for a new elevator replacement at Town Hall does that sound familiar Joe and Diane Doug right absolutely so but that can still be a number of years so Eric is working on the numbers for that issue so that's going to be an thing and just uh at the same time you've got money at some point in the future for a new furnace for Town Hall and we're going to try to that through the leftover Roofing in HVAC funding when we close out the town hall uh roof in uh HVAC project because Bond Council has indicated you can use those um leftover funds for that purpose thank you this to happen that's that was my next question does I don't think it says when it needs to happen be corrected ins so stupid in the room I own that's just just think it's it's all good I wish I didn't own an elevator I wish but I do so that's CLE me off a little bit is there an elevator at the stage um in yes yes that is a handicapped accessible elevator um that we you know it's a little different than this stop it's got a stop switch on it huh it's got a stop switch on it I don't know why it's not in here we tend to get everybody when we get them I I hearing to I am not familiar with getting a notice that elevator is done through a completely different company pretty much like a um wheelchair lift that like requires a twoyear inspection inste mon but I can definitely I'm familiar with the company I can call them and make sure we're not like overlooking that we could do okay so that's what we have under Capital yeah it sounds like it's a requirement and then Carl B boil for 105,000 he's hoping to repurpose funds from the r SL hbac projects Carl do you know how much money has left over on that um I think I think it might be near the high ones going toward two but it's going to depend upon what the final change order the board assigning a change order reducing the project cost for the roofer but then we're going to some of it back in with another change order because of the the success of how the snow sheds off the roof faster than we thought going to be putting some more of those uh break snow bars that those horizontal bars that go across so that's uh something the architect was working on with the roofing manufacturer to make sure that uh what we were contemplating doing would be um stay within the warranties of the roofing system so that's an important consideration we need to do so that's happening so and then HVAC we also anticipate a um another potential change order there that would be uh to positive for us so and that's thanks to the efforts of the clerk of the work Mr Lawler's you know over the last two years think we have a handle on this new system I can give you a copy of the latest project spreadsheet that shows um where the monies have been spent uh for each category from vendors to Clerk of the works and and so forth so we have all that information just like we carry the uh the arpa project money distributions do you think it's working out sir the new system because I seem to be having hot flashes now when I go through this building I never had them before I I I think you still have balancing to do you still have some balancing to do there's two or three three areas that still had to be addressed I think over in the clerk's office um I think at one point um Hillary had had an area down near the COA in her office I think those were fixed right Hillary um yes right I do need a that there is a thermostat that needs to be moved but right so and then in the select Board conference room that had to be adjusted so there are a few areas that still need to be addressed and uh contract is not closed out until those issues are addressed perfect that's what I was hoping to how do you feel today it's the select room right when you go to meeting the select Board conference room is freezing which is funny because when I've been going in there it's been uh on the other the other way yeah looks like works it's a matter of balancing it we know we can get the heat when we need it oh yeah you got the heat thank you it be a one out four the one out Flor that's going to get oh what are the what are the floors at the police station oh is that police yes so that's for Public Safety at the police station next up we have Public Safety sorry that's fine Public Safety everybody so this would be to replace carpeting in six office areas um patrolman's report room Sergeant detective and Lieutenant's office office the Dare office and the interview room say that again I'm so sorry oh no no problem yeah it was the so um it would be to recarpet different office location we did the hallways over the last few years but not the offices correct so this would be like pretty much I believe at after this flors are done at PD to mine out right getting all this carpet plac in these office areas um and yeah we were asking for 99,900 the quote we have is from King Brothers around nine gotta so we did the replacement of the floors wait was that carpeting that is not carpeting that was actually um an epoxy floor that was put down in the in the hallways and in um there was like a new exercise room that took over um like a bay area so would we not want to do a more durable flooring in these office areas the police department takes their shoes off when they go in their offices so it's not that bad the high traffic areas where where was talking about that had the epoxies and the other types of codings and that's like the booking area right that building been there so the carpeting that we have that we're talking about replacing is the original carpeting so over 20 years our office space isn't nearly high traffic and in epoxy though it does last quite life was much longer it's it's a lot more money as well but I think the carpets will high rate like we're doing with King Brothers you get another 20 years out that's five years desk and everything on it so it's not yeah thank you and the Otis Elevator approach is the one at the fire department I'm correct yeah and those need to be corrected by the 2025 inspection dat yeah yep which for Town Hall is September 30th of 2024 and for fire department it's um May 31st 2025 so both in the fiscal year of 2025 correct thank you and then there's other capital projects for fire it looks like the boiler both boilers yeah the 5e projection as well as um for the library that was included as well the library is a priority so is that a for vote this year no no that's in a five year okay the library is an interesting building it was built by some great volunteers and unfortunately or fortunately things were either missed or not adequate and that's why we that's why their electric bill has the extra 10,000 and it we insulated a couple years ago it helped quite a bit um so I'm sure the furnace is no better right so slowly but surely we're rebuilding the library from the inside out that's why you see little subtle spikes over there all right any no questions there we're going to go to DPW Highway division maintenance I do believe it was just level funding nothing else this year that was added for that building and the same thing down and there was 16,000 they went up to 21 last year and and they're just you know they only spent 10 the year before I know a lot of that was some movement of line items but I will get we'll do our homework and find out Happ the Mr chairman yeah yes thing was the other thing that was noted is when tyan Bond did the municipal buildings assessment study ago and they looked at the different buildings um they knew that the DPW building that right now that we had acquired you know and renovated for several hundred, would always have limitations on what could be done with that building into the future so they did not recommend a lot of major things to be done in that at that location for the future in the um sort in the mindset that if we were going to do something we may relocate that facility later on where we could take the salt shed which is portable and could be dismantled and the above ground fuel tanks so that's why um that report did not recommend a lot of long-term big large projects there and if anybody would like to see a copy of that Municipal Building assessment study we have it uh in different formats to provide it to people just unfortunate our forefathers didn't do that before they bought it but here we are is that in 1770 Joe those four fathers no no no no they're still around those boys and girls okay it was turn key though Joe remember turn key yeah I still got a set they make B okay Library [Applause] maintenance they actually spent all money out of me so yeah and you you have separate from this the uh uh Community preservation committee application that the uh the trustees did for the U some of that outside work project so that's going to be U voted on at town meeting yeah that actually sounds like a CPC project that doesn't require much maintenance so that was nice to see yeah you know longevity wise right as we cut hundreds add stuff all right park and rec maintenance so go ahead just make sure so if the account number is 52200 and that shows up in the library budget so it doesn't get double accounted right so right yeah I think David I think what the the maintenance uh folks do is they just pulled out the relevant line items and put it on a different sheet so that when talking about things that that are in their Department that they um tap into each Standalone buildings line items that they were just identifying them that way right back here David remember was all over the place it was a mess so we in accounting decided to try to clean this up good so now you see it differently but this definitely is more understandable it's been smooth yeah I did check the numbers match where they are yeah other places [Applause] [Applause] now Hillary under the park and wreck budget that shed for 4,000 that's for the storage of chairs used at the Pavilion yes correct yeah and the the number 4,000 um the quote said 2679 that does not come con trued so it needs to be built it needs to be put on um a SL and um yeah it you know there's some notations on here as far as how could be built um I it's on so guys I think it's sorry our new sub at that came I couldn't find it either oh Hillary do you think that number from your looking at it do you think that four number is going to cover a installation of a um now I take it there's going to be no electricity going to the shed but do you think it covers a concrete slab the labor and all the materials or do we think that maybe that number because of the sizing of that shed has to be Revisited um it it may potentially I I feel that um originally it was intended to be built by um people in the department and I'm and I'm unsure how that will work out I do know would be building correct he he would be however I I did suggest and I do know that on Home Depot you can also buy them where they come out and they do construct it for you um so it the numbers weren't so far off but we may have to revisit exactly you know maybe getting quotes of getting a concrete slab install he's talking about a stone fres stone maybe fresh Stone [Music] which actually I do believe we make even have some frh knows we haven't tracked the move in we sure do and I can we can we have the materials we have the ability to get that stuff from all of our DPW vendors Stone yes and cres you can do concrete I mean we have the ability to access all of this obviously if we use our people to do the construction we're good if we use other people to do the actual construction on a public building then that triggers prevailing wage laws which means the price goes up correct and I see concerts and performances so is that the rotary concerts they speaking of um not the rotary concerts per se I'm not sure that the chairs have ever been used from town hall for that more so um you know there there's Park and wreck activities that happen little you know I'm I stage going there that when the when the stage is there it's usually there for the entirety of the summer so it is used I know they've done like um you know puppet performances and things of that nature up there um they could use the chairs that they're up there for the concerts that's why we had you know added that in there um but there are a lot of performances and right now what what happens is they're stored in the basement here and every day we need them for up there at the park we have to literally fill the truck bring them up there break them back down it would it would make it easier that be a great fundraiser for the rotary Sy I already talked yeah how' it go you're rotarian what's up they're thinking about it thinking about it let me tell you something you get done think a little harder I'm working on it right maybe they can gra their they can grab their Lion's buddies and the shed we talking about yeah so you you understand that hint but all right any other questions about a shed I suggested it was there D yeah we'll see see how good you let's get that through the Finish Line you can do it I have all right that's about it for part any questions for this young no thank you for your have a great day thank you Hillary thank you Hillary oh that's funny this I asked for okay up next is the police [Music] department good morning how are you please state your name for the record U Chief Robert mandis Lieutenant R pish this will be your last budget hearing Chief this will and uh so Lieutenant is going to um do it do it yeah y you prepared it so just here back up backing it's good to see it's good to see the acting administrator not in the cards right now there you go well I hope you enjoy your retirement thank you sir how are you I'm not too bad today it's raining out so good place to I guess it is so looks like your Lev the there's really not much to see there the uh School expense is uh can you tell talk about that a little bit that jumped 23 so with that was it actually jumped and uh Diane actually questioned that as well um from the year prior um and that was to accommodate the three new officers that were brought on board I checked with because we hadn't asked for it last year they're the ones that put it in there so when they get there's formulas for the new hires for everything across the board that affected that line item the last time so is that like salary no that would be for all the extra training that everybody goes through it's kind of all encompassing it's not to do with the school system at schooling exactly it's just to incorporate those additional officers that we put so does that go down the following year because you don't have three coming on well no because that's in addition to the 2 toal yeah St are you fully St in numbers yes in bodies I'll let Lieutenant okay so basically yes and no we're sitting at 21 total full-time officers right now of those 21 we currently have uh one out I guess we'll call it injured we've got one out on a maternity leave we're going to have one going out on maternity leave um other than that we've got around I think eight eight Reserve officers right now in varying capacities so we are fully staffed but everyone is not currently working sounds like you're in better position we're in a lot better position this year than we were this time last year yeah those three hires made a big difference does it absorb what last year so did that take away from overtime actually I believe that you've been running very good had very very few actual overtime shifts of late unlike last year we had an overtime shift practically every day we'd have at least one because of we're at hopefully Mor I think so I think so yeah now the conon stam going to get ordered in do I have to work today right kidsburg or something yeah ammunition is uh is that just like the cost of the ammo has increased over the last couple years yeah that's yeah the cost unfortunately the cost of everything has gone up we've switched the uh Firearms we had some left over ammo I don't know if the new ammo was more expensive or is it just across the board so as far as the switch over goes we haven't you know we haven't made the switch which over yet we're going to be doing that here next month actually we've got our training coming up so we going from that 45 caliber to the 9 caliber or 9 millimeter I should say um I believe the 9 millimeter is you know cheaper per you know round than than the 45 is but we do have increased Personnel at this point two three more than last year right see Reserve training was 24,000 right and it's uh who spent out of the 47 and 23 so person 24 it's 47 you're at 21 where do you see that going as your reserves almost go away don't they over the years yeah so you know that's been the big thing over the last few years with the police reform and everything the reserve program you know back when I started here we probably had 12 to 14 people now we're down to the vicinia of probably eight you know back then you could have officers you could send to the reserve acmy you know they'd be in there for 3 months and you come out and they were you know minus time on the job training they were ready to go out there as an officer that's gone right now you know in order for you to have anyone go out in the street at all you've got to run somebody through a fulltime Academy at this point which you know that that's five months long every day it's a giant commitment and we're just not I don't think we're going to see the same pool obviously as we've had in the past yeah um pool now is going to be more so you know people who retired they want to stay on you know we use Paul miles is an example he's going to be retiring soon he's going to stay on his reserve those are the kind of reserves we're going to have so if we were to pick up someone from a different department um you know it work somewhere else and they were going to come here you know we'd still need Monies to do our in-house field training program that's you know that's 500ish hours depending on the officer so there is still expense there true but I don't see it going up and I see like I said two years ago use 24 right I wouldn't see it going up either if anything it would potentially go down right now what we're using with it is um we have a Reserve officer who's finished the brid again doesn't have the 2400 hours to be a full certification right so for him in the board approved we discussed this a while back is he's actually coming in one to two days a week working alongside our Patrol because he's probably got about $4 or500 he's got to get roughly by 2025 to be a fully certified bridge and once he makes that he is available to us as a fulltime police officer in the future so for a small investment now we get a fully certified um trained officer um and and so it's kind of like an early investment but once that's done once once this July one comes up and everybody's been through the bridge transition there should be overtime if in steps that would be a transition itip so that that's great that we're spending money and getting them in and getting him done what keeps him here when he's done well other than the he's been well vested you might know officer Allen Reserve officer Allen so no that's who we speak of yeah yeah so um I think we know him well enough he's a good commodity I have no reason to believe that you know when he finishes Postal Service that he would want to transition here but it's like anything we do right as a gamble in a sense there is always that risk he chooses not to but if it would work out it' be a huge savings to the community especially whereare the forecast of officers in the next five years is there it's going to be all new faces yeah right so I think it's it's a worthwhile in that time okay thank you just I don't see anything else jumping out at me um your lighted trailer digital trailer you guys use to say motor process happening fire tra I know DPW was looking when you guys ever share it with them yes yeah whenever whenever they ask we've lent it out to DPW we've lent it out to uh else we we lent it out to somebody else too yeah so it's available Westfield we lent it out to other departments in town I think uh joh got her actually had when they were doing the surveys and stuff master plan okay so it is it is available you know anybody else needs to use it appreciate that folks have any questions I appreciate uh level funded budget quite honestly new must be working out nice we have some modifications that are being finished up but yes we're looking forward to that it's in town was it's back to the manufacturer yes so did some modifications for us and anticipate within the month schedule to get it back and get our graphics on it should for the seon great champagne no questions how about anal control so we'll get them up next thank you all very much oh thank you thank you enjoyed working with you over the years I'm sure I'll see you before I leave in June and he's coming back as my assistant thank you Chief crossing guard I mean there's all kinds you go we got all kinds of options here hello guys how are you today how are you Lely Lely but I'm excited we're gonna do this adding a line item nothing crazy the building's holding up good um yes yes Joe it is yes that's Jo well we we are actually so on that note um state animal control um Department of Agriculture is been after us to provide um quarantine areas and different things like that so on that um line we are at the Lieutenant's office at the police exactly we're going to be using his office and stuff like that but no we are um we've already been installing temporary um separators for each of the U individual kennels but um the state's looking at us saying look you guys really need to have your own quarantine area meaning it has to be a separate area yeah with source of hot and cold running water um so we're looking into that I was looking into the other building with Chief Landis about possibly converting back to a couple of run over there so that we have a seate quarantine area because the viruses and the contagious diseases that are coming up in this area we really do need something like that so for now we're we're doing temporary dividers I'm looking into with this company for um it's not blue one it's um different materials uh as far as more permanent separators but with 2026 I see Plex glass it's more it's not really a plexiglass it's stronger it's completely opaque gotta um it'll eventually replace what we've got there now so that we do end up in um compliance with what the state is looking for but um yeah and the problem being too that I see in the future um we have four different Animal Control facilities utilizing our Animal Control the facility um we've come within capacity uh quite a few times in this past year so that if we end up capacity with all of our runs filled we don't have any place to go and so at this point we need to start thinking about future plans as far as either adding onto the shelter or utilizing the other building for overflow but with the addition of West Springfield like I said a few times in the past six months we've had seven out of nine runs and if you figure we have nine runs with four towns that's only pretty much two runs per town and if we run into a quarantine situation we're kind of up the creek what do they contribute the other shelters yeah as far as if well if the other towns are using us do they contribute any money funds St yes they do pay yes they do pay they do pay a stien yearly stien to use our facility but again if we run out of room right or up the creek everybody's up the creek right yeah you can't leave a dog out in the street no do we need to have four communities that we share at with we reduce it to only two or three we have make sure we're meeting our need exactly we have Granville Southwick agan those were the main three and with those three we never had an overflow problem adding West Springfield she does a high volume of impounds yes everybody pays the same stien to to be at the shelter but when you have that situation going you know now we have chickens and U we are farming Community we West chicken coming in it's like City chickens yeah we have C there you go that's my point is exactly by bringing on West Springfield we're hitting capacity we can no longer accommodate them it's do we what's our agreement with them do we have to or can we just go back to the three communities don't that's something thaton the agreements the Agreements are structured in such a way where the town could evaluate which ones to keep and not have or if we need to make additional Capital Improvements to our building or reuse another space then we could make sure that the future agreements reflect a higher cost within them to capture funds to undertake those expenses that are now going to be forced upon us so that we're not subsidizing those things and that would be something that our police Command Staff would have discussions with the police command staffs of those communities because that's generally where those uh Agreements are uh details are worked out right exactly we have um our police chief has spoken with westernfield police chief I don't know if they discussed the the fact that we are you know um unfortunately hitting our limit on manys um which is basically why Chief Landis and I were discussing going back to the other building and um possibly utilizing a couple of runs there but overflow or for um animals with diseases if we get dogs and we have the the the dog virus that was coming in from the West that's pretty bad that that can be pretty deadly to dogs who have not ever been exposed to that kind of stuff so those guys would immediately have to go to another building if we find that that kind of stuff or something like kennel CLA or parval virus deadly diseases would have to go to the other building yeah the issue with that that the building was uh repurposed for maintenance of in terms of of doing like Coatings and painting and varnishing and things like that because when that used to happen at Town Hall in the lower level those smells permeated the business building during the day exactly exactly that out so any contemplated re new repurposing of that structure would have to figure out where where would those maintenance related functions be so that conversation would have to be with the facilities people in our community to make sure that they' still be able to figure out how they're going to do those other things and of course I'm not sure we we want to have um you know things that are smelly like paints and other volatile orx yeah yeah the other option for the animals being moved yeah so the other option I never even thought about the varnishing and stuff like that that would be very toxic for them so then obviously the other option would be to either add on to the shelter or you know adjust how we're doing business at this point or use the old fire building for the varnishing stop I know stop it's there stop there you go see hold it up this is let the barnish dry in the inside hold the place up so so bottom line is there's contracts involved they do expire at times the police chief would then review them whoever that may be at the time to see whether we want to keep west side or not because we're not adding on to a building and I think each Town pays a different level too I don't think they're all the same cheap I do now they are all the same so I do believe they're not they're not all the same they're not not so the towns of Adam West Springfield they pay $155,000 a year as part of their agreement with the community uh Granville and tand I think it's we don't do T okay you do Granville we do Granville but that's on a um um what you call it it's very the amount of money is very insignificant uh Adam West Springfield is very significant the amount of monies they pay we have a contract we just renewed with them I believe it was last year West I think they're staggering but uh they bring in a lot of Revenue and that's outside of what the people have to pay for the dogs when you bring them in so you pay for their their house whatever else that's just what the fee they pay to the to southw then you have the revenue on that so that money that money is potentially away because I believe it just goes to the general fund Carl can correct me if I'm wrong is a way to whatever it is that you're looking to do you might be able to in the future you know we don't collect we don't collect impound Fe fees for West Springfield aguan we collect boarding fees grael that was part of the the contracts we don't yeah we don't do anything but I mean I think we we reviewed the amount of calls that we have and what we're charging those communities it's it's very reasonable right it' be no no reason from what I see to change that at any way shape or form um certainly it does create an issue where we do get a lot of animals yeah um it there's nothing that says that Southwick if if West Springfield filled our kennel that we got to say to West Springfield you need to remove two animals so we had room there's nothing in the contract that that gu guides that at all in either of the contracts um so I I think it's a protocol issue for when you're talking about you know enforcing how long we truly were supposed to keep a dog right which we usually go away beyond what we should yeah in many situations us and West Springfield and AAL so I think you can probably help on some of that burden by sticking closer to you know what the guidance that we we already have in place sometimes we have the flexibility because we only have a couple runs full other times we don't um and using the secondary C is kind of hard because in it's no really really equipped or designed to to do what it once did right fire depart some beautiful containers in the back I do I think we have to kind to think it on a call by call basis but it's it's yeah it's there have been times when it gets very difficult I me right now we have a good Rel relationship uh with the two um police departments whereas generally when an issue comes up we're able to to figure something out you know it's not going to always work that way I mean there's certainly a bigger demand than sad but that's where we're at so we need to adopt them out quicker yeah or have the responsible get when you're supposed to get well the problem is Municipal animal control facility it's not an animal rescue so they do Fosters um we don't do Fosters um we take them uh for the period that they're allowed to be there they have to be there um I know West Springfield has to they have the option after the holding period to get them to another rescue or they get them to a rescue right um agam does not adopt out so if they have an animal that is adoptable they turn it over to us we adopt it out um same with Granville if it's you know we don't adopt out they turn it over to southw we can adopt it out um if it gets to that point and we are at capacity we can always go to dayon or we can always go to someplace else um it's not aligned yet but we have it it is something that is concerning but we have to work on it so we have to figure out you don't want to reach the point an animal that shouldn't no I refuse to themiz an animal because of space that's just insane it's not fair thank you so problem thank you very much for your timeing well it's real that she says thank you I just assume anyway any questions for the young lady no okay what is our current inventory of um animals that are looking to be adopted three cats one dog there you go folks three cats and one dog there you no chickens don't curse that knocking on wood They're Gonna Knock on your house no I know where you live okay thank you for your time thank thank you I appreciate it break up so you that a break for I'm sure the muu is looking for animals e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e folks we're back Mr M we're back hopefully you hear us and next is the school department folks take your name for the record you go first uh J Director of Finance and operations to the school district good morning and Rob Stevenson chairman of the school committee all right where would you like to start what I'd like to start is first with an apology to you and to any of the committee members that showed up Tuesday night for uh the presentation um I present present presented some information that upon reviewing it over the last couple days was inaccurate I've made those adjustments um I forward them to Mr Dei uh yesterday afternoon um I provided you an update as well but I think what Mr Dey provided you this morning is is what I have as as well I believe so we basically uh had them all printed off and emailed in the first round in the morning no no no then we got the second round so that got reprinted Y and sent to everyone thank you I app apprciate that listen this is I I own this this oversight on my part um I have been sick over the last two days I didn't provide you with accurate information at an important meeting um I take this I take this seriously I understand the responsibility that that you all have and the support that the taxpayers have have given me in the school so I I want to own my mistake from Tuesday night and um it didn't have the good thing that saying all that it it actually had a so everyone is on draft one version three March 22nd correct no draft one version three March 22nd 2024 okay yes it's under this one which is the one he dropped off Joe you just explain what what the oversight was well I think if I go through it it'll kind of it'll come off as I go through it um okay so that being said um to start the the the packet I gave you is the um required contribution minimum contribution based on our enrollment uh the enrollment from fy2 24 to FY 25 is down 12 students in in Southwick um the assessment is 10,4 98701 that is an increase of $441,500 from FY 24 to FY 25 and I'm I'm going off that assessment sheet you can see it there um Top Line at 10 million 49871 the next set is the other Revenue the State Transportation the tuitions the Medicaid end the fee charges Charter tuition reimbursement food service with is which is a new Revenue this year we not have any more lpvc Fleet leases all of the last of the the buses have been sold to to the P Valley collaborative so there will be no revenues there the revenues total 1,694 591 which the local contribution the Chapter 70 the revenue brings the total revenues for the district to 24, [Music] 37556 go down to number three to the non-discretionary on Tuesday night I presented a transportation budget that had 2.1 million if you see next to the net a transportation line 16 in the parentheses that is now 1. 1886 729 we have offset the transportation budget through through grants and school choice that is why your assessment from what I presented last time to today is down to 96840 for transportation Debt Service Capital Debt Service for the building project the district services to the town of 12,000 the total non-discretionary charges for Southwick 2,679 744 for a total of number one two and three the total of all revenues and non-discretionary charges for the district are 27,578 3,719 the total budget for the school district for fy2 is 28 mil 2545 58 that is what is highlighted in yellow that is a [Music] $751,000 discretionary is 57754 so this is where I'll get into the weeds of the budget a little bit to explain that increase that's if this is the appropriate time Mr Dee or if any if there's any questions leave this is when you saved yourself so yes appropriate time thank you um so to start Easter 3 has been a grant that the districts have received from the state from covid-19 Easter Easter 3 grants are ending as of September 30th of 2024 all grants need to be paid last several years we have received $823,000 in Easter 3 money so that money is coming off our books for next school year to maximize the use of our Easter 3 grant money which needs to be spent by September 30th we are using $80,000 of it to offset summer school programs this summer we are using $140,000 of that for curriculum in professional development to be paid for by September 30th $25,000 in cleaning supplies and $55,000 in technology so we will use $320,000 of Easter 3 money um before September 30th help help offset the budget but you will used all your Easter money this will maximize all of our Easter 3 and Easter 2 money yes because if we didn't use it before September 30th it basically disappears okay and how much of that you think will be be occurring next year so I that I have that weird Sensation that about you're prepping me for next year so far it's 320 it's a great question last year I said 800 and you came in this year we're at nine yes that was close so it's it's a great question so of of the 320,000 that we are are putting into Easter 3 that's coming off of our budget probably about uh 275 a thousand of that is going to have to go into the budget for f 26 okay yes but the sum program be y some of it will yeah what's coming out of eer 3 that has been in there that is going back into to either the grants or into the budget right is approximately $440,000 worth of salary right we have used we've had four or five positions in Easter 3 over the last couple years that have total 428,000 this year with salary increases and some degree changes it coms out to about $450,000 of those positions that we now um moving into grants or the budget for next year were those new positions that were created because you had this additional money um so we often wonder was it created additional money was it created because it was needed and the net funding source happened to be there yeah that that's I mean for example the 504 coordinator that was created during covid was a necessary position that needed to get created because of the shortfalls that that we identified we took advantage of the revenue that was there to pay for that position it was a needed position that we that we knew we needed to bring on but we were able but we were able to offset it with the funds that were there and we are going to question here today is that 504 coordinator position really needed when there is a special ed coordinator at each grade level and a special ed teacher so was that position created and not really needed and I'm questioning all these temporary funds that you got because of Co you created all these programs and positions which were you you are using temporary money to fund permanent positions and now what cuts did you make or what did you evaluate knowing that that money was going away so you had $2.2 million in the budget now where did you make the cuts to offset that 2.2 million so schools are great at instituting programs but your funding is not always there and then you deemed now you deem these all as necessary and permanent when it wasn't it was temporary money what offset what did you get rid of this year be positions or programs wise because you lost this pandemic money so there's four positions across the district that um will be lost three three to attrition and $80,000 will be um taken off of $75,000 will be taken out of [Music] um the budget um Personnel salaries at the Regional School what's that total those three positions in that [Music] 7 $260,000 approximately Okay so that still leaves you with $2 million to either there's not $2 million worth of additional salaries that we added because of eer that that that didn't happen there there's not $2 million worth of positions that were created as you indicate that the money was there I mean from the F4 perspective I mean I can certainly speak to it when my son was in the district we didn't have a f504 coordinator and it was a mess I go to the open house and I'm and my son was on a 504 and there were teachers that didn't even know he was on the 54 so they needed someone to coordinate all of these different programs for the kids that were identified that needed to be implemented and it was a position that needed to be added to make sure that these children that are on these programs are able to make sure I'm asking what are the special life coordinators at every grade level doing that that's a good question I I I can't answer that one they're setting up the IP meetings they're conducting the I meetings that's part of what they do so doesn't the 504 fall under special ed no 504 is not special ed accommodation 504 is 50 the reason 504 is separate from special ed B four is not a special ed accommodation right I mean you could have somebody with an allergy that requires a FAL that like these are allergy pardon like a n allergy if they have if there's any sort of and I'm not the expert but my understanding is if any accommodation needs to be made for a child to make sure that they can have a successful day at school and there's an adjustment that needs to be made whether it be they have ADHD and they need some extra and it doesn't rise a level where it's an IDP there's like diabetic and they might way there's like level one there's like Level One issues that are not so serious that the 504 Coordinator would take care of or the 504 20 would take care of then you have more serious issues that require an individual like education plan how many students do we have in our total population that are taking advantage of 504 and the other program was I don't know how many students are on the F po coordinators case that's something we can easily find out historically position has been a stip in position um someone that was doing it after school um all meetings were done after school it was I mean I think anywhere between a $5,000 to $10,000 sliping for the schools um the increase in the number of students the increase in in in the oversight of the 504s the support that the students need um that is that would be the justification that I believe the superintendent and and the principls and the special head well it's not special but anyone connected with this would be would use to to to support the 504 coordinator okay and all schools have this there's one 504 coordinator for the district right but then yes awam Springfield yeah every every school district needs to have every school district has the five4 coordinator to the extent of of how they utilize them and support them that's that's up to the district some might have bigger districts ium would have two to three maybe depending on grade levels or buildings okay I got a next question sure um when our total new net Regional assessment went from 823 529 down to the 815 561 how did our discretionary charge offs go from 356 477 up 577 542 the mandated stayed at the 441 but now there's a the jump so how did the discretionary that will responsible go from $350,000 to $575,000 the discretionary is is not what you the non-discretionary is what's non-negotiable and that's what went down down the discretionary which is above and beyond the minimum is the 577 542 is that what you're referring to so what is this 440 441 is what the state is telling us we have to contribute correct oh uh that's yes yes the 441,000 charges offset is what we we don't have any say in no it's the nondiscretionary is the 260 the 2,679 that's what you have to pay yes that's non negotiable the two the 2,679 corre the one number right below it is the 57 542 we that's what we don't have to pay that's what you that's above and beyond what you have to pay right and I'm saying that number went from 350 the original one the 577 how did that go up so so how that went up is is because you're because your non-discretionary went down because of offsetting the the transportation the the transportation that Tuesday night was at 2.1 million minus the 745 432 that 2.1 million went down to 1.88 6 because we offset the transportation cost by putting some into school choice and into uh the Meco grants so the 1.88 6 minus the 745,000 which is a transportation state aid that decreased your transportation assessment and that's why your non-discretionary went down but the Delta between the gross budget and the non- discretionary that's why it increased it's just fill the Gap basically you end up you got you almost have like uh you you when you're trying to save money and invest money you've got money that can get pre-tax you get money that can be post basically we're dealing with the left side and the right side of a budget line some of it's discretionary some of it's non-discretionary where we were last Thursday is we had X that was there between the two you had a number that was lower on your discretionary line that was 350 you had a number that was higher on your non-discretionary then what Joe went through and identified which is what we've been talking about before all of these kids that are going to out of District vocational code there were six children that were not accounted for in that budget presentation on Thursday so you're looking at a tune of $120,000 more right and then there was some extra financially so what ended up happening is he was able to look at those eer funds transition those eer funds basically from the right side to the left side which was allowed to decrease the transportation cost we then as Mr deei asked us to went back and looked at the budget to see where we could reduce some costs 60 to 100,000 what could you do let's see what we can let's let's see what we can drop down we looked at the eer funding again to make sure that we were maximizing that there was 100,000 right there we looked at any extra positions there was one up with the high school that hadn't been filled for a couple years we said you know what let's stop funding it let's let's bring that back and do the budget so there was $75,000 there so now we're at 175 then they had so we would have been down 175 we also looked at from the capital side which isn't in front yet but we'll get to there the truck that we had asked for which I believe was $668,000 we determined that you know what we don't need that this year let's let's roll the dice Russ if it doesn't get if it doesn't get registered or doesn't pass inspection cares it's not really going on the road to staying on the campus so we don't don't need the truck so now you're looking at $225,000 that we were able to look at that budget and drop it down so at this point you're heard yeah well no we heard we heard you the whole time then yesterday I went and Joe and I went he's like I missed these six kids because they keep these and we may we may do this whole thing today and between now in the end of the year there may be six more kids that decide to go to a district vocation and we're going to have to like we've done in the past deal with that internally that's where that em sort of free cash box is there if they're able to work within the budget and they're able to save money any extra money that's there goes into this e and it's used to offset sort of unexpected charges or costs that show up during the year so before we got to yesterday we were like this is awesome we're dropping the budget by $225,000 well now we've got 120,000 and then some extra cost that rolled in there so between the on the discretionary side if you add up the non-discretionary discretionary from Thursday night to what you're looking at now it went down almost $88,000 but there was could have went down a lot more because we had 12 some thousand that we were able to save the capital budget's going to be going down by 68,000 we're not we're only going to have the 65,000 so we're only the flooring project that we're looking to do so without the six kids that we found that we obviously need to fund we would have dropped the budget by 225,000 in that area those additional funds obviously took most of that away on the discretionary and the and the non-discretionary side we're looking at we're still looking at a reduction and on the capital side we're able to eliminate the truck a couple more things Mrs to explain to to justify the 577 I I I want to to give you all the details to to explain so special a cost six we have six students going over to um programs at the vocational school at lpbc those six students cost 277,000 150 and and so re re say that again what kind of kids are they what's their there's special ed there's a special ed program over at at the collaborative yeah that is not included in our our assessments okay separate that cost us for the six students 27715 for next year but we can't bring that in house well that is that is an area not not to promise anything but that that is an area and I know there's there's questions about what who or what can we bring back into our district right this is a focus that that we will be looking at to bring back into our district the other 10 students that are out of District placements come up to 950 $ 4,693 those are 10 students uh that go to six different placements we had this talk the other night they're very specialized those are very specialized is there always some hope in in in some opportunity and progress by the students to and the parents feeling that they want their children to come back into the district great um we will always evaluate our programs to make sure that that we're evolving to see if we can do that but but in most of those cases is those are very very targeted specialized needs in schools that the students are going to that the children are going to to get those supports But to answer your question the the program over at lpbc that is something that we will spend this summer and early fall working on to to bring that in-house um vocational as as Mr Stevenson just said our vocational number is 60 students that is going uh 100 or 1 million 200,000 what was budgeted this year in in the budget for vocational uh tuition I don't know if you looked at it was $44,988 that is an increase of $920,000 from this one line item from this current year to next current year and that is because of the impact that that Easter money has had on on school choice money and end money that now has to go back into to F back into the operating budget um we we're all aware of the discussions that the towns are having around the vocational programming and and where that may may fall next year but the split right now is is 25351 amongst the three towns of of how those uh the children are broken up so um you know there'll be there could be a significant savings to Southwick if if this location you know adjustment goes through I don't think it's in half there's a savings here the biggest problem is this Joe's version of it is cold day and hell some of those folks are going to pass it but it's going to get triggered regardless I don't think it's an if I really don't think it's an if our policies do not indicate anymore that the district is going to fund it right that's what I'm getting okay so one way or the other it's coming it's it's I've already sent the letter I mean and if you go back to the tapes and you remember this at this table last year I identified this issue to to the committee that this is a major issue that we are getting burned on as as a town so it was something that I've already was looking at had identified wanted to try to figure out a way that we could resolve it and the only thought I had last year was We have to look at the regional agreement because I don't know how we how we change it well we figured out how we change it and in in the November meeting that they had in in Cape Cod Jen asked a question in a second that was all about Regional Schools how are you guys dealing with the budget from your from your increases in your out of District location and they all looked at her like she had two heads they're like what are you talking about the towns pay for this you as a Regional School District do not pay for this well when she came back and told me that we dug in and we figured out that that is in fact correct and our policy that was changed in 2015 specifically identified that we were going to follow chapter 74 directives well chapter 74 section 7 clearly identifies that out of District vocational tuition and transportation is the responsibility of the towns in which the child resides well that's fantastic because last year when it was almost 50/50 we with respect to the regional agreement are responsible for 82 to 83% of the costs and we were utilizing 50% of the students and that's been happening for 8 years so once I've got a policy that's no longer in effect that says we are obligated to pay for this and I have a law that indicates how we're supposed to allocate the costs and I have a regional agreement that is silent on out of District vocation that doesn't indicate us how we're supposed to allocate this that makes it real simple we don't have a policy we're not following law therefore we issued a letter to the towns recently clarifying to them that for fiscal year 2026 they will be responsible as the law indicates and outlines for the outed District vocational cost and tuition for their children that reside in their towns from our perspective here in Southwick that is going to be a massive tax reduction um and it's going to end up it's going to end up being a benefit on twofold will pull the children out of the Regional School allocation and they will go to the towns super the beauty of hold harmless which we've all all talked about and this is where our our allocations or the the amounts that state is increasing for us every year is a result of the student Opportunity Act that we talked about years ago they're funding this by increasing the assessments to the towns but we don't get any extra Revenue because we're whole harmless and our our numbers are going down well this is where it's going to actually come to help us we pull the 60 kids out our chapter 70 funds don't reduce because we're hold hars perfect as a town we're going to have maybe 35 kids recycl we will then receive Chapter 70 funds from the state for those 35 kids the minimum local contribution will be pulled out of the regional assessment because the children are not there anymore but we're going to be obligated to put them into our assessment as a town well that's a wash super we're going to get extra funds from Chapter 70 we're going to take a minimum local contribution that we're already paying for and allocating moving it here so now the $220,000 cost for the child to go to the school we pull out of the regional agreement and it goes to the towns well we've got a minimal local contribution we now have extra Chapter 70 funds that cost per child for us will go down as opposed to what we're paying for now from the Regional School side it's not exact science yet but what it looks like is we may our operat budget will go down by almost 10,000 if not more $10,000 per child that we pull out so if the regional agreements cost for this goes down by 600 I mean we're at 60 kids now we're talking $600,000 next year from a cost perspective or an expense site that will not be there so that's a good thing and won't be replaced by anything else the goal is no I mean it's not it's not free money it's just it's costs that go away um what Joe was talking about the six kids are at this this that's that IOP program right so they're at this extra sort of outof District special ed that's being done at ctec we're pretty confident that we're going to do everything we can next year to be able to replicate that inhouse so for next year's budget we've got the 600,000 goes away from out of District location if we can pull those six kids back there's going to be another reduction in cost now there'll be if we have to add a teacher in order to do that there'll be a there'll be a cost in there but the the Delta on that certainly will be a reduction that's been that's the good news in this that we've got going forward um the the work that needs to be done in to change any program or to replicate any any program because students that are in these programs have an IEP which is a legal document is is we need to make sure that we are meeting all the the steps in the needs that we need to duplicate we need to replicate what is happening in this program and do it in our own so that that the IEP can can be supported in our program versus the program that is that CC so that's it's it's not as simple as just simply saying oh you do this and this is what you do well we have a teacher and we'll create a program and we'll create the space to Simply do it here we need to really go in there and do our homework to to uh identify uh the resources and the reports that these students are getting from the teachers and and make sure that that's in place so when we sit down with the families and the students that are in these programs we can say we are doing this and this is how we are meeting the needs in the same way or better than what's happening over there are you trying to get this implemented so when the school year starts in September it'll be in place I don't think we'll be able to that quick we wouldn't be able to do it for this September like you have to be able to identify assess create prove and then you you're able to do it so the goal would be for the next fiscal year to be able P to be able to pull that back then you would uh Mrs de then what you would need to do is is have the meetings with the families to review the IEP it's it's a change in placement um so there there's there's some work to to that goes into um making sure that we can because families are going to have uh at Advocates and and and they're going to maybe want to justify or defend why our program is is not as good as the one that maybe they're already in so we we need to do some homework and have everything in place to make sure that we can support and justify this program those six students that are going out are they one onone the teacher they're in a classroom okay yeah so your hope is one classroom one additional teacher should take care of six kids that would be the Hope potentially say I'm sorry if it were appropriate if it was appropriate potentially uh a teacher and a pair of professional that would be that that is what I'm envisioning would be the the cost of salary-wise for for a program like that but it's possible all six wouldn't have the same IEP need correct well they have to be pretty similar to be in this program I mean if if you're in a program you have to have similar IEPs to to to be in a program or at a school so they would need to be similar and we're spending what now for them to go over there so there won't be much of a settings if it does work the good news is they're back in in our town there'll be some but also moving forward having this moving forward is I mean there's six now but and this program is only this program is only maybe two years old um at least to the awareness of our school district you know been there for a little while maybe two years ago was the first time we sent the student into this program so you know we've gone from two to six in two years if it goes from 6 to 10 no you know so so while there might not be initial a ton of initial savings Al 200,000 that way I'm just saying it's not going to cost us anymore home ke is to bring them home yes yeah and moving forward the challenge will be is it if if it went from 6 to 10 from your perspective comparing year-over year there would be an increase that challenge what the offset is is okay yes it's a $60,000 increase if we didn't have this program it would have been a $240,000 increase corre we've got to remember that down the road if we bring these kids in to create programs we're talking about decreasing future expenses that would be astronomical as opposed to keeping them in house yes I agree but just one more quick the 277 is just the tuition not Transportation correct correct so this is this program the students are already attending CC in a vocational program so the transportation's already there transportation's already built in that's not one of the but if they came back they'd be on well if they came back they'd probably still be going to CCH in the morning right and then they come back to us there's there's no Savings in the transportation so with the vocational um if if we as as chairman Stevenson stated if there is an increase in the next uh there's only I think a week until applications can be approved for uh westch Academy and Smith Academy we do have we did put money in in school choice for uh surprise tuitions on account for tuitions whether it's vocational or special ed um programs that come up throughout the school year um and as it stated earlier $100,000 Transportation if there was a new program that came up for special edit as well rural School a we have four teachers in rural school aid and two pair professionals and circuit breaker uh we have two of those 10 out of District special ed which in there as as well um that is that is where the money is that's where our programs are that's where our students are are headed um we feel that this budget supports uh the students and the families in in their needs uh it brings the total Regional assessment for Southway to 13755 987 um a new assessment of of 81155 60 um 561 I'd also like to revisit a question that I asked the other night about um teacher coaches and uh Miss Willard asked for a teacher to speak up in support of the program no teacher would stand up and speak and support the program the two people that spoke were principles and the teachers who were there did not say they agreed with the view of the superintendent um you've also heard I believe it's anonymously from several teachers their feelings towards coaches and they are not doing the job that is being portrayed um we want to support our teachers and teachers are asking prare of professionals not for coaches or somebody training them um who actually aren't even around most of the time they say they're in their offices or on meetings um teachers want support in the class and that's why I asked you to take a look at your teacher coaches position and say are they really necessary doing what they need to do and our response to a member of the community was we'll take a look at that for next year and our problems with the budget are this year and you've known that we were going to have Pro problems with the budget and this is a place that you could have looked at to make Cuts make adjustments but I hope it did not go unnoticed that there was not one teacher who was at that meeting who stood up in favor of your teacher coaching program I I don't disagree with that but I I did you say that they disagree with it because I didn't hear anybody stand up and say I disagree with that no but they did not agree with what was understand but I don't think there was a there wasn't like 45 teachers there I I don't think a teacher is going to I don't disagree with you either did you received something received something right you know agreed and just so that you're um this is something that I've had conversations over the last week so it has not gone unheard um it is is a topic that I roached um I don't think it's something from a realistic perspective that can be determined and identified in a 4 day time frame whether we can adjust this for this year's budget I don't disagree with you that questions certainly and a further look into that program and the number of coaches and what they're doing and whether it is in fact as beneficial as being identified I don't disagree with you um and it is something that I've already initiated conversations on um since our meeting on Thursday um but I I mean as realistic as that is I think to be able to say hey we're going to be able to identify flush it out and and be able to correct that before this budget needs to get approved I think might be a little too tight of a timeline I don't disagree with you it's it's a financial question to look at it's on my radar um all I can tell you is last year at this meeting out of District locational School tuition was on my radar and I think we've been able to bring to the table a solution for that um from my perspective this is on my radar so it will looked at flushed out and I may not have an answer for you today but I will get an answer for you are you also going to be looking at the AV uh AV principal assistant principal positions versus DEA students that's also a topic that was discussed since our last meeting on Thursday um what are you going to be doing about the new resource officer that you are trying to bring on because it's my understanding that the only Community please chief that you spoke to was Chief Landis and you didn't even bring in anybody from Talent OR well that's not correct I was the one that basically was initiating this I had a conversation back in oh gosh almost 7 eight months ago when I brought this up to Chief Landis um he agreed with my assessment he actually said look I I think we need on full-time SRO at the district I was originally going in saying hey look I think we need some extra help I'd love to get three but hey we want to get two that's great because from my perspective um towns of our size and districts of our size unfortunately are the ones that end up having these shooter incidents I don't want to be the chairman that does not put this on the on the on the budget I think it's a necessity and an expense that from a Town's perspective I think it's a necessity I don't think that we want to look back on this four or five years from now something happens and we had a chance to do something we didn't oh I don't AG so so with that when I talked to Chief Landis he reached out to the two other Chiefs of both towns in the district got their approval and had a letter put together indicating that we're all in approval with this we are having a meeting next week after a safety meeting to go over some details on this because uh there was a meeting up in branville on Monday where they are proposing to maybe have a split responsibility um from this SRO in having discussions with Chief Landis from a logistics and an implementation perspective that would not be the ideal setup at all um Key's going to be reaching back out to um definitely chief of Granville but they're all aware of this and they're all in support of this I think nobody is questioning the need of the second SRO I think the question right now is the makeup and what that looks like um for my understanding from the state sort of directive on this is that it is up to the superintendent and the chief of police of the pro the presiding District or the area that the schools are in that determine who the SRO is um personally I think having a officer from Southwick is is the best option um what we've got in the budget right now is the allocation of those costs would be directly funded by the district currently we have the SR the first SRO that the town pays for completely um which when we had conversation with Mr Dei is certainly that was on the table that look I'm not a fan of that anymore no no I understand and and look a fan of the officer absolutely there is two ways that we can do this there are two ways we can do this and frankly I really don't care how we do it we need two sro's right now the first SRO is completely funded by the town of South great we've been doing this for 7 eight years we want to continue it can continue it if we don't we invoice the district for the hours the the the salary the benefits the whole thing we put it into an hourly rate the number of hours that they're on site we invoice the district that's what we were going to do with the Second Officer if we go down that road we're going to invoice and we invoice for both if we're not then we keep the first officer under our payroll the Second Officer under the district's payroll honestly from a financial perspective it's going to be very close to the same thing anyway CU it's about 13 to 15% of the time we pay for 84 or 83% of the cost right now it's probably going to flush out and be a neutral a neutral number but the second SRO should be in my opinion an officer from Southwick just to make sure that the lines of communication are clean that the oversight is clean um and I think it would be the best setup that's going to be something that we're going to identify here in the next week the goal is to get the Chiefs together have a meeting with the uh myself Mr trell superintendant um the Chiefs go over this and get this sort of flushed out from a logistics perspective but my understanding is all of the towns the Chiefs are all in support of this second SRO and they were absolutely communicated with before this was made public and he's there did I say anything incorrectly J very good yeah thank you for bringing that up I wanted to go back to that there's $180,000 in salary Reserve in the budget as well there's there's uh negotiation still going on and there's money in there for the SRO it was maybe two three weeks ago now that I went up to a Grandville uh select board meeting um presented preliminary numbers made them aware of this $80,000 Chief friend DS from Grandville was there uh the committee asked or or gave uh two points to feedback one was and chairman Stevenson's right they were 100% uh in support of a second SRO um they had they were looking for more data around how much the SRO is going to be to be paid and they presented this option of of a split srl amongst the three pounds um Tuesday Morning communicated that with chairman Stevenson superintendent Willard reached out to Chief Landis to let him know that these were the two ideas that were presented uh at that to meeting Monday night and the next day he gave me some numbers and and the next day he was working on setting up a meeting uh that is I think Thursday with the safety meeting in in uh Chiefs of Grandville and Polland so we are on this and we are looking at all options to um to get this done and from the school board perspective obviously we have our meeting next Tuesday um I don't think it's going to be an issue with respect to passing the budget side of it I think everybody's on board with or certainly a majority of of the school committee members are on board with the second SRO I think we just want to work out the logistics of what that looks like okay and this $180,000 what what is that you said you put aside the salary Reserve there's there's individual contracts that have not been signed yet for the next three years and there is a pair professional contracts uh that unit that uh is in negotiations right now and this Reserve is above and beyond the end budget no this is part of the budget this is part of the oper budg this is part of the operating budget yes the operating budget is include in that end Reserve or is this a reserve a separate Reserve outside of the end that you already have this is not this is not part of end this is a line item in the operating budget salary reserve and in that is is monies for these negotiations and the S the town also carries we we car a lot more than that and ours but same thing because your unions and your budget get red and it needs to be in there yeah so all the salaries the salary of the SRO isn't in there but but the salaries uh of the employees who don't have a contract yet going into next year their salaries are accounted for their increases are what's in that salary Reserve why the take um so you have a hard uh a hard date next week to have your budget finalized we have to approve our budget next school committee meeting so that it's able to be presented to the towns in a timely manner so that you can get the warrant set up for the town meeting I'm hoping be I think that's part of believe the timing that you said it wouldn't be feasible to evaluate the coaching positions in time time for this year I I mean it's look's put this way I'm not a education specalist okay but I work in fields where I've got hundreds of employees from a therapy perspective and if you're going to look at a certain section of a breakdown I think to do within four days would be way too quick removing the program would be oh I don't think I don't think the question is removing the coaches I I think I think the legitimate I think that's I think I think that a legitimate want because they're the ones that are utilizing well I would D the teach well but from but from the perspective though it is up the superintendent she's she's the she's the CEO of of the district I and I would I would say that yes should be listening to her teachers but you also must understand that there's proud and I don't I haven't taken a poll I'm sure there's teachers that are in are in agreement with with the what they do and how they're utilized and I'm sure there's people just like anything that may be in disagreement of what they do and how they utilize what those numbers are and what the best decision is for the district I think is really up to the superintendent to make sure that she goes through does a conscientious sort of evaluation of the program and that would be my request is to look look at it identify it give me the pros and cons group and get the information directly from the hores m i i don't disagree with you but just because a couple teachers disagree then that doesn't mean the program's UNF Factor no no no I'm not saying that yeah sorry yeah no so I just wanted to know uh so rather than evaluating the entire coaching program good or bad what's the impact of changing it could a budgetary decision be made because you have new positions the uh right you're asking for the SRO and the assistant principal yeah and so could could you transition a coach or coaching position to supplement those did I ask that question see you're you're listen I want to make sure you guys understand on this school committee and Mr trell will certainly attest to this all of these questions that you guys are asking I ask for as the town represent as one of the Town School committee members one of my jobs is from a fiscal like a fiduciary responsibility to make sure that we're not just wasting money all of these questions you've asked I've already asked and that is exactly the question that I asked are we in a position where if we're looking at an assistant principal or a dean of students would that be an opportunity to maybe transition somebody try it out see if it works if it does fantastic it doesn't then we my understanding when we talked about this is that it wouldn't necessarily be it isn't like you can move an apple into a pineapple position it it it it's not that simple um so that was the exact question that I had is it yeah it's it's possible I it's to to look at and evaluate the coaches that we have the skill set that they have the needs of of what the students and teachers need at at at Woodland Elementary School that is what we have to evaluate and look at but to to answer your question there you know very black and white is it possible it's possible and if we did that then that's something that from a budgetary perspective approving the budget and doing that process doesn't necessarily change the it actually if anything by looking into it if it is a possibility and you're able to Transit Sy somebody from position a over to position B all that would do is would save us a position and that extra money would then go into EDD right so that we got that we necessarily we'd have that extra money for the following year correct so it's something that's already been broached it certainly can be something that's looked at can I promise that it'll happen I that's not really my call but I think they're going to look into it okay so so we keep talking about like future stuff and as a parent of a child in the school system I appreciate everything that you guys have to do she made a comment that in superintendent Willard is not here defend herself but as a CEO of a company this these these are the same questions that come up every year and so as a CEO of a company if you know you're going to run out of money you have a certain amount of budget it this is almost a million dollars for Southway when we sat for two Saturdays and we're going to tell so many people no for things that they need and there aren't student the the enrollment isn't where it should be so I go back and so to the board of directors and the CEO of a company and everybody that helps make it work something's got to change and we keep talking about oh well this is going to happen this year we knew the Easter funds weren't going to exist forever nothing was done it this is a really hard pill to swallow when we're going to have to go and present this with a straight face to the town and say that we feel that everything was done to have the most prudent plan because I don't it was done and that's just my two that's just my two cents I'm just really having a hard time swallowing this number when we have the same questions every year that's all I'm saying is it doesn't feel like it doesn't feel like we're being heard and I'm going to correct you Alita we do not go to the town and tell them that we approve this no I get it we have no say in that and that's what the people and that's that's not why I get that Mr Stevenson that approved the budget so but I just as I appreciate the you know having said all of that I get how hard it is I totally get it but it's really hard for us to to sit here and like our hands are tied because to Karen Point there's really nothing that we can do it just sucks that we're going to have to tell so many people no and we asked everybody to come in level fund and supplies are going up and software is going up and so we're saying level funds so all that stuff is going up up yet you know you got to keep the same dollars in the budget so and we're going to cut people that they don't know yeah it just it just it just sucks is what it does and we're not going to make up the difference that were being bed here and that's part of our point is that other departments have to make cuts and tighten their belt and we're questioning are you really tightening your belt making people do double duty or either applications that you can cut that's where all these questions are coming from you know process improvements and efficiency or what were we going for heard a lot of frustration today understood yeah I have I thinking down the feedback of the 504 coordinator looking at the coaches and AP versus Adena student um so I have any other positions within your Administration that you need to take a closer look at ones that we're not aware of that didn't come up in any of your presentations what else can you look at before Tuesday sorry yeah so 577 is is is the limbo area and it's and it is a hard Bill to swallow she's right you know we already dumped the truck for DPW didn't get pass committee and a lot of that honestly is like we've all said level funded Police Department in today I'm sure he would love a few more dollars but he heard us loud and clear and he level funded um so so it's we're I guess you know as we're all told it's a gift to be on the finance committee Le according to Social Media I was to sit here today I I didn't I just I gotta recheck My Life um so so it's frustrating and and and you guys hear us loud and clear it's just you know we got to go up with 577 yes the minimum I get it we all understand the minimum there's no argument over that never has been um so it's it's a it's just a it sucks it just sucks and and you know when Jo what town do you live in West springfi right so you you're deal with it with your budgets over there you see as a taxpayer you know um it's just it's It's just tough to swallow and and when you heard today's a little bit of our aggravation you know because we're going to go to our meeting on Tuesday night and well you know we have your budget I appreciate it Joe you did give us the budget so we will pick it apart that can do nothing with but we will pick it apart because we can and we'll get frustrated when we read it I'm sure yeah because we can um but yeah at the end of the day we we need to find money and and we do and I know we have a stabilization account but I know someday that'll probably just end up going away and for the life of me I don't know how this town raised that money years ago and they did I mean either we had a lot of new growth and we weren't Paving roads back then for gravel who knows but somehow we've been able to you know get a few bucks together but I just see that going away and maybe that's where we need to be maybe if we were a poor town could qualify for more things it's sad to say it that way Colin's going down $45,000 ass's going down I mean they look at the state does look at at your tax revenue your growth your wealth um and we're a good little town and great town to come and and move a family into and um you're being penalized for that but um and Mr chairman I mean I mean that's part of it right part of the stabilization came from the regionalization and I think uh I know we had a little bit of a conversation about this a couple of weeks ago some of the stabilization was you know from the original founding of the region and so it's almost like a it was almost a not a loan but it's coming do and and the other is Joe you're 100% correct being a good Steward of of the tax rate is absolutely punished at a state level um because when you do a good job and you have a stabilization and and I've been talking about this for eight or nine years now with the um Educational Opportunity Act we talked about it during the budget cycle it's pushing up the minimum local contribution as well so you know we're getting it at both ends um and I don't I don't suggest that we you know shoot the stabilization and let the town finances go to park but it it is a statement on on the state on how the state looks at things and how they fund education and districts um and what they do for the minimum local contribution based on the Financial Health so you are genuinely punished for being a good Steward thank you any other questions for the school department yeah just I just want to say you know putting this budget together is is a it's a lot of hard work I'm sure because it's a enormous budget it's a lot of complexity and I think it could be said that you know your efforts are very appreciated uh both of you and uh you did a great job explaining the nuances of it to us and and I appreciate it I learn a lot every time you guys come and tell us about it listen this is this is my ninth year in the district this is my first round table like this I hope and will continue to work hard earn your trust to to be transparent with you in in every way possible through this process as I tolded many people I'd rather have the questions now then at the town meeting have a question that I don't know the answer to but I'm going to now ask you to vote Yes for it so I will show off to any meeting I will entertain any questions I will come to anything that you need me to to to explain to justify um what's what's in the budget um that's that if I'm going to in this position I hope that these meetings continue to go well and smoothly and that I earn your your support and your trust through being transparent and honest with you um because the talent has always been very good to the schools to the teachers supporting the kids and what they do and and I hope I can continue with what Mr pres all did for a number of years as well moving forward so um I appreciate the time I appreciate the support and the questions that you had today so thank you do Rec my emails I do and and there I'm sure when you see him you're go but you do return them and you do call me and I appreciate that it is a definitely an open vote to an he's very helpful when I go to no he is he my questions and the good news is he doesn't know much right so he's right with us yeah you're right I told the people in the office the other day Joe and I could lightly post bread with our knowledge of this fig we're gonna get there somehow but and we will abely right thank you that's all we have today um um before we end up leaving uh Mr steinard this will be your last budget Saturday that is well I mean I I'll I'll still be for reconciliation but yes Mr chairman uh this I've had 35 years of going through these exercises right I very much appreciate this latest format that we use where we have the sitting full sitting Committees of Select board finance committee in the CAO that actually separate U responsibilities and jurisdictions over parts of the budget process all sit collaboratively and participate and hear from people at the same time so and I appreciate how everybody has supported myself in the office that I'm in and they will support my successor so folks this Friday from 122 at Town Hall there will be a gathering that you're more than welcome to I understanding is they brought in a jackass from the animal control but Carl are right out of time small will you or burrow whatever they call them so uh Carl will be writing that up to Lun area you can take the jackass I'm taking a vehicle home of course you are you're older understood well Carl thanks for everything we appreciate all the years and quite honestly you talk everyone in this room and probably everyone in this building for the most part a lot and now it's much appreciated love you all not that all right so finance committee side we need a motion to adjourn motion second all those in favor Shar David [Music] Robert Mr muglin select board will need a motion to adjourn as well I'll make that motion I'll second the motion roll call vote Doug Mogan I enjoy thank you very much have a great day