Shutesbury Board of Selectmen December 9, 2008 Meeting Minutes Members present: Chairman Rebecca “Becky” Torres, Ralph Armstrong and Al Springer. Also Present: Town Administrator David C. Dann and Administrative Secretary Leslie Bracebridge. Meeting opened at 7:02 P.M. Appointments In the presence of Assessor Stephen “Steve” Schmidt Selectmen voted to re-open the tax classification hearing. Steve reported: * Values and growth have been approved by the Department of Revenue (DOR). * The Assessors recommend a single tax rate for this year of approximately $17.38/$1,000. * Residential property accounts for about 97% of the total value. A split rate could shift part of the tax levy to the commercial, residential and personal property owners. We can shift the commercial rate a maximum of 150% of the single tax rate or to a maximum of $26.07/$1,000 and the residential rate would decline to $17.15/$1,000. The commercial rate would be applied evenly to all businesses, not just the bigger, out of town businesses. The Assessors recommend a single tax rate again this year. Selectmen unanimously voted to approve a single-tax rate for FY 09 and to close the tax classification hearing at 7:10 PM. Discussion of the development of the FY 09 budget and new growth included: * New growth is really low - $21,000; half of what the town is used to. * A new law which would have allowed towns to tax Verizon telephone lines and other equipment is being challenged in court and therefore the Department of Revenue (DOR) is not allowing towns to count that new revenue in final certified budgets. * David is already working on revenue projections for FY 10. He is cutting 10% off state aid, and may develop a scenario with a 30% drop in state aid also. * Low new growth and the hold on counting the Verizon revenues have caused the town to already exceed the levy limit despite just having approved an override. Steve had expected the override would last the town for a few years. * Assessors worked with Terry Williams from the Springfield DOR office and received a one time special exemption to reduce the overlay, in order to get the budget out of the red. Town Accountant Gail Weiss was invited to join the discussion. She explained: * The override barely got us through because we used the override instead of free cash for capital items that formerly would have been from free cash; so we used our full levy capacity. Becky explained that it was the $93,000 deficit as well as the capital spending - to get out of the practice of using the free cash for capital spending – that brought us to full levy capacity. Steve: Thinks going forward we should be very careful in planning the budget because as of Friday afternoon December 7, three weeks before the Tax Collector has to get the bills out, we discovered we had exceeded our levy capacity. There was a potential need for a special town meeting to get the tax rate certified which could not have happened before January first. Terry Williams “bent” the rules to allow us to set the tax rate with an under-funded overlay. We would have set an overlay of $36,000 and instead we funded it at $21,000. Gail: The other problem is that revenues did not reach targets. Becky: We started cutting back on revenue projections in prior years. We would be in a bigger mess now if we had not, and we have to cut back even more this year. In the past we have been using a lot of free cash and that is kind of risky. Gail: Part of generating free cash is the revenues. Becky: We could end up with an unfunded budget if the state cuts funding. Finance Committee Chairman Eric Stocker arrived at the meeting and Becky summarized: We have to be very conservative with any revenue projections going into the FY 10 budget planning. Revenue came in lower than what DOR, the Assessors and Accountant all feel comfortable with. The override that got us this far is gone. Eric left with Accountant Weiss and Assessor Schmidt to discuss the budget status. Police Chief Harding was not able to be present for the meeting as was anticipated on the agenda. In the presence of Finance Committee members Elaine Puleo and Lori Tuominen, Library Facility Needs Assessment Committee (LFNAC) Chairman Karen Traub, and resident Frank Citano, Selectmen opened a public hearing with Consultant Laura Baker, who was hired to update Shutesbury’s Community Development Strategy (CDS). The strategy and the public hearing are necessary steps for the town to be eligible for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds: * The CDBG is a federal program that “comes in dribs and drabs” to small towns through the state. Shutesbury will apply for these funds through the Franklin County Regional Housing Authority and will probably be part of a multi-town application. * Income eligibility for the funds is 80% or less of Shutesbury’s median income. The 2002 elevator CDBG grant, was possible because it is assumed that most disabled people are low to moderate income. A library would not qualify because the community as a whole is not 51% below the state’s median income. * The 7 page Community Development Strategy is a summary of documents that the town has developed showing our goals for the next 3 to 5 years, what we plan to do with the funds, and how we plan to fit in with CDBG principles. * HUD likes to see concentrated activity in low-income neighborhoods. Shutesbury does not have low-income neighborhoods so Shutesbury’s plans have to be town-wide. * Shutesbury will be applying for funds for housing improvements to low–income households. At least 14 households are interested and it is hoped that at least 8 of those projects can be funded. A typical grant could be for $25,000. Funds could be used for new windows, roof, re-wiring, etc., and if a child of 6 years or younger is residing in the house, lead paint testing and abatement. * Laura is seeking comments on the draft Community Development Strategy tonight at this public hearing. She is working on prioritizing the list of projects with the town. * She hopes to finalize the strategy in the near future, and which is due mid-February. * The program is approved in July with a 6 month rollout period. * The funds become more and more competitive each year. * Annual public meetings are held to update the strategy. * Becky added alternative energy projects in the coming year to the project list. She hopes to have a meeting about these projects after results of an energy audit become available. Improvements in solar panel technology might make it more feasible for use on our roof-tops. We’re working on accumulating capital to help fund these budgets. CDBG funds cannot be used for alternative energy even for a new library. Selectmen discussed prioritization of the 2009 Community Development Strategy Project List placing the projects into categories of highest priority, high priority and priority. Following the prioritization process, Selectmen unanimously voted to approve the plan pending the Town Administrator’s approval of the changes in the final plan being as discussed at this meeting. In her presence, Selectmen signed a contract with Laura Baker as was previously voted. Becky invited Karen to report on the progress of the LFNAC: * The first draft of the Library Building Program will be distributed at the December 10 LFNAC meeting. * A proposed location for the new library will be determined once the architect works with the LFNAC to design schematics, location soil samples are collected, and other data is collected for the potential sites. * Once a location and schematics are settled upon, and a total cost of the project is determined, serious fund raising will begin. * The LFNAC is totally committed to the use of clean energy alternatives. Karen has been in touch with MTC and CET. Karen is particularly interested in geo-thermal heating. Discussion of the Franklin County Schools improvement meetings: * There are a lot of ideas on the table right now. * The Amherst-Pelham Region is trying to get a $25,000 grant to explore possible efficiencies including the question of a K-12 region. Amherst has concerns that state mandates could pull Shutesbury and Leverett away from the Amherst-Pelham Region. Assumptions should not be made. There may be other options out there. There could be a multi-county region. Becky thinks the question is how to best fit into the broader community of Western Massachusetts. * David attended a meeting of all the Franklin County school superintendents gathered to try to find efficiencies through “collaboration.” * Amherst is coping with Charter Schools; Franklin County with School Choice; both Charter Schools and School Choice students pull funds from the public schools. Hopefully part of the on-going research will include state acknowledgment of how these new programs are impacting communities, and how to limit the negative and emphasize the positive that these programs offer. * The Franklin County group has been meeting for 18 months with a final report coming out in March 2009. School Committee Chairman Michael DeChiara has been active in the group. * Thursday’s Franklin County group meeting will sift through all of the information. Elaine Puleo may try to attend. David will go to the Monday Leverett School Committee meeting where they will talk about collaboration and school committees. * Senator Rosenberg feels something will be coming down from the state level from the readiness Project and feels towns should be prepared with a voice. Topics 1. Selectmen unanimously voted to sign a contract to move ahead with air sampling at 42 and 50 Leverett Road for a total cost not to exceed $2500, to come out of the special line items designated for the soil contamination. 2. For Community Development Strategy see the discussion with guest Laura Baker above. Select Board Action Items 1. Selectmen unanimously voted to approve the November 11, 15 (Select Board and Lake Wyola Advisory Committee) and 25 meeting minutes as written. (The November 25 executive session minutes were not provided ahead of time and will be approved at a later date.) 2. Selectmen signed vendor warrants totaling $46,060.30 and payroll warrants totaling $90,323.63. 3. Selectmen unanimously voted to sign a Personnel Action Form for Kenneth Wildman to work as a part time snow plow operator for the coming season. New Topics 1. Mr. Clark and Highway Superintendent Tim Hunting have agreed that Lake Drive and Great Pines Drive will be plowed this winter. The roads are barely passable. Next year we should start the process early (July?) when the summer people are present and can put some time into the roads. 2. Finance Committee Chairman Eric Stocker reported to the Selectmen that after talking with Assessor Schmidt and Town Accountant Weiss they have all come to an understanding of how the FY 09 budget was built. Eric explained that the Finance Committee always goes to the levy limit. Assessor Schmidt was thinking that since the override passed for $200,000 with only a $93,000 deficit that there should have been a lot of excess capacity. Other factors affecting the budget were decreased revenues in excise tax and new growth. Eric plans that when the budget process gets to the commitments the Finance Committee will meet with the Assessors so that they agree on new growth. Other planning for the FY 10 budget includes a 10% cut in state aid, perhaps another 30% cut in state aid scenario, and a reduction in revenue figures. 3. Becky has a new meeting on December 16 with Town Counsel at 6:30 PM and with others at 7 PM. 4. Al reported that repairs to the dam are progressing nicely. The Tro-Con Corporation is working on Saturdays. They are pouring concrete on the top of the dam and may remove the gatehouse tomorrow. Meeting adjourned at 9:06 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Leslie Bracebridge Administrative Secretary 081209 Selectboard 1