Minutes of the Finance Committee Meeting, Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Judge Welsh Meeting Room, Town Hall, Provincetown, MA 02657

 

Present: Chair Sue Buerkel, Ruth Gilbert, Jennifer Bedard, Tom Thurston and Gail Enos.

Meeting was called to order at 3:12 PM

Also present, Town Manager Keith Bergman and Town Moderator Rosalyn Garfield.

 

Minutes of February 19th meeting were reviewed.  Motion to accept with the following amendments. Moved: Ruth Gilbert. Seconded: Tom Thurston. Unanimously accepted. 5:0:0.

The sentence (#610 Library) to be deleted: The board requested a line item to reflect our population usage of the computer systems.  The following sentence (#499 Cable Advisory Committee) should read: Build-out and other expenses not to exceed the revenue from the project. Name should be Ruth Gilbert not Ruth Gilmore (#241 Community Development). Name should read Tom Thurston not Tom Thurtson (#630 Recreation). Word should be (#699 Tourism) adopted not adapted. 

 

          Continued Review of FY2004 Budget and Articles

 

Division V-Public Services

 

-672-Art Commission (Peggy Prichett)

Request of $14,230, a 1.5% decrease to continue work that has been started. All town owned paintings have been moved from Heritage Museum to Town Hall. Need to continue the cataloguing and assessment of each painting. Will prioritize which paintings need attention. Sue Buerkel asked if there was any overlap with the Heritage Museum budget. The answer was no. Assessed value of town collection is over 1 million dollars.

Motion to accept as printed. Ruth Gilbert moved, Tom Thurston seconded and it passed unanimously. 5-0-0.

 

-620-Administration

It was suggested by Town Manager, Keith Bergman that $5,000 to added to this budget and it be earmarked to pay Dale as curator of the Heritage Museum on an as needed basis. It was suggested that money could come from #671 Heritage Museum budget.

Motion to add $5,000 to #620 Administration budget. Ruth Gilbert moved, Jennifer Bedard seconded, and it passed unanimously. 5:0:0.

 

Ginny Ross arrived at 3:40PM

 

Motion was made to eliminate $15,000 from #671 Heritage Museum budget. Ruth Gilbert moved, Tom Thurston seconded, and it passed 5:0:1.

 

-513-Board of Health

Budget reflects Recording Secretary salary. Ruth Gilbert and Sue Buerkel asked Town Manager, Keith Bergman if the town was considering raising Board of Health fees which might affect anticipated revenue for FY2004. Motion was made to accept as written. Tom Thurston moved, Jennifer Bedard seconded, and it passed unanimously. 6:0:0.

 

-651-Beautification Committee

Budget proposed at level funding. Very active committee that has been instrumental in improvements at Bas Relief and Lopes Square.

Motion was made to accept as written. Ruth Gilbert moved, Tom Thurston seconded and it passed unanimously. 6:0:0.

 

Division IV-Public Works

David Guertin, Sandy Turner, Cathy Meads and Lou Briganti were present.

 

-192-Buildings & Grounds (Sandy Turner)

Members complimented department on work that has been done. Ruth Gilbert requested a tour of town buildings after town meeting.

Motion to accept as written. Ginny Ross moved, Tom Thurston seconded and it passed unanimously. 6:0:0.

 

-421-Administration (Sandy Turner)

Budget reflects a 19% decrease due to shift of costs to specific Enterprise Funds which are taking up a lot of administrative time. (About 66% went to Wastewater for issues like sewer connections). This shift will be reviewed annually.

Motion to accept as written. Tom Thurston moved, Ginny Ross seconded and it passed unanimously. 6:0:0.

 

-422-Highway (Sandy Turner)

Motion to accept as written. Tom Thurston moved, Gail Enos seconded and it passed unanimously. 6:0:0.

 

Division III-Public Safety

 

-210-Police (Chief Meyer)

Town Manager, Keith Bergman clarified change to proposed budget to reflect a 4.2% increase. A budget changes from $1,342,407 to $1,412,407 for a total of $1,504,507. Increase of $70,000 will be coming from Tourism Fund for the hiring of summer officers.

Motion to accept. Tom Thurston moved, Gail Enos seconded and it passed unanimously. 6:0:0.

 

-211-Police Station (Chief Meyer)

Budget reflects 32% decrease as NStar was apparently over calculating cost of electricity for station.

Motion was made to accept as written. Ruth Gilbert moved, Gail Enos seconded and it passed unanimously. 6:0:0.

 

Division IV-Public Works

 

-423-Snow & Ice (Sandy Turner)

Budget request for level funding. Weather has severely affected this year’s budget. Currently $48,650 deficit, anticipating another $20,000. Will be transferring money to cover with an article at Special Town Meeting.

Motion was made to accept as written. Gail Enos moved, Tom Thurston seconded and it passed unanimously. 6:0:0.

 

-431-Solid Waste/Recycling (Sandy Turner)

Budget reflects a 7% increase. 60% of solid waste is generated by commercial properties which isn’t reflected in revenues. Board of Health has been asked to increase fees to offset difference. Recycling is still losing money and grants have dried up.

Motion to accept as written. Tom Thurston moved, Gail Enos seconded and it passed unanimously. 6:0:0.

 

-439-Waste Disposal/Other (Sandy Turner)

Budget reflects a 38.6% increase. About 4500 tons annually.

Motion to accept as written. Ruth Gilbert moved, Tom Thurston seconded and it passed unanimously. 6:0:0.

 

-450-Water Enterprise Fund (Lou Briganti, Cathy Meads and Sandy Turner)

Revenue is going down while usage is up. Lower usage among highest rate payers. Water meters are old and under report usage. All water meters will need to be replaced with people hooking up to sewer the priority. Unaccounted water is up 15% which is linked to problems with water meters. Proposed rate hike is been considered.

Motion to accept as written. Tom Thurston moved, Gail Enos seconded and it passed unanimously. 6:0:0.

 

Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 4, 2003 at 4PM.

Ruth Gilbert away until March 12, 2003

 

Follow-up on Estate of John Henry: Sue Buerkel reported that a task force will be created to decide where funds should go. Selectmen will hold off on filing petition.

 

Motion to adjourn meeting. Gail Enos moved, Ruth Gilbert seconded and to passed unanimously. 6:0:0.

Meeting adjourned at 6:16PM

 

Respectfully submitted,

Phyllis Lutsky

Recording Secretary