Watertown Town Council
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Watertown Town Council Administration Building 149 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472 Phone: 617-972-6470 ELECTED OFFICIALS: Committee of the Budget and Fiscal Oversight Report of the Meetings of February 22 and March 1 and 6, 2017 Mark S. Sideris, Council President Report Date: March 14, 2017 Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., The purpose of these meetings was to review Watertown’s FY2018-FY2022 Capital Vice President Improvement Program (CIP) dated January 24, 2017 as submitted by the Town Manager Michael F. Dattoli, to the Town Council, and to make conceptual recommendations to the Town Council. Councilor At Large (see http://www.watertown-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/21408) Aaron P. Dushku, Councilor At Large The Committee convened on February 22, 2017 at 7:00 pm in the Louis Andrews Third Floor Conference Room. Present were Vincent Piccirilli, Chair; Angeline Kounelis, Vice Susan G. Falkoff, Councilor At Large Chair; Kenneth Woodland, Secretary (arrived at 7:20); Town Manager Michael Driscoll, and Assistant Town Manager/Auditor Thomas Tracy. Also present were Council Anthony Palomba, President Mark Sideris and Councilors Aaron Dushku and Lisa Feltner. Councilor At Large Angeline B. Kounelis, First, Captain Thomas Rocca and Officer Robert Knell from the Police Department District A Councilor reviewed the Police Department items (CIP lines 49-59). Lisa J. Feltner, • Of particular note was line 57, $1,010,000 in FY2021 to relocate public safety District B Councilor radios from the T-band to a different frequency so the existing T-band can be auctioned off to wireless phone carriers. The NPSTC T-Band Update Report Kenneth M. Woodland, District D Councilor dated May 31, 2016, was provided to the Committee for background (Attachment A). • If the frequency relocation does not happen, then the cost in line 57 will not be needed, instead line 56, $167,500 in FY2020 for UHF repeater replacement will occur. • It was noted that the Fire Department radios would also have to be relocated to a different frequency, and that would be another $750,000 in cost. • Although the law states that auction revenues “may” be used for grants to assist local departments with these costs, no action has occurred on the federal level, and it appears this is an unfunded mandate being forced on municipalities. The Committee agreed that the Town Council should write a letter to our Congressional delegation asking them for assistance. • Mr. Driscoll provided a memo detailing the Police Department’s outstanding FY16 loan orders (Attachment B). Next, Mr. Driscoll provided an overview of the FY 2018-2022 CIP, Capital Spending as a % of the Revised Revenue/Expenditure Forecast (Attachment C) as well as a status update on FY13, FY14, FY15, FY16 and FY17 Proposed Loan Orders (Attachment D). Lastly, Mr. Tracy presented the following departmental requests, for discussion by the Committee, noting that items and dollar estimates were from the recently completed Facility Assessment Study: • Administration (CIP lines 3-12) • Community Development & Planning (CIP lines 16-17) Page 1 of 7 Budget and Fiscal Oversight Committee Report March 14, 2017 • IT (CIP lines 21-23) • Fire Department (CIP lines 27-39) • Library (CIP lines 43-45) • Recreation and Parks (CIP lines126-145) a) Arsenal Park is a placeholder until the Athenahealth I-cubed money and the Boylston Properties mitigation is discussed and decided upon. b) Cunniff Field improvements are a placeholder until school building designs are completed. c) Boyd Park is on hold until City of Newton’s ownership of the land is determined. • Senior Center (CIP lines 243-244) The purchase of a new shuttle bus is a placeholder until potential operational changes are explored. • Skating Rink (CIP lines 248-260) The meeting adjourned at 8:23 pm. The Committee reconvened on March 1, 2017, at 7:00 pm in the Richard E. Mastrangelo Council Chambers. Present were Mr. Piccirilli, Ms. Kounelis, Mr. Woodland, Mr. Driscoll, and Mr. Tracy. Also present were Councilors Aaron Dushku and Anthony Palomba. First Mr. Driscoll presented a comparison of the FY18-22 CIP to last year’s FY17-21 CIP, explaining the variances (Attachment E) The next discussion was the School Department, and attendees were: Interim Superintendent John Bracket, Interim Director of Business Services Mary DeLai, Facilities Director Stephen Romanelli, and Chair of Buildings & Grounds Subcommittee Elizabeth Yusem. (presentation is Attachment F). Ms. DeLai presented the School Department’s FY18 requests (CIP lines 148-240), for discussion by the Committee. $517,300 is for various items to be funded with tax revenues, and $125,000 is a proposed loan order for new carpeting at the Lowell School which was in the FY17 CIP but was pushed out a year. Dr. Brackett discussed long-term plans for school capital projects, and the $1,000,000 as a placeholder in FY18 for engineering and design services. He noted that they are contracting for a Feasibility Study for $40,000 using existing FY17 operating funds, as a follow up to last summer’s Master Plan, and this should be done in six months. Examining the Phillips School will be part of this next step. Ms. DeLai presented a disposition of previous fund balances from FY14, FY15, FY16, and FY17. Prior unspent funds will be voted by the School Committee to cover pre-school construction costs, WMS emergency boiler repair, and to restore funds appropriated to the Stamatakis Playground. Reallocation of funds from loan orders will be brought to the Town Council for a vote. Mr. Tracy was in agreement with these proposed reallocations. The last discussion was the Public Works Department, and attendees were: Superintendent Gerald Mee; Town Engineer Matthew Shuman; Director of Administration and Finance Dennis Sheehan; Lori Moran, DPW Clerk, and Steven Magoon, Assistant Town Manager/Director of Community Development and Planning. Page 2 of 7 Budget and Fiscal Oversight Committee Report March 14, 2017 Mr. Mee presented a memo on FY16, FY17 and FY18 requests (Attachment G) as well as a listing of all DPW Vehicles (Attachment H), and walked through the DPW’s FY18 requests (CIP lines 62-123), and Streets and Sidewalks (CIP lines 264-279). Next, Mr. Tracy presented the Water/Sewer Enterprise Funds CIP items. Mr. Shuman noted that the Stormwater Phase 2 MS4 permit items for FY18, totaling $250,000, is for work planned for next year, but there is still no funding source identified, and this is still an open item for discussion. The meeting adjourned 9:20 pm The Committee reconvened on March 6, 2017 at 7 pm in the Louis Andrews Third Floor Conference Room. Present were Mr. Piccirilli, Ms. Kounelis, Mr. Woodland, Mr. Driscoll, and Mr. Tracy. Also present was Councilor Aaron Dushku. First, Mr. Tracy provided a handout showing all capital fund balances (Attachment I). Councilor Dushku raised a question on the Cemetery Expansion Public Works Fund 5508, and since this has been open since 2009, the Committee agreed to re-refer it to the Public Works Committee. Councilor Kounelis questioned the reallocation of Police Department Building Fund 5055 towards the venting of the firing range, and Mr. Tracy said this was approximately $170,000 to fix a known problem identified in the Facility Assessment Study. Second, Mr. Tracy provided a handout showing all remaining FY16, FY16 and FY17 loan orders (Attachment J). Mr. Driscoll noted that some of these smaller items may be paid for with a transfer of available FY17 funds, as was done last year. Mr. Tracy also raised the issue that services of the on-call architect will be needed to prepare bid packages for some of the proposed loan orders, and that he recommends using available FY17 funds for this purpose. Third, the Committee reviewed all prior discussions to develop the recommendations detailed below: 1. Proceed with the FY15 proposed loan order for $850,000 for improvements to the Filippello Park Grove Street entrance, and pursue a Stanton Grant of $225,000 to partially offset the cost of this project. 2. Proceed with the remaining proposed loan orders and/or a transfer of funds for FY16: Moxley Courts Renovations & Lighting 900,000 Design @ 100,000 Construction @ 800,000 Public Works Equipment: 783,000 Central Motors Service Truck @ 145,000 Sidewalk Snow Tractor @ 180,000 Salter Truck, 6 Wheel @ 230,000 Cemetery 1 Ton Dump Truck @ 85,000 Property/Buildings Supervisor Pickup @ 55,000 Parks/Forestry Service Truck @ 88,000 Police Equipment: 104,200 Tactical Bullet-Proof Vests @ 12,600 Live-scan Fingerprint System @ 32,000 Backup Power Suppy for Building @ 33,100 Page 3 of 7 Budget and Fiscal Oversight Committee Report March 14, 2017 Replace Building Video Access Server @ 26,500 Parks Control Link Retrofit 100,000 Administration Building Emergency Generator 85,000 Total: $1,972,200 3. Proceed with the FY17 proposed loan orders for $3,475,000 for Street & Sidewalk Improvements plus Underground Ducts for $300,000: **Street & Sidewalk projects for summer 2017 in 2,500,000 accordance with the Public Works Committee report approved by the Town Council on November 9, 2016. **Underground Ducts 300,000 Lower Common St reconstruction, including the 975,000 roundabout at Church St and Orchard St Total: $3,775,000 Note: ** items are scheduled for a public hearing and vote at the March 14th Town Council Meeting. 4. That the FY17 loan order for Victory Field Phase 2 for $3,000,000 will continue to be a placeholder until recommendations are received from the ad hoc committee on how to proceed. 5. Proceed with the FY17 proposed loan order for $1,451,000 for Public Works Equipment consisting of: • Highway Triaxle Dump Truck @ 260,000 • Highway Supervisor Pickup Truck @ 60,000 • Highway Sweeper @ 230,000 • Highway Backhoe @ 232,000 • Salter Truck, 6 Wheel @ 235,000 • Cemetery Backhoe @ 232,000 • Property/Buildings Wire Supervisor Pickup @ 57,000 • Forestry 1-ton Dump Truck @ 85,000 • Parks/Forestry Supervisor Pickup @ 60,000 6.