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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-2-19 Special Meeting MinutesTown of Enfield Special Town Board Meeting Enfield Community Building Wednesday, October 2, 2019 6:00 p.m. Present: Town Supervisor Beth McGee, Town Councilperson Virginia Bryant, Town Councilperson Mike Carpenter arrived at 6:30 p.m., Town Councilperson Mimi Mehaffey, Town Councilperson Becky Sims, Town Highway Superintendent Buddy Rollins, Town Clerk Alice Linton. Supervisor McGee called the meeting to order at 6:07 p.m. Town Clerk Linton lead the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Privilege of the Floor: No one wished to speak Tentative Budget: Supervisor McGee gave the tentative budget to Town Clerk Linton on September 30 and sent it to Town Board members with a draft Capital Plan for 2020-2029 and a draft Fund Balance Policy. This budget is built to support the beginning of the Capital Plan. There are some salary changes to give equity in salaries. There are also some decreases in equipment lines in the general fund. There are funds built into the budget for a new buildings and grounds position. In the highway fund, she increased the contractual line and also increased the CHIPS line to build fund lines for that purpose, even though the Town is only reimbursed for the amount spent and approved. A representative at the State Comptroller’s office stated this was an appropriate way to build fund balance. She increased bridge repair to what it was a couple of years ago. Highway Superintendent Rollins has provided the road plan from the Cornell Roads Assessment, and increases are based on what he provided this year in the 284 Agreement. Between the contractual line and the bridge repair line, and not including extreme weather funds, those increases would allow him to meet that road plan. Supervisor McGee also noted that due to the fact that none of the employees use family health insurance through the Town, which would be at their expense, she did include a paid family leave plan. She felt this was a meaningful benefit. The tentative budget brings the total town and fire to be raised in property taxes to a 3.78 percent increase; the tax rate would go down by 13 cents per thousand town-wide; the fire fund would be going down by 8 cents per thousand. The increase for the town total, which does not include fire protection funds, is 4.26 percent. Enfield properties had about 12 million more in assessed value, and there was a carry-over from last year that helped in bringing down the rate. Councilperson Mehaffey stated these rates look good. Councilperson Sims feels this is a strong starting point to go into the conversation. Fund Balance Policy: Town Clerk Linton had provided some comments regarding the policy that Supervisor McGee will e-mail to Town Board members so they can be reviewed. Supervisor McGee’s A fund concern is to make sure there are sufficient funds for paying obligations in January and February before levy dollars come in. She feels a healthy balance would be $200,000. Capital Plan: Supervisor McGee has recommendations in the Capital Plan that show A fund savings may now be over and above what they need to be. She suggested some of the funds could be moved for the salt storage building or to build the highway fund. She suggested waiting until after the AUD is filed in February before moving funds. Enfield Town Board Special Meeting, September 24, 2019 Highway Superintendent Rollins felt the table on page 5 should be changed. If a new mower tractor is purchased the old mower tractor would be kept for the broom and not sold. The 2004 Mack truck would not be sold – he would be selling the 1999 and replacing with the 2004. He doesn’t believe the Board should count on any anticipated resale value – what a piece of equipment is sold for should be a surplus. Supervisor McGee stated these are only estimates. After these purchases are made, there will still be a healthy balance. Funds can be moved from reserves, or if there are unexpected costs to the equipment line, funds can be spent for that. Councilperson Carpenter arrived at this time. Supervisor McGee stated she feels that the road plan is doable. Councilperson Sims asked if it was realistic to try to anticipate road repairs beyond 5 years -or does it need to be reassessed more often. Superintendent Rollins stated the Cornell Roads Program was a 5-year program. Everything depends on the weather and everything is subject to change. He stated he missed out on the purchase of a mower tractor this year because there wasn’t money available in the equipment line. If the money is in that line now, he can save some money- and he can’t if it’s in the reserve line. He has found that purchasing used equipment works as a stepping stone to get to where the Town needs to be. Councilperson Mehaffey asked about the handyman/woman in the budget. Supervisor McGee stated she feels there is a lot that needs to be done in the Town and there isn’t anyone designated to do these things. Some of the jobs to be done would be mowing around town buildings, mowing the cemeteries and cleaning. This person could also meet the Highway Superintendent’s request to have someone clean the office, breakroom, and bathroom at the highway building. She suggested paying 10 hours a week at $18 an hour, with more hours in the summer. Some of the money would come out of the cemetery line also, which would pay for cemetery mowing and cemetery clean-up in the spring. Councilperson Mehaffey suggested it might be easier to find one person to clean and one person to mow and do handiwork. Councilperson Sims asked if this person would be an employee? Supervisor McGee responded yes; this person would be an employee. Supervisor McGee proposed that the Town pay the full fee on the paid family leave benefit and included that in the tentative budget. Councilperson Mehaffey suggested looking into the idea of paying employees a fixed amount if they opted out of using the Town’s insurance in favor of using their spouse’s plan. Supervisor McGee suggested this might prohibit our participation in the health insurance consortium, so the issue would need to be researched further. She suggested tabling the discussion until the Town Board meeting on October 9. Supervisor McGee stated the Aquifer Study is scheduled to be sent to the Town in the next few weeks. Announcements: None Adjournment: Supervisor McGee adjourned the meeting at 6:52 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Alice M. Linton, RMC Enfield Town Clerk 2