In advance of the August 17 Town Meeting, scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm under the big top at Old Rochester Regional High School track, both the Finance Committee and the Board of Selectmen met on July 28 to review slashed revenue expectations and conservative expenditures.
At 3:00 pm the FinCom members in remote attendance heard from former town administrator Mike Gagne, who had drafted the original FY21 budget at the beginning of the year, and Mike Lorenco the current town administrator. Gagne said that revenue projections had been cut by $668,000. All revenue sources were evaluated and an overall 10-percent cut is planned for New Growth, $100,000; State Aid, $163,000; Overlay Surplus, $75,000; ORR Stability Fund, $85,000; Motor Vehicle Excise Tax, $124,000; and Penalties and Interest, $23,000.
Year-end transfers were also discussed with the committee members approving $29,929 for legal fees, $15,400 for new computers, $1,133 for the Conservation Commission, $2,765 records management, $10,387 for town buildings, $61,121 street lighting, $33,635 solid-waste disposal, $7,654 public health nurse, $3,218 Veterans benefits, $10,954 parks, and $1,183 employee benefits, for a total of $176,240.
In support of several line items, Gagne explained that reimbursement from the county for COVID-19-related expenses such as laptop computers for employees who need to work remotely would be applied for and that over the next two years the town would see a decrease in lighting expenses due to lighting upgrades. He did, however, toss a cautionary note into the mix, saying that solid waste disposal costs would continue to climb and that little relief is in sight given the lack of landfill space.
Both Gagne and Lorenco reiterated the necessity to move forward in measured steps given that no one knows at the present time where revenues or state aid will eventually land. “The state is working off a one-twelfth budget,” Gagne said.
Staying on the theme of fiscal austerity, Lorenco said that vacant town positions would remain vacant in the near term and that the Council of Aging and the library are not fully open and therefore do not require full staffing at this time.
Chairman Pat Donoghue questioned a 6.5-percent salary increase for the town accountant. Gagne said that the increase was based on the employee meeting all performance goals and objectives, that the increase was negotiated last February and had been approved by the selectmen at that time.
The committee members also discussed the Town Meeting Warrant but got stuck on Article One, Compensation of Elected Officials. Speaking up was member Gary Johnson, who questioned the wisdom of increasing some positions given the current economic conditions saying, “It might set a tone.” Gagne said a review of the increases would be done. The proposed increases are $5 for the town moderator, $112 for the chairman of the Board of Selectmen, $101 increase for selectmen, $101 increase for assessors, $1,800 for the town clerk, $15 for Board of Health members, $2,218 for the highway surveyor, $15 for Mattapoisett School Committee members, $15 each water and sewer commissioners, $170 for the tree warden, and $50 for the herring inspector.
The overall FY 21 operating budget stands at $29,142,067, a $946,865 increase over FY20. Water Enterprise Fund FY21 operating budget is $2,631,250, a $247,100 increase, and the Sewer Enterprise Fund is $2,495,724, a $23,252 decrease from FY20. The Waterfront Enterprise Fund stands at $316,458, a $37,198 increase over FY20. The committee moved to approve the warrant with the exception of Article One, which will be reviewed.
In the evening, the selectmen met with Lorenco during their regular meeting to discuss the earlier meeting and the warrant among other issues.
Lorenco told the selectmen that he has been working with Eugene Jones, the facility manager for schools, and Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson regarding Town Meeting and use of space at the ORR facility.
He said that a large tent would be erected over the track with a capacity for 200 people distanced appropriately. Mosquito control will be used and portable bathroom facilities were planned, he said. Lorenco said that Police and Fire departments have been involved in planning as well.
Lorenco also asked the selectmen for guidance regarding the number of requests his office has received for weddings and other outdoor events at Ned’s Point. “I’m concerned that the summer influx of people who use that area and then weddings is troubling,” he shared.
The selectmen echoed his concerns. After some discussion, it was decided that Lorenco would come up with a set of guidelines and select an area at the lighthouse park where an area could be roped off for the exclusive use of special permitted events.
The Acushnet Road bridge repair was another topic that Lorenco discussed. He said that massive delays brought on by issues related to COVID-19 had pushed the project into September. He said that Nelson would plan changes to school bus routes and that he had had been in contact with town’s legal counsel to determine if the town has financial recourses in the event the contractor fails performance requirements of the contract.
Before adjourning, Collyer shared the sad news that longtime Finance Committee member Elisabeth “Betty” Pennington had passed away. He acknowledged her many years of service to the community. Pennington was Dr. Elisabeth Pennington. She graduated from Lawrence Memorial Hospital School of Nursing and received her BSN from Boston University, her M.Ed and Ed.D from Teachers College Columbia University. During her long career, Pennington worked in critical care nursing and as supervisor of emergency services at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. She was an assistant professor at City College of New York and assistant dean for Undergraduate Nursing Education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. At the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth, Pennington was appointed dean and professor of the College of Nursing.
Mattapoisett Finance Committee & Board of Selectmen
By Marilou Newell