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Tuesday evening, June 15, 2010. Special Meeting of the City Council held in the Council Chambers, City Hall.~ Meeting called to order by Council President Neil Janssens at 6:00 o’clock p.m.
Councillors Present: Alice Anderson, Henry Ares, Joshua Cormier, Ronald Cormier, Patrick Gerry, Edward Gravel, Scott Graves, James Minns and President Neil Janssens.
Councillors Absent: David Boudreau and James Robinson, Jr.
Officials Present: Mayor Mark Hawke and City Auditor Calvin Brooks.
Council as Committee of the Whole
8403 – Raising & Appropriating $8,910,341.00 for FY2011 Municipal Salary & Labor Expenses.
8404 – Raising & Appropriating $22,678,931.00 for FY2011 Municipal Operating Expenses.
8405 – Raising & Appropriating $19,428,568.00 for FY2011 School Department Expenditures.
8406 – Appropriating $31,830.00 from Available Funds–Parking Meter Receipts Reserved to FY2011Treasury/Highway Accounts.
8407 – Appropriating $154,348 from Available Funds – Cable Commission Fees Reserved to FY2011 Cable Commission Budget.
8408 – Transferring $150,919.00 from Landfill Closure-Encumbered Landfill Closure Account toFY2011Landfill Closure Budget.
8409 – Accepting G.L. c.59, §5k, the “Senior Citizen Tax Work-off Abatement Program”.
President Neil Janssens opened the meeting by announcing the Council, acting in Committee of the Whole, would review the Mayor’s FY2011 Budget Proposal “department-by-department”.
Councillors raised questions on the following cost centers:
- Mayor’s Department, Professional Services - $5,000 of budgeted amount maintains the City’s website, per Mayor Hawke.
- Assessor’s Department, Professional Development and Travel - Budgeted amount for Assessing staff training, per Mayor Hawke.
- Assessor’s Department, Valuation Maintenance – Budgeted amount for Vision Appraisal updates, per Mayor Hawke.
- Assessor’s Department, Valuation Update - Budgeted amount for consulting services to conduct the Interim, Triennial and Decennial certifications of real and personal property values, per Mayor Hawke.
- City Treasurer, Assistant Salary & Wages – Increase over FY2010 reflects increase in hours to 37/week, per Mayor Hawke.
- Personnel Department, V.I.P.S. Program – Councillor Anderson raised concern that the addition of the V.I.P.S. Program would create significantly more work for Personnel and departments utilizing the services of seniors. Mayor Hawke explained the value of such a program to departments in need of time-involved, repetitive clerical work. He added he would submit Program Guidelines to the Council for approval. The Council agreed to move forward with the budgeted program.
- Mayor’s Unclassified, Water – The Mayor explained the $20,000 budgeted for Water is an estimate, based on recent actual usage.
- Airport, Expenses – The Mayor explained Airport receipts cover the total budgeted, plus insurance costs.
- Greenwood Memorial Pool – Questioned regarding the condition of the Pool, the Mayor informed the Council he will be meeting with the Pool Superintendent and Building Commissioner.
- Employee Benefits, Health/Dental Insurance – Amount budgeted reflects recommendation by the City’s health care consultant – projected to meet insurance claims for the year.
- Schools – The Mayor stated the School Budget is actually greater than reflected in his Budget worksheet, due to $349,000 in Stimulus funding.
President Neil Janssens adjourned the meeting at 6:45 o’clock p.m.
Accepted by the City Council: June 21, 2010
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