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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance Comm. 11/15/2023Town of Mansfield I $ RECEIVES 6Park Row,Mansfield,Masachuretts02048 i'OWN CLEFVS OFFICE P Finance Committee 1013 DEC 21 P 3: 15 �A5A45`p Meetine Minutes 11.16.2023 A "SF o n Present: Ms. Sara Walsh, Chair, Mr. Scott Feely, Vice Chair, Ms, GrWWthiAft W, rk� 14 Jack Cooney, Mr. Michael: Flaherty,; Mr. Walter Wilk and Ms. Melinda Tarsi Guest: Mr. Barry LaCasse, Assistant Town Manager, Ms. Sarah Raposa, Town Planning Director and Mr. Chris McDermott, Economic Development Director Minutes: Sharon Varricchione 1. Call The Meeting To Order: Ms. Sara Walsh, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:02pm. 2. Approval Of Minutes:10/19/23 and 11/2/23 Motion: To adopt the meeting minutes 10/19/23 and 11/2/23 Passes: 6:0:1(Feely/Flaherty) abstain Melinda Financial Updates and Discussions: 3. Town Financial Update: General Government Expenses: Mr. LaCasse said we are tracking below budget in period four and 29% spent in 33% of the fiscal year. General Government Revenue: Mr. LaCasse said we are tracking on budget at 33% collected, That will change 4. year. Sewer: N period of Fund. Mr. Wilk asked why the year. guest was granteo that there woUld De his was not bought up at Town Meetii some of it. Ms. Raposa sa and that a substantial po the next 12-24 months on no but that this was somE of them being the TOD c the through 33% of the spared to the same med that she was a ;ifically the parkway iportant component nt owners that need Ar. McDermott, the i1r. Dumas to ask for ented Development er site plan that will 'here will be a public ping, a phase one m fee. Mr. LaCasse Committee Reserve seed was not known sts were not shared iree years down the itate was paying for Id Drive phase 1 & 2 d if Ms. Raposa had eed. She then stated arent segments, one hat has many more milestones to it and she can bring that back to the Committee. Mr. Walter asked, had the budget changed since what was presented at Town Meeting? Mr. LaCasse did not believe so. Mr. Cooney asked if this request was for consulting and Mr. LaCasse answered yes. Ms. Walsh asked if they could get an update with the financials along with what the knowns and unknowns are. Mr. Wilk felt that either someone did not know they needed to do this or that they didn't want to show it and he was concerned that maybe some of the residents would have voted differently if they knew what the costs were going to be. Ms. Thurston asked what the timeline was for this funding and could they wait until the next meeting. Ms. Raposa stated that it would delay the project kickoff and they want to keep it rolling. Mr. Wilk asked what would be presented at Town Meeting and Ms. Raposa replied that they are going to ask the voters to allow for the land swap disposition of Town land and that the voters are going to want a detailed analysis of what's happening, why and how. She then offered it will contain all those deep dives that we have started thinking about, it's a scoping project. Ms. Walsh suggested to move the vote and then have Ms. Raposa follow up with a budget at the next Finance Committee Meeting. Motion: To move a transfer of $91,800 from the General Fund Reserve Fund to the DPW -Engineering Account. Passes: 4:3 (Feely/Flaherty) 5. Review and discussion of School 1" quarter financials: Ms. Walsh asked if there were any questions from the Committee and there were none. She then stated that they are running on track. Mr. Feely would like to see this periodically and Ms. Walsh said it was the plan to do that quarterly. 6. Economic Development Report with Chris McDermott: Mr. McDermott thanked the Committee for having him and mentioned that he would be giving updates regarding economic development metrics and some of the developments that are occurring around Town. • One of these developments is the Walgreens distribution center in Cabot Boulevard which is up and running and they have met the 200 full time employee job requirements including benefits. They fill about 40,000 prescriptions a day which is a major development and they are looking to cover the entirety of New England including pharmacy's and home deliveries. He then stated that it's a cutting - edge network and an amazing facility. • The Chocolate Factory now has its certificate of occupancy and they have about $146,000 in permitting fees which is additional money for the Town. Mr. Wilk asked when they will start to rent and Mr. McDermott stated that they already have and expect to rent over 90% within 10 months. There is a cross fit there and someone who's interested in having a wine and cheese shop. They feel that this will be a very active site and an attractive one which is in a short distance to the train station. • Chase Wealth Management, 250 Chauncy Street, is up and running and one of the critical things is that location is a gateway to our Downtown, It's something that welcomes people as they head towards the Downtown. The new Gen K building structure that is lit up Is at night is a vast improvement of over the two older buildings that were taken down. This building portrays an active, affluent and welcoming community and asked them to please check them out. If you connect it with Rush Bowls coming off of Route 140 it's a really nice touch that is beautifying that area and shows what Mansfield's all about. Mr. Wilk askedabout the sidewalks that needed attention and Mr. McDermott said that they will be working on that. • Greentech Renewables on 600 West Street, is a 55,000 Square Foot distribution center focused on solar technology coming from New Jersey and moving into Massachusetts and they will be hiring roughly 55 employees at that location. • Oliver Street at 241 Francis Ave, is where the Bio Incubator is located, they have just started marketing it and went through a thorough planning board process for a 232,000 square feet flex space. • Fresh Market: a new grocery store will be located at 280 School Street in Mansfield Crossing (which was the former NRG lab). This is a 22,000 square foot space. Based upon their building permit it's a $2.5 Million project with a $45,000 permit fee. We are excited to have them come. They are similar to somewhere in between a Trader Joes and Wholesale Foods store. • Community Servings: located at 170 Forbes Boulevard, is a non-profit organization that will use up about 23,000 square feet. They are currently based out of Jamaica Plain (JP). They provide medically tailored meals delivered to those in need. They prep and batch the meals at the JP location and then will ship them off to the satellite location. This location will serve around 10,000 individuals throughout Southeastern Massachusetts the Cape and Rhode Island. They are filling a critical service gap. They will be hiring for packers and drivers when complete and will be a half dozen delivery vehicles on site. • DiPrete Engineering at 305 Forbes Boulevard, is permitted to construct an 80,000 square foot warehouse space that will most likely be filled by an existing tenant. Mr. Wilk asked Mr. McDermott if he just found out about the parts facility two weeks ago and Mr. McDermott confirmed that. He then asked when they would be out of there. Mr. McDermott believed they were scheduled to exit sometime In 2025. He did reach out to the property owner and waiting to hear back as they are concerned for the people that are working there and have reached out to Mass Hire to make them aware. He then stated that a third -party cooperation is the owner and that Is was no longer Toyota. He thought the structure will remain and that they will find a new use for it and he will continue to keep watching it. Mr. McDermott then spoke about Social Media which is one of the key resources they use to reach out and raise Mansfield profile for the State and the region to attract additional investment. The Facebook,page has 1,068 followers and average about 24 posts a month and about 154 engagements every month, that's anyone that's liking, clicking, and sharing. Linkedln has similar figures with 976 followers with 166 monthly engagements. He then spoke about the choosemansfieid.corn website that they put a lot of work into and it has about 300 monthly visitors and they recently launched an available properties page and brochure highlighting some of the key available properties In Cabot Business park. In the media section they have pod casts from this past year highlighting different employers, developers and individuals doing interesting things in Mansfield. The newsletter is highlighted in News Section along with a blog highlighting different developers and employers that are doing interesting things in Mansfield and what makesthe Town really great, He then mentioned earned media and the press to help talk about how Mansfield is unique. Mr. McDermott then spoke about how they will continue to do business visits including grand openings. Recently he had attended grand openings for the following companies: Greentech`renewables, Cava, Chase Wealth Management and the Mansfield Bio Incubator which also had a 15,000 square foot expansion. For Business Tours and site visits, Mr. McDermott stated that they visited Future Foam, RC Hagen, Tighe and Bond an engineering firm and the villages at Willow Crossing. We also worked with our membership organizations TO Town Chamber and their ribbon cuttings, Rush Bowls, 1829 Country Store,` Hometown Bakery, Nico and Vines are some of the businesses which are opening up across Town which is good. We also had the Annual Town Manager and Economic Development breakfast with the Town Chamber where they shared town information and it was a great way to connect with our business community. Another organization that he worked with is Mass Econ and their Team Massachusetts Impact Awards. This is an awards programs that highlights companies that have had employment impact. last year the Bio Incubator was one of the winners and this year we nominated Walgreens and he hopes to see them win. Mr. McDermott then spoke about external activities including the Fall Festival where we were able to raise with our partnerships $33,000 to help support it. Everything was free with the exception of the food trucks. There was anywhere from 2,500 to 5,000 people In attendance and in included outreach via social media, press, signage, flyers and word of mouth which has also attracted businesses to become sponsors. Sign of facade program which was a $50 000 earmark with the state that will be down this week and this will be utilized to assist the businesses Downtown including help with new signage. Economic development meetings to share information with his colleague and they share costar reporting to draw upon real estate information. They share information with me including how permitting is going. It's also a great tool to see how projects are advancing. They are working on new Cabot Business park signage with DPW and Penta communications to include the branding of the Town since the current sign is in disrepair. Mr. Flaherty thanked him. Mr. Cooney asked if all of this social media was not there before him. Mr. McDermott said that the website was launched shortly before he came on board. Then once on board, Mr. Dumas shared his vision with him and he's been running with it ever since including social media and using original content that speaks to what Mansfield is and what makes us different and why someone should consider living, working and being employed here. Ms. Thurston asked if he had metrics that he's currently measuring against to measure economic development? Mr. McDermott answered yes and that one of the things they are measuring up against is vacancy's month to month and what spaces are getting permitted. Ms. Thurston asked if he was using and predictive metrics from other Towns. He said sometimes there are deeper dives there are comparative studies so they can exist. It's not something they do on a month to month basis like Costar but it is something that is possible in a longer -term plan. Ms. Thurston stated that it would be helpful to have this information in the future. Mr. Wilk asked if you could see when leases were up when in Costar. Mr. McDermott hoped that would be the case but not all real estate professional will enter that information so we may not have all of that information. Other information is helpful including the listing of the realtor so he can reach out to them. Mr. Wilk asked if Mr. McDermott ever thought about advertising the Providence Journal and other publications. Mr. McDermott mentioned that that is one of the things that he's speaking with Penta about right now including geo targeting with social media. Mr. Wilk said with the 1,000 Facebook and under 1,000 Linkedin followers how much of an impact will that really have. Mr. McDermott said that's why they will be using the geo targeting so they can attract new followers. Mr. Wilk offered that there many professionals that live in Mansfield and did he ever think about going after them to link in with the Town and offered that probably with the Committee alone they probably had over 2,500linked in connections they could share with. Mr. Wilk then inquired about the Town's notify me button on the Town website for advertising. Mr. McDermott said he had not directly used. Mr. Wilk suggested to use that to ask if the residents would link in with the Town and like their Facebook and perhaps put some sort of ad in the Town Electric bill. Mr. McDermottsaid he would consider that and will also add that request into the next Town Newsletter. Mr. Wilk then suggested to see if other Boards and Committees would consider to link in with them and Ms. Walsh suggested to also add it to the survey. She then asked what Mr. McDermott's biggest concerns were. Mr. McDermott said one was that the office market is still settling and when people will be going into the office during the week post covid. The other is that some of the legacy available spaces are too small, they can't get the trucks in and out the way they want to and they do not have high base Wi-Fi. They are monitoring this and conversations are percolating and they want to make sure the business park grows in the right direction. So, his main concerns are how to revamp those buildings in a responsible manner and also what becomes of the office space. Community Discussion and Comment: 7. Questions from Community: none Committee Business: 8. Survey review and planning: Ms. Tarsi said that she and Ms. Walsh will be meeting with the Town Manager, Mr. Dumas to talk about the survey draft and that it is IRB approved from Bridgewater State University which means we get to use BSUs resources which will stay open for a year. She will update the Committee after they meet with Mr. Dumas regarding how to expand the scope and the reach of the survey. Ms. Walsh stated that the Town Manager is very supportive of the survey and would like to discuss some of the questions so we get the right answers that we need. 9. Goals: Questions: 1. 'Initiate yearly cycle of engagement with each Town Department to understand current year objectives, future economic needs and how those influence budget planning and requests. Ms. Walsh stated thattheyhad met with two so far, Trash and Recycle and Economic Development and we can discuss who else we want to bringforward. She then mentioned that Ms. Raposa from the Planning Department was going to come back in December, Mr. Cooney asked about the IDC as he was sure they work with the Economic Development Director pretty closely. Mr. Wilk is interested in having the consulting company Penta come in as the social media numbers do not sound robust and he would like to know how much money we have spent. Ms. Thurston asked if one of their main goals was to build out social media and Mr. Wilk said yes. Mr. Flaherty offered that going after the Providence Journal would be a good idea as Worcester is going hard after the Chamber there and every to their meetings a few times and Mr. Wilk added that they extended the ti out of their funds. 2. Work to understand revenue projections and forecasts to better Inform lot 3. Work to understand expense projections and forecasts to better inform lot and we are in a great ssed how Penta came rac£which were paid Ms, Thurston stated that goals numbers two and three were being worked on by Mr. Cooney and Mr. Feely. Mr. Feely mentioned that they need to meet with the Town Accountant Mr. Violette who would have those numbers. Ms. Thurston mentioned the possibility of Mr. Violette to have formulas forthese numbers. Ms. Tarsi said that other town GFO awards winners may have models and that we should check out their budget pages and maybe there's a model that may fit with what we door that can help us generate the reports that we may beinterested in and one of those towns Is the Town of Northborough, Ms. Walsh offered that there is a difference between a multiyear forecast and predictive models, the Committee agreed and she mentioned that the Town Manager and the Select Board are interested in those things too and that it takes time. 4. Prepare recommendations for the Select Board regarding the right metrics to measure economic development/growth to aid in determining Mansfield's financial and economic strength in coordination with the IDC and Economic Development Director.' Ms. Thurston said there is more work they can do with the IDC to develop the right metrics to measure economic development growth. She said they need to be figured out as they have been vague and they can get more specific with them. it's really understanding what they are measuring and communicating that. It would also be a good idea to discuss with the Select Board. Mr. Feely said that it seems like they are in the right direction after Mr. McDermott's visit tonight. 5. Increase communication to public around town budget and financial matters and present Information to citizens in a digestible manner. 6. Increase the amount of feedback we get from the community via a yearly survey. Ms. Walsh felt they were on track with these goals starting with the survey and making sure that's on track and also putting a communication in the Town Newsletter. 7. Work with the Town Manager and Assistant Town Manager on 1-time and ongoing state and federal funding opportunities and plan for the long-term effects of the grants on future budgets. Ms. Thurston said this goal was for the full Committee and they can talk more about it as the budget comes up. Ms. Walsh stated that she can add it as an update and that some of this is the regular updates/reports that they currently get. She mentioned that they can add any information about any grants that they are working on. 8. Request and review a capital/infrastructure (including cybersecurity) risk analysis to identify financial threats to Town finances and budget plans. Ms. Thurston mentioned that Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Wilk are working on this goal together. 10. Trash & Recycle Financials: Ms. Walsh stated that Mr. Rhein from Waste Reduction and Recycling Committee, and Mr. Reinke, the DPW Director came to the last meeting to make the Finance Committee aware that the trash contracts are up. She would like to start a predictive analysis and also start to educate everyone on how much it's costing us and the Committee agreed. Ms. Walsh stated that she will start with a data request that they can get in the next month or two. 11. Committee Updates: • Ms. Tarsi had no updates other then the survey she previously discussed and they meet with the Schools on 11/21 during their Budget Sub -Committee meeting. • Mr. Wilk stated that Budget Sub met a few weeks ago and that they will be having meetings in December and January. • Ms. Walsh stated that the next Budget Sub -Committee meeting is February 8th, the Tri-Board is February 281h. • Mr. Feely stated they did CIP and that it worked out. • Ms. Thurston stated that there had not been another Audit meeting but she did send the Audit out if anyone would like to read it. • Mr. Cooney did not have an update. He asked if the Committee would be reorganizing to see who would be on what committee. Ms. Walsh stated that they would be doing the reorganizing in January. • Mr. Flaherty did not have an update. • Ms. Walsh stated that she's on a committee to help find and interview Mr. LaCasses's replacement. They have applicants and will have updates at the next meeting. 12. Items Not Known in 48 Hours: None 13. Fin Com Member Comments: Ms. Walsh stated the next meeting would be December 2111 and that it would be Mr. LaCasse last meeting. She would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. LaCasse. She then stated that they could get Ms. Raposa back to talk more about the TOD process. 14. Adiournment: Motion: To adjourn the meeting at 7:39pm. Passes:7:0 (Feely/Cooney) Date