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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFINCOMminutes03012012 TOWN OF MANSFIELD To wity EcTCEIVED Finance Committee 'cs OFFICE 1011 AMR IE. Six Park Row, Mansfield, MA 02048 p 12, 42 Room Committee Meeting Room, 3rd floor 5S 'FitISF- TL Minutes for March 1, 2012 Attending: Tom Ratliff Charlene Lavin Karl Chambers Jack Goldberg Jim Lazzara Steve Schoonveld Andres Gazzolo,Chairman Guests: Gary Babbin MMED Town Manager Jess Aptowitz—Light Dept. Commissioner Meeting: opened meeting at 7:30 p.m. Topics of Discussion: 1) FY'13 Mansfield Municipal Electric Department Budget Review 2) FY'13 Jack Goldberg and Tom Ratliff had a few questions after a review of the MMED budget. Jack asked Gary if the 6% rate of return is still a reasonable target to factor into the budget based on the current economic conditions. Gary replied that this is an approved ROR as voted at town meeting and the Town Manager added that they have exhibited exemplary service especially in the past year with the number of storms which had other area towns without power for extended periods of time. The Fincom agreed without hesitation as to the assessment of the quality of service of MMED. The question was only posed to stimulate reflection for upcoming budgets as to the level that might be reasonable under the current circumstances. The Town Manager also reminded the Fincom that the MMED has paid back approximately$2M to the Mansfield customers,recently. Mr.Babbin also reminded the committee that they are projecting a 3% reduction in KVVH usage in FY12 due to the closing of the AMD facility but overall,a 1% growth of usage for FY13. Discussion continued on other more specific areas of the MMED operations and budget assumptions. Also,a brief review of current renewable energy projects and implications for future projects was detailed by Gary. Tom questioned Gary as to when the last rate study was completed? TOWN OF MANSFIELD Finance Committee Six Park Row, Mansfield, MA 02048 Room Committee Meeting Room, 3rd floor Minutes for March 1, 2012 Gary responded that the next rate study was already being organized so that it would be completed by the beginning of FY'14 or July 1,2013. A motion to support the MMED budget as submitted by Mr.Babbin was made by Jack Goldberg and seconded by Mr.Ratliff. The Fincom voted 7—0 in favor of the motion. The Town Manager provided a brief update on the status of the Town's software study and said he is being advised that the original implementation and subsequent training may have been deficient in some areas and that with adjustments and updated training the Town may be utilizing the full capabilities of the software package. He said the infrastructure was deemed to be more than adequate,as well. Jack Goldberg asked for a target date for the preliminary draft of recommendations and Mr.Ross indicated that he should be getting that in 2—3 weeks time. He also reminded the Fincom that a longer range objective would be to unite the school and municipal's software programs to achieve full integration. Bill also reminded the Fincom that the Town Meeting may be moved to May 7th but that is still being discussed. Chairman Gazzolo thanked the Town Manager for his input and updates. Andy handed out a summary of possible scenarios for the Commuter Parking Enterprise account relative to re-pricing the cost for residents to park at the train station lots. The objective is in line with the overall intent to reduce the cost to residents wherever possible and in this case,recommending the committee's adoption of Option 1 which would reduce the cost to$1 for residents. The FINCOM voted 7—0 to approve Option 1 as its recommendation. The Chairman reminded all that we now need to focus efforts on completion of the 5 year budget plan as we complete review of the remaining departments and the school department's budgets. Next week will be the Airport Enterprise review. Other topics: Mr.Gazzolo noted that the Mass Municipality Association was holding 3 sessions in the upcoming months,in 3 different locations,with the topic being "OPEB impact on Massachusetts communities". He encouraged all committee members to check schedules and try to attend a session. A motion to close the meeting at 9:30 pm by Karl Chambers,seconded by Steve Schoonveld was approved.