TOWN OF GRANBY
THREE BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
JANUARY 22, 2007
First Selectman Adams called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and thanked those in attendance for coming.
PRESENT:
BOARD OF SELECTMEN: John Adams, First Selectman; Ronald Desrosiers, Frank Judice, Sally King, and Mark Neumann
BOARD OF FINANCE: Michael B. Guarco, Jr., Chairman; Gordon C. Bischoff, Francis J. Brady, and Alfred G. Wilke
BOARD OF EDUCATION: James C. Heminway, Jr., Chairman; John P. O’Connor, Edward E. Ohannessian, Deborah Torgersen, and Matthew A. Wutka
ALSO PRESENT: William F. Smith, Jr., Town Manager; and Gwen Van Dorp, Superintendent of Schools
First Selectman Adams opened tonight’s meeting by reviewing the purpose of the Three Board Meeting as it relates to the budget process.
First Selectman Adams called upon Capital Program Priority Advisory Model Sub-Committee (CPPAC) Chairman Gordon C. Bischoff to update the Boards on CPPAC activity. Chairman Bischoff reported at their June 2006 meeting the committee reviewed a number of capital project submissions from the Board of Education and the Board of Selectmen. He indicated several of the requests lent themselves to potential joint solutions between the two boards. These included athletic fields and related facilities, equipment storage needs, vehicle washing needs, etc.
Frank Judice (Board of Selectmen), Matthew Wutka (Board of Education), and Gordon Bischoff (Board of Finance) were asked to look into this possibility in more detail. Specifically they will look for potential cost savings, and also look at areas where they felt the town could receive greater value for their taxes.
This group of three met several times, walked the fields, asked questions of Granby staff, received input from some of the sports groups, etc. Although they had limited time to dedicate to the project, they were able to form several recommendations for consideration.
These recommendations were furnished in a report to the Board of Selectmen. The report and the recommendations have been discussed with, and endorsed (at least conceptually) by the Board of Finance and the Board of Education. However, more work needs to be done on the development of a master plan. He concluded stating the recommendations are all worthwhile and deserve serious consideration and support by all boards and the town.
Selectman King pointed out the Board of Selectmen have not met since the report was forwarded to the Board for their consideration, therefore, they have not had a chance to review or discuss the report.
First Selectman Adams queried if CPPAC was planning another meeting between now and March. Chairman Bischoff responded at this point there are no plans for another meeting, as the Board of Selectmen should take the next action. Once the Board of Selectmen review the report and make a decision, a planning committee could be formed.
First Selectman Adams began his review of the municipal Plus One Budget. The summary included wages and salaries, fringe benefits, misc. commitments (over-all inflation), and adjustments for a total committed dollar amount of $436.6 (thousands) or an increase of 5.54% over the ’07 budget. He further reviewed new staffing requests amounting to $63.8 or 0.81% for total committed and new requests of $500.5 (thousands) or 6.35%.
Cal Heminway, Chairman of the Board of Education, was the next to address the meeting. He stated the Board of Education has reviewed and endorsed the recommendations received from the CPPAC subcommittee. He indicated the boards need to get together and work to complete a planning process to be followed for execution of maintenance needs.
Mr. Heminway offered a suggestion that the Town Manager and the Superintendent of Schools could get together to formulate a plan to be implemented pertaining to the CPPAC sub-committee’s recommendation of combining operations for inside and outside maintenance between the school and town if the Board of Selectmen agree.
The Plus One Budget as submitted by the Superintendent of Schools is based on this year’s budget plus inflation. The school system is still seeing an increase in student population at the high school, however, there may be some reductions in the elementary grades. Over the last ten years the numbers for the high school have more than doubled. Other considerations are a new bus contract to be negotiated and a new contract for maintenance personnel and secretaries. Chairman Heminway reviewed the agreement with East Hartland and the increases expected from that town. He concluded by stating there are lots of programs the Board of Education would like to see implemented.
Michael B. Guarco, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Finance, thanked the chairman of the two operating Boards for their comments. The Board of Finance is looking at no more than a 4% increase for the mill rate. Some of the items may still be feasible because the model is conservative and the operating boards are resourceful. Operating guidelines were set at the last Board of Finance meeting at between 4% and 5%. He indicated the Board of Finance is not happy with the use of reserves over the last several years and would like to use less reserves. There has been a growing trend of budget defeat in Connecticut towns over the last several years and the Board does not want to see that in Granby. Also, the Grand List increase does not look to be as large as proposed in the model. Once the modeling is
completed, the Board of Finance will have a better idea of what is going on but they want to keep the mill rate increase at 4%.
William F. Smith, Jr., Town Manager commented there are a lot of pressures for additional fields, an occasional bridge replacement, and other issues that cannot just be ignored. He urged the Board of Finance to keep in mind all of the needs of the town since they cannot be put aside indefinitely.
First Selectman Adams stated last year the Board of Selectmen looked at town owned land with the idea of perhaps selling off some of the less desirable locations or buildings. That process will continue over the next year.
Board of Finance Chairman Guarco then provided an update on the consortium progress stating that initial endorsements were at 115 boards in 75 towns. There are now 125 towns with approximately 250 boards involved. He stated the consortium would keep working with state representatives calling for changes, especially related to prevailing wage and binding arbitration laws. COST, CABE and CCM are all “tweaking” their language to reflect the need for these changes.
Board of Education Chairman Heminway stated when they first started the consortium they were pretty much dismissed but last year they started to notice and this year they are listening. He recommended town boards “stay the course”.
First Selectman Adams noted that most towns provide some assistance to their local public TV channel and Granby needs to consider doing that also. He stated it is important to keep our local government transparent and improve on the lines of communication especially concentrating on public TV and the website.
Jim Glenney, resident, 33 Glen Road, addressed the Boards stating he was glad to see the Board of Selectmen request an increase in their operating expenses for Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission enforcement. He also inquired as to when the next revaluation would be done. The next revaluation will be done for the October 1, 2007 Grand List.
First Selectman Adams adjourned the meeting at 8:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
William F. Smith, Jr.
Town Manager
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