Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2016-04-25

Appropriations and Oversight Committee Meeting

This meeting starts at 9:26 in a recording that covers several meetings.

Attendance

Robert A. Boisselle present · Ward 4 Alderman; Donald L. Conn Jr. present · President/Ex-officio Member; Scott M. Forbes present · Ward 7 Alderman; Gail Infurna absent · Vice Chairman; Jennifer L. Lemmerman present · Ward 2 Alderman; Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis absent · Alderman at Large; Monica C. Medeiros present · Alderman at Large; Peter D. Mortimer present · Chairman; John N. Tramontozzi present · Ward 1 Alderman; Francis X. Wright Jr. absent · Ward 3 Alderman; Michael P. Zwirko present · Alderman at Large

Agenda

Minutes

CITY OF MELROSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE CALENDAR● APRIL 25, 2016 Aldermanic Chamber Committee Meeting 7:35 PM The public should take notice that the Melrose Board of Aldermen may, on certain occasions, have a quorum in attendance due to standing committees of the Board of Aldermen consisting of both voting and non-voting members. Members attending this duly posted meeting are participating and deliberating only in conjunction with the business of the standing committee. Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Peter D. Mortimer Chairman Present Gail M. Infurna Vice Chairman Absent Michael P. Zwirko Alderman at Large Present John N. Tramontozzi Ward 1 Alderman Present Monica C. Medeiros Alderman at Large Present Robert A. Boisselle Ward 4 Alderman Present Francis X. Wright Jr. Ward 3 Alderman Absent Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis Alderman at Large Absent Jennifer L. Lemmerman Ward 2 Alderman Present Scott M. Forbes Ward 7 Alderman Present Donald L. Conn Jr. President/Ex-officio Member Present In Attendance: Fire Chief Christopher Leary, City Auditor/CFO Patrick Dello Russo, Police Chief Michael Lyle, City Solicitor Robert Van Campen, Cemetery Committee Chair Mark Garipay, Director of Public Works John Scenna

ORDER-2016-142 Appropriation Appropriation in the amount of $210,000.00 to Fire Overtime (012211-511000) from Available Free Cash (01-324001) Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen

ORDER-2016-143 Transfer Transfer of $14,000 from account 650052 - 528003 (Ambulance ALS Fees) to account 650052 - 529000 (Ambulance Professional Service). Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen City of Melrose Page 1 Updated 5/9/2016 4:03 PM Minutes Appropriations Committee April 25, 2016

ORDER-2016-144 Appropriation Appropriation from account 6500-319000 (Ambulance, Retained Earning) in the amount of $16,000.00; to A/C #650052-530514 (EMS Supplies) $10,000.00 and to A/C #650052-529000 (Professional Services) $6,000.00. This is to cover anticipated expenses. Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen

ORDER-2016-145 Appropriation Appropriation of $547,246.05 From Available Free Cash To: A/C #84044-490000 - Contract Stabilization Fund, Transfer In - $349,746.05; A/C #84054-490000, Capital Stabilization Fund - $197,500.00 as set forth herein. Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen

ORDER-2016-146 Appropriation Appropriation of $120,000.00 from Available Free Cash to account 012111- 513000 (Police Salaries Overtime) Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen

ORDER-2016-154 Transfer Transfer of 98,329.79 from group health providers to various accounts as set forth within. Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen

ORDER-2016-153 Appropriation Appropriation of $58,500 from available Free Cash to various Wyoming Cemetery Accounts as set forth herein. Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen

ORDER-2016-152 Acceptance Acceptance of Easements at the properties set forth herein within the Essex Street Project Recommend Passage Board of Aldermen City of Melrose Page 2 Updated 5/9/2016 4:03 PM

Transcript

▶ 9:13 Peter D. Mortimer: thank you very much and stay tuned for our next committee meeting good evening ladies and gentlemen it's 751 on April 25th 2016 this is the Committee on Appropriations I am the chairman Peter Mortimer we are joined this evening by other aldermen this is a committee of the whole meaning all aldermen are on this committee and our voting members we're joined by alderman Michael work Alderman John Tramontozzi, Alderman Monica Medeiros, Alderman Robert Boycelle, Alderman Jennifer Lemmerman, Alderman Scott Forbes, and President Donald Kahn. This meeting is being recorded, broadcast on MMTV, and it will be rebroadcast, and a DVD of the meeting is available for anyone who would like to have one at our MMTV

▶ 10:49 Peter D. Mortimer: television station headquarters located here on Main Street in Melrose. Is there a motion to open the floor? So moved, Mr. Chairman. Alderman Forbes has made a motion to open the floor for public participation, duly seconded by Alderman Boycelle. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, hearing none, public participation is now open. Seeing no members of the public wishing to come forward, Alderman Forbes has renewed, once again made a motion this time to close public participation. Once again, it was seconded by Alderman Boycelle. All in favor of closing public participation, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, hearing none, public participation is now closed and we will proceed with the agenda.

▶ 11:29 Peter D. Mortimer: The first order we have before us is order 2016-142. It is an appropriation in the amount of 210,000 to fire overtime. 012211-51100 from available free cash. It's offered by the mayor and it is here assigned to this committee. Is there a motion to suspend the rules, please? So moved, so we can second the appropriate parties. Has made a motion to suspend the rules. Alderman Boycella has seconded said motion. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, hearing none, we are under suspension. Chief Larry, would you join us, please? This is the Chief of the Melrose Fire Department, Chief Larry. Good evening. Come before us, would you like to make an opening statement, sir? Yes, I look forward tonight to request an appropriation of $210,000 to go towards an overtime line.

▶ 12:21 This year has been a very bad year for illnesses and injuries. And we also had a member deployed in the military that's been gone for over a year and a half. Thank you, sir. President Kahn, please. Chief, if this order passes, what period of time will this fund? Is this prospective or retrospective or a combination of both? I'm confident by any catastrophic event that this should carry us through the end of the year. Okay, and I know we haven't seen your budget yet, but what have you been allocated for your overtime budget for the upcoming fiscal year? Through Mr. Del Russo and the auditor's office, they've increased the line by $100,000 to make it more in line with our expenditures. And are you going to continue to be set with the problems that you're currently facing relative to deployments, sicknesses, and what not?

▶ 13:19 Is there anything that's resolving of the situation? Yeah, one member that was out on long term injury has filed for disability retirement, is now retired. Hopefully the member will come back from the military at some point, but then there's always other ones that could go. And do you anticipate funding the position for the individual who's applied for disability retirement in your next year's budget? Yes, we're in the process of hiring two hopefully by July, we'll be ready. Okay, and at some point in time, I'm sure somebody's going to ask Mr. De La Russa to come up here, and when he does, I would be interested in knowing if all these orders pass this evening, where we're going to be at the free cash.

▶ 14:06 Peter D. Mortimer: But we can discuss that at any point in time this evening, I think. Thank you. Thank you, President Kahn. Any other aldermen wishing to be, Alderman Medeiros, please. you uh thank you chief leary uh just what does this put your total budget uh line item for overtime at for the fiscal year close to 500 000. close to 500. okay thank you very much thank you alderman Medeiros seeing no further alderman wishing to be heard is there a motion please motion to recommend second i have a motion to recommend this order by alderman boisselle duly seconded by alderman lemmerman all in favor please say aye aye any opposed hearing none this order will be recommended to the full board at our next full board meeting the next order we have before

▶ 14:49 Peter D. Mortimer: us is order 2016-143 it is a transfer of fourteen thousand dollars from account six five zero zero five two dash five two eight zero zero three ambulance als fees to account six five zero zero five two dash five two nine zero zero zero ambulance professional services offered by the by the mayor and refer to this committee. So what would you like to say about this order? This is just for end of year housekeeping to pay some anticipated bills for Majority is for pro-EMS for the billing, so that'll get us to the end of the year. President Kahn, please. Yeah, just so people understand who are watching at home, this is not general fund money. This is money that's raised as a result of the ambulance service and is being appropriated to pay its bills, is that correct?

▶ 15:47 Peter D. Mortimer: Correct, this is moving from one line, the ALS fees. Now that we run ALS, we are able to handle those calls on our own. So that money that we would normally pay Cataldo for an intercept is left over in that account and that's being shifted over to the line for professional services. Right, and the revenue is generated by users of the ambulance service, not by taxpayer dollars. Correct. Thank you. Thank you, President Kahn. Any other Alderman wishing to be heard? Seeing none, we're ready for a motion. Motion to recommend. We have a motion to recommend the order from Alderman Forbes, duly seconded by Alderman Boycelle. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, hearing none, this order will be recommended for passage at our next full board meeting on Monday, May 2nd.

▶ 16:35 Peter D. Mortimer: The next order we have before us is order 2016-144. It is an appropriation from account 6500-319000. Ambulance retained earnings in the amount of 16,000 to account number 650052-530514. EMS supplies $10,000 and to account number 650052. 529000 professional services 6,000 this is to cover anticipated expenses this order was referred to this committee from the Board of Aldermen chief so again the end-of-year expenditures and cost for additional supplies to last us throughout the year Alderman Medeiros please could you elaborate a little bit more on what kind of supplies are these for the ambulances themselves or so the IVs medications defibrillator pads batteries things of that nature and this

▶ 17:47 is stuff that would would appear on the ambulance right more disposable things like the IVs and needles things like that that are one-time use and are these Are these things that, have we been budgeting for them and we just expended that line item or? Yes, we have in the past couple of years expended that line. Going forward again with Mr. DellaRusso, we've adjusted the budget to hopefully not have that issue next year. Thank you, thank you again, thank you. Thank you Alderman Medeiros. Any other Alderman wishing to be heard? President Kahn, please. Yeah, and again, the funding source on this is not general fund revenue. This is ambulance fund retained earnings and retained earnings is really the free cash that's been generated by the ambulance service fees and budget, is that correct?

▶ 18:38 Peter D. Mortimer: Yes. Okay, that's all. Thank you very much, President Kahn. Motion to recommend. We have a motion to recommend from Alderman Boycelle, duly seconded by Alderman Lemmerman. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, hearing none, this order will be recommended for passage at our next full board on Monday, May 2nd. Thank you very much Chief, thank you for your attendance this evening. The next order we have before us is order 2016-145. It is an appropriation of $547,246.05 from available free cash. To account number 84044-49000. Contract Stabilization Fund, transfer in 349 account number 84054-490000. Capital Stabilization Fund, $197,500 as set forth herein. This was offered by Mayor Dolan and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.

▶ 19:43 We are still under suspension, so Mr. DelaRusso, would you and your colleagues please come up? you'd like to make a prefatory statement I'll proceed directly to the colloquy mr. chairman if I may through you to the members of the committee the portion of this order devoted to the contract stabilization fund is intended we do this on an almost annual basis to offset any potential expenses the city incurs in connection with collective bargaining we are currently out of contract for almost two years with the fire union and for one year with both public safety police unions so the bulk of this money is intended to offset any increased expenses the city may incur in reaching agreement I would also say that this

▶ 20:40 amount also reflects a very conservative approach when it comes to compensation increases for union and non-union employees as I understand some of the funds in the Contract Stabilization Fund may also be utilized for non-union wages. So it represents a very conservative approach to our bargaining position right now. Thank you. And for people watching at home, that was our City Solicitor, Robert Van Kampen. He's joined on his left by our Chief Financial Officer, the Auditor, Mr. Patrick De La Russo. President Kahn, did I see your hand, sir? Yes, you did. So if the board acts favorably on the the medley of orders that we have this evening before us from the free cash What are we gonna have left for free cash balance after our next meeting? I'm sure the chair will have no

▶ 21:34 Free cash left period so after the May 1st meeting if all these orders passed We've got no free cash for the balance of the correct not in the general fund. That's correct and have your budget are you gonna budget any additional monies for the upcoming year for the contract stabilization funds through the chair what we're trying to do now based on my understanding of the current negotiations depending on the timing we may have to revisit this in the fall and And that's to be determined, I can't speak specifically to it because of all the unknowns and- Yeah, and I certainly, and I hope everybody, members of the board, don't want anybody to speak to any specifics of any collective bargaining agreement that's under negotiations at this meeting.

▶ 22:34 Is any of this money, is all of this for future settled agreements? Or is any of this allocated for agreements that have already been resolved? right now there there's a portion that's allocated for what's called compensated absences and um outside of that and this year the annual effort is 25 000 to address that um to my knowledge uh that's it there's no other commitments i think president Conn your question some of these funds would be utilized to the extent there's an agreed-upon contract in terms of retroactivity of wages. As I said, fire is out. I don't want to note the specifics, as we all know here, that settlement and negotiation of collective bargaining agreements by law are purely within the purview of the mayor

▶ 23:33 and are not something that this board votes on other than for appropriate money. So back to my initial question, what are we going to see in the FY17 budget in this line, Mr. DelRusso? I have allocated no funds in this line from the regular budget process period, other than what is before you this evening. Okay, so essentially this free cash appropriation is going to be in lieu of budgeting for this line in the upcoming annual budget. that is correct thank you thank you president cod alderman's werco please thank you mr chairman uh prior going forward should the board appropriate this uh amount into the contract stabilization fund is there a balance in that fund now yes the balance right now is 105 723.10

▶ 24:31 Michael P. Zwirko: so this would be adding the 350 to that figure that's correct and again it won't be funded in fy17 so that that figure will carry forward absolutely and one good thing about the funds and just again for the people at home as well as a refresher for everyone is this uh the funds do not close out at year end and the only way that the funds are utilized is through the board of all of them and i vote from the board period so i was wondering if you could explain a little bit um the capital stabilization fund and its purpose i understand that this is just appropriating to to those accounts but to discharge therefore after that will also come before us but I'm just curious if you could just explain a little bit that the

▶ 25:13 purpose of the capital stabilization fund absolutely the really chair the objective of the fund is to address sort of as a pay-as-you-go basis if possible to the best of our ability capital items generally in $25,000 and over that we see on the horizon coming before the board and the community I can speak to this I guess at this point since it's been brought up the allocation that was seeking for the capital is 197 500 and right now as I'm sitting here it's made up of two components one is voting machines from the election office which takes the lion's share and the second item that I at some point will ask the board to consider obviously after July 1st would be additional cruises for the police department and again particularly on the election side there they're still

▶ 26:20 discussing and there's some review on timing so I think the my position might the prude thing to do would be to set this aside in the fund and when the time is right after the July 1st that they feel either both or one are ready to come to the board and make a proposal then there are funds available to address it at that time again the funds will be in the fund is awaiting appropriation and my question is the same with respect to the contract stabilization fund is there a balance in this account prior to you requesting the one ninety seven five yes there's three thousand two fifty one point sixty eight so this will bring it just about just over two hundred thousand dollars absolutely correct is there a line item in FY 17 to fund this as well or is that

▶ 27:12 what just like the contract stabilization are we going to leave it as it's like the it's like the contract stabilization we do we do through the chair respect we do have an allocation for capital outlay the board recalls we He had put $300,000 a year for five years as the plan for the IT department. And that line within the budget itself carries that. But this really is a fund, it is different. And this is fund 8405, and it's really established hopefully to the best we can use. It pays to go with the approach avoid borrowing, which would incur the, as everyone is aware, interest cost and issue cost. we can do that when we can do it it's great but i can tell you now uh that's always a challenge

▶ 28:02 Michael P. Zwirko: and one final question um president khan had asked what the free cash balance will be should all these items pass favorably and you said the free cash will balance will go to zero that's correct if there was a balance in free cash that doesn't expire correct i mean that could stay within the general ledger um what would happen is if it's not appropriate prior to the end of the fiscal year it does expire and technically it rolls over into next year so theoretically it could become part of your free cash next year right but it does actually expire those are all the questions i had thank you thank you alderman swirko seeing no other alderman wishing president khan yes i don't have a question but um you know i come from a time when we had no stabilization

▶ 28:53 in funds of any kind, and what would happen back in those years is we would have rollercoaster budget situations where if you had an award that was unfavorable relative to an arbitration on a contract. Or something of that nature, we would have a large mid-year budget problem. Or Mr. Delarusso used to, would remember me harping about bonding for things like cruisers and trucks, which I always felt was an inappropriate use of the bonding power. So, you know, this is a sound financial tool for us to establish some of these funds so that we don't get caught short and we don't create emergencies where none need to exist. Thank you, President Kahn. Seeing no further, Alderman wishing to be heard.

▶ 29:51 Peter D. Mortimer: Motion to recommend. We have a motion to recommend from Alderman Forbes, duly seconded by Alderman Zwirko. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, this order will be recommended to the full board at our next full board meeting. Thank you. You're welcome, sir. The next order we have before us is Order 2016-146. It is an appropriation of $120,000 from available free cash to account 0-1-2-1-1-1-5-1-3-0-0-0, police salaries over time. We are still under suspension. Chief Lyle, would you join us, please? Good evening. Good evening, sir. Good evening, Chief. The $120,000 that I am requesting is to cover shortages in the police department. This year, we had an officer deployed in September for a year.

▶ 30:58 We were also notified two weeks ago that same officer is going to be deployed for another year. It really does a job on our structure of the police department. In addition, we've had two illnesses. One officer has been out since mid-December, and we don't see him coming back until the end of this fiscal year. They really do a job on our budget. but our numbers of 120 are very similar to last year numbers of 114 I requested as well thank you very much chief president Kahn please so chief how far down the road does this get us if this passes do we get to the end of the fiscal year barring any major events that occur we should be okay until the end of the year okay you know off the top of your head do you know what you

▶ 31:44 Do you have in your budget for police overtime for FY17? It's structured at 182, I did talk to the auditor, there would be additional funds. I have not seen my final budget as of yet, because my assistant is on vacation. Okay, and if this passes, what will we have spent in the aggregate for this year in OT? In excess of 300,000. That's all I have right now, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, President Kahn. Mr. De La Russo is signaling from the gallery our chief financial officer that he would like to add some information to this order for our benefit. If I may, through the Chair, Tuala and Pondy, good evening, Chief. The police department is also scheduled to receive $100,000 in additional overtime for FY17, just as the fire is.

▶ 32:42 Peter D. Mortimer: would be a hundred beyond what was budgeted for last year correct 282 thank you thank you thank you mr delarusso motion to recommend second we have a motion to recommend this order for passage by alderman Boisselle duly seconded by alderman lemmerman all in favor please say aye aye aye any opposed hearing none this order will be recommended for passage at our next full board meeting chief thank you for your attendance this evening you're welcome the next order we have What we have before us is order 2016-154. It is a transfer of $98,329.79 from group health providers to various accounts as set forth within. It was offered by Mayor Dolan and referred to this committee. Mr. DelaRusso. Good evening and thank you again.

▶ 34:03 Good evening, sir. I would ask respectfully that the respective department heads, As we go through the order one by one, also appear before the board, if that's okay with the chairman. Certainly, that's an appropriate itinerary. Thank you. The first one, again, we're asking for 98,329.79 transfer again. From group health providers to the various accounts as listed. The first is the fire department, chief. Do you have a second? The $55,000, it's entitled fire expense, motor vehicle repair and maintenance. Good evening. Requesting an additional $55,000 to the motor vehicle line. We've had numerous breakdowns throughout the year. Captain Gibson does a great job on preventative maintenance, but unforeseen problems continue to happen and

▶ 34:59 need to be addressed or else the apparatus will be out of service. Does anyone have any questions for Chief Leary? Seeing none, I think we can proceed. Oh, President Kahn, please. How did you arrive at the $55,000 figure here? We have outstanding bills that we have to pay. In that amount? Yes. We had left a little buffer there for repairs going forward to the end of the year. But since this was brought forward for tonight, we've had additional repairs. Is this going to get everything that's down into service? Everything is in service currently, but going forward, if we need additional repairs, I might have to come back to the board. And again, what are you budgeting for fire repairs for next year, Mr. De La Russo, if you know?

▶ 35:53 That I don't have in front of me. Okay, all right, that's all, thank you. Thank you, President Cott. Medeiros please thank you and these are for fire vehicles as as opposed to ambulances correct the ambulance is this separate separate yes any repairs with the ambulance thank you thank you thank you alderman Medeiros any further alderman wishing to ask the chief any questions at this time seeing none we can have the next department head come up please thank you Chris Wilcox please He's the assessor, salary and wage is $11,313.39. Good evening, Mr. Wilcox. Thank you. This year the assessing department had a change over in personnel. A long time employee retired and we didn't have the budget for it.

▶ 36:45 Peter D. Mortimer: So this is a request for making that whole for this year. Thank you very much, Mr. Wilcox. Are there any aldermen wishing to ask any questions at this time? President Kahn, please. So this is to cover benefits that would do to somebody who retired after a long career in the city? That's correct. Thank you. Thank you, President Kahn. I'm seeing no further aldermen wishing to be heard. We can have our next department head come forward on the MedTax. Medicare. Medicare, expenditures. Mr. Flavin, treasurer collector, please. Mr. Flavin, this is Art Flavin. Hi, good evening. This is an annual dance that we do on Medicare tax. We try to conservatively budget Medicare tax. It's the 1.45% of salary that we have to pay to the federal government

▶ 37:37 for Medicare. We usually set the bar low, and you've just heard a parade of overtime issues and detail issues. We're going to miss by about $10,000 this year. Next year's budget increased by twenty thousand dollars but i have no guarantee that we'll cover i won't be back again next year we like we said we don't want to leave money in this bucket when there's other opportunities so this is kind of an annual we're comfortable with it it won't be a big number if we have to come back thank you very much mr flavin alderman's werco please yeah thank you mr flavin so you seem to indicate that this is actually tied then to hours worked in wages so that's where the delta is every dollar we pay 1.4 or 5 percent to the federal government for medicare tax

▶ 38:23 Peter D. Mortimer: and so because of the overtime issues that's where this change is coming from details all those things at that okay thank you thank you alderman's worker i'm seeing no further alderman wishing to ask mr flavin any questions next we have the memorial hall building the electricity expenses and we have the director of memorial hall ms pickett broda with us this evening kathy Good evening, Mrs. Pigott-Pirota. Thank you for coming this evening. Hi. This is a direct result of the bookings at the hall have increased dramatically. And in particular, we had a record number in March of 56 events in one month, which is more than we've ever had in March. So I ran out of money for electricity and gas. and I imagine if I may presume that that same logic applies to the gas bill which is the next

▶ 39:22 Michael P. Zwirko: item correct all right thank you very much did I see your hand Alderman's work oh yeah it sounds like we're a victim of our own success in this case meaning the building gets used so much that the costs go up and so and generally the the Memorial Hall it does I mean it does act as a a draw that brings in many not only acts and types of events but it's also a benefit to the community from a cultural standpoint so just want to say thank you for your efforts and appreciate the clarification on the over over just my pleasure seeing no further alderman wishing to ask mrs. Pickett broader any questions will proceed to the auditor salary and wages thank you miss mrs. pick it broader thank you as mr. Wilcox spoke earlier this set pertains to the

▶ 40:16 Monica C. Medeiros: assistant city auditor who's retiring in June and this is what is owed her for her retirement separation thank you very much and I think that thank you exhaust the list well I think there were some questions mr. de la Rousseau before you step away Alderman Medeiros please thank you I thank you mr. chairman just for the people at home and this money is coming from the group health providers line item and I just wanted to point out that we had a memo since she wasn't here this evening from Mary Ann long the director of our human resources department and she has cited that the reason why these funds are available are because we've saved money by having an an opt-out enrollment where we're we've

▶ 41:14 Monica C. Medeiros: offered a benefit to our city employees that if they choose to not take our city insurance and instead find insurance elsewhere that they they can do so we provide them an incentive and as a result we've seen savings in that line item and this is absolutely correct mr. Deller so anything you'd like to add I want to commend her in her office because I obviously it's pay dividends and it's a gift that keeps on giving so I'm very pleased thank you thank you thank you Thank You Alderman Medeiros Alderman Boycelle please I have a question I mean we have 36 employees who opt out of the insurance plan and so forth are they getting in health insurance I mean it's required to have health insurance are they going out into the private networks

▶ 42:04 Robert A. Boisselle: to get insurance or are they going to the Commonwealth Network respect I have to defer that to the human resource director I'm not sure what the implications are okay I'm just not sure that we're sort of pushing these people out on a sort of a financial incentive and they're they're going to be required to have health insurance down the line or because they're the Affordable Care Act's in full effect this year and the penalties are quite high if they're not getting insurance hopefully they are getting that insurance somewhere out there if it pleases the board I will ask the human resource director to provide some information on that would you please thank you very much thank you as chair absolutely thank you alderman boycelle and alderman Medeiros please yes and i think that would

▶ 42:53 Michael P. Zwirko: be great if we could have for the next meeting if uh if uh ms long could confirm that but i do believe that they my my understanding is that anybody who takes this opt out has to show that they have credible uh coverage someplace else before they're given it but good i think it would be good to have that thank you alderman Medeiros alderman's work oh please if i could just make a request so um i i understand the city's in it's an open uh enrollment period right now and just be interesting to know if um this number is going to change at all next year if there's been any early inc indications that there'll be more than 36 employees or maybe that number will shrink that could have a budget impact either way so it'd be interesting to know if there's anything

▶ 43:35 Peter D. Mortimer: i also know that i the open enrollment period closes before fy 16 closes as well so that that may be a good forecast for fy 17 will do thank you thank you alderman's work oh motion to recommend order 0 1 5 4 second we have a motion to recommend this order for passage duly set by alderman boy cell duly second by alderman Forbes seeing no further discussion all in favor please say aye aye any opposed this order will be recommended for passage at our next full board Thank you very much. On May 2nd, Monday, May 2nd. The next and order of the Appropriations Committee is an appropriation of $58,000 from available free cash to various Wyoming cemetery accounts as set forth herein. We have a member of the Wyoming Cemetery Commission, Mark Garipay.

▶ 44:34 We have our Director of Public Works, John Chenna. john chenna and still before us if needed we have our city auditor patrick delarusso gentlemen welcome thank you please make yourself comfortable uh good evening good evening uh throughout the winter of 2015 and 16 the department of public works at the request of the cemetery commission chairman mark Garipay daniel o'neill ralph moore cemeteries administrator angela pisacriti we department mainly through its engineering office has conducted a capital improvement assessment of various items that are required to maintain the operation and the infrastructure within the wyoming cemetery so uh the result of this capital study throughout the winter months has created a created this funding order which

▶ 45:42 is aimed at continuing the cemetery's partnership with the veterans department and the veterans community continuing and restarting roadway improvements equipment upgrades for the crew to maintain the grounds a heating system upgrade and expansion like i speak to each one individually continued work with the veterans this year we're working through ryan mclean it continued improvements in the gar monument and also creation of a formal official flag burning memorial within the cemetery grounds traditionally at Memorial Day once a year we burn flags there with local scouts trying to create a more formal memorial to make that happen from year to year was an idea that veterans brought forward and that the Commission expressed interest in exploring and

▶ 46:43 bringing forward the heating system upgrade is for the main office the system that's in the building has been identified for several years as a need of repair this trend this funding order will install a new boiler which will keep the heating system operable in the years many years to come in the main admin office the landscape equipment purchase includes mowers attachment and hand tools that the cemetery operations crew can use day to day during spring cleanup fall cleanup and in the entire mowing period in between the paving of roads in the creation of a new expansion area is the result of a multi-page capital improvement report that our engineering office put together which I can forward to the board if you

▶ 47:38 so desire what they did was similar to our road program throughout the city we identified and ranked all the roads within the cemetery split them into the three categories presented to the Commission a plan that includes the total amount of roads which is about four and a half miles the percentage which are in the worst shape percentage which are in fair shape and the percentage which structurally appear to be sound so the Commission wants to try to do is start to on a year-by-year basis address the more glaring concerns and including in this is another plan for expansion the existing Noel wood area which is by the Ripley has two more years of available burials based on existing statistics and burials and the lotteries that took place the this plan

▶ 48:40 that we're funding tonight will create the right page 166 lots of additional burials and that's being done by removing roads and creating plots within the existing roadway so we'll be removing the asphalt and the gravel bringing in loom and creating plots the road obviously is a buffer between two section so we would make one larger section um we hope you look favorably upon this order i can most certainly speak to anything in particular i believe chairman Garipay has a brief statement to make on behalf of the commission in this regard thanks um i just want to stay over the uh over the last 12 months uh the commission has worked closely with uh john peter petrotonio um the engineering department to come up with a plan that um that identifies the immediate needs of

▶ 49:46 the cemetery we feel the immediate needs and which which a few of them are in this are in this um in the uh in the order here the expansion the road work the boiler veteran section um we appreciate all your support we your continued support and we hope that uh you'll look at this favorably and vote this order through thank you mr shanna thank you mr Garipay president khan please mr shannon is the roadway uh work gonna be performed by third-party contractors or can be performed by the city it'll be performed through our annual road contract through a third party okay okay that's all i had thank you president khan alderman Medeiros please thank you thank you both if by creating this new section and the 166 additional plots how

▶ 50:49 Monica C. Medeiros: long of a time frame will that take us through yeah we're averaging about 25 to 35 new sale lots a year so figure this with the two years we have will give us another probably close to seven years and what's the status again it with the lottery is a lottery complete is this an ongoing there'll be one last lottery which will meet the commitment from four and a half five years ago that funded the Nolwood that lottery will take place very shortly in May and June and then we expect that that will completely fill that section or well won't fill the section but in terms financially it will meet the commitment that the lottery is supposed to and in terms of the flag burning monument has there been any

▶ 51:49 efforts to look at and raising funds privately for for that in terms of donations or sort of a cross between art and something for veterans and so sometimes there might be an appetite for that I'm not sure how much that of this amount in general terms the veterans section has historically always seen volunteer work I believe one even our own police chief was out there power washing monuments with with local funeral directors with veterans this is this again in the city's history of working together and partnering with groups whether they be PTO s or user groups I think this is a fair commitment on the city's behalf to say thank you we care and hopefully this will spearhead had more volunteerism in the years to come in other sections of the cemetery

▶ 52:51 Michael P. Zwirko: yeah and I I don't know about how much are we talking towards the monument I didn't see that broken out so it's $4,000 is the monument portion that's the order under cemetery land yes cemetery landscaping okay the majority of that the labor will be performed by the crew that's to buy the material to to create the monuments thank you thank you alderman medeiros alderman swerko please yeah just i just had a quick question um the cemetery is very close to my house so i frequently walk through there and one of the nicer sections that i like is the uh the older sections of the um from the late 1800s 1900s and there's even a headstone that is shaped like a medal of honor that was awarded to a soldier who perished and was a medal of honor recipient i'm just curious if the roads

▶ 53:41 Michael P. Zwirko: that you're planning to pave because i don't have a map here is it the older section that you're repaving i mean you said that it had to do with the the quality of the roads but i would just be inclined to believe that it would be the older sections that have deteriorated more so i'm just curious as to what sections you're planning on we haven't identified a particular allotment of roads yet we know the category that we'll select from some are in the old section yeah as you as you stated some are in the newer section and more heavily used or involved in um you know funeral funeral route to an area that we frequently visit that's going to be once we have a funding source that's a decision that the commission can evaluate with our engineering office okay this is how much

▶ 54:25 Peter D. Mortimer: we have this is what we'd like to target sure but i think it's it's important now that what's important to note is that they now have a tool yep these are our worst rows these are our best restaurants this is everything in between where do we want to invest this funding order spearheads that investment and this is hopefully a multi multi-year plan towards improving their infrastructure it's four and a half miles of road yeah within the cemetery yeah thank you thank you Alderman Tuerco motion to recommend second motion to recommend from Alderman Forbes duly seconded by Alderman Boisselle seeing no further discussion all in favor please say aye aye any opposed hearing this order will be recommended for passage at our next full board meeting

▶ 55:11 Peter D. Mortimer: Thank You mr. Gara pay Thank You mr. Shana the next order we have before us is order 2 0 1 6 dash 1 5 2 it is the acceptance of easements at the property set forth here in within the Essex Street project it's offered by Mayor Dolan most people are probably familiar with the work going on starting at shah's right here and the order is before us mr shana thank you again as alderman mortimer has mentioned i think we're all familiar with this project one of the keys to acquiring the funds was the fast track portion of it which is why work is happening as orders are appearing before you but the orders um the orders are to accept easements at the willow street lcb location that is on willow street where there wasn't a sidewalk that's the um westerly side of willow

▶ 56:22 street where there was not a sidewalk we'll be adding a sidewalk with the permanent easement from the developer the second easement is on myrtle street at the corner of myrtle and shaw's it's on the inside corner by the shaw's building we're going to be rearranging that corner by taking an easement of private property to try to make the turning improve the turning radius for the loading dock so again that's kind of a joint venture to try to help shaw's a little bit in addition to helping us with the crossing there the last easement is with LG Realty it's the area in front of the parking lot the hospital that the hospital uses on Essex Street where we're creating kind of an inlet parking for the neighborhood those are the three easements before you we've worked

▶ 57:15 Monica C. Medeiros: closely with the legal office and drafting documents to memorialize these agreements a letter agreement is accompanies these orders and it's before you for review this evening thank you mr. Shana are there any alderman with questions motion to recommend we have a motion to recommend from alderman boy sell duly seconded by alderman Medeiros on discussion alderman Medeiros thank you I just want to think I know that that some of this did allow us to have some additional parking and sidewalk access and you know we just really want to thank the landowners for allowing us these easements and for working with us and thank Public Works for working diligently and having that process open and the open houses that have occurred you know even here in this chamber for

▶ 58:08 Peter D. Mortimer: that that project for the residents and just thank everyone thank you well said any other alderman wishing to be heard i'm seeing none all in favor of the motion to recommend please say aye aye any opposed hearing none this order will be recommended to the full board for passage alderman's werco makes a motion to adjourn second by alderman forbes all in favor please say aye aye any opposed hearing none the committee on appropriations is hereby adjourned please stay tuned for the committee on finance chaired by mr alderman scott that corner of the building sir that corner of the building thank you very much you're welcome good evening it is 8 40 welcome to the committee on finance my name is alderman scott forbes i'm your finance committee chairman

Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2016-04-25

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