There will be 20 articles on the November 26 Fall Special Town Meeting Warrant, 17 of them involving matters of finance, and all 17 of them got the OK from the Mattapoisett Finance Committee on November 12.
The Town Hall might have been closed for the holiday, but the FinCom was inside scouring the warrant and hearing one final time from Harbormaster Jill Simmons on three waterfront-related articles, including one for a pumpout boat that would be partially funded by the state.
“Now that we’ve been advised by the Mattapoisett Boat Yard that they will not be continuing to operate the program next year,” Simmons reiterated, “The [Clean Vessel Act] said they would be providing the municipality with a boat and they would give us $56,000 towards the boat. The balance would be the responsibility of the town.”
The 23-foot pumpout boat is priced at $99,560, with the town contributing $43,310 with funds from the harbormaster’s fiscal year 2019 budget approved back in May at the Annual Town Meeting. The Board of Selectmen is co-sponsoring Article 16 with the harbormaster.
Also sponsored by the selectmen is Article 12, $40,000 for offseason repairs, improvements, renovations, and restoration work at the town wharf, including piling replacements, new bumpers, and an off anchoring system, said Simmons, which will allow boats to be anchored to pilings “and not hitting hard,” as Simmons put it.
Before Simmons left, the committee briefly discussed Article 13 to appropriate $155,965 to supplement various town department budgets, including $6,000 to the harbormaster’s FY19 budget
“The reason that I owe Jill that money is that the previous year the number of hours she worked,” said Town Administrator Michael Gagne, who thought that Simmons’ compensation was capped at 960 hours; however, that maximum was incorrect, so Simmons will be compensated for all the hours she worked.
The Finance Committee discussed the remaining articles once Simmons was excused, starting with Article 3 for $400,000 to fund various stabilization funds: $50,000 for the Special Education Reserve, $100,000 for Debt Service Stabilization, $100,000 for Long-term Stabilization, and $150,000 for Capital Improvements Stabilization.
Finance Committee Chairman Pat Donoghue took issue with the Special Education Reserve, saying the School Department was supposed to return the balance of the money taken from the account, not the Town.
“When [the school department] talked us into that,” said Donoghue, “they got a bump up in the budget for that year, which is permanent. But they agreed that they would … replace that fund up to the $290,000.”
They have been, Gagne told her. “It’s been coming up slowly,” Gagne said, with $70,000 transferred last year and another $40,000 this year. “They have been returning money at the end of each year,” Gagne continued. “They’re getting there. It’s probably going to take three years.”
Article 4 appropriates $10,000 in surplus revenue to hire a consultant to review the Town’s zoning bylaws, an action Gagne said was long overdue.
Article 5, although not formally recommended that night, will likely receive FinCom recommendation on Town Meeting floor for $950,000 to fund the replacement of a water main across to Pease’s Point. The reason for holding off the recommendation, Gagne said, was because the final bid would not be available until just before Town Meeting. Roughly $498,000 will be reimbursed by a grant, while the Town would borrow the remainder.
Article 6 will establish a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement with the developers of the Tinkham II solar project on Tinkham Hill Road. Gagne said that, according to Principal Assessor Kathleen Costello, the agreement would be for approximately $60,000 a year.
Article 7 was recommended with minimal discussion for appropriating $80,174 for bond payments – $7,643 from Water Retained earnings for the water department, $67,506 from Sewer retained earnings for the sewer department, and $5,025 from the tax levy for excluded debt related to the Town Road Phase VIII Project.
Article 8 is for $225,000 to replace a 2006 ambulance, with $100,000 coming directly from ambulance service receipts, and $125,000 coming from a loan.
“[Police Chief] Mary Lyons came to see about an ambulance and explained the situation of the ambulance, being its age and the amount of time it’s been down and the costs incurred for mutual aid,” said Gagne. “I talked with the Board of Selectmen about it,” he continued, with the board supporting the purchase and the short-term loan to fund it. That debt would be repaid using ambulance receipts money.
Article 9 would appropriate $135,000 from past police department article balances to fund a police radio communications upgrade with the towns of Fairhaven and Acushnet. According to Gagne, the project will cost more than the three towns had expected, “So rather than under-fund the project and we end up delaying it,” Gagne said, he recommended increasing the amount. Fairhaven is contributing $200,000 while Acushnet contributes $139,000.
Article 10 would appropriate $155,000 towards the engineering, design, and plans for an $8 million Industrial Drive rehabilitation and expansion project, for which Gagne, the selectmen, and the FinCom have expressed enthusiasm.
“We are hoping that within the next month we will hear on the federal DOT grant that we applied for … a total of $8 million,” said Gagne. “You get a little nervous sometimes when you get one basket of eggs that you’re getting the money from,” he continued; however, if the Town does not receive the full amount it requested, Gagne said other work grants and public works economic development grants could fund the project.
“This article is basis for whatever grants we do receive,” Gagne stated. The selectmen unanimously recommended the article, he added, saying the project would improve the intersection with North Street, provide a safe pedestrian crossing for park-and-ride users, and completely redevelop Industrial Drive and add sewer connections.
“It’s a good opportunity,” said Gagne. “I think it’s improvement planning and I think we can benefit from it.”
Article 11 funds a list of capital improvement items, most of which have already been approved by the Capital Planning Committee, but were prioritized differently on the list for a past Town Meeting. Totaling $128,500, $15,000 would fund a fire department outboard motor replacement; $7,500 fire truck lighting upgrades; $16,000 for facility improvements at the Council on Aging; $35,000 for bike path safety crossing lights; $20,000 to pave the church parking lot on Barstow Street (which would include a written agreement with the church allowing Town use of the lot); and $35,000 for Town-owned building repairs.
Article 14 is for $11,699.66 for a prior fiscal year bill for solid waste disposal. That bill, Gagne said, came after the books had closed.
Article 15 is for $22,000 requested by the Board of Health as part of the training of the next health agent, Kate Tapper, expected to replace Dale Barrows when he soon retires. The money would fund compensation for Tapper while she works alongside Barrows learning the position.
Article 17 pertains to developing the landfill for solar energy production. The $30,000 would fund the design, engineering, and bidding work. Gagne said two national solar companies have expressed interest in the site, adding, “I think it would be well worth our while.” The site is extensive, he said, and could provide up to 6 or 7 megawatts of energy. “The tax revenue could be significant from that, and the PILOT could be significant.”
Article 18 would appropriate $45,000 towards what Gagne deemed “a serious endeavor to remedy at least some of the worst defects in existing sidewalks that may not be reached in planned road projects.” These defects, he said, are trip hazards, and also include stormwater drainage problems.
Article 19 for $65,000 for the costs associated with employees retiring this fiscal year.
Article 20 is something Gagne called a “safety net” article. A grant for $88,426 should fund the installation of an emergency generator at the Mattapoisett Housing Authority Complex, but the article would allow the Town to get an advance on the grant through short-term borrowing should the state be slow in issuing the Town the money.
Article 21 was removed from the warrant, which was a request from the Highway Department for a sidewalk plow. The selectmen, however, would not recommend such an article until an inventory of the sidewalks the machine would be able to plow was completed. The Town, in the future, might consider a bylaw that would require all property owners to shovel the sidewalks abutting their properties.
There are no further Mattapoisett Finance Committee meetings planned ahead of the November 26 Special Town Meeting, which will take place in the ORR High School auditorium at 6:30 pm.
Mattapoisett Finance Committee
By Jean Perry