Town of Warwick Selectboard April 3, 2017 Minutes Members present: James Erviti, Lawrence Pruyne, Dawn Magi (arrived at 4:15 p.m.) Others present: Town Coordinator David Young, Town Secretary Rosa Fratangelo, Police Chief David Shoemaker, Fire Chief Ron Gates, Lori Gates, Moderator David Koester, George Day, Finance Committee member Steve Ruggiero, Colin Killay, Jon Calcari, Jared Robinson (Athol Daily News) I. Call to Order Vice Chair Pruyne called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. in the Town Hall. II. Minutes Approval of the March 20, 2017 and March 27, 2017 minutes were put off until the next meeting as they were not included in the Board members' meeting packets. III.Presentations and Discussions 1. Open Annual Town Meeting Warrant--Young said the purpose of this vote was to advise the residents of Town that the window is now open to submit petition articles. Erviti MOVED to open the Annual Town Meeting warrant now (Monday, April 3, 2017 at 4:03 p.m.) and close it on Monday, April 10, 2017 at 7 p.m. Pruyne SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 2-0-0. 2. Grants --Young said that the Selectboard was informed by letter that our FY 18 Chapter 90 apportionment is $224,061.00. He noted that the bond authorization was passed today in the House. Young said that we were awarded a $500,000.00 small bridge grant last week, and that the $450,000.00 MBI grant contract was ready to be signed by the Chair. Erviti MOVED to authorize the Chair to sign the MBI grant contract. Pruyne SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 2-0-0. 3. Review of ATM Warrant --Fire Chief Ron Gates said that the Fire Department would like an article on the warrant asking the Town to vote to get a brush truck that would also be used for rescue/medical calls. He said that the plan would be to take the old brush truck and the Tahoe, currently used for medical calls, out of service. Gates said this would mean that all Fire Department vehicles would run on diesel. The Chief said both vehicles were "quite beat" and noted that the 1983 brush truck shakes as it is being driven. Chief Shoemaker concurred that the 1999 Tahoe is also in bad shape. Chief Gates said that they have been looking at used brush trucks and for what we need the price will likely be between $80,000.00 and $150,000.00 and he would like the warrant article to be for $100,000.00 and he will try to obtain a used brush truck for less. He noted that this would also serve as the main truck because 80% of calls are medical in nature. Pruyne inquired what the advantage was for a brush truck; Gates replied this type of truck is used for brush fires in fields or woods and is able to get much closer to a fire than a tanker truck. Ruggiero suggested to the Chief that he look at a website with municipal equipment for sale, and asked if an estimate for repairs to the current brush truck had been or could be done. Erviti asked that estimates be done to repair both the brush truck and the Tahoe. Young noted that we have yet to make the first payment on the new fire truck and that the projected tax rate is already at $21.00 per thousand. Erviti recommended to Chief Gates that he be ready to present figures both for a new truck as well as estimates to repair the old ones. The warrant articles were reviewed. Young noted that the first four are done annually, and that there were no new revolving funds under Article 5. Available funds articles 7-11 included articles to reduce the FY 18 tax levy. Articles 10 and 11 were Enterprise Fund articles, while articles 12-17 were borrowing articles that require a 2/3 vote to pass. Articles 19-24 were tax funded articles. Young said these included $15,000.00 for WCS improvement account, $2,500.00 for the Revaluation account, $2,000.00 Landfill Monitoring fund, $2,000.00 to audit Town accounts, $1,200.00 household hazardous waste expense, and an FY 14 prior year bill of $742.00 for library salary that was discovered to have never been paid. 4. Review of FY 18 Omnibus Budget --Young said that this budget is predicated on no wage increases and that the budget is level funded up to lines 27 and 28, which were requested increases for meetings and conferences and mileage for the Town Accountant. Young noted a $1900.00 reduction in the Town Clerk budget due to only one scheduled election in FY 18. He pointed out that the Town Hall expense overall is down. Young said that FRCOG fees are increasing, as are the FRCOG radio costs for both Police and Fire. He said Orange Ambulance costs will be $24,800.00. Pruyne inquired how many calls come from Warwick each year; Chief Gates replied about 60. When the subject of using Northfield ambulances came up, Chief Shoemaker noted that he recently heard three tones to the Northfield ambulance for a woman with chest pains and difficulty breathing, which means at least 10 minutes. Chief Gates noted that Northfield is not fully staffed and Shoemaker pointed out that each town is committed to its own calls first. Chief Gates said that he needed to review the Fire Department budget as he expected level funding rather than decreases in certain line items. The Highway Department budget will be discussed along with the use of salt and sand at the next meeting. Young said that the veterans' benefits account may be insufficient even though it is the figure recommended by the Veterans District. As for education, Young said that while the Tech School assessment will double due to twice the number of Warwick students attending next school year, the PVRSD assessment will decrease by about $40,000.00. He said Debt Service and Insurance Benefits are up by $5,300.00 and $40,630.00 respectively. The total amount of first draft of the FY 18 omnibus budget is up by $56,048.00 over FY 17, which represents a 2.9% increase. Young said more work needed to be done to refine the figures. As Board Chair, Magi signed the appropriate documents for the MBI grant. Jared Robinson took a photograph for publication in the Athol Daily News. 5. Selectboard Reports--Magi said that due to an issue with her back which makes sitting for prolonged periods difficult, she may have to resign from the HEART Committee. She noted that things are not moving forward as she expected, and that the committee had deemed itself an advisory group without a mission. 6. Coordinator Report -- No report given this meeting. 7. Public Comment--George Day said that he was first appointed Caretaker of the Town Clock in July of 1967, and he requested not to be reappointed for FY 18. He gave out copies of his own compilation of the history of the Town Clock from his 50 years of service as its caretaker. 8. New and Other Business Unanticipated at Time of Meeting Posting --None. IV.Adjournment At 5:57 p.m., Pruyne MOVED to adjourn. Erviti SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. Documents consulted at this meeting: *Letter to Dawn Magi from MassDOT dated March 31, 2017 Re: FY 18 Chapter 90 apportionment *DRAFT FY 18 Omnibus budget *DRAFT Warrant for May 1, 2017 Annual Town Meeting