TOWN OF HARWICH, MA 02645

FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

Community Center, Room #2

100 Oak Street

Harwich, MA 02645

508 430-7568

Thursday, May 11, 2017

6:30 P.M.

MINUTES

Present: Chairman, Jack Brown; Larry Ballantine; Noreen Donahue;Jon Chorey;and Mark Ameres.

Also Present: Chris Clark

  1. Call to Order: Chairman Jack Browncalled the meeting to order at 6:30PM.
  1. Minutes – Mistakenlyposted as an agenda item, minutes had been approved at the previous Finance Committee Meeting
  1. Reserve Fund Transfers –Chris Clark, Town Administrator, requested transfer $7,325 from the Reserve Fund in accordance with Chapter 40, Section 8 of the Massachusetts General Laws to pay per diem costs to fill in for one of the Council on Aging van drivers who has been out with a medical condition.

Motion made by Noreen Donahueto approve the request to Transfer $7,325 from Reserve Fund to Council on Aging Salary & Wages. Seconded by Larry Ballantine. Vote: 5-0.

  1. Topics for Discussion and Possible Votes:
  1. De-brief Town Meeting
  • If was felt the use of maps were beneficial in helping ATM attendees understand various warrant articles
  • Chris Clark was praised in his efforts to help simplify motions
  • A concern regarding the possible misunderstanding of the term “Free Cash” was raised. Possible other terms which might be more descriptive were discussed.
  • The committee agreed each motion should specifically state the source of funding for the article, i.e., the use of “from available funds” is too vague.
  • The Pros/Cons of scheduling the Special Town meeting on the second night rather than the first night were discussed.
  • A point was made that debt exclusion articles could be better explained if a debt pay-down chart was included along with expected debt.
  1. Salaries issue
  • It was agreed that this subject needs to be a priority issue in the upcoming months. Jon Chorey agreed to join Dana DeCostaand Mark Ameres on the elected official salaries sub-committee.
  1. Wastewater hookups financial assistance and FinCom Role in developing criteria
  • Chris Clark presented three options in preliminary discussion:
  • Include connection costs in overall budget to be able to give connectors an allowance to help pay costs. A range of possible allowance payments were discussed.
  • Use betterments to help connectors obtain long-term, low interest loans.
  • Establish a broad septic/sewer fund to provide both those upgrading septic systems and sewer connections with some financial support.
  • Jack Brown made the strong argument that no matter what direction the town decides, lower income residents need to be helped as not everyone will be able to afford associated costs, e.g., an income threshold. Most likely this means an addition to the overall budget to provide this aid
  • In addition to capital and connection costs, FinCom needs to look at how to equably deal with O&M costs, especially during the early phases of implementing the CWPM.
  1. Announcements and Correspondence – None
  1. Old Business- None

.

  1. New Business
  2. An informational discussion regarding procedures Cape Cod Technical High School must follow for the planned town vote seeking approval for funding of a new school. As the Harwich tax assessment will be significant, FinCom will follow and weigh in as appropriate. Noreen Donahue recused herself from this discussion and will do so for future discussions as she serves as Treasurer the Cape Tech fund raising committee to support voter approval.
  3. It was decided to cancel the June meeting unless a reserve fund transfer action is necessary.
  1. Adjourn

Motion made by Mark Ameresto adjourn at 8:00 PM. Seconded by Larry Ballantine. Vote: All in Favor.

Minuets taken by Larry Ballantine and respectfully submitted by Board Secretary Marie Hickey

NEXT SCHEDULED FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING – THURSDAY, July 13, 2017

Harwich Finance CommitteeMinutesMay 11, 2017