by Frank Schroth
At last night’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen department heads from the DPW, Fire, Police, and Consolidated Facilities updated the board on recent measures being taken in the ongoing efforts to deal with overwhelming amounts of snow and concerns about public safety.
Snow clearing operations underway last night – photo courtesy of MPD
Annmarie Fagan had convened a meeting earlier in the day and it was decided to implement an incident command system that identifies existing problem areas and prioritizes them. Joe Lynch, Director of the DPW, is spearheading the effort. The effort calls for daily meetings and updates every 12 hours to identify goals for next 12 hours, identify gaps if any exist from previously set goals, and allocate resources to those tasks. Tucker and Pierce schools are current priorities. (FYI – crews were at the Pierce last night when I returned from this session). Senator Joyce had been in contact with the DCR who have jurisdiction over some of the area around Pierce. They have committed to attending to that area. It was noted that a boy was struck by a cab Monday afternoon in Quincy walking home from school.Wells and Grant of MPD and MFD reiterated that the priority is public safety. As Grant said, “Everything being done is safety oriented.” Chief Grant has not driven every road in town but has been on most of them and said, “I have yet to find a street we cannot get down.” The primary tasks remain the same: clearing snow to a) improve sight lines 2) widen roads and 3) improve pedestrian safety. MPD Chief Wells said he was hopeful that by Thurs / Fri residents would “see a dramatic improvement” to the areas around Pierce and Tucker. Lynch said sanding and salting operations are also underway.
Officials are also looking ahead. The melting snow will bring about new challenges. Potholes and swampy fields are a concern. As Chief Wells said, “Cabin fever is live and well here in Milton.” And when the weather begins to turn folks will come out in droves. On the financial front a call is going to take place Thursday regarding FEMA / MEMA reimbursements. Governor Baker is working with state and federal officials to get as much relief as possible for towns in the Commonwealth.
Town Accountant Amy Dexter and Town Administrator Annmarie Fagan reviewed cuts to town department that are required to meet the budget strategy recently approved by the Selectmen. This calls for using ~$2.5 of ~$3 million in free cash to meet a budget that is essentially a level service budget. The remaining ~$500K in free cash will be applied to one time expenses. Even with the use of free cash there is ~$1million shortfall in meeting all department requests. The schools are cutting about 8 FTE’s in addition to other cuts to reduce their request by ~$500K. The town departments are also making cuts. These include but are not limited to: not funding 2 approved new police officers (~$117K), reducing Fire Dept overtime budget ($209K), and cutting DPW funds for storm water management (~$100K).
Ms. Dexter also reviewed department requests to be funded by the Capital Improvement Committee’s next round of bonding. These include but are not limited to: $400K for roadways, $180K for a new bucket truck, $200K for surface drains, and $145K to Fire Station buildings and maintenance. The total number of items to be bonded is $1,200,300. In addition the committee identified non-Capital bonded items that include but are not limited to: ~$187K for school iPads, $160K for financial software to be used by both town and schools, and $38K for HVAC control upgrades for the schools. The total non-bonded items come to $459,480. Ms. Dexter noted that the term of the loan and the useful life of the product/service requested factor into what is bonded and what isn’t. It was also noted that the items to be funded are still somewhat in flux. While the amounts are not likely to change it is possible that some items may be replaced. Selectman Hurley who is also on committee with Ms. Dexter said that they are in process of developing a more rigorous system for assessing needs and assigning priorities to requests. The committee received ~$5.4 million in requests and are funding $1,659,780.
Lastly, the board voted to extend the date for the demolition of the Hendries building until March 31, 2015. (Actually, they did not say 2015 but that is our assumption). Member Keohane asked if there was any progress. Chair Conlon said that there had been no change since they last discussed the issue. Both Carrick Realty and the town had asked for extensions from the Conservation Commission which is attempting to hold a hearing to grant demolition permits. The demolition cannot occur until a permit is granted.
When the selectmen had last discussed the issue a contract had not yet been signed with the demolition firm. Lack of a contract is also an impediment. Lastly, the Conservation Commission issued an enforcement order for Carrick to test the wells on the property. Carrick had committed to removing the wells but sought to level the building first and remove the wells as part the site development. If Carrick needs to remove the wells in advance of the site development that will likely require the town demo their portion of the building from Central Avenue. The reason is that the ground over the wells would be unstable and could not be used to stage equipment. That in turn might necessitate the town put the demolition back out to bid as it would significantly increase the overall cost of the demolition.
I missed the Selectmen’s meeting because of another meeting. From my quick glance of your write up Frank, I still don’t see a defined process for citizens to report concerns. I think a lot of residents’ frustration now is that one person calls a selectman, another the town administrator, the next person calls the School or the MPD. Some contact everyone they can think of. Shouldn’t all non-emergency calls/emails about snow related concerns go to one place? If yes, where? There also should be a way for a resident with a legitimate grievance to then get feedback on when, approximately, their concern will be addressed and what to do if it is not. Residents’ voices and knowledge are a very valuable part of the town’s success in dealing with this emergency. The town needs to tell us what process to follow to have our concerns/grievances/notifications heard and they need to be open to all feedback – good and bad – it is how we learn how to do better.
Looks like an interesting meeting.
This Free Cash situation is disturbing. The lack of a policy in dealing with free cash is disturbing and mind boggling. Where was the debate, discussion , input? It appears our budgeting strategy is to overspend available resources and then depend on “hitting the lottery” aka free cash to fund our obligations and needs. As Mr. Innes said in another post , this is a bad strategy for a number of reasons, the least of which it is based on a potentially non recurring variable.
The need for an orverride should not come as a surprise to anyone. The need was cited in the 2014 Warrant. The Town under Prop 21/2, can raise revenues by $1.7 million. We have contractual salary obligations of $ $ 2.2 million. Our people deserve to be paid fairly, but if you don’t have the money put it on the ballot.What are we afraid of?
After 35 years, Milton had our credit rating up graded to AAA .In January, this rating was reaffirmed, citing strong fiscal management, significant reserves ( including free cash) and ” NO plans to draw on them “. Interesting , a plan to draw on reserves surfaced one week after the bond sale.
Actually this was not a fiscal plan but rather a political strategy as to avoid a stand alone over ride vote.I guess some were wary or concerned about being alone for a up or down vote. A high credit rating = lower borrowing costs on short and long term debt.
It was stated in a public meeting that, from a credit rating perspective that using free cash was a better alternative than a failed over ride. I don’t believe that this is accurate. We have had failed over rides that did not result in a downgrade but we know using free cash to balance budgets is not good fiscal policy.
Let’s get our fiscal l act together, put together a free cash policy and put an over ride(s) on this years ballot. Using free cash for political reasons is not a good “plan ” and may be a bad political strategy.
I was trying to give my old home town a break but I visited friends in Milton Sunday and the Milton town government, Board of Selectmen and the DPW should be totally ashamed about the way they failed to plow many of the side streets. They can make all the excuses they want but compared to other towns like Braintree where I now live they can only be excuses. My old street now looks like a cow path. Looks like the Milton DPW just made one pass through the street and moved on. With all the high taxes the residences of Milton pay they should demand an explanation why Milton did such a poor job. I know there was a ton of snow but I was in Milton for the Blizzard of ’78 when Milton got more snow over a shorter period of time and they managed to open all the streets so that cars and pedestrians could navigate. Not this time. Simply, why can a town like Braintree clean the back streets but Milton cannot. Explanation not excuses. Braintree had as much snow as Milton and if I am not mistaken more.
A proposed task force after the fact is a sad admission of the failure of the town of Milton’s political structure. I think the law has a term for this – Nolo Contendere -which loosely transfers, ” I did nothing wrong….and I won’t do it again….”.
I encourage readers to watch the Warrant Committee’s meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. for up-to-date information about the Town’s FY16 budget. The Warrant Committee will review projected revenues and current recommendations for FY16 expenditures, including the use of free cash. There are many moving pieces and, as always, the numbers are subject to change as the budget process moves along.
Thank you to all of the members of the Warrant Committee for your hard work in preparing the Town’s FY16 budget.
Tonight’s Warrant Committee meeting will be broadcasted live, starting at 7:30pm on Comcast Channel 22 and RCN Channel 15.
At the May 2011 ATM I noted (as WC chair) that we would need to have an override around 2014/2015 as the impact of the 2009 override would have ceased to be able to support the budgets. Here we are and with 4 years of notice and we’re still trying to find a way around having the discussion.
Plus ça change…..