Westport News

Present:    Jane Loos (JL), Bob McCarthy (BM), Warren Messier (WM), John Miller (JM), Paul Schmid (PS), Tony Vieira (TV), Hugh Morton (HM)

Absent:    Lisa Arnold (LA), Meryl Moss (MM)

1.  JL, Chair, opened the meeting at 7:00 pm with the traditional salute to the flag.

2.  JL introduced new member Hugh Morton to the Committee.  She then announced that Paul Schmid would be resigning at the end of the year.  She thanked him for his many years of service.

3.  Minutes of Previous Meetings:  October 7, 2008:  WM moved and BM seconded a motion to accept the minutes as circulated.  The vote in favor was unanimous.
    
4.  Highway Dept.:  JM received a letter from Jack Sisson, Highway Surveyor, regarding two road projects that need to be completed and are not fundable under Chapter 90.  This was tabled till the next meeting in order to invite Mr. Sisson to appear.  (See attached.)

5.  Board of Selectmen:  JL attended the BOS meeting on December 1st to discuss the
upcoming fiscal year and the budget cycle we are about to enter into.  She read two memos from the BOS.  One was regarding a budget deadline of December 15th and a Town Meeting warrant article deadline of January 16th.  The second memo was stating that the Annual Town Report deadline is January 30th.

6.  CIPC:  In LA’s absence, JL, with assistance from Rich Botelho, CIPC, discuss the upcoming plans.  The CIPC is concentrating on splitting items into two categories, large, which would require direct bonding, and small, which would come to Fincom with the regular budget process.  The large items would be those that had a value of $50k or more and a life of at least 5 years.  The CIPC discussed better presentations and documents of items requested.  Fincom would like to know if there is to be a cap on requests and who would monitor.

7.  New Fire Station:  PS and WM made a brief presentation of the progress that the Fire Station Building Committee has made.  The Treasurer has begun the borrowing.  Architect bills have started to be paid.  The interviews are completed and Architectural Consulting Group of New Bedford has been chosen to be the OPM (Owners Project Manager).  The Committee expects to advertise for bids around January 14th to be opened and awarded around March 3rd.  This should be a 14-month project with an approximate start two weeks after awarding the bid.

8.  Schools:  JM informed the committee of the progress with the School Committee regarding the indirect costs.  They are staying with a percentage method.  Linda Galton, Superintendent, has given a memo to the BOS which has not been signed yet.  TV made a motion and BM second it that JL send a memo to the BOS that they need to look into this matter and resolve it no later than January 1st.  The vote in favor was unanimous.

9.  Fincom Assignments:  JL distributed a new assignments sheet to include HM.  JM made a suggestion that whomever now joins the Fincom should work on Warrant Articles.  JL said she wants all liaisons to work on both.
 
10.  Budget Cycle:  JL distributed a draft of guidelines for FY10 budget cycle.  This detailed the process, the timeline, the cuts, and the projections. (See attached.)  A suggestion was made that we need to start looking at more long-term financial planning, such as three or five years.  JL has been working closely with the Assessors and the Collector to project revenue for FY10.  

11. Other:
(a)  JM wanted everyone to know that there would be GIS training at the Town Hall Annex on December 10th at 3pm.  
(b)  The Fincom page on the town website is up and soon will be adding minutes, agendas, schedules, etc.

Adjournment and next meeting:  There being no further business to come before this meeting, WM moved and BM seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:00pm.  The vote in favor was unanimous.   The next meeting will be January 13th at 7:00 pm.
                            

Respectfully submitted,
Nicole Botelho, Recording Secretary