Westport News

Present:    Lisa Arnold (LA), Bob McCarthy (BM), Warren Messier (WM), Tony Vieira (TV), Hugh Morton (HM), Tracy Priestner (TP), Jack Baughan (JB), Charles Barron (CB), John Miller (JM)

1.    LA, Chair, opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. with the traditional salute to the flag.

2.    LA introduced Charles “Buzzy” Barron as the newest member of the Fincom.  Everyone went around the table telling a little about themselves.

3.    Minutes:    The minutes of 5/20, 5/21, 5/26 and 6/23 were presented for approval.  BM made a motion and WM seconded the motion to approve all minutes as presented.  The vote was unanimous in favor.

4.    Reorganization:    TV made a motion and WM seconded the nomination of LA as Chairperson.  This was withdrawn when LA thanked them but declined the nomination.  JM made a motion and WM seconded the nomination of TV as Chairperson.  After some discussion, TV accepted the nomination and the vote was unanimous in favor of TV as Chairperson.
                TV made a motion and WM seconded the nomination for LA as Vice-chair.  Again, this was withdrawn when LA thanked everyone but declined the nomination.  JB made a motion and TV seconded the nomination of JM as Vice-chair.  This was withdrawn when JM declined the nomination.  JM made a motion and BM seconded the nomination to keep HM as Vice-chair.  There was some discussion and HM accepted the nomination and the vote was unanimous in favor of HM as the Vice-chair.

WM made a motion and JM seconded it to recognize the great work that LA did as Chairperson of the Fincom under extenuating circumstances.

5.    Data Processing Letter:    JM presented his draft letter to the head of the Data Processing department requesting a 3 year plan of the tasks to be undergone and the status of any projects already in the works.  BM made a motion and WM seconded it to accept the letter with some minor changes.  All were in favor of JM sending this letter.

6.    Appointments:        A motion by LA and a second by JM and a unanimous vote in favor by all approved the following appointments.    WM is the rep to CPC, JM is the rep to the Educational Fund Committee, WM is the rep to the Fire Station Building Committee, HM is the rep to the Personnel Board, CB is the rep to the Tax Incentive Program Committee and WM is the rep to the Dredging Committee.

7.    Liaisons:    TV went over the list of liaisons briefly and will revisit at next meeting.  HM made a motion and WM seconded it that TP be the liaison for the schools and regional schools.  TV also set up a subcommittee of BM, CB and HM to visit the legal issues on utilization of town counsel.  They will meet with Kopelman & Paige and Mike Coughlin to discuss this.  Other liaisons discussed were JM to take Accountant, Assessors, Treasurer, Collector, Veterans Graves and Services.  CB will take Elections and Conservation.  All others will be decided at the next meeting.  TV said he would email a proposed agenda and assignments for the next meeting.

8.    Update on FY10:    Mike Coughlin was in attendance to give a brief update on the state of FY10.  He started by congratulating TV and HM on their offices.  He then said there was a new Chapter 70, which is $90k less but the state has reduced the net school spending to cover the shortfall.  This information has been passed on to the school committee and the superintendent.  The new superintendent started on July 13th.    The school budget will still be within net and over $100k.  TV formed a subcommittee of himself, JM and TP to discuss items within the school budget and see if they need help.  MC said the chair of the school committee has envisioned this.
                MC said June collections were $200 million under statewide.  MC said he was in DC and met with the education secretary and the stimulus was supposed to cover two years but now it will not cover FY11 without a new stimulus.  MC said we are in better shape than most towns.  He said the only option is to raise the meal tax ¾ of a % and hotel/motel tax by 2%.  TV thinks we should do the research on this before making any decisions.  He asked TP to set up a meeting with the chair of the school committee.  TV said the subcommittee is just to be a welcoming committee to assist with the budget going forward.  LA asked for a synopsis of the changes in the school budget that was just delivered.  MC said we are still planning on a special town meeting in October to see if taxes will be raised for meals and rooms.

9.    Landfill Audit:    Tony Roselli, from Roselli, Clark & Associates, was in attendance to discuss the audit of the Landfill Department.  He started by giving some background and who requested the audit.  (See attached report.) He discussed some items in the report and fielded questions to the same.  TV asked that a copy of the audit be distributed to all members via email.  Suggestions were made that MC come up with a way to log the amount of trash deposited at the landfill from the town (town hall, police station, town hall annex, highway department, cemetery, etc.).  CB made suggestions that 1-someone monitors and records bags left at the gates; 2-look at what other towns do that are in this situation; and 3-look into new equipment such as compactors and compactor trucks.

10.    EOY Transfers FY09:        TV wants backup of all requests for transfers including bills.  The first transfer was $5k for legal.  JB made a motion and LA seconded the motion to accept the transfer.  The vote was unanimous in favor with one abstaining.  The second transfer was for $7k to cover the shortfall in Health Insurance.  LA made the motion and JB seconded it to accept the transfer. The vote was unanimous in favor.  The last transfer was the remaining balance of $28,121.94 from the reserve fund to the legal department.  Discussion was that each department should have their own legal budget.  LA made a motion and HM seconded it to accept the transfer.  The vote was 8-1 in favor with JB opposing.  

11.    Other:        JB handed out some information on the role of the Fincom from the handbook and from other sources.  He also asked that a copy of the town by-law pertaining to the Fincom be distributed.  
            TV asked that the Town Accountant’s office forward information on legal bills per department to the committee before the next meeting.  The next meeting will consist of a report on the legal situation from the legal subcommittee; the school superintendent will be here, liaison assignments and the landfill.
                
 Adjournment and next meeting: There being no further business to come before this meeting, LA moved and TP seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:30pm.  The vote in favor was unanimous.   The next meeting will be August 11th at 7:00 p.m.
                            
Respectfully submitted,
Nicole Botelho, Recording Secretary