The Brattleboro Selectboard approved a guaranteed maximum price for the police station at their last regular meeting of 2016 Tuesday night. With all three facility project prices locked in, the total project remains very close to the estimated cost originally anticipated, even with some additions of new work.
Westgate received funding to move forward with restructuring, the board reviewed a number of FY18 budget loose ends, and parking, parking, parking!
Preliminaries
Chair David Gartenstein mentioned an executive session to discuss contract and possible litigation matters then announced that the Commonwealth Dairy would be expanding, bringing their corporate headquarters to Brattleboro, and adding up to 50 jobs.
Town Manager Peter Elwell had no comments.
For selectboard comments and committee reports, Dick DeGray thanked town staff for helping him with his downtown flower program. “They are always there to help me if I need assistance,” he said. “ It doesn’t happen without them.”
There was no Public Participation.
Police and Fire Facilities Projects
Town manager Elwell reported that the West Brattleboro Fire Station remains on schedule with no new issues to report. Siding and trim, electrical room, apparatus bay plywood, and interior drywall are the next to-do items. The plan continues to be to occupy the building in February.
The foundation work at Central Fire Station continues, and will be done in early January. $9,000 of extra soil testing was approved by Elwell.
Brattleboro now owns the 62 Black Mountain Road property and has received a first rent check from the Reformer.
Overall, he said the three projects are pretty much on track, as are their budgets.
David Schoales asked about the vapor barrier modifications and was reassured by Project Manager Steve Horton that the installation went well using the latest information and materials, and within budget.
Dick DeGray asked about rumors he heard about a subcontractor scrambling to make up for something overlooked in a fixed price deal. He wondered if it would impact Brattleboro in any way. Horton said with a fixed price, issues that arise are for the subcontractor to solve, so it wouldn’t be an issue for the town. He added he hoped it wasn’t an issue for any subcontractor, either.
Police Station Guaranteed Maximum Price
Town Manager Elwell told the board that the guaranteed maximum price quoted is $2,773,336, about $150,000 higher than originally estimated. The additional costs come from fitting up tenant space for the Reformer, a complete replacement of the current parking lot, and drainage improvements to comply with State regulations. He said these were components not originally included in the estimates, describing them as ”increases in scope.”
Elwell noted that with lower-than-expected maximum prices for the West Brattleboro and Central stations, the overall difference when considering all three projects together is just $27,758 higher than estimated.
The board approved of the maximum price for the police station. Full details of the police station project (helmet stickers!) are included in a bid document from DEW Construction, available from the Town Manager’s office.
The final bit of Police-Fire business was a contract amendment with Northeast Collaborative Architects to cover additional work outside of the scope of the original contract.
The selectboard approved of an additional $4,000 for the demolition of the West Brattleboro fire station, plus a parking lot and landscaping. They also approved $5,300 for parking lot improvements at Black Mountain Road, and $4,000 to fit-up the space at Black Mountain Road. Half of the up-fit costs will be reimbursed by the tenant.
$834,689 remains as the contingency balance for the project.
Open houses for each of the buildings will be planned, and the public is invited anytime to make arrangements to vist the construction sites. “We love to have visitors,” said Horton.
Monthly Financial Report with John O’Connor
Finance Director John O’Connor gave the board their regular monthly financial report for the month of November.
41.7% of the fiscal year is complete. General Fund expenditures are at 42.7% of the annual budget.
The Utilities Fund is at 42.4% and the Parking Fund is at 36.4% of their respective budgets.
“All three funds in very good shape at this point” said O”Connor.
The Solid Waste Fund shows 32.8% revenues and 34% expenditures. (November bag revenue, collection costs and tipping fees get recorded in December.)
Brattleboro has loaned out $3,438,147 and has $654,932 available for additional loans or grants.
There are 43 grants underway and 8 in application process.
O’Connor estimated that about $30,000 per month comes in to the town as program income from repayments of loans.
Westgate Housing Grant
Patrick Moreland took the lead on this item, introducing both the project and the presenter John Hoover.
Moreland said that a previous, denied application had indicated that if $62,000 was raised from other sources, Brattleboro will kick in $3,000 from program income to support the Westgate Housing Reconstruction Project.
Hoover said they just got word of a grant of $35,000 given to the project. He added that the project creates a partnership with the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust to restructure the ownership and preserve 98 units of affordable housing in Brattleboro and a resident-controlled board. “It’s a complex project.”
Gartenstein said he was glad they got the funding and that it was a great idea. The board voted 5-0 to support the project.
FY18 Budget – Loose Ends
David Gartenstein announced it was time for the “budget smorgasbord,” which paved the way for Town Manager Peter Elwell to begin his overviews of remaining FY18 general fund budget categories that don’t fit into any specific departmental budget.
Elwell noted four significant changes to the budget based on new information:
1. Worker’s Compensation will be going up to $492,700, up about $19,000 from what was previously expected. Gartenstein found the increases “staggering” over the last few years, Elwell agreed, and both indicated a desire to look at the costs more closely to see what could be done.
2. General Liability costs will be going down to $136,950. Elwell wasn’t sure why exactly, but welcomed the favorable rates.
3. The only remaining “lease item” is an annual payment of $126,925 to Honeywell which will continue until 2022. Elwell said that if they stick to paying cash for vehicles, they could reduce this line item to zero at that point.
4. Solid Waste costs have gone up slightly to include a payment to the Windham Solid Waste Management District to help close the MRF, now that Brattleboro is sending recycling to Rutland.
These four items result in a decrease in the FY18 budget of just under $79,000.
….
Elwell then went through the ten categories of non-departmental budget items. Of note:
– There was some talk of putting town legal services out to bid, a promise to look into how that might be done, and a defense of the current Town Attorney by the Town Manager. The Town Attorney gets $110,000 a year for as much work as we throw at him.
– The General Services category will see a reduction in FY18 by $31,000, attributed to savings in audit services. By preparing the paperwork in-house, it seems, significant savings can be realized.
– Retirement cost are down. Health insurance costs are down, but there are some new expenses related to starting up our alternative program of HRAs.
– Human services costs include $120,000 in committee recommendations, plus money for the Brattleboro Museum, Climate, and Woman’s Freedom Center.
– Ambulance costs are up. “We’re phasing out our discount with Rescue Inc. over five years,” reminded Elwell.
– Heating costs at the Municipal Center are down.
– Fees to be in regional organizations, some optional, some non-optional, are generally up.
Franz Reichsman of the Finance Committee asked about attorney hours calculations, and operating costs of the municipal center if the police move out.
This prompted an interesting response from Chair Gartenstein, who said that the board had been discussing some Municipal Center items in executive sessions, and “we’ll have a lively discussion as soon as we’re ready.” He said he “couldn’t talk about negotiations now,” but that it was “likely to spill over and be fully public once the time comes.”
They all reviewed the list of remaining FY18 budget items to discuss in January, and encouraged the public to come out to meetings or send in questions.
Municipal Planning Grant
The Agency of Commerce & Community Development had given Brattleboro $20,000 in the form of a municipal planning grant. It will be used for a downtown parking study.
Elwell said it would help with downtown planning.
FY18 Parking Fund Budget Additional Information
The board previously approved spending $260,000 on parking lot improvements in FY18, but also asked for more details about other paving and energy savings possibilities. Assistant Town Manager Patrick Moreland did the research and presented the selectboard with new alternatives of how to spend a bit more.
Plan one called for improvements to Harmony Lot and energy efficiency work at the Transportation Center, for a total of $271,200. This would resurface Harmony Lot, and provide new sidewalks and curbing. It would also do energy audit recommendations to reduce costs at the Transportation Center, such as install a pellet heating system, insulate the concrete, and add window quilts.
Plan two called for improvements to the Harmony (91 spaces), Harris (64 spaces), and Preston lots (59 spaces) for a total cost of $251,700.
A very detailed and complete report was included for board members to study, showing the state of each lot in town.
Moreland said there were some rebate-like savings to be had by doing energy efficiency work now, but also that doing a larger parking lot project could benefit from favorable pricing.
DeGray, Kate O’Connor, and John Allen wanted as much parking lot improvement as possible. Allen called the condition of the lots “deplorable.”
Moreland said new paving work would likely last 6-8 years, and that they would investigate improvements in convenience (ie, credit cards) for parking meters. He cautioned that the service fee to process the 25 cent parking meter fee was $1.50 last time they checked.
David Schoales and Gartenstein preferred the alternative with energy improvements at the Transportation Center, but were outvoted. Both felt the energy audit provided a road map to future savings, and investments now would yield savings that could then be applied to paving projects.
Michael Bosworth expressed some disappointment that no energy efficiency project seemed scheduled for the next couple of years. “Your minds seem made up,” he said of their paving decision. He also suggested alternative sources for energy improvements.
In addition to approving the all parking lot option, the board approved of coordinating with adjoining Harmony Lot owners to do the work for free where it touches their property in exchange for a hold-harmless agreement.
Solid Waste Update
As part of the Town’s decision to switch to single-stream recycling, some negotiations with our trash hauling company and some lingering issues with the Windham Solid Waste Management District need to be addressed.
Elwell informed the board that the costs for helping to close the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) were now included in the budget for the coming year. This amounts to about one-third of the expected $94,000 total to close it down.
Where our local compost will be processed was a lingering question, with one possibility being that it stay local at WSWMD, but a more likely option be that Triple T take it to Martin’s Farm in Greenfield. Decisions will come later.
Committee Vacancies
Looking for something to do during the holidays with your friends or family? Fill out an application to be on a Town Committee! Applications due December 28, and appointments will be made January 3. Full list and details on the Town’s web site.
David Gartenstein noted that the Development Review Board had sent notice that Joe Bushey, a longtime member, had “relocated out of the area” and they requested the vacancy also be noticed.
Special Elf-ecutive Session
The board then went to a special, unscheduled session. We snuck in and got this recording of the meeting:
