Selectboard Special Meeting – FY18, Solar at the Landfill, DeGray Not Running Again

Dick DeGray will be joining David Gartenstein at the proverbial Selectboard retirement center, announcing his intentions not to run at Tuesday’s special meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard.

The meeting had two focal points and one interesting diversion. The FY18 budget and tax rate is very close to being finalized, a new era of solar net-meter credits has dawned, and a citizen wonders how to get attention for a dangerous stretch of road.

Preliminaries

The only preliminary announcement of any significance came from Dick DeGray, who said he, too, would not be seeking re-election. He encouraged people, especially younger people, to take out petitions and “get involved in local government.”

FY18 Current Budget Status and Unfinished Budget Decisions

The budget discussion began with a summarization of the current budget as it stood, remaining issues, and a short look at how the fund balance would look under a variety of conditions.  The overall goal for the evening was to make some final budget decisions and tell the Town Manager what tax rate to aim for.

Six scenarios were created for the board to show them how different decisions now might impact the Long Term Financial Plan later. (It was a lot of “if we do this, and the rate is that, then the surplus will be…” )

Town Manager Peter Elwell summarized changes since the FY18 budget was first presented, showing the board that almost $100,000 has been shaved from the original proposal. (Each penny on the tax rate is $116,192 in property tax revenue). 

The current FY18 tax rate increase, he said, stands at 4.8 cents, and he suggested keeping it there to keep long term plans on track. “If you use the fund balance to lower taxes (taking the fund balance “surplus” over the 10% reserve to zero), we can’t sustain reinvestment over the next few years,” he cautioned.

He said his suggestion to stay at 4.8 cents was partially in consideration of the debt service on the Police and Fire project bonds, and that taxpayers expected the rates to go up this year. He expressed a concern that pushing tax increases to future years would be more of a shock to taxpayers than paying now, as they expected.

“4.8 cents is where you are now, before decisions tonight,” he said.

…

Pellet Boiler for Municipal Center and Library

This $215,000 item was voted down, 4-1, by the board. While it had been recommended in their energy audit as a way to save future money, they opted instead to take a year-old boiler from the Central Fire Station and re-use it at the Library at a cost closer to $10,000.

David Schoales was the objector to this decision. “It’s malfeasance not to take advantage of this. The value of the building will increase by having pellet boiler,” he said.  “It’s short-sighted.  Worse than short-sighted.”

Lester Humphreys reminded the board that short-sighted decisions in the past meant current savings were going unrealized. He encouraged them to think of other places that investments could be made to save money over the long term. “That will help the taxpayers.”

Franz Reichsman said more information was required before a decision could be made.

Energy Improvements at the Library

The board quickly approved of $192,000 worth of energy improvements at the Library, including an air handler, new glass, and roof insulation.

Municipal Center Energy Improvements

The board kept about $70,000 in energy saving measures at the Municipal Center. Kate O’Connor asked if they could be done later and was told yes.

Gartenstein said that given the possibility the Town might stay in the Municipal Center, it would be prudent to do the work.  “We can take it out if we move.”

Michael Bosworth pointed out that ignoring the energy audits, again, was the wrong way to go with finances and fuel use.

The vote on removing the $70,929 of energy improvement measures at
the Municipal Center failed by a 3-2 vote.  Therefore, that money will
stay in the FY18 Budget.

Living Memorial Park Swimming Pool Hours/ Creamery Bridge Rentals

Elwell summarized a memo from Carol Lolatte regarding pool hours and rental of the Creamery Bridge.

She estimated that running the swimming pool at Living Memorial Park costs $740 day, or $5,180 week for regular hours in the summer. At issue here is whether it is worth it to keep the pool open through Labor Day.

For just $1,750, she reports,  Brattleboro could add the last week of August to the schedule by reducing evening hours during that last two weeks and shuffling them to the final week. No additional staff would be required. 

Average daily attendance in early August is 320, with 80 on weekends and 15 during night hours. Evening use drops off late in the summer.

The board liked this and voted to include it in the budget.

As for renting the Creamery Bridge, Lolatte estimated a need for $6,800 to do upgrades for electricity, signage, decking, and fire code issues, plus an annual upkeep cost of $1,380. DeGray endorsed the idea. O’Connor worried about garbage

John Allen was concerned about wear and tear. “ I like it the way it is.”

The vote was 2-3 to do the work, DeGray and Schoales in favor. The bridge will remain as-is for now.

Pumper-Rescue Truck Purchase

It’s a $550,000 cash purchase to buy a pumper-rescue truck, but the money could be borrowed. Elwell suggested to the board, however, that they not borrow and burden taxpayers with future interest costs.

$65,000 in Budget Cuts Related to Pumper-Rescue Truck

Earlier, Elwell had proposed some cuts to the budget to pay for the Pumper-Rescue vehicle, but since that time other budget cuts and fund transfers were found to cover the costs. He asked them to ignore his earlier cuts in this category.

This led to a bit of discussion about how items can be essential one moment, then able to be cut the next. Kate O’Connor raised the issue and was told that this group of cuts came about as a possible early solution to borrowing to buy the vehicle.

DeGray pointed out that nothing was being added back to the budget because nothing had been taken out. “There’s no approval needed.”

The board agreed to not make the previously-proposed cuts of a thermal imaging camera and software.

Energy Coordinator

As for the Energy Coordinator position, Elwell suggested cutting the annual donation and developing a plan in coming months to meet the Town’s energy oversight needs, then including the solution in future budgets.

David Schoales said they should put it in the budget and let Representative Town meeting members decide. He worried that taking the annual allocation out would cause a loss of momentum, and work on town energy issues would suffer as a result.

“There are many energy issues in this budget that we have not supported. If we are going to look at adding an energy coordinator on staff, there has to be a commitment from the board to vote to support them,” observed DeGray.

Leftover funds from the previous Coordinator can be applied to new work, said Gartenstein. “It could be re-allocated if something really gels.”

The board voted 4-1 to take out the annual $10,000 for climate protection for now, with an understanding that everyone will work to come up with a new plan and position, possibly more involved than before,  over the coming months.

Pumper Rescue – Cash or Credit?

The board voted 5-0 to pay cash from the fund balance. $550,000.

The Tax Rate

Given the decision above, Gartenstein said, the board could look at possible tax rates and impacts. He said that a 3 cent tax increase would leave zero in the fund balance, while a 4.8 cent increase would leave closer to $210,000. ‘What’s your pleasure?” he inquired of his fellow board members.

He said he had revised his goal from the previous week, now thinking 3.5 cents would be a good compromise.

DeGray, who had liked the budget as-is last week, changed his mind, too. “I’m at 3 cents.” He said the 10% fund balance reserve was a guideline, and the amount goes up each year as budgets increase. The Town could afford to part with some of its cash, he felt, next year.

Gartenstein pointed out the infrastructural benefits of the FY18 budget, with improvements at police and fire facilities, and more capital projects and equipment than before. “If we go lower than 3.5, then we are funding the Police and Fire facilities with surplus funds and cuts in operating.” He said again that the very least should be 3.5 cents to cover costs of the facilities.

David Schoales suggested taking $200,000 from the fund balance to reduce taxes to 3.5 cents, but other board members pointed out that decisions made at the meeting tonight already got them to 3.5 cents. The question now was about how much fund balance to… uh..  fund.

Elwell said that anything less than 3.5 cents “means were using the credit card for basic living expenses.” he told them to keep their eyes on the prize.  “Don’t use up the fund balance to pay for operating costs,” he said, saying that 3.5 would be okay but he still felt 4.8 cents, with the larger fund balance associated with it, would be better.

They voted 4-1 (DeGray against) to make it a 3.5 cent increase, which would leave about $60,000 remaining for next year.

Traffic Safety and Priorities

Terry Carter asked the board about sidewalks and traffic safety issues. Specifically, she wondered about Putney Road from the Episcopal Church to the bridge. 

“Point me in the right direction to advocate for these locations,” Carter said.

She was told that the site is on the big list of projects, but there were other areas of town that had higher priority and would be worked on first.

She was also told that she could continue to advocate for this work at Traffic Safety and Selectboard meetings.

“I respect that,” she said, but told them she had been sitting through meetings for many years, and other projects seem to be favored. She told of an ex-Selectboard member, driven to the meeting by a Traffic Safety Committee member, asking for and getting lines striped for private parking, and another person getting their way by throwing a tantrum about a large rock.

“Some things happen despite these conditions you express,” she said.”What’s the secret? Be better connected? Have a higher status? Certain people are taken care of.”

She said the road was dangerous and she wasn’t asking for too much. “I want some support from the community and people I vote for. I need help and am still feeling my way through the dark.”

“Treat me with the respect I’ve earned and deserve,” she said.

Gartenstein assured her she had been heard, but that her proposed solution of line striping to make the road appear more narrow was not allowed by traffic control rules, and an engineered solution would need to be found. He suggested again she go to the Traffic Safety Committee, but also told her that projects had already been assigned priority.

“Who decided?” she asked.

Elwell said responsibility was with the Traffic Safety Committee and Department of Public Works, and “ultimately me.”

Solar Net Metering Agreements

Quick summary: Brattleboro had signed an agreement for net metering credits that got sold to NextSun, NextSun failed to deliver, and the Town sued. The lawsuit tied up three large electrical accounts for the Town, which meant we couldn’t pursue new net metering agreements with other companies, and no net metering credits were being received.

During the dispute, the Town $33,871.79 of contested fees held in escrow as a good faith measure. The lawsuit will be dismissed, funds in escrow returned the the Town, and everyone can carry on.

The board voted to walk away clean.

….

The final item for the board Tuesday was a discussion of a proposed agreement with Sky Solar for project at Windham Solid Waste Management District.

The Town feels a better, more protective contract will be signed this time.  The price for net metering credits will be $0.139 per kWh, for a savings of about $86,000 per year. If the price of electricity drops below this point, Brattleboro may pay current market rate.

18 of the Town’s largest electrical accounts will be included. This, staff feels, will maximize the return, while limiting the amount of extra work required to account for credits each month.

Town staff noted that regardless of net metering decisions, some new income (about $57,000) would come our way through the for-profit development at the landfill adding to the Grand List, and new income to the WSWMD might help it keep assessments lower in the future.

Is there a risk Brattleboro’s agreement will gain be sold and we’ll again be in lawsuits? Yes, indeed, but the Town Attorney feels the risk is small. There’s a chance, too, that the final contract will include some provision regarding “reassignment.”

Gartenstein said that the Energy Committee had presented net metering credits as no-risk ways for easy money, but the Town had spent so many hours on legal matters that any potential savings were lost. Nonetheless, he wanted to try again with this new company and “better” contract.

Lester Humphreys disagreed that the Energy Committee misrepresented risks. He said their point had been that the town would need to buy and maintain no equipment to get benefits.

Gartenstein ended saying that it was unfortunate and many hours had been diverted from other work.

The board voted to have staff prepare a contract for net metering.