Committee Report - Finance - 11-21-16 — File 202443

Finance Committee Page 1 of 6 Printed 11/22/2016 November 21, 2016 REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Tony Lafuente Chair Present Maryann M. Heuston Vice Chair Present Katjana Ballantyne Ward Seven Alderman Present Matthew McLaughlin Ward One Alderman Present William A. White Jr. Alderman At Large Absent Others present: Bruce Desmond - IT, Stan Koty - DPW, Vithal Deshpande - OES, Patrick Sullivan - SFD, Ed Bean - Finance, Greg Jenkins - Arts, Michael Glavin - OSPCD, Brad Rawson - OSPCD, Eileen McGettigan - Special Counsel, Marc Levy - Assessing, Rob King - Capital Projects, Ron Bonney - DPW, Suzanne Rinfret - T&P, Mark Lawhorne - Water & Sewer, Glenn Ferdman - Library, Michael Bertino - Treasurer, Alan Inancio - OSPCD, Emily Hedeman - OSPCD, Annie Connor - Legislative Liason, Rositha Durham - Clerk of Committees. The meeting took place in the Committee Room and was called to order at 6:30 PM by Alderman Lafuente and adjourned at 8:30 PM. Approval of the October 12, 2016 Minutes RESULT: ACCEPTED 197339: Requesting that the City-owned portion of 163 Glen Street be declared available for disposition. Ms. McGettigan, Mr. Glavin, Mr. Bertino and Mr. Bean addressed this item. The ½ acre parcel is not a good location for a park but may be good for affordable housing and will be near the proposed green line route. Alderman McLaughlin expressed some concerns about this matter. If the property is not declared surplus, it could be used for any other city project. Chairman Lafuente asked Alderman McLaughlin to get feedback from the neighborhood. If used for housing, it was suggested that there be no more than 12 units.

Finance Committee Page 2 of 6 Printed 11/22/2016 The item was approved, as follows: 163 Glen Street to be declared surplus, subject to the following conditions: 1. That a competitive bidding process be undertaken in accordance with MGL c 30B to develop the property for affordable housing; 2. That special consideration be given to the provision of publicity accessible open space as part of the development; 3. That a technical advisory committee be formed to evaluate the proposals received and recommend the winning proposal to the Board of Aldermen, such committee to include the Ward Alderman and members of the neighborhood; and 4. That the Board of Aldermen vote to accept the recommendation of the technical advisory committee prior to any disposition of the property. RESULT: APPROVED WITH CONDITIONS 202281: Requesting an appropriation and authorization to borrow $544,182 in a bond for the Fire Department's purchase of a Fire Pumper. Chief Sullivan discussed the old equipment and the need to replace it. This expenditure was listed in the FY-16 Capital Plan, however, it took some time to develop the specifications for the truck. The price is only good through the end of December 2016. The treasurer was asked to join the table regarding a May 18th report and provide an explanation of the report. The treasurer will reconcile the numbers from the report. Alderman Ballantyne would like to go through the report line by line for a better understanding. RESULT: APPROVED 202213: Requesting acceptance of a $16,300 grant from the MA Cultural Council to the Arts Council for ArtsUnion programming. Mr. Jenkins explained that the funds would be used for cultural and economic development in Union Square and to help with tours and other events. RESULT: APPROVED 202214: Requesting acceptance of a $9,109 Customer Experience in the Digital Age grant from the MA Board of Library Commissioners to the Libraries to provide customer service and technology training for library staff. RESULT: APPROVED 202212: Requesting acceptance of a $26,500 Grant from MA Dept. of Environmental Protection to the DPW for recycling dividends from the Sustainable Materials Recovery

Finance Committee Page 3 of 6 Printed 11/22/2016 Program. Mr. Deshpande told the committee that this grant does not require any matching funds from the city. RESULT: APPROVED 202245: Requesting an appropriation and authorization to borrow $2,500,000 in a bond for Sewer Main Rehabilitation and Replacement. Mr. Lawhorne spoke about the Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) and Mr. King discussed the plan to confirm locations and complete the inspection. This project would create capacity for the city. Alderman Heuston asked if the fund would be held for emergencies and was told that the funds are always used, with every dime being spent. RESULT: APPROVED 202244: Requesting an appropriation and authorization to borrow $4,200,000 in a bond for Water Main Rehabilitation and Replacement. Mr. Lawhorn spoke about the bond over 10 years. An email containing comments from a resident was distributed to the committee. The committee was told that the city would only borrow what was needed. Mr. Lawhorn will provide a report in April, detailing what has been used and which streets were done in the process. RESULT: APPROVED 202283: Requesting approval of a transfer of $23,295 in the Information Technology Dept, from the Personnel Services Account to the Professional & Technical Services Account, to fund an outside contractor to program Network Switches. Mr. Desmond explained that the transfer is to allow the department to catch up with its workload, due to an employee being. RESULT: APPROVED 202282: Requesting approval of an appropriation of $47,500 from the Capital Stabilization Fund to retain an economic planning/real estate consultant to assist in developing a District Improvement Financing application. Mr. Bean and Mr. Levy spoke on this item and said that it would be for Union Square, then Boynton Yards. This would help to develop options, public hearings, voting on boundaries and give the city more flexibility. Mr. Bean and Mr. Levy will come back to the committee at a later date. Given the number of recent bond requests, this item will be kept in committee.

Finance Committee Page 4 of 6 Printed 11/22/2016 RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 202373: Requesting an appropriation of $118,000 from the Trash Transfer Stabilization Fund for DEC-TAM to provide services to excavate and backfill contaminated soil on Poplar Street. Mr. Deshpande spoke on the item. RESULT: APPROVED 202374: Requesting the appropriation of $40,000 from the CPA Fund Open Space and Recreation Land Reserve budget to the Parks and Open Space Division for a Land Acquisition Study Fund. Mr. Rawson spoke about acquisition of small lots adjacent to schools, using CPA funds to secure titles of land to buy. Mr. Rawson was asked to provide a proposal with specific costs for everything on the project, including legal costs. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 202368: Requesting approval to enter into a contract of up to ten years for the services of an operator for the Hubway Bike Share program. Mr. Inancio said that the contract with Hubway will expire in the spring. In the new RFP model, the city will no longer be responsible for operating costs. The new RFP would be for 10 years and require BOA approval, (according to MGL for any agreement over 3 years). Members were told that Winter Hill and Union Square were underserved with Hubway bikes. RESULT: APPROVED 202371: Requesting the acceptance and appropriation of an additional $120,000 from US2 Associates into the Union Square Stabilization and Revitalization Fund. Ms. McGettigan spoke about paying for outside counsel to work on eminent domain issues. RESULT: APPROVED 202372: Requesting an appropriation of $120,000 from the Union Square Stabilization and Revitalization Fund for services in connection with the redevelopment of Union Square. Ms. McGettigan spoke about paying for outside counsel to work on eminent domain issues. RESULT: APPROVED 202375: Requesting a transfer of $32,704 from the Salary Contingency Salaries Account to

Finance Committee Page 5 of 6 Printed 11/22/2016 the DPW Highway Wages Account to fund a Fleet Mechanic. Mr. Koty and Mr. Bonney explained that the funds would allow the city to secure an additional mechanic for the period of October 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017. Mr. Koty will add this position to the next fiscal year's budget request. RESULT: APPROVED 202376: Requesting approval of a transfer of $11,173 in the Assessing Department from the Salaries Account to the Professional and Technical Services Account, to mail a Property Tax Information postcard. Mr. Levy told the members that the transfer would come from lag money. RESULT: APPROVED 202369: Requesting approval of an interest rate reduction from 4% to 3% pursuant to MGL c59 s5 clause 41A for the senior property tax deferral. Mr. Bean and Mr. Levy spoke on the item, which would take effect in FY-18. RESULT: APPROVED 202366: Requesting an appropriation and authorization to borrow $1,245,340 in a bond for FY17 DPW capital equipment and vehicles. Mr. Koty and Mr. Bonney addressed this item and said that vehicles that are in dire need of replacement, noting that several plows were damaged in prior snow storms. Alderman Heuston inquired about warranty options and prices. The newer equipment would be environmentally sound. RESULT: APPROVED 202370: Requesting approval of an interest rate reduction from 8% to 3% pursuant to MGL c59 s5 Clause 18A for the temporary hardship exemption. Mr. Levy explained that this would work a lot like 41A with limited deferral effective in FY-18. Alderman Heuston asked for clarification of what is considered hardship. Mr. Levy stated hardship has 3 levels: age, poverty and income. RESULT: APPROVED 202367: Requesting acceptance of a deed to 22-24 Cross Street East pursuant to Planning Board Decision 2013-05. Ms. Hedeman spoke about the environmental assessment of buildings to revitalize the area.

Finance Committee Page 6 of 6 Printed 11/22/2016 Alderman McLaughlin’s motion, that the Superintendent of Inspectional Services and the Commissioner of Public Works, clean up the building located at 22-24 Cross Street East, bait for rodents and replace the shingles, was approved. RESULT: APPROVED 202405: Requesting the appropriation of $60,629 from Unreserved Fund Balance ("Free Cash") to the Traffic and Parking Department Capital Vehicles Account to purchase a vehicle for street sign maintenance. Ms. Rinfret told the members that a 10 year old vehicle needs to be replaced. This item was placed on file and will be resubmitted at a BOA meeting with the proper amount for the vehicle. RESULT: PLACED ON FILE Handouts: • Debt Summary Report (with 202281) • Sewer Capital Projects Bond Request (with 202245) • Water Capital Projects Bond Request (with 202244) • Comments - T Antonino (with 202244) • RKG (with 202282) • Pricing Breakdown (with 202366)