[0:03] All right, you're on.
>> All right, I'd like to call to order
[0:06] this regularly scheduled board of
finance meeting for Wednesday, August
[0:09] 12th. All members are present. So, we'll
start with the pledge of allegiance.
[0:17] » I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:22] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:28] justice for all. Thank you. Uh I see no
public, so no public comment.
[0:35] Uh communications correspondents.
>> Okay, we had uh Kelly Wyn, Brook Mano,
[0:42] Mark Morash, Steven Paresi, Andy Kareah,
and Alice Carolyn.
[0:48] » Perfect. Approval of the meeting
minutes.
[0:50] » I would like to make a motion to approve
the July 8th, 2026 regular meeting
[0:55] minutes.
>> Second. and second.
[0:58] » Second.
>> Any discussion?
[1:01] » Hearing none. All in favor?
>> I
[1:03] » I
>> I'll abstain. So, as I didn't to be
[1:07] honest with you,
>> uh I'll make a motion that we Oh, no.
[1:12] Steven's not here. So, go ahead, Steve.
It's uh on you.
[1:16] » You guys aren't here to replace him.
>> No, the understanding was we were
[1:21] » there. I'll make [laughter]
I'll make a motion that we move the
[1:27] board of education to next on the
agenda. Do I have a second?
[1:30] » I'll second.
>> Second. All in favor? I. Steve, it's
[1:34] your floor.
>> Okay. [laughter]
[1:38] All right.
>> Catch your breath.
[1:39] » How are you all? I know. I'm sorry to
have a meeting downstairs. So, good to
[1:43] see you all. Um,
>> just want some updates on things.
[1:49] » Yes, sir.
>> How we're doing, where we're going. Uh
[1:52] things are going along great with the
boiler uh at Brookfield High School. Um
[1:57] a lot of progress has been made. The
actual boiler unit itself has been
[2:01] ordered. Um the container ordered that
that whole outer piece, but they u have
[2:07] also also um repaired one boiler almost
to full and they were going to fire it
[2:13] up by the [clears throat]
end of this week. So the goal is that'll
[2:17] get fired up by the end of this week.
Um, and hopefully we have that one on
[2:22] ready to go. And then when the other
boiler comes in, they already have um
[2:26] put in all the piping and all the holes
in the walls to the exterior of the
[2:31] going outside of it into the boiler room
to be able to pipe it and funnel it all
[2:35] in. And they're working on the
electrical. And then they're working on
[2:38] a very safe place to put it if you know
that area at all where it will go. Um,
[2:43] kind of to the right hand side of the
building, main entrance there. um
[2:47] they're trying to look at where the best
spot is. So, but uh but they're they're
[2:51] really cruising on that. So, thank you
so much for your support with that. Um
[2:56] in regards to the uh Whiskaner Middle
School playground that you approved
[3:00] also, thank you for that. Um we have uh
the contract ready to go uh in
[3:07] coordination with parks and recreation.
They have already removed the uh old
[3:12] swing set from the area uh along with
the uh three-foot pilings that were
[3:17] holding it in. uh their recommendation
before we move forward with putting in
[3:22] or installing a new playscape or any
equipment. Um and they're going to to
[3:27] manage this uh would be to um remove the
base
[3:33] uh that's been there for about 40 years
with just uh engineered uh wood chips
[3:39] put on top of it which decompose over
time. And so it's really not um
[3:46] best up to code as it could be. Uh so
they want to go I think about 16 inches
[3:50] down remove the whole base layer uh and
then refill so that way it is a more
[3:57] safe uh area before putting in uh new
new equipment which I think is a smart
[4:03] long-term decision. Um I think they're
working on getting quotes for that right
[4:08] now. Uh it looks like it'll be
approximately $15,000 to do that work.
[4:13] Um, and so, you know, we would work on
somehow coordinating that or um figuring
[4:19] out how we'll we'll manage all that.
But, um, but that's their recommendation
[4:23] first. So, I'm kind of in a place where
uh the equipment's ready to go and get
[4:28] ordered, but I I want to make sure that
the timing of it is [music] right and
[4:32] that we coordinate it with what parks
and recreation is recommending.
[4:37] » So, just pause there for a moment, see
if there's any questions on that.
[4:41] No, I'm good.
>> Is the off slightly off topic of the the
[4:47] uh quotes and the work on uh cam blade.
>> Yep.
[4:50] » Playground.
>> Perfect. Right where I was going.
[4:52] » No. All right. Good.
>> Uh so yes, uh great news just came in
[4:56] today. um that uh that uh quote started
off I think when I first presented it to
[5:03] you at um
at $114,000
[5:10] just uh for the equipment and the
installation of the equipment. So that
[5:14] was $114,000 like 139 maybe. So rounded
up to 114.
[5:20] Then I found out they were a part of
this uh national like group Omnia where
[5:25] we can get discounts if we're a part of
it too. And that brought it down to 102.
[5:29] Then about a week after it came down to
102 after I found that out and talked to
[5:33] them uh their company I got an email
that uh if you submit your name and what
[5:39] you're trying to do, you can get
additional uh you can get selected to
[5:44] win more more price off of your project.
And I did and I just found out today
[5:49] that we got a total of 40% off the
actual equipment. The installation not
[5:55] but the equipment. Yes. So from $75,000
down to um approximately 455. So that
[6:02] brings the whole project down to
$90,000. So we could do that whole
[6:06] project right now. We wouldn't have to
change the base layer at all. It's
[6:10] currently a rubber mulch and so they can
install a new playground with that same
[6:15] rubber mulch in there. they'll just pull
it back, install, put it back, right?
[6:20] So, we wouldn't have to pay for anything
else but what the quote is right now,
[6:24] which is $90,000, which I think in total
I came to maybe at 125 at one point. So,
[6:29] it's a significant reduction from where
we were. Um, and so that is the latest
[6:34] and greatest, but that quote in that um
discount does expire. So, there is an
[6:41] expiration date to that. Um, so I would
just, you know, ask you again to
[6:45] reconsider if that's something that we
think, uh,
[6:49] you are interested in supporting us to
be able to move forward, uh, and there
[6:54] are any opportunity to approve funding
for that. We have what I would consider
[6:58] one of the best rates that we're going
to get for that type of place.
[7:05] » What's the expiration date?
>> I'm sorry. Do we know the expiration
[7:07] date?
>> I can't have you. Sorry.
[7:09] » Sorry.
Here's [laughter]
[7:14] the contract. What is the expiration
date? [snorts] I don't know. [laughter]
[7:19] » Contract. It's only the top one.
>> 30 days.
[7:23] » Quote valid for 30 days.
>> Quote is denial for 30 days. So
[7:28] then they give it to someone else. He's
ready to move. So that's where we are uh
[7:35] with those kind of three major major
projects. Um, we also have uh well, we
[7:40] have a number of things going on. I I
I'd ask you, you know, if you have some
[7:44] questions of me or things that
>> Hold on. Why don't you just come to the
[7:48] table and then we can have if you wanted
to help out here or whatever.
[7:52] [clears throat]
>> Yeah.
[7:53] » I mean, you're filling in for Caroline.
I should have invited you earlier. I
[7:56] apologize.
[8:00] » I just can't have from the sidelines
because if I do that,
[8:04] right? All right.
All right. So, you have any questions
[8:10] since this is right in your
>> No, I mean I think I think um 90,000 the
[8:16] the discussion that we had at the last
meeting was that and I'll I'll speak
[8:21] from what I remember is that everybody
was supportive of putting the new
[8:25] equipment in. There was not as much
support. there's not wasn't decided as
[8:30] to whether or not the the rubberized
flooring or whatever it's called
[8:35] » was really needed or not at both places,
right? So, so um $90,000 using the
[8:40] existing material on the base I think
would be well in line with what was in
[8:45] general would have been supported at the
last meeting and by and we've got three
[8:49] members of the cattle committee here
tomorrow. But I think that's that's
[8:51] [clears throat]
a really good solution. Can they get it
[8:54] done in time for school? No, it's a six
week lead time on the product to arrive.
[8:59] Um,
>> so they're thinking uh the whiskaner,
[9:02] they're trying to get that one done. Um,
not before school, but you know, this
[9:06] fall.
>> Yeah.
[9:07] » This one uh if we commit to it, it it
may get in before wintertime or it would
[9:12] be right when the spring
opens.
[9:15] » And if we wanted to in the future, we
put the new equipment in. Let's say
[9:20] that's approved. We then can put in the
rubber board around it.
[9:23] » You can.
>> Yeah. I think that was something that we
[9:26] all agree was not a great
those No, no, those
[9:32] » they're not they're not
>> those chips, the rubber chips, right?
[9:36] They're not very
>> But again, yeah, it's
[9:42] » it doesn't doing the doing the equipment
doesn't preclude at a later date
[9:46] deciding to do the
>> correct
[9:48] » redo that.
>> Yeah. And now the other thing was we
[9:50] were looking at CLS in in association
with what parks and recck was possibly
[9:55] looking at for I don't know if it was
kids kingdom or somewhere else to maybe
[9:58] get a good price but seems like you've
negotiated a very good price on this
[10:02] kind of independently from that. So I
don't know if waiting on this makes a
[10:06] lot of sense.
>> Run this down for me just so we have a
[10:09] thing. So what did the boiler end up? Is
that number still 341979 or what did
[10:14] that end up at?
[10:18] So yes, it's going to be we've already
given like 174.
[10:22] » Okay.
>> Uh we've been half down, I believe. But
[10:24] yes, it's going to be the cost that
>> So in your original you had 200,000 in
[10:29] for the CLES place cut from this
document at our last meeting.
[10:33] » Correct. Because that also included what
we considered our caller was just
[10:37] talking about in place too. And we're
saying that's not really a necessity and
[10:41] we can do this without that. So then how
much was the W playscape without doing
[10:48] the $15,000 worth of digging?
>> So at uh I believe I asked I asked for
[10:53] $45,000
>> here.
[10:56] » I think we authorized
>> 75. We
[10:58] » was that
>> we talked about 38. Uh Brian asked me to
[11:01] help get them down to and uh and then I
got them down to 365. Right.
[11:07] » I keep 365
>> and 15,000 to make it. Right. Right.
[11:14] » Right.
>> Yes.
[11:15] » So that's 415. Right. 515.
[11:21] » And this is down now to 90.
[11:27] » Yes.
>> And that quote for the work just came in
[11:30] today to parks and recreation. So Laura
shared that with me. That's not my, you
[11:35] know, she quotes all that out for the
actual work done on the playscape.
[11:38] » So, we authorized the 38 already.
>> That's the thing you authorized.
[11:44] » Yes.
>> So, we'd need another
[11:47] » 16. Well, I was plus the 90 16 and 90
105ish.
[11:52] » Well, we authorized
>> 38, right? Well,
[11:57] 1.5k less. So,
>> 10 103.5.
[12:03] That's what they need.
>> Yeah, I'd call 1045 just to be
[12:07] » for both W [music]
for everything except for in place. That
[12:12] would have that would be all the
requests except for the foreign place
[12:15] which we're I think we're
>> Yeah. 90,500 for
[12:20] » for CL
>> and 15,000 for WMS,
[12:26] » right?
>> Might be 15.
[12:27] » Well, that's you have 1.5 extra from
>> Yeah. Let because you under spent on the
[12:33] equipment.
>> What is the latest on the new school
[12:38] » that we had an update in two months?
>> The new school?
[12:41] » Yeah. The the what we have left. What's
the balance? 100,000 a million 200
[12:45] million.
>> One of the things 2 million
[12:47] [clears throat]
>> I have a number
[12:50] » because we're going to ask the NBC to
come to the board of selectment and the
[12:54] board of finance in September and give
us a another financial update. They've
[12:58] given us indications. I don't have Do we
have a solid number on that yet?
[13:03] » She's she's looking.
>> Um I have a number based on incumbrances
[13:09] outstanding.
>> Okay.
[13:10] » Um
um my number is a little bit different
[13:13] than Emily's cuz hers is cash basis.
Mine's an acrruel basis. Um and I don't
[13:19] have the final payables because she
won't give them to me until NBC approves
[13:24] them on their August meeting next week.
So I've put in estimates but it should
[13:30] we've already encumbered the money. So
um what we have uncommitted
[13:36] is um
[13:40] um $1150 for administ 1,0001 150 for
administrative costs um a little less
[13:47] than 600,000 for the offsite work which
is the baseball fields um and 55,000
[13:55] for owner's contingency. Um
>> so what's the total there? uh 656.
[14:01] Although the legal fees are continuing,
so they'll they're going to have to come
[14:06] out of these numbers.
>> What are they like? What's the run rate?
[14:09] 20,000 a month.
>> 20 to 30,000
[14:11] » a month.
>> Yeah.
[14:13] » Um
so you know more about this than I do.
[14:18] The negotiations OMG, what is still
outstanding? Do we
[14:22] » That don't know that.
>> See, that's going to be the killer. So,
[14:24] there's a million dollars um in um um
construction
[14:31] um that's still a contingency in there,
but what we don't know is, you know, oh
[14:37] um 75% we're definitely going to have to
spend or 25% we're going to have to
[14:43] spend. That's where we
>> There's two buckets of money, right,
[14:45] that we talk about when we do this.
>> A million of of um
[14:49] » this this was one bucket, this 656, but
there's another bucket with a million.
[14:54] the G contractor's contingency
>> and that
[14:59] » that's where we're spending the money on
the lawyers negotiating with them
[15:02] » for all of the things who we think
weren't done right. They say they were
[15:06] done right and they're going back and
forth and back and forth and that's why
[15:10] I asked Paul to come to the board of
selection meeting in September. Uh 6
[15:15] months ago there were 120 some odd items
in dispute.
[15:20] » Wow. So out of that 656, how much of it
was for the baseball field? 400,000.
[15:25] » It was 400,000 for
>> the field that we sort of So it's
[15:28] uncommitted, but it's committed,
>> right?
[15:31] » Right. So what is uncommitted
uncommitted right now out of that fund
[15:35] roughly?
>> I would take that total number six and
[15:38] 656. So that would be 256.
>> I I would say the only thing that's
[15:42] uncommitted is the owner's contingency
at 55,000.
[15:47] » That's the owner. Uh, that's what I
believe the
[15:55] » and 1,150.
>> Yeah, that's fine. 55. We've been
[16:00] holding off on Whisker and baseball
field projects to make sure that we keep
[16:05] this project.
[16:11] » Are you looking to get to see if we can
fit this there? Is that what you're
[16:15] thinking?
[16:19] It's all going to come back to the town.
I know, right? So, if we don't spend it,
[16:22] it comes back to the town. But is it
cleaner to utilize it for the CLES, the
[16:26] 55,000, and put that towards the CLS,
>> the [snorts] 90
[16:30] » 90,000 that he needs?
>> I I would be hesitant to use any of this
[16:36] without the NBC's blessing.
>> Um, and so I would say it's all going to
[16:41] end up in the same pocket when we're
done, our pocket. Um, and I would do it
[16:46] as separate transactions and not take it
from here. We have capital non-recurring
[16:51] funds. We've got a million80,000 that is
not uh designated for any project at
[16:57] this time
and and we still have money that will be
[17:01] coming there from the general fund this
year.
[17:03] » And we have to be careful with the state
grant and the bonding on CLES moving
[17:08] funds.
>> That's what I'm worried about because
[17:10] CLES is still under the new
construction. Is it easier to take that
[17:13] 55 and say it's part of the new
construction process still?
[17:17] » We could do that, but I agree with
Marcia. I'd be very reluctant to touch
[17:20] that funding until we know exactly where
that project goes. That's fine.
[17:25] » At what point then do we sit down with
the NBC? You said you're going to sit
[17:29] down with them. At what point do you sit
down with them and we outweigh the
[17:33] fighting versus the payback? At 30,000 a
month, if we're only fighting over
[17:37] $15,000, we're chasing bad money. At
what point? Who who's assessing that
[17:42] right now?
>> Um, I've been having discussions with
[17:45] Paul and and Josh, mostly Paul to say,
"We got to get this done." And they're
[17:50] in mediation nonstop here, and that's
why it's costing us 20 to 30,000 in
[17:55] legal fees. And my point to them was,
you are burning money on legal fees.
[18:01] Sit. Just pick the number. It may be
higher than what you think is the right
[18:06] number to settle this, but at $30,000 a
month,
[18:10] » it's not worth
it's a zero sum game.
[18:14] » Yeah.
>> One more question and then we'll move
[18:16] on. Is who's the ultimate decision
maker? Is Paul the ultimate decision
[18:20] maker or can you overrule it as a town
official? I mean, you it's a committee,
[18:24] so you sit over that committee, don't
you? Can you just say this is it?
[18:28] Enough's enough or not? I do not know
the answer to that. I will ask the
[18:34] town's attorney. The NBC has significant
>> I agree and I agree and I respect that
[18:39] power, but at some point we got to
figure this out.
[18:42] » Oh, I agree.
>> Cuz it's dwindling and we have expenses
[18:45] that we got to cover. All right.
>> I think we should put this topic on the
[18:48] next meeting as a
No, it's
[18:52] » Well, we're going to ask him to come
before the board of select in September.
[18:55] We think I going to suggest they come to
you too
[18:58] » and have them.
>> I have a question though.
[19:01] » If it expires in 30 days,
>> are we screwing something up or no? For
[19:05] that
Oh, that's what we're doing. Okay, we're
[19:09] going back to that. Oh, okay. Sorry. I
thought I didn't mean I thought we were
[19:12] tableling everything
>> for the math of it all. The best quote
[19:14] that came in for the work at WMS to redo
kind of the fill is 15450.
[19:21] » Okay. So, I just
>> I want to be digging the process. So
[19:25] » digging the hole, refilling.
>> Got it.
[19:26] » Yeah.
>> So just
[19:28] » can you give me the the maybe Marshia
this might be for you. I don't know who
[19:32] knows
this might be attention. [music] C do we
[19:37] can you give me the latest number of how
much the the board of ed is returning
[19:42] back to the town from last year broken
into the the special ed versus
[19:46] everything else because the numbers
moved around a little bit and maybe
[19:49] they're finalized. Does someone know
that?
[19:51] » I think the meeting has been moved to
tomorrow night. Monday.
[19:55] » Monday. So, we have not gotten the
report.
[19:57] » Do we know what the last because I have
numbers?
[20:00] » I think 300.
[20:05] » I have a chart that had special ed at
285.
[20:15] » I just have so many different numbers.
They're all about the same.
[20:17] » I know. I can't remember the last
meeting
[20:21] » for me. actually carried on.
>> So the BOE is not meeting tomorrow.
[20:25] » No,
>> she did. She
[20:29] » is business and operations and
>> Okay. So, so let's you know what on the
[20:33] on the June 26th memo, it said we expect
to return to the town 679,000.
[20:40] » Yes.
>> Okay. So,
[20:41] » okay.
>> Both buckets.
[20:42] » That's both buckets. And the special ed
number is something under 300ish.
[20:48] » Close to but a little bit under
>> like 297. And we said 341 for the
[20:52] boiler.
>> Well, I got that. I'm going to go let me
[20:54] let me put it together. So, let's just
say it's 300 for special ed and then
[20:58] that leaves 379 for everything else.
>> Okay. Just if it's just 679.
[21:05] » So, the boiler is 342.
The the whisker equipment was we
[21:12] authorized 38. It's 365, right? And then
the to go is 90.5
[21:20] + 15.5. So 91.56
[21:27] » 106. Yeah.
>> Call it 105 because you understand the
[21:30] other thing. So you add up the 342 38
105 that's 485.
[21:35] So for those three projects which is
what was requested would be 485
[21:40] » of which
679's coming back. Now 379
[21:45] is school underrun. The 300 for special
ed, we always said we're going to give
[21:51] you more and hopefully that's going to
come back. But contributing about
[21:55] $100,000 of that underrun towards this
to me makes a lot of sense.
[21:59] » Yeah. Yeah. And the boiler thing was
something that we
[22:02] » Yeah, the boiler absolutely right. So
>> yeah,
[22:04] » my view is authorizing and I don't know
how we execute this but authorizing
[22:09] additional 105 to get these the playcape
this placecape done at both places and
[22:14] be done with all this. Let them go
execute
[22:16] » and meet this dirty date
>> is the is the right thing to do.
[22:19] » I second that
>> less your thought.
[22:22] » Yeah, I agree. John,
>> you want to get it done quicker?
[22:24] » I agree with that.
>> It's [clears throat] using this money.
[22:27] » Yeah. Now how do we
>> we can approve it upon you guys to
[22:31] approve it, right? So we can approve it
upon the board of selectment approval
[22:35] approving. Right. So I can make a motion
to approve $105,000
[22:40] for the set three pride for the pride
for the two projects CLA
[22:45] and WMS
>> based upon the final approval from the
[22:50] board of selectment
>> and the funding come out of I think CNR.
[22:55] » Yeah. Funding coming from CNR.
>> CNR Marshall. That's where this stuff.
[22:59] » Yeah.
>> All right. Then I'll make the motion.
[23:01] » I'll second it.
>> I'll make the motion that we approve
[23:04] $105,000
for the CLLE Playscape and WMS
[23:09] Playscape. Uh that would come out of No
more than 105,000
[23:15] to come out of the CNR funding. Do I
have a second? Second.
[23:19] » We've discussed it. Correct. Everybody
good with this?
[23:22] » Yep. Yes, Mr.
>> Y.
[23:24] » All right. All in favor? Hi.
>> All right.
[23:29] » Thank you very much.
>> Get her done.
[23:30] » Yeah, really appreciate it.
>> Any other questions or updates that
[23:35] » any more discounts you can get?
[laughter]
[23:39] » Keep trying.
>> Can you do something on kids?
[23:43] » Budget process.
>> Yeah, we
[23:47] don't know.
>> I don't have anything to show.
[23:48] » Okay.
>> So, we will be uh we have a business and
[23:51] operations meeting on Monday night. At
that time uh we will be discussing a new
[23:57] budgeting process uh that we are hopeful
uh will provide uh more clear uh
[24:03] communication in organization to uh
anyone who's kind of following along in
[24:09] the process but also when we're
collaborating and working with you all.
[24:12] So we are eager to go through that
process. It is in draft format. Uh so
[24:16] the business operations team will first
review it, give feedback on it. I
[24:20] believe they've been looking at it and
we'll get feedback that night. We'll
[24:23] make any revisions that they [music]
recommend. Then we'll bring it to the
[24:26] full board on Wednesday night following
that Monday night meeting for even more
[24:30] review and recommendations. Once
completed, we would like to to bring it
[24:34] to you all and and share it with you. So
that way um we can all be on the same
[24:38] page with how we go about the budgeting
process and how we can uh support
[24:42] getting to a budget that meets the needs
of the schools and community.
[24:47] » Okay, any questions? Les, I know you
went to the one meeting and the notes
[24:52] were amazing.
>> Yeah, I was glad to hear that that
[24:55] process is is more than underway.
>> Absolutely.
[24:59] » It's going to help a lot.
>> Okay. I mean, you followed along pretty
[25:02] well. So, you're good with all of that?
>> I am.
[25:05] » Okay. Thank you for coming. [laughter]
>> Anything you ladies like to add before
[25:11] we call it here?
>> No.
[25:14] » All right. Well, thank you all for
>> everything. Thank you all very much. I
[25:19] appreciate it. [clears throat]
>> This is attorney Rose.
[25:22] » I know. We're going to make a motion to
go into executive,
[25:27] right?
>> Um just one sec.
[25:30] » Is Kermit joining us?
[25:36] » Thank you all. Have a good night.
[25:43] Yeah, I don't want to have
[25:48] » do that. I'm paying 5,000 an hour right
now. The lawyers,
[25:51] » I would make that motion now. I can do
all my stuff.
[25:54] » Great.
>> We were going to make it anyway.
[25:56] » I know. [laughter]
>> All right. I'd like to make a motion
[25:59] that we go into executive session to
discuss legal terms. We are going to
[26:04] invite Marsha. No,
>> I don't need to be here.
[26:08] » You're not here. Okay. Okay, we'll
invite the two attorneys to the table
[26:12] then. And uh do I have a second? [music]
>> I'll second. There you go. Last.
[26:17] » All in favor? Hi. Okay, we'll enter
[27:18] All right, we're back on.
>> All right, I'd like to amend my motion
[27:23] to go into an executive session. I'd
like to make a motion that we go into
[27:29] executive [music] session to discuss
pending litigation with attorney Mike
[27:34] Rose and Sherry
>> Adams. Adams
[27:38] » from Ker
>> from [music] Karma. Do I have a second?
[27:41] » I will second.
>> All in favor? I
[1:15:51] You're back.
[1:15:59] » Back on. Marshall, you're back on.
>> We're back on. Steve, can you take us
[1:16:03] now to your report?
>> Sure. Uh, just uh I won't cover
[1:16:07] everything that I have because I don't
want to take an hour of your time. our
[1:16:10] union negotiations. We are pretty close
on the police in the ranges that we have
[1:16:17] discussed. I think we're going to end up
with a a pretty good agreement. Uh CSEA
[1:16:22] is a little bit behind that. We've made
a final offer to them. Uh they'll come
[1:16:28] back to us. I think it again will be in
the same range and with um some tweaks
[1:16:34] to some things, you know, you always
have that with union negotiation. I
[1:16:38] think we're going to stay within the
numbers that I had told you last year in
[1:16:44] the budget season, right? I don't want
to name those numbers. We're good. We
[1:16:48] will be there. Um
>> the cell tower, they had a hearing last
[1:16:54] this week. This week? No, last week. Um
and they pretty much finalized what
[1:16:59] they're going to do. the uh commission
has not the sighting council has not yet
[1:17:04] made a formal decision but they kind of
issue their preliminary for people who
[1:17:09] go in and say no that's not what I said
no this isn't correct no it should have
[1:17:12] been this I don't anticipate a change
[cough]
[1:17:15] I think they will be putting that cell
power in um on the gas compressor
[1:17:20] station we did deep has reopened
uh the project and we are applying for
[1:17:29] an adjudic atory hearing and we have
four pieces of paper that people have to
[1:17:34] fill out so they don't say to us again
we didn't do this right. I think we will
[1:17:39] get the adjudicatory hearing. Um my
understanding is that they also agreed
[1:17:44] one of the things we really wanted was
ambient air testing on an ongoing basis
[1:17:49] outside the plant. Uh I understand
that's they're going to consider that
[1:17:54] and do that. the electric gas
compressors. Uh that's still a hard no,
[1:17:58] but we're still going to push for that
if we get the adjudicator hearing and at
[1:18:02] least we get it on record. You know,
zero emissions are better than 3.9 tons,
[1:18:09] right? So, how can you as the
en environmental
[1:18:15] organization of the state not say, "Hey,
gas compressors, no, use electric. They
[1:18:21] are much more expensive." Let's say they
were $50 million more and they've got a
[1:18:27] million downstream clients. Those
compressors last for 50 years, right?
[1:18:34] So, it's a million dollars a year
divided by a million clients. That's a
[1:18:38] dollar a year per client.
That's 16 cents per client per month.
[1:18:45] And they have way more than a million
clients. So, we'll see where that ends
[1:18:48] up. uh the fire commission uh a fire uh
EMS ordinance. The fire commission,
[1:18:55] we're going to have a hearing on August
19th to uh review that again like we did
[1:19:00] before and then a board of selection
meeting right after that to approve it
[1:19:04] and adopt it. We have agreement from all
the members of the committee and they
[1:19:08] tell us that all of the firemen and EMS
are all in favor. So that should pass
[1:19:13] through. Um, Brooks Quarry, we are
entering into an agreement where the
[1:19:19] town will be the conduit for a $2.5
million grant they were awarded to
[1:19:27] improve the entire facility. They're
going to go through almost rebuild the
[1:19:32] ADA, so they meet current things.
They're going to fix up the kitchens.
[1:19:36] They're also applying for another $2.5
million grant. So, if we get $5 million
[1:19:41] for grants, that is going to become one
of the finest facilities of its type in
[1:19:46] the state. Very nice.
>> It's going to be really nice. I don't
[1:19:49] know if anybody here has been in those
units.
[1:19:51] » You have you. So, you know what we're
talking They're pretty rund down.
[1:19:55] They're livable, but they're not nice.
>> So, that's good. That's a win. The
[1:19:59] pickle ball court.
>> Phone call after phone call. It should
[1:20:04] be fixed within the next 5 to seven
days, right?
[1:20:09] uh
really talk about the pickable court
[1:20:12] anymore. Um again, we're asking going to
ask the NBC to join us at the board of
[1:20:17] select committee meeting uh in September
to do exactly what we talked about
[1:20:21] already. Where are we? Okay. Um let me
see if there's anything else you really
[1:20:27] need to know.
Um
[1:20:33] » no, I'm gonna I'm going to call that
day. Oh, park and parks and rec. We
[1:20:37] appointed Bradley Ko to the board. I
think he's going to be a great addition.
[1:20:42] He's a really good guy.
>> Eileen's husband.
[1:20:45] » Oh,
any questions for me?
[1:20:48] » We're Marca is going to talk about
beginning with Lake Bridge. When we get
[1:20:52] to that, I'll let her run through the
finances of where we are.
[1:20:55] » I have two questions.
One, have you got a police station quote
[1:20:59] yet?
>> Uh, no we do not. We are That is on my
[1:21:04] list, but I didn't bring it up. Um, we
were supposed to have a quote by the end
[1:21:09] of last week. We don't have that yet.
Um, we we can't move forward without it.
[1:21:14] If we use the numbers [clears throat]
from the community center ad hoc new
[1:21:19] build, I think it was $625
a square foot for a new build. Um, I'm
[1:21:25] not sure the square footage of the
police station.
[1:21:28] I get that. So, we're talking more than
we probably originally estimated, but I
[1:21:34] don't know the number. And we can't move
forward without that number. We have to
[1:21:38] understand what it is we're being asked
to spend as we have.
[1:21:41] » And when do you think you'll have that
number? Cuz there's a number floating
[1:21:44] around town. I can tell you that right
now. It's $38 million.
[1:21:48] » 38 million is the number I'm hearing.
>> Yeah. That's a big number to all the
[1:21:53] time.
>> I don't know the number. No one has come
[1:21:56] to me. Jay has not come to me yet. But I
want that number by the end of this
[1:22:00] month because we want to move this
process forward and it's gonna take
[1:22:03] months to get this to referendum.
>> Anything else? Second question.
[1:22:09] » I forgot it now.
>> Are we time to go to finance?
[1:22:12] » Yeah, it is time to go to finance.
>> All right,
[1:22:16] » I'll stop if you remember it.
>> Okay. um it's first month and it's not
[1:22:21] even a complete month in the budget that
um revenues are fine that um it looks
[1:22:26] low for taxes but it's exactly where it
was on the same day last year and since
[1:22:31] that came in we we've received millions
um that um as far as the revenue
[1:22:37] expected revenue we had two grants that
we received in after our budget was done
[1:22:43] one was a casino grant one time casino
grant the other one was a supplemental
[1:22:48] education grant which I believe is one
time. Um the selectman um discussed
[1:22:54] they'd like to add the additional
education money to the education budget
[1:23:00] [clears throat]
that um um it's not required. There's a
[1:23:04] formula. If you didn't go up by that
amount of money, then you got to add it
[1:23:08] to the budget or the difference to the
budget. But we did. Um um but that is is
[1:23:14] what they're thinking when they go
through this. They didn't make any and
[1:23:18] it doesn't have to be done at any
particular time. They didn't make any
[1:23:22] motions to do it. Just so you know their
thinking. Uh interest rates, we're
[1:23:27] currently earning 3.72 to 3.75.
Um the budget anticipated that we'll be
[1:23:34] getting 3.5 until November and 3.25.
So we So as long as we're on target with
[1:23:40] the cash that we have, we should be um
um good with the interest rates. Any
[1:23:46] questions on revenue? No.
>> Uh expenditures? Nothing exciting.
[1:23:54] » Any questions on expenditures?
>> All right. Um capital um we're looking
[1:24:00] for a transfer
that the Canderwood Lake Road Causeway
[1:24:06] um is uh um we'd like to take the money
out of small bridge repair and put it in
[1:24:13] there. This was something I discussed
with Ralph because I didn't realize that
[1:24:17] he was just going to sit on that 65,000.
So when he wanted to add money in his
[1:24:22] budget, I said, "No, use this first
because it's bonded." And so we can't
[1:24:26] just sit on it until he he needs to use
it 5,000 at a time or something. Uh and
[1:24:32] so he said, "Fine." So we want to move
that out of the uh small bridge repair
[1:24:38] and into the causeway. that um the
causeway um he got quotes um for an
[1:24:46] engineered block system
um uh from a company we normally use and
[1:24:54] um the um engineer came in and doesn't
want the engineered blocks or the state
[1:25:00] wouldn't allow the engineered blocks and
so that um had to be replaced with rip
[1:25:07] wrap um and we went out to bid. The
place we got the quote from didn't bid
[1:25:14] because they don't do rip wrap. They do
engineered block. Um the other um bids
[1:25:20] came in between 275 and 450. We're
looking at the low bidder. Um we've
[1:25:26] never used that vendor. Um they had good
um references. Um and so that is um what
[1:25:34] we'd like to do. In addition, um they
are saying that they have to have the
[1:25:40] police outside services um for lane
closures. Ralph says he's anticipating
[1:25:47] doing this in October. He wants to add
it to the budget, but hopefully he can
[1:25:52] save that cost because October is a slow
time for his people and maybe he could
[1:25:58] use one police officer and one of his
people or maybe two of his people um um
[1:26:04] could do the that instead. Um but for
right now, this is worst case. Um
[1:26:12] uh there's um a six- wheeled dump truck,
a $325,000
[1:26:17] or $33,000 dump truck. It's now 308,000.
And um the guidance uh wing and roof air
[1:26:26] conditioner needs $567 more dollars to
close it out. Any questions on that?
[1:26:36] on the on the causeway stuff. We're
going to bring that into the October
[1:26:40] capital committee just to see if there's
things we can learn about can we do the
[1:26:45] process better so we don't get
surprised. I'm not I mean the the having
[1:26:51] police there when they were doing the
repairs that probably should have been
[1:26:54] known. The fact that the solution that
we were planning on for a couple years
[1:26:56] all of a sudden wasn't viable and might
be something that we couldn't have seen.
[1:27:00] But we're going to try to see if there's
anything we can do to prevent surprises
[1:27:04] like this going.
>> I mean, it sounds like it was an
[1:27:07] engineered block versus something else
problem. Who would have known that?
[1:27:10] » Yeah. Right.
[1:27:14] » Okay.
>> But something about the water and that's
[1:27:16] why we couldn't use this. I
>> Yeah. I mean, we're just volunte.
[1:27:24] » Exactly. [snorts]
>> All right. Um and then audit update.
[1:27:29] They've been out for their preliminary
work. Oh, this is from last last month.
[1:27:33] It was last month they were out. Uh
they'll be back September 8th. Um and
[1:27:38] the audit engagement letter we put on
hold last time and I sent it out at that
[1:27:43] meeting. Um no hurry in approving it,
but um
[1:27:46] » it's out there. Um
>> that's it.
[1:27:50] » Put it on hold business. I do have a
question and I know Miheit asked to go
[1:27:53] but back two meetings ago when we talked
about the board of ed money and moving
[1:27:59] it and everything else you said oh it's
not going to affect our ratio of fund
[1:28:05] balance
>> I had a calculation that that showed and
[1:28:09] I probably had one of these powerpoints
that showed that um we thought with the
[1:28:15] revenue that is coming in a little
higher and the expenditures that are
[1:28:20] coming in a little lower that we would
still be at the same percentage like
[1:28:24] down to the to the tenth of a percent.
>> Now, that was like I think 19 something
[1:28:30] if I remember correctly.
>> Huh?
[1:28:33] » 19.
>> So, then Steve mentioned that's we've
[1:28:36] got to flatten out at some point. What
is our flatten out number? Is it going
[1:28:40] to be 20%, 21%. What is our thing? And
then what is it going to take to
[1:28:46] maintain that if our budget goes up 3
1/2 to 4% a year? Because we sort of
[1:28:52] just like let it go and we didn't talk
about each year the budget goes up the
[1:28:58] percentage if if the money remains the
same our percentage dips. So, if we're
[1:29:02] going to make a statement like we're
going to be flat, what is our flat
[1:29:05] number that we're going to work to?
Because that's part of when we're doing
[1:29:08] the budget. And then how are we going to
maintain that [music]
[1:29:12] within the budget? Because this year we
just said, "Okay, it's just going to
[1:29:16] meet. It's okay." But yet, we're going
to go up 3 and a half to 4% next year.
[1:29:20] How are we going to manage this?
>> A fund balance policy,
[1:29:23] » right? You know, that's
>> overdue in updating. So, it's up to you
[1:29:28] guys what that fund balance percent
should be that um we should put on the
[1:29:33] agenda to update that because we were
going to update it every 3 years and
[1:29:36] it's been about five or six.
>> Okay, let me let me jump in here. My
[1:29:41] goal would be as first selection to have
between 18 and 20%. That is above the
[1:29:46] average well above the average of most
towns but it gives us significant
[1:29:51] resources in case something came up.
[music] Your second question is, I
[1:29:56] think, the more difficult one because if
our budget goes up 3% a year, we would
[1:30:02] want our fund balance to go up 3% just
to keep it where it was. We've had a lot
[1:30:07] of good luck, not good luck, good
planning, this board, my board in that
[1:30:11] we have always been under on our
expenditures [music] and over on our
[1:30:15] revenue in the budget. So, we've been
able to put a lot of those funds into
[1:30:20] that. They just roll into the general
fund. that is going to be more difficult
[1:30:23] this year and I think it's going to be
more difficult for the next two years
[1:30:28] coming.
>> So we should plan for that and if we
[1:30:32] plan
to say okay here's our budget next year
[1:30:37] and it's going up x amount and we just
can't afford that we have to make it
[1:30:42] think about make a conscious decision
of what's going to happen to our fund
[1:30:46] balance at least understand.
So if we're at 20,
[1:30:51] » we should talk about it. We should have
a meeting um agenda
[1:30:55] » September or October meeting. [music]
Just just spend some time on this.
[1:30:58] » Yeah.
>> Every indication and I've been doing
[1:31:01] this now for 10 years. This budgets
we've had a lot of good news, a lot of
[1:31:06] good planning. This was the first year
we teeter tottered.
[1:31:10] » Yeah, we're right
>> with the salary negotiations on the
[1:31:14] board of ed side. We're struggling going
to struggle with their needs. We're
[1:31:19] going to struggle with our own needs.
We're going to struggle
[1:31:22] » and this is going to get away from us if
we don't get on top of it because this
[1:31:26] is the first time we teeter. We're
always gone up and now we talk
[1:31:30] plateauing and we said, "Oh, it's
plateauing." But yet, if we're
[1:31:33] plateauing, we got to figure out the
number we want to plateau at and then we
[1:31:37] got to fully understand what is it going
to take get to keep it there because
[1:31:41] there was no sense building this thing
to 19% to have it go to 14%. that that
[1:31:46] would be unacceptable in my
>> in 2020. Our target was 18.
[1:31:50] » Okay.
>> But um but we do have to look at
[1:31:53] » but we were at the low end of the target
when we chose 18 I thought because we
[1:31:57] picked an attainable number if my memory
and other towns were like 20 and like a
[1:32:02] little bit above 20 but we said let's
pick a number we can achieve and
[1:32:06] readress it. Maybe I'm wrong.
>> We had a chart way back two or three
[1:32:10] years ago that had all the towns on it.
>> We need that updated. I don't know how
[1:32:13] to do that.
>> Yes. So we definitely Dan made I don't
[1:32:16] know if you did it.
[1:32:21] » Thank you.
>> But to your point just to hold our
[1:32:24] balance of $700,000 of additional
>> I'm just saying we can't lose sight of
[1:32:29] that
>> so much but that's a lot $700,000.
[1:32:31] » I know I'm freaking out.
>> What I would like to hold off on that
[1:32:35] discussion and I'll tell you why we're
going throughout
[1:32:40] residential properties have gone through
the roof. It looks like commercial is
[1:32:45] not.
That means if residentials go up 60 and
[1:32:50] commercial only goes up 20, we are going
to be moving a significant portion of
[1:32:56] the tax burden from commercial to res.
>> We already did that the last stream,
[1:32:59] Val, too. And it hurts.
>> And and it wasn't this time. I think
[1:33:03] it's going to be more difficult.
>> We should have indications
[1:33:08] in early September where those numbers
are going. Not hard numbers, but
[1:33:12] indications from our reval company
because that's going to affect how we do
[1:33:17] this too. That's if if we go like New
Milford went 60% up on residential and
[1:33:23] 11 12 on commercial
>> in New Milford, it meant that an average
[1:33:28] $400,000 house with no tax increases,
we're going to get an increase of 16% in
[1:33:33] their taxes.
We need to look at all of these things
[1:33:38] in conjunction with each other to see
where we're going to end up.
[1:33:41] » All right. I think that's a good
conversation to have and I perfect.
[1:33:45] » All right, everybody else.
>> 24 is the last year we have fund
[1:33:49] balances. We can update for 2025.
Um but this
[1:33:54] » where are we? The yellow.
>> Uh we're the yellow. Um so we're kind of
[1:33:59] mid-range. This is AAA towns.
>> Um
[1:34:03] » okay. All right. We'll put it on the
agenda for next.
[1:34:06] » Can you send me this? Cuz I I um I think
I have an older one
[1:34:10] » or I couldn't find maybe have it but I
couldn't find it.
[1:34:12] » All right.
>> Cuz the one I we used to show it at the
[1:34:15] at the annual meeting with the town.
Those are in you know
[1:34:20] » whatever largest to small. So you can
kind of see a lot easier where we
[1:34:23] » Yeah. And I can sort those when I'm not
under pressure. No worries.
[1:34:26] » You found it under pressure. Pretty
good.
[1:34:28] » Remind me when you ask anything.
>> Uh anything else questions? Everybody
[1:34:32] good now? Glass you're good. All right,
capital committee. You want to say
[1:34:35] anything?
>> Yes, we're going to get together as I
[1:34:37] said on how it goes.
>> All right. You got a date on that,
[1:34:40] right?
>> Yeah, it's already calendared. I think
[1:34:42] it's the 13th. Double check. If you
don't see on your calendar, let me know.
[1:34:45] But I think somebody sent it out. I
think you send it out.
[1:34:48] » We'll go on to new business and I'll
make a motion to approve the proposed
[1:34:52] transfers between projects in the bonded
capital projects fund as shown on the
[1:34:58] attach report for the year end of 2026.
Do I have a second? Looks like second.
[1:35:04] » Uh I think we discussed it with Marcia.
We She went through the numbers. We're
[1:35:07] up. We're good with that. Moving. So
hearing no more discussion. All in
[1:35:11] favor? I
>> motion passes 5.
[1:35:16] » Oh, I skipped all business. The audit
engagement letter, but I think she said
[1:35:20] it went out, right?
>> It didn't go out.
[1:35:21] » It didn't went out to you guys.
>> It went out to us. Then Brian wanted to
[1:35:24] read it.
>> Yeah, which I did.
[1:35:25] » Okay.
>> So, it's it's very detailed and they
[1:35:29] protect themselves well, but it's
appropriate. So, yeah, I'm fine with it.
[1:35:32] We're good.
>> All right. So, we don't have to discuss
[1:35:34] anymore. It's a done deal. Discuss.
>> Um I I'll need your signature, but I
[1:35:37] when I I don't have it printed tonight,
so I'll get you.
[1:35:41] » Thank you.
>> Okay.
[1:35:43] » Uh other items
>> hearing none.
[1:35:47] » There's nobody else here. I'll make a
motion to adjurnn. Do I have a second?
[1:35:53] » All in favor? Bye
>> bye.
[1:35:57] » We're still on video, so don't worry.
>> If you would sign that one.
[1:36:02] » Thank you, Brian.
>> Just happen to have it with me.
[1:36:07] Amen.