Town Council - Ways & Means Committee

MEMBERS Braintree Town Council Thomas Bowes, Chairman Committee of Ways & Means Shannon Hume, Vice-Chair One JFK Memorial Drive Stephen C. O’Brien, Member Braintree, Massachusetts 02184 Timothy Carey, Member Thomas Whalen, Member MINUTES May 14, 2018 A meeting of the Committee of Ways & Means was held in the Cahill Auditorium, Braintree Town Hall, on Monday, May 14, 2017 at 6:30p.m. Councilor Bowes was in the Chair. The Clerk of the Council conducted the roll call. Present: Thomas Bowes, Chairman Shannon Hume, Vice-Chair Stephen C. O’Brien, Member Timothy Carey, Member Thomas Whalen, Member Also Present: Joseph Reynolds, Chief of Staff Edward Spellman, Finance Director Paul Shastany, Police Chief James O’Brien, Fire Chief Maryann Bosse, Financial Coordinator Fire Dept. Corey Chambers, Financial Coordinator BPD Dan Sullivan, Town Auditor James Quaglia, Superintendent Blue Hills Regional Steven Moore, Assistant Superintendent Blue Hills Regional Erik Erskine, Blue Hills Regional Town Representative The meeting was opened with the pledge of allegiance to the flag followed by a moment of silence for all those serving in our armed services, past and present. Approval of Minutes • May 7, 2018 Motion: by Councilor Hume to approve minutes of May 7, 2018 Second: by Councilor Carey Vote: For (5), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) May 14, 2018 Ways & Means Committee 1 of 4 New Business • 18 026 Mayor: FY2019 Operating Budget or take up any action relative thereto The following Departments were in attendance to present their proposed FY2019 Budget: APPENDIX F Pages Police 32-41 Fire 42-50 Blue Hills Regional High School 58 Committee members asked each department many questions about increase/decrease line items. Department 210 Police Paul Shastany, Chief of Police, noted the FY2019 department budget request is $10,245,425. Chief Shastany stated the evidence room is at its conclusion. We were identified as having a lapse in the evidence room integrity which caused me to be here. It will never happen again. This will be the best in the nation. New standard of handling evidence is set at a higher standard. I can guarantee exact counts of every piece that will be in the evidence room with the RFID labels. With the RFID we can do G-O tracking. This will be up and running by the end of summer. Steve Wallace is working closely with the evidence room. He is a great asset. The most complaints are speeding cars and cars parked near a business that could take business away from them. Effective July 1st we will have a parking and traffic control group. The parking focus is also on commuter traffic as it relates to the rails including the Landing. We have taken a deep dive into the budget in every line as well as look at the organization and how we deliver services. We determine full-time as 65 being a consistent number employed. I created a staffing and deployment plan that was submitted to the Mayor. We have an additional 11. We hired 5 lateral transfers with the anticipation of retirement. The lateral hires have an immediate turn off of the overtime “spicket”. The 6 new hires take an 18 month journey until they are out on the road. Corey Chambers stated some increases are due to collective bargaining agreements and uniform allowances. Councilor O’Brien asked for the rationale of why 11 more police officers were added to the budget at this time. Chief Shastany stated the rationale being we are not delivering the services we need to be. Chief Shastany stated risk reduction is an important part of what I am doing. We need those 11 officers. We are not in the business to allow problems to fester. With the Opioid crisis I am down one narcotics detective. The commitment against those selling drugs is a major one. This department has been very aggressive. There is no safety in a responsive police department that is not addressing pro-actively some of the problems. Witnesses and community engagement – we are constantly asked can you send an officer here or there. The department can’t provide the services that we want to and that are asked of us unless we get these officers. Then we can better serve and better eliminate risk. I am here to assist and move us forward. People want a safe community. Public safety done well is an investment. It is not a luxury. This town deserves the best they can for protection and I am delivering. This business is misunderstood. We work behind the scenes pro-actively. Councilor O’Brien stated I welcome it but just wanted to have your justify it for the residents at home. May 14, 2018 Ways & Means Committee 2 of 4 Councilor Hume asked where the police fuels there vehicles. Corey Chambers stated they use the town pump but also across the street from the police station along with certain gas stations authorized to use if out of town. Councilor Bowes stated I see you are requesting $375,000 in overtime. Chief Shastany stated with the restructuring and the addition of the new officers we decided with the Mayor to see how we can do. We will show we are working really hard on this and decided the $375,000 would be acceptable. Department 220 Fire James O’Brien, Fire Chief noted the FY2019 department budget request is $8,491,785. The Braintree Fire Department consists of 90 employees. There are 21 firefighters per group and there are 4 groups (84 firefighters on the suppression side). The other 6 are on the admin side. That includes a training officer, hazmat officer, fire marshall, superintendent of fire alarms, our financial coordinator and the fire chief. We maintain a contractually obligated 17 man minimum per shift. Right now we are fully staffed. The fire boat is anticipated to be operational by June 1. It is currently docked at the Braintree Yacht Club. The boat can shoot 1,500 gallons per minute of water. Councilor Whalen asked if the fuel contract is negotiated along with the Town. Chief O’Brien stated no they have their own contract for the past many years. They could look into getting the same rate for everyone. Councilor Bowes stated I see you are requesting $375,000 in overtime. We know this overtime request will probably exceed the $375,000. Councilor O’Brien stated how can fire overtime take such a large reduction. It is just another Supplemental waiting to happen – that’s the way I look at it. I say add another $200,000 and that would be a budget I can support. I cannot add money to the budget. I can only reduce. That needs to come from the Mayor. Councilor Bowes asked what Deskman is for. Chief O’Brien stated that is when Brewster Ambulance dispatch is not in service and the dispatch needs to be manned to transmit medical calls. Councilor O’Brien asked about fire alarm repairs and if they have all been removed. Chief O’Brien stated there are still pull boxes on town buildings, playgrounds, lakes, any gathering places will stay put. Those are municipal boxes and they need to stay there. Councilor Hume asked if those getting their Captains license will be paying for it themselves. Chief O’Brien stated yes. Department 350 Blue Hills Regional High School Steven Moore, Blue Hills Regional Assistant Superintendent for Business and Personnel noted the FY2019 department budget request is $2,779,024. Number of Braintree students enrolled is 160 for the upcoming year. Students from each town are gathered together and ranked according to their qualifications and applications criteria. James Quaglia, Superintendent stated the building renovations are on schedule. They are still trying to get the final figures in. Councilor Hume asked to receive expenditures for the past two years to compare to the proposed budget. Mr. Moore stated he would get that information to Mr. Erskine to pass along. Mr. Quaglia stated they are 1:1 with Chromebooks for every grade for 4 years. May 14, 2018 Ways & Means Committee 3 of 4 • 18 027 Mayor: FY2019 Budget – Community Preservation Committee or take up any action relative thereto (Presented by Christine Stickney on May 8) This item was discussed and voted for favorable recommendation to the full Council at the Budget meeting on May 8, 2018. • 18 028 Mayor: FY2019 Revolving Accounts or take up any action relative thereto (Revolving Accounts to be presented on the date Department Head presents Budget) 5/7 Library® (R3, R4) 5/8 Dept. of Elder Affairs® (R1) 5/8 Municipal Licenses & Inspections® (R2) 5/8 Education® (R7) 5/21 Department of Public Works® (Recycling) (R5, R6) 5/21 Golf® (R8) Revolving Accounts R3 and R4 were voted on (May 7, 2018) and referred to the full Council for favorable recommendation. Revolving Accounts R1, R2 and R7 were voted on (May 8, 2018) and referred to the full Council for favorable recommendation. Revolving Accounts R5, R6 and R8 will be voted on at the meeting of May 21, 2018. Old Business • None It was unanimously voted to adjourn the meeting at 8:05p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan M. Cimino Clerk of the Council Documents provided for Meeting • 18 026 Mayor: FY2019 Operating Budget or take up any action relative thereto • 18 027 Mayor: FY2019 Budget – Community Preservation Committee or take up any action relative thereto • 18 028 Mayor: FY2019 Revolving Accounts or take up any action relative thereto May 14, 2018 Ways & Means Committee 4 of 4