City Council - Finance Committee

CITY OF EASTHAMPTON OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL Easthampton Municipal Building 50 Payson Ave., Ste. 100 Easthampton, Massachusetts 01027-2260 Telephone #: (413) 529-1460 MINUTES FINANCE Meeting 12/14/2021 Attendees: FINANCE Committee Members: Councilor Dan Rist, Chair Councilor Peg Conniff. (Arrived at 5:10pm) Councilor Homar Gomez Other Attendees: Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, Mayor Jeff Bagg, City Planner John Mason, Director, Parks & Rec Jen Gallant, City Treasurer Jamie Webb, Assistant Planner Dan Murphy, City Engineer Hetal Patel, City Auditor Barbara LaBombard. City Clerk Meeting called to order at 5:03pm. The meeting was held remotely due to the COVID-19 pan- demic and was videotaped. Approval of Minutes from 11/30. Motion Councilor Gomez, Second Councilor Rist. Approved 2-0. Mayor Communication: None Public Speak: None New Business 1. Supplemental Appropriations from Free Cash and Cannabis Fund #087 A. $1,324.00 from Free Cash for Fire/Police Accident & Sickness policy balance due - The amount requested will be used for Fire and Police Accident and Sickness Poli- cy Renewal remaining balance. Unanticipated expense in FY22 Budgeting. For Fire and Police Accident and Sickness Policy Renewal remaining balance. Unan- ticipated expense in FY22 budgeting. Motion by Councilor Conniff, Second by Councilor Gomez and approved 3-0 B. $14,730.00 from Free Cash for Worker’s Comp policy balance due For Workers Comp employee coverage. Policy Renewal remaining balance. Unanticipated ex- pense FY22 Budgeting. Motion by Councilor Gomez, Second by Councilor Con- niff and approved 3-0 C. 27,000.00 from Free Cash for Phase III of the archival records project to complete Phase 3 of the City’s records management project. Funding will cover labor and materials to continue records work at the Public Safety Complex and Council on Aging. It will also include funding to cover the allowable destruction of records in accordance with the state municipal records retention schedule. Motion by Coun- cilor Conniff, Second by Councilor Gomez and approved 3-0 D. $27,462.13 from Cannabis for Pay Plan COLA & increase in minimum wage to increase income to keep up with the rising cost of living and increase minimum wage. Increase 2% for everyone on the pay plan. Motion by Councilor Gomez, Second by Councilor Conniff and approved 3-0 E. $10,000.00 from Cannabis for CRC - educational public forum budget CRC has requested some funding for community activities and events and community out- reach. Motion by Councilor Conniff, Second by Councilor Gomez and approved 3-0 F. $150,000.00 from Cannabis for Union St. TIP project easements - The amount re- quested will be used to cover the costs to acquire temporary and permanent ease- ments for Union Street TIP Project. This is needed to allocate funds for easements for “order of taking” for paying property owners for 23 property easements. (Ap- proximately $88K for property owners and $20K+ for attorneys, remainder is con- tingency dollars.) Motion by Councilor Gomez, Second by Councilor Rist and approved 2-0 G. $1,400.00 from Free Cash to add Retirement Bd. into central purchasing postage. The current method of billing postage is via credit card and then city reimburse- ment. The decision was made to create a budget line item for this site. Retirement board will save $195/month using this method. Motion by Councilor Gomez, Second by Councilor Conniff and approved 3-0 2. Supplemental Appropriations from CPA Funds: A. $5,730.00 to prepare National Historic Register forms for parks property/bldgs - to hire a consultant to prepare National Register historical designation forms for the  Daley Field Stone House Bathroom, Brookside Cemetery Building and the Brook- side Cemetery Grounds. If historical designation can be attained, then it opens the door to many other grants for improvements to these structures. Motion by Coun- cilor Conniff, Second by Councilor Gomez and approved 3-0 B. $14,600.00 for Nonotuck Park pool facility restoration design phase - to hire con- sultants to assess pool infrastructure and design improvements to the surrounding area including ADA accessibility. John Mason reiterated that this is long overdo and will help with shade, and accessibility issues. Motion by Councilor Gomez, Second by Councilor Conniff and approved 3-0 3. CPA INTRA-departmental Transfer: A. $255,576.00 for HVAC improvements, boiler replacement & electrical upgrades - for construction Phase 1: HVAC improvements, boiler replacement, and building electrical upgrades. Per Burns Maxey this money can be phased out from the other funding. This money can be used from Mass Cultural Council and will not impact other funding sources. The next actions on the project plan are more robust items like new elevator, new ceiling, etc. Motion by Councilor Conniff, Second by Councilor Gomez and approved 3-0 4. INTER-Interdepartmental Transfer: A. $53,000.00 to approve expenditures from the PEG Access Receipts Reserved Acct. To give approval to spend from the PEG access receipts Reserved Account for ca- ble related purposes consistent with the franchise agreement. Motion by Councilor Conniff, Second by Councilor Gomez and approved 3-0 5. CPA change of scope request: A. Payson Ave. rail trail crossing design/const. drawings(No PH) - Original scope of CPA funds requested in 2009 for the design of the Manhan Trail. Change of scope request is for design of capital improvements to Payson Ave Rail Trail Crossing and as matching funds for the creation of the construction documents. This would help to look at improvements to crosswalk near Williston and on Payson Ave. City will be looking for a grant application for Shared Streets and Spaces program to supplement these funds. Motion by Councilor Gomez, Second by Councilor Rist and approved 2-0 Meeting Adjourned at 5:53PM Next Meeting: Tuesday, 12/21/2021 @ 5:30pm