Budget Review Committee

BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE APRIL 3, 2014 A meeting of the Budget Review Committee was held Thursday, April 3, 2014 at 7:10 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane, Chair, presided. Members of Committee present: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire, Vice Chair Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown Alderman Ken Siegel Alderman David Schoneman Alderman Michael Soucy Also in Attendance: Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Stephen M. Bennett, Esq., Corporation Counsel John Griffin, CFO/Comptroller Chief John Seusing, Nashua Police Department PUBLIC COMMENT – None COMMUNICATIONS From: Traffic Safety Group Re: Manchester Street and Shady Lane – School Zone Flashers with Speed Feedback Sign (O-14-013) MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO ACCEPT AND PLACE ON FILE ON THE QUESTION Chairman Deane We’re going to make some subsequent alterations to the legislation as we move on. MOTION CARRIED UNFINISHED BUSINESS – None NEW BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-14-009 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Michael Soucy Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown Alderman-at-Large Jim Donchess Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane APPROVING THE COST ITEMS OF A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE NASHUA POLICE COMMISSION AND THE NASHUA POLICE SUPERVISORS ASSOCIATION FROM JULY 1, 2011 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2015 AND AUTHORIZING RELATED TRANSFERS MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE TO RECOMMEND FINAL PASSAGE OF R-14-009 Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 2 ON THE QUESTION Chairman Deane We were given a handout. We should probably suspend the rules accept and place on file two communications from Stephen Bennett. Both of them are related to the Nashua Police Supervisors Collective Bargaining Agreement. MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED AS TO ACCEPT TWO COMMUNCIATIONS FROM ATTORNEY STEPHEN BENNETT REGARDING THE TWO NASHUA POLICE SUPERVISORS COLLECTIVE BARGAINNING AGREEMENT MOTION CARRIED Chairman Deane Attorney Bennett, do you want to walk us through these two communications you gave us this evening? Thank you. Attorney Bennett The two copies of Article 14 attached. One is the final draft and the other one is the red lined. What had happened was some language which had been previously negotiated, this is the third go around on this Collective Bargaining Agreement and some previously negotiated language that stayed in and it shouldn’t have. During the last negotiations, that language was deleted. I didn’t delete it when I did the draft of the legislation. The deletions that occurred all relate to the named carriers. The legislation before you now, the named carriers are still in the Article 14. Previously, they had been removed - R-13- 145 which was vetoed last November or December. The language I deleted had been contained in that prior proposal. Chairman Deane You have given us two copies. The first copy should be the amendment made to the resolution that we currently have and the second copy is what is currently in the resolution? Attorney Bennett No, there are two copies. There both the same. One is the red line and one is the non-red line version. Chairman Deane So the resolution that we have in front of us, does it have to be amended to reflect this? Attorney Bennett These pages have to be substituted in for the Article 14 that’s in the Collective Bargaining Agreement attached to the original legislation. Chairman Deane So both pages have to go in there? Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 3 Attorney Bennett Yes, and they are both the same except that one is for the red line version and one is for the clean copy. Chairman Deane Does everyone understand what Attorney Bennett said? I think we should move to amend R-14-009 which would be Article 14 would be amended with the handout that we were given this evening. MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO AMEND BY REPLACING ARTICLE 14 WITH THE COPIES ATTACHED TO ATTORNEY BENNETT’S MEMO ACCEPTED EARLIER THIS EVENING MOTION CARRIED Chairman Deane The other item that Attorney Bennett gave us is a summary, would you please go over that with us? Attorney Bennett The one difference in this summary before we start is that you’ll see that this has been red lined also and the language that has been red lined deleted is language that was in the prior proposal which was R-13- 145. There is some additional language added. This is just to show the difference between these two resolutions. The first article is Article 10 – Vacation, again this was contained in the prior Collective Bargaining Agreement which was not approved. There would be 25 vacation days after 15 years of service as opposed to the existing contract which provides 25 vacation days after 16 years. So they are getting an extra day of vacation one year earlier. The biggest change from this proposed contract and the last one is in Article 14 – Insurances. There are two major changes there. While this proposal adopts the increased premium for employees going from 80% to 70% for point of service and 90% to 80% for HMO’s and the increased deductibles. What it doesn’t include this time is the removal of the named carriers. The named carriers are back in this proposal. The other major change had to do with how the retro premium for healthcare was going to be paid back by the officers. Previously, they had the option to pay off using accrued sick leave. In this one, they will be paying off back to October 1, 2011, through payroll deductions. Chairman Deane It will be spread out through the duration of the contract. Attorney Bennett Yes, and it goes through until June 30, 2015. So they will be paying back what they owe for a little over a year. Alderman Siegel I assume that our guests have seen the changes and everyone agrees. As a point of order, we have substituted Article 14 but in fact, there is Article 10, 16, 19, 28, and 33 that I believe are part of this, is that correct? Based on what you are saying, you just described a change to Article 10 – Vacation, is that in the same ordinance we have already? Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 4 Attorney Bennett The only reason you received those replacement pages for Article 14 is because there was some language included in Article 14 shouldn’t have been. Alderman Siegel Only Article 14? Attorney Bennett Yes, only Article 14. Chairman Deane So now you are on Article 16. Attorney Bennett Article 16 – Educational Benefits. These changes were contained in the prior Collective Bargaining Agreement presented last November. There are $250.00 increases to degrees held by the officers. It went from an Associate’s Degree which there was an annual bonus of $250.00 and it’s now $500.00. A Bachelor’s Degree has been at $750.00 and it’s now up to $1,000.00. A Master’s Degree was at $1,000.00 and is now at $1,250.00. Article 19 – Bereavement Leave. Again, that was part of the previous proposed contract and that increases the number of consecutive days for bereavement for the death of a close family member, a parent, spouse, or child. It goes from 3 to 4 days. Article 28 – Wages. These wages that are proposed are the same as the prior contract. FY12 – Lieutenants 2%, Sergeant’s 1%, FY13, Lieutenants and Sergeants both receive 1% wage increases. FY14 Lieutenants and Sergeants receive 2.2% wage increases and FY15, there is an across the board of 2.5% wage increase. Chairman Deane So when we look at the financial analysis given my Mr. Griffin did he take the difference between the 2% for the Lieutenants and the 1% for Sergeants and come up with a 1.3% increase overall? Mr. Griffin Yes, that’s what I did. Attorney Bennett The final article is Article 33 – Term of Agreement and that would be from July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2015. Chairman Deane The contract analysis can be found with the resolution. It’s the third page in. Mr. Griffin, would you please provide us with an overview of that. Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 5 Mr. Griffin This analysis has been provided most recently in November as Attorney Bennett indicated. This analysis captures the head count of the officers in the Supervisor’s Union, it captures the differences in pay raise between the Lieutenants and the Sergeants. It calculates the base pay rate increase for each year of the contract. It provides the other salary related costs such as overtime, longevity, holiday pay, etc. That’s the pay side, the payroll side of the equation. This analysis is very consistent with prior analyses in that it captures the retirement costs associated with this contract to include the city portion pension paid to the (NHRS) New Hampshire Retirement System. Finally, as well as to the extent applicable, FICA and Medicare. The bottom of the equation is the insurance benefit cost to include health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, and the changes associated with those in the years FY12 through FY15, projected. It captures a total cost by year, in the case of the increase or decrease in the prior year and then divides the result by the number of officers to get an average compensation rate and it carries the average compensation rate increase from year to year. It’s not a cumulative look. It could be done, I think individuals have indicated that in the past, that could be done but these percentage increases are for the annual increase from the prior years. Chairman Deane Does that number include the payback? Mr. Griffin That’s a good question. Let me call your attention to line 47 - Employee Contributions. The amounts paid by the subscribing officers, this is the retro payments estimated as of October 1, 2011. This captures their contributions although the contributions, as Attorney Bennett indicated, would be paid back once the contract gets in place and the payroll and benefits department – this attempts to show the retroactive payments each year. Chairman Deane So what is coming back to the city is the $143,727, the $119,528, and the $64,262? Mr. Griffin One way of looking at this is if we look at the base share which was FY11, the officers collectively contributed $64,262 and in FY12 it’s a nine month increase for the 10% increase that Attorney Bennett indicated so the $119,528 is a full year at 10% and nine months at the additional 10%. FY13, FY14, and FY15, it’s essentially 20% of the cost of the healthcare insurance as shown on the previous line 46. In summary, this shows the contributions by the officers as it would have occurred had this contract been in place beginning FY12 and that’s important because the increase in compensation is going to be retroactive to that date. The other point to mention is that from time to time we talk about the NHRS, that employer rate increases every other year. That’s why you see pretty large increases in the odd years and then the year that they don’t increase the rate, we increase the pay so there’s a percentage increase just because of the pay increases. Chairman Deane I was looking at the fluctuation of those numbers there. Does anyone have any questions for Mr. Griffin? Does the police department have any comments they would like to make? Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 6 Chief Seusing The only comment that I would make is that this contract that is before you contains what the board had asked for the last time it was down here which pertained to paying back the healthcare retroactively with real dollars versus the sick leave. This proposal contains that. I think as most of the board members know that that union is going on almost three years without a contract and I can tell you that the members of that union have worked as hard as they would have if they had a contract in place. Their dedication has not faltered one bit. I have noticed it, I know that the commissioner has noticed it as well as the deputy’s and that means quite a bit to me. I am certainly concerned that we are pushing three years without a contract now and I’m hoping that with this proposal in front of you, with them paying back the healthcare retroactively, which was asked by nearly the entire board last time around, I am hoping this time around it gets through. Chairman Deane It was asked for after it was vetoed. Let’s be clear about that. Chief Seusing Yes. Alderman Schoneman Typically, if someone is hired and goes to the academy and gets trained starting out from scratch, how long will it be before they become a sergeant? How many years of service does an officer have to become a sergeant and to become a lieutenant? Chief Seusing It varies but I would say a fair average number to become a sergeant would be at least 10 years and then once you become a sergeant, you would probably be a sergeant for 4 or 5 years before you become a lieutenant. Those numbers change but I think that’s a fair number. For example, I was on the job for a total of 12 or 12 ½ years before I made sergeant and 17 years before I made lieutenant. Alderman Schoneman The average annual total compensation package, how do these figures compare to other cities in the state and if you have a sense of how other cities might apportion compensation among all of this categories to arrive at a similar or different number? Chief Seusing We had done a comparison probably a year and a half ago in regards to the supervisor’s contract and with these pay increase that are in this proposal, it keeps our sergeants and lieutenants competitive with New Hampshire State Police and the Manchester Police Department, which are really the two agencies that are similar in size. Specific to Manchester, my recollection in comparing our wages with their wages, the benefit that we saw with the Manchester contract was that the more time that you had on, the more senior you were in a supervisor’s rank. At the lower end, our younger supervisors were slightly ahead of their supervisors with the same time level but as you went on and became more senior they would bypass us to some degree. With this proposal, we are competitive and in line. Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 7 Alderman Siegel I am very much in favor of this and I would hope that this would be unanimous. I’d like for anyone in doubt, maybe here or in the T.V. audience, I’d like to point out the cost of losing people because it’s easy for people to focus on the percentage of increase and say that’s big, we shouldn’t be paying any money. You are talking about sergeants, captains, people that have had probably $100,000 worth of training invested in them over the years. Chief Seusing At least. Alderman Siegel To even lose one or two people to attrition, separate from the obvious value of the experience level, is incredibly expensive and I want people to take a look at the much broader picture and look beyond the 1/2 or 1 %. Take a look at the absolute value that the officers are being considered here and the cost of losing them. I would urge everyone to vote for this and I think it’s very fair. Alderwoman Brown I would like to thank your officers for their patience for being without a contract for so many years acknowledge that we appreciate their work for us. They risk their lives every day and I also hope that we approve this unanimously. Chief Seusing Thank you very much. MOTION CARRIED Chairman Deane I talked to Ms. Lovering and we have to meet our 30-day criteria so this will be on our next full board th agenda on April 8 . R-14-011 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Daniel T. Moriarty Alderman Sean M. McGuinness RELATIVE TO THE TRANSFER OF $200,000 FROM DEPARTMENT 194, ACCOUNTING CLASSIFICATION 70 – CONTINGENCY INTO EXPENDABLE TRUST FUND #7038 “DPW SNOW REMOVAL FUND” MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED AS TO ALLOW FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF A COMMUNICATION RECEIVED AFTER THE AGENDA WAS PREPARED MOTION CARRIED Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 8 Chairman Deane I spoke with the Mayor today about this and I told her that I thought it would be prudent for her to issue a memo on her position on the transfer of contingency money into the snow account. I said that it seemed to me that we are pretty much done with winter and there was no need to buff this account up. Normally, what we have done is through the escrow process is where we have unexpended appropriations from a lot of different areas. We look at replenishing the trust account at that point in time and right now since there is still funds available to the tune of $34,231.00 and with April now upon us she felt comfortable to take this resolution as she has stated in here and indefinitely postpone it. That’s the gist of the memo that was sent. MOTION CARRIED Alderman Siegel If we indefinitely postpone, does that mean that the legislation is still pending and the funds are frozen? Chairman Deane It’s pending until the board takes final action at our next full board meeting. As soon as that happens, and the seven day timeframe after that then the funds are freed up at that point in time. Alderman Siegel So if it were a case that we indefinitely postponed and it remains in committee and then that $200,00 remains in limbo? Chairman Deane Right but we are going to move to recommend indefinite postponement to the full board and it’s going to be pushed onto our next agenda. Alderman Siegel So the money would be freed up? Chairman Deane Absolutely. MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO ACCEPT AND PLACE ON FILE MOTION CARRIED MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD TO RECOMMEND INDEFINITE POSTPONEMENT MOTION CARRIED Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 9 R-14-014 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman-at-Large Diane Sheehan AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY TREASURER TO ISSUE BONDS NOT TO EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF EIGHT MILLION SEVEN HUNDRED AND NINETY THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS ($8,790,250) FOR BROAD STREET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HVAC IMPROVEMENTS AND BUILDING RENOVATIONS MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD TO RECOMMEND FINAL PASSAGE ON THE QUESTION Alderman Dowd We have done a great deal of preliminary costing on this and we have the analysis on this which includes the additions. The number is not something that is cast in concrete for a two reasons, one is that they are still doing some of the pricing but it won’t exceed this, and the other thing I’d like to point out is that on the last three projects when we have finished, we have scrutinized the funding and the spending of it to have monies left over. The last project we had almost $2 million left over to put towards this project and this project will get the same kind of scrutiny on spending. Alderman Wilshire I just want to know on this project what happens during the construction period like with the gymnasium and that kind of thing. Is that going to be cut up into classrooms like we did prior? Alderman McCarthy Yes. Alderman Wilshire So their Phys. Ed. Program won’t be offered during that construction phase? Alderman McCarthy They’ll do whatever they can but the gymnasium will have classrooms built in temporarily. The last thing we do is refinish the gym after the classrooms are torn down. Alderman Siegel I’d like to thank my colleague Alderman Dowd for providing me with some information that I needed to better evaluate this. I’d also like to thank my colleagues Alderman’s Dowd, McCarthy, and Deane. I managed to go back and read an entire years’ worth of minutes of the Building Committee and the Joints Special Committee to get a feel for the types of discussions that were held and the analysis that was done. I can confirm what Alderman Dowd has said, there was definitely a lot of scrutiny and a lot of good thought. I went into this not understanding anything about what it was that we were getting a bond for and it was helpful to read those discussions. Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 10 Alderman McCarthy I just wanted to point out that there is an option – I had deliberately structured the resolution so that the Budget Committee whether we wanted to do the addition or not. I think the addition is a very useful thing to do. It addresses some security concerns but I was concerned that it is about 10% of the hard construction cost so I would point out that it’s actually a little more expensive than what is in here. The good news is the overall project cost went down by $46,000, the bad news is the alternate went up by $23,000 so the total project cost only dropped by about $23,000 which is something that we will true up at the end. Chairman Deane I know that in some of the meetings we have had and some of the meetings which I attended where you were a major part of the discussion on the change in the entryway and the little bit of heartburn that went on with what the cost was but there are two things that I think you should explain. One is the citizens up there were concerned about the fire access road around the building, the buffer and things of that nature should be spoken to somewhat. The other thing I look at is that we just made a significant investment in school security throughout the city and this current situation, and I’m not saying that it puts the children in peril and danger but it isn’t the most prudent way to get students in and out of a building the way it’s being done now. I would rather look at the safety end of it where the school is going to be in disarray and the contractors going to be on-site. Everything is going to be mobilized and it’s kind of a tough pill to swallow financially but I think from a safety standpoint, now is the time to do it and be done with it. It should have been done – the whole design of that building is rather odd to begin with. Can you explain what’s been done about the fire access road? Alderman McCarthy There are a couple of things that I’d like to point out about the construction. We had a meeting with the abutters a while ago and they were concerned, particularly the one who is at 11 Upstone which is the corner house because the fire marshal had asked us to put a road around the entire school which is what we’ve done virtually with all of the ones we’ve rebuilt so we can patrol or get emergency vehicles around them. That one required significant grading and cutting into the buffer area that existed. After one of the discussions, I had asked the architect and the construction manager to go back and look at what it would take to do a turn-around rather than continue the road back to the grade. The school has wings that stick out and it is possible to back a truck in between two of the wings and turn around. The Planning Board made that a stipulation – to not continue the road back down to Upstone but rather to just end it there and do a turn-around. The fire marshal’s office said they would be okay with that as long as the turn-around was large enough to accommodate the largest truck which turned out to be a little bigger than I expected and would have liked and as a result we don’t save much by not finishing the road. It turns out the cuts and fills to do the grading are about the same. I drove by the site earlier this week just to take a look at the affect it would have and the construction is up on a plateau and it does not bring it down into the area where it would cut directly across the abutter’s buffer to the front of the school. I was pretty happy with the way that came out and the neighbors were reasonably happy with that. I think the addition to the front at the entrance is in fact a really good idea, I was just concerned that it is costly. In the interest of full disclosure, my wife does work at that school and gets to watch the process of loading and unloading kids everyday which is not the most organized thing in the world. There is an intent to straighten out some of the waiting area for cars because right now there is a lot of conflict between parents arriving for drop-off, meetings at the school, staff trying to park, and buses arriving and I think that’s all fixed. There will be significant enhancements to the mechanical systems – we will be putting penthouses for the equipment at the end of each of the wings so that they are easier to maintain and will be closer to the classrooms. The building will also be converted displacement like we have done in some of the others which has had great advantage at Fairgrounds and at Amherst and Charlotte, Ledge, and Fairgrounds Elementary. Overall, I Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 11 am very happy with what we are going to get out of the project. The roof sections that are not new will get replaced so that we won’t have to do roof repairs five years out like we’ve done with other schools. I’ve tried with all the schools we have done that they are in good shape for a long time to come and we use surfaces that are long lasting. It’s the last six schools that we have come in substantially under budget. Chairman Deane The preferred contractor agreement, I was led to understand that the electrical went out to bid and an employee of the school district informed the construction manager that their preferred contractor for the technology wiring and phone system is to be this company so you let the electricians know that are bidding on this job that this is who they are using regardless of the price. It’s also my understanding that their price was $9,000 more than the next guy for the same product. I’m a little bit concerned about that. Number one I am concerned that a school district employee would be giving dictation to contractors who are bidding that they must use somebody. This is cabling, a lot of people do it. Alderman McCarthy Are you talking about Broad Street? Chairman Deane Yes. Alderman McCarthy We haven’t let contracts on any of those things yet. Chairman Deane Well, the contracts haven’t been let but that’s what is going on. I will get you all of the information you want. I cannot see that as being a process that is about board. Alderman McCarthy Yes, please do. Those are typically competitively bid and the only times we don’t take the low bidder is if we think the bid is non-responsive or the reputation of the contractor suggests we should do otherwise. Alderman Dowd All of those contracts will come through us for scrutiny. Chairman Deane I understand that but if you don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, it is hard to scrutinize it. Alderman McCarthy One possible explanation for that is that we did select contractors for the security systems and it’s possible that what they were told was make sure that the people bidding on the electrical contract for the work on the school know that they will be working with the security contractor who was already selected. Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 12 Chairman Deane Who was that? Alderman McCarthy I don’t know. Chairman Deane Does the security include the phone system? Alderman McCarthy It may, I don’t know. The parts of the phone system were redone as part of the normal school district maintenance not as part of the reconstruction project. I’ll make sure we follow-up on that. Alderman Dowd The only thing I can think of is if that pieces of the project are already paid for. If part of the project is putting in this wiring but it’s already been paid for. The security systems were paid for the whole school district. Some of it wasn’t put it at Broad Street because of the construction. Chairman Deane It’s not the security, it’s the phones. The electricians were dictated to when they were bidding on the project that they would use this contractor in your bid. Alderman McCarthy Well I will check on that but like I said, that may be because we had already awarded that bid through the process of the security project. Chairman Deane This is for the work that’s being done, the work that we are asking to fund this evening. Alderman McCarthy I’m not sure that it is. We’ll look into it. Some of the security work that is in the scope of the security project was pushed out for the schools that we know we’ll be renovating at the same time. Alderman Siegel In reading the minutes, it appears that the entranceway was also coupled with an increased view of students’ security so that it isn’t just that we want to get vehicles in and out. It seemed that there was a lot of attention how to make sure the building is secure and that access points are secure. Given that is the case as I read it, I see that as mandatory in this day of age. Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 13 Alderman McCarthy We have procedures to secure the building. The building had the door locks and cameras put in place last year but the door is on the first floor and the office is on the second so one of the secretaries has to either go down and let somebody in or buzzes them in with just seeing them on the camera. The kids are brought in through a door that is behind the gym and there is an adult at that door when that door is open so there is a procedure there to do the security. It’s a lot easier if you have the new walkway in the front and in fact, it makes the building a lot more attractive. It puts a covered walkway. One of the things that we were going to do if we didn’t do that alternative is to put a covered walkway behind the gym to that other entrance. Right now the kids are walking from the outdoor environment right onto the surface of the hallways so they track a lot of dirt and mud in and that increases cost and wear and tear on the place. There is security and operational advantages to having that entryway there, it just does have a price tag associated with that. Alderman Dowd The parking lot is also going to be a structured so that we can put all of the cars that are waiting for students inside the school parking lot as opposed to being out on the streets which has caused problems with traffic in the neighborhood. As part of the Planning Board’s findings, we are enlarging the visibility openings of the access to Broad Street so that it’s not as dangerous getting in and out of there. There will be better site lines, wider entrance, and the bus loop will be made easier for the buses to be able to turn. Alderman Siegel Obviously there’s interest in principal payments that show up and there’s, and I assume a bonding fee. Does that show up in the school budget or in the general city budget. Alderman McCarthy The city budget. Alderman Schoneman I understand that it’s not part of the spending cap, is that correct. Alderman McCarthy Yes and no. It’s not an annual expenditure. What is part of the spending cap unless we exclude it under the provisions of Section 54 in the charter is the yearly principal and interest payments on the bond. Alderman Schoneman That is included or is not included? Alderman McCarthy That is included. Alderman Schoneman So, the principal and interest are subject to the spending cap? Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 14 Alderman McCarthy Yes, the budget includes in one of the departments the bonded debt service which is principal and interest payments. That is considered part of the spending cap. Alderman Schoneman I was told that it was not. Alderman McCarthy We have the option to exclude it by a vote of ten aldermen if we want to do that and we have done that on some occasions but typically not. I would point out that with respect to the bonded debt service, if you look at where the number has been historically, it was very low compared to other municipalities for many years and we had a back-up of capital projects and once we got the high school projects in place, they have a very large principal and interest payments that started out around $14 million a year and have come down by $700,000 to $1 million a year so in essence, if you look at what happens to the debt service base strictly on this bond, it probably won’t change because we will erase a $700,000 on the old bonds and at the same time, if we let $7 million bond, for example, the first years payment would be about $700,000. It was actually a very good time for us to do that and make sure we keep that debt service level but keep up with the infrastructure investments. Alderman Schoneman I wasn’t aware that there was a $2 million surplus from previous projects? Was this an $11 million project or are we bonding $8.7 and we are going to use $2 million out of…. Alderman McCarthy The current balance is $1,048,000 and the construction left to do is $9.838 million so the bond then is therefore for the difference which is about $8,790,000. Alderman Schoneman So the $8,790,000 that’s net of? Alderman McCarthy That’s $9.838 minus $1,048,000. Alderman Schoneman Was the surplus on previous projects typical and would we hope for something similar in this case. Alderman McCarthy We typically end up not spending the contingency at all. We are very careful about modifying the contract to require a vote to expend the contingency money in other places that contract allows the construction manager to make that decision. We have been very frugal with contingency money. Net of having to do an additional $2 million in hazardous materials abatement, we still came in at about $6 million under. We carried that over and we had over $1 million left after we had done the three previous elementary schools. Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 15 It was a little more than that and some of it has been carried on what’s called the pre-construction services which is the payments to the architect and the construction manager during the design phase. That doesn’t actually show up in the budget which is the construction budget and that came out of the surplus that was a little more than $1 million. Now we are down to $1 million left. Alderman Schoneman What do we envision the lifespan of these renovations to be. Alderman McCarthy We would like to see 30 years. The bonds are for 20 so we have to ensure that the life is 20. Some of things will vary. The roofs require a guarantee of 20, the surfaces should last 20 – 30, and the construction is masonry and not sheetrock so that should last indefinitely. The electrical systems have typically lasted 20 – 30 years. Alderman Soucy So it’s going to be 20 years at 4%? Alderman McCarthy It’s 5% of the principal so about $400,000 for that plus 4% interest in the first year which would be another $300,000. Alderman Siegel That’s a little high. This is a not to exceed amount on the bond and the 4% is very conservative. At 4% for 20 years, we have $639,206.28 a year. If we get a bond rate of 3% for 20 years we are down to $585,006.24 a year. That’s an amortization over 20 years. Alderman McCarthy We don’t do it that way. We do constant principal payment which means it…we pay 5% of the principal plus interest on the remaining portion on a yearly basis. Alderman Siegel So it would be less then? Alderman McCarthy The first year would be higher. Alderwoman Brown I would like to thank Aldermen Dowd, McCarthy, and Siegel for all of your hard work on this. MOTION CARRIED Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 16 R-14-015 Endorser: Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy APPROVING A $100,000 PAYMENT TO COTTON MILL SQUARE, LLC FOR WORK ON THE RIGHT ABUTMENT OF THE JACKSON MILLS DAM Chairman Deane I had a conversation with Mr. Stabile this afternoon. I asked him to put together a timeline on what exactly went on with this project and get it either to the administration or to me so everybody can have a full understanding of how this whole thing played out and why. There seems to be some questions about it, so I figured it would be better to have the facts put down on a sheet of paper for everyone to review prior to taking it up. He was okay with that. Alderman Dowd Based on the view out the back windows at BAE over the last few days, it’s a good thing we had that dam and it’s a good thing we fixed that side piece because the water flowing through there is pretty high. Alderman Siegel The idea being to table this in committee? Chairman Deane We can table it, and I’ll get the information for everyone so everybody can review it and take it up at our next budget meeting. Alderwoman Brown I just want to mention there is a website, cottonmillsnh.com, if you want to look at the project for further information. MOTION BY ALDERMAN SCHONEMAN TO TABLE R-14-015 MOTION CARRIED NEW BUSINESS – ORDINANCES O-14-013 Endorsers: Alderman Ken Siegel Alderman David Schoneman Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman-at-Large Diane Sheehan Alderman-at-Large Jim Donchess Alderman-at-Large Daniel T. Moriarty Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown Alderman Richard A. Dowd AUTHORIZING THREE SCHOOL ZONE FLASHING SPEED LIMIT SIGNS AND TRANSFERRING $30,000 TO FUND THEIR PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION  Also assigned to the Committee on Infrastructure; Favorable Recommendation Issued 3/12/14 Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 17 MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO RECOMMEND FINAL PASSAGE OF O-14-013 ON THE QUESTION Chairman Deane Everyone got a copy of the memo from the traffic department. What I wanted to do was go to that. When we had originally prepared the legislation what we did was we just kind of picked out random spots that were in the general vicinity. “The engineering department proposes to install each of the school signal flashers with speed feedback signs as shown on the attached engineering drawing as follows…” I don’t know what happened to the drawings. I never got one of those. Oh, that’s with the other agenda. Okay. I’m sorry. I talked to the Director of Public Works and asked that the engineers go out and take a look. Alderman Siegel The legislation is not very specific about the site; it’s an approximation. It’s my opinion that we don’t have to make a change to the legislation to accommodate the recommendations for the exact locations that are specified in the memorandum. Chairman Deane Their attached plans are appropriate. You would be right on the money with that assumption that no changes need to be made which is a good thing. We don’t have to sit here and explain it to Alderman Chasse and beat him to the punch. We did something right the first time. We’re only kidding. Alderman Siegel There was also a recommendation in one of the memorandums to change some of the wording to eliminate solar and radar. I would object to that change only because I don’t think it’s necessary in the legislation. I don’t believe that we’re going to get anything more energy efficient than solar. If radar changes to something better in the far distant future, I’m sure that we can accommodate it if need be. The specific signs that were recommended were ones that were recommended by Jeanne Walker in the traffic department. They were the ones picked out by her. I want to avoid anything that would get in the way of rapidly and efficiently implementing this legislation. It’s had a bumpy history, and I’d just assume not change anything at this point. I don’t see the value at changing at this point. Chairman Deane We’re going to take Alderman McCarthy up on his school zone flashing speed limit sign signal locations throughout the city and take a good hard look at other areas that have deficiencies and bring in some additional legislation to take care of that. I think we should take care of everything all at once and not leave anything hanging out there. That’s something we’ll have to work on. Alderman Siegel That would be separate legislation? Chairman Deane Yes, that would be separate legislation. I have an e-mail from the director of public works that gave me the locations so we can look at the other school zones. I know Charlotte Avenue they’ve got their safe route Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 18 grant and the signals are all included so we don’t have to go up there. But we should look around. Broad Street does have them. I think those got put in at the elementary school prior to the high school being built. Alderman McCarthy They have the flashers. They don’t have the radar units. Chairman Deane Right. I always thought those signs up there were kind of unorthodox. They are way, way, way up in the air. When you’re driving and the sight distance, you’ve got to look up to see the thing. If we did go to replace them, one of the things we looked at was not having a recurring cost of the PSNH bill with a separate meter per signal and the piping and then the failure. Alderman Siegel is the one that did all the research on it. When he looked at it, the solar seemed to be the way to go. Then when we showed it to Jeanne Walker and the areas where we wanted to put them, there wasn’t any large trees blocking them or things of that nature. Alderman McCarthy Speaking of that road and recurring costs, we also put the signals out there for a crosswalk in front of the Red Barn when it was built as a convenient store. It’s not any use that attracts a lot of pedestrian traffic at this point. I’m not sure it makes sense to leave the signalized crosswalk there that we put in a couple of years back. I’ll mention that to Alderman McGuiness. Chairman Deane That is something we should maybe take a look at because that facility has changed. Alderman Soucy Cleveland Street, correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t think it has anything and the beauty is you would cover two schools. You have the elementary and the junior high right there. Alderman McCarthy I wouldn’t bother with these at schools that are not on fairly high traffic roads that are tend to have speeding problems. Cleveland Streets is one of the ones where I’m not sure we’ve had much of a speed problem in front of there. Main Dunstable I don’t think needs them. Alderman Soucy I agree with Main Dunstable. Alderman McCarthy Sunset I think is fine. Dr. Crisp is probably okay. The ones I had in mind, the biggest one was basically Amherst. Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 19 Alderman Soucy I would agree with all of the schools with the exception of Cleveland Street having worked as a SRO. I do have a lot of teenagers coming out of Forge Drive, Kingston Drive and they come flying through there. The front of the school is good. Alderman McCarthy Alright. Chairman Deane I was just thinking about Amherst Street while we were there. How hard would it be to amend this just to add it? The locations are already there. The poles are already there. We’d just be replacing the signals. Alderman Siegel It’s the funding source. Chairman Deane The funding source is already there too for that. Does anybody have any heartburn about adding Amherst Street Elementary School to this? Those signals are already out there. Alderman Dowd Do they have any crossing guards during the comings and goings of students? Chairman Deane Yes they do, but that road is brutal. Alderman Schoneman Are you speaking about Sargents Ave.? Chairman Deane No, out on Amherst itself. Alderman Schoneman Sargents Ave. is kind of tough too just because it’s really easy to get going quickly down there. I agree that Amherst Street is a bigger concern but Sargents there maybe some issues there too. Although we haven’t heard any complaints about it, I just know from looking at it it’s fast. Chairman Deane It’s the widest street in the City of Nashua. Alderman Siegel Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 20 While I’m empathetic to your suggestion because we could just keep adding until we fill the bucket, I am concerned. I think Alderman McCarthy was going to take the lead on taking a look at some of the other schools. We could probably put the other one in that. Chairman Deane I know where you’re going with this. We’ll let it be. I don’t want to make Alderman Chasse happy. MOTION CARRIED GENERAL DISCUSSION Chairman Deane I’m in the process of putting the budget review session dates together. I don’t plan on piggy-backing any other committee meetings. I’m not going to do that. We’re not going to do this after finance or human affairs. I’m just not going to do it. Sue got me some copies of that so pretty soon we’ll have that out for everyone to look at. PUBLIC COMMENT – None REMARKS BY THE ALDERMEN Alderman Schoneman We’re having a Ward 3 meeting on Monday, the 7th, at 7 PM at the Amherst Street School in the media room. It’s just general information, a chance to hear constituent concerns and update them on what’s happening here at the Board of Aldermen. That’s this coming Monday. Alderman Wilshire I know we had talked about doing some work in this Chamber. One of the things that I find hard to deal with is the lighting in here. When you are here for two, three, four hours for a budget meeting. The lighting especially right here. That desk not so bad but when I sat over there, the same thing. The lighting is so bad. Chairman Deane Are those fluorescent lights in those? I wonder if they put LEDs in them if that would make a difference. Alderman Wilshire Anything would make a difference, I think. I think the lighting is so poor in here that after two or three hours of sitting here looking at a budget book… Chairman Deane I’ll pick some bulbs up and bring my ladder in and change them. Budget Review – 04/03/14 Page 21 Alderman Wilshire Perfect. Good job. Thank you. All I had to do was ask, right? Chairman Deane That’s right. Alderman Wilshire Perfect. Chairman Deane That will take care of it. Alderman Dowd The fixtures used to be candles when this first opened. Alderman Wilshire They still are. POSSIBLE NON-PUBLIC SESSION ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE TO ADJOURN MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared closed at 8:20 p.m. Alderman Ken Siegel Committee Clerk