##VIDEO ID:Y3KiPOZY_tc## um to talk through so that we're all um we're all in alignment there but because the board hasn't made an official policy shift yet just kind of summarize the conversation and make sure everyone understood it um but I wanted to start here since we were talking about debriefing from town meeting and specifically the issue that arose with that the the sort of outside budget amendment and how to avoid the perception uh of that disconnect okay any any thoughts from the school committee I have a question okay question CH I'm not clear about what you're saying about releasing both budgets at the same time maybe you could and when is that time sure so I think this year I can pull this up exactly the school the initial School financial plan was released early in January I believe um and that had in it a Topline budget number for the schools um now we had pre either the town on the town side in December at the board's Retreat we had issued some preliminary figures about where we thought revenue and long range financial planning were going to be but histo but by uh the terms of our byw um we have to issue a financial plan by no later than it most is it 14 days or seven days after the governor's budget um or or Fe February 15th essentially unless there's a new governor right that's right whichever so basically you know we we have a deadline in February 15 and we usually go right up to that deadline then when there's a new governor because it takes longer for the state to issue the budget I know yeah yeah so that's that's our that's our deadline but this year and in the several of the previous years schools the the timeline for issuing the schools financial plan has inched back uh and it's now in January um and so we're out of sync with each other um I think our we follow that bylaw too usually um I think the the biggest problem that I've experienced with the budget is that we don't really know the number till March or April and we're making assumptions for us you know it it might mean cutting teachers it might mean being able to add a program and you know not knowing that number and making a decision back in February is is complicated and I know it's a bylaw so I don't know what can be done about it yeah I mean on our end what we what we really want to do is we want to be open and and have that open line of communication with the with the entire school budget team you know we're we want to be more as transparent as possible with what we think that number is going to be and I think the reality is usually by the time the governor issues a budget we have a pretty good idea of what the number is going to be the Topline number is going to be um the shift from Governor's budget to Ways and Means is usually the biggest shift and even that is not a seismic shift it's a couple hundred thousand dollars in the grand scheme of things so some years it's been more just oh yeah no I know but in in recent years it has not been a Titanic shift it's been it's been significant money right it's been it's it helps us um because the number usually goes up um but um now that now that enrollment is leveled off that you know the big swings that we were getting were coming from our Chapter 70 number when our enrollment was going up and the formula was kind of meeting that need but now we are a minimum a community so we're really only getting any adjustments that they make to the formula so we're not benefiting um we're kind of at the max of the state match we would be entitled to um so unless the formula changed dramatically you know we're not going to see big swings like that anymore well and the other big pieces of the GIC that every year seems to be overestimated and fortunately we come in under not over but uh so those are things that make it hard for us to to Really you know say okay this is our budget February 15th and that's it um especially with the GIC uh can I make a comment sure who who's that it's Mike oh hi Mike hi so um Helen I think what Chaz is referring to Chaz correct me if I'm wrong is that the school issued a preliminary budget before the town did and then um realized that you you folks realized that you you were going to have to cut that budget and it looked like at once the town issued its budget that the schools were cutting their budget because the town had in some way cut its allocation um and that that it's that it's actually not the problem that your budget comes out too late it's that in this particular case you had a preliminary budget that came out early and and sort of confused the situation so Chad is that is that right yeah we were just we were just running the numbers our our book came out I think on the 15th and the schools PR minary budget message came out Janu it's February 15th the school's preliminary budget came out January 12th um yeah so it's that synchronization that we're interested in is making sure that we you know we we we talk to each other about uh when our our budgets are going to come out that's fine with me and and the issue of uh um you what happens later on in the in the year is kind of a separate issue isn't it I I think so because historically we've we've now done this thing where we move off we we we we tend to index the initial budget to the ways the house um you know we used to index it just to the governor's budget and not move it um but in the past years we've just we've needed to realize that that additional Revenue in order to even get things to pencil out so we've we've moved to the house in the spring uh um and then we go to the final budget in the fall and make any necessary adjustments there but by that point right the number is quite small um I don't think I think the difference between House and Senate is like 100,000 uh it's in that range um but I see folks have hands up I know yeah Andy Lou has his hand up um and uh Carolyn th Andy yeah thanks Bernard um wait is Carolyn on on um this committee she's not but she's a school Committee Member no I know that okay go ahead Andy yeah so I wanted to ask about sort of the implications of um of synchronizing um town and school in this way so the way the the the way the process has worked yes we do come out with a very preliminary budget which everyone understands to be preliminary uh sometime later we get a revised allocation and then we we often take several months to bring our our budget in line with that allocation almost up until town meeting um and being able to take that time actually can be very useful so I'm wondering if if we were to synchronize would that affect in any way our ability to keep on revising our budget s up through April um you know and and have a have have more deliberation as we're accustomed to doing because if everything has to be set by February you know that could be really difficult for us ideally what we would like to see is to for you know and this is I used to you know collaborate with marelen and I think Susan was too new and there were too many kind of just her getting her arm around the budget was too soon from her start point to when we do our forecast but ideally um I should get a projection from her that we can incorporate into our forecast in December so that way it kind of just outlines the the challenges both town and school um and then we can you know work to refine that number so that we've got you know more more certainty on Revenue um particularly with the the state budget by the time the financial plan comes out um and then obviously you know if there are adjustments um the they're you know the GIC hopefully that um won't be too dramatic of a swing um we get our guidance from our our group health uh consultant in terms of what rates we should be assuming um and then you know the state aid is you know it kind of minor tweaks but nothing too substantial we shouldn't see any dramatic shifts like we have in the past so what you need from us is a Topline number a month earlier than we've been accustomed to delivering that so we can folded into our forecast yes well so and I think they right so getting that number in and then for us internally on staff being able to take you know December January to work internally to Hash these things out so that we're talking Melissa and Susan are talking um to figure out how what the what the Topline number is that still does leave you to your point Andy if the time in the public eye to talk about how to work that then you still have February March in April it wouldn't put a stop to that okay it would it would give you that time it would just mean that the kind of starting point would be a little later in the calendar year but there would be work going on in the background to try and harmonize the numbers in advance of that so there'd be less of this idea of oh no the revenues are not where we want them to be we have to start making cuts it would be more we know in advance what the revenue is it feels pretty set and we can we can make adjustments if we need to based on that okay can I ask a question uh couple months ago we had a little um brewhaha regarding who can speak at these Town School partnership meetings uh from the various committees has that been resolved so I it's entirely a matter it's entirely in your discretion as as as Leaders your historic practice has been you've let um members of the constituent bodies speak because there's no tradition there's no public comment offered but you let members of the constituent bodies speak provided there's not an open meeting law problem so Carolyn I'm not trying to prevent you from speaking I just want to make sure that we don't you have um a little dispute like we had before so go ahead thanks Bernard um so and I'm I'm new to school committee so I don't have a great appreciation sort of internally um on the operational aspects of what you guys are talking about um I guess I just want to throw in that I appreciate this conversation and I appreciate the um request from Chaz to to align and even just from a sort of transparency um perspective that I can bring having been not un school committee and internal previously but in the community um I think any time that the narrative ends up being about cuts that creates attention um that I think could can probably be somewhat avoided even if just like Chaz I think just before you said cuts and then you said adjustment and I think when people hear cut it does bring more of that sort of punitive and tension feeling whereas I think if the public if we use terms more like adjust I think that helps the public understand this process um so I just wanted to throw that out there um I I think that the word cut um it's sometimes it's it's a little bit might be inaccurate in terms of process and kind of the reality of how the budgets are are created and I think um it it does lead to sort of public and Community um tension and sort of strife so I hope that makes sense and and might be a little bit helpful no I think it makes a lot of sense Carolyn um you we always have to be aware of how we communicate ideas so that they're not misinterpreted so and that's that's an example good good point so just think to close the loop on this conversation um you know we'll we'll continue to work you know staff to staff on this um and ensure that um you know we have we're we're in alignment and are able to hopefully um you know address these excuse me address these issues by publishing um you know more you know more or less in the same schedule um but having these internal conversations and obviously if there are any issues um on the school committee side that necessitate having a convers ation um you know either here or in another context about you know the timeline for publishing a preliminary figure whether that's for Staffing reasons Andy you alluded to you know Staffing decisions have to be made well in advance so if there's ever an issue where you know we we need answers in order to make Staffing decisions um we're happy to accommodate that we just we want to be on the same page with you so that we don't you know create an an create to Carol Point create a narrative that's not helpful to the community but excuse me so I'm a little confused by this conversation and I maybe hearing a couple of different things yeah I think I think having both sides come out with their preliminary budgets the same date you know whether it's February 15th or February you know 28th I don't I don't really care but having them come at the same time is is one thing and at that time you know you're going to have gone through a process of understanding what your Revenue projections are but I want to make sure that we're not looking at a situation where um either the town or the schools want to wait until sometime in April when every single number is locked down you know from the state and from you know the GIC and all those types of things before people make a decision as to what their budget's going to be because in and as soon as that whatever gets published gets published the numbers will be adjusted of course because information was going to come in um and to the extent that there's there's something that requires a change from what's been published that change could go up it could go down that's something that each side has to live with and I want to just make sure that everyone is agreement on that because otherwise we're in a situation where we um no one can vet what it is that's being proposed I think it's a good point and yeah it's you're right those are two separate issues this the issue about the initial publication is really about alignment at the start of that process it's not about freezing everything until April or May where we have total certainty because as we kind of discussed by the time we get to February with the governor's budget out with the GIC projections in hand with all that known the budget is not going to shift on a tectonic level uh after that point so we can be making those decisions and be if necessary reactive to additional information as it comes in we're not publishing and then saying we're not touching this um that's the starting gun for the whole conversation about the budget advisory review of the budget the select board having its conversations with the individual departments um and for advisory to be doing its due diligence and assembling its budget to bring to town meeting so it's not a Frozen and Amber situation it is a we're in alignment at the start of this these are the revenue figures we're projecting these are the projected costs uh and then we run it through the the budget Mill um that and that's how we get to May um with the budget um yes I want to be mindful of the time and talk about what Mike wanted to talk about briefly um which is at the select board's um uh Workshop um in a couple about a week ago um the board had a discussion about Revenue policies free cash um and the updated guidance we've received from the ratings agencies from moodies in particular about the need to increase our reserves as was mentioned at town meeting on paper through Moody's scorecard we are a doua plus Community um and or dou A2 sorry um Community um it is only by virtue of the general sound financial management practices and our long-term stability that that they continue to rank us triaa um which is the highest rating um and so when they give us guidance on policy that we should be following we want to be particularly mindful of that and the big Topline guidance that we received from them this year is that our reserves as they calculate reserves uh which is a broad a more broad basket of uncommitted funds as opposed to what we think of as the reserve fund the cata the catastrophic the catastrophe catastophic liability and all that stuff um needs to be at at least 20% um of the previous year's Revenue um and so we historically they had said that number was 10% so dou o yeah doubling the recommendation um now as they calculate our broader basket of reserves one of the things that they count that we don't I believe Melissa right is the Enterprise funds right um or is that's that's part of the change is so before it used to just be general fund now they're looking at all government funds so Golf and and um water and sewer are also factored into those levels as well so we're definitely going to need to revise our policies based on that um and we we talked with the board at The Retreat on kind of ways that we could re reach that goal um it won't happen in one year but we think that we could probably do it within five and I think the the as as concerns this body the biggest kind of Topline takeaway from that is we should be expecting a decrease in the total output of the CIP of the free cash waterfall into the CIP um that is to say we will continue meeting the goals we'll likely continue meeting the goals of the freec cash waterfall which is supplementing the CIP up to you know that 7% Mark uh on the price year seven and a half seven and a half sorry um but the you know in the past couple years with the banner free cash we've been putting it it's been fre the CIP has been more at like 12 12 and a half um we've been very fortunate and we've been judiciously using that money for needed capital projects and capital backlog we're going to see a especially given the need to increase our reserves we're going to see a fault to Earth here um there's not going to be as much money to go around in the CIP and so all of us are going to need to prioritize our Capital work accordingly to ensure that it's crucial projects that get where they need to get to this was also a major you know major reason why on the staff recommendation side we put a lot of money into school maintenance and upkeep um knowing that there had been a backlog there knowing that um in future years it was not going to be a Sunny we wanted to get as much money into that account as we could into that project as we could um while times are good um so that there is money to continue conducting School necessary School maintenance projects while we're in a more lean period with the capap which I anticipate us being in as Melissa said probably in the midterm you know probably in the next you know three to five years uh Cliff you hand up first yeah thanks um so is there some sort of estimate as to the dollars that we're looking at um over the you know per year over the next five years uh and I have kind of a followup to that depending on what you say I think it's hard to know until we really know how free cash Falls to earth right you know an average if you if you think of a good free cash year what a good free cash year is supposed to look like it's 5% prior Year's revenues so think around you know maybe we get around 17 million in free cash um we'll get the CIP up to 7 and a half% the total revenue I don't think we're in danger of losing that that's fairly high up in the free cash waterfall so it's not as though we're going to miss that Target um it's the question of what happens after refill everything else in the waterfall I guess I'm sorry I guess if if there's any sort of like back of the envelope projections as to what the revenue's going to be and then what that trans into translates into a an increase in reserves over that period of time given everything you know I'm just wondering what the shortfall in the CIP that we're we're thinking we might have because you know the there's you know there's a I'm just going to throw this out there um you know I I I think that when we start looking at um cutting and I'm going to use that that term the investment that's kind of required in our infrastructure or sort of underfunding it um I I I really think that some consideration needs to be given or should should be given to um modifying the 2030 uh deadline um for fully funding our um pension obligations um and uh and or uh taking another look at the oped policy and maybe coming up with a different approach than just taking what's going to be what close to $45 million a year um and just you know flipping that out of the regular operating budget into or moving it to Ops as opposed to maybe having some of that come back into the operations I I really think that that's something that the select board should um think about studying uh and you know having a group come together or having an outside consultant you know talking about best practices on things like OPB and really understanding where we are in terms of um hitting the pension uh uh re enironment whether or not there's you know any sort of buffer that we've been holding on to that we can use to maybe get get a better sense of truly where we are um because I'm just going to throw out roads you know 10 was it six seven eight years ago we had a study and you know the the comments from the outside Consultants which uh everyone sort of you know agreed with is that you start not in investing and then you have a an exponential increase in the cost of what it is what it takes to really get to where you want to be and I'm a little concerned that that would happen with a lot of CIP um categories so y so just to give you we did have that um so we did have that discussion um and um uh at you know in in we didn't have a detailed discussion about a cliff but uh it certainly is something that I think you know select board we thought we we we talked about it at the offside meeting that we had and it's uh something that I think we would be absolutely willing to take a careful look at I apologize for not having listened in I'm sorry we we we talked about all a lot of those things you know the oped policy you know I think W with pensions I think you know Lincoln I don't want to speak to you but I think we'd rather just see us get to 2030 um knowing that the recent Collective bargain Agreements are probably going to have a negative impact on our funding schedule um we may need that relief to deal with that um you know in terms of um free cash so for example this past year we used $12 million of free cash for the CIP the policy requirement is around 5.1 5.3 um million doar to get to the 7 A5 perc so to the extent that we have you know large certification of free cash the beneficiary is the CIP and then when we kind of pull back on that the first hit is the CIP um so you know that's kind of the the push and pull there and you know Lincoln and I also talked with the board a little bit more about some of the um activity in fiscal 24 that made free cash higher than normal we don't expect that to be an annual event especially with investment income um and then obviously we use our building permit Revenue um to that that is the feeder for the CIP because we consider a lot of that Activity one time in nature um which kind of pairs well with supporting the CIP um so I think it's you know it's it's one of those things we're going to have to evaluate every year and Lincoln and I are also you know wanting to one of our summer projects that we want to do is to present revised policies to the board um based on the feedback that we've gotten both from the board and from our financial advisor and from the rating agencies you know after we got our rating we then kind of followed up with our analyst and you know really kind of talked through um you know the way that they're changing the scorecard the way that they're changing the metrics um so that we really understood what it is um and you know I think that they also kind of understand that there are other things that we are doing that are you know maybe not weighed as heavily on the scorecard but are still good things like our OPB schedule I mean we are like at the top of the Heap when it comes to our OPB funding um so I think it's just a matter of kind of rebalancing those PRI priorities um you know in order for us to feel that we're in a more secure place um with our overall Reserve position uh Helen has her hand up thank you um I you know I guess I'm I probably should know this but I don't how much actual money do we have in the reserve fund and what percentage is it and what how much would we need to get to to get to 20% how much actual money um well I mean if you so go ahead B I'm sorry no so I um just want to look at the um those are two different questions 20% is across all of the funds and right so we is like $3 million I see what you're saying I see what you're saying yeah yeah we had shared um let me just pull up this slide this is a slide that we shared with the board um during the retreat that showed kind of where we were um I can get my screen share to work um all right there it is so you can see um where we are relative to other um triaa rated communities um and so right now we are at 23.1% but we know that's going to change um because we know we're not going to same see the same level of free cash um we had talked with the board about really trying to have a target of being at the median so that we're not at the bottom of the AAA list we're kind of right in the middle of everyone um and and what it would take to get there and I think we had kind of back of the envelope said it was probably somewhere around $30 million um Lincoln or Mike can correct me if I'm Mis misremembering that just so I understand this so right now we have 23% in the reserve fund that's currently where we are with our unreserved fund balance but we know that's going to change why are we worried about it then am I not understanding something here you said we need to get to 20% so that's the that that's kind of the starting point for them and we we think that we need to be near the median for aaa's because they they' kind of pointed out that we are at the bottom of the list and that you know it's something that we should probably try and improve upon and it's something that has been highlighted in the past even before they changed the way they were calculating their metrics um so we felt like that we needed to be in a stronger position in order to kind of get us out of the the a A2 um position which is the the whole the the way that we can move out of the able A2 which is the initial score card and then there are other factors that bring us up to triaa um but our Reserve position is the the the only thing that we have real control over that will get us out of that able A2 position so let me ask one other question if might would that be okay yeah so the difference in what we pay in um interest uh for a A2 versus a A1 are we talking 0.1 perc what are we talking but but let me just make comment I made this comment at times um it is not just a question of how much more interest you're going to pay you know and maybe it's uh you know 10 basis points or 25 basis points but it that's not the only issue that you have to deal with if you lose your AAA rating first of all you know it sends a message it sends a message there are there are plenty of investment uh entities that can only invest in triaa you know Securities it sends a message to your vendors it sends a message to you know people who are looking to to move here you know what's wrong with this uh uh municipality that has just you know we've just heard that they don't know how to manage their finances you know what does that mean you you cannot look at it as just a cost of capital if you do that you're you're you're missing the boat no I understand are still in the top 20 yeah and by the way Melissa could you bring back that last chart and maybe we did we we did do a back of the envelope calculation um and if if if it if it's a half a percent 50 basis points then we're talking about more or less $3 million a year basically forever yeah and I don't mean to um minimize what you and Cliff said but looking at this chart n Tucket has 70.3% available fund balance ratio and their double A1 so either they have very bad management despite their High reserves or something else is at work here so I mean it I think what's important is that you know these metrics aren't very precise and you know it's it's you know it takes a lot of digging around to figure out what's really important and I guess you know our judgment is that um you know it's important to be in in the middle here on this chart rather than down in the basement where we are yeah I the the especially given the current debt load and the fact that we're taking we're about to take on increasing debt for Pierce and the fire stations um you know the more we pay in Debt Service uh the less we have to pay in operating and capital and we will We it will it will come back to haunt us I mean top of all the other things that Cliff mentioned um it would be a real tough thing to Bear given our proclivity to seek out debt financing um for capital projects um we already pay with excluded and nonexcluded debt a significant amount of our overall budget goes into debt service um having more of that on top of it um it just it also then creates sort of a you know a a spiral if you will the more you pay the more the more it looks on your balance sheet like you're paying more Debt Service uh the less credit worthy you seem to be um but I could let Lincoln Lincoln thank thank you Bernard just just a couple quick sort of follow-up points on this about some of the Nuance so as as um chair green pointed out the The Nantucket is higher with respect to their um aable fund balance they're weaker on other things that that we are stronger on so for example right right so Nantucket um so the Reigns agencies are looking at strength of the local economy and diversification of the local economy right and so we're stronger there and that's something that government and town government have less control over in in the micro sense year-to year um uh because nantucket's you know um tax base is much more is almost entirely focused on residential as opposed to some mix that we have so with the the overall message just to reiterate that we're getting is there are a series of factors that we're there are a couple factors that we're doing really well on there's a series of factors that are outside of our control this is the key factor that is in our control right this is the key factor that um that dictates you know why how our indicated rating may be aa2 and how we can improve and just two other quick things when we're talking about about where we're at now right from the fiscal year 2022 figures of 23.1% we're just above the 20% that that median is right now is 37.9% of the Massachusetts triaa mun rated U municipalities but one of the fact to keep in mind is when it comes to the over overall Revenue we have year three of the override coming up so our our denominator uh is is going up and therefore our you know our numerator going down right um because because we we have more Revenue we need more reserves right um so I I just wanted to sort of give a little more context to that thank you so I think in terms of our next steps on this Melissa and Lincoln are working to develop revise policies that increase contributions to reserves mindful uh that's AAR point that we can look at things like Ops and other areas too um the affordable housing trust was another area that was mentioned that's on the current that's currently on the free cash waterfall um given the availability of CPA funds we may be able to reduce that um at least temporarily um so we're going to try and be creative and thinking about how to boost the reserves but I do think we should be anticipating in the near term less CI fewer CIP dollars and to the to the other point that was raised I think by Clif and at the beginning of this the select board has also made clear to us that a priority needs to be um physical um infrastructure um that we need to be making up for that lost time when it comes to the conditions of our roads and so those are going to be a high priority in the CIP and there is going to be as a as result you know there may well be if there's less money to go around less focus on projects that are more discreet projects that don't involve um roadways Transit um sidewalks etc those will likely Remain the primary focus of the CIP you know driven in part we have some of that money that's coming in from relief from the override which is great but costs being what they are it's already we're already still looking at a tough a tough um Mountain decline just to maintain where we currently are but a shift of policy and uh a focus on getting money into that um into that account um is going to be um going to be crucial going forward it just means there will be less for everything else uh we just have to be ready for that okay uh let me just uh um focus the fact that we're at 419 and uh we put aside a hour for this meeting and we have only got into the first item on the agenda U but with that said Andy you have your hand raised uh yeah thanks for I'm bringing this up now because we've been talking about longer term planning um this there's interest on the school committee in working intensively this year to um on updating the Town School partnership formula um I know there's an MOA out there uh promising that this work would would get done um I think we have some extra urgency about it right now because our collective bargaining agreements expire in 2026 and it's just something we'd like to have a clear handle on going into our next round of collective bargaining so I'm wondering whether uh there's bandwidth and appetite on the town side um to do this work this year I we were happy to have that discussion yeah I think you know we we committed to that um at the outset you know as part of you know discussions about the override um happy to have that conversation I think initially you know the work on that kind of then got sidetracked by the override and then subsequently just the shift in Staffing that resulted in us sort of Shifting our focuses away from is it really the model that's the problem or can we focus on immediate kind of gains from shared services and then you know so we've kind of ping-ponged back and forth between are we looking at alternative models for how we share revenue or are we looking at um ways to realize savings um and I think that's an area where you know we continue on the town side to see opportunities I mean we already see an increased uptick in usage for example of like on Legal Services um and we're happy to do that um because it saves school committee money um but you know we need to formalize that process and we need to provide we need to get the resources in hand to make sure that that is um that's that's that's sustainable on a long-term basis same thing with payroll HR all the things that we've discussed in the past um but again that's a matter where if we want to have you know working group dedicated to that happy to have that discussion am I hearing that more staff work is needed before we can really have the full-fledged discussion about this because I think on the school side too right that there's always sort of more to understand more more to be done but you would think before sitting down on the other hand you know we're learning things all the time and you know it now is as good a time as any to get it done and for some reason it's probably better time than most yeah I think on our on our end where we left this was we had an initial discussion about other models we looked at Arlington's model for example which is you know doesn't use the traditional Revenue split um we looked at some other communities that know Lexington where which our current model is I think based off of um and where we ultimately kind of came out was shift Shifting the model wholesale would might probably be something we should consider after trying to realize efficiencies in operations um that before we start tinkering with the levers of the model we should look at where we can realize savings by things that we're currently sharing that we're currently both doing uh that we could be doing um we could be doing as part in in unison um right can I just add one thing to to that and so in in addition to the um uh you know trying to realize savings across all those departments there also kind of the flip side of that which is is normalizing accounting um as well one of the things that came up during the budgetary reviews this past cycle had to do with um uh when we talk about shared services like it and um uh and uh um I'm blanking on one of the others that we had talked about at the time um you know we do a good job of accounting for um town and schools side work appropriately right we you know we we do this kind of internal billing but it comes to things like building insurance and other areas we have kind of a rough formula that we use that isn't really tied to utilization and it'd be helpful for us I think to start spending more time um trying to reconcile um and getting that under control as well right well really if we if you're going to have a the way that we account for um shared services has an impact on what the formula should look like so absolutely uh I think we I think we need to do all of this stuff together uh that is you know you have to look at well what services might we share but then what portion of that service would be primarily attributable to the to one side or the other or what's the percentage so that you have um a a a list of shared services and for each one probably some sort of allocation between Town side and school side we have the bones of that for some of these for example we've had a we've had a you know report on Building Maintenance and building upkeep which is you know the biggest driver all this for some time that we've kind of picked up and put down at various it as well and it as well I mean I's Mo MOA hasn't been updated since 2005 um we could you know my bad oh no I'm so I'm sorry that was the last I I take that back I apologize we have we recently updated it Mo MOA that's my fault um um so but the pre prior to that we have not updated that since 2005 so it I think is actually but again there there are conversations to be had there I understand that the schools there are different different needs on the school side and we want to be responsive to that we want to be responsive to the the needs of the school and make sure that we're actually we're meeting those needs as they change so um and when I asked about updating the formula I actually meant partly doing exactly this work as well not not just sort of the the big Global um picture so then absolutely yeah we're we're happy to I think that's you know we've identified six areas in the past and we were at various places with them so I think what we can do on our end is um I can send to you and the superintendent and Deputy superintendent kind of where where we were um before we kind of got you know pulled into the day-to-day um and we can figure out a way to pick up where we left off um or perhaps find a more efficient way of working because I think previously we had tried to sort of compartmentalize things and it resulted in you know people being pulled Every Which Way so okay yeah that sounds good I would I would love to see um what had been done up to now and try to pick it up from there maybe we could uh maybe we could schedule something um to do just exactly that uh the next month or so so that we by the time we hit September we actually got a sense of what remains to be done okay we we can pull that together and have it on and so get that out in advance of next tsp meeting so that people review and digest and then we can discuss it there okay Carol 11 all right yeah just a quick comment this is something I mentioned people on the AC and Melissa it's not just understanding who's consuming the services but making sure that when a decision is made that drives an expense EV um the the party that doesn't have any input or control over that expenditure decision isn't left um with a expense burden so because that really distorts the decision making process if you know that you make a decision and it's going to cost you a dollar but 75 cents of that dollar is going to be borne by the other party that's not really a ient decision making so that's why things like insurance for me and building operating expenses are very obvious things that um there's the the decision making process is clear and we need to make sure that the repercussions or the results of those decisions are properly reflected in the right entities's operating budget so there's better decision making for the entire town that's a good point I also would just add to that you know one of the benefits of the shared services model is avoiding um duplication of effort duplication of positions but also um you know just the there are certain benefits that are difficult to tangibly quantify I think of public buildings in particular and the benefit that we have from a centralized operation it's difficult to quantify the efficiencies that we that we get from that at times except when in as much as you can say well we don't we're not paying for two different directors of public buildings we're not paying for someone the equivalent of uh someone who takes on all of Charlie's responsibilities on the school side there's obviously an operations director but their portfolio is more is is different uh as opposed to what the director of public buildings does um so it's just important for us to Think Through on that front we we recognize for example in the areas where we provide services that there may well be um intangible costs that we or cost that we don't bill um as part of the above the line or the the transfer process um that we still realize ultimately savings from um even if we're not necessarily billing for example you know we we we have a good estimate of the time that is spent for employees in the building department that work on plant operations for the schools um we don't modify that every year based on their time sheets um we have a formula for that um so there's there's an efficiency within um we know we we we can only get so granular with you know the savings we realize there or how much of our how much of our efforts are really dedicated to um uh the efforts on the other side of the The Ledger um that's not to say we think we're under overcharging anything it's just there are areas where we're not going to be able to quantify the cost um on a reliable basis okay um let's see we I want to get to the uh next item on the agenda uh Mike wanted to talk about the discussion we had at the select board's workshop on um budget projections uh we also have the um uh mou discussion which I'm sure people want to have so this uh why don't we just move on to uh the school budget projections issue and that was for the last fiscal year I guess the the thought there was if there were any updates on the reserve fund transfer request um and where the schools are on that um and what what's what's needed on that front uh the schools will be getting an update on that um almost right after this meeting at our finance subcommittee meeting um so yeah at the moment um I unfortunately can't tell you anything new um I'm not sure that the school committee will be ready tonight to vote on a number for what we would be requesting but you will staff are still working to get that number as small as as possible uh but you will be uh presenting that to the select board on July nth I to same um I believe so yes okay if there's anything in advance that you need from us please let us know thank you Mike is is that anything else that you wanted discuss regarding that issue I thought no no that's fine okay okay good let's just move on to the um mou then um so the unless further discussion on this issue yeah go ahead chff uh select board last night voted through uh version of the Newberry mou um that finalizes the division of space the timing and all of that and I will say this has been the result of I would say months of effort from um Charlie Simmons and then Sarah Gooding and fun yangang over at it and then Susan given and um Jamie the principal of Pierce and uh on the on the other end um really trying to hash out the details of how this is going to work both in theory and in practice um the division of space is clear and the document the vision of how everything is working out but there's also Clarity in terms of Sarah and Jamie working together really closely in terms of if there are any you know unexpected issues that crop up um being able to talk to one another and address those in a in an efficient fashion without us having to run back to our various boards and committees and get people involved the real name of the game here is sharing you know getting the getting the bones of how we share the space making sure the ground rules are clear and when things come up as they inevitably will in a large building that's being used both for an upper school and for building department operations you know its's work in the building is really about servicing serving the schools and storage there's not as much of a overlap there in terms of or Discord there in terms of what it is providing in that space it's really the building department on the lower level and in the basement um where the use case is quite different um but you know I think the the key players on the ground who will actually be dealing this with this on a day in day out basis are in agreement that this document is final um and it's on that basis that the select board voted to approve it last night I know there were some questions that the school committee had and we were trying to be responsive to those and made some clarifying edits but I think at this juncture um it's the position at least of staff on this end that this document is final um and I don't think there's anything to be gained from additional edits or comments to it absent a request from the principal of Pierce um which we would be happy to look at um but given that she's the person who's going to be making operational calls on this I think it's fair given how many months that they have been working on this to treat this document as final um yeah the school committee will be discussing theou again later today and we'll get back to you about that okay any any questions or concerns if in advance we're happy to answer but I do think from our our perspective on staff this this document is done um we're not amenable to edits at this juncture and the young staff F board's position is the same we really want to get this finalized okay who is first Helen yes uh do we have the final document that you voted yes I sent it over to the superintendent this morning I can circulate it to this group too okay thank you I think next is Karen uh Carol just a quick question is this a financial document or is it really one just about delineating areas of control of the asset the ladder there's a nominal nominal rent of $1 um Ju Just to you know consideration as they teach you in contracts 101 but otherwise that's it it's all about the use uh Carolyn thanks Bernard um I just have a question when um school committee looked at this we I think in the same meeting we were considering theou and also um a request to create a basketball court on one of the parking lots um and one of the things I had flagged was that appendix B of theou didn't indicate the basketball court rather it indicated parking and a number of parking spots that I believe would change with the building of the parking lot so I'm just wondering whether what the select board voted um included changes to that appendix and then a related question would just be if there were further requests for changes to the physical plant how will those be like additional I think there had been mentioned at a community meeting some desire to have another vehicular egress to the I think it's parking lot C so if that was to come up later how does that get handled yeah that's those are both good questions I with regard to the basketball court I can confirm with Sarah on our end but it's my understanding that they're still hashing out the final details of that but that that should be an easy fix that I don't think would need to come back to the respective bodies uh that it would be an Al just an alternate use case that we would that the public buildings Division and the pier school would be able to sign off on um so I don't think there would be an impediment there um and we do address that in in the agreement somewhere don't we yeah there's language about how the plan is is oh yeah and I'm not really concerned thank you about whether the court can be built or not but rather that the number of parking spots on the map with changing the parking lot to a basketball court then the number of parking spots isn't clear and for no um I have no particular side on this other than you know parking people get funky about parking and I think um best to be as clear as possible no it's it's a good point and I I don't I don't think they're far enough along yet although I'll confirm with Sarah I think they're still kind of in the preliminary not preliminary they're having the discussions about how this is going to work in practice you know how the you know we're you know we want to we want to make sure that there's you know this was this was one of the points that we kind of worked on about making sure people have space for PE making sure there's storage for PE equipment making sure that kids can have Recreation you know there was a big discussion about trying to trying to store Emergency Management equipment we were unable to do that you know this it's it's been a big back and forth over how how to utilize limited space in there but we will once we have a a a working plan on how to do that we'll make sure that that's reduced to writing and the principal and the public buildings team are all in agreement on exactly what that means for impacts on parking impacts on access and so forth the um question of whether or not additional erress is necessary you know we're we I think the the team has done a really good job staff on both sides have done a really good job thinking about how this is going to impact the neighborhood you know that's a big part of why you know the staggered schedules are so important to ensure that we're not flooding the neighborhood at rush hour on either side um and making sure that the road that the process moves through um but the um the question um is I I if there is a need for additional access um then the public buildings team will talk about that with the principal and we can obviously make adjustments okay anything else on theou uh let's move on to capital projects update particularly the uh demolition of um the peer school which so people are probably aware there's um the contractor will be taking over the site on July 8th We have basically almost emptied the building uh I think it's uh if it's not empty already it will be uh by the end of this week um most of the things have been recycled whether within the schools within other schools uh neighboring schools or um Neighbors uh so everything is nothing is going very little will be going into the junk uh um the garbage except things that are truly garbage um the um contractor will secure the site on July 8th we are working on having a newsletter out to the community and anybody can sign up for it so that people can know what's happening each week and what to look forward to in the weeks Following being able to plan is so important sometimes so that's being put together actually it is working uh with the OPM to to see how to do that link so it's easy and accessible um and I think uh and the the everything has been moved out of uh Pierce into both Newberry and or is being moved one of the two I I'm not I'm not doing the moving so I'm not exactly sure but my sense is it it will be there by the end of the week both at the old Lincoln and at um uh Newberry um trying to think if there's anything else uh of import well when the major demolition work will begin it's not g to be so the that's that's where when people are going get sure sure absolutely and there'll be a lot of you know what will happen in the beginning is a batement abatement of ASB bestus and and closing down systems the electrical the all the different systems that are attached to the buildings right now um my understanding is the early fall sometime we'll start the um taking down of the the building uh taking down of the bridge over School Street will require the the street to be closed and think the contractor is thinking of doing that maybe on a Saturday when there's less traffic um that's that's my understanding right now but all of these things will go into this newsletter that will be available to everybody and I can make sure that the select board and well I think anybody who wants to either let me know or we will make sure that somehow that's very visible on the town website um so that people can become informed I think one other thing people will notice on in the immediate term once the building is turned over to the contractor on the eth is as they start to disconnect utilities we can no longer use the shared garage under the school um because it's not safe so all of the parking for Town Hall and the health building operations is going to need to move uh we are in the process of finalizing a parking plan that addresses that issue um as I think folks who follow the transportation board know there were a number of um parking passes issued to pierce teachers for neighborhood parking those are being transferred uper 49 yeah those are being transferred over to staff uh at town hall both school and town staff um we'll be using those we will also be um closing certain spots in parking lots around Brookline Village so the school street parking lot Kent and station and the Webster Street Lot all of those are going to have some spaces now reserved for staff we've done a survey a census of those spaces we are confident that we are not disrupting business uh and taking those spaces on and we will not be closing those lots all together um we're trying to spread out parking as best we can um what I want to avoid is mandating any sort of additional work from home um I want us to be able very happy with our current work from home balance I don't want services to be disrupted at Town Hall um so I'm not authorizing additional work from home opportunities I want us to keep things as they are um so that people can be have inperson access to town hall services so that's where we are on that front so people will see uh changes to parking in and around the town hall area but our goal is to be is to minimize I you know hopefully um people won't even notice or if people do notice it will be a minimal uh minimal disruption um we're going to run this on a pilot basis for six months to see where we are uh and we will make adjustments to that as needed obviously if we need to make adjustments during we will um but we'll take a look particularly as the weather turns um to make sure that we are um uh parking in an appropriate way and not uh causing any sort of issues in terms of getting people here or um you know the public way so that one I'm sorry Chaz what was the date of that again um I think we're we were talking about uh once the contractor shuts off the um fire suppression system under the under the building um July 8th July 8 okay I just wanted to make sure I heard that correctly yeah I think so I'm not 100% but if not then it would be very close to that um the other piece that people should be aware of is that Tommy Bello has been very good at get uh working the legislature and the um it has been I think reported out of committee uh so we're on track to getting this approved by the July 31st uh date for the article 97 in addition the meepa filing will be finalized on Friday uh meepa and there's all sorts of initials I think it's EF or something like that both of those uh that go to the department that it has to go to to get um article 97 through the um the state processes right any update on Driscoll anything new happening Driscoll is also moving along I think we have only four more or at least at the last building commission meeting which was uh two weeks ago there were only four more um Wells to be drilled uh everything was going well and I think they expected to finish it by now uh I'm that my understanding is right now the completion date is the 19th of September I'm hoping that this that they can work hard to find a way to finish before then so that once we open school the playground and the surrounding areas will all be uh usable how long will it take for the playground to be in place once the wells are finish oh I think that it goes right away because remember we're using artificial turf and there's hard hard surfaces that are around there so it shouldn't um it shouldn't take very long I think it's a month or two something like that well that that brings us to the end of August basically okay anything else uh that people want to talk about any issues that are um that we need to discuss okay seeing none we can end this meeting thank you thanks everybody thank you bye bye bye bye