##VIDEO ID:Og6Ba6rDg24## call today's meeting of the G city council finance committee to order the please call the role Council dtz councilor Mac and Council heglin meon requ of the chair as the number placed in operation meeting meeting minutes as presented motion none all those in favor say I I agenda it 11477 discuss Gros first questions I do have to speak on Mr chairman this is basically the followup to what I said during the budget discussions for the current fiscal year uh back at that time I had you know we had just completed the city side of the non-union salary survey that the council voted to undertake uh back year and a half before that uh this is basically coming up with what would it be if we followed what the salary survey were and coming up with a guide this doesn't mean that we're going to be submitting everything right away this doesn't mean that uh everything's going to be included in this budget however those discussions have to happen we've got the study results now what would that be financially if we were to make the study happen What would this be if we were to go with the step scale that was recommended and where would our employees that currently are employed by the city fall into that and what would the financial impact uh the group is really just the city auditor uh the HR Director and then I asked uh Dane Arnold our DPW director to be on that too as he's our longest serving department head right now so just uh they're just going through the results of the salary survey and seeing what the plan would be going forward this is similar to how in a regular budget process for the past couple years on top of the department request and what we reason can fund I've asked the Departments to also include a um I call it the wish list column and that's the if you had all the resources available that you need what would be your ideal vision of your department in terms of resources efficiencies and stuff like that knowing that we'll never be able to fund it but so that we can have that plan to see where we have to build up toward in the future so this is kind of taking that on the salary side of things rather than just the service side of things like we've done before in the regular budget so that's all that this group is really doing just seeing digesting really what the salary survey came back with for our employees as a guide if that's what the council would like to see the presentation on that I mean they they they are going to be showing me the results of their work too but if that's something the council as a whole would like to see I I personally would um because you PA a lot of money for the salary survey it's been you know quite a while for us to get the results back um so the material is only as good as you know what we see and what the input is I remember correctly I think it was the veterans agent position was extremely low um and that's a very valuable um position in the city and we we've had many meetings especially the weal Comm meeting how many more um veterans they servicing the plan's being done so I just I just think if we really want to get the our full money worked out of the survey and also um I know that the school part of this the non School positions is still not complete um but I personally would like to see on the school's end the same type of a study group being done and presented as well I me if we're going to really get our money's worth out of the survey we need to look at the entire non-un city positions not just City Hall I think we need to get a full picture of what we're looking at um because that's what we paid for and if we ask employees for the input we need to we need to we to thank um so sounds like this was something that we're just doing support the salary study see what it would be and one of those things to like we know funding if the funding comes in under we know like this is a goal for us to see where we may end up one day but we may not be able to get there yet or may be able to do something in the middle but if we don't have that guideline and how to see where we should be going then it's just leaving it up to chance and it just helps solidify something more the conversation 21479 May regarding health insurance payments this was just an update similar to the snow and ice letter I sent you last week uh last meeting to let you know that we were in the deficit on the snow and ice account already um this is something just to give you a heads up would likely need an appropriation for free cash at the end of the fiscal year for the City's health insurance cost uh with the increase in the health insurance uh rates that we had uh earlier this year that we weren't anticipating at least not as much as we were anticipating that we got back at that um letting you know that uh the claim that we have paid out so far and the city auditor can talk more in detail about this is um over the course of July 1st 23 through July 30th 24 uh we had to pay balance settlement payments of about 1.2 million we've now paid $1.2 million from July 1st 24 through now um so it's one of those who've already paid over a Year's worth of payments over uh claims over budget uh this year to Blue Cross so so it's one of those things that the trend is still going in the other direction the claims are coming in higher uh so it's definitely something that we're going to be seeing the health insurance trust fund is just about $600,000 um and the cost are still coming in so this is just a heads up to the Council on we're likely going to need an appropriation or some type of change with the health insurance by the end of the F schol year uh just because of the way that the trends are going right now the insurance advisory commission is meeting tomorrow that's a group that's made up by Statute of the presidents of all of the city's unions um so they are meeting tomorrow tomorrow as uh we're going to start meeting with them quarterly at least until it stabilizes to see how we uh move forward for the next fiscal year because our current uh plan with L cross goes until the fiscal year is done uh so it's just starting the conversations as we build forward comfortable I wrote this letter on January 7th so that's again um we're working with our broker Bas looking at it's unbelievably High I mean $1.2 million for six months that's unheard of um I was looking at our uh balance our Trust balance a year ago was in the3 million um again the timing right now 400,000 so just this year was 1.2 mil for 6 months last year was 1.2 million for the whole year so y 2.4 million right there bam right off there one of the things that we are looking at too is whether or not we stay self-insured or go to a fully insured plan where we're looking at either Blue Cross the GIC or another program U health insurance we we're looking at all of the options exactly we've been with them for the since I've been year so it's about 10 years um so I mean they they were doing well for us but yeah the last uh year they had some changes St but again it's is it them I I don't think so I mean no it's our claims our claims are just crazy a this communication with the council as a whole and we continue to review the um City's health insurance trust fund Cil discuss m may this is the next step in the mda's process the funding to replace the roof at the Middle School uh as was done with the new school project we have to put out the full amount of funding for the project then we get 80% reimbursement from the uh School building authority uh they basically reimburse the costs in the end but we have to put the full up front uh so that's the step here the statement of Interest was approved by the uh was approved a while ago by the council so this is the next step in the process of getting the item moving forward and the school committee's already voted favorable to recommend on this not much you know we just want to Main in the building and we put in for the past few years to try to get the new roof and this was the first year was accepted it's not leaving at this point it just holds there a few spots that are leaving that's why I had Mark and my other question is I know this is brought up July 31st um Capital Improvement meeting when I watched that that this this has been on the on the capital Improvement project L that this was going to needed to be done I guess my question because a time sensitive deadline I believe March 3rd so I I guess my question if it's time sensitive to come to the council in six weeks and it went to the school commit in January what happened between July and December febrary 24 the school committee and the city council voted to submit a statement of interest in the msba in August the msba came out and did a site visit and then in uh October 30th the msba board voted to accept Gardner into the accelerated repair program um December 2nd was our project commencement date that was paperwork to get the program started between October 30th December 2nd and then once we're accepted into the uh program 90 days December to authorize funding for a feasibility study they don't tell you how much the feasibility stud is going to be once we let them know that authorization has occurred then they will assign us an OPM the OPM will work with us to negotiate a contract with a designer to do the feasibility study so we are going at this a little B on they gave us um lists of hey here's some previous feasibility stud cost on which the $100,000 was based so we are hoping and planning that this is not to exceed number but the numbers are also two years old because the accelerated Fair program hasn't been existence for the last two years they caused that so once we get going we're probably not going to see a new on middle school if and this is just they never want to say that you're going to get the funding you're invited to go to the next step so the next step is the feasibility stud that's when we should have an estimate cost um um know a little bit more so how much is it going to cost to repair the roof again going by what the msba has done for the last for the previous three years going back to 2020 it could be $2 to4 million we don't know until we do the feasibility study which this authorizes and that information wasn't available to the school committee until the January meeting is that why yeah we got notied December 2nd by the time that that was going to be there and then our bond counil notice did go out not saying that it didn't but just so from the December 2nd project commencement December 31st is when the msba Blessed the vot language because we have to go back and forth saying this good enough because they make us write their own with their template and then they have to have their Le Council CL it so on December 31st no were sent saying we have to vote on this there's a change Council presidents are beginning of the year reorganization thank you you very much chairman this is the the next action of the uh last week the council voted to allow us to uh create a position called the human resource manager this is to set the compensation for that position to finalize this well this is an ordinance it does require two printings of the full Council after it's done this amount that's in here is equivalent to the position and a half that were in the ordinance to begin with just combining the two of them together to make it more um more than just the clerical position that it was and actually give full HR duties to the position itself [Music] the uh the website changes uh from is it ecode easy yeah ecode what happens is the clerk sends those items to uh whatever the code website company is called and they through and then update the website on their timeline that's why if you go to the website now you'll see a tab that says new laws and a lot the changes will go in there before they'll come on the actual listing because that's what's up been uploaded or received for them and then they'll go through and change those it normally takes about six to eight months uh for them to fully update the online code itself so that's why you have to keep an eye on that new laws tab uh but that's how that works sense yes um so it is on its own a parttime position that will be managed and overs by the go course um so rather than one position being 20 hours golf 20 hours HR um Bill Frank will oversee that position um right now 20 hours per week and I did speak with him um there is a good chance that in the peak season that will increase um that's fully funded by Theiss so they'll they'll overse the budget say at least from the administrations that not C Ty president tyos submitted here but that language is included in our refen I'd say at least from the director where today today is a week yeah today's an official week and it's probably going to be something for a future meeting I will say Tian bond has completed their design of the ramp uh to make the full thing ada8 compliant we're working on the funding source for that now we believe we already have that set but that'll be something that we have further discussions on the later time and probably be a spring Construction we thank you