HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - AC - 01/18/2018 Town of Cohasset
Advisory Committee
Minutes, January 18, 2018
Place: Town Hall—Basement Meeting Room
Attendees
Nancy Adams Roth
John Chapman
Paul Carlson
Tanya Bodell
Ralph Tulio
Michael Dick
7:04 p.m.—Meeting was called to order. December 4,2017 minutes were approved 6-0.
7:05 p.m.—John C.recognized Mary McGoldrick of the Town Hall Building Committee (THBC)to provide an update.
THBC is now under the hospice of the BOS and replaces the former THRAC committee. THBC re-grouped after Special
Town Meeting to find any potential means to cut cost. THBC reported that they could reduce the project cost by$2M by
relocating the file storage area from the basement of the administrative building to the library's storage area. This will
allow more meeting spaces in the basement currently used as storage. This move will reduce the footprint by 10-15%.
THBC also informed the advisory committee that the BOS is adding 2 new members to the THBC. These 2 members will
bring in new talent and previous experience in renovating/building town/city and/or governmental buildings.
THBC mentioned that the schematic design must be ready by the March 3, 2018 in order to meet subsequent
milestones. Therefore, THBC will ask BOS on January 23, 2018 to give them approval to move forward with
the recommended design,which is to renovate town hall and join the new administration building as one
building structure.
Nan R. asked Sam of Capital budget(who was present in the audience) if the project cost fit the 10-year
financial plan. Sam mentioned now $10M will be treated as excluded debt.
Mike D. indicated that THBC might be moving too fast in asking BOS to move forward since there are still open
questions revolving around joined vs. separate Town Hall and the administration buildings. Ralph T. asked to revisit the
advantages of joining the 2 buildings. Mary mentioned that it is less expensive given the shared HVAC systems and a
smaller footprint while creating an Atrium area in between the buildings. Mike D. is concerned with the rush to get to
a BOS decision. Advisory given only 5 days to respond to the THBC memo presented at this meeting.
He also asked if geothermal or solar panel options are still on the table. Mary mentioned that there is a meeting on
January 19'to addressing those questions.
In closing,Mary M.urged the Advisory Committee to re-visit the documents in Google Docs and forward her any
questions hopefully before the BOS meeting on January 23ra
7:30 p.m.—John C.recognized Don Piatt(Town Finance Director). Don P.presented the town's latest revenue and
expense projections. New growth revenue projections trending downward significantly as recent subdivision
Advisory Committee Minutes—January 18,2018 Page 1 of 2
development projects wrap up. Biggest expense projections are in Pensions, Health Insurance. John Chapman
asked for a breakdown of pension expense for current employees and retirees.
7:52 p.m.—John C.proceeded on the next agenda-Advisory Committee's strategic objectives. John C. posed the
question to the committee members: How to be effective and proactive, especially with the Town's long range
planning. Open discussions commenced.
• Suggest creating an Advisory Committee official mission statement, and goals and objectives. It may be
a good idea to mention/recite it as an opener to each meeting as an information reminder to the
committee members and the audience.
• The veteran committee members recommended that the two new members, Ralph T. and Mike D.,
review the Town's General By-Laws, Article 5, Section 1.
• Tanya B. recommended the creation of an orientation packet for new members and a mini-tutorial on the
Town Budget document.
• Suggestion to add an Advisory Committee mission statement as a Prologue to the Orientation packet.
Mike Dick and Ralph Tulio could recommend orientation content based on their recent experience as
new appointments to the Advisory Committee.
• Add financial dashboards to the Town's budget/finance awareness presentations produced for the
citizens. Chris Senior recommended the committee to view presentations produced by other towns to
get some ideas on how to present to the town. See "Budget Cats" on Youtube.com, which was produced
by the Town of Round Rock, TX as an entertaining way to communicate to their residence.
• Nan Roth recommended that Advisory Chair speak with the Town Manager and the Board of Selectmen
on the timing of the Town Election and potential Debt Exclusion override vote this Spring.
9:03 - Liaison Reports. Each committee members provided a brief update.
• Nan R. —Facilities and IT, all town departments. There are talks for a new boat ramp. This is currently
on hold. Harbor Committee hired a consultant to come up with a Harbor Master Plan.
• Tonya B. —Alternative Energy Committee. Mentioned the middle/high school roofs have issues. On
that note, the committee is revisiting a previously proposed installation of solar panels on school roofs.
Discussions on white roofs; timing of the roof project before the investment credit(Federal Tax Credit)
runs out on 2021.
• Mike D. —Long Range Planning. Continued discussions on THBC related. Currently in development
and review of the Town Budget, this will be provided to Town Finance.
• School Budget goals and objectives for next year is posted on Cohassetk12.org
Adjourned at 9:25 PM
Advisory Committee Minutes—January 18,2018 Page 2 of 2