WESTFIELD – The second in a series of budget hearings on city departments was held on Thursday by the Finance Sub-Committee of the City Council. Representing the committee were At-large Councilors David Flaherty and Matthew T. VanHeynigen. Ward 5 Councilor Robert A. Paul, Sr., who chairs the committee, is away celebrating his 50th anniversary, and will return the week of June 20.
Also present were Ward 1 Councilor Mary Ann Babinski, Ward 2 Councilor Ralph J. Figy, Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell, and Ward 6 Councilor William Onyski. Matthew Roman was also present, representing the public.
“We’re not making any recommendations tonight. We’ll wait for Councilor Paul to get back to make recommendations,” said Flaherty at the start of the meeting.
Council on Aging Executive Director Tina Gorman goes over her budget with Finance Sub-Committee members Matthew T. VanHeynigen and David Flaherty. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Up for review by the Finance Committee were the City Clerk and Board of Registrars, the Health Department, Community Development, Zoning Board, Conservation Commission, and the Council on Aging.
Flaherty said to each department representative that the committee is looking to make cuts to reduce the overall city budget, and also where revenue might be increased.
City Clerk Karen Fanion was questioned about whether the work on the City Clerk’s website could be done by the city’s IT department, rather than outsourcing the updates. Fanion said that she was very happy with the company that is doing the work, but if the IT department could do it, she was open to that. The updates include all of the ordinances voted in by the City Council.
For the Board of Registrars, whose budget will include increased staffing for the presidential election, Fanion was asked about the street lists books. Babinski said in one place she had worked the vocational school had done much of the printing for the city, and suggested looking into that option.
Figy asked Fanion how long it had been since costs were increased for the street list book. Fees for other items, such as genealogy research, birth, death and marriage certificates, were also questioned. Fanion said fees haven’t gone up in eight years. She said genealogy research in particular, which is charged at $20 per hour, is very time consuming. Onyski said he agreed with taking into consideration how much time a job took when considering fee increases.
“So I’m checking out fees, revenue and effort for my department,” Fanion said.
The Health Department’s review received similar treatment from the Finance Committee. Public Health Director Joseph Rouse explained costs for certification and continuing education for the department’s two inspectors. He was also questioned on having two support staff in his department. Rouse said he shares the clerk, who answers phones and sells dump stickers with Community Development, and the office manager fields a high number of foot traffic as well as invoices and payments. He also said fees haven’t been raised in five or six years, and are probably due.
Flaherty asked why the cash office in City Hall couldn’t handle the payments for the department.
“If you want to take on bills and have someone else manage it, that would be fantastic,” Rouse said.
Asked about the role of the Public Health nurses in the city, Rouse said the supervising public health nurse deals with communicable disease surveillance, which is reported on a daily basis, and TB monitoring. The nurse administers vaccines, and is also a resource for the school department nurses.
The other nurse focuses on the refugee population, which is “huge,” Rouse said. She makes home visits to make sure they take medication that is needed. He said it is a full-time job. The department also receives medicare reimbursement to replenish supplies.
Running over his time, the Finance Committee scheduled an additional one hour time slot for a landfill discussion with Rouse. That meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 21 at 5:30 p.m.
Community Development Director Peter Miller spoke about some of their projects, including an upgrade to Hampden Ponds senior league baseball field, and a parking utilization study which he said the Mayor has already marked for a possible cut.
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), from which Westfield receives $320,000 per year, had program income last year of $260,000. Some of the money came from loan fulfilment and refinancing. He said a good portion of that money is being used for the Central Street project. Miller said $400,000 of the CDBG money must be spent by May.
The department also has a Request for Proposal (RFP) out on a Housing Improvement Plan. His goal this year is to repair four roofs. Miller said he would like to do more homeowner rehabilitation, and take distressed properties and sell them to qualified owner occupants.
Miller said Zoning Board members have received a notice that they are not supposed to be paid a stipend, which would eliminate $6,800 in their budget.
Conservation Commission Coordinator Karen Leigh talked about her work in overseeing wetlands, flood plain and river use regulations. VanHeynigen asked her if she issues fines when violations occur, which she said she has done only twice.
“Most people are unaware of regulations,” Leigh said. She said she was worried if fines were implemented, whether people would be discouraged from applying for permits. She added that once people are aware of the regulations, 99% comply.
Council on Aging Executive Director Tina Gorman began her review by saying that she is returning $5,300 of unused funds to the city. Gorman said the Friends of the Council on Aging have done a great job in supporting their work, and have just approved an additional microphone for the new center, at a cost of $580.
“I’m a big fan, I think you’re doing a great job,” Flaherty said, adding that their budget was higher than before at $397,015, but necessary. Then he asked if there was any way the new center could make revenue for the city.
Gorman said the Board looked at the possibility of renting out the center, but decided against it after speaking with other communities that have tried it. She said it would require staffing during events, and she is not able to pay her part-time help more than 19 hours a week.
She said last month, the Police Department held a safety training there. In April, the Boys and Girls Club also held a musical on their stage, which she called “a multi-generational collaboration.”
“If it’s senior participation, we’ll do that,” she said.
Gorman also said a revolving gift-fund basically pays for all of the food expenses and supplies in the food program. She said since the new center opened, traffic has more than doubled. In the month of March, 300 seniors came into the center per day.
The next budget hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, June 15, when the Purchasing, Auditor, Treasurer, Collector, Insurance, Assessor and the Law Department will be reviewed. The entire city budget as presented by the Mayor is available on the city website for review at http://www.cityofwestfield.org/documentcenter/view/3448.
