2018 Finance sub-committee: Andrew K. Surprise, Dan Allie, chair, Matt Emmershy. (Photo by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD – The Finance Committee Wednesday ended a busy night of meetings at City Hall, following meetings of the Legislative & Ordinance Committee and an executive session of the City Council, at which Councilors heard from the legal team representing the city in the suit against fire-fighting foam manufacturers. That meeting was closed to the public.
During public participation at the start of the Finance committee, resident Kate Pighetti said at the recent City Council meeting, residents advocated for turning the tennis courts at the Municipal Park into pickle ball courts.
Pighetti said following that plea, Tom Smith spoke about the condition of the property on Cross St. “People who live in the debacle of Cross Street have had dirt rubbed in their faces for six years,” Pighetti said, and urged the city to use the leftover funds from the school bond to fix that park and plant grass before creating something new.
The first item on the agenda was a request for approval to re-appropriate the bond order to create pickle ball courts. Finance Committee chair Dan Allie said that $70,000 remains in the fund balance from Park Square Green. He said the request was for the Finance Committee to recommend the use of the bond funds.
City Engineer Mark Cressotti said the cost would be for improvements to the Municipal Park, and for removal of the three tennis courts, which he said are in bad shape, and putting in new surfaces. Cressotti said he had made an initial attempt to seek an on-call vendor to do the work, but he said the prices had been excessive.
Allie asked since the nearly $71,000 wouldn’t be enough, would that necessitate going to bid with three different vendors. Councilor Andrew K. Surprise, a member of the committee, added that until they had the actual costs, the item should remain in committee. A motion was made and approved to keep it in committee.
A request for reaffirmation of Community Preservation Act funds for the Wyben/West Farms Schoolhouse following the change of custody from the School Department to the Historical Commission was approved unanimously. Allie said the group working on the school house was eager to begin.
Councilor Matthew Emmershy, also a Finance committee member, said the group had given a clear outline of how the funds, which have already been approved by the Community Preservation Committee, will be spent. “We need to move on it,” he said. Surprise agreed, and commended Allie and Emmershy for their work on the project.
The reaffirmation of Old Town Hall CPA funds also received unanimous approval from the committee. Surprise, who serves Ward 3, said he was anxious for somebody to do something with the building, which sits right in the middle of the downtown district.
Treasurer Meghan Kane spoke to the committee next regarding the motion of Councilors Dave Flaherty and Allie, which requested annual OPEB (Other Post Employee Benefits) contributions based on gross payroll by department to be included in the annual budget.
Kane said in 2014 when an OPEB working group met with representatives from each union, department budget items did not gain much support. She said it would be easier for large departments, but not easy for small ones, giving the Treasurer’s office as an example, which would end up having to pay $5,000 of her $13,000 expense budget for a 2.5% OPEB line item. Kane said one line item in the budget would be the cleanest way to fund OPEB.
Kane also said a recent change in regulations that will affect all municipalities moves OPEB onto the balance sheet. She said there is no charge or penalty associated with the OPEB liability for retirees, but there is a discounted rate for municipalities that have put money into OPEB and have a plan in place for funding it into the future. She said municipalities with no funding, receive no discount; those with funding and no plan receive a 4% discount, and those with funding and a plan receive an 8% discount.
Kane gave the example of the difference for Westfield, which has moved funding into the OPEB account this year from health insurance holidays. She said if the city were also able to get a plan in place there would be a 30% change in liability, from the current $232 million to $163 million.
Allie suggested sending the item to the Long-Term Finance committee, for a long-term plan that would help the city fiscally reap the benefits of the discount.
Kane said there are two pieces to changing the discount rate. One is putting money into the OPEB trust, and the second is having a plan and policy in place that has been accepted by the City Council, such as annually depositing a percentage of the budget or Free Cash into the account. She also said the Health Trust is healthy, and could be cut for a year.
Kane said the city will deposit additional money into OPEB from the next health care holiday in May. She added that the Council can’t add money to the budget, but can send a resolution to the Mayor. Surprise made a motion to keep the item in committee.
Allie addressed his own motion to rescind the bond for the Cross St. School. He said according to information he received since from the Law Department, the city is discussing this internally, and is cognizant it has to be dealt with. He said the bond is not yet closed out with the Massachusetts School Building Association (MSBA).
Allie said after closeout, he will be asking the Mayor to rescind the bond, and asked Kane whether one of the remaining items on the bond could be restoration of the Cross St. Park.
Kane said she would check with the Bond Counsel, noting that this is a unique situation. She said because the bond is not going forward, they might be willing to help the city clean up the park as part of the project. She said items remaining on the bond order include small brick storage, kitchen and HVAC equipment, which she said amounts to less than $500 per month.
Councilor Ralph J. Figy, who is the School liaison, said the items are being distributed to remaining schools as needed.
Surprise made a motion to keep the item in committee, but Allie said because there is already a process in place, he didn’t think that was necessary. Kane said when she rescinds a bond order, she submits the request to the Mayor, and does not need a motion from the City Council to do so. Allie requested a motion to remove it from the committee with no action, which passed.
Another item related to the Cross St. project was Allie’s motion to review the contract with St. Peter and St. Casimir Church for use of the parking lot for the proposed school. Allie asked Kane if the bond was paying for the parking lot use. Kane said she believed that line item was in the School Department.
Allie said the Finance committee would have the School Department before them during the budget review, and could address the question at that time. A motion was made and passed to keep the item in committee.
The second half of the meeting was spent reviewing questions members of the Finance Committee had for the Water Department. Allie said a number of questions had been and still are being submitted. After a lengthy discussion on different aspects of the plans to address the city’s water issues, committee members worked on the remaining questions to be submitted.
