Finance Committee Minutes

Tolland Finance Committee

Capital Planning Subcommittee - Minutes

Meeting Type: Regular

Meeting Date: Wednesday Feb. 17, 2021

Meeting Time: 3:00 PM

Meeting Location: Tolland Town Hall

ORDER of BUSINESS:

Call to Order at 3:10 PM

Attendance- Margaret McClellan, Cathy Parzych (remotely), Ted Locke, Pat Storey. Regrets – Mira Munson

The minutes of July 22, 2020 were unanimously approved

Old Business

The Subcommittee reviewed Tolland’s capital spending from past years, other uses of free cash, and our outstanding indebtedness as shown on the attached sheets.

The bond on the PSC will be paid off in 2051. In 2024 the annual payment drops to $99,744.19; The subcommittee unanimously recommends that Selectmen repay $100,000 that year and each subsequent year until the note is paid off. This will save about $90,000 in interest and shorten the repayment period by about eight years.

The following Capital requests were submitted

There were also several carryover capital requests from last years budget

1. The subcommittee recommends that the replacement air packs all be obtained in 2023 using the Firefighters Grant.
2. The Subcommittee recommends that the first set of Radios be purchased using the $23,661 for the repeater that was returned. And that two more radios be purchased in 2023. Grants should be looked into.
3. The new cruiser appears appropriate for planning purposes.
4. The Air Conditioning was not considered since it is also in #10.
5. The truck appears to be needed. Margaret suggested it could be purchased in 2022 with the first payment structured to occur in 2023. In 2022 the final payment will be made on the excavator which gives us some wiggle room. We will also pay the Fire Truck off in 2023 which will help.
6. Although the second new truck may be needed, the subcommittee felt it should be pushed out till 2025 at the earliest.
7. Ed decided to proceed with Paving Harvey Mt. Rd and performing some other road repairs in 2021 using the $502,732 that is currently available in Chapter 90 funds.
8. And 9 are mutually exclusive. If the Selectmen approve #9 going after the $1,000,000 STRAP Grant to pave part of Schoolhouse and repave Clubhouse number 8 drops off the list. If we do not go after the grant or are not awarded the grant then #8, a full rebuild of Clubhouse using Chapter 90 funds should be performed in 2022. The Grant application is due in May 2021 and we should know the outcome by Nov. 2021.

10, 11, and 12 were not considered since they appear to be low priority. However, consideration should be given to funding the design of the Fireproof Storage Area so if grant money becomes available for shovel ready projects we can qualify.

There was a great deal of discussion about funding the Broad band. It’s still unclear when the work will be complete and when we will have to start paying the $700,000 back to the State; the repayment will occur over 10 years by a reduction in our Cherry Sheet funds. We have a one-time opportunity to pay down the $700,000 prior to starting repayment. It is the sense of the subcommittee that we should maximize the amount we can pay down the 700, even if it means delaying some other projects that would be nice to do. $82,500 was appropriated in F/Y 2021 for the broadband. We currently have about $400,000 of “free cash” available much of which can be used for Broadband if Town Meeting approves. Last year the budget used $91,881 of free cash for non-recurring expenses, although the $30,000 for ambulance service will become a recurring cost. $28,590 was Raised and Appropriated for other non-recurring costs

There was a brief discussion of the future of emergency services in the area and how Tolland might fit into any multi town consolidation. This could effect our funding for Fire and Police and surely will effect how we pay for ambulance service. It could also effect the dispatch service we use and if our communication equipment is compatible with other towns or dispatch services.

Not knowing what the budget requests will be it’s difficult to project how much money might be available for capital projects.

New Business

Ted noted that there should be minimal cost increase from the schools this year.

Adjournment at 4:10 PM

Respectfully Submitted

Pat Storey