Groups ask for money at hearing

Friday, January 29, 2010

BROOKLINE – Public hearings on the proposed 2010 town budget didn’t draw crowds Monday and Tuesday nights at the Town Hall, but intermittently, special interest groups, like the town’s firefighters, crammed the listeners’ gallery.

Firefighters were there to support two warrant articles, one asking taxpayers to fund a lease-purchase agreement for a new, albeit demonstration model, utility rescue truck at a cost of $182,700 over two years, and another asking the town to establish a capital reserve fund, the Fire Equipment Capital Fund, that would be used to purchase fire department apparatus.

The article for the capital reserve fund asks voters to raise and appropriate $100,000, the amount that would be used toward the next purchase of replacement apparatus.

The Board of Selectmen is recommending that if the article authorizing the two-year lease-to-purchase agreement passes, the capital reserve fund article should be dropped.

“The finance committee hasn’t had a chance to question the fire department,” Finance Committee chairman Ernie Pistor said during discussion of the two warrant articles. “But why not use the capital reserve for a truck you intend to replace?”

Last year at Town Meeting, the fire department sought money for a “big” truck that carries water, an item that failed. The demo truck the fire department is asking for this year is used to carry equipment, not water, and is smaller.

Fire Chief Charles Corey, who was accompanied by Assistant Chief Scott Knowles and other members of the department, described the demonstration truck, which would replace a truck that needs extensive work, as “a deal.”

The fire department needs to replace a 1994 Chevrolet van and anticipates the need for other replacements, given the age and mileage of its fleet: 1989 and 1992 engines, a 2000 combination truck and an aging tanker.

National fire protection codes recommend replacing trucks every 20 years, Corey noted.

Public safety, one of the biggest expenses in any municipal budget, was also the rationale for a warrant article asking voters to support the purchase of new police cruiser at $33,010 and the spending of $19,000 to purchase and install camera-based surveillance in the Police Department and Town Hall.

Surveillance cameras, which would reduce liability exposure, would be placed inside and outside the buildings: seven inside and two outside.

Likewise, a warrant article asking taxpayers to raise and spend $10,000 to purchase and equip a used vehicle for the ambulance director falls into this category. Both the select board and the finance committee have recommended this article.

A warrant article asking voters to raise and spend $31,000 to update the town’s Master Plan sparked a lengthy discussion about planning and the consequences if the article doesn’t pass.

Michelle Hakala, who recently announced she is resigning from the Planning Board after nine years of service, worried that progress would be stalled if voters reject the spending request.

And Selectman Tad Putney, who several years ago was involved in what were known as “study circles” to discuss the town’s future, suggested a backup plan: a nominal amount of money to be put aside in the event that the warrant article fails.

The selectman added $5,000 to the Planning Board, to be used for updating the Master Plan if the warrant article fails.

Speaking in favor of a warrant article to treat milfoil in Lake Potanipo, Conservation Commission Chairman Jay Chrystal presented two options: one for $40,450 to pay two treatments, and another for one treatment for about $29,000 or $19,000 depending on the chemical concentration.

The board decided to do one treatment, but left it up to conservation commission to decide.

The warrant article will be $29,625, with half, $14,812, coming from private donations and the conservation funds and the other half raised from taxes.

Chrystal contrasted the milfoil problem at Lake Potanipo with that in Melendy Pond, a smaller body of water that has been successfully treated and controlled.

“Potanipo is larger and has more boat traffic,” he said.

Communities across the region have had to deal with similar weed problems, which if left untreated, can clog waterways and make them unusable.

Selectmen and the finance committee are recommending this article, although on Tuesday, one selectman supported a two-treatment approach, the minority position.

Another spending request that will be put to voters in March asks them to create a capital reserve fund and place $100,000 in it, to buy a roughly 15-acre lot with a house on it, on Main Street in the center of town. Selectmen on Tuesday, voted 3-1 to reject the article and the finance committee rejected it, 3-0.

The town has a three-year window to purchase the lot in the center of town, and this would be the first year, if voters approve the article.

The thinking behind this request is that the town could buy the lot, priced at $720,000 and sell the house for $300,000, dropping the cost to $420,000.

The proposed town operating budget, which is traditionally the first article on the warrant, is up slightly from last year: In 2009, the town spent $3.78 million to run the local government; pay for police, fire and ambulance services; maintain roads and street lighting; dispose of waste; and oversee health, welfare, culture, recreation and conservation. The operating budget also included principal and interest on long-term bonds and notes.

This year’s operating budget reflects a 1.6 percent increase, or $3.8 million.

Factoring in the 15 additional warrant articles, the proposed budget, if passed, would increase from $4 million to $4.3 million.

The proposed budget is subject to change at Town Meeting, however, if voters add or delete articles.

Eighteen percent of local taxes are used to run the town, while more than 75 percent goes to the schools, and the remainder, a relatively small amount, pays for county taxes.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, the Brookline School District will hold a public hearing on its proposed budget at Capt. Samuel Douglass Academy. Last year teachers and support staff gave up negotiated raises to avoid layoffs in the schools. This year, the school district is again looking for ways to keep spending flat without compromising education, officials are saying.

Hattie Bernstein can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 24, or hbernstein@cabinet.com.