Minutes
Meeting Date:
February 13, 2019
Wellfleet Finance Committee
February 13,2019
Wellfleet Senior Center, 715 Old Kings Hwy
Present: Chair, Janet Loewenstein; Ira Wood, Kathy Granlund, Stephen Polowczyk, Fred Magee
Absent: Robert Wallace, Linda Pellegrino, Jeff Tash
Others Present: Town Administrator, Dan Hoort; Nauset Regional School District Director of Finance and Operations Giovanna Venditti; Board of Water Commissioners Chair Jim Hood; Comprehensive Wastewater Management Planning Committee Chair Curt Felix.
Chair Loewenstein called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M.
Budget Review
Ms. Vendetti presented the Nauset Regional School District budget. She emphasized how enrollment affects each the assessment to each town in the district.
As Ms. Vendetti presented the middle school budget she pointed out that an increase in the special needs budget of 9.05% was driving the budget increase. The high school budget increased 3.55%. Personnel costs make up the great majority of the budget for both the middle and high school.
Wellfleet’s share of the regional budget increased 0.75% from 12.62% in FY 2019 to 13.37% in FY 20. Of the four towns Wellfleet’s share increased while the other three towns stayed flat or decreased due to shifts in enrollments.
The Committee discussed the per student cost which is higher in Wellfleet because we have fewer students to absorb the fixed cost.
Ms. Vendetti discussed the OPEB funding which is new this year. Combined the four towns will be requested to contribute $400,000 towards the regional school district’s OPEB liability. Wellfleet’s share in FY 20 is $53,492
Board of Water Commissioners (BWC) Chair Jim Hood discussed the Water Enterprise Fund budget with the Committee. There is no significant increase in expenses in the FY 20 budget. Staff and the BWC are looking at a new billing system to more accurately reflect water system billing.
The possible new issue on the horizon is the potential need to replace parts of the Coles Neck water main. The BWC are hoping to encourage additional hook-ups to the system where the water main already exist. Approximately 250 additional users could connect to existing water mains. Some Briar Lane businesses are requesting water hook-ups, there is currently no water main on Brian Lane. Due to the rural nature of Wellfleet any expansion of the water system would require a town subsidy, there are not sufficient users in any one area that would cause their connection fees to cover total cost of the expansion.
Comprehensive Wastewater Management Planning Committee Chair Curt Felix discussed wastewater. The DEP has waived some of their requirements that needed to be completed before the watershed permit could be approved. The Town could install a sewer system and still not meet the threshold requirements. The DEP was very helpful in moving the process forward.
Mr. Felix described the various scenario analysis to the Committee. The scenario analysis were worked on by the Cape Cod Commission.
The Committee briefly discussed the possible request for a Water Resource Director at the April town meeting. The Committee hopes that this position will eventually be funded through the new Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund revenues.
Next Meeting
Next meeting will be February 20, 2019.
Moved to adjourn the meeting
Motion: Wood Second: Granlund Passed: 5-0-0
The meeting was adjourned at 9:05pm