HANSON – The Select Board focused on how to use one-time funds in the effort to close the town’s budget deficit as members reviewed Town Meeting warrants at its Tuesday, April 4 meeting.
Town Administrator Lisa Green said she and her staff have spent many hours between meetings updating the draft warrants for the annual and special Town Meetings on which the board had voted to place or place and recommend articles at its March 28 meeting.
For example, several capital articles pertaining to the schools were combined into a single Article 7 with line items – including a pair of line items, for an elevator repair and a septic system repair at Hanson Middle School, which were not placed on the October special Town Meeting warrant.
Green said she was uncertain why the omission took place, when the October session did take up an emergency request from the school district for door security after they fell victim to a cyber attack over the summer
“It could have been that these were determined not to be an emergency to fall under the October special Town Meeting, and now they are coming before the May annual Town Meeting as reimbursements,” she said.
The other requests under Article 7 are one-time purchases such as technology requests, for which free cash or American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funds could be used, Green said.
Vice Chair Joe Weeks asked how much money in ARPA funds the town has to spend on one-time expenditures.
“I think it would important for us to put out there in Town Meeting,” he said. “It’s an important revenue question to ask. … We have to start talking about next year’s budget, like now.”
Knowing how much the town has available in ARPA funds at the start and end of Town Meeting business will be important in illustrating how much money it takes to fund the town with money that officials will never have available again, Weeks argued.
Green said Hanson has $1,191,040 in ARPA funds available through Plymouth County as well as two disbursements totalling $1,294,000 through the Treasury.
“We have not touched this money,” she said except for $100,000 from ARPA for a fire station feasibility study; $85,000 for a generator for the Library/Senior Center and $200,000 for the HVAC system expended at the October special Town Meeting. However, Plymouth County had rejected both the generator and HVAC system uses because the HVAC funds must first be spent and then reimbursed by the county. The generator does not fit the accepted use parameters for COVID-related costs.
“We can certainly use the treasury money that we have in the bank, because that can be used for any general government services,” she said. “But, as of right now, we haven’t done the projects and spent any of the money.”
Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett noted the town has to “jump through major hoops” to access the ARPA funds administered by Plymouth County.
“We need to get strategic about how we’re going to spend it because we have to spend it by 2026,” she said.
Board member Ed Heal said he would like a table projected on a screen at Town Meeting showing how much was available in the funds and how much has so far been allocated “so they can actually see that their votes do something.”
Both he and FitzGerald-Kemmett had doubts about how to do that, but agreed another forum such as a Select Board meeting, or a handout at Town Meeting might be better forums in which to present that information.
The special Town Meeting articles were then approved for placement on the warrant.
In the annual warrant, the board discussed whether a $25,000 request by the Thomas Mill Committeee to replace the wheel and rebuild the stand at the historic mill. When the wheel had been removed for work, it was discovered that the stand’s wood was rotting, Green said.
FitzGerald-Kemmett asked the board for feedback, but suggested that $25,000, “when we’re in a fiscal situation … where timing is everything.”
“In my gut, I feel like this needs to be deferred to, potentially, October Town Meeting,” she said. “We are the ones who have to decide whether this is the best use of town money.”
Board member Jim Hickey said as a one-time situation, it could qualify for ARPA funding.
“This is a perfect example of one of those projects that you need to look into it before you [proceed],” he said. “But, if we don’t do it now, next May, or even October, it could be $30,000.”
“It is a community landmark,” Board member Ann Rein agreed. “It’s something that people like and I think that’s a good use for one-time money.”
Green expressed doubt that ARPA funds, which support general government services, could be properly used for the Mill wheel project.
Weeks said he is looking at finances for the year – and probably next year as well – with the point in mind that the town still does not know if the school assessment increase will come in at 3.75 percent with a $600,000 deficit or “if we’re going to be stuck paying more than that.”
“I come from the place of, under normal circumstances, my motion would normally be … to place and defer to Town Meeting,” Weeks said. “We still don’t know the dollar amount for the school. … We have to be super conservative right now.”
He said he loves the people overseeing the project and thinks they are doing a great job and should place their request before the board, but he is concerned that one-time funds may be needed to fund the town for now.
Rein suggested that a fundraising effort, such as Crowdfunding might be an alternative.
FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested reaching out to the state representatives to seek an earmark for the “very modest amount” for the iconic town landmark.
Hickey said it was the board’s duty to place the article, whether or not they voted to recommend it. The board voted to place the article to defer the issue to Town Meeting.
The board conducted a brief hearing with National Grid on utility pole locations near 201 Franklin St.
Bill Gillespie of National Grid said the utility is looking to place a pole and push-brace to hold the existing pole until it can be removed because of wires. The base of the push-brace should extend about 10 feet from the existing pole.
Hickey said he liked taking care of a problem before it becomes a problem.