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ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
FEBRUARY 6, 2006
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairman Tallarita in the Enfield Room of the Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Monday, February 6, 2006 at 6:05 p.m.
ROLL-CALL – Present were Councilmen Crowley, Edgar, Hilinski, Lee, Mangini, Maxellon, Nelson, Peruta, Ragno, and Tallarita. Councilman Kaupin entered the meeting at 6:06 p.m. Also present were Acting Town Manager and Town Attorney, Christopher Bromson; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Clerk, Suzanne Olechnicki; Director of Finance, Gregory Simmons; Director of Economic Development, Raymond Warren; Director of Public Works, John Kazmarski; Assistant Director of Public Works, Colleen Brand; Enfield Public Schools Business Manager, Christopher Drezek.
AUDIT PRESENTATION BY GARY PARADIS FROM SCULLY & WOLF
Mr. Paradis reviewed the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report which includes the Town’s audit report and financial statements. He explained the report is similar to what has been seen for the last couple years since they implemented GASB-34.
He stated they’ve issued an unqualified opinion, also referred to as a clean opinion on the financial statements for this year. He noted they conducted the audit in accordance with government auditing standards and generally accepted auditing standards.
Mr. Paradis referred to the fourth paragraph on Page 6 and noted they indicated they’ve also issued written reports on compliance and internal controls over compliance.
He noted the management discussion and analysis can be found from Page 8 through Page 15, and this includes an overview of the financial statements written by the Finance Director.
He stated financial statements and exhibits begin with Page 16, and a number of disclosures are shown beginning with Page 25 through Page 46. He noted the footnote disclosures are similar to last year, except in the area of cash and investments. He explained a new standard was implemented this year (GASB statement #40) which deals with some of the disclosures of various risks (shown on Pages 32-34).
Mr. Paradis referred to the pension fund (Town and Police plans – beginning on Page 40) and Page 43 contains the schedule of funding progress for both plans. He noted both plans are fairly well funded at this point and both have actuarial assets in excess of the actuarial liabilities.
He noted after the footnotes, there is some required supplementary information which is the schedule of revenues and other financing sources compared to the budget. He stated on the revenue side of the budget last year, the Town took in almost $1.3 million dollars more than what was anticipated. He noted most of that was in the property tax component of the budget where there was a $960,000 favorable variance. He added intergovernmental revenues also showed a positive.
Mr. Paradis stated expenditures were $763,000 less than what was budgeted, and that is made up of a number of different departmental savings.
He stated the General Fund comparative balance sheet on Exhibit A-1, Page 54, shows an undesignated fund balance of $10.7 million dollars, up from $8.8 million dollars. He noted the undesignated portion of fund balance at this point is about 10.5% of the budget for 2005.
He referred to Exhibit A-2 and noted in the area of collections, the collection rate was about 98.1% on the current year list.
Mr. Paradis pointed out Exhibits B-1 and B-2 contain all the other funds of the Town.
He stated the last part of the report contains the statistical section. He explained this includes a group of tables put together by the Finance Department which shows trends.
He noted they’ve issued separate reports on the audit of the Town’s federal and state awards. He stated there is one minor problem noted in each of those reports. He explained one deals with the eligibility of free and reduced applicants in the Department of Agriculture Lunch Program, and the other problem deals with the fees for the Day Care Department in the state single audit.
Mr. Paradis stated the last item is the management letter. He explained they are required by government auditing standards to issue a report in writing on compliance and other matters as well as internal control over financial reporting. He noted there was only one item, and this has to do with the way the Town currently accounts for its encumbrances. He stated the liquidation of encumbrances is problematic, and the Director of Finance will address this. He noted they did identify some of the issues with encumbrances, and they identified a few points on Page 2.
Mr. Simmons stated the Council has a copy of the management letter with a plan for corrective action, and the Town Clerk and School Business Manager also provided a corrective action plan relating to their areas. He stated his belief a lot of these comments should be corrected by next year.
Referring to Page 5 – Post Employment Benefits, Mr. Paradis stated some large standard changes are coming, and everyone needs to evaluate the impact these changes will have, both from a financial reporting perspective as well as a budgetary standpoint. He noted this will require that at some point the Town will have to have an actuarial evaluation done, and the Finance Director will eventually come forward looking for money to do that evaluation.
Mr. Paradis referred to Page 6 and the comment concerning the change in the disclosure requirements for deposits and investments, and stated although the Town has policies regarding this, they have not been updated since 1998. He noted because of the new change in the standard and the new elements that need to be disclosed in reports, it is being suggested these policies are updated to incorporate all of the elements of risk identified in the standard.
He stated although some progress has been made, an on-going project deals with infrastructure reporting. Mr. Simmons explained this is accounting for all the roads, bridges, and things they haven’t traditionally tracked in the past.
Councilman Mangini questioned if the Town is in full compliance regarding the post employment benefits, and Mr. Simmons responded they’re now in the process of working with one of their vendors to compile what the liability will be for the Town. He noted once they have those figures, they can determine how to approach this.
Councilman Mangini questioned if they’re working with the Board of Education regarding issues, and Mr. Simmons stated he and the School Business Manager communicate on issues with time permitting.
Councilman Ragno raised a question about post employment benefits. Mr. Simmons explained some people leave their employment with the Town, but for some reason have not taken their pension assets with them, and that is taken into consideration by the actuaries.
Chairman Tallarita questioned if there are any other items within corrective actions that would have a budgetary consideration this year, and Mr. Simmons stated the biggest item will be the post employment benefits, but that would effect 2007. He added that could be significant.
TOWN HALL PROJECT WORKSHOP
Mr. Kazmarski stated he is looking for guidance from the Town Council about what steps they want to take regarding the work on Town Hall.
Ms. Brand responded to previous questions raised by the Council. She noted it has been confirmed by the architect the roof has a three and twelve pitch. She stated the structural analysis shows the attic was not designed for storage capability. She went on to note there was thought about converting the attic space into office space.
Councilman Nelson questioned whether the cost includes removing and relocating all the mechanical items in the attic, and Ms. Brand responded yes.
Councilman Maxellon stated he is not in favor of building a dormer on the back of the Town Hall. He stated he would rather look at other alternatives for additional space. He noted they also asked about off-site record storage. He feels this whole issue should be looked at more closely.
Chairman Tallarita stated he prefer the original idea of doing just the roof work and the canopy work. He suggested working with the Facilities Committee to look at items such as the Council Chamber airlock, the portico, off-site storage and what type of space might become available in the future. He noted perhaps they can come up with a plan of action for how they will utilize Town space to its best advantage.
Councilman Kaupin stated there are a lot of other priorities at this time, and he feels that since the funding is available, they should move forward on the roof. He added his belief the dormer isn’t a top priority. He agreed the Facilities Committee could look at other things more closely.
There was a consensus of the Council to move forward with the roof and canopy work.
MOTION #8234 by Councilman Mangini, seconded by Councilman Hilinski to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel Matters, Real Estate Negotiations, and Pending Litigation.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #8234 adopted 11-0-0, and the meeting stood recessed at 6:55 p.m.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Executive Session of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairman Tallarita at 6:57 p.m.
ROLL-CALL – Present were Councilmen Crowley, Edgar, Hilinski, Kaupin, Lee, Mangini, Maxellon, Nelson, Peruta, Ragno and Tallarita. Also present were Acting Town Manager and Town Attorney, Christopher Bromson; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Director of Finance, Gregory Simmons; Director of Economic Development, Raymond Warren; Town Clerk, Suzanne Olechnicki
Personnel Matters, Real Estate Negotiations, and Pending Litigation were discussed with no action or votes being taken.
Chairman Tallarita adjourned the Executive Session at 7:26 p.m. He reconvened the Special Meeting at 7:27 p.m. and stated that during Executive Session they discussed Personnel Matters, Real Estate Negotiations and Pending Litigation with no action or votes being taken by the Council.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #8235 by Councilman Kaupin, seconded by Councilman Mangini to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #8235 adopted 11-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 7:28 p.m. |