By Nicholas Barao, Neighb News Correspondent
The Acushnet Selectboard held a very long meeting on 9/13/22 to review articles for the special Town Meeting scheduled for October 17, and to discuss staffing levels and finances.
In a joint meeting with the Board of Assessors, the two boards chose Robert Brown to fill a vacancy on the BOA. Mr. Brown has been an assessor in the past and serves on the Housing Authority and Zoning Board of Appeals.
The SB also discussed the retirement of Gerard “Gerry” Bergeron, who has served with the fire department for 50 years. The board accepted his resignation and discussed ways to honor him publicly for his long service.
The board also discussed several projects approved by the Community Preservation Committee for use of Community Preservation Act funds that will be on the STM warrant.
The school department applied for $125,000 to update the basketball and tennis courts. They also want to replace the bleachers at the middle school.
Mr. Gaspar suggested they recycle some of the wood from the old bleachers when they remove them.
The board will vote on the article at a future meeting.
Allen Decker with the Buzzards Bay Coalition asked the board for $85,000 in CPC funds for groundwater protection, under the open space provisions of the CPA. The work will be done at a 77-acre property in the southeastern part of Acushnet, bordering with Mattapoisett.
In addition to the preservation of the property protecting drinking water, it will be open to the public for passive recreation. The entrance to the property will be in Mattapoisett.
The board will vote on the article at a future meeting.
Ed Isaac from the Golf Advisory Committee discussed a warrant article asking for $300,000 from the Golf Enterprise fund for a seeder and a new trailer. The board approved the request.
The board also accepted an anonymous donated of $5,000 to the police gift fund.
Police Chief Christopher Richmond also discussed his department’s staffing issues with the board.
The dispatch schedule has a gap of several shifts per week. Chief Richmond told the board he wanted to hire a part-time dispatcher to fill the gap. The board approved the request.
Chief Richmond also asked to hire three full time police officers. The department has two officers deployed with their National Guard units, and is looking at some retirements coming up soon.
Kathleen Silva, Business Manager for the Department of Public Works, told the board she was looking ahead five years, and the water budget will be in the negative unless they raise rates.
“Part of the reason is because we didn’t increase the rate, like New Bedford did,” Ms. Silva told the board.
She suggested raising rates 60 cents.
The board voted to approve the increase.
The sewer fund, however, has a surplus, so Ms. Silva suggested freezing sewer rates. The board approved the move.
Ms. Silva also discussed the Big Pickup Day with the board. She said the department is low on staff and they are older. She said it is difficult to get applicants at the wage the town pays. She said bulky item pickup will not resume until they are fully staffed.
She also said there is $30,000 in the warrant article for the big pickup day, but they need between $50K and 80K.
The board discussed a variety of options. They will vote on the matter at a future meeting.
The finance department has been short staffed, but now has some interim employees: Todd Hassett is interim town accountant; Marilyn Thompson is interim town treasurer/ collector; Carla Morrel is assistant treasurer/collector; Nick Monticello is assistant town accountant.
They, along with Town Administrator James Kelly, reviewed the town’s finances and discussed multiple issues.
Some of the concerns have been occurring for around for 10 years and other issues were imperative.
The cash has not been balanced since February, said Ms. Thompson, and it should be done every month. That is how they would be able to find their mistakes, or oversights, such as money from the state getting deposited. Going back for months to find those things is “just a mess.”
“One thing I did find is, there are a ton of unreconciled items that went back years,” said Ms. Thompson.
She said they started with June 30th’s numbers from the bank to move forward, and will work towards clearing up the old entries as systematically as they can. Some transactions did not even have dates, she said.
She brought up six points in total.
Mr. Hassett recognized the FY22 budget and discussed all issues involved as well as financial plans moving forward.
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