CHELMSFORD FINANCE COMMITTEE

MINUTES

February 22, 2018

MEETING: A meeting was held on Thursday, February 22, 2018 at 7:30 PM at Town Hall

Office Building, 50 Billerica Road, Chelmsford

PRESENT: J. Clancy, E. Consalvo, A. Tanini, A. Langford, E. Chambers and D.

Goselin

ABSENT: K. Duffett

ALSO PRESENT: P. Cohen, J. Sousa, J. Spinney, G. Ryan, and public

HANDOUTS: Chelmsford Police Department FY2019 Budget Proposal, FY2019 Board

of Health Budget Request, Updated Budget Hearing Schedule

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM.

Approval of Minutes:

February 15, 2018:

A. Tanini made a motion to accept the minutes of February 15, 2018 as written. A. Langford

seconded the motion. All voted in favor. The motion passed. The minutes were approved as

written.

Police Department FY2019 Budget:

Chief Spinney reviewed the Goals and Objectives of the Police Department with the Finance

Committee. He stated that one of the goals was to build on the full-time school resource officers

(S.R.O.) at the high school and the part-time S.R.O. at the Parker and McCarthy Middle schools.

He said that they had just started the program at the two middle schools. Another goal which he

highlighted was the continued work with local and regional partners on the ongoing opioid crisis.

He stated that this included a follow-up program whereby a detective would follow-up within 24

to 48 hours of a substance abuse or mental health issue. He stated that Chelmsford had a grant as

part of a collaborative partnership for a full-time clinician which was at the doctor level. He said

that this person would work with the family and facilitate the person to becoming well. A.

Langford asked if the police kept track of these cases. Chief Spinney replied that they did not

track the cases, but rather handed them off to the clinician. He noted that he did receive a

monthly report which would show how many cases they were dealing with and the current status

such as “refused assistance”.

CHELMSFORD FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES 2/22/2018 Page 2

Chief Spinney reported that personnel costs for the Police Department were decreasing by $9,197

from $5,659,221 to $5,650,024. He stated that he was requesting a level funded budget with no

new positions. He explained that the reason the personnel budget was decreasing is that several

senior personnel had retired and their wages were higher than the wages of the replacements. He

noted that there had been no collective bargaining agreement so that was not part of the budget

request.

Chief Spinney reported that the staffing level of the Police Department FY2019 budget remained

the same at 67 employees including 53 sworn officers, 9 dispatchers, 3 clerical support, 1 facility

maintenance person and 1 fleet mechanic. He reported that the 53 sworn officers were broken

out into four divisions: the Administrative Division with 1 chief and 1 deputy chief, the

Investigative Division with 1 lieutenant and 5 detectives, the Special Services Division with 1

lieutenant, 1 court sergeant and 1 family services officer and the Patrol Division with 5

lieutenants, 6 sergeants and 31 patrol officers. He noted that patrol officers also assisted special

services in areas such as community policing and traffic issues.

Chief Spinney reiterated that overall the personnel budget decreased by $9,917 due to the senior

level retirements. He noted that there were increases in several line items due to wage increases

(COLA) for dispatchers, clerical and non-union personnel. He pointed out that the overall

personnel budget was still decreasing. Chief Spinney reported that he had budgeted the overtime

line item at the same level as the current year at $400,000. D. Goselin asked if this would be an

issue as prior years the overtime line item was higher. Chief Spinney replied that he could

compensate the overtime line item from other parts of the budget or with grants. He noted that

he had not exceeded his personnel budget in a number of years.

Chief Spinney reported that the Police Department expenses line item for FY2019 remained the

same as FY2018 at $738,000. He stated that all line items in the expense budget were the same

as last year except that he had decreased the gasoline line item by $10,000 and increased the

replacement vehicles line item by $10,000. He stated that vehicles were more expensive now.

He explained that they budgeted to purchase four new Ford S.U.V. Interceptors each year at

$38,500 each. He said that the $10,000 increase in this budget line item brought it to $155,000

for FY2019. He stated that police fuel expenditures were $2.40 per gallon at 44,000 usage which

allowed him to decrease the gasoline line item to $105,200. D. Goselin asked if there was an

issue with the exhaust on the Inceptors. Chief Spinney replied that they had been proactive and

preemptive with the problem and purchased carbon monoxide detectors designed for vehicles.

He noted that Ford had realized the problem and offered tips while they modified the dual

exhaust system. He added that the problem was resolved and they had never had issues, but they

kept the detectors in the cars as a “failsafe”.

Chief Spinney pointed out that the contracted services line item had increased to $33,000 in the

FY2018 budget due to the shared clinician which originally was hired with a collaborative multi-

year grant. He explained that he had asked for the increase in this line item last year to continue

to pay Chelmsford’s share of the clinician who also serviced Tewksbury, Dracut and Billerica.

CHELMSFORD FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES 2/22/2018 Page 3

Chief Spinney stated that the total FY2019 Police Department budget was $6,388,024 which was

$9,197 less than the FY2018 budget due to the previously mentioned decrease in the personnel

budget while the expense budget remained the same.

Chief Spinney reported that the Animal Control Division was their own department with their

own budget. He pointed out that there was a significant change to this budget as Chelmsford has

never had more than one animal control officer. He stated that there were times when the animal

control officer was needed when he was not available such as nights, weekends and dinner time.

Chief Spinney stated that this was never more apparent than last year when the Chelmsford

animal control officer was unable to work for a good part of the year and the Town relied on

other towns to fill in. He explained that during this time things got put off. He gave an example

that if an animal is killed in the road it should really be picked up within a day or two at most, but

being short-staffed this had not been possible. He reported that the FY2019 budget included a

second animal control officer to work the opposite shift of the current officer to be on call

evenings and weekends. He added that both officers were also medically trained and could

administer tranquilizers, if needed. He commented that the department would be much more

effective with two animal control officers. Chief Spinney reported that due to this addition the

animal control personnel budget was increasing by almost double going from $57,487 in FY2018

to $106,854 in FY2019. He reported that there were no changes in the animal control expense

budget which remained at $8,050 resulting in a total animal control budget of $114,904.

Chief Spinney supplied the Finance Committee with statistics for 2017 which showed a total

overall calls for service of 32,144 which he noted was down by several thousand from the prior

year. He pointed out that motor vehicle breaks and theft were down to 68 and 20 respectively.

He added that 99% of these occurred in unlocked vehicles. He added that the thefts were

generally for a “joy ride” with the vehicle being recovered within 24 hours. Chief Spinney

reported that residential breaks had increased by 7 in 2017. He explained that this was most

likely a result of the opioid crisis as these residences were not occupied. He reported that there

were 39 opioid overdoses in 2017 with 4 fatalities. He noted that a state report had shown

Chelmsford with 7 or 8 fatalities. He explained that often when the state report comes out the

reason for the passing is not known until months later. He stated that a number of the fatalities

had been intentional suicides so the accurate accidental overdose fatalities was four with three

being town residents and one being a non-resident.

Chief Spinney reported that Chelmsford continued to be a safe community with very low crime,

especially the size, location and proximity to a city. He pointed out that shoplifting was a group

A crime which sets Chelmsford back when looking at the crime rate. He stated that when you

break it down Chelmsford has a true crime rate per 1,000 which is one-third of the state average.

J. Clancy asked for Chief Spinney’s opinion on the microwave communications system in the

FY2019 Capital Plan. Chief Spinney replied that the police and fire share dispatchers. He

explained that if there were two dispatchers on, they could do both functions even though one

may be primarily for the Police Department and the other mainly for the Fire Department. He

stated that the current system works over telephone lines to transmit calls to the Fire and Police

personnel. He explained that these were old lines which Verizon would be shutting off. He

stated that this left them with the option of purchasing expensive T-lines which could cost

CHELMSFORD FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES 2/22/2018 Page 4

thousands each month. He stated that the Fire Department worked on the options as well and

they jointly decided that microwave technology was the best option. He explained that

Chelmsford would not be dependent on someone else and would not need to pay a fee to a

vendor, but would control the lines and it would be Chelmsford’s system. He added that

microwave technology was resilient to weather whereas the current system lost communications

with parts of town due to weather. He said that the only ongoing cost for this system would be

maintenance which would be virtually at no cost for five years. Chief Spinney said that the

system would also be expandable and other departments such as IT or the Highway Department

could jump on in the future. He added that there was also the ability to have wireless cameras.

Chief Spinney stated that in his opinion microwave technology was the way to go as it was a

win/win option and the smart choice in the long run. D. Goselin asked if other towns used

microwave technology. Fire Chief Ryan replied in the affirmative saying that several other

towns used it. Chief Spinney added that he had heard nothing but positive comments about it.

E. Consalvo commented that she had read discussion on social media regarding the choice of

S.U.V. police vehicles rather than sedans. She asked why the change had been made. Chief

Spinney replied that sedans were two-wheel drive and were problematic in the winter months.

He said that it was time consuming to outfit the tires with cables and the cables became

problematic, sometimes falling off. Chief Spinney said that the S.U.V.’s were a “home run” in

his opinion. He explained that they did well in inclement weather, there was room for additional

gear such as medical gear and the officers liked them. He added that they had tried out the sedan

version of the Interceptor which was the Taurus and was also all-wheel drive, but the officers did

not like this vehicle. He said many of them found it too small and uncomfortable. Chief Spinney

noted that he was seeing police S.U.V.’s everywhere he looked now, especially in New England.

He noted that the price of the S.U.V. was about the same as the price of the sedan. J. Clancy

commented that it was a misconception that the S.U.V’s were more expensive.

E. Consalvo commented that she had met both animal control officers at the recent rabies clinic

and she was impressed with how kind they were to the animals and how knowledgeable they

were.

Board of Health FY2019 Budget:

J. Clancy reported that J. Sousa was stepping in for S. Rosa as she was unavailable for the

meeting. J. Sousa added that S. Rosa had a family emergency and his thoughts were with her.

J. Sousa reported that S. Rosa was now in the position of health director with 37.5 hours and R.

Day would be decreasing his schedule from 3 days to 1 day. He reported that the Massachusetts

Department of Public Health (MDPH) updated the food code and is updating the housing and

pool codes. He said that the health inspector was now unable to inspect all of the establishments

in town. He explained that there were 183 establishments and it was difficult for one inspector to

visit them all. He said that the Board of Health was proposing to increase the health educators

hours from 30 hours per week to 33 hours per week with the additional 3 hours gong towards

helping the inspector. He pointed out that the schools also pay for 15 hours of the health

educator’s salary. J. Sousa stated that the nurse was taking on more of S. Rosa’s responsibilities

and was increasing from 20 to 25 hours for the first half of FY2019 and then from 25 to 30 hours

for the second half of FY2019. J. Sousa explained that he wanted to start with a review of the

CHELMSFORD FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES 2/22/2018 Page 5

changes in hours as these were the main changes to the Board of Health budget. He explained

that this was a transitional year of moving from R. Day, the health director who had been in the

position for 37 years, to S. Rosa who was assuming the position. He explained that FY2018 was

a transition year of mentoring staff and S. Rosa becoming the manager. He stated that R. Day

had stayed on board first for 3 days and then for 1 day in FY2019 in order to make for a smooth

transition.

J. Sousa reported that the Board of Health personnel budget was increasing by about $17,000

going from $307,768 to $325,450. He stated that in addition to the changes in hours which he

mentioned there were also two employees who reached 15 years of employment and an increase

in longevity.

J. Sousa reported that Board of Health expenses were increasing by about $3,700. He said that

many expenses were level-funded, however there were increases in the telephone and staff

education line items. He explained that shortly after 9/11 funds had been provided from the

MDPH for emergency preparedness. He said that some of these funds had been used for training

and for cell phones for emergency communications. He explained that this funding had been cut

and the costs needed to be assumed by the Town. He said that this was why the telephone line

item was increasing by $1,000 and the staff education line item was increasing from $500 to

$3,200.

J. Sousa reported that the total Board of Health budget was increasing from $330,648 to

$352,050 which was about a $21,000 increase. J. Clancy commented that the Finance

Committee had seen the transition of S. Rosa replacing R. Day for a couple of years now. J.

Sousa agreed stating that the way it was done had provided for a very smooth transition.

Budget Hearing and Warrant Article Schedule:

J. Clancy provided the Finance Committee members with an updated Budget Hearing schedule.

He stated that the meeting this evening had been short a few presentations due to the citizen

petition cancellations. A. Langford asked for confirmation that this was not due to the warrant

articles being pulled. J. Clancy responded that it wasn’t, indicating that one presenter became

unavailable and the other was sick. He stated that they had requested coming in on March 15th

instead. He indicated that he would wait to hear when the DPW was coming in before

rescheduling the citizen petitions, but it would either be the 15th or the 8th.

J. Clancy reported that the current schedule was as follows:

March 1, 2018: Cemetery – D. Boyle (including warrant articles 16 and 17), Community

Preservation – L. Prescott (warrant articles 20 and 21), Library – B. Herrmann, and Senior Center

– D. Siriani

March 8, 2018: PEG Access – P. Pedulla, Chelmsford Public Schools – J. Lang, J. M. Johnson-

Collins, and School Committee (including warrant article 8), DPW and Facilities – G. Persichetti

(including warrant articles 11 and 29, tentatively scheduled)

CHELMSFORD FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES 2/22/2018 Page 6

March 15, 2018: Nashoba Valley School District – D. Pigeon, J. Savoie, and School Committee,

Forum Enterprise Fund and Budget – P. Cohen (article 12), Citizen Petitions – C. Bowman, B.

Latina, J. Paley (warrant articles 24, 25 and 26, tentatively scheduled)

J. Clancy stated that the Disabilities Commission (articles 27 and 28) was checking on

availability and would be scheduled for March 1st or 8th. He added that he would also check with

the Planning Board to see if someone wanted to come in regarding the zoning bylaw change. J.

Clancy stated that the Finance Committee should plan to make recommendations on March 22nd

which would allow for extra time to review the chairman’s letter and the warrant book.

A. Tanini made a motion to adjourn. E. Consalvo seconded the motion. All voted in favor.

The meeting adjourned at 8:16 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela A. Morrison