Prudential Committee – Sept 28 2015 – Meeting minutes

Cotuit Fire District
Prudential Committee
28 September 2015
5 PM

Fran Parks: I’m going to call the September 28th, 2015 Cotuit Fire District potential committee to order. Is there any public comment? No public comment. Good. Everyone introduce themselves please.

Mike Daley: I will be Michael Daley, treasurer.

Laurie Hadley: Laurie Hadley, Prudential.

Stan Goldstein: Stan Goldstein, Prudential.

Charlie Eager: Charlie Eager, clerk.

Fran Parks: Fran Parks, Prudential. Mike is here anything with water tower or that will?

Mike Daley: Nothing’s changed since the memo you saw about two weeks ago to the born council. I did check with the bank last week. The only other item that we’ve chasing is whether or not either of those will eventually be fundable under the USDA’s loan program and the FEDS start a new year October 1st and they expect they’ll have an answer once to live federal year begins. That’s not going to make a difference but we did check both through the water department answer through bank in last week.
They’re both getting the same answer that perhaps the end of this week; yes it will be this week. Nothing to change with those. I did ask you whether or not if you want to schedule a special meeting to facilitate earlier note sale. If we green light we still got to advertise the bid, take the bids, prepare the paper work, schedule a meeting, sign a vote, shift to the DOR, get it back and then we can take possession of the proceeds and process warrant. If something happens I can award you if you want to schedule a special meeting.

Fran Parks: Sure I think that will be fine. Laurie? Stan?

Laurie Hadley: Yes. That’ll be fine.

Mike Daley: Otherwise if something doesn’t happen real quick then we’ll target for the next month’s meeting to all the note signing so far try to schedule the sale on hands.

Stan Goldstein: I’ll be gone from the 31st of October to the 12th of November.

Fran Parks: Two signatures will be enough, will you?

Mike Daley: Yes but we have meetings before the 31st.

Laurie Hadley: Yes.

Fran Parks: Yes.

Stan Goldstein: Mike are we going to be in time to fund the BLT or entrust to our meeting the funds to the close on that property?

Mike Daley: I’m not sure they know our position. Last I knew I thought she was going to go ahead and borrow, take a note for so they can schedule there close without us dragging anything down but I haven’t heard back. I don’t know when they’re closing.

Fran Parks: I’ve heard through the grapevine that they have all the funds.

Laurie Hadley: I heard that too.

Fran Parks: That’s good. I wanted to say about the district insurance I thought meeting with the other two committees maybe we would hold after the 1st of the year when it gets closer to renewing the insurance.

Stan Goldstein: Well, the objective, I thought a meeting with the other two committees was for them to decide on what they wanted to do with deductibles. I talked to and Mike had to say afternoon and they did discuss briefly that we had bias policy but it was more, at least as far as run to me it was more let’s meet with the water department. The water department has already made a decision the best of my honest to increase some deductibles, that was in the range of $2,500 per item, I’m just disappointed in the fire commission is they’re not taking action, it’s costing us money every month that we don’t increase the deductibles.

Fran Parks: I can see if we can schedule that for next month.

Stan Goldstein: Maybe we started this in early July and then they had a meeting in July and a meeting in August, had a meeting in September.

Fran Parks: Okay, any questions Hadley?

Laurie Hadley: Can you get them to submit what they want in writing so that you don’t have to meet?

Stan Goldstein: According to Mike we have the authority to make a unilateral decision. I agree with Mike’s it would be good for a courtesy for us to meet with them. There is some hard feelings about having changed the line item from under the fire commissioners to the credential committee. The more I find out about it the
more I agree that decision really makes sense because that policy it carries district line. We need to iron that out and I’d like to get them to take some action to increase the deductibles.

Fran Parks: I’ll see if you could either get requests from, written request or have them come to the next meeting.

Stan Goldstein: Yes both of them.

Fran Parks: Okay. Freedom Hall I’m still working on making up the contract for the painting. That doesn’t have to go through, because it’s less than $30,000, there are different places that it’s posted, but it doesn’t have to go through the formal posting that we went through with the county pass previously. More so still working on getting prices for the maintenance of the HVAC. I had a price from the gentleman that installed it but my computer ate it up and I can’t find it.

Laurie Hadley: I’m ready to throw my whole, everything out of the window.

Fran Parks: I believe it was $800 total for two visits including filters, but I’m still trying to locate it. Josh McGuire called. He is the one who did the snow plowing for us last year, and said he’d be interested in doing it again this year. He gave us a really good rate, it was $60 for plowing and for shoveling out the walk and or just salting the parking lot/walk

Laurie Hadley: Like I say, I pay more than that to get a driveway plowed.

Fran Parks: I’d like to have Josh McGwire do it again this year. Is there someone who will make a motion?

Laurie Hadley: I move that we retain Josh McGwire to do this, take care of the snow removal.

Stan Goldstein: I second it.

Fran Parks: All in favor?

Stan Goldstein: Aye.

Laurie Hadley: Aye.

Fran Parks: Aye. Great. Hopefully we’ll have less snow.

Fran Parks: Next is reviewing renting the hall. If we’re going to want to revisit our discussion last time of renting it to people who were doing the yard sales. I still feel the same way I did before. It’s too tough on the building that every time it’s been done there were new scratches on the floor, more paint up from the walls. The size of the door aren’t sufficient for moving heavy large pieces of furniture in and out. I would prefer to keep it that we no longer hold yard sales inside the hall. We rented out for that purpose. Any comments?

Stan Goldstein: The library used the hall for their garden sale every May

Fran Parks: That is not a yard sale.

Stan Goldstein: Would that be an acceptable use?

Laurie Hadley: That’s not a yard sale.

Laurie Hadley: Okay then the vote taken at the last meeting stands.

Fran Parks: Stands, okay sounds good. Were you both able to review the minutes of August?

Mike Daley: I made some changes to a bunch of pages that were in red.

Fran parks: I sent those back, I made the corrections.

Stan Goldstein: Okay.

Laurie Hadley: I haven’t completely read it I just scanned it.

Fran Parks: Do you want to hold off till the next time?

Laurie Hadley: Stan picked up things I’m sure it’s fine.

Fran Parks: Okay can I have a motion to accept the minutes of the August, 2015 meeting.

Stan Goldstein: It’s a move. I second.

Fran Parks: All those in favor?

Stan Goldstein Aye.

Laurie Hadley: Aye.

Fran Parks: Miss Hadley you wanted to discuss High street?

Laurie Hadley: Yes. We’ve got to start thinking about a plan to get the building usable as a district office and probably we would need to start with a five year plan to accomplish all the work that needs to be done.

Stan Goldstein: Do we have any plans, any step one, step two, step three, what needs to be done and estimates of the cost?

Laurie Hadley: No we don’t have a thing and that’s where we have to start, just getting a plan.

Stan Goldstein: My understanding is the building right now is likely not habitable.

Laurie Hadley: Well depends on what your name meaning of the word habitable is. People were living in it right after the time we bought.

Fran Parks: I would say it’s not habitable for public use.

Laurie Hadley: It certainly needs work. Do we need a structural engineer or do we have enough knowledge to figure it out ourselves?

Fran Parks: No concerning there is a back porch on the building that has a break foundation sort of, it’s bowing and there are bricks missing, yes, a structural engineer would be necessary. I strongly suspect that it would be less expensive to demolish that building if the historic commission would let us do that and build new and try to fit that building. Maybe we can save a wall.

Stan Goldstein: Do we know, the first thing is do we know exactly what we want to do at the building. We talked to district officers but who is going to be there? How many people?

Laurie Hadley: That was the only thing I ever had in mind, that the clerk has no office, he has to keep records in his home. That’s not right.

Fran Parks: It’s actually against the law,

Laurie Hadley: Yes. If we have a district office I would not be surprised if the fire department would move their administrative assistant, and the treasurer would have a space to work, and Charlie would have storage space for his records and an office.

Fran Parks: We might even be able to persuade the water people to have their assistant come over there so people don’t have to try and get in and out of that office on 28.

Laurie Hadley: I’d certainly like to see that and our treasurer or assistant treasurer, whatever setup we have, in five years could also be located in that office.

Stan Goldstein: Sounds like we need to get somebody help us organize exactly what we want to do with it or what functions are going to be there, how many people are going to be there and then get the building survey to see is it worthwhile repairing it or do we need to look at demolishing any building new.

Laurie Hadley: We know pretty much what we want in there, there’d be four or five people in there. Then there is a room for a small conference room that as it exists now there could be three separate offices and a conference room. That’s not even using the upper level where there is additional space.
Stan Goldstein: Sounds like maybe some architecture or …?

Laurie Hadley: Yes. We need … Yes I do too.

Stan Goldstein: How do we go about doing that?

Laurie Hadley: I move that we authorize the chairman to pursue finding a structural engineer.

Fran Parks: I’m not sure that’s where we start.

Laurie Hadley: Or architect?

Fran Parks: I have a consultant I can refer to who’ll steer me the right direction. I’ll find out about the cost of having somebody look at it, giving us a recommendation.

Stan Goldstein: Get some ideas around which we need to spend.

Fran Parks: Policy adviser committee?

Laurie Hadley: I wasn’t sure who the … I knew Cindy had been appointed but I wasn’t sure who else had been appointed. I asked Ken a couple of times and apparently he left a message on my answering machine Friday. Thomas did listened to it and forgot to tell me but I finally heard from Ken today. I have the name of the second appointee and I’m still waiting to hear from Ted Barnacle as to who the water commissioner will be. As soon as I do that I know that Cindy said she could, 5:00 and 6:00 are good times for her. They’re also good times for Mr. Schaefer, so I just have to contact Dr. Pisano and the water commissioner.

Fran Parks: Okay.

Laurie Hadley: As soon as I do you’ll all know,

Fran Parks: Anything else anybody wishes to discuss legally?

Stan Goldstein: Just any ideas Mike, not trying to ask so but any idea about moving money to the PECOT and we’re just too busy doing the stuff for the district.

Mike Daley: I haven’t any more than I moved in August.

Stan Goldstein: Okay.

Fran Parks: That’s the end of our agenda. I need a motion to go into executive session to review the ongoing negotiations of the firefighters contract. Discussion of which in an open meeting would be detrimental to the Cotuit Fire District. I move that we go into executive session to review ongoing negotiations of the fire fighters contract. Discussion of which in an open meeting would be detrimental to the Cotuit Fire District. Do I have a second?

Mike Daley: Second.

Fran Parks: Second. Miss Hadley how do you vote?

Laurie Hadley: Aye.

Fran Parks: Mr. Goldstein you vote?

Stan Goldstein: Aye.

Fran Parks: Fran Parks votes aye. We’re now in executive session.
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