Braintree Blue - June 2019

As we send this to you today, the Bruins are chasing the Stanley Cup. Good luck to them tonight in Game 7.

PETERSEN POOL AND RINK UPDATE

The Town is continuing its work with a new rink developer, E Street LLC, which built the Boch Ice Center in Dedham, to prepare for the start of construction of the Petersen Pool and Rink Project this summer. Important work has been done to date to ensure that all necessary permits and plans are in place to allow construction to begin. These permits include the Special Permit issued by the Planning Board, the Variance issued by the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Order of Conditions issued by the Conservation Commission. The Town also has the site plan that sets forth the footprint of the project, which was generated by a civil engineer, reviewed through the peer review process and approved by the Planning Board. The next phase of the project will include obtaining a building permit through the Department of Municipal Licenses and Inspections and breaking ground on the site.

As you know, this project was made possible by a donation to the Town of $65,000 from Braintree Fore River tugboat captain August Petersen in 1963. While the Town and residents worked together to identify the most appropriate use for the Captain’s gift, the funds were deposited in an interest-earning account to enable financial growth. By fiscal year 2013, the fund had grown to $2,124,357.30, and the decision was made to invest $393,000.00 in the creation of the Petersen Splash Pad at Watson Park in East Braintree.

In 2014, the Town selected a private developer through the procurement process and, between 2015 and 2018, paid $1,000,000.00 in support of the creation of plans for the design and engineering of the facility, including the site plan and floor plans that were ultimately approved by the Planning Board, as required by the agreement between the parties.

In 2019 the Town brought Braintree based firm PMA Consultants, LLC on board to serve as the Project Manager to oversee the construction of the project. With $100,000.00 withdrawn from the account for these services, the Town has spent $10,965.00 to cover costs incurred to date.

As of May 1, 2019, the balance in the Petersen fund account is $767,335.91, which includes interest earned over the years. Oversight of the fund will continue under the direction of Ed Spellman, Director of Municipal Finance, as the project moves forward into the construction phase and any expenses will be in line with the original gift from Captain Petersen.

As an important reminder, the project is being constructed by a private developer with private funds. No public dollars are being spent by the Town on the actual construction of the facility as all funds spent to date have come from the fund detailed above.

I fully understand and appreciate everyone’s interest in this matter. A private-public partnership such as this one is complex and challenging. As a Town, we have worked tirelessly to honor the wishes of Captain Petersen and bring this project to a successful conclusion. We are focused and closer than we have ever been to making this happen. With the addition of the two ice rinks, as well as other amenities within the facility, to the original plan for a swimming pool, this is an exciting time for us as we prepare for the construction to begin.

Additional updates will follow as we proceed forward.

THE FISCAL YEAR 2020 BUDGET

On Tuesday, May 29 the Town Council approved my FY20 Town Budget (link). This is my last operating budget as Mayor, and I’m thankful to our Town Councilors for their support both during past and present budgets. Since 2008, we have implemented a new government and established a strong financial foundation for Braintree — allowing us to provide quality municipal services at a very affordable tax rate.
A budget is more than just numbers on a page. Behind them are decisions we will make collectively to continue to move our town forward — identifying the challenges of today while forecasting the financial needs of our government operations for tomorrow.

As a way of demonstrating our focus and commitment to the important and invaluable task of financial management — let me cite some recent objective reports on our budgetary stewardship.

In the most recent Standard and Poor’s (S&P) rating (link) review of our financial operations — S&P noted, “We view the Town’s management as strong,” and cited four strength areas:

Strong revenue and expenditure assumptions in the budgeting process with, in our opinion, conservative assumptions;
Strong oversight when monitoring progress compared to the budget during the year as evidenced by quarterly reporting of budget to actuals to the board;
Long-term financial plan (five years), with credible assumptions that identify variances and potential issues in outward years;
Five-year capital improvement plan updated annually with funding sources and projects.

With every budget identifying priorities has to be at the top of the list as we put the numbers together. In this year’s $139,331,575 FY20 budget (a 4% increase from FY19 $133,883,370 budget) we were able to fund all areas of our operations adequately.

School Department
The School Department received a 5% funding increase in its FY20 Operating Budget. The Town has also allocated an additional $1,020,000 in funding for debt service for the East Middle School building construction project.

Public Safety – Police and Fire
Personnel levels have been fully funded across the board for FY2020 and will maintain the Staffing Levels at full deployment — 85 Police Officers — 89 Fire Fighters. Police Special Services and Community Policing has been increased over FY2019 levels

Elder Affairs & Veteran Services
Both departments have received increases to continue the great programming services that we have for our Seniors and Veterans.

Thayer Public Library
The library budget will realize $38,000 in savings compared to the prior year budget due to transferring maintenance responsibilities to the DPW Facilities Operations.

Parks and Recreation
In FY20, we continue our focus on quality of life issues, building on what has been established over the last twelve years in our commitment to Town sponsored youth and outdoor activities and upgrading our recreation areas. This year, we will accomplish the full refurbishment of the Harris Playground, which will highlight new playground apparatus and ADA accessibility. Additionally, our highly popular annual summer program has been lengthened by one week with additional funding.

100 Roads Program
This year our program will be fully funded similar to previous years of my administration. We will spend a total of $5.9 million on this annual initiative with State support of $1 million.

Water & Sewer
We have increased funding for water works portion of the 100 Roads Program over last year by $290,000. This year we introduced a new residential water shut-off valve replacement program that will save residents on the cost of replacement and will increase revenue for the department by having Water department personnel perform the replacement work instead of the higher cost of hiring a private contractor to perform the licensed work.

Stormwater
The newly created Stormwater Division was created in July of 2018 as part of an EPA and DEP mandate. Braintree, as a result of taking this action, has become one of only a handful of Massachusetts communities to take deliberate actions to combat the seriousness of Climate Change impacts regionally and locally.

Trash and Recycling
For the 2^nd consecutive year, the Town has absorbed a significant increase in the cost of trash and recycling collection and disposal. This coming year, the Town will be picking up the additional $94,000 cost increase following a $687,000 cost increase in FY19 over FY18. (All done without an increase to the residential trash fees.)

Industry trends and local results have seen an average cost increase of $12.50 per year, per household for the collection of Braintree’s trash and recycling. This increase is primarily due to the level of “contamination” found in our recycling containers. This fact illustrates the critical importance of our residents to follow the new Massachusetts state recycling guidelines for proper disposal of recycled goods. (See new recycling guidelines below under Town Reminders.)

As much as we have worked tirelessly to educate our residents on the merits of recycling, and the positive impact it has on our community, and recognizing the willingness of our residents to be mindful of recycling, we have in one way become victims of our determination and best intentions. The State requires us to recycle. So we shall continue to do so. Clean recycling is the key to reducing our cost.

Information Technology Upgrades
As part of our overall commitment to improve administrative costs and to introduce workflow efficiencies, this past year we committed to begin deploying a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that will be a major upgrade to our financial, human capital and operational management functions. Through its implementation, the ERP system will allow us to more accurately forecast, analyze and communicate our performance in accordance with local, state and federal regulations along with providing efficiencies in processes such as payroll and revenue management.

Planning and Zoning
The area of planning and zoning, as you know, is an important conversation for our community. I’ve asked the Planning Department to review all of the previous studies done; specifically Master Planning. I have further asked that we gather all information in a concise manner and that we use this data to update the Master Plan for Braintree. I believe this information can provide us valuable insight as we continue to review zoning.

As a way to underline the importance of this issue—and that we are not alone in these housing discussions, I offer the following articles:

Boston Globe 06/09/19 – “Housing crisis demands zoning fix.”(link)

Boston Globe 06/11/19 – “Providence Place: What do the next several decades look like for the 150-store mall?”(link)

CPA Funds
FY 2020 projected allocations for Braintree’s CPA funding is approximately $1,002,873. The State Trust distribution amount dropped over last year’s allocation to cities and towns (more communities joined program over FY 2019). Current projects include the recently purchased Middle Street parcels which will be transformed into an open space park for residents with a River Walk along the Monatiquot River, the construction of an outdoor classroom on the Morrison School campus, the installation of a Ga-Ga playground area at the Flaherty School, and the approval of funds to address the Daughraty Gym outdoor basketball, tennis and pickleball courts.

Town Clerk
Funding increased for the upcoming fiscal year due to Elections and Voter Registration requirements, as well as taking the Town Licensing responsibilities from the Legal Department.

Employee CBA Agreements – All up for Renewal as of June 30, 2019
The Town has set aside a Salary Reserve fund for all Town Union Agreements expiring on June 30, 2019. The Town has increased its Pension Appropriations by 8.78% and is on schedule to be fully funded by the year 2033, seven years before the 2040 Deadline.

As I said at the start — a budget is numbers, it’s priorities, it’s choices — and it’s people — performing the task of implementing this budget plays in the best interest of our Braintree.

I close by thanking the people in our municipal community, our Department Heads, the Public Safety Officers, the Teachers, the PARA’s, the DPW Team, the personnel throughout our operations, the school cafeteria workers, the various Municipal Boards — All Volunteers — who help us all to “plan the work and work the plan.” I thank them all for their daily efforts.
Additionally, I offer my thanks, gratitude and deep appreciation to the people of our Town — who encourage us — and at times prod us.

To do a Good Job —
The thousands of conversations that I have had with our residents have made me a better Mayor, and have helped create a better Government for Braintree.