07-14-2015 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETINGSPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OF THE AGAWAM CITY COUNCIL
July 14, 2015
President Johnson – Meeting called to order at 6:30pm. in the Children’s Conference Room at the Agawam Public Library.
Item A. Roll Call
ROLL CALL – 7 PRESENT, 4 ABSENT (Councilors Perry, Suffriti, Cavallo and Calabrese)
With seven present and four absent, there was a quorum.
Item B. Moment of
Silence and the Pledge of Allegiance
Everyone rose for a moment of silence and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Item C. Old Business
1. TO-2015-34 - Budgetary Transfer of $7,259.18 from
Municipal Golf Regular Permanent (#65261-51010) to Municipal Golf Regular Temporary (#65261-51020) to cover a shortage (Mayor)
Motion to approve made by Councilor Cichetti and seconded
by Councilor Mineo. No one spoke so Council President Johnson stepped from the Chair to say he had grave concerns especially with this item. The money has already been spent. He asked
Barbara to check with the Auditor Cheryl St. John to get a balance in that account. The balance was already negative. This cannot happen – you can’t spend money that hasn’t been appropriated.
He is also concerned with the fact that no one can seem to figure out how to plan and it is highly disappointing. We had to call this special meeting because the administration didn’t
figure out that any of these transfers were actually emergencies. If they had, they would have included emergency preambles and we could have voted on them during our regularly scheduled
Council meeting last evening. At what point does this stop? Councilor Rossi wanted to know who was minding the store. Council President reiterated that we are not supposed to spend
beyond what has been appropriated. Councilor Rossi said he’s been saying that for years and it’s as if we are being held hostage yet again. This should not happen. Councilor Bitzas
said he agreed – it’s like the other night the Council voted on an appropriation for a sign at the School Street Park when the sign was already made and installed at the park. That
is crazy! Councilor Bitzas wanted to speak with Tony Roberto since he was in the audience.
Motion to go into Committee as a Whole made by Councilor Bitzas and seconded by Councilors
Mineo and Cichetti.
Committee as a Whole
Tony Roberto said he would take the blame for this as he had an immediate family member in the hospital and he was back and forth for 10-14
days for several hours a day and he didn’t know about the payroll issue until after the fact. It certainly was not intentional and he apologized. He did say anyone above him could
have looked at this as well as they were well aware of his absence. Councilor Letellier asked doesn’t he receive regular monthly printouts from Cheryl like
the other Department Heads? Tony stated that he only receives them from Cheryl if he requests them. Councilor Letellier would like to get copied in on all correspondence for the golf
course. How can the Auditor approve this with no money in there? This should never happen. Council President Johnson suggested we could put in place a system where the Auditor could
notify Department Heads when their balances get “low” and maintain balance control. Cheryl should notify the Department Heads to ensure situations like this would never happen. Councilor
Letellier mentioned that the Department Heads should already be mindful of their respective budgets. Councilor Rheault ask what role the Golf Commission plays in any of this. Could
they have helped? Council President Johnson reiterated that the July 2nd payroll gave a deficit in that account and it should have been noticed. Councilor Letellier asked if the Auditor
should have even allowed that to happen. Does Cheryl have the authority to pay that payroll if the funds are not in there? Council President Johnson stated he did not believe the Auditor
could do that. He spoke with Cheryl at the Council meeting last night and asked what would happen if the Council did not approve this transfer this evening. She stated that it would
be closed with a deficit in the account. Council President Johnson stated that that would end up being extremely problematic for the Auditors. That is a topic for another meeting he
would like to have with Cheryl. Councilor Letellier asked if we should do a Free Cash transfer instead to which Council President Johnson stated we have until July 15th to transfer
the funds as we have to pay any FY15 bills with FY15 funds. Councilor Bitzas appreciated Tony admitting his mistake. He again mentioned how it was similar to the other night when Council
approved the funds for the sign at the School Street Park and it made no difference because the sign was already purchased and placed at the park regardless of the Council vote. He
said this was the same thing as in the Council have no choice as it would cause more issues if we didn’t vote for this. Council President Johnson stressed the importance of preventing
future problems like this. We should have Cheryl send all Department Heads notices when their funds get below a certain level. Councilor Rossi agreed and said it was not really Tony’s
fault but more the fault of the Auditor. Council President Johnson said she’s in a tough spot because she has a payroll to pay - if she doesn’t pay their payroll, then she has employee
issues to deal with. Councilor Letellier felt that the Auditor should have known about this early enough to inform someone about the emergency. Council President Johnson said any transfers
would have had to have been placed on the first June Agenda to be transferred in time. Councilor Rossi suggested the Finance Committee should meet with Cheryl and go over what should
happen to prevent this in the future. Councilor Letellier suggested that we vote on this tonight and then create a policy and procedure for the future. Councilor Cichetti suggested
having quarterly projections by the Auditor. Council President Johnson said that might make it more difficult with MUNIS. Councilor Rheault mentioned that this should be basic fundamentals
with the Department Heads and this wouldn’t happen. Tony Roberto noted that if this was his area, he would have just worked more hours to avoid the extra payroll but with Dan Shay he
really can’t perform duties without the seasonal employees and again Tony apologized.
Motion to come out of Committee as a Whole made by Councilor Bitzas and seconded by Councilors
Letellier and Cichetti.
The vote was 6 YES (Councilors Bitzas, Cichetti, Johnson, Letellier, Mineo and Rossi), 1 NO (Councilor Rheault) and 4 ABSENT (Councilors Calabrese, Cavallo,
Perry and Suffriti)
2. TO-2015-35 - Budgetary Transfer of $800.00 from Municipal Golf Equipment Rental (#65262-52070) to Municipal Golf Electricity & Heat (#65262-52110) to cover
a shortage (Mayor)
Motion to approve made by Councilor Letellier and seconded by Councilor Cichetti.
The vote was 7 YES (Councilors Bitzas, Cichetti, Johnson, Letellier, Mineo,
Rheault and Rossi) and 4 ABSENT (Councilors Calabrese, Cavallo, Perry and Suffriti)
3. TO-2015-36 - Budgetary Transfer of $1,744.20 from Municipal Golf Advertisement and Promotion (#65262-52010) to Municipal Golf Food Supply (#65263-52220) to cover a shortage (Mayor)
Motion
to approve made by Councilor Rossi and seconded by Councilors Cichetti and Rheault.
The vote was 7 YES (Councilors Bitzas, Cichetti, Johnson, Letellier, Mineo, Rheault and Rossi)
and 4 ABSENT (Councilors Calabrese, Cavallo, Perry and Suffriti)
4. TO-2015-37 - Budgetary Transfer of $1,291.81 from Municipal Golf Equipment Maintenance and Repair (#65262-52030)
to Municipal Golf Food Supply (#65263- 52220) to cover shortage (Mayor)
Motion to approve made by Councilor Cichetti and seconded by Councilor Rheault.
The vote was 7 YES (Councilors
Bitzas, Cichetti, Johnson, Letellier, Mineo, Rheault and Rossi) and 4 ABSENT (Councilors Calabrese, Cavallo, Perry and Suffriti)
5. TO-2015-38 - Budgetary Transfer of $788.65 from Municipal
Golf Telephone (#65262-52150) to Municipal Golf Electricity and Heat (#65262-52110) to cover a shortage (Mayor)
Motion to approve made by Councilor Letellier and seconded by Councilors
Rheault and Cichetti.
The vote was 7 YES (Councilors Bitzas, Cichetti, Johnson, Letellier, Mineo, Rheault and Rossi) and 4 ABSENT (Councilors Calabrese, Cavallo, Perry and Suffriti)
Item
E Adjournment.
Motion to adjourn made and seconded. Adjournment at 6:58pm