Minutes of Council Budget Workshop on May 21, 2019
WORKSHOP MEETING OF THE AGAWAM CITY COUNCIL
The following are the minutes from the:
Agawam City Council Workshop Meeting
FY20 Budget Presentation#2
Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 7:00
P.M.
Agawam Junior High School Auditorium
1305 Springfield Street, Feeding Hills, MA. 01030
The meeting was attended by eight City Councilors with Councilors Cavallo, Letellier and
Mineo absent however, Councilor Mineo did arrive late. Mayor Sapelli, Laurel Placzek and Cheryl St. John were also in attendance along with the respective Department Heads. The meeting
was called to order at 7:00pm.
Each department budget was presented by Mayor Sapelli with questions asked accordingly. Mayor Sapelli thanked all his Department Heads for their hard
work. He forgot to mention at last night’s budget meeting that our bond rating was an AA+.
Emergency Management
Mayor Sapelli discussed any changes.
City Clerk
Mayor Sapelli
discussed any changes.
Public Library
Mayor Sapelli discussed any changes. He noted that we need to meet state spending requirements in order to receive state funds. Nancy Siegel is doing a great job.
Planning
and Community Development
Mayor Sapelli discussed any changes.
Health Department
Mayor Sapelli discussed any changes. He commended Health Agent Kathy Auer for doing a terrific
job particularly with blighted properties among other issues.
Inspection Services
Mayor Sapelli discussed any changes and praised Bill Scott for doing a wonderful job. He definitely hit the ground running when he came to Agawam.
Fire Department
Mayor
Sapelli discussed any changes and stated he continuously receives compliments on our Fire Department. Chief Sirois does a fantastic job with his department and keeping us safe.
Police Department
Mayor Sapelli discussed any changes in this department headed by Chief Gillis noting there were a lot of retirement turnovers in this department. Chief
Gillis has been busy interviewing and hiring a lot of qualified, young officers. There are a lot of traffic issues in town at this time and the Chief and his department do a great job
keeping us safe. They are also looking into a Canine Officer. As was indicated last night – the salary reserve has the amount in there so no cost centers reflect any salary increases
and Mayor Sapelli complimented all his Department Heads for being fiscally responsible. Councilor Mercadante asked questions about the motor vehicle purchases budgeted in the Police
Department noting that he is not questioning the purchase as we need the best services that can be provided to keep our citizens safe – he is questioning why a Tahoe and not the less
expensive Explorer? With a community our size, it seems odd to go with the more expensive, larger vehicle. Mayor Sapelli said the Chief does extensive research ahead of time and there
is a lot of wooded area especially in Feeding Hills where the larger vehicle is better suited for these types of terrain. We may not always need that type of vehicle but better to be
safe and have it than be sorry.
School Department
Mayor Sapelli turned the microphone over to Assistant Superintendent Sheila Hoffman and Robert Clickstein for their presentation as Superintendent Lemanski was called
to an unexpected family emergency.
They went through and discussed each slide of the presentation noting that the process begins as early as October and this budget was built on a strategic
plan and vision for the schools. Mr. Clickstein stated that all of the administration and principals decreased and increased line items based on specific needs. Councilor Mercadante
stated it was a well explained presentation and appreciated their work. He doesn’t want to hurt the students and said probably twice the amount of teachers are needed in some cases.
However he questioned the lead teacher request and asked if there was a chance they could walk into this rather than run? With the upcoming stormwater fee and increases in real estate
taxes due to raised evaluations, this will increase the budget causing taxes to increase. Ms. Hoffman said last year the schools requested four lead teacher and were only given two
who split their time. These two that are requested this year are to complete that phase. They also received a grant for the SCL Director where half the salary would be covered. The
needs have soared as well as the state mandated requirements. They discussed a partnership with STCC and local businesses as advisors. Councilor Rossi questioned what the proposed
lead teachers actually do – “lead teachers teach teachers”? He is all for helping teachers meet today’s students’ needs but the total increase in the budget is largely due to new hires
and salaries and with retirees, there should be a reduction. If you have ten teachers retire and hire nine new ones at a lower salary, there should be a reduction. Mayor Sapelli provided
an explanation to which Councilor Rossi said he understood enrollment was down and maybe instead of hiring, they
should be prioritizing other needs. Council President Johnson explained the salary reserves on the town side and asked why it differed on the school side in how they showed this. Mayor
Sapelli stated that all schools had an increase in salary reserve. Council President Johnson understood the rationalle but it makes it more difficult to follow the way the School Department
did it. Council Vice President Calabrese asked what impact is made from students leaving for Charter Schools. Mayor Sapelli said the impact is immense. It removes over $1 million
from Chapter 70 funds. Unlike with school choice, there is a flat fee of $5000.00. They are predicting 60 times the cost per pupil (which is $15,000-$16,000) and we have to build that
into the budget. It is a real budget buster and is a major problem for school budgets. Council Vice President Calabrese asked whose budget does the flooding at the baseball field at
AHS fall under and what is happening with that. We spent too much money creating those athletic fields to have this happen. Councilor Magovern asked about machines going into the shop
and how many students were being sent to collaborative. Ms Hoffman went into detail about the collaborative program and stated that 110 are involved this year at an average of $12,000
per student and next year they expect 100. Councilor Sandlin inquired about the Before and After School Care line item which has $500,000 in there.
The workshop was adjourned at
7:58pm
Respectfully submitted,
Christopher C. Johnson
City Council President
cc: Full Council, Mayor, Solicitor