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Date: 10/11/2023
BELCHERTOWN — The Select Board met on Oct. 2 to discuss a review of human resources study recommendations from the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management, and further discuss options for the Belchertown Family Center at 51 State St.
Stephen Cirillo and Becca Meekins from the Collins Center were at the meeting to go over the proposals presented and figure out the best route that Belchertown wants to go.
The Collins Center recommended that the town consider breaking down a scope of work into multiple projects that can be phased overtime.
They added that the first step they recommend are ones that can be funded through the Community Compact Best Practice grant program.
The town needs to choose grant eligible projects.
Those projects include conducting an organizational and operational assessment of the finance offices in Belchertown, conducting an organizational and operational review of Human Resources, complete a regionalization/shared services study or a financial forecast and deficit reduction strategy planning exercise.
Cirillo added that the Collins Center submitted a proposal that is two-pronged.
Cirillo said, “It is to create a revenue expenditure forecast and to provide a user guide so that some designee from the town in the future will be able to put the revenue expenditure forecast together on an annual basis. The second prong is to analyze the gap between revenues and appropriations, and determine if it’s a deficit or a structural deficit, those are different and if it is a structural deficit, what steps could be taken by the community to resolve that.”
The Select Board is still working with the Collins Center on drafting a final plan, but Lesa Lessard Pearson said there are other avenues the board may take to work on the structural deficit.
“We are inviting the Collins Centers to submit recommendations or proposals for how we can run a municipal government more efficiently and effectively. We are looking at operations and overall performance. The reason we are doing this is because we have a $1.8 million structural deficit, so to begin the process to cure that deficit, we wanted a third party to come in and provide their expertise.”
Human Resources Director Joanne Misiaszek and Town Administrator Steve Williams are all working together with Pearson to figure out a way to work on its municipal government.
“We are committed to the process, and we are working with the Finance Committee and School Committee as well so that we are working in unison to share ideas and look for a path forward that is going to set the town in better fiscal health,” Pearson added.
Pearson said that she and Misiaszek will also be sending out a developing a survey to all municipal employees asking for their ideas on how the town can fix the deficit.
She added, “Who better to ask than the people who are in the jobs themselves? All of this is a way to be very respectful of the town and the hard work that so many people put into making this town as wonderful as it is.”
The Select Board then shifted their discussion to continue their discussion on the Belchertown Family Center at 51 State St.
After voting to close the Family Center indefinitely due to problems with the building back in July, Town Administrator Steve Williams provided the board with an update at its Sept. 18 meeting.
The Select Board were about to vote to demolish the building until they decided to give it two weeks to find potential grant options to fund the building.
One grant opportunity discussed was the Cultural Facilities Grant program offered Massachusetts Cultural Council. This program funds up to $200,000 as a match grant.
Williams said that the building was ineligible for the grant due to the building having to be either 50,000 square feet or more than 125 years old.
It would either cost approximately $500,000 to fix the problems with the existing building, or $1.4 million to build an entirely new building.
The Select Board voted to approve the use of $50,000 of American Rescue Plan Funds to demolish the building.
Williams said right now he has an estimate for $60,000 to raze the building but added that he thinks there are some things included in the scope of work that can be removed to knock down the price.
The board said they will also discuss getting money back for the remaining budgeted operational costs for the building.
The demolition process would include disconnecting utilities, tearing the building down, removing the foundation and then, once removed, there will be backfill and seeding added to grow grass to the area, according to Williams.