Wellsville Council Finance Committee

Thursday - July 15: The Finance Committee met this past Thursday at Village Hall. Present at the meeting was Committee Chairman Tony Cataldo and Members Joe Soldano & John McMahon. Also present was Fiscal Officer Dale Davis, Village Administrator Jim Saracco, WPD Officer Marsha Eisenhart and Councilwoman Sue Haugh. Many subjects were gone over during the meeting. We'll report them in order of discussion during the meeting.

Cataldo started off with the Animal Control Officer's (ACO) request for more reimbursement for her time and mileage. At the last regular Council meeting she requested that Council look at revising the ordinance to include getting paid for court appearances the same as police officers do. Cataldo stated he realizes Wellsville citizens want a "dog warden" but the figures don't add up. Year-to-date income from that department totals $265 in impound fees and fines heard in Magistrate Court. Davis advised there are three or four cases that have been heard with the fines still outstanding. The job pays $3,600/year in salary plus $600/year for mileage and that does not include any supplies purchased. Cataldo remarked that is $4,200 that could have been applied to the Fire Department and it will require looking into next year.

Next on the Cataldo's list is income from providing Russell Heights residents sewage service. He noted that for the month of May the 90 residents in Russell Heights used 313,000 gallons. The Villlage received a check for $1,424.15 for service provided those residents in May. Using an average of a $40 monthly bill that would equate to around what 36 Wellsville residents pay per month. Russell Heights is outside the Village limits and the cost of sewage service is contracted by County officials. Cataldo stated he didn't feel it was fair that those residents are paying much less than Village residents. He hopes Sewage Committee Chairman Allmon will have the Sewage Committee take a serious look at what can be done when he returns from vacation.

Another item the Sewage Committee needs to look at is a letter received from the EPA asking that an underground fuel tank for the back-up generator at the Sewage Treatment Plant be replaced with one above ground. The 550 gallon underground tank was installed in 1980 and is getting more costly to use. It could possibly be added to the digester project as a Change Order once costs are determined.

The grant for new play ground equipment for the 18th St. play ground was discussed. Copies of the grant was just given to Village officials by the grant writer. Davis will make copies and provide Council members with them. Cataldo said he only knows it is a 25% matching fund grant and questioned whether the $18,000 grant is reimbursable once it is used. Property Chairwoman Haugh stated a meeting is to be scheduled in the near future on bids received for the equipment. The grant is nearly two years old and has to be used soon or it will be forfeited.

Cataldo advised that it should be known this month if the Village will be awarded the grant that was applied for the catch basins and paving part of Commerce St.

Cataldo next reported on the Village Funds Status as of the end of June. As of June 30 the General Fund has a balance of $15,954. The Fire Levy Fund had a balance of $4.04 and the Cemetery Fund had $1,128. Total in all funds is $676,401. The bulk of that money is in funds that can not be touched for other uses. For example the Sewage Up-date Fund has $363,849 that can only be used for sewage improvement projects by law. For June total receipts were $179,125 and expenditures were $154,543. Out of the expenditures $67,000 was spent out of the General Fund mostly for Police & other employees salaries & benefits. The firemen are paid out of a separate fund.

Overall Cataldo concluded funds are going to be tight for the balance of the year and spending will have to be closely watched. Of chief concern is having money available for road salt in case there is an early winter. This year's street funds were shot especially with the cost of snow removal following the blizzard. It was noted there is $8,613 available in the Broadway Park that was paid back to the Village for the grant received for the park improvements. Davis advised the money can be used for anything if Council ever decides to transfer it to another fund. The Village had to pay the full $10,000 for the grant up front back then.

Dale Davis said he presently has three areas of concern. One is funds for the Fire Dept. With Council's permission he can switch over to another line item to pay the firemen. This is normally done but the auditors prefer there is documentation authorizing it. The second concern is the Cemetery Fund. While the care taker was on medical leave the Village have been using two people to take care of the cemetery depleting the fund. Davis was asking for guidance on what to do. Cataldo remarked that is the Village Administrator's decision whether to make a move or what. Soldano questioned if the summer employees could be moved up there to take care of the grass cutting and that was answered in the affirmative. Davis said there is concern with cemetery salaries and a stack of purchase orders for supplies & equipment. Other than selling or opening graves there will be no money coming in until at least next month.

The next item concerning Davis was the job of cleaning the "bear trap" on McQueens Run. There have been no purchase orders, no contracts or not even an estimate of the cost involved. The trap in question got filled with debris from the torrential rain fall on the evening of June 2 when over 3" of rain fell. It was determined to be inaccessible by Village employees with what equipment they have on hand. The Mayor ordered it cleaned out, apparently declared it an emergency and contacted LSW to do the job. Davis said he has been advised that heavy equipment is being rented to clean it out and that some cement work has been done. With Village funds being so low Davis said he is estimating the bill to clean out the trap is going to be around $40,000 when all is said & done. Raising the eyebrows of all the Council members present Saracco was requested to get a better estimate from LSW for everything they are doing on McQueens Run.

Last on Davis' list was invoices covering the work performed by LSW for jet rodding and scoping the trouble spots in the Village sewer lines. The cost of all jet rodding totaled $29,063 that came in under the amount authorized by Council. The total for the camera work was $31,538 which is $538 over what Council authorized. He was holding one invoice for Council's decision on how to proceed. The total amount for that last invoice was $4,568. The members of the Committee recommended to pay all but $538 of the last invoice and that portion will be brought up at the next Council meeting.

Cataldo also brought up his displeasure of having to pay a police officer six hours a day for five days a week to dispatch police calls. Saracco advised it was the Mayor's decision to do that. By doing that it frees up the Fire Dept. personnel to do paperwork and tend to other duties which requires the Chief to leave the station. The Chief contends he still can't leave the station unmanned with no one to cover. It could cause delays in calling out fight fighters if a call would come in. Cataldo & Davis both stated they believe it is costing double for that extra 30 hours a week. It was decided to talk to the vacationing Mayor before taking any additional action. Before this move was made all police calls were dispatched by the fireman on duty.

The final item on the agenda was going over the proposed budget for 2011. Davis stated the budget is basically the same as 2010. There are some questions with the General Fund that will require continued scrutiny on spending in the new year. Davis suggested collections on past due income tax accounts could be stepped up to help alleviate General Fund problems. The Committee will recommend the 2011 Budget be adopted as prepared by the Fiscal Officer.

The Committee wrapped up their meeting with the State Auditors reviewing the recent checking of Village books. We were not allowed to sit in on the review. It will be published on the State Auditor's web site in a few weeks.

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