MINUTES
BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
The Regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held at 7:30p.m. in the Sharon Town Offices with Chair William A. Heitin, Selectman Walter Joe Roach, Selectman Richard A. Powell and Town Administrator Benjamin E. Puritz.
The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m.
Chairman Heitin read a statement regarding the Town Meeting that was held the previous night on Monday, March 12, 2007. He stated that the large turnout, over 2,400 people, was a testimony to the significant issue at hand and in fact was the largest Town Meeting in the history of Sharon and the second largest in the history of the Commonwealth. He stated that though he was elated at the final decision he was a little disappointed in the process. There were clear procedural issues and the Board of Selectmen is committed to addressing these before the Annual Town Meeting. He stated that he believes the overwhelming vote in favor of the zoning changes was support for both the quality of education in our schools as well as to address the tax burden. He said that the criticism of not having a full debate is warranted but shouldn’t take away from the result. He stated that the process utilized for the South Main Street project of multi-board review and extensive outreach to abutters will be replicated in terms of the Brickstone Project.
Both Selectmen Roach and Selectmen Powell stated that though they were happy with the outcome of the March 12, 2007 Special Town Meeting they both feel it is important that both sides are heard and they are committed to looking at the process to ensure that this will happen at the Annual Town Meeting and all future Town Meetings.
Interview Noah Siegel Candidate for Horizons for Youth Property Reuse Committee
Mr. Siegel stated that he lives in the neighborhood abutting the Horizons for Youth property. He also said that he is a recent appointee of the Conservation Commission to the Lake Management Committee. He is a physician in private practice and in that capacity has dealt with building projects and other issues related to running a business. He feels that he would be an intermediary between various boards and would be open and inclusive. He is supportive of the idea of allowing groups to run a camp on the property to assist in shouldering the costs of maintaining and/or upgrading the facilities and property.
Consider approval of Name Change from Senior Center to Adult Center
Council On Aging Director Norma Fitzgerald Simons explained that the Council On Aging is for people who are sixty and over, which includes baby boomers who are still very active and do not consider themselves as “seniors”. Therefore, in order to increase the perception in the community that the Center is for others than those who are elderly she is asking that the name be changed from the “Senior Center” to the “Adult Center”. She clarified that the name of the Town Department would remain the Council On Aging and this refers only to their part of the Community Center. Norma stated that the name change would not have any ramification on potential grant funding.
VOTED: (Roach/Powell) Voted unanimously to approve the name change from the Sharon Senior Center to the Sharon Adult Center.
Interview Michael Bossin Candidate for Horizons for Youth Property Reuse Committee
Mr. Bossin stated that he is a local business owner. He owns and runs the Gallery in the Square. He has lived in Sharon since 1981 and has been very involved in the recreation programs. He is currently a member of the Open Space Master Place Committee. He has extensive background in camp management as he ran a program at a 1300 acre facility in Michigan. It was a program that served thousands of students as the State of Michigan requires that school children attend a camp as part of the curriculum. He also said that he was a Project Manager for a construction company and has background in land development. He is open to a variety of uses for the property.
Health Insurance Review Report – Pat Haraden
The Town had engaged Mr. Haraden of Longfellow Benefits, which is a healthcare consulting firm, to review the Town’s healthcare benefits. Mr. Haraden stated that he had performed this service for various government agencies and non-profits across the country. He stated that he had reviewed Sharon’s current situation and after completion of his review he would be making recommendations.
Haraden reviewed: contribution levels, plans offered, claim trends and benchmarked these again norms for Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS). He also said it was important to keep in mind that there were collective bargaining issues and regulatory issues that impacted the town’s ability to decrease healthcare costs. In particular he mentioned that Chapter 32B restricts what cities and towns can do to limit their costs as all healthcare items are subject to collective bargaining including co-pays, level of contribution and type of healthcare options offered.
He stated that Sharon has 527 employees and 285 retirees enrolled in the health insurance program. BCBS told him that Sharon has been one of the most proactive communities in the Commonwealth in terms of making BCBS work as a vendor. In addition, it had been reported to him that the Town Nurse, Sheila Miller, does an extensive amount of wellness outreach, which is unusual.
The Town uses a healthcare consultant which is positive. Mr. Haraden also reviewed the various plans offered to the Town Employees and mentioned that the Town is clearly moving toward increased employee contribution with new employees making a 30% contribution towards their health insurance versus 20% for existing employees. He said that the Town has also been proactive in other areas including: moving the co-pay from $5.00 to $10.00; management of retiree healthcare costs through mandatory Medicare Part A and B sign-up and well as the use of Medicare Part D.
The total costs for the average employee are $14,222 with the town absorbing $11,218 or 79% of the costs and the employee $3,004. In the private sector the employer expends approximately $9,470. This difference can be attributed in part to different employee demographics among private employers (younger and single) and plan design including higher co-pays. He also stated that excluding employee insurance contributions employees pay 3.7% of their health costs.
All cost saving recommendations are included in the materials that Mr. Haraden distributed. These include: elimination of the VIP 2000 plan for retirees, try to increase co-pays to $10 which will save 2.5% in premiums. He also mentioned under Chapter 32B the town must pay 50% of the most expensive plan. Mr. Haraden mentioned it would be in the town’s best interest to offer a buy-up option for the richer benefit plan and to try and change the town contribution for retirees. He also spoke about changes to the plan designs including higher office visit co pays as well as differentiating the co pays for primary care providers and specialists, and for non-emergency Emergency Room visits.
Mr. Haraden spoke about the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission (GIC) which is the group that manages the health insurance plans for most state employees. He pointed out that the City of Springfield, which had dire financial issues, is the only Town in the Commonwealth that is permitted to belong to the GIC and able to received GIC rates. He said that Sharon would not be allowed to join the GIC, at the reduced GIC rates, unless legislation that has previously not advanced is enacted. He said that the GIC has a tiered co pay schedule that is related to the GIC’s outcome ratings of physicians and hospitals.
Other cost saving measures include:
· Town should audit BCBS. There is no cost to the Town as contingency firms do this type of work.
· Educational meetings for employees AND their spouses which is best held in the evening. He said information about Fitness Benefit ($150) and Flexible Spending Accounts ($250) could be discussed
· Disease management participation and awareness. He pointed out that 30% of the people account for 90% of the claims
· Change the voluntary Dental program to Dental Blue which is run by BCBS. He said though the benefits are the same it is more efficient to have the Dental program run by BCBS. He said it is very beneficial to the Town to have employees seen by dentists as it is additional exposure to a health professional who can pick up diseases earlier which in the long run is an expense saver
He said it would be very beneficial for Town to join GIC and receive the GIC rates– but even if the above mentioned legislation passes it would take several years to implement. The GIC doesn’t have to bargain with employees and in addition uses a competitive bidding process to obtain the lowest rates from Payors. He said that the town could look at other purchasing groups but he doesn’t see any great benefit to the Town. He also pointed out that most Sharon employees go to Boston for their medical care which has higher claims costs than local hospitals.
He also spoke about a pharmacy benefit manger. He said Sharon would not get a benefit from this as the Town has lower administrative fees. Some other issues discussed were the implementation of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law, the proposed taxation of the fitness benefit, claims trust fund audit (Sharon already does and we have adequate reserves), stop loss contract (self insured so this is in place) to limit exposure on claims over $100,000. He also explained that retirees who have worked for several municipalities can select which municipalities insurance they would like to utilize.
Mr. Haraden stated that implementation of all of his recommendations would reduce costs by approximately 10% on a one-time basis. However, he pointed out that healthcare costs are increasing 10% annually which means Sharon would have to find an additional 10% each year in order to stay even.
There was a question and answer period following the presentation. In response to a question regarding Sharon’s self-insurance status Mr. Haraden stated that it made sense for Sharon to be self-insured because the administrative fees are much lower and we are protected by the stop-loss policy.
Use of County Land Layout- Richard Gray
Mr. Gray would like to construct a driveway as he says he has poor vision when he comes out of his current driveway because there is a ninety degree turn in the road before his driveway. Selectmen Roach pointed out that he had checked with the Sharon Police Department and there had been no accidents in that area. Mr. Gray stated that there is precedent of a private citizen making an improvement on public property, as Frank Gobi installed a water main on property located on Old Post Road. The Board asked him why he can’t relocate his driveway to somewhere on his property. Mr. Gray responded that because of wetlands restrictions he needs a 100 foot buffer. He stated that he had been to several Boards about this as well as the Norfolk County Government and everyone recommended that he contacted told him to speak to the Board of Selectmen.
Chairman Heitin said that he has to take this under advisement because he needs to speak with the parties involved and review the impact on the Town of Sharon.
Approve Minutes
VOTED: (Roach/Powell) Voted unanimously to approve the Regular Session Minutes of February 27, 2007.
Review of memo by Robert Uyttebroek, Town Treasurer regarding Quarterly Tax Bills
Town Treasurer Robert Uyttebroek presented a financial analysis of the impact of changing from semi-annual tax bills to quarterly tax bills. He explained that the state allowed the change to quarterly tax bills in the 1990s as a local option. He said the intent was to enhance cash flow which in reality only occurs the first year after the change. He also added that should quarterly tax bills be enacted the Town would have to absorb increased costs of $6,600 annually to $13,200 due to doubling the number of tax bills issued.
Consider signing Contract with Cook and Company to Administer Retiree Drug Subsidy Benefit
Town Administrator Ben Puritz stated that the costs of the program were $4,500 and the Town recouped $100,000.00
VOTED: (Roach/Powell) Voted unanimously to authorize the Chairman to sign the contract with Cook and Company for $4,500 on behalf of the Board of Selectmen.
Sequencing of Annual Town Meeting articles
The Board will address this at the meeting of March 20, 2007.
New Business/Other Business
Chairman Heitin stated that he has been contacted by three groups who are interested in using the Horizons For Youth property as a camp. Town Administrator Puritz stated that the sale will be finalized this month and that both he and Recreation Director Marshall Bradstreet will be touring the property on March 15th and in addition a fourth group was interested in using the property. Chairman Heitin would like to have a joint meeting with other Boards where the proposals from those parties interested in utilizing the property this summer are presented and reviewed.
The Board of Selectmen also stated that they would like to move up the start of the Selectmen’s meeting of March 20, 2007 from 7:30pm to 7:00pm.
SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA
The Board will be attending the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Sharon Credit Union. The Board will be presenting a proclamation to the Sharon Credit Union in recognition of this Anniversary. The proclamation was read in its entirety.
VOTED: (Roach/Powell) Voted unanimously to endorse and sign the proclamation that recognizes the Sharon Credit Union on its 50th Anniversary.
Mann’s Pond Dam
Ben Puritz reported that the Town has filed an evaluation plan with the State and the Town will be seeking capital funding at the upcoming Annual Town Meeting to fund the necessary stabilization measures.
VOTED: (Roach/Powell) Voted unanimously to enter into Executive Session to discuss real property acquisition, matters of pending litigation, collective bargaining, personnel grievance update, and at the conclusion thereof to adjourn for the evening. The Board of Selectmen adjourned to Executive Session at 10:10pm