Board of Finance: Trucks, Trash and Drainage Projects

2/28/24

January’s meeting minutes were unanimously approved. The Board reviewed financial reports submitted by Debbie Franklin for January 2024. Paul Collins reported that the town had a 6% increase in trash volume in the past seven months, but the board is unsure where this increase came from since not enough houses were built to generate this amount of trash. In reviewing MIRA fees, the town’s budget was found to be roughly $50,000 short of its original $192,000 estimation. Robert Valentine suggested these issues are cause for a town meeting due to the town only having a contingency fund of $40,000. Collins believed this information and meeting may motivate residents to recycle more and improve their disposal of unwanted materials, “Maybe that will help… Everybody keeps saying, you know, don’t put it in the trash if it’s supposed to be being recycled. And if it’s electronics, hold on to it because twice a year, you can drop them off here. You know? Don’t put a vacuum cleaner in the trash.” Valentine later suggested the Board of Selectmen not put Town Aid Road (TAR) funds into capital expenditures since the two should be kept separate. Collins added that spending for the Goshen Town Topics newsletter is “out of control”. First Selectman Todd Carusillo suggested reducing costs and weight charges by using a cheaper kind of non-glossy paper.

The Board then reviewed and received Tax Collector Rebecca Juchert-Derungs’ January 2024 report. Valentine suggested combining vehicle line-items, especially for trucks. He additionally suggested the town sell old, degrading trucks when requesting to purchase a new one with the concern that the town may have to pay to repair or replace multiple trucks if older ones aren’t sold. “If we start the trend of keeping our old vehicles then it increases our fleet,” Valentine explained. “And now, instead of one truck to replace now it becomes two trucks to be replaced.” Valentine believes selling older trucks will help keep town budgets balanced instead of building up costs for replacements or repairs for multiple vehicles.

Carusillo, Public Works Supervisor Garret Harlow, and the rest of the selectmen met with the Woodridge Lake Property Owners Association (WLPOA) and agreed to have the association reimburse Goshen for drainage work expenses. These reimbursements would go into the capital and non-recurring funds. (Note: Only a portion of these expenditures, related to sedimentation control rather than stormwater drainage, were part of the Town’s handshake agreement with WLPOA, in which WLPOA agreed to pay for half of third-party engineering services and half of materials used for sedimentation control. A final settlement has yet to be agreed upon.)

Harlow then addressed an over $11,000 invoice made to repair hydraulics in a truck. Harlow requested the board to appropriate funds to replace a faulty part despite having enough funds to cover the cost. He expects another $7,500 invoice to come in soon to repair the town’s grader. Valentine suggested Harlow go forward with paying repair costs for the truck but reminded him he could use parts of the TAR fund to cover costs if necessary. Harlow was hesitant to use TAR funds since the town has been using much of it to pay for ash tree removals and he plans on using TAR to repair or replace pipes on West Hyerdale. The project is estimated to cost $750,000. Another culvert project on Route 63 is also expected to cost $750,000 but Harlow will apply for a STEAP grant to cover that cost.

The board then received and reviewed the budgets of the Board of Assessors, Building Official, Civil Preparedness, Conservation Commission, Conservation of Health, Economic Development Commission, Elections, Planning and Zoning Commission, Board of Selectmen, Street Lights, Tax Collector, Town Clerk, and Zoning Board of Appeals. The board then unanimously accepted Capital Expenditure Requests for the Assessor for $10,850, PZC for $10,000, and Town Clerk for $7,500.

Carusillo ended the meeting by reporting that the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) will raise tipping fees from $116 per ton of trash to $131. However, this increase will only appear if Connecticut allows MIRA to use remediation funds from the closure of its transfer stations and other facilities. Carusillo warned that tipping fees may cost Goshen $186 per ton of trash in the near future.