Saugus FinCom comes through for teachers

SAUGUS – After switching up a funding source or two, the Finance Committee changed its stance on two familiar articles destined for Monday’s special Town Meeting.In what might have been the most amicable Finance Committee meeting to have taken place in well over a year, the committee took little more than an hour to vote in favor of six articles including one that would fund the teachers’ contract and another that would get the Police Department its new rolling command station. Both articles, along with five others, still need to be approved by Town Meeting.The committee voted to support authorizing a $400,000 bond for the next phase of a town wide sewer rehab project and, despite some trepidation, also approved Town Manager Andrew Bisignani’s bid to explore leasing Kasabuski Arena.Committee member Lou Rossi wondered why the committee was even considering the article since technically it wouldn’t have a financial impact. Several committee members felt differently.Chairman Robert Palleschi said whether the rink is leased has definite financial implications, due to the $650,000 deficit it’s carrying.While Rossi called it a borderline financial article, colleague Ronald Jepson said he was leaning toward supporting it.”It’s an option,” he said. “It may be a rotten option – it doesn’t look all that good to me – but it’s the only option we have.”The committee voted unanimously to support the plan, along with recommending funding $330,000 for the teachers’ contract, $20,000 for library salaries and $22,000 for public safety dispatchers from unexpected additional growth.Bisignani said any new growth realized at the end of the calendar year over and above estimates is typically put toward the next fiscal year, but not this year. With the closure of the Public Library and Essex Street Fire Station, a zero balance in police overtime and the teachers’ contract hanging in limbo, the committee voted to recommend using $372,000 in additional new growth to clear up some bills.The committee did not vote unanimously to use $349,000 in projected savings from the state’s healthcare plan. Last December, Bisignani sought to use the projected savings to pay for the teachers’ contract, but Town Meeting, along with the committee, shot that idea down. The result was the town could not set a tax rate.However, two months have passed and the prediction that the town will realize a minimum savings of $371,000 is still holding, so committee members voted 6-3 to take a chance.”And if we don’t realize the $371,000?” asked Jepson. “What would happen?”Bisignani said that was a good question, adding that if it looked like the money wouldn’t be there, he could try and find it elsewhere in the budget and pull the reins in on overtime.Lastly, the committee voted 8-1 with almost no discussion to support Police Chief James MacKay’s bid to transfer $47,000 from rubbish disposal to buy a new command vehicle, an idea that didn’t fly last month.Town Meeting opens Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall’s auditorium.