Page 16 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2021 MEETING | FROM PAGE 9 budget. • Article 3 – This provides the appropriation of $200,000 from certified free cash as matching funds to a grant the town received from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs for repair of the Spring Pond Dam. • Article 4 – This provides $10,815.58 for payment of unpaid bills from previous years. • Article 5 – This authorizes an additional appropriation of the Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) Access Enterprise Fund to cover the contract price for completion of an audit of the construction of the new PEG Access Studio of Saugus Cable TV. At the June 2020 Annual Town Meeting, members voted to approve $25,000 for funding the audit. Since then, the town has contracted with an accounting firm whose contract price for completion of the report is $39,872. Crabtree stressed it was important to return the money to the Stabilization Fund so the town would not jeopardize its current AA+ bond rating. “We need to make sure we maintain a healthy Stabilization Fund,” Crabtree told Town Meeting members. But he added that using free cash – one-time money – to balance the budget still wasn’t a good practice, but a preferred option over the use of the Stabilization Fund. With a remaining balance of $3.2 million in free cash, the town will be able to cover snow and ice removal and related expenses this winter and “it will give us a buffer for the unpredictable.” The town has about $200,000 budgeted for snow and ice removal this winter. Should that not be enough, the town can use its free cash for additional expenses through the end of the 2022 fiscal year that ends next June 30. Precinct 9 Town Meeting Member Robert J. Long said he would like for members to receive a breakdown of where the free cash money originates from. Crabtree said $2.6 million of the free cash is a carryover of free cash that was brought forward from last year. Several Town Meeting members expressed concerns about what appeared to be a cost overrun in the town’s share of a matching grant from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs for repair of the Spring Pond Dam. The grant awarded the town $261,950, which is 75 percent of the original construction cost estimate of $349,278, according to Crabtree. As a condition of the grant, the town is required to appropriate a grant match of at least 25 percent. “I’m not sure I understand the math,” Precinct 6 Town Meeting Member William Brown remarked, questioning why the article seeks an appropriation of $200,000 when the original town share was set at $87,000. “Now we’re going to appropriate $200,000 for an $87,000 difference,” Brown said. Crabtree said the Department of Public Works director recommended the additional $122,000 to cover potential cost overruns in the project. “If we don’t need that, then it won’t be used,” Brown said. Town Meeting members had MEETING | SEE PAGE 17 FRANK’S Housepainting (781) 289-0698 • Exterior • Ceiling Dr. • Power Wash • Paper Removal • Carpentry FREE ESTIMATES — Fully Insured “Proper prep makes all the difference” – F. Ferrera • Interior Frank Berardino MA License 31811 • 24 - Hour Service • Emergency Repairs BERARDINO Plumbing & Heating Residential & Commercial Service Gas Fitting • Drain Service 617.699.9383 Senior Citizen Discount We follow Social Distancing Guidelines!
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