Fireside Chat: Town Manager Dan Morgado

9:02
How is Shrewsbury different than other towns when it comes to avoiding layoffs and cuts until now? 9:03
Dan Morgado says: It has to do how we handle our cost structure. Town of Shrewsbury has been careful on spending money. And has taken a conservative approach in both good times and bad. Other communities when times are good, they adopt cost structures which reflect the good times and thus the great fall when the tide turns. So when you plan for bad times, during the good times, the highs and lows aren't as great. 9:04
How is the town going to make up the $800,000 structure. 9:04
Dan Morgado says: It is going to have to be done through reductions. Much like if someone gets laid off, you have to make decisions about revenue. There will be a period of contraction that we are all going to have to deal with. 9:05
Comment From Renee What's the best way as a new resident to learn what I need to about the town? I moved here last month. 9:09
Dan says to Renee: Go on the town's website, and look about. I always would look at various reports are contained on the site and watch a Channel 29, Channel 30 on the town cable to get a sense of current discussions. Having grown up in New England, I take for granted, that residents are familiar with our form of government, but for those who have moved to Shrewsbury either from a city or from outside of New England, the form may be difficult to appreciate. But, the form is very simple, we have an elected Board of Selectmen, School Committee, an elected Board of Library Trustees and then a series of appointed boards, committees and commissions. Board of Selectmen hires a town manager, who operates the community on a day-to-day basis.

The wonderful aspect of the NE form of government is the town meeting, which allows the legislative branch to be directly connected to the citizens of the community.

In our case, we have a representative town meeting of 240 people. My initial introduction into local government was attending open town meeting in my hometown starting at age 14. At that point, I was greatly taken by the concept of the administration having to present their case and their proposals, their vision directly to the people.

This is uniquely New England, and something that I think is important. 9:09
Comment From Dee Every year, across all towns, it seems that officials say there are going to be layoffs because there's no money - and then they "find" money. How does this happen? 9:12
Budgets and projections mature with time. When we begin our initial budget discussions, it is usually late fall and early winter. When assumptions must be made relative to revenue that will not be paid to the community for an extended period of time. In many cases, up to 18 months in the future.

Since revenues from the Commonwealth and the federal government are so dependent on the business cycle, the conservative approach requires a conservative estimate be taken.

Therefore, large gaps between revenue and expenditures are realized during the early months of the budget development process. If we had a much shorter much development process, then the gap would be much smaller. Since we would have an idea of what types of revenues we can expect to be paid to the community either from the Commonwealth or federal levels of government.

Unfortunately, the state legislature really does not to thinking about what level of support will be provided until mid-April. Meanwhile, we are developing budgets in November, December and January previous. 9:13
Comment From George What is the issue that keeps you up most at night? 9:16
The town's water and sewer's systems because these systems are extremely expensive to operate and maintain and are heavily dependent on weather conditions and we operate them with a very difficult cost structure since we are heavily dependent on chemicals, energy and hard assets in the form of piping, electrical materials and the like, which are commodity based and subject to very high rates of inflation.

There is also the age of the two systems and dealing with the deterioration issues associated with a mature system and finally these operations exist within a very adverse regulatory environment. Meaning state and federal agencies have the ability to create great costs to our rate payers.

Dealing with physical infrastructure in the New England climate is a major challenge for municipalities throughout the Northeast region as you can well imagine.

This weekend, we will have a significant rain event, which will put great pressure on our sewer system by example we will have to deal with to ensure that service is maintained and that we do not develop any sewer outfalls or spillage.

That may seem to be an odd thing to worry about, but that's the nature of my work. 9:17
Comment From Les I love shopping locally but find it tough in Shrewsbury because of all the chains. Do the chains benefit the town at all money-wise? also does the town do anything to attract/welcome small businesses? 9:20
I think a problem we have throughout this country is the loss of local and regional establishments where by you have business people who are invested in your community because they live in your community or in the immediate region.

Now, several of our chains are very good corporate citizens, but it's just not the same. For instance, when you look back at how the local ownership of Spag's benefitted Shrewsbury in creating large numbers of entry-level jobs for our house school and college students, the amount of civic involvement and contribution made by the Borgatti family has been lost to a larger corporate entity known as Building 19.

Local supermarkets and local ownerships are gone and the corporations now exist and you no longer have the small establishment with jobs and opportunities that my generation was able to enjoy and now being lost to the current high school college students and other young people that are losing opportunities to not only gain employment, but be able to exist in a small environment.

I grew up in a small family business and that taught me a great deal about dealing with people, handling financial affairs and understanding the basic elements of business.

We do everything possible to encourage the formation of small businesses, but we are heavily limited by the very small amount of commercially-zoned property in Shrewsbury.

9:21
Comment From Lori i'm so frustrated to think about the traffic issues getting to work at the Tech in Worcester when the lake Q bridge is being fixed...what if anything is the town doing to help with traffic there. or is it out of your hands. it was bad enough when the panera plaza was being worked on 9:23
That is something we are going to have to deal with. The ability to cross the Lake is obviously restricted by the construction. We are being told that two-way traffic will be maintained throughout the project. Initially I expect it to be a very bad situation, but it will work it's way through.

We had similar concerns when we re-did the town center. When we thought that traffic would be very bad and there was periods of great inconvenience, but traffic has a tendency to work it's way through as residents determine alternate means of getting about.

My biggest concern is the impact it will have on the businesses in the Lakeway District, but we will work with the Commonwealth to ensure as smooth a project as possible. 9:23
Comment From Dee What are your thoughts on the recent SJC decision about the Quinn Bill, and how will this affect Shrewsbury? 9:29
From the onset, I think it's tragic that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the form of the general court and governor decided to unilaterally abandon a program that they designed for adoption throughout the Commonwealth.

It is just another example of how the general court and governor's office treats the cities and towns of the Commonwealth. Items that are great ideas, one year, suddenly lose favor and they go on to the next great idea.

This is a great example if providing education incentives for police officers was a good idea when the "Quinn Bill" was adopted by the state legislature and signed into law by the governor, what made it suddenly a bad idea?

This is very poor in the relationship between the cities and towns and the commonwealth and has created a very disparate employment situation for dealing with issues of retention and recruitment of police officers.

In our case, we reached an agreement with our police officers that the town would assume the responsibility of the Commonwealth's portion of the Quinn Bill over a period of 3 years.

We did this in order to provide assurances to our Police Officers that they would not leave Shrewsbury and would not go to other towns that are paying the full cost of the Quinn Bill.

I'm hoping that a decision of the SJC will now force the state legislature to properly fund the Quinn bill and demonstrate they must take a correct decision on such matters when they decide to take a position on the next "great idea".

The biggest problem cities and towns have is that we have state legislatures and a Congress that are great at making spending decisions, but failing to understand that when you spend money, you have to decide how those expenses are going to be paid and who pays. This should have been realized when the Commonwealth the police educational incentive business and not decide at an opportune time that it's time to keep the law on the book and at the same time abandon it's obligations.

This happens on too frequent an occasion. 9:29
Comment From Beverly i hope i am doing this right. my son set me up here. i am a senior citizen and see all this money going to the schools. what do you think can be done to help us seniors who are having trouble just living in town. i was just given food stamps and it is embarasing to use them but there's not much choiec 9:35
Dan Morgado says:

What we can do is to continue to make smart spending decisions and make sure that our finite resources are used to the best of the utility of the majority of our residents.

We also must realize that Shrewsbury has a wide-range of residents relative to how the economic crisis has affected them meaning that we must be very aware of those residents who are limited incomes or are experiencing temporary or extended periods of unemployment or underemployment.

Shrewsbury remains the most affordable community in the region when you consider the services and average residential tax bill.

Our tax rate of $11.11 per thousand is among the lowest in the region. So that is how we can best help our residents is to make sure that we provide best services possible at the lowest possible cost.

And when you couple our tax rate and our cost for utilities and cable TV and the like, we remain extremely affordable in comparison to communities in the region and throughout the Commonwealth.

The Board of Selectmen has made it very clear that we are to allocate our resources in a manor that no one group experiences greater issue than the other. School spending, while critical, is an important aspect of what we need to address, but not at the expense of other public services in the area of public safety, public health, human services and public works.

That is again the value of the New England form of Government where ultimately the people make the direct decision on how these resources are to be deployed. The town will exist within it's current revenue structure. The tax rate will not be increased beyond the limit set by Proposition 2 1/2.

We know that taxes have increased, but again, we must again focus on utility gained by tax payments and also in the context of what our peer group is levying upon their residents. In this regard, we provide an outstanding value. 9:35
Comment From Rose i am apalled at the lack of people who vote in town and anywhere. are you working to increase that or is it not in your area to handle? all people do is complain complain complain but they dont vote. this upsets me 9:37
I frankly do not know why people don't vote. I remember when I turned 18, myself and another friend within a matter of days had a birthday about the same time and walked to the town hall to register to vote because I wanted to be sure to be able to attend the next town meeting and vote.

I don't why people don't vote. I can't really do anything about that other than decisions are going to be made and I always thought I should have a part in that decision. And I did not come from a family who were political, but my mom and dad voted consistently.

My dad attended town meeting (I attended with him) and it's been part of my makeup. I can see why some folks don't want to vote - they are disillusioned, they think it doesn't make a difference.

I think folks should consider the issues, and act accordingly. 9:37
Comment From renee Thanks for the answer on the how to get to know more about the town. I will check out the website. Do you ever hold office hours or meet with residents like me who want to get involved but am new to this way of doing things? 9:39
I will meet with anyone who is interested at your convenience. I also will go out with neighborhood groups or organizations and I welcome the opportunity to talk about what I consider to be a very exciting vocation that I have.

So, my door is open. I'm usually in the building. The person typing this online newspaper will attest to this and come on down and I can provide you material and the like.

Shrewsbury Patch agrees:) 9:39
Comment From Rich The job of a town employee at times, seems thankless. Sure, you're paid well but there are jobs in the private sector that would pay more. People criticize you and watch every move you make. And, it seems you're never off, particularly if you live in town (do you?) What is the benefit of being a public employee as you are? 9:42
I look at it as a privilege to be an employee of the town of Shrewsbury.

Yes, there are people who are sometimes difficult, but I find the overwhelming majority of Shrewsbury residents appreciate greatly the services are provided to them and the people who provide them.

I receive a great deal of encouragement when I am out and about in the community and the experiences overwhelmingly positive.

Now, I must admit there are times when I feel people are being harsh, but that is few and far between.

It is a privilege, it is a situation where you are in the public spotlight and that is part of the trade off of public employment.

And it's a decision a person has to make when they decide to get into this business or when they decide if this is something they want to continue to do.

And I do live in town. 9:42
Comment From Sandy What do you think the biggest capital need in town is and how are we going to fund it? 9:47
First I would like to say we have capital needs that we have to consider and the town will always have a capital project of two either under active construction or in a very near-term state of planning.

The wonderful aspect about Shrewsbury is the outstanding work done over the past several decades in creating a public works and public facilities infrastructure that has serviced this community and provided an excellent quality of life.

When Mr. Carney retired 14 years ago, he listed as one of his accomplishments the construction of the town's sewer system because he knew the efforts and sacrifices made in the 1950s and 1960s created the level of prosperity that we are able to enjoy in this community. Construction at the time of the schools in the 60s and 70s provided educational facilities that have paid huge dividends for thousands of Shrewsbury's young people.

And we have continued that process of repair, rehabilitation, new construction when necessary when meeting the multitude of facility and infrastructure needs.

Currently, we are finishing up the new Sherwood Middle School. We have the question of the library facility and I'm already thinking of the other additional requirements relative to Beal School, Paton School, Spring and Coolidge facilities.

All of which will need some level of attention in the next 10 - 12 years. That's part of being a vibrant community that citizens recognize that this generation must make preparations for the next much like the earlier generation made preparations for the ones we enjoy today.

So, in specific response, we will handle our infrastructure needs as the town has always, which is careful, conservative consideration and making use of resources as efficiently as possible.
9:47
Comment From Frank what the heck is going on with the eyesores on the rte 20 side of town--the landfill is becoming a mountain and that hideous old polynesian restaurant 9:51
What you see at the landfill is not the landfill itself, but fill that was excavated in order to create what we are calling Phase 5.

Eventually, that entire area will be vegetated and will become less obtrusive, but it clearly brought closer to Route 20 the appearance of the landfill. But it was necessary in order to create a continuation of what has been an extremely successful enterprise for the community that is currently generating for the town $100,000 per month.

As for the restaurant, the ownership continues to do what it always has done, which is very little. And is beyond our control. The Route 20 corridor is something that needs further development and something that we endeavor to work on each day.

We have had conversations with a number of prospects that would greatly improve the particular locations being studied, but to date, with a few exceptions, little improvement has been seen in recent years.

The largest issue on Route 20 is a lack of sewer service which greatly diminishes the potential uses that could be pursued, but as the business has improved, we are seeing greater interest. 9:51
Comment From Robbin If the Scavenger bylaw is passed by Town Meeting, how will it be enforced without draining the resources of the Police Dept? 9:52
Well, it's going to be something that once we enforce it a couple of times, the folks that are involved are the same persons. Once they get the message, the situation should work it's way out. 9:53
Shrewsbury Patch asked: How does the town get free cash, how much can we hold onto each year and how decide when and how to use it? 9:58
Free cash is actually a nickname. It's actually called the unreserved fund balance. When I started in the business, folks called it the excess and deficiency fund.

We have all settled on the term free cash. Free cash is a balance that results at the end of the fiscal year when we close the books.

And is the result of hopefully surpluses being realized in expense and revenue accounts.

Free cash is a good thing. A growing free cash balance is a great thing because like your own personal savings account, free cash allows for emergencies or significant issues to be funded without having to compromise greatly operations and other programs or in the case of a capital emergency having to borrow money.

Our current free cash position has improved over the past four fiscal years. The Board of Selectmen adopted fiscal policies over these last few years requiring me to work on improving the town's free cash position which we have accomplished.

We have now hit a rough spot and part of the means of addressing the means of addressing that - use a portion greater to the spending program.

Each year we have applied free cash to the spending program. I have a figure in my budget filing (12), fiscal 1980, showing the use and balances of free cash.

This year, I am showing a use of free cash that is $500,000 greater than I was planning on using last November as I was hoping maintaining a July 1, 2012 north of $5 million.

Currently, I am showing it to be $4.5 million. By example and comparison, a free cash balance on July 1, 2005, was $1,930,000.

So, the Board of selectmen's goal of increasing free cash balance has been realized. We are taking a bit of a step backwards in our fiscal 2013 spending plan. 9:58
Comment From Robbin Do you know of any new businesses coming in to Shrewsbury,? 10:01
Yes - we are having discussions with some of the properties and they'll be making those announcements over the next several weeks. Nothing major. We have proposals out where we've made presentations to companies and what we're finding in dealing with our corporate contacts is that a "hurry up and wait" situation where they meet with us, great urgency to get information from us, which we provide and then told the matter is now under study and then we wait.

Then we call them periodically how we are doing, they tell us we are waiting. That seems to be the current business environment.

The one group gangbusters for us is of course the ownership of White City East and White City West who are making huge investments in those properties and would be willing develop additional properties should they become available.

That ownership group is very pleased to be in Shrewsbury. 10:01
Comment From Sam What's the scavenger bylaw? 10:02
There are two petition articles on the warrant - one would require scavengers to require them to register with police before they go through recycling bins and the other would eliminate it.

This has to do with people going through the town on recycling day and going through the bins on the curb.

People will have two versions to pick from. 10:03
Shrewsbury Patch would like to thank the readers for their questions and Town Manager Dan Morgado for being available. 10:03
Dan Morgado would like to thank all who asked questions and says he is available by phone, email or to stop in. He is available at their convenience.