WILMINGTON — The Wilmington Finance Committee met on Nov. 14, 2023. Chairperson John Doherty was not present. Vice-chair Theresa Manganelli conducted the meeting. Members Chris DiOrio and David Tamang were not present.
The first order of business was to consider a request for transfer from the Finance Committee’s FY2024 Reserve Fund to town manager search firm Community Paradigm Associates, LLC. The requested amount of $14,000 is to be transferred to the Professional and Technical account.
Finance Director Bryan Perry spoke to the topic and explained this account made the most sense for transfer rather than creating a new account just for this purpose. The committee approved the transfer.
The next item was a discussion on steps to plan the future of the Boutwell School, West Intermediate, and Shawsheen Schools. Manganelli said that the committee would pass on discussion. The item was an invitation for the chairpersons of the Finance Committee, Select Board, and School Committee to meet with Superintendent Dr. Glenn Brand.
Member Brad Jackson questioned the invitation, asking if the entire board would be included. Manganelli said that the issue should be taken up with the chair.
The committee reviewed the Segal Group’s report on the Middlesex Retirement System Pension liability. Perry addressed the board with a summary of the report, explaining that Segal provided an analysis of the pre-payments that Wilmington has made. Perry said Segal estimated prepayments made from FY17 through FY22 totaled $7 million, resulting in a savings through 2037 of nearly $13 million.
According to Perry, those numbers do not include the prepayments in FY23 of $1.5 million and the prepayment of $1 million in FY24. With no questions, the committee moved to the next item.
The committee considered a transfer from the Finance Committee’s FY24 Reserve Fund to third and fourth quarter real estate taxes on National Development Property at 175 Lowell St. Manganelli said that without a firm number on the rental price for the fields pending the tax rate being set, the committee would pass over that item. The town will be leasing fields for town use at the former Textron location.
The committee moved on to the visioning and planning for the Massachusetts School Building Association project at the Wildwood School. Member Marianne Gallezzo went through the recent school building committee report which included timelines for the project.
Gallezzo stated that by 2025 the committee should be able to come to the town with a plan. Jackson asked for clarification that the evaluation is to include more than just the Wildwood. Gallezzo stated the MSBA is requiring a study of all of the schools, possibilities for different configurations, and the potential for renovations or additions to the existing schools.
Wildwood committee co-chair Vivian Varbedian was in the audience and explained the MSBA process. Varbedian said Wilmington will be required to explore all possibilities for the project to serve the community. Varbedian is an OPM (owner’s project manager) with MSBA, according to Gallezzo.
The committee discussed the submission of annual budgets from Shawsheen Technical High School. Manganelli said delays last year from the Tech caused significant issues for the committee but this year’s budget numbers were expected to be on time.
Next was a discussion about the permanent financing of the Nassau Avenue Water storage tank, new senior center, and new town hall/school administration building. Perry explained the process of developing a bond with UniBank for submission to Standard and Poor’s for a rating that would hopefully provide the town with a more favorable position for borrowing.
The town has been at an AA+ rating and would like to “break through to a Aaa,” according to Perry. The three projects would require $11 million for the senior center, approximately $24 million for the town hall/ school admin building and approximately $2.3 million for the water tank, totaling 37 million dollars in financing.
The next meeting of the committee will be in January.
