Board of Selectmen Budget Public Hearing 3/10/26

001Good evening everyone. Uh we're going to start our meeting now, but let's first rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic which stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> I the official start of budget season. Very exciting. So, I'd like to start this public hearing uh by reading the leading uh the legal notice. Uh legal notice of public hearing, board of selectment, town of Portland. Notice hereby given that there will be a public hearing on the proposed budget for 2026, 2027 to be held by the board of selectment pursuant to section 1201.3 of the town of Portland charter at the following place in time here 7:00 in the Mary Flood Room in the public library.

002It's it's both in person as well as livereamed. The subject is government, general government, board of ed, education budget, and all other special revenue funds. At this hearing, any resident or taxpayer may be heard concerning the proposed budgets. Copies of the proposed budgets are available as of March 2nd, 2026 for inspection in the town clerk's office, public library, and online at our website, www.hortlandct.org, dated on the 27th of February, 2006 by myself. And with that, we are going to get started. So, I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to go through the budget in a couple minutes, but before I start a couple thoughts and couple comments about the whole process, uh this will be my second budget process in this position. Last year, I have to thank everyone involved in that. It was

003ultimately um an excellent exercise in how town government works. We uh went back and forth over every number multiple times. We enlisted the help of our various departments in terms of getting that uh we got input from our residents. We were fully involved and it was enlightening and um and positive to see as much input that we had from our resident. So I hope with this budget process, people are involved. People are paying attention. They're asking questions. Uh they're seeking us out when we're out someplace. They want to know more about it because the more that people get involved, the more that everyone owns this budget. And I'm hoping that the process over the next couple weeks is as positive, if not more, than what we did last time. I also do appreciate the help

004of Tom over there for all his help, our public works director. Uh him and I went through every number on here uh multiple times looking for any savings we can. So what we're presenting tonight is the budget that I've presented based on all that input. I've also presented to all the me all the members here that had that. I've had a chance to talk to most members one-on-one up here about the budget and go through the individual items. So, I think we're fully prepared to start this process tonight. What I'm going to do is I'll go through the I'll go through the general numbers of the budget, but it starts at earnest tomorrow night. Um, and I hope to have this be as helpful as possible. If you're watching this at home, again, you are

005welcome to come to the meeting um to any one of the budget meetings that we have. It's open to the public. um you will you will as of tomorrow night be able to ask questions, elicit feedback, etc. So uh but I want as much participation as possible. So these are ultimately uh taxes that everyone will pay and I want everyone to know where the money's coming from and how it's being spent and what good it's doing in town. So with that being said, let me start this for everyone. And you got while he's getting that set up as well as I mentioned this will be a starting point. We've come to the best number we can based on a number of unknowns but the process starts after this in terms of figuring out what we're

006exactly going to do for each one. So next slide please. Next slide. There we go. So, I will be reviewing the agenda from the current year uh regarding the general town proposal. The board of ed proposal will be done by Dr. Britain who's also here and we will end with public comments. We also do have a number of letters that we will read into the record um that residents have sent to us. So, each one of the board members will read one or two of those letters at the end of this session. So, next next slide, please. All right. So, let's start with the people that make the town. Um, we're going to be talking about numbers significantly over the next couple weeks or so, but ultimately it gets down to the people in town.

007So, this chart uh gives you an idea of what makes out what makes up the town government. So, it's a total of 355 folks, one Portland government resident for every 27 residents in town. Active committees, we have nine active committees. 67 volunteers give their time to make it a better town. Boards and commissions by charter we have 13 76 volunteers fill those spots and that again helps make the town run. Public works and his team it's broken down by all the folks there but they're the ones that keep our um our roads clean, the the snow removed and everything working properly. Public uh library director, six part-time and four full-time. Um that's again a hot spot in town. A number a number of good things happen there. our police. We now are fully staffed at

00813 officers, uh, one animal control officer and one secretary there as well. So, it's nice to have a second year where we're fully staffed. And our volunteer fire department, of course, 57 volunteers give their time to make sure that we're safer in this town. And again, all the rest of the part-time workers during parks and w programs in the summertime and other uh other miscellaneous folks in town adds up to 355 people on the government side that make this town work. Next. So, some of the achievements we have next. It's been a very busy year. Um, I'm sure people have been paying attention to the Nordic Spa, to the Brainer Place, etc. Next slide, please. So, let's talk about the Nordic Spa really briefly. Uh, this is again a big project in town. They have

009been hustling all year to get this thing um ready to open and they're still on track for opening sometime in November. That's going to be great for the town. It's going to be great for our tax base. They are happy to be here. Um I have to thank uh all those people involved in making it easier for them to do business in town, but that's going to be very good for everyone in town on a number of ways. It'll also mitigate the taxes for everybody else. So, next the other big project on the other side of Main Street is the Brainer Place project. That's a mixeduse project, $50 million plus. It'll probably be closer to 60 by the time they're done with this project in the next two or three years. Um they are adding

010stores. They are uh they are uh working on their second building as a co right now. They're renovating and uh getting the three historic buildings fixed up. Um so it's moving along nicely. Uh one of the interesting things about this project is uh there was a lot of push back initially on this because it was a big difference. Um it was a big change to it. Uh there were people in town that wanted to make sure the historic buildings were were were kept. Um and once that wave subsided and they started the project, now I hear from more people, why is it taking so long? Why isn't it ready yet? So that project looks to be done by the end of 2028. Um so um I'm excited about that. Drive by that every day. One

011of the other things about this project that's been helpful. Uh a big concern before was about traffic in front of there and traffic patterns and that has not become an issue. Um so it's it's good to see this thing building um and and again contributing to the town. This will be a big driver of business in town and as everyone knows the more business you have in town, the more it spreads out the tax burden. So it makes the tax uh burden to residents um decrease in in uh in in the amount that uh that it goes up. So it helps to spread out that burden. So that's a good thing for everybody. Next slide, please. The third major project in town right now is our is our well. We are actively trying to uh

012get our new well up online so that we aren't dependent on MDC water. Uh we use them as a backup or as a complement to what we have. So we spent a lot of time and effort getting this ready. In fact, um our board will be meeting within the next couple days to select uh the next vendor to uh bring this next step of the process moving forward. We're still looking at at the end of 27 to get this well completed and then it gives us a couple months to make sure all the tests uh work and it's all hooked up properly. But this is online. Uh we have a number of people on this board that are actively working on this project. Um I welcome the help. Um and again at the end of

013the day we will have more control of our water supply which means that we can manage the the cost of that uh water for the rest of the town and in increase growth in the town. Uh we can expand the system. So this one I'm excited about. It's one of those boring infrastructure uh things that make a huge difference with everybody. So next uh public works projects. We have a number of projects that we'll be doing over the next couple months. Uh we're working on sidewalks on Main Street. um Homestead and Homestead Avenue at Highland Avenue. Um we're going to pave the parking area on Middle Sex Avenue and create some handicap parking there. We're going to also pave the entrance to the riverfront park. So, uh that'll be nicer as well. Uh we're working

014on Brownstone Avenue, improving that this summer uh by cleaning up some of the brownfield and making that uh more um a better view for everyone in town. Uh we're looking to also um add some access behind that project. Uh we're already clearing off some of the land back there. So more people have access to the river. Um so again, we have more riverfront property than anybody else in Portland Town in Connecticut. So expanding the use of residence for our riverfront is a big is a big priority for our entire board. So that's coming soon. Next, and one of those projects that should be done by the end of spring, maybe a little sooner, is our a river access project. right now. Um you'll be able to launch your canoe and kayak uh from behind where

015Tilkun is right now. We've already built the road down there. Uh the parking lot has been um has been uh kind of sketched out. Um now that the uh the spring is almost here, they'll be able to uh kind of continue that project, but that's going to be a really great thing for for the town. So there's been no public access to the river over the last 50 years from what um some of the old-times in town have told me, maybe even longer. So it gives us public access to that. So, we're very excited about that. Personally, I am as well, and we will let everyone know when that's ready to go. But that's again one of those small projects that's going to mean a lot to the residents of town. Next, we have a

016new fire truck on the way as well. Uh purchased at least a year and a half ago. Uh it's been refurbished or not refurbished, has been worked on uh over that time. So, I don't have a specific delivery date, but it's going to firehouse 2 and we expect it to be in in the next couple weeks. Um I will let everyone know but it's big and shiny and quite expensive but we need it and we want our volunteers to have the best equipment they can. So uh this was paid by the ARPA money uh that we had from the uh during the co time. So I think that was a fine use of funds on that. So next so one of the projects that we're working on this summer as well is continuing the um

017the high street project replacing uh replacing the piping there. So uh we received a million dollar steep grant last year. Uh the town is matching 200,000. That next phase of the project should be commencing during the summer break. Uh we're looking at uh getting the contractor chosen shortly. So that's all ongoing. The design work is being done on there now. There's some glitches with sidewalks and compliance that we're working through. But uh but that's that'll be a a nice use of state money, a million dollars of it to continue that project. Again, infrastructure, it's boring, but it's it's vital to the backbone of the town. Uh Brainer Place we've talked about and the spa. Again, November is the uh is the soft opening. Um we're looking forward to that. Um one other project that that

018I that I personally um have been following since it started. It's been a 10-year process from when we bought the property to now, but on Brownstone Avenue, we have cleaned up the property down there. We are we've put out two RFPs, requests for proposals in the past. Didn't get anything on there before because it hadn't been completed. But now that we've completed, we've spent all the money um on the cleanup, we're now ready to go out and try to find some development for that riverfront property uh to add to the tax base for the town and to to do something with that property. So, it fits into our downtown area nicely, and we're looking forward to that. Next, thank you. Um Airline Trail continues its work. It It's slower than I want to, but we

019still are working our way past Eversource. Um later this spring, uh East Hampton will complete their section and connect to Portland section. So from uh starting in the summertime, you'll be able to drive from Portland's uh um from Portland's uh uh uh area all the way up to uh Willamantic. Um so it'll be real nice to do and then if we can get past uh ever so other places ultimately we're going down to the uh to over the bridge. So um we're working on as fast as we can. Uh we're working on our bar grant right now uh as well as our uh POCD. So we're looking at how we're going to make our main street and our downtown area um as as good as we can. what do we want that to be when

020it grows up? So, a lot of time and effort and money is going into making um the town the town we want it to be. So, it's good for tax base, it's good for walking, it's good for business, etc. So, that is being done right now as well. Two other notes that are on that are not on here. Um we uh we have been working on police accreditation for a number of years as well. Uh we are on the process to get tier three accreditation. We're at the first step right now. We're almost done with the second step and that's something that we've been working on for the town. That's an important thing for the town. I see. our captains here as well. So that is something that is being worked on. Um and next

021next slide please. All right, let's get down to the numbers. Next slide. So the overall budget for this year that we're proposing is 43,88,67. That is a 4.88% increase over last year broken down by the general government 16.5 million and the board of education 27.2 million. Uh Dr. Britain will cover the board of ed specific costs after himself. Um, but one of the big drivers for both our budgets. Uh, this year in particular has been the cost of health care and health insurance. We had a big hit this year on that. Um, it's happening everywhere, not just here, not just in Connecticut, uh, not just in New England, throughout the country. There insurance has just gone crazy. So, um, if there was one difference between the budget I proposed last year and the budget I'm

022proposing this year is is that as one of the big drivers. There are other things as well. Um, but you would be surprised how little goes up on on the material that we buy. Uh, the service contracts that we have. Um, it's usually the people costs are the most expensive, but this is a big driver. So, I think that was the biggest one between last year. It it it covers most of it. Next, so speaking of people cost, this chart just gives you a quick rundown of how much are the people cost of our total budget. So, um, our town government, the government, uh, our town side people costs are about 10 million of the total, um, total costs for board of education about $20 million or $21 million for the people cost. Between those

023two costs, the staff that we have, the folks that deliver the good services to the town, $31 million out of the $43 million are the people that work for the town. Um, that's a big that's a big number. That's 71%. So the other things that go into it, the equipment that we use, the contracts, etc. The things that we buy, the salt for the roads are make up the rest of it. But that that's a lot of the cost. It's the people, it's your neighbors out there that are doing the job that are plowing the roads. So I think that's an important one. Next, actually the expenditures by themselves, this gives you a list of what the budget increases have been over the years. You'll notice in the 2122, 23, those were pandemic years. the

024budgets were a little a little wonky during that time because everything that happened but you'll notice they pick up in 25 26 and now this year they're not directly connected but there was an influence with the previous years. Um again most of that increase uh in terms of budget expenditure the 4.29 uh versus this year um are a lot of the increased cost the insurance is as one of them. Well, next page. The breakdown by government over that time as well um and education is on the left one you have the amount of government increase um from 21 to 27. Again the government went from 081 as a percentage increase up until the most recent 4.7. That is our side my side of this equation. Um education uh from 2.26% up to the point the

0254.99. So that's breaking it down between the two sides of the government. Next please. And next. So the breakdown in types of spending that we do. So general um ad admin and government 5.3% public safety 3.6 public works 4.7. These are all increases over last year. Planning and development 1.29 health and human services 4.26. Next library 4.84. 84 employee fringe benefits including the healthcare 5.64 liability 1.22 debt service 5 point I'm sorry 7.53 transfers including capital 3.51 and contingencies zero so total government again 4.7 that's a total number there next page capital items that we have on the budget this year uh total 1.4 four 649 million and broken down by the general funded the low SIP funds that we have the 8,000 recovery and the water and sewer. Next, these are the items that

026we are putting in for the capital this year. Uh they will all be discussed and reviewed and the various departments will explain what they need and how they need those. So those watching at home, you can see that for those that are listening. Um uh uh food service equipment 25,000 for board of ed systemwide technology upgrades 132 technologies expensive by the way total for board of education 157,000 fire department has two different things in their generator as well as ATD replacement uh uh replacing an infield groomer website redesign police department has new vehicle upgrade security keyless entry um our police folks will explain these cameras I'm recording for the interior buildings. All of these were reviewed by our capital committee. All those were reviewed um by the departments. Um some things aren't on here for

027budget reasons. Others were were added as well. But again, these will all be reviewed. Uh public works director vehicle there. He has an old one right now. HVAC upgrades 36,000. Town grade seal coat 22,000. Uh liquid vertical storage tanks 36. Again, computers townwide 105,000. Re-evaluations. We have a re a rebal coming up 50,000 and then again phone system replacement. We have a very old system right now. So total for uh general fund government 765 or 756 and general fund for board of education and general fund 913,500. Next. So where does the money come from? Part of the money comes from our LOS grants for from the state. So we get $97,510 to spend. This year we're spending on on that uh on the uh on the entrance to the riverfront park as well as a

028parking area um next to the fields. Next line. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Overhead doors. Wait. Because we we all missed that, huh? Overhead doors. Got it. 67510. The number is correct. Just Okay. Thank you. Right. Next. And next. So, this gives a breakdown by percentages or by $100 on what the numbers are. And it gives you a little history for each one. So, general government administration, we're at 4.29 now. And it's ranged from 399 to 427 last year. Uh uh public safety 6.54% public works 6.53 uh planning and development.54 human uh health and services 1.0 library 2.06 same as last year fringe benefits 9.2 risk management 5.7 etc but total general government operating about a third of the business 30.74. Next page. Debt service and transfers are also listed there for to complete the total

029general government. And then board of education is listed at 62.13% of the budget. Total 100. Next. And revenues. Next page. All right. Um, state revenues. We received 5,351,000 from the state. It is the cost share for education as well as the miscellaneous government funding that we get as well. So that's where that money comes from, 5.3 million. Next, the proposed fees, what we charge to residents for various things, other fees that are charged for businesses for the departments is 1.69 million or uh million this year. So that's a slight increase over last year. So that's where we get some of that funding. Next, investment income. Um the markets change over the years. So, uh, this one is a decrease from last year, but that's the total investment income that we're expecting this year, 306,000. Next,

030right, this is a number that people are going to hear. Um, so the mill rate after all the numbers that we've looked at right now, we're proposing a 1.89 mill increase. Um, and that raises approximately $1.6 million to be able to make the budget whole. Next page. grand list changes. So, our grand list for this year for this budget cycle is $977 million. I was hoping that we would hit a billion dollars this year, but we have not. Some of the things that um were applied to this year is we had 23 vets last year that were able to get 100% of their taxes taken down, which is fantastic. They're entitled to that. That was about a $3.3 million reduction on it. Um but we did grow a little bit on the grand list. Um

031only other comment about that that's worth noting is with the projects going on right now um we've looked at budget at at grand list over the next 10 to 15 years for another project that we're working on and with the Briner and the Nordic and whatnot. I expect that number to grow pretty significantly over the coming years but right now we're at 977. Update on water and sewer comp uh customers. We have uh 2205 total combined customers. Um one of the impacts from this year versus last year were some of the new Brainer Place customers. They now have about 100 total residents in both the buildings right now. Um so that is slowly coming on. Um we expect to see more next year, but that's the total number as of right now. Next, right now

032water uh drives $2 million right now into there. That's an increase of 69,000 over last year or 3.4%. 4%. That's sewer income there. $1.4 million, an increase of 5.97% over last year. All right. So, this is just a just a thumbnail sketch of all the numbers that we have. Uh we'll be looking at each individual item going through and this is what the schedule that we have. So, uh we'll be back here tomorrow night to discuss the specific numbers. We have a couple other of the departments coming in tomorrow night. those also posted on the website. Um we will do um several meetings for deliberations. Um and during that time it is again the public is invited to come down here and either watch or or or be down here for it as well. I'm

033I'm encouraging people to do that. Um we need to approve as a board uh the budget by April 8th. That's our target right now. So that's what we're working toward. And then at that point we will have a town meeting on May 4th in the cafeteria for any other residents that want to come there and discuss the budget. And then with all good speed, we're hoping that by May 11th, we will have the folks out there agree to the budget that we put together here and vote in affirmative. And that is all I have. Dr. Britain, Nick, can you ceue up my uh slides? All right, why don't you advance to the the first slide then? All right. So, I wanted to start tonight by instead of looking forward, you know, we're here to talk

034about how much we need for next year, but I I want to start with, hey, 365 days ago, I was here asking you for some money. And I need to start by saying thank you. You know, for thank you to the board of selectman, board of education, everybody who who came out and supported um that budget. I'm watching that money be used now throughout the course of this year. And I how do I even describe? I wish I could spend all night with you just telling you about all of the amazing things that are happening in your schools. But on every front, academics, athletics, arts, extracurricular activities, co-curricular activities, your kids are doing amazing. We've received this year some national level recognitions. And I mean, another blue ribbon for crying out loud Portland, you now

035have three schools with blue ribbons. That's an incredible accomplishment. As I as I look around this room right now, you see all these beautiful um portraits up here. Youth art month is coming up next month. This is because you helped support the budget last year by including a full-time art teacher, moving art teacher from part-time to full-time. And our students now have access to advanced placement art, which you see the results of here. I hope you're able to get out on March 20th and see the Adams family. I hope you were able to get up to see some of the basketball games, get out to watch some of the baseball and softball games we have coming up. Everywhere I go in all of our schools, your kids are doing amazing. They are performing at some

036of the highest levels we've ever seen academically, athletically, but but beyond that, even more importantly, I just want you to know they're happy. Our kids are doing great. Our our some are here tonight. I hope that she's smiling and agreeing with me. Things are going really well. Our our students are getting the services and the support they need. Look, it no school is ever perfect, but we're doing great. I know our teachers appreciate it, and I appreciate everything. And it's not done without a certain level of gratitude. I fully recognize that we wouldn't be able to accomplish these things and our students wouldn't be enjoying the experience that they're having right now if it wasn't for the support that you provided us last year. So before we start looking ahead, I want to take a

037minute to look backwards and say thank you for all that you did to get us where we are today. And that started last year when I was was here um with you. But now here I am again. I've got my tin cup out. we've got to move forward and I've got to talk to you about what we need to continue to maintain the momentum that we have in the schools. Um, and if you could jump to the next slide. So, the board of education did unanimously pass on January 20th um uh a proposed it was a unanimous vote that they're uh looking the board is looking for a 4.99% increase. And I want to spend some time with you um talking about how we got to that number um because unfortunately it reflects some things

038and I know you heard Mike talk in detail about it that were just outside of our control specifically with related um to to health care costs. That's that's our big headwind this year and I want to be able to show you the impact of that and and it's something we can't get around, right? It's something we we just can't avoid. Um so if you can go to the next slide please. back in November, right? We started this process and I I went into this year just looking to put together a maintenance budget, right? We're not going to be adding any new programs or or anything new. We really just wanted to maintain and and the reason we wanted to maintain is because we know we have some big plans for the for the future. We've

039we've talked a lot about consolidating schools and and you know how that will be some big changes, you know. So, but for this year, I was really just looking to put together and bring to you a budget that essentially replicates those things that we have this year, which we're doing great next year. So, to provide all the same quality academic, extracurricular, co-curricular, athletic, and arts related experience that our students have um this are enjoying this year, see if we can we can provide those again next year. um to do that of course we had to take a look at all of our contractual obligations that we're still dealing with the effects of inflation and some other headwinds but we started by you know not adding but just maintaining what we have and and and you

040know seeing where those numbers would would lead us. So the next slide please. So that started in November in order to get us going oh there we go. um we we had to do a lot of our work in December. Now, one of my asks for you tonight is to consider December's too early, right? I it's really really hard to build a budget in December. Even if I just had one more month and and the reason it's hard in December is because there's still too many unknowns, right? We in December when I was building this, we didn't know what our health costs were going to be. In December when I was building this, we were still negotiating three contracts. We were still finishing negotiations with our um custodians, our pair of professionals, and our transportation

041contract. In December, we're starting to make best guesses about what student support service needs are going to look like for the year. It's really hard, you know, to to deal with those those unknowns and to make projections. And then, of course, for our student support services people to look ahead, 18 months to be speculating about what we need. So, if there's any way going forward that we could just move the the calendar up a little bit, I would appreciate it. I think it would enable me to bring a more accurate budget to the board. Um, and then of course, once the board approves it, get a more accurate budget to you. But we did our best. So in December, we we put some placeholders for those contracts that we were still negotiating. And of course,

042we carried forward all of the um general wage increase um and staff adjustments that we had to make uh in our existing contracts. We did our best to project our student support service needs. I want you to know in December I asked Stephanie as a placeholder to put 8% for insurance. Right? 8% at that time seemed high to me. Right now I would take eight percent and run. Right? But at that time in December, we put 8% as a placeholder. Um, you know, and then of course we had to go out and ask for the conduct a census. By that I mean ask people if you're not currently taking health insurance, do you plan to take it during the open enrollment period? Or if you are taking health insurance, do you plan to drop off

043or change from a one person, a single plan to a twoerson or a twoerson to a family plan? One thing we've had this year in in Portland, it's wonderful. job security, but had a little bit of a baby bump, which is wonderful. Lots of young teachers having babies is great, but often what happens is that when you're you're married and having a twoerson health plan, when you have a child, you need to now move to a family health plan. So, we did see some increases because the census has changed in respect to who's taking what and what level of health insurance. So, we had to account for those things. Um, Stephanie had to adjust all of our FICA taxes. Um, we also had to account for those pension contributions that we're making for some of

044our employees. And those have changed this year. Um, minimum wage has gone up. So, we had to account for that, especially with respect to our um, substitute teacher rates and the fill rates that we have, which is much better this year, which is great. Um, and then of course discretionary line items. And then we had to consider revenue sources. So, in December, this is where my head was at, right? But that was the budget that I brought to the board and they voted on right at or were prepared to vote on. Now, fast forward one slide because here was one of the oh my goodness mo moments in December while I was building this budget. Our insurance broker came to us and said that the Anthem renewal bid came in at 26 was that 26.9

045>> 26.9%. Right. So, um, that was a bad day, right? That was a holy mackerel. 20 I mean, I had to ask, did you say 26.9%. I mean, that was a a real sticker shock moment, right? Um, and that obviously had a a huge impact on our budget. Now, fortunately, we have a really good insurance broker. She does a fabulous job. Tom, Mike, and I got together with her and we essentially said, "Not acceptable, right? We don't we can't have 26.9%. That that that would be a the type of blow to a budget that we just can't sustain. So we said go do your work. Go back out to bid. Look at the state partnership plan. Get back to Anthem. Twist their arms. But 26.9% is not acceptable. And and she then went and started

046doing her work. Right. But again, you're seeing things are changing because it's December and and we're still making guesses. What I did do at that time hearing that 26% number I did say to Stephanie increase the insurance percent from what I had is eight up to 13. Right? So I said don't go to 26 go to 13 and let's let our insurance broker do do her work. Um so we adjusted that and then um you know I I had to say to all of my people don't bring me anything new. I am flatfunding everyone. So my my first request to try to start to get the budget to a reasonable place was say adjust the insurance from 8 to 13% which took up a lot of bandwidth right and then I went back to my

047principles and department leaders and I said flatf funded you are getting don't come to me with any more than you have this year you take your actual this year that's what you're getting next year. So right away there you're starting to see if there's any inflation flat funding is actually a cut. But I'm saying no no new money. You're getting this what you got this year is what you're getting next year. Next slide please. Um oh by the way before we leave that slide just back up one second. Um I do just want to point out uh this one. If I had incorporated, by the way, the 26%, if that were the real number and and we hadn't gotten our insurance broker to move that number, I would be looking at a 12% increase, right?

048Obviously, I'm not going to bring you a 12% increase. That would be a number that um would would would not be acceptable to the board of ed or to you. So with the 26% increase, we we were looking at at a jump in our budget. That wasn't going to be acceptable. So in December, what we were doing is clearly hoping our insurance broker would go do her work and bring that number down. But I I had to start making cuts. I mean, there's there's no way I'm coming coming to the town with a 12% increase. That would be it it would be unacceptable. Next slide, please. So even then by adjusting the insurance to 13% and flat funding everybody else I still wasn't at a place that I was even comfortable um approaching the board

049with that bud with a budget percent that that that high. So I made some serious cuts here. Right. We're we're reducing for next year one teaching position. I reduced student services by 30,000. Um, I reduced district siphons by 20,000. And I can go through in greater detail with you through what these are specifically, like what what activities, sports, things are being cut. Um, we eliminated um an athletic coordinator position. We eliminated our our board our classified board certified um behavior analyst position. Um, and then you're such a bad glare. Really see it on here. You know what I did? And I'm really sorry. I printed it on three side and it's like too small. I can't see. Um, eliminated all summer curriculum writing funds. Um, I reduced Bob by $50,000. I eliminated some technology purchases.

050Thank you for putting those back in in capital, by the way. Um, so some of those came back. Um, I increased our revenue projection on what's called excess cost. This is what we get back from the state for students who are outplaced. By the way, this is a little bit of a gamble. If you remember two years ago when I had a a pretty significant um deficit that was caused because the excess cost came in well below 60% which was a shock to us. We are hearing from our legislators that they're confident that funding is going to be more stable but this is a little bit of a gamble. So I did increase that to 72%. Um, and then I I said to all of the departments and buildings, "Yes, I flatfunded you. Now I'm

051cutting you 2%." Right? So, first they came to me with their requests. I said no to all those requests. Now, I'm cutting them more. Right? All of this, by the way, caused by a 13% health insurance increase, which unfortunately I have bad news. It's coming. So, these cuts were made. Now, I don't like any of these cuts. These cuts are are going to be very hard to manage. And if additional revenue becomes available, I would love to add some of these back, especially starting with that K6 teaching position. I do not want to see class sizes increase, but that's what we might be looking at. Again, all of this was done in an effort to offset that um draconian health insurance increase. Okay, next slide, please. Okay. Um, so at that point again in January

052I went to the board of education with the 4.99% increase. There is something for everybody to dislike in this budget. Right there there there is something on the teaching and learning side. Lots of major cuts in here. And I understand 4.99% is higher than I'd like it to be. Right. So really there this is a this is a nobody-like budget, right? But I think it's fair. I think it's honest. I think it's transparent as it as it could be and that's what I what I brought to the board. We had lots of spirited discussions. I think the board would have liked to have added some things back, right? But I think the board also recognizes that 4.99 is is likely the the place where we're most comfortable and we feel like we would be most

053reasonable with with the taxpayers. So the board did unanimously adopt the the 4.99% request without without too many adjustments. Next slide. >> All right. Here was the problem and this is why it would have been helpful if the board instead of voting on on January 20th were voting on this on February 20th. Even a one month forward w would have been helpful. In that one month time from January 20th when the board adopted it to now things have already changed. We got the insurance renewal rate bid. It wasn't 26%. But it wasn't the 13% that I put in. It came in at 19.7%. So this is a this is a significant jump for all of us. And because of that, we have to now add $127,000 or I should say bind $127,659 in the budget

054to account for the difference between the placeholder I asked Stephanie to put at 13% and the actual renewal bid that came in now at 19.7%. Additionally, we did settle our transportation contract. Um, and we have to add that 16,000 more for our transportation contract and we did settle our paraprofessional contract and we have to add about $2,000 more based on that settlement. So, even right now, this is the the important message here and this is why it would be nice if the calendar were were more forward with the board's 4.99% increase. We're currently in $146,349 $399 deficit position. Now, I'm not asking the board and nor you to increase the budget beyond the $4.99%. I will find that money. Stephanie and I are if you if you support this $49.99% budget and the voters can

055support this, Stephanie and I will find the one um the $146,000. It might it will require additional cuts and it's also going to mean I can't add some of those positions back which is a real bummer. But I'm hopeful that, and we'll get to the revenue side of this and some opportunities that are in this budget, that the revenue side of it might help claw back some of this deficit and some of the positions that we're cutting. Okay? But as of right now, even at a 4.99% budget increase, I'm still in a deficit position based on the settlements that came in after the board adopted the budget. Right? And again, this is why if you would consider at some point moving the calendar forward a month, it just buys us that extra time, especially with

056insurance, to know what the real numbers are so we're not having to constantly change. Next slide, please. Um, so these are the this kind of bar graph here. Gives you a picture of of how all of the things or areas of our budget break down. Next slide. Now, I quickly want to run through each of the areas of the budget, and they're all they're all broken down in in your budget book, but in general here, salaries. Overall, this accounts for a 3.25% increase. These are general wage and step increases across all five of our bargaining units and our classified employees. But it also does account for the reduction of those those positions that we took out. Um and and um that that's where we ended up. So increase of 3.225% in our salary line items.

057Next slide please. In our benefits, this was the big hit, right? So the board adopted budget that you have in front of you is 13.07% increase, but the actual is 15.66 66 because the board adopted the budget before we got the final numbers on the Anthem renewal bid. Right? So that's the deficit. But you see here the the big increase of 15.66 which is a function of of that that health insurance um increase and also anticipated census changes as as people have moved within their their benefit plans. Next slide please. um purchase services. Here we see um a 17% increase. This is an exciting opportunity right now. This even though it's an increase here could soon become a revenue generator. One of the the the the increases in here is the money about $50,000 that

058we're going to ask the town that the board of education is is looking to rent a house, rent lease a property right here on Main Street. When you go out tonight, it's right there. Like if you It's right next to the police department. The the blue house right next to the police department. We want to rent that house for our transition program. Now, our transition program is for 18 to 22 year old students. These are students who are still part of our our responsibilities and student support services. You probably see them out in the community all the time. We want to move them out of the high school onto Main Street so they can become a part of the community. Here's the exciting opportunity that comes with that. If we do this and we we

059we create this, it's going to we have some really cool I don't want to go into great detail. I'll get all excited and spend all night talking about it, but there's an amazing opportunity to work with the library and build a little bookstore and have an incredible space for our students receiving 18 to between ages 18 and 22 years old. It's going to be so great that our expectation is we're going to begin tuitioning in students from other towns as we build this program. So really, we're seeing this $50,000 increase here as an investment because one student tuitioned in would more than offset that. Two or three tuitioned in and now we're starting to talk about a revenue stream that would greatly offset it. So while you see a 17% increase here, what we're trying

060to do is build the capacity to generate additional revenue that will quickly offset that and some. And then of course that and some would help us offset the deficit that I identified tonight and potentially get me to a position where I might claw back some of all those positions that I cut. So while this looks like an increase, it's not really an increase, it's it's an investment in creating the type of program that we believe would attract um individuals from other towns to our programs. Additionally on this before I leave it, if we move our transition program out of the high school to Main Street, that leaves the space at the high school available. We're exploring entering into a lease agreement with a um educational outfit called Sabbrook Reading. They're looking to lease space from

061us at the high school similar to the way Oakill leases space at Brownstone. So, we've been in touch with them. They're a great program. Some of our students would benefit from it and we would they would pay us rent to rent space at the high school in the rooms where our transition program currently is. So by moving the transition by making this investment, moving the transition program to this blue house over here right next to the police department, creating that program, we believe we will be able to generate additional revenue by leasing that space at the high school to Sbrook reading and tuitioning in students from other town once that program becomes very attractive. More to come come on those things. Next slide, please. Um repairs and maintenance. Here's where you start to see the

062impact of the flat funding and reductions. Right? These are the areas that I have control over. Right? I don't have control over health insurance. These are the areas where we do have some um control over. And here's where you where you do see a decrease in the repairs and maintenance budget. Next slide, please. Again, same thing here. Um, interestingly enough though our transportation contract went up the overall line item went down. This is because we've inhouse we brought some of our transportation services in-house. If you remember last year in our capital budget, you purchased us a minivan. We now have a fleet of three minivans. We've been able to bring some of our students who we were paying outside vendors to transport those students inhouse and that's saved us quite a bit of money. So

063overall in terms of the transportation even though we settled our transportation contract and that is going up. I'll provide a copy of it to you shortly. I haven't gotten it yet. The board's still working on it. We're working on it. But the but the overall transportation increases gone down um because we've been able to use those minivans and provide some of those um transportation runs in house. So you do see a slight decrease here in our um um other services which includes transportation costs. Next slide please. Um and again here another decrease. These are things we have control over. Those things that we do have control over I cut. Right. Um and again these cuts were made not because I want to cut books and materials and supplies and curriculum and resources but because that's

064the only place I can really go. Can't cut health insurance. I can only cut what I can have control over. So you do see um both some savings here in utilities that solar is working well. We're seeing some, but I am worried about it because it's been a very cold winter and we're just starting to get those bills now. But you you you do see for next year an area where we will be able to trend back. Next slide, please. Um, okay. So, this year, this increase does reflect we have um you know that we brought the the Chromebooks back in house. We're we're now on a cycle where we purchase fifth and ninth graders a Chromebook. We don't lease anymore. We had been trying different ways, but this funding reflects the number of Chromebooks

065that we need to buy for next year's fifth and 9th graders. And then those Chromebooks stay under warranty and follow those students for four years. So increase you see here is a function of those purchases that we need to keep up with that Chromebook replacement cycle. Next slide, please. And then um the increase here for dues and fees. This is because next fall the high school is hosting an accreditation team from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. All high schools, you heard about accreditation at the police department. High schools have to be accredited once every 10 years. They're subject to that accreditation visit. It costs money because you have to pay a higher due in dues in that year. You also have to put up the team that comes. have to buy them

066hotel rooms and take care of them while they're here visiting. So next year the high school is subject to an accreditation visit. So you do see that there's a slight increase here that reflects that once every decade um denial reacredititation um visit. Next slide please. Okay, I'll end here with our revenue sources. Um these this is all of the federal and state um funding sources that that we um are anticipating next year. Some could go up, some could go down, but we're pretty confident in these numbers. Now, two things I just want to point out which are sort of gamles. The first one here is terms of our open choice at 590,000. This anticipates that we'll have 59 open choice students next year. This year we have 48. So, we need to open an additional

067few seats. The board has authorized us to do that. We are out marketing Portland to Hartford students, but we are we are in hoping that we have 59 open choice students. Again, that's that 5% number that that's going to be very important as we talk about reimbursement rates that we've set for our goal to um retain seats for our open choice students. The other one I want to um point in Oh, I don't have do I have the equalized cost sharing? I don't have the equalized cost sharing. I do. Thank you. Equalized cost sharing grant is up there now. I'm optimistic. Right. The state has not raised the foundation amount for the ECS grant since 2013. Right. Okay. So, make sure everything's okay. We're in the lockdown or anything. Right. So um the the all

068of us including the board of education and there are a lot of people out there at the state capital even now advocating for the first time since 2013. We know what prices were like in 2013 and we know what prices are like now for the state to increase that base amount. I'm hopeful. I think this might be the year that the state does increase that. We'll know soon, right? It's working through legislative hearings. I'm following those bills closely and this one appears to have some traction. So if the state for the first time since 2013 increases that base amount in the ECS grant, that number could go up. So again, part of my anxiety about presenting to you a budget that's already in a deficit position before we make any additional cuts, which I'm hoping

069we won't, but is already there, could be offset if at some point this legislative session, I believe our legislators do the right thing and increase that base amount. And if you have any questions during the workshops about what any of these other revenue sources are from or used for, I'd be happy to answer them. It could it would be a long night if I went through every single one in great detail. That's all I have. >> Sure. Okay. >> Sure. Um so the 18 to 20 year olds that are in our school system are they enfor >> Yes. So >> are they held? >> Yeah. So the law changed and students who are identified as student >> please in case it didn't come up please repeat the question people will know. >> Got it. So

070the question was about who are these 18 to 20 20 year olds. It's actually 18 to 22 year old students that are still in our schools. So, we're responsible for providing educational services to students who are identified as special needs students and carry an individualized education plan um up until age 22 if they choose not to take a diploma at age 18. Um so after 22 then services are turned over to the Bureau of Rehabilitation Services and other state services but up until age 22 um Portland Public Schools is responsible for providing services to Portland residents. Right. If a an 18 to 22-year-old, this is what we're hoping, lives in another town and wants to attend our program, which is, you know, we're trying to make our program a lighthouse program, a magnet program that

071that folks could come to, then we would work with that board of education for them to pay us tuition to bring their student here. concerning how many of the kids that are under everyone know, >> right? >> Yes. They everybody knows they're here. You're talking about your concern is be having a student who's 21 with kids who are younger, >> right? Um so the students in our transition program are at the high school. Um, but they generally don't interact much with the high school kids. They're they're in a part of the building and it's their own program. And as part of the program, they're not in the building. They're out in the community learning work and life skills. Like we have the student, you probably see them around all the time. They're in the supermarkets

072at, you know, in in at different community events and agency out the senior center regular. They're here at the library regular. I see shaking heads. So would we >> Yeah. So the question was or the comment was about our 18 to 22 year old students and whether they're best situated in a high school environment or in more of a community centered environment and the speaker referenced that she would see them better suited in the community environment. To that I would say yes me too. Right. I'm very excited to see them right here on in this blue house right next to the police department. Um, and what they're going to do there is have their own learning environment, but their own community environment. We're talking about potentially a coffee shop, bookstore, um, really neat opportunity for

073students, 18 to 20 year old adults, I should say, to develop the kind of life skills they'll need to be living as successfully and independently as possible. 2024 I spoke to workers at the high school during the summer and said to them there's a red screen on that side building of the high school where the kids were doing >> okay you know okay you know let somebody put it 2024. >> Yeah. >> 2025 I went up there same. So I went to inside people. Who do I tell? >> Yeah. >> And oh yeah, no problem. We'll take care of Well, I said this in September 2024 going towards September. Well, we're doing stuff. We're doing, you know, but we'll take care of it. It's not done. >> I'm glad you told me I'll take care

074of it. >> I think you have to >> sometimes. Yeah. And I don't consider myself the top, but give me a call or an email anytime, especially if you're not feeling like my folks are being responsive to you. I I'd like to know about that because sometimes I can nudge people along. >> It's at the high school. I'll find it. >> I got it. Yeah. Thank you for telling me. >> Yeah. >> I I do want to add real something really quickly. The transition program is a wonderful program at the school. I know many of these kids from when they were younger as they've grown through that. So, it's a great way for them to kind of incorporate into the town and and get some life skills. So, wonderful program. Yeah. >> Absolutely. >> Part

075of it being high school like depending on the year, >> right? >> Um more. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. >> Hopefully you'll be getting cup of coffee or buying books from them soon. The dream. Yeah. >> Any more public comments? Yep. Yep. If you could go up. You have to go up there. Well, you have you have to identify yourself. >> That's okay. Does anyone want Charles still up there to answer questions or no? >> Um, so Sarah Keratasio 63 Missic Trail in Portland. So my questions are regarding the BCBA position. So was that that's final? That position was cut or will be cut? >> Well, I have three of them >> and it really depends on that answer. So >> the problem. Yes. >> Okay. All right. So then my first question or what are

076the plans to support students with behavioral needs? Okay. Do you want me to just ask them all together? Okay. And um how will the district ensure students with IEP behavioral plans receive proper support? And my last question is what um impact assessment was done before deciding to cut the BCBA position? >> Okay. >> Yeah. Okay. Can I come to stay here and then if I don't answer >> right so let me let me start with just a quick description of what a BCBA is. I think that might be something folks haven't heard of or be unfamiliar with. BCBA that stands for board certified behavior analyst. Okay. This is somebody that comes to us with a very specific skill set that's used to help um uh conduct uh functional behavioral assessments of students and design behavior

077intervention plans for students and then coach and teach our paraprofessionals and teachers in how to implement those plans to best support students with all matter of behavioral needs. whether it's from students who may be autistic, socially, emotionally disturbed, other health impaired, they work very closely with our um occupational therapists, our physical therapists, and others. It's a very specialized skill set. What makes it interesting though is it's not a Connecticut state certification, right? It's it's like a medical certification, right, that that people have. It's not not yet. The Connecticut State Department of Education doesn't recognize it as a a certified position. So technically, they're not a teacher, which means they're not in the teachers bargaining unit. They're they're independent of that. And we hire them the same way you would hire me or Bob or Stephanie,

078some outside of any of our contracts. That makes this individual expensive, right? that that position is is something we purchase because otherwise the decision here is you're either going to pay a person to do that or you're going to pay a vendor like you're going to pay as a contracted service somebody at $150 an hour to come in and do it. At some point the numbers make sense that you have a person in house do it and that's why we've done it and ultimately at that point those services become a savings to you. Right now the here in this case we're not getting rid of the BCBA position. What we have is a school psychologist in district who's a member of the teachers bargaining unit who is also a licensed board certified behavior analyst. So,

079what we're eliminating is the non-unionized classified board-certified behavior analyst position and moving over the teaching position to do those services of a board-certified behavior analyst. That does leave a cut though in that uh school psychologist position. That is something I have to figure out, right? But to answer your question directly, services our students need from a board-certified behavior analyst will be provided by a board certified behavior analyst. It just won't be the person we have now. That was a lot. Did you did you follow those? We're we're we're making those adjustments. So the part of the adjustment we we are I'm working now hard and that's why I didn't want to cut any of those positions, right? Is that how then are is the testing and support our students receive from a school psychologist going

080to be distributed to the other school psychologist? And then what parts of that can be distributed to our other clinicians, specifically our social workers or guidance counselors and or if we have to hire another position, could we get another school psychologist position which would be significantly less expensive than a classified BCBA position? the difference there might be a matter of $50,000 $60,000 between somebody we're paying as a teacher versus somebody we're paying as a classified position. So we've thought this through. I have it in concept but I do have some details to work out but we will make sure that our students who need BCBA certified support will absolutely get it. We cannot provide that. Those are legally required services as part of IEPs. It's a lot right. Yeah. Yeah. We won't have a gap.

081Any other comments? Anything online? Okay. Move on. All right. So, we're winding down right now. We have letters from residents that have uh that have wanted to have these read tonight. I'm going to start with uh with one later, but all all the selectmen have one in front of them. So, I'll start with this one. This is from Aaron Libspar to the board to the Portland board of selectment. I'm writing in strong support of the Portland Senior Center and its director whose leadership has transferred the center into a true community hub for older adults in our town. Under current leadership, the senior center now offers over 100 programs per month that is more than a thousand annually, serving a rapidly growing membership that has added over 250 new members this year alone. The center also

082serves as a gathering space for numerous community groups and sponsored organizations, extending its reach well beyond its core programming. What is perhaps less visible to the board is the informal but vital social work uh support that the director provides to members on a daily basis. Though this falls outside the formal job description, this support fills a genuine gap and speaks to a broader unmet need for a dedicated town social worker. The need for expanded resources is also urgent. With the anticipated addition of 200 to 300 older adults from the Brainer Place development, Portland's older adult community um already at 48% will surpass 50%. To meet this growth sustainably, the director has requested an increase in the part-time clerk position from 8 hours to 20 hours per week. This modest investment is essential to maintaining the

083quality and capacity of services the community has come to rely on. Senior C Center's recent collaboration with the VA is just one example of the innovative partnerships being built to serve our older residents. Mission is clear to enrich the lives of adults 55 plus through healthy aging, social connections, and lifelong learning. The board support uh will ensure that the mission can continue to grow. Thank you for your time and consideration. Aaron Livvenar, we'll start to Jim. >> Right. I have two. Um, one was something that was sent directly uh to me that I referenced. It's from Brenda and Norm Rosenol. Um, I want to support Sarah and all of her fantastic work at the senior center. She recently took a class for dementia and Alzheimer's to support the caregiver and individuals affected. There are so

084many positive programs that welcome Portland residents. It's a pleasure to attend the center. Great staff. Thank you. And again, that was Brenda and Norm Rosnall from I believe Lake Street, Lake Street or Lake in uh in Portland. >> And by the way, once you've read the letters, I'll need those back to we have to put those in the record. So, all right. Thank you. >> Well, you're not getting my >> um but I can send you a copy. >> Thank you. the uh and then this one um here from Marilyn McGrath to the board of selectmen says that it has been my pleasure to teach the cooking for one class at the senior center for the past two years. This class has evolved into so much more than just cooking. While the class focuses on

085easy meals that not only taste and look good, it also provides a nutritious balance for a healthy diet. Cooking together and then sharing the meal meals we have made. Bringing friends together both old and new. We share this meal with laughter and life stories. When food is shared, mind, body, and spirit are joined in a satisfying way. We have tried, tasted, and enjoyed all types of meals. From appetizers to dessert, we meet in the first Monday of each month. Guests are always welcome. Bring a container. There is always something good to take home. Sincerely, Marilyn McGrath, instructor, cooking for one. And I have two letters as well. The first uh to the board of selectmen from Alexis Chicarella, 40 Riverview Road, Rocky Hill, Connecticut. I'm writing in support of increasing the Portland senior center budget

086to include an additional 12 hours the administrative clerk position. Two years ago, I retired from the administrative assistant position that I held at the center. At present, I serve as a temporary administrative clerk, a position I've held since January. Upon returning, I have experienced firsthand the substantial increase in the workload at the center due to the growing need for medical rides by the senior community, the addition of new and beneficial programming and events, the rise in membership, and the broadening need for the social services that the senior center provides daily. Currently I work four hours Mondays and Wednesdays at which time I am task I am on task throughout the entire time I'm there answering phones registering new members registering people for programs scheduling medical rides signing people up for foot care taxes congregate meals

087and addressing general questions while I am doing my required tasks. Heather the administrative assistant is equally busy addressing her job duties which are many. When I'm not there, she must take on the responsibilities I mentioned above. Quite frankly, I'm not sure how she manages to do both. No doubt, the stress this creates is sure to lead to staff burnout and negatively impacts the quality and quantity of services the center can provide to the community. The additional clerk hours would provide the support needed daily for the center to run effectively. I therefore respectively ask that you consider adding additional administrative clerk hours to the senior c center's 2627 budget. You must know that the senior center is a vital hub of the Portland community. It is a vibrant, caring, welcoming place for for an ever growing

088senior population and it is certainly worth the investment. Thank you for your time. >> One and the other one to the board of selectmen. This is from Kenneth Curs of Portland. I am asked I am writing to ask the board to support an increase in funding to the Portland Senior Center. With 20% of Portland citizens over the age of 65 years, the senior center serves as an important resource for our seniors. It is especially important for providing a community for seniors who live alone and desperately need human contact and interaction. The center also provides transportation for those who need assistance in traveling to medical appointments to meals, card games, maong, scrabble, bingo, and exercise classes. All help seniors maintain community and healthy living. Also important are the trips to restaurants, museums, and other activities. All

089the above are possible because the dedicated staff work to help our senior citizens. Thank you for your attention to this matter, Kenneth Karns. Um, before I read mine, Sarah, is it Keratasius? >> Keratasio. >> Us. >> Keratasio. >> Us. >> I'm sorry. >> Keratasios. >> Keratasios. I want to pronounce it right. Keratasios. So, keratasios. because mine had the last name. Nobody else did. Okay. Um, this letter is from Mary Mackey um of 11 White Birchbend, Portland. Dear Portland Board of Selectman, thank you for all the time and energy you put in to keep the town running and at the same time moving forward. I appreciate the hard work necessary to develop a budget that is fair to all departments, dealing with unknowns, fuel costs, etc. while keeping tax increases to a minimum. With this, I

090just want to add that after serving on Portland's America 250 committee for the last year, I have come to appreciate Sarah Kerattosius caring leadership of the Waverly Senior Center. I am impressed by the number of new programs she continually brings to the center to serve Portland's active adult community. The veterans program and the tech help sessions are just a couple of recent examples. Glancing through the senior c center's monthly calendar, it is evident that Sarah has turned the Waverly Senior Center into a central hub of activity. There are programs and meetings from morning through the evening hours. I want to commend Sarah and Heather for doing a wonderful job in serving the community. And I hope the board of selectmen also appreciates what an asset the town has in Sarah Keratossius and the Waverly Center

091Waverly Senior Center. Thank you. I also have um a letter from Theodore Pinto Jr. from the Portland Pathway to Transition Program. Dear members of the Portland Board of Suffman, my name is Theodore Pinto Jr., transition coordinator and lead special education teacher for Portland's transition program at Portland High School. Please read this letter to the board of selectmen at tonight's meeting. I am writing to express my strong support for the continued funding of the Waverly Senior Center under the leadership of Sarah Elliot Keratossius. Sarah Sarah's senior center was the first public program to partner with my Portland pathway to transition program. Her willingness to collaborate has had a lasting and meaningful impact on my students, staff, and the broader community. When I founded the transition program two and a half years ago, many businesses in Portland

092would not let my students volunteer at their stores. Sadly, inclusion in the greater Portland community continues to be a barrier to my students who dream of finding employment. Sarah's leadership, vision, and commitment has helped to break through some of these barriers, and her help has been instrumental to my students growth into my pro program success. Through the Waverly Intergenerational Connections Program, the Senior Center hosts congregate meals where my special needs students cater lunches to seniors in the hopes of offering nutritious food, socialization, and connection. In this realworld setting, students learn vocational experience in the restaurant industry while building on communication, time management, and teamwork skills. Sarah's dedication extends beyond daily programming as she actively creates opportunities that strengthen connections across generations and ensure that both seniors and students feel valued and supported. She has also

093connected my program with other programs like the Portland Food Bank in an effort to offer my students a variety of experiences for learning opportunities. I respectfully urge the board of selectmen to continue funding the Waverly Senior Center so that these vital programs may continue to thrive. The return on investment is evident in the lives of our seniors, our students, and the community as a whole. Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration. Sincerely, Theodore Pinto Jun. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, >> Eddie does a great job with this. Right, David? I have a letter for the uh Sarah Katya Keratasio's fan club. Okay. It is the Portland is a wonderful place to live for seniors who have lost many relatives and longtime friends. The Waverly Center is in indeed the place to be to nourish

094our aging bodies, minds, and forge new friendships with many exercise classes. Yes. Activities and programs. As a group, we support local businesses. vote. Funding is needed to ensure adequate staffing, building updates, and quality programs. Thank you for your consideration. Donna Benowski, 35 Spring Street, Port Connecticut. Okay. Uh I have a few letters. The first one is from Gail Longley and Long. And uh unfortunately, the copies I have are handwritten and the photocopier didn't do a well job. So, I'm going to do the best I can here. Uh dear members and board, I have been uh taking art lessons, watercolor uh with Brienne Starer for a few years now. She is a wonderful person and teacher. Um a group of us get together once a week uh parenthesis with my husband also attend several recreational programs.

095gather information uh that is helpful for us in our everyday life. Uh all the people that work here are kind and caring, serving our community well. Isn't that what a senior center does? Many people rely on se services at this facility above health care for different reasons. Clothes, tools, um, and other things that we need to uh, get through our lives. Foot care as a as a senior. It's a wonderful place to keep. It's a wonderful place to to keep. Everyone works very hard to meet the needs of people and do a great job and uh great effort. I am a 75year-old uh year young sorry about that. Uh sincerely Gail Longi. >> And we got another one from uh Judith Brown. Uh I am writing to express a strong support for increased funding for

096the Waverly Senior Center. It is a wonderful resource for our community and seniors. The center offers essential services that enhance the quality of of their life, promote social engagement as well as ensuring access to both health and wellness programs. In recent years, the demand for services at the Weberly Center has grown significantly. Enhanced funding would allow the center to expand its programs, provide additional resources, and improve facilities, thus allowing it to be better allowing it to better meet the needs of our seniors. I urge you to continue to consider requests for increased funding. Judith Brown. Vinnie took mine and read it. >> Nice job. Well played, sir. >> Seniority was not at all. >> All right. So, so I have just one more letter from Lissabino, but um I want to thank the board members

097for reading that. It literally brings these letters to the folks out there. They want their voices heard and you helped their voices be heard tonight. So, thank you very much. So from Elizabethino, uh, dear Michael and members of the board of selectmen, thank you so much for your dedication and hard work to support our town, especially through this budget season. I cannot attend the meeting tonight due to due to a committee on solidarity meeting happening at the same time. And I wanted to um share a comment. Please include this letter in the public comment of tonight's meeting. As a member of the committee on solidarity for the last three years, having recently stepped down but still very involved as a workg group member, I want to thank you for your support for the committee on

098solidarity. We have provided many educational and community building events and resources for the town over the past few years. Many of our programs and meetings are supported by the Portland Library and the Senior Center. The committee has held almost all of its monthly meetings at the senior center has hosted a Junth celebration there as well as the most recent Voices of Portland presentation. Being able to use this location at no cost was indispensable for both of these events which drew over a 100 guests. We are so grateful to the senior center staff for their support of our work and their support of so many programs in town. I've also seen the efforts of Sarah. I've also seen the efforts Sarah has put into uh the help the senior center uh to help the senior center

099grow through increased programming. With this success and with such a small staff, she's making hercuent efforts to serve our community. And I fully support her request for a higher budget to serve uh an expected increase in members this coming year. The center could really benefit from a social worker. Without that, Sarah is doing the job of a social worker on top of her other duties, many, many duties. With the increase in services and the needs she is responding to, please consider additional funding for these essential contributions to our town. The Committee on Solidarity has also receives a huge amount of support from the Portland Library. Jennifer attends almost all of our meetings and co-sponsors many of our events, some of which are held at the library. Library staff has supported our Junth celebration and Jen

100helped us to apply for a grant for the Voices of Portland project among many other ways of helping. We often use the library's registration system for our events that they collaborate on. I support Jen's request for the upgrade to the website so that it can be fully accessible. The library is a cornerstone of our community. We are so lucky to have our amazing librarians and programs they offer. Thank you for helping our town of Portland to serve, educate, and educate and and support its residents. Lizabino 19 Scenic Drive. Thank you. So, we had a lot of people wanted to reach out and have their voices heard today. Um, I have to thank Sarah for all that you do in the town. Um, it hasn't gone unnoticed. Um, one of the things I hear from seniors

101in town over the years is there's many things for the kids when I talk about schools and and renovating schools and all the activities going on in town. But uh when you become a man or woman of a certain age um over 65 or 70 or whatever the age is there aren't as many things going on. It's more difficult uh more difficult to get to places. Transportation transportation is concerns uh shopping uh doing social activities. So um I recognize a need uh it is a lot of work to do. Um I don't know how you get all the work done that you do and decide to through you know write a book or two in the whole process and raise a family and run a business. But uh but it is it is seen by

102the people that have written. It's seen by the people that are here tonight. It is seen by me and I think every member here. Uh and it is the people like that. It's the town employees that we have that are doing the roads. It's the teachers that are out there making a difference every day. This goes this gets done every day unseen by most people in town. And it's nice to see the recognition that is is befalling you tonight and others that are out there. So, uh and it is a privilege for me and I believe it's a privilege for Charles and everyone that works up here for the town to try to make a difference in this town. Right. Life is hard, but we're all trying to do this together. We're all trying to

103help each other out. And it's one of the things about Portland is a small community and we do help each other out and we do bond together and we do make a difference. Uh what we did with Courtney, what we do with others that are in need and um it's one of the reasons why I love this town. I've adopted this town. I've only been in this town 25 years and the townies out there say that's 50 years too short, David. Um but um but it is nice to see that and it does make a difference and I think that's uh I think it was well said by the folks that have called that wrote in tonight. So, uh, >> with that, um, I'm about to call for a motion of adjournment. I know you're

104ready to jump on it any second now. Um, but just a reminder of the meetings coming up really quickly. Uh, tomorrow night is when the fund starts. We have a meeting tomorrow night, public works and other related funds, ground maintenance division, parks and wreck. I'm sorry, excuse me, I was one off. Uh, means it's general government tomorrow. Finance, debt, fringe benefits, liability insurance, transfers, and others. That means Tom will be doing some discussion. Public library, Jen and board of education will be discussing it tomorrow. Also, I invite all residents if you can watch, come out and pay attention. Um, there will be a quiz at the end of the budget process. So, and if you do not pay attention, you do not get to complain once the budget passes if it does pass. >> Mike,

105you're having >> Yes. Say something. >> Absolutely. >> I guess you're representing for both of them, huh? Just state your name and your address and speak loudly and proudly. I don't doubt that. >> I have to lower this a little bit. >> Yes. >> Okay. Um my name is Joe Carter. Is it going through here? >> Okay. >> All right. Good. Um I'm not a Portland resident, but I am an employee of the town of Portland and I for the last I believe seven years I've been a um bus driver for the senior center. Um first of all, I want to thank everyone up here for the money that you appropriated last year. that increase that we got. It was um it really did a lot for the seniors as far as uh medical rides.

106Um and that's that's what I want to talk about. We talked and you read the letters about um you know all the services that go on at the senior center and it's it's amazing to see the number of people that are in and out of that building now. It's uh it's like hustle and bustle. It's really it's really enjoyable. But the thing that I wanted to talk about was the the rides that we offer uh to um not not only lunch rides and um the uh the park in in uh Springfield with with the Christmas lights. I can't think right now the name of it. U >> Forest Park, right? I think we had two bus loads last year. 24 people that went up there to to drive through. Um but the my my biggest

107concern is the seniors that need uh medical rides. Um we have people in wheelchairs uh people with walkers and there there are services other services and I believe the town belongs to uh what is now dialeride or dial e-ide. I'm not sure exactly what the name is. That's a service that's fine for uh younger people. Um when it comes to seniors, that service is a curb to curb service. So if you're in a wheelchair or even in a walker, you're dropped off at the curb. So you have to have somebody with you to bring you in if you're in a wheelchair. Um and once you're dropped off, your ride is over. Now when you want to return, you have to call them back again. and make another appointment for a ride to pick you up.

108This year, this past winter, um, a woman was in Middletown who was waiting for a dialer ride to bring her back to Portland. She waited two hours and our van showed up to pick someone else up and she asked the driver if he could please bring her back to Portland. Um he called Sarah and Sarah knew the person and and she said absolutely take this woman back to Portland. Um so you you could wait two or three hours for a ride back from an appointment with with dialeride and I know we spend a lot of money with for that service. Um, and what I would ask is for a little more money so that we can get these people to and from their their appointments. Um, it's really a great service and Heather and Sarah

109both do a great job just trying to negotiate all the uh, you know, I I I've I've gone where I've brought somebody somewhere, come back, picked somebody else up, brought them somewhere else, gone back, picked up the other person, you know. So, we and we we work with the other drivers, the other two drivers to uh, negotiate all the different um, stops we have to make. But it's really a great service as well as the senior center itself. So that's all that's all I wanted to say. No. >> And thank you. >> Thank you for all you do. >> You do want to say something. There you go. >> Again, just your name and your address. >> Hi, my name is Elan Cody. I live at 383 William Street right here in town. I'm also

110um chairman of the U senior advisory board for the center and I just want to say that I am also very much so in favor of having some more funds so that we can have you know an administrative assistant because really the senior is that are there are so many people like they you've heard are in and out of there and a lot of people are you know very happy with a lot of the programs and that they've had so many more this past year than we have ever had. Plus, I mean, with the high volume of people coming in and out, you know, the phones are ringing, you know, people are running out and uh it is, you know, I think it's difficult to work there. And I don't know if a lot of

111you know that um we have a pamphlet that is put out and on the back calendar of it. This is called the bridge is a calendar and this is for the month of March and you can see every single day there's like three or four different activities that are taking place at the senior center. So, um, you know, we really, like I said, we do need, you know, more help and well, so that we can really continue to serve our seniors. And also, besides having all these programs going on too, um, as Joe just rec was talking about is too the all the rides that we need for the medical uh, patients that people that need medical services. So, that is, you know, more phone calls on there all the time. you go in there

112and you'll really hear the phones just ringing and ringing. So, um there really is a need and so I would just you know hopefully that people will consider all this and um support senior center and um so we can serve the seniors better. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Right. And last chance for someone to say something. Going once, going twice. Bobby, can you make a motion? >> Motion weird. >> I'll second that motion. >> All right. All those in favor I post abstension. Motion passes.