Finance Committee Meeting – February 9, 2026
Finance Committee Meeting – February 9, 2026
This meeting of the Bourne Finance Committee, held on February 9, 2026, covered a range of topics including proposed fee increases, capital requests for dredging, fire department equipment, and sewer infrastructure, as well as budget updates revealing significant potential shortfalls. The committee also discussed proposed zoning articles and debated the appropriate role of the finance committee at town meeting. No formal votes were taken on the presented items, but the committee agreed to reschedule a March meeting due to lack of quorum.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Renee Gradis (resident, former Finance Committee chair) spoke via Zoom in support of the committee's recent decision to scale back its role at town meeting, arguing that the committee should focus on making recommendations rather than presenting articles in depth. She noted that the complaints from the Select Board mirrored those the committee had when it sought to reduce its workload.
- John York (resident, town meeting member) expressed concern about the Select Board taking over the presentation role, stating that the Finance Committee is a committee of town meeting and should report its recommendations directly to town meeting voters. He urged the committee to wait for an opinion from town counsel on this matter.
Discussion Items
Town Clerk Fee Proposals
- The town clerk’s representative presented proposed increases for dog licensing fees (from $7 to $10 for spayed/neutered dogs, and from $10 to $15 for intact dogs) and vital records fees (from $10 to $15 per certificate, and a bundled marriage intention/certificate fee from $25 to $40). These increases were driven by the fact that fees had not been raised in 20+ years for dog licenses and since 2011 for vital records. The committee discussed the need for policy updates to reflect the bundled fee and asked about projected revenue increases ($9,000 for dog licenses, $12,000 for vital records). No vote was taken.
Capital Requests: Dredging and Ramp Repair
- The Department of Natural Resources and Shore and Harbor Committee requested $150,000 for annual dredging and ramp repair, funded through the Waterways Improvement Fund. Ongoing projects include the Henko Quogue ramp, Taylor Point, and ramp repairs at Lessing Landing. No questions or objections were raised.
Capital Request: Fire Department Structural PPE
- Fire Chief Dave Velonzi requested $275,000 to purchase 48 sets of structural personal protective equipment (PPE) to replace gear approaching 10 years of service life. The new sets would serve as backup gear, allowing the current backup sets to become primary, ensuring firefighters have clean gear after fires. The committee asked clarifying questions about custom fitting and the number of sets per firefighter.
Capital Request: Fire Prevention Vehicle (Car 4)
- Chief Velonzi also requested funding for a new pickup truck to replace a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado with over 120,000 miles. The vehicle serves as the mobile office for the fire prevention officer, who spends most of the day in it. The new truck would have a covered bed to safely store tools and equipment. The committee noted the need for reliability and safety.
Sewer Enterprise Fund: SCADA System
- Public Works Director Matt Suwicki requested $732,000 for a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for sewer pump stations and the wastewater treatment facility. The design is expected to be complete by May, with construction ready in July. The system will enable real-time monitoring and trend analysis from a single location. The committee asked about financing through enterprise debt, which was confirmed.
Fire Department Operating Budget Adjustments
- Chief Velonzi presented line-item adjustments to the fire department’s operating budget, including contractual salary increases, reductions in clothing allowance and holiday pay due to turnover, increased overtime to offset contractual obligations, and a reduction in call firefighter staff. He also noted a reduction in machine repair contracts and an increase in county dispatch fees. The budget was described as level-funded with strategic cuts.
Sewer Enterprise Fund Operating Budget
- Director Suwicki presented the sewer budget, totaling $1,866,706, a $253,513 increase. Key increases included contractual obligations, a 7% overtime increase, and a $20,000 increase for the wastewater treatment plant operations and maintenance contract. Decreases included a $10,000 reduction in electricity costs based on historic data. The committee discussed a 25% subsidy from the Cape Cod Islands Water Protection Fund that will reduce capital debt service by about $50,000. A new budget initiative for infiltration and inflow inspections ($30,550) was also presented, to be done over five years rather than as a single capital project.
Budget Updates and Gap Analysis
- The town accountant reported on overall budget status, noting significant uncertainty. Final retirement board numbers are still pending, health insurance data will be reviewed in March, and debt numbers are being finalized. The final county dispatch fee increase of ~$70,000 creates a deficit. New cherry sheet projections indicate a potential $380,000 shortfall in the Upper Cape Tech assessment and a $350,000 gap from state aid and assessment changes. The accountant advised that the committee should prepare for a substantial budget gap before town meeting, but recommended waiting for firmer numbers before proposing cuts. The committee was encouraged to prepare questions for the superintendents’ appearance at the March 16th meeting.
Proposed Zoning Articles
- Planning Board Chair John Duggan and Assistant Town Planner Sean Lewis presented several zoning articles under consideration for town meeting:
- Seasonal Community Designation: Bourne is eligible; the designation would allow access to state grants and tools (e.g., year-round housing trust fund, residential tax exemption). Two mandatory zoning changes are required: allowing undersized lots for attainable housing and permitting tiny homes. The board is leaning toward not bringing this article to the warrant at this time, pending further review and town counsel opinion.
- Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Amendment: Proposed changes to align with new state laws, including allowing ADUs in the downtown neighborhood district, removing lot size requirements, and reducing owner occupancy requirements. The committee discussed enforcement of year-round occupancy requirements, with officials noting that systematic enforcement is not feasible with current staffing.
- Downtown District Front Setback Amendment: A proposal to increase the maximum front setback from 15 feet to 30 feet for parcels off primary streets in the downtown district, to allow more flexibility for parking and porches.
- The committee discussed the risk of the seasonal community designation becoming mandatory in the future, but was assured that the town can opt out within two years. A committee member recommended waiting for town counsel’s opinion before proceeding.
Finance Committee Role at Town Meeting
- A discussion ensued about the committee’s role in presenting articles at town meeting. Former Chair Renee Gradis stated that the committee should only give opinions, not present in depth. Resident John York argued that the committee is a committee of town meeting and should report recommendations directly. The town administrator clarified that the committee can speak directly with staff without going through the select board, but any committee action requires a meeting. The committee decided to wait for town counsel’s opinion before making any changes.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken on fee increases, capital requests, budget adjustments, or zoning articles. All items remain under consideration for future meetings.
- The committee agreed to reschedule the March 2nd meeting to March 9th due to a lack of quorum (one member unavailable on the 2nd).
- The meeting was adjourned via a roll call vote: Wayne (yes), Carla (yes), Amanda (yes), and the chair (yes).
- The committee will continue budget discussions at the March 9th meeting, and the budget hearing with school superintendents is scheduled for March 16th.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. Excuse me, being seven o'clock, we'll call the finance committee meeting to order. If anyone in the audience is recording or video taping, they need to acknowledge such this time. Use of flash photography during finance committee meetings is prohibited. If anyone from the public wishes to access the meeting, they could do so by call in the following conference line. 1929, 2056. Zoom meeting ID 859-5106 4466 password can come all capitals FIN C O M. The Zoom chat will not be monitored. Participants who wish to speak must raise the hand icon until the chair asks them to unmute all items with the meeting agenda subject to deliberation of votes. And first item is the next item is any absent members, which we have none. So is the town clerk here. Hi, um, I'm going to be presenting on behalf of the town clerk. Um he doesn't feel comfortable doing uh the presentation over Zoom, if that's okay with the committee. Yes. So you don't have many items, and do you know the plate in the agenda? Yes. Okay. Um would anyone object to hearing item five next? No objection. No meeting. Thank you. Okay, you can go ahead. Um so at a meeting uh with department heads, the budget was discussed. Um and at the Marlene suggested that we look at fees. Um I immediately went back to the office and took a look at the two main fees that come into the town club's office. Uh the first being dog licensing, because January is the month that we expect everybody to come in and license their dogs. Um the only information I could find was that the um the last time it came up was in 2005, was when they added a late fee. But that fee, the the main fee for dog licensing hasn't in hasn't been increased since before that time. I couldn't actually find the date that it was set. So we're talking 20 plus years ago was when the fees were were last looked at. Um and so I I just looked at where I spoke with Hannah from the DNR and conferred with her about it, and we felt it was reasonable to increase the fees um first paid and muted dogs up to ten dollars, and um for intact dogs um for it to be fifteen dollars. Um we are not gonna increase the late fees. We are not planning to increase the um uh the violation fees, all of that would come through DNR. Um this is just increasing that initial um fee from seven dollars to ten or from ten dollars to fifteen. Okay, thank you. Any discussion on dog license fees? Okay, next vital records fees. So the second thing was to look at record fees. Again, I looked at when they were last increased um at the last date that we had was uh from 2011. At that time, they were increased to ten dollars per copy. Um I also regularly the Mass Town Clarks Association um reaches out and surveys other town clerks to find out how much they're charging in their towns. People do it so that they can keep on top of fees, so we don't not see a huge variance between the towns. Um and it seemed reasonable between Barry and I for us to increase again from ten to fifteen dollars for a basic certificate or birth certificate, a marriage certificate, or a death certificate, and then also without it's sort of an increase, but it's not when people come in to get married, they have to file an attention when they do that. Oftentimes they have an expectation that they're going to get a copy of the marriage certificate as part of that. That isn't how it happens now, so they have to come back and request a copy of the certificate. What I'm what we're proposing is that um when people come in and pay for that marriage attention, they pay for the first marriage certificate as well. So that one would be increasing from 25 dollars, which is as it can't up to 40 dollars, but of course it will increase it will include that certificate, which would have cost them 15 dollars either way. Thank you. Any discussion or questions on vital records fees? So yeah, just a quick question.
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