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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-05-07-SBC-min (Finance Subcommittee)School Building Finance Sub -Committee Minutes, Meeting of Thursday, May 7, 2026 Virtual Meeting 2:30 PM This was a public meeting of the Finance Subcommittee of the School Building Committee, held via Zoom Members: Jonathan Himmel (Permanent Building Committee) - Chair, Mike Cronin (Facilities Director), Carolyn Kosnoff (Assistant Town Manager Finance), Joe Pato (Select Board), Kseniya Slaysky (Resident), Dan Voss (Resident) Call to Order Chair Jonathan Himmel called the meeting to order at approximately 2:31 PM on May 7, 2026 (virtual meeting). Attendance • Jonathan Himmel (Chair) • Mike Cronin • Joe Pato • Carolyn Kosnoff • Kseniya Slaysky • Dan Voss (joined a few minutes late) Note: At the start of the meeting, the Chair noted that Dan had not yet joined. Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes The committee reviewed the prior meeting minutes. A spelling correction was noted: "Dore" (not "Doran"). Motion to approve the minutes as corrected was made by Carolyn Kosnoff. The motion carried unanimously. Discussion and Updates Financial Dashboard (Publication Path and Review) • Members discussed next steps for reviewing the online financial dashboard and the process for making it publicly available. • Mike Cronin noted that the Finance Subcommittee would recommend (rather than unilaterally decide) that the dashboard go live, with final approval to be sought from the full School Building Committee (SBC). • Cronin indicated he would meet with Jacob (dashboard administrator) the following morning to review progress on requested changes and determine what updates had been implemented. • To allow members to "walk through" the dashboard and review features (including links and drill -downs), Cronin noted it would likely need to be temporarily posted to the school website; it could then be taken down after review, prior to any SBC action to post it permanently. Project Financial Reporting (Invoice Packages, OPM Report, and Context) • Members reviewed invoice/warrant materials and discussed the level of financial context provided alongside invoices. • Kseniya Slaysky described common project financial control reports (e.g., contract values, change orders, billed -to -date, and budget/commitment/spend context) and stated that reviewing invoices alone does not provide a complete picture of project commitments and budget controls. • Carolyn Kosnoff explained that the Town's accounting system (Munis) is at the end of the process and provides high-level budget categories; producing contractor -by -contractor rollups from Munis would require substantial manual effort. • Slaysky stated confidence that the Owner's Project Manager (Dore & Whittier) already tracks contract and budget information (as evidenced by the drafted dashboard), and suggested ensuring appropriate backup/drill-down information for items presented on the dashboard. • Members discussed that the Owner's Project Manager monthly report currently contains less financial detail than the dashboard draft, and that enhancements or supplemental supporting information may be needed if the dashboard is to be backed by reporting. • Cronin suggested that recommendations regarding the content of the Owner's Project Manager report should ultimately be considered by the full SBC (not solely this subcommittee), and noted the dashboard would be on the SBC agenda. Public Questions and Communications • Slaysky asked how members of the public could submit questions about project finances; Joe Pato stated that public comment and requests go through the full SBC via the general contact form/email. • Himmel suggested adding a button/link on the dashboard to route finance -related questions directly to the SBC contact mechanism to reduce navigation burden for the public. Action Items • Mike Cronin: Meet with Jacob (dashboard administrator) to review status of requested dashboard changes; report back at next meeting. • Kseniya Slaysky: Send Cronin a short written summary of requested reporting/dashboard items for Cronin's discussion with the project team/OPM. • Cronin: Coordinate attendance of Dore & Whittier staff for the next subcommittee meeting and arrange for a live dashboard walkthrough. • Carolyn Kosnoff and Kseniya Slaysky: Draft explanatory narrative/"how-to" content to accompany the dashboard upon posting (Kosnoff: payment process narrative; Slaysky: narrative for project funding/graphics and auditability notes). - 2 - • Mike Cronin: If available, locate and share a sample reporting/invoice package from the "JQ" (Josiah Quincy) project for reference. Next Meeting The committee planned to meet the following Thursday at 12:00 PM, subject to confirmation/availability of Dore & Whittier representatives with the intent to conduct a live walkthrough of the dashboard and review reporting/supporting information. Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made by Joe Pato and seconded by Kseniya Slaysky and Carolyn Kosnoff. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at approximately 3:13 PM. Minutes submitted by Joseph Pato drawing on Zoom transcript CoPilot Al prompt: Using only the meeting transcript in this file, generate a set of minutes for this meeting Approved 5/14/2026 -3