Faison Updates Public, Council on City’s Financials

At the Town Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 21, Town Manager Austin Faison shared on three topics that were raised at the last Council meeting on Jan. 7 by Finance Committee Member Karin Chavis.

-Ferry financials

Faison shared a spreadsheet for the 2020 Summary Revenue/Expense Report as it concerned Winthrop’s Ferry Enterprise. The report was from July 1, 2019, until June 30, 2020. Revenue came in just over $130,500, while expenditure totaled $275,100. This put the ending balance at $405,600.

Stay up to date on the Winthrop Ferry by going to town.winthrop.ma.us/ferry. You can also visit them at their facebook page at facebook.com/TheWinthropFerry.

-Public Safety Building Feasibility Study

Members of the Winthrop Fire Department and the Winthrop Police Department have been working with architectural firm Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc. to plan and design a public safety facility. Due to the size of the project, prospective locations in Winthrop are few. There are two potential sites currently being explored and architects are working on drafting a feasibility report. Both sites would require a minimum of $50 million to develop, which would come out of the community’s debt exclusion fund.

A public safety building is a facility that houses all the emergency services within a town, including police, fire and emergency dispatch services.

-HS/MS bonded money

Winthrop’s Chief Financial Officer Anna Freedman is currently drafting an announcement on the $1.5 million in school funding leftover from the middle/high school project. She hopes to have it ready to present to the Council at its next meeting on Feb. 4.

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