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Town Council Minutes 7/1/2003
AVON TOWN COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
JULY 1, 2003

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen’s Chamber by Chairman Hines.  Members in attendance:  Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs:  Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford.

PUBLIC HEARING:

On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mrs. Hornaday, it was voted:
RESOLVED:  That the Town Council table the Public Hearing to the August 7th meeting.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.  Mrs. Hornaday abstained, absent from meeting.

MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETINGS

On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED:  That the Town Council approve the minutes of the June 5, 2003 as read.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.  Mrs. Hornaday abstained, absent from meeting.

COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE - None

COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL - None

OLD BUSINESS
02/03-18        Review and Discussion: Sprint Cellular Tower Installation; Avon Landfill
The Town Manager reported to be sure that this would be of benefit to the Town, we have asked that our communications consultant work with Sprint on (1) the locations (2) type of tower, and (3) the positioning of antennae, in terms of how this would benefit the Town of Avon in the future.  As you know we are moving and the FCC is moving towards what they call refarming, which is basically moving to a different type of technology which reduces the band widths so that they can fit more signals and communications within the same space, or frequency spectrum, and that is going to require more than likely more antennae sites, so we have been reserving the ones that we have not been using or that we have been switching from.  We have one at the Talcott Mountain Science Center, on WFSB Channel 3 tower, we have them on the Ridgewood Road water tower, and adjacent to the water tower on Huckleberry Hill Road.  This would give us a fifth location at the Landfill site, which would cover going southerly particularly on lower New Road, and  Buckingham over the ridge and down in that area.  

The Town Manager reported we had Langone & Associates work with Sprint to come up with both a location and a location of the tower to determine where it would be best for the Town of Avon.  We are now ready to go ahead and proceed to the next step, but we do not have the final agreement in place yet.  He would ask that after the presentation this evening, that if you feel comfortable with moving ahead that you give us a contingent motion saying subject to approval of the Town Attorney and Town Manager review, that we can then go ahead and sign an agreement with Sprint to move ahead with the project.  But if you do not feel comfortable because you received a lot of the information late today, then we would agree that if you want to table it to the August 7th meeting, it is not going to affect anything dramatically.  Chairman Hines questioned whether the part about the top 30’ of the tower for Town use has been agreed to.  The Town Manager reported yes, informally, that would be put into the agreement, obviously the financial aspect of the  arrangement would be put into the agreement as well.  We are reserving that basically for our use in the future for our public safety plans.  It was in 1995 when we were upgrading the police station that we last upgraded our communication systems, and at that time there was even indications of the refarming issue.  So we are basically looking probably in two to three years in our capital improvement program of redoing our communications system again, which will be ten to twelve years, so by that time we will need to look at upgrading again.  We are waiting to see how this refarming environment works out because it is not completely in place, a lot people are objecting to it, as you can imagine because it requires a significant capital expense in some case, to change over equipment, and there may be a phase in period and they are not sure whether that is going to be geographic or from a technical basis, that we will be given a grace period of three years to revise our system or not.  It is coming down the road and what we are doing here is the planning necessary to put an antennae in place when we need it.

Mr. Woodford reported according to this map, at some point in the future we will probably use this for some purpose or other, would the tower in its locations affect our future plans?  The Town Manager reported he does not believe so, but he will allow the consultant to address it in detail, but essentially where the tower will be located is, at the landfill towards the back of the leaf area, it will be off to the left down the slope somewhat.  We do have that area as a potential area for a future bulky waste site, but it has to be reapproved by the DEP, and the DEP is not very sympathetic to expansions of existing areas, in fact if anything they would be more than likely to allow us to go higher, rather than to expand things out on a base plane.  Therefore he does not think so, but if so we can work around that.  Based upon the propagation analysis that they have done and by our Engineering Department and Planning Department which was balloon testing, and based upon that they are recommending the location of the tower, it is going to be downgrade of that back road, it will be at less height from a visual standpoint.  The only issue that we are concerned with, and the Town Planner is going to work that out, is that they may want some type of screening put on the bank between the landfill and the ball field in the Butler area, so that eventually that will screen out the tower and the landfill from those homes, with white pine plantings on the lower side.

Mr. Langone, of Langone & Associates, reported the summary of the process has brought us up to date.  There are two final pieces of information; we have actually nailed down height, which is 30’ lower than we had originally thought.  When we did our dry test, which was to put an actual antennae up and take surrounding readings, we found out that we only needed 100’ at the site, so actually the visual that you have are at 130’ and the site itself when done is going to be at 100’.   We also looked at three different sites, and actually one other one prior to testing.  He would like to summarize the answers to the questions that were posed to the Town Manager. Sprint policy gives the Town use of the tower free, so even if it were on a private person’s property, the Town would be allowed to use it for free.  Secondly, with the changing of the FCC bans, every town would have to redo their equipment, and we redid the Town of Farmington with a 190’ tower that runs their entire system.  

Chairman Hines questioned what the Town use would be limited to.  Mr. Langone reported at the Town’s request we are doing a very limited structure here, and what the Town would be able to do in this case is to be able to take a whip antennae at the top and go off from that, and that would not interfere with our system or if we had another carrier on or a second carrier that would be co-hosting and it would not interfere with their system, and it would allow the Town to get that coverage, there would also be room for any equipment at the bottom if need be, and will be factored into it from the beginning in case it would be needed in the future.  The site will provide good coverage to the backside of the ridge of Avon, down from Buckingham to the other side of the ridge, a very good site for emergency access to that.  At 100’ there may be room for an additional carrier, if so, Sprint will maintain it, but the revenue will be the Town’s.  

With regard to the question with regard to the dumping area, we have done a lot of work in such areas, in fact we will go into any area like it even if it is to be expanded, and DEP will not likely allow Avon to do any expansion. We are in a good spot that will be good for Sprint and for Avon as well.  

Clint Roberts, an Architect at URS, reported he would like to share the site plan.  As you are coming off the main road, we are utilizing basically the access road as it is, once we are past the culvert we are basically coming across the slope and up into the area or the route line, which is basically a 100 x 100 meter area compound that would hold the Sprint equipment and space for co-locators if someone else was using it such as the Town or other carriers.  Our service is basically going to be overhead with a transformer and meter back the length of the run, the pole itself is 100’, and there are a number of different manufacturers, they are 14” to 16” square, depending upon the load and the availability at the time.  The monopole would be minimally 3.5 feet for that, we are proposing 3 locations on the pole for antennae, the Town has requested availability for this site and will have the tower drawings so that they can be accepted or not.  Chairman Hines reported what they are leasing is 100’ x 100’.  Mr. Langone reported that is correct, that will give flexibility.  Chairman Hines reported then if the pole falls, it will be partly on that lease property as it is a 50’radius.   Mr. Roberts reported as far as falling down, it is virtually impossible, anyway there is a binder in the paperwork, and it is very rare that you will find a failure on a pole.  Chairman Hines questioned how far are they into the ground.  Mr. Roberts reported these monopoles are put in like a mailbox, they drill into the ground and place the pole and pour concrete.  We are not locked into a manufacturer, we also are unsure of what the ground is here, once we get further on, we will have some field technicians and manufacturers tell us what the ideal foundation would be.  

The Public Works Superintendent questioned who is going to maintain the drive, and who is going to maintain the site.  Mr. Roberts reported the carrier will maintain the pole as well as the drive for their own use.  Chairman Hines questioned whether there would be snow removal.  Mr. Roberts reported they will maintain the access road but if there is snow, we really do not have to maintain it that day, we can wait to go up the pole, whereas if the Town were to co-locate on it the Police might have an immediate need to make that available and it would be something to consider.  Chairman Hines questioned whether they are bringing power up the access road.  Mr. Roberts reported that will be brought in to that point.  Mr. Langone reported underground access because of the proximity of the landfill cap is something that can be explored further into the process, DEP will be involved in whatever is done there.  The Town Manager reported there are a couple of issues, one is obviously whether we go above ground or under, another one is the potential screening of the above ground system from the Buckingham subdivision, which is an issue they are already concerned with and the third thing is the maintenance of the access road, as we would not use that part of the area for years.  Mr. Roberts reported we will maintain the road, if for some reason it gets washed away and needs to be relayed, we would do all of that, that is typical of what we do, the thing that is not typical is we are not going to plow every storm because we are not going out there.  Mr. Shea questioned whether they would be receptive to if the Town plowed it, a charge back.  Mr. Roberts reported we would have to go back to headquarters to work those issues out.  The Town Manager reported a cost sharing can be worked out, as we both will be using it and it would only be fair to do it that way.  Mr. Shea questioned why they would not already know whether they could do an underground wire at this point.  Mr. Roberts reported when he saw the site design he was more comfortable that it was originally shown going overhead because of the concerns of the landfill, he has not received a true survey showing the limits of the landfill which is something that he needs to do a little more digging with DEP to see whether that exists, to make sure whether or not that is something we can consider, but in most cases we would prefer to go underground especially in the cases of what we consider contact sensitive out here, as you have no above ground utilities in the neighborhood, it makes sense to try to keep that in harmony with that neighborhood.  The Town Manager reported it is important as to whether you are open to either, depending upon working it out one way or the other.  Mr. Langone reported yes, absolutely, the only consideration for us is protecting the cap of the landfill, and if we can make sure that is not going to be breached we would be happy to go underground.  Mr. Woodford reported if it has to go overhead, it would be much less obtrusive coming from New Road than it would be going the other way.  The Town Manager reported we may want to look at some buffering all the way along that road, that way the trees will grow up and will hide it.  Mrs. Hornaday reported how far is this from the playing fields to the area.  The Town Manager reported the idea here is if they start to put these poles visible from Buckingham, then we proceed to plant pine trees along the hill up the slope from the field near the property line, so that eventually that will screen those fields.  The other thing that we talked about is to put in a chain link fence along the entire boundary.  Mr. Roberts reported the compound will be completely fenced in, and we have put them in much more sensitive areas such as the back portion of a school playground and we have not had any problems, and the way we build them it basically keeps people out of them.  There are areas where the lines can be run underground, so there are options to address that.  

Chairman Hines reported is there a time frame and time limit for our decision.  Mr. Langone reported it will take us a while to get through the remaining items in the lease, but he would like to get it to the Town Council by September 1, and then to the Siting Council.  Chairman Hines reported the Town Manager should continue working with the Town Planner and Town Attorney, to finalize this and bring it back to our first meeting on August 7th, so that we get a chance to see it and try to solve all of these problems.  Mr. Woodford questioned what would happen if after we sign the lease we said no.  Mr. Langone reported he has never had a town give us a lease and then say no after the 60 day review period.  The way the Statute is set up, is 60 days before we file an application with the Siting Council we have to provide all of our technical information to the Town, and they have 60 days to review and make comments to the Siting Council.  It is not for a decision of yes or no, it is to comment on the application and it becomes a part of the Siting Council record and then the Siting Council brings them into the record, and then the Siting Council has a public hearing in Avon for input.  All of the items would be finalized before the Siting Council gets the application.  The utility question would have to be answered one way of the other before we file with them, the issue for us is to get it in for that 60 day review because we would have to run that time frame before we can file the actual application, but we could have an answer by August 7th, as to where we would want to put the underground utilities.  The Town Manager reported we will work with them on these issues, the poles verses underground lines, the plowing and maintenance of the road issue, the buffering if we need any, or whatever else so that we can come back for the August 7th meeting.  Mr. Woodford questioned whether the neighborhood has input in this process.  The Town Manager reported they have input through the public hearing process of the Siting Council, in essence just like the Town will have.  Mr. Langone reported all abutters will get a notice from the Siting Council.  Chairman Hines reported the Town should give some type of presentation at that public hearing.  Mr. Langone reported yes, the Siting Council generally will expect written comments from the Town, prior to the start of the public hearing that is usually another 60 days after the 60 day review period.  It may be good to have them prior to that, because sometimes they generate questions from the Council that we can address prior to the hearing date.   Mr. Roberts reported the application is usually about 400 to 500 pages, and more information in it than you could imagine, and it will be on file in the Town once the abutters are notified, they will be on file at the Library and the Town Clerk’s office so that people can freely pour over them.  

The Town Manager reported the main reason he would want poles installed in order to justify getting them to plant all of those pine trees.  We feel that we are going to get pressure from the Buckingham residents to plant that slope so that it is hiding the landfill, and eventually there will be children running around also and a fence may be needed.  On the other hand if underground is that critical, we can have that done.  Mr. Shea reported he just feels that underground looks better, but whatever you decide is fine.  The Town Manager reported if he could get underground wires and the trees that would be best.

On a motion made by Mr. Carlson, seconded by Mrs. Hornaday, it was voted:
RESOLVED:       That the Town Council table this item to the August 7, 2003 meeting.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.   
 
02/03-72        M. H. Rhodes Building:  Award Bid: Internal Environmental Remediation
The Town Manager reported a memo has been distributed containing the bids received, we are not recommending going with the low bidder, we are recommending going with the second lowest.  Mr. Woodford questioned what the chances are of this process being delayed by someone objecting to this.  The Town Manager reported he would say at the present time it is a possibility, but probably not a strong possibility given the fact that the lowest bidder did not comply with the instructions, and if they had complied, and we received positive references on municipal projects in Connecticut, and everything else, then he would probably be saying to accept the low bidder, regardless.  But the price differential is not much different either.  Mr. Shea reported he knows that the second lowest bidder is bondable, and that they are reliable, has been doing this for a number of years and has a good reputation.  The Town Manager reported we received a potential bid price from Eagle Environmental of $50,000 and this bid is $46,400 from Bestech, Incorporated.  Mr. Carlson questioned why the others are so much higher, did they see something the others did not.  The Superintendent of Public Works reported Bestech was the only company who showed up for the walk through, therefore they were better prepared, and he did not receive any phone calls from other bidders as far as the size of the building or anything else, however the specifics are very detailed.  We have used Bestech on Building #7 of Town Hall; they are currently working down at the movie theatre on another project doing the demolition.

On a motion made by Mrs. Hornaday, seconded be Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED:       That the Town Council award the bid to the lowest qualified bidder Bestech, Incorporated in amount $26,400 for the internal environmental remediation, including removal of asbestos, ballast, lighting and thermostatic controls from the Town building at 99 Thompson Road formerly known as M. H. Rhodes, as recommended by the Superintendent of Public Works.                                                                    
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.

        02/03-102       Appointment:  Alternate Zoning Board of Appeals

On a motion made by Mrs. Hornaday, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED:       That the Town Council table this item to the August 7th meeting.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.

NEW BUSINESS
03/04-01        Review and Discussion: Towpath Rents
The Town Manager reported we received letters from the Health District and the Farmington Valley Arts Center.  The Farmington Valley Arts Center will be terminating their lease a year from this July, as they have had significant financial cutbacks, in terms of grant funding, they are consolidating their efforts at the building here in Avon Park North, they have closed the Fisher Arts Gallery, and have laid two people off.  They are doing well apparently on their educational programs and are trying to restructure all of that as well.  

The Farmington Valley Health District, with what is going on with the State budget, if they get they’re funding back to where they are, there is no problem with the rent.  But he would recommend to the Council to go along with both of these proposals, which will keep the building somewhat occupied, not that they would move out, but the 50% reduction for the FVHD will show that we are trying to be somewhat sympathetic with their financial situation.  The Town Manager reported that would make us $6,000 short in the budget.  This reduction will allow us to keep the FVHD here, which in turn reduces our costs for their services by allowing them to rent Towpath.   

On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED:       That the Town Council authorize a reduction in the proposed 50% increase in fees by half for the rent of Towpath School by the Farmington Valley Health District for FY 2003/2004.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.       

03/04-02        Review and Discussion: Request to Merge Two Part-time Positions: Planning Department
The Town Manager reported there is a change from two part time to one full time position in the Planning Department, there is a difference of 3 hours.  The critical thing is the number of full time employees we have, as that is really a cost factor, this makes sense in this context.  The issue that we have to keep in mind is that when the present full time person retires, assuming that this new full time person moves into that position, then we will be back into the split positions again which gives us more flexibility and less cost.  The depth of knowledge that these people acquire in terms of the practical aspects of things, it takes a long time to get them trained, and this part time person has already worked there, out doing zoning enforcement work, taking the CASIO course which is put on by UCONN which is a three year program to get certified as a zoning enforcement person, she has been to the Wetlands meetings to take their minutes, so it is a matter of understanding, not just the zoning matters or the wetlands matters, or the Zoning Board of Appeals matters, it is understanding the total package, and how they relate and being able to advise somebody when they come in.

On a motion made by Mr. Carlson, seconded by Mrs. Hornaday, it was voted:
RESOLVED:       That the Town Council approve the change to a full time position in the Planning & Zoning Department as contained in the proposal.                 
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.  

03/04-03        Review and Discussion; Town Council Policy: Advocacy Activities by Interest Groups Being Conducted on Town Property.
Chairman Hines reported the Town Manager made changes to a proposed draft of a policy that was never accepted, due to concerns expressed by our Town Attorney.  The first thing would be to change the title from Town Council Policy, and make it a recommended guideline. The only purpose contained in the present wording has to do with only Town property, and every time we have a problem the question he is presented with is whether people can put up signs around Town.  The Town Manager reported we receive these questions constantly, directly related to the heat of the debate.  Mr. Shea reported he would want to address Town property only.  The Town Manager reported when people see Town property they want to know whether that means the right of way in front of their homes.  We have that answer for them now; we did not have that two months ago.  

This past time it was more the issue of the rights-of-way therefore we requested an opinion from the Town Attorney.  We also receive questions about whether they can hand out things at the landfill, at the library, they want to do something at the soccer tournament over the weekend and want to know whether they can.  If nothing is controversial we usually do not have problems, it is when the controversial items come up then we have problems, such as when the schools were putting things out on the Middle School grounds and the taxpayers group calling and wanting to know why it was on school grounds.  The proposed will be considered as a guideline and we should be able to answer concerns expressed.  We should try it for the time being or until we have a problem.

On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED:       That the Town Council remove this item from the agenda.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.

TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT/MISCELLANEOUS
The Town Manager reported the Town Attorney is working with Douglas Thompson on the issue of the farm property, there are concerns because the main farm property that the house and the barn and those fields around it are in trust.  There is some question as to how we are going to work that out, or even if we can.  Mr. Thompson has other parcels of property obviously; next to the M. H. Rhodes building, across the street from that, which may be easier to deal with than the actual hay fields easterly and southerly of the house.  Mr. Woodford reported we should find out about the land next to the school, it would be nice to have.          

EXECUTIVE SESSION:  Litigation/Negotiation - None

ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Attest:



Caroline B. LaMonica
Town Clerk