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AVON TOWN COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 4, 2003
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen’s Chamber by Chairman Hines. Members present: Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Carlson, Shea and Woodford.
PUBLIC HEARING: None
MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETING
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve the minutes of the August 7, 2003 meeting as read.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE
The Fire Department President reported they will not have their fire training operation at 172 West Avon Road until after September 15th which is when the asbestos contractor is scheduled to do their work, it will be scheduled after that, then the building will be demolished immediately after the exercises are complete. Chairman Hines requested they have an article in the newspaper, and more importantly the neighbors are to be notified. The President reported they will be notified, and we have also received contact from the media, CPTV wants to be there to do a documentary on it when we do the exercises. The Town could get some very good publicity out of this.
COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL
Mrs. Hornaday reported she received many inquiries about the survey that was sent around by the Board of Education. She questioned whether there would be a forthcoming report on this. Chairman Hines reported he received copies of it from Dr. Kisiel, Superintendent of Schools, it is something that the Board of Education will be looking at in their long term plans for the future. He would assume at some point that report would be available, and would be public information, but he is not aware of the timing. The Town Manager reported he will get copies of the results once they are available.
Chairman Hines reported we discussed having the Town staff come up with a report on future development and what we can and cannot do on restrictions and so forth. He questioned where that stood. The Town Manager reported the Town Planner is working on that, he will check on the status of that report. Chairman Hines reported we want the Town Attorney to be working on that as well. The Town Manager reported the Town Planner has talked with Attorney Ziska, who does most of the land use work for the firm, to try to put something together in terms of what legally can and cannot be done in terms of development.
OLD BUSINESS
02/03-60 FY03/04 Budget: Review, Discussion and Approval: Funding for Additional Police Officer: $49,190.
The Town Manager reported we have discussed this quite a bit, and we do have the funds available. Chairman Hines reported there have been many discussions, it should not be a problem. He questioned whether the effective date would be October 1st. The Town Manager reported the funding is based on a half year basis because it will probably be that long before we get someone on board, unless we are successful in recruiting someone that is already certified. The exact amount of money will not be known, until we find out when the person will start, then we can calculate to the end of the fiscal year, but this gives us ample funds. Mrs. Hornaday reported she is in favor of this, we have the need for it, the need for police service is going up in Town, and the residents have indicated an interest in
it, from what we are hearing. But normally, she does not like adding things in that had to be taken out during the budget process, but with this the voters did indicate that they were for it. Chairman Hines reported if you go back to the final discussion we had with the Board of Finance, they were interested in keeping the employee in there, and pulling out the truck, we tried to get a grant for the police officer but we were not successful in that area, and this was something we wanted to try to do, and use surplus funds if we could at the end of the year, and fortunately we have some.
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council favorably recommends to the Board of Finance an appropriation not to exceed $49,190 from Account #01-0390-43913, General Fund, Other Financing Sources, Undesignated Fund Balance to Account:
#01-2107-51011 Gen.Fund Patrol Sys. Reg. Full Time $ 36,020
#01-2107-51031 Gen. Fund Patrol Svs. FICA 2,756
#01-2107-51033 Gen. Fund Patrol Svs. Hospitalization 2,794
#01-2107-51034 Gen. Fund Patrol Svs. Dental 332
#01-2107-51035 Gen. Fund Patrol Svs. Life Ins 60
#01-2107-51036 Gen. Fund Patrol Svs. Work. Comp. 1,425
#01-2107-51037 Gen. Fund Patrol Svs. Long Term Disab. 117
#01-2107-51038 Gen. Fund Patrol Svs. Defined Contrib. 2,702
#01-2107-52238 Gen. Fund Patrol Svs. Uniforms 2,984
Total $ 49,190
For the purpose of funding an additional Police Officer’s wages, benefits and uniforms, effective October 1, 2003.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
02/03-67 Award Bid and Supplemental Appropriation: Senior Center Sprinkler System
The Superintendent of Public Works reported we went out for bid by RFP on the Senior Center Sprinkler System. On July 14th we had a prebid meeting, we had sent out seven packages, three vendors showed up for the prebid meeting, but on the opening July 14th we had no responses. We extended it, and contacted all of the vendors to see what the issue was and they responded that they needed more time to put the bid package together so it was extended to the July 25th. At that point we received two bids of the three vendors who attended the prebid meeting. Aztech Engineers, who is overseeing the engineering design and construction for us, spoke with the lowest bidder and was comfortable with them, they are a local corporation out of Newington. He spoke with the
President of the Company today, he is comfortable with the terms and conditions of the contract, he understands it has to be a turn key, anything that gets done or damaged in the construction or reconstruction of the sprinkler system has to be brought back to the original state of the building. His biggest concern is time, he does not know what the Town’s expectations are, but he is planning on three to four weeks, and will work with our building officials to make sure that the system is approved, and then construction starts soon thereafter. Chairman Hines questioned whether the old system will stay in the ceiling. The Superintendent of Public Works reported the bulk of it will stay, we left that as an option to try to reduce the costs, and he would assume most of that 4”pipe and some of the 2” pipe will stay, and the new will lay close to it. Chairman Hines questioned whether this would stop all of the activities for that three-week
period of time. The Superintendent of Public Works no, we will work very closely with the Director of Recreation and Parks. The contractor knows that they have to tell us the areas that are required to be closed down, it will not stop all activities. The large room is going to be the most difficult.
Mr. Shea questioned what Aztec said about the $20,000 spread between the two bidders. The Superintendent reported he checked into it and said it was fine. Both of these bids came in a little less than we had anticipated with the original estimates, especially considering that they will be doing the finish carpentry and painting.
Mrs. Hornaday questioned whether arrangements have been made with Canton or for another location in Town for the Senior lunch program. The Superintendent of Public Works reported we do not know the extent of disruption to the building yet. When he spoke with the contractor, he was very concerned
about that as he is going to have his crews in there and that is something that the Director of Recreation and Parks, myself and the Senior Center are really going to have to sit down to discuss. Mrs. Hornaday reported we share with Canton now, but there are also churches in the area, and other facilities, but a lot of the seniors not only like the lunch, they like seeing the other people and having that opportunity to visit. Mr. Carlson questioned whether the job would go quicker if we shut the building down in its entirety, if they would be having to work around things, and start and stop and clean up and that type of thing. The Superintendent of Public Works reported the impression he got was that they are going to have to put this together in pieces anyhow, so he will pose that question to them but he got
the impression from the prebid meeting with Aztec, it is a piece by piece process. Chairman Hines reported Mr. Carlson’s idea is good, if you could really make that happen and get it done in two weeks, the Seniors would be happier. Mr. Carlson reported the use of the churches would be ideal, they are close by and have large facilities and kitchens. The Superintendent of Public Works reported he will pose that question and report back to the Town Manager. The Director of Recreation and Parks reported the staff there is prepared for whatever the Superintendent of Public Works comes up with.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council award the bid to the apparent low bidder Professional Mechanical Contractors in amount $72,740.00 for installation of a new sprinkler system at the Senior Center on West Avon Road.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council favorably recommends to the Board of Finance an appropriation not to exceed $81,116 from Account #01-0390-43913, General Fund, Other Financing Sources, Undesignated Fund Balance and transfers from Account:
#02-4844-53009 Cap. Proj. Fund (F&E) Town CIP Equip. Fire Tr. #14 $2.204.92
#02-4844-53351 Cap. Proj. Fund (F&E) Town CIP Equip. 1T PU Rpl 136.22
#02-4844-53352 Cap. Proj. Fund (F&E) Town CIP Equip. 1T PU Rpl 223.66
#02-4864-53353 Cap. Proj. Fund (F&E) Town CIP Equip. Van Rpl 468.15
#02-4840-53375 Cap. Proj. Fund (F&E) Town CIP Truck PW Dump Tr. 84.72 Total $3,117.67
for a combined total of $84,233.67;
To Account:
#02-4829-53363 Capital Proj. Fund (F&E) Town CIP Facil., Senior Center SprinklerSystem for the replacement sprinkler system at the Senior Center
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 Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table the appointment to the October 2, 2003 meeting.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Wooford voted in favor.
NEW BUSINESS
03/04-16 Review, Discussion and Approval: Defined Benefit Pension Issues
Selection of Investment Advisor
The Town Manager reported the background material is fairly complete on the selection of the Investment Advisor, we are recommending that the Town Council authorize the Town
Manager to sign a contract with UBS Prime Asset Consulting, which we felt was the preferred firm out of the seven that submitted proposals. The Director of Finance reported we presented a preliminary RFP to the Town Council for review, at that point it was put out on the web site and the Hartford Courant. We did a direct mailing to about 13 firms that had expressed interest in participating in the process, and received responses from seven. Out of the seven we distributed the proposals to the Committee and asked them to rate, based on the following categories - philosophy, history, communication fees – pretty standard categories that we had actually used in our RFP process back in the 1990s. Based on that, the Committee came up with a composite fee schedule, we had a regular scheduled Adhoc Pension
Committee Meeting, decided at that point that out of the seven to interview four firms. We had them in for mid-August, then based on our interview panel with them, we decided on, in terms of a rating, to recommended UBS to the Town Council. We have everything at this point attached to the memo, except for the final draft agreement, which is still in preliminary stages, a first draft and some comments from the Town Attorney are attached.
The Town Manager reported one of the things that we have tried to focus on here is the distance between the advisor and the manager, who actually has custodianship of the funds and manages the investment part of it, and we have been able to successfully do that. One other thing that was of major importance in terms of the recommendation that we are making is the fact that this firm has had extensive work with West Hartford in setting up under the Connecticut Statutes, the Post Retiree Employee Medical Benefit Fund, that we are going to have, and all towns are going to have to set up in the next two to five years. We have been moving in that direction, both from a funding standpoint – but we need to set up the legal documentation for that fund and determine how it is going to be managed and this firm has
done that with West Hartford. They are a good firm, good references, broad experience in Connecticut, and we fashioned an agreement as best as we can to avoid any conflicts that could possibly occur between the Advisor and the Manager. Mr. Carlson questioned whether our agreement with them will allow us the opportunity to get out should there be a change of ownership in either one of these, or a change in relationship between the two, going back to your point of separating the two and keeping distance between the two. The Town Manager reported yes it will, there will be 60 or 90-day notice required.
On a motion made by Mrs. Hornaday, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to sign on behalf of the Town of Avon the Consulting Services Agreement with UBS Financial Services, Inc., for provision of Consulting Services, subject to the incorporation of the Town Attorneys recommendations.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
Change Methodology for Determining Pension Payment
The Town Manager reported we started looking closer at what we could do with the management of the Pension Fund, in terms of its impact on the budget. Not only Avon, but virtually everybody that runs a defined benefit pension plan and the problems that they have had with the stock market situation, and really with the lack of return on investment. As our Actuary from Milliman USA will explain, based upon what has happened over the last several years, if we kept the same funding methodology that we are currently using, which has served us well in the past, we would be subjected to at least several more years, depending upon the performance of the market, a large budgetary increases in the Pension Fund. We started to review other methodologies, we asked the actuaries to come in and take a look at what is
going on. Other communities are doing the same thing. The Actuary came up with, basically after review, with a different methodology of dealing with our funding of the Pension Plan. As a review, we have closed this plan out to all employees, effective December 31, 1996, all employees hired January 1, 1997 and forward are not in this plan. The people that are affected by this plan are only those that are already retired, and 60 employees, a little more than half of our current employees that are still in this plan. The other group that is still accepting people is the Board of Education, they did not close this plan out to the Secretaries, Cafeteria Workers, Nurses and Custodial Maintenance Staff, those people are still in a portion of this plan. Within that plan there are five different groups, and they are primarily the bargaining units, there is the Police, the Dispatchers, Public Works, the Non-Affiliated Town Employees, and the Board of Education
Non-Certified Employees. Four of those accounts, the Towns accounts were closed on December 31, 1996, so what we are looking at is ensuring that as this plan winds down and gets closed out, it is properly taken care of but at the same time that it is not driving the budget like it has been for the two or three years. What we are asking the Council to do tonight is to let our Actuary walk us through what we are recommending, you will see the potential budgetary impact. He does not want to raise expectations, but we are hoping that this would have a significant impact on mitigating these increases and possibly next year’s budget will decrease in the pension portion.
The Town Manager reported we have this new requirement that we have talked about – the post retiree medical health benefit commitment. The way the Governmental Accounting Standards Board is focusing in on this, we are going to have increasing requirements to fund that from an actuarial standpoint. If we adopt this new methodology, there could be a reduction and he is now recommending to take that reduction from the current years and to flip it over into this other area that we need to fund. That will be a budgetary decision. He would like to emphasize that this new methodology is very safe, it is an accepted practice, it is even a recommend practice by the Government Finance Officers Association. We have solicited comments from both Standard and Poors and Moodys, concerning how they would
view this, in terms of our credit rating, because we may very well be going to the credit market in the next several years.
Chairman Hines questioned whether the Board of Education has been made aware that we may be changing this philosophy, since they have a large number of employees in this. The Town Manager reported yes, their Finance Director is a part of the Pension Investment Committee, and he is aware of what we are doing, and is in favor.
Mr. Carlson questioned what actions they are taking to curtail the use of this plan, as hardly anyone out there is offering a defined benefit program. The Actuary reported in the public sector it is the predominant form of pension program, in the private sector there has been a change and she would say that most companies now offer a 401k plan, rather than a defined benefit plan, but in the public sector which is your employees market, this is the norm. Mr. Carlson reported but in this public sector for a portion of our population, we have not, so what he is questioning is what is the other portion of the population in this economic market right here in Avon doing to curtail use. The Town Manager reported he is not sure what the the Board of Education’s strategy is in terms of the negotiating with
their bargaining units the retirement portion of the package. Their plan in terms of the way it is constructed is not the same as the Towns plan, what very often drives negotiation is the interest of the parties that are sitting at the table. If you have a young group of employees that is worried about their paycheck, they are not as concerned with the retirement, so very often the retirement plan does not receive any consideration in the bargaining. The retirement plan went into effect for Town employees in 1961, there was no interest and no modifications to the pension plan until 1986 when we were bargaining and at that point some of the employees could see out on the horizon retirement, so that became something of an interest to them. Mr. Carlson reported it would be to the benefit of the Town if we get to the point where we are not allowing new employees to go into the program. Mr. Woodford questioned what the Board of Education Finance Director had to
say about this. The Town Manager reported he has not talked in detail regarding their negotiating strategy. Chairman Hines reported the Board of Education should be informed that the Town Council would like them to go the route that the Town has gone with their staff, that is an appropriate memo from the Town Council to them, for future negotiations, direct to the Superintendent of Schools and their Director of Finance.
The Actuary reported she would like to walk through some of the terminology and concepts. Each year the Actuaries perform an actuarial evaluation, there are three main purposes of that process, one is to calculate a recommended contribution to keep the plans well funded, plans come in five pieces, to monitor how well funded the plans area and to keep an eye on overall trends, we take into account how the investments are doing, how the employee population is changing over time, what pay increases are looking like, so that we can make sure that the assumptions we use to measure the liability for these benefits are doing a good job of capturing the experience. Chairman Hines questioned whether they also look at the potential life expectancies of people, which seem to be increasing. The Actuary reported
absolutely, and periodically we adopt a more up to date mortality table that reflects improvements in longevity. She presented a table which reflects the money coming in from two fund sources, employer and member contributions are one, and investment income, then a small amount comes out in the form of expenses, while most of the money flows out in the form of benefits to retirees. The job of the pension valuation process, is one piece is determined by your investment manager’s, how you allocate the investments, to equities, fixed income and so forth, what it will be, subject to your management of it. The provisions of the pension plan determine the benefits paid to retirees, the benefits as the employees as to what benefits they have as they retire, and what pay levels they have when they retire. The member contributions are set by the terms of the pension plan. The employer contributions – the Town contribution is the balancing item so
that we do not run out of money. Where the appropriate level of enough in reserve is – different people have different philosophies, as to how much is enough, but there is general agreement that this is not enough and overflowing is too much, what we like to do is keep a generous level of the plans assets so that there is enough money for not only to pay the people that are currently receiving monthly benefits, but also to make sure that we are setting aside money now, as the employees in the plan earn benefits, so that when they retire, there is enough money to cover their benefits.
The Actuary reported the Town’s contribution consists of two pieces, the normal cost is the cost of benefits that are being earned this year as employees work another year of service, earn other benefits. We want to have the cost of those benefits earned be contributed that year, so that we are keeping abreast of benefits as they get earned, plus there is a past service payment – our technical term for it – if the normal costs were always paid every year from the beginning of time, and if everything we assumed about the future always came true every year there would always be enough money to fund the liability for all of the benefits that have been earned. But things never work out exactly the way they are supposed to, especially with the investments and over time you can accumulate a
deficiency or a surplus of assets compared to the liabilities. Whether it is a surplus or a deficit we want it brought down over a period of time so that the plan has just enough assets to cover its liabilities and we do that by taking, whether surplus or deficit, and amortizing it over a period of years and that amortization payment just like a mortgage payment, we call the past service cost, and the two of those pieces together are what we recommend you contribute each year. There are a number of different methods in common use for how to amortize the unfunded liability if there is one. The payment period can vary anywhere from five years at the short side to 30 years at the long side. The Board of Education plan is at five years, two of the Town plans are at 14 years and two are at 15 years, but the payment period could be extended as much as 30 years. There are two different methods of calculating the payment amount – level dollar is what we
are currently doing – and level percent. The level dollar works just like a mortgage payment, you have a certain amount that you are mortgaging, you have a fixed monthly or annual payment that remains fixed as a dollar amount over the life of the mortgage, the amount of annual payment remains fixed over time. A level percent amortization payment goes up over time as payroll goes up, in public pension funding this has some very desirable characteristics. If you have a fixed dollar amount, over time it will decrease as a percentage of payroll, so $100,000 today at whatever percentage of the total payroll that is, that same $100,000 20 years from now while you are still paying that off is going to be a very small percentage of the total payroll. We are suggesting as an alternative to consider here, payments that go up over time but remain level as a percentage of payroll. It also means more or less that it will remain level compared to the
total budget so that it will be consistent with all of the other items that you are budgeting that all tend to increase over time. Both methods at the end of amortization period have completely paid off the unfunded liability, but if you are paying larger dollar amounts in the early years, the unfunded liability will decrease more, but it will always end up as zero which is how any amortization works but it is a different pattern of the liability being paid off over time.
Some specific things that need to be considered when faced with a choice of; is 5 years appropriate, is 30 years appropriate, is level dollar appropriate or level percent of payroll appropriate? We think that there are four key things to consider. The first is you need to be looking at this in the long term, a pension plan is a long term proposition, you have people that are earning benefits right now that will still be collecting them 60 or 70 years from now. So it is a very long time horizon and it is something that the Town will be funding over a very long time period. The second is that with a public pension plan you need to be thinking about different generations of taxpayers paying for these benefits and as a general rule we believe as a philosophical statement that the current generation of
taxpayers that is taking advantage of the service of the Town employees should be paying a fair share of the pension benefits that are being earned by those employees. That you should not be either having this generation pay too much nor have too much pushed onto future generations of taxpayers, so there needs to be a balance between both today’s taxpayers and the taxpayers 20 to 60 years from now. The third is that you need to have an actuarially sound method, and all of the variations that have been described to you are commonly used by our many public clients, they are commonly used throughout the country, they are accepted by the Government Accounting Standards Board, the Government Finance Officers Association, they all agree that what has been laid out for you is all fine and actuarially sound. Finally, and this is perhaps most important in tonight’s discussion, is that the method needs to allow for flexibility or your approach to talking about
funding them needs to allow for some flexibility. We have three really bad years of investment results, whereas three years ago we thought that these pension plans were funded quite nicely, three years later the plan dropped quite a bit. So this is an unusual situation and we need to have some flexibility in agreeing to change the method because this is an unusual place, an unanticipated place that we find ourselves in with the pension plan. The numbers look like – with graphing of liability against asset level for the past six years – and we expect liabilities to go up over time, and we expect the investments to go up over time, but we hope that the relationship between the two stays constant or is closed out, but instead what we have seen is that the gap has widened over time and that is not anything on the liability side happening, it is what has happened in the stock market. These plans’ investments did very well in the good years, back
at least six years with good investment results that these plans did very well, and although we have had three bad years they have only been modestly bad, with only a negative 8% return. Which may not seem good, but many clients have had a negative 20% return. With the three bad years, the gap between assets and liabilities has significantly worsened. All of our Connecticut town clients are in the same boat, and Avon has actually faired better than most especially in this past year.
The Actuary reported she put together, looking out into the future, at a 2002 contribution level and the unfunded liability in 2003, those are in the books we cannot alter them, but looking ahead to 2004 and beyond we are looking at continued increases in the unfunded liability and in the amortization payment past service costs for that. That is because we want to do what we can in our funding method to minimize the impact of market fluctuations on the contribution. So we use an asset smoothing technique that defers recognition of investment gains and losses over a period to smooth out the bumps in the road, so that even if the stock market is doing poorly, we want the Town’s contribution to be a little steadier. The advantage of that is that while the Town’s contribution has gone up, it has
gone up somewhat steadily, the downside is that there are investment losses that already happened that have not yet flowed through and been recognized in the contribution level, and that is why we see a big increase as we go through 2003 to 2004. Now this is using the current funding method, the 14 or 15 year amortization period and level dollar amortization. Mr. Carlson reported you are showing an expected return of 8 1/4. The Actuary reported that is our assumption about the long-term earnings expectation under the present plan. Mr. Carlson questioned what would your assumption been five years ago. The Actuary reported 8 1/4, as we are looking at a very long term as 75 years expected rate of return, given the plans investment allocation and we pay very little heed to recent past results, so we did not raise this up in those six good years and did not lower it in the three bad years. The Actuary reported now if we think that the returns, one of
the things this can do is model what if the investment return is again 3% or a negative 5%, we can look at that if you are interested. But primarily what we would like to show you is what happens if you switch to a 20 year period for amortizing the liability, rather than the 14 or 15 year period, that is shifting some of the contribution into that period from 15 to 20 years from now, and lowering the contribution in the first 15 years, and if we also make the change calculating the amortization payments so that it will go up as payroll goes up, and we have used a 3.5% payroll growth rate here, that is not to say that all pay will go up that percent a year, it is just an assumption when thinking about overall payroll. And the contribution comes down in fact a bit, this is the current level at about $1.5million and we would actually see somewhat of a decrease to $1 million if we switch to this combination of new method. The unfunded liability would change, it is
affected by how much you contribute because if you contribute less the investments would be accordingly lower, so the unfunded liability accordingly somewhat higher. It is very gradually coming down over this period but not very fast, because the amortization payments are starting at a smaller level. Chairman Hines reported so it is really just a time period that you are doing here, nothing else fundamentally. The Actuary reported a Defined Benefit Plan is always a pay now or pay later proposition, and so what we are doing is changing the pattern of paying off the unfunded liability, lengthening the period and changing the pattern of payments from flat to increasing.
The Actuary reported we have not changed the interest rates here, but we lengthened the term, the same end result is that this unfunded liability will be fully paid off at the end of 20 years. The current method would have it paid off over 15 years, but the end result of having it be paid off is the same. The Town Manager reported on the graph the second year is where we are now, then it drops down the third year, the delta between those two is money that you are not spending now, but you are adding it on at the end, and if you figure in the rate of inflation you can maybe make an argument that those dollars are cheaper that you are paying but the actual dollars are not. Chairman Hines reported it will cut down on our contributions the next couple of years. The Town Manager reported it would
stabilize them, if we were still going at 8 1/4% and we never had this blip in the stock market you would see our contribution going down. Now you are not going to see it going down, you are going to see it basically staying the same, it provides stability to it.
The Town Manager reported between 1961 and 1986, the benefit did not change, the employee who retired at a regular retirement got $9,005 a year, whether it was in 1961 or 1986, that was the benefit that the received. In 1986 people began to realize that $9,000 in 1986 was not the same as it was in 1961, the bargaining units began to really put the pressure on changing the benefit. The benefit instead of being like this for 25 years, all of a sudden it started going up because of the bargaining environment. When you increase the benefit, you obviously increase the cost, so that cost resulted in increased employee contributions, the employees pay 7.5% of their gross pay into the plan, and it also increased the Town’s contribution, that varied from year to year depending upon the rate of return.
If we had a great year for two or three years, like we did during the 1990’s, that would reduce or stabilize our contribution. If there were a series of bad years, like we are having now, it effects it the other way and our contribution goes up. So we had an increase in benefits which drove the cost up, which we required the employees to contribute more and the employer to contribute more. Now what this does is that it balances it out in terms of stabilizing it so we are not subject to these changes. The plan being closed, there are no more changes in the plan, so the cost is not going to continue go up. The Actuary reported the payment amount toward 2004 we are projecting would be $837,000, and if all of our assumptions always came true that payment amount would increase every year, at 3.5% which is what we chose as the level percent. The Town Manager reported we would take the $800,000 and divide it into the gross payroll, so
that you could get the percentage of payroll. The Actuary reported it is not 3.5% of the payroll, it is an amount that will increase each year at 3.5% which is the rate that we are expecting this payroll to increase every year, so that the relationship of this payment to the payroll will remain steady over time. Mr. Shea reported it was mentioned that some other towns have transitioned to this method also. The Actuary reported yes, including West Hartford and the Connecticut State Employees Pension Plan, and Wethersfield was at zero liability but because of these past couple of years they now have a contribution and have switched to this method, more of our clients use this method than do not. Mr. Carlson questioned if the payroll does not increase at that rate, either up or down do you then change your model or do your keep it at the 3.5% growth. The Actuary reported if we saw significantly different pay increases over time, either higher or lower
than we would want to read this, as with all our assumptions we keep an eye on them and change them if we think that they are not doing a good job.
The Actuary reported a scant majority of public plans use this approach, a slight minority uses the method that we had been using in past years. Chairman Hines questioned whether the Town Manager is looking for approval of the Town Council tonight to move in this direction. The Town Manager reported yes. Chairman Hines reported good job, we appreciate this, you took a complicated subject and made it very clear for us, we thank you.
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to implement the change in Pension Funding Methodology from the present Amortization Method of 14/15 years to 20 years at 3 1/2% fixed, annually.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-17 Review and Discussion: Scope of Library Renovation/Expansion Program: Ginny Vocelli, Librarian/ Keith Sherman, Library Board President.
The Town Manager reported last year the Library came in with a request in their capital improvement program budget to hire an architect to start preliminary planning for an addition to the Library. As part of that the Council asked us to look at parking requirements and look at whether we needed to acquire additional property adjacent to the Library, and there was some question as to the size and the scope of the project. Then once we had and idea of what we wanted to do, the Council wanted us to then approach the neighbors and basically solicit a right of first refusal from them, should they decide to sell their property and it was property that we felt we needed. Before we decided to do that, we waited through the summer to acquire those rights. The question came up because of the Library’s
presentation last year of the size of the renovation as to what the scope of the project really was, they came in with an 18,000 square foot expansion but talked about the need eventually for a 50,000 square foot building. We have come back to the Council before we go out and start talking with neighbors, to make sure we are looking at either a 18,000 square foot expansion or a 32,000 square foot expansion from the current 18,000 to 50,000. The Head Librarian and the Library Board President are here to lead us through that and review where they are.
Chairman Hines reported the greatest concern that probably all of the Council Members had at the time was, if you were going to go to 50,000 square feet, and eventually need it, we all felt regardless of what land you could pick up that was too large a building, to be ever built on that site. The question really came as to whether you want to purchase additional property, build a 38,000 square foot building and then down the road if you needed more and there would be no way to do it. If we were going to think ultimately that we needed 50,000 square feet, maybe we should be looking at the Towpath School property, the Towpath School is 35,400 square feet and the Annex is 11,750, and the two are on 8.5 acres of land, so there is a fair amount of land. Would that make more sense for us to be thinking about
that for the eventual site, looking at the long term, or do we want to expand the Library knowing that we may never be able to build one there large enough to take care of future needs.
The Library Board President reported that is what we did when we went back to plan for this and calculate all of the needs, we looked at a 20 year plan, which should take us to the point where the Town has fully developed. We looked at a 20 year plan thinking that the Town would more or less stabilize in population. We used guidelines that are provided by the Connecticut State Library, and those are just recommendations and we can tailor them to some extent depending upon what we decide as a Town what we offer as services. Chairman Hines questioned whether they had ever thought of two libraries. The Library Board President reported we have not, part perhaps is that people really view the Library as a community center for the community, and right now it is ideally situated right in the center part
of Town.
The Library Board President reported having looked at the various alternatives we do believe we could fit on the site, provided property does come available in due course, and he would just try to keep in mind that the role of the Library is changing as well. If it were just handing out collection materials, then it would work better to have different sites, but because the uses of the Library are becoming more group oriented and community oriented, to dilute that by having satelites would tend to defuse the sense of a Town.
Chairman Hines reported the other site we do have is the Rhodes property on Thompson Road, which would be very nice and centrally located. We want to make sure that we are not looking at something that we add on to and then get stuck later and we have spent all of that money and now we cannot get enough land adjacent to it, which is why we authorized the Library Director and Town Manager to begin looking at adjacent properties to see what was available before we make any big commitments. Mr. Carlson reported his challenge is that first he does not think that we should be predisposed to Towpath or anything else, either positively or negatively. What we should be looking at is what are the needs and if a need is indeed a 50,000 square foot building, then the question would be where best to put that, even
if the land can be acquired around that current building, does it make sense to have a 50,000 square foot building in what is extensively a residential area. That is one question, then if you cannot build it there then you should look at other alternatives. You said the Thompson Road property, you have the Community Center property, there is some land there and maybe you look at a better plan that says – you have tennis courts there and other facilities maybe those should all go to Thompson Road and make that a recreational complex, and have a Community/Senior Center and Library there. He is just throwing things up, all he is saying is that he does not think we ought to say well because we have Towpath that is an alternative. What he is challenging them with – what is the size of a property you would need to have for the size of the building, and then let us figure out where the best place is to put it.
The Library Director reported 50,000 square feet is the maximum, taking what the State Library believes to be the square feet for population and what the Library staff believes would serve the community best, with the enlargement of the community room, a few more work spaces for staff, a larger area for young adults and children. Chairman Hines questioned how big the new Farmington Library is over by the High School. The Library Director reported it is 48,000 square feet, it doubled from 24 to 48. Chairman Hines reported of course their population is about 1.5 times ours and they have a lot of land that they could develop, so their ultimate population could be quite high.
The Library Board President reported we are currently at 18,000 square feet of usable space, we are proposing to increase that by 31,000 square feet reaching a total of 49,000 square feet, the majority of that space is needed for people, right now everybody is pretty much on top of each other. One of the questions that comes up is how big a building do we need versus how much property, and because we are a two story building and might even have basement space, as usable to certain areas, the actual footprint of the building does not have to grow that much. What that comes down to is that we are currently on a 100,000 square foot property and we need to double that to be able to have the usable proposed space that is a 20-year plan. The other component that we need to have are parking spaces, and based on
calculations that come from the Connecticut State Library Guidelines we need to add approximately 100 spaces, based on the size of the meeting rooms, the number of seats for adults. Chairman Hines questioned how that compares with our zoning requirements. The Library Director reported they are pretty close, she was advised by the Engineering Department that we only needed 140 spaces, based on their interpretation of the Zoning Regulations, but she took the maximum feet that we would like to have when using the State guidelines at 160. Chairman Hines reported that would be quite an increase in the property area that you need. The Library Board President reported it doubled. The Library Director reported even if we learned that one projection which we do not have with us, where we added 20,000 square feet, we still needed two pieces of property with houses on them, and some green space back in the woods. The ideas we have here are for adding
31,000 square feet, that is our report. Chairman Hines reported the need has been defined by you is if you needed this much increased space, and we had to buy property with houses on them and tear them down, and look at that cost, versus some other site starting from scratch, and then selling the building. The Town Manager reported we are looking at the two houses. From sales in the area we are probably looking at in the neighborhood of $200,000 to $250,000 for the two houses and accompanying property. The least expensive from the standpoint of land acquisition, because you are only buying two houses and then the rear of those two properties immediately to the south of the existing parking lot. That gives you your sufficient ratio of paved to unpaved area, that is required in the zoning regulations, and the appropriate ratio of building to lot as well as required. Chairman Hines questioned that 35% coverage including sidewalks, parking and building, is
typical to what has been done at church locations, typical of our new schools on Scoville and Thompson Road that they have had to develop, and any new church or any kind of building like that, so you are not going to see much of a deviance on that, we are going to have to meet that. The Town Manager reported the purchase on these rear portions of these lots would be relatively small in comparison to the two houses, most of these other plans include at least the two houses and some of them include three and four houses, depending upon the configuration and layout. The owner of the house to the southwest indicated previously that they were interested in potentially selling to the Town, so we have a potentially willing property owner there. Chairman Hines questioned whether we wanted part or all of it. The Town Manager reported what we have to make sure of is that we are not making that house lot nonconforming by that person selling off a portion of it, now his
house is non-conforming, we cannot do that to either one of them. The rear of the two on Burnham Road would not be non-conforming, that would be excess land to those lots from a zoning standpoint. One of the issues regardless, we are looking at a parking layout that may or may not be acceptible, where it has an access here onto Sunnybrook Drive, and that may or may not be good except from a circulation standpoint, but we do not know about neighborhood issues. If you want us to, taking this we can at least find out about the houses to the east and southwest because they are in all of the plans.
Chairman Hines reported we should at least have these discussions, but we should be thinking that maybe 50,000 square feet will never happen, that more like 40,000 might be as you said, for example if we were to go out to sell 50,000, we would have a tough sell. Mr. Carlson reported even if we did 40,000, the issue is the parking issue here, that is a large acquisition of land, that would add a fair number of parking spaces, because even today you are against the wall with parking everyone there. That is driving your land acquisition more than anything else. The Library Director reported if we had to cut back in size of some of the seating that we had hoped to have in some of the areas, then our requirement for parking would be reduced. Chairman Hines reported he would want to qualify why he said
that 40,000 square feet is more saleable than 50,000, in our present economic times we are going to have to convince the residents to spend this kind of money which is in millions, and it is not going to be easy. You can read in the paper recently the enrollment in the schools is continuing up beyond all of the highest projections, and that the high school will probably be coming in, if the original plans were right, and the Committee will be meeting on September 30th again, very possibly in a few months the school may be coming to the Council saying how are we going to solve this problem that we see happening a couple of years from now. Originally we were thinking of combining the Library and the High School project as one potential, and we have had financial reviews by our Finance Advisor as we began looking at those with that kind of packaging. Those packaging today may be harder to sell than two years ago when we started this planning, so to sell
anything now is a different ballgame than we were in, the whole economic situation and the reval coming up this year is going to have another major impact on what it is going to do with taxes, and how we are all going to live with this. Do we combine the two together, we obviously would have separate votes, but to sell them is going to have to be that you absolutely need this much size. We have to be looking at the economic situation that we are in, in going to our residents and selling this, not so much on the size, the 50,000 might be great, but can we also sell it.
Mrs. Hornaday questioned the increase in the size of the building to accommodate a 20,000 population, when presently we are at 16,000 population. An additional increase of 4,000 population should not warrant more than doubling of the space.
The Town Manager and Library Director were instructed to proceed to talk to the abutting property owners to determine whether they are willing to sell. The property owners that should be approached are the houses to the south and southwest, and the two rear areas, to request a right of first refusal. They are also to work with the Town Planner to review other parcels that are available that would be possible sites for a library.
03/04-18 Appointment: Avon’s Representative to Central Region Tourism District
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council appoint Nancy Weiner-Anstey to serve as Council
Representative to the Central Region Tourism District.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-19 Award Bid and Supplemental Appropriation: Sycamore Hills Pool Painting
Chairman Hines questioned whether there were any guarantees with this painting of the pool. The Director of Recreation and Parks reported we will hold partial payment, the job has a one year warrantee, any problems we have with this we will have by the Spring. Chairman Hines questioned whether the Town Attorney reviewed the RFP. The Director reported yes, and we have everything in this that we possibly could have, and he is comfortable with what we have done, we did due diligence. Because we required it to be a certified pool builder, and there just are not that many of them out there, therefore he solicited six companies directly by a legal advertisement, we received two bids back, one was considerably higher because he wanted to tent the facility to do the work. When he asked the bidder to
break the job down into parts, he stated he did not want to do the job, another just did not want it either, and two others did not respond. The contractor who legitimately won the bid, did agree to hold the price until the fall, and basically scheduled the work for now, and the pool is presently being emptied.
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council award the bid to Century Pools Corporation in amount $39,469.50, for the sandblasting and repainting of the Sycamore Hills Polls.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-20 Review and Approval: Specifications for Buckingham Field Improvements
The Director of Recreation and Parks reported we are here to review the progress and status of Buckingham Field improvements. There have been some delays due to the remediation. The Developer was required to do certain things there, they were not done exactly as agreed upon, in the process of doing that, Mr. Cegan of Richter and Cegan, Inc. has worked hard in providing some of the remediation for this, our projection for the project, was essentially $293,000 of which we have $200,000 in grants. That estimate is going to prove to be fairly accurate, but it will leave us short on a couple of things. We have some plans that we are working on, the irrigation system is being installed now, paid out of our funds and pretty much on target. That will give us an opportunity within the next two weeks
for the Developer to seed, cover and water the area. Our projection for the availability of this has moved by one year, and the high school is aware of the fact that it will be complete and ready for use by the spring of 2005. The parking lot is in place, and we believe that we are going to be able to have the infield, backstops, dugout enclosures and the fencing to the first and third base line with the money that we have. We are in the process of going out to bid on the infield fencing and the periphery fencing that we are targeting to come back to the Council in November for a bid award, we will be able to cover that. With the many areas that we have, the play areas, the pavilions, we projected in this that the $93,000 would be made up by the Town, booster club and others, those are areas we are working on. The Superintendent of Public Works had a plan for the second parking lot, if we can get some grading issues taken care of, by moving some
of the material that is being ground up from the former M. H. Rhodes site, but to provide it here it has to be stored somewhere at the Landfill area, and we are working on that or store it in place, which will be cheaper than having to look to the Developer for that. That is where we are at present, we negotiated these down from full size all purpose fields from soccer because of space, to accommodate lacrosse, we could put any kind of soccer here, but we need three full size for lacrosse which is a little smaller, in order to move them out of Fisher Meadows.
The Town Manager reported the purpose of bringing this to the Council, because there are changes from the original conception of when we went in for that grant, there has been a number of changes. We have had problems with the site, the sites had to be regraded, the Developer regraded the site and re-staked, the changes in terms of the field configurations, the access, and some of the other aspects, an update on the $93,000. Mr. Shea questioned whether the fields are smaller than what we had anticipated. The Director reported smaller, but there are full length soccer fields, but they come in minimum and maximum lengths, and we will come short of the absolute full length soccer field but tournament games can still be played on that given the standards, and our main needs were for two lacrosse fields, the
baseball field is as large as we can possibly make, under the circumstances, but it is bigger than the one at the High School.
Mr. Woodford questioned the tennis courts in the plan. The Director reported the Park & Recreation Committee decided to go for everything that they envisioned to be put on the site at some point in time, to go to the Planning & Zoning Commission with a master plan. These things from the point of the second parking lot may never come, but we wanted to show it on the plan because we have issues up in that area with available facilities. The Town Manager reported also neighborhood opposition to growth in the facility is a reason, and money. The Director reported we addressed that with Planning & Zoning and received approval for lighting on all of these facilities, that is probably the last step in the process but it has been approved. Chairman Hines reported that means that it was
approved, but they will not be installed now. The Director reported not at this time, nothing will be done regarding lighting, no outlets or anything, there is just not enough money.
Chairman Hines questioned what the Director’s plan was to cover the other $93,000 needed for the project, and whether the Parks & Recreation is actively working on it. The Director reported we may get some from donations, but we do not know how much will be needed, and the Committee is actively working on it as well. Chairman Hines reported then stop when you get to $200,000 and do not go beyond that, anything else you would need would have to come from future budgets. He reported keep us informed, then if you end up with 90% of the effort and a little more money would finalize it, we want to open minded about that even though we do not have extra money.
Mrs. Hornaday questioned where the evergreen screening area is in relationship to the cable tower. The Superintendent of Public Works reported it runs along where our current bulky waste is, along the road where the tower will be located. The Superintendent of Public Works reported 71 trees are coming from the cable tower people. Mrs. Hornaday reported the other question, with regard to irrigation, is whether it will be off the public system or off artesian wells. The Director of Recreation and Parks reported it will be off of public water. Chairman Hines questioned whether they are worried about pressure up there. The Director reported we have a pumping station. Mrs. Hornaday reported in past summers that area is on Unionville, and we have had watering bans up there.
Chairman Hines reported Unionville Water Company is going into the MDC, so that should help that situation.
03/04-21 Review and Approval: Specifications for Dump Truck Purchase.
The Town Manager reported we felt it appropriate to have the Council review the specifications prior to going out to bid, in order to answer any questions or make modifications to them. The bid specifications are for the dump truck that was approved in the Capital Improvement Program as well as the sander and other items that are snow fighting equipment. Chairman Hines reported you have tried to make this as generic as possible. The Superintendent of Public Works reported you cannot get much more generic than what we have developed. He would ask the Council to entertain some of his thoughts on his concept of fleet management, and bidding practice, and deploying some of the foresight that we might need to purchase a piece of equipment that is in the best interest of the Town for longevity purposes
and for fleet management purposes. In the case of fleet management ideally speaking the best plan is to have one of the same things, one starter on the shelf, same tire size, same wheels, same filters, there are definite cost efficiencies to that, there are definite cost efficiencies in the maintenance program for training, there are efficiencies in obtaining parts and without a doubt it is not a new practice and it might be something that the Town Council might want to entertain at some point in time. We have kind of done that with our police fleet. Chairman Hines reported the fire trucks to a certain extent too. The Superintendent reported fire trucks to a certain extent that they all have the same chassis, same components with the exception of the fire fighting apparatus. We also have to keep in mind that the trucks are now being pushed out to a 15 year length expectancy, so maybe something that we can buy today at a better cost, may not reach that life
expectancy and unfortunately unless you have the expertise, you are going to rely upon the Machinery and Equipment and myself to kind of guide you as to what is best for the Town. Chairman Hines questioned how that would change the specifications, would you define a particular engine or something of that nature? The Superintendent reported he would be inclined to define a Cummins engine that is what we have, all of our engines to this day are Cummins engines with the exception of two that are Internationals. But then again that is his fleet orientation, that is where the cost efficiencies are, if we can buy something that is economical to the Town, a good value to the Town, without steering it to a specific piece of equipment he would not have a problem with that. Fords, Freightliner, MAC, Volvo, the chassis are basically the same piece of equipment with wheels, engines, transmissions, so it still expands our possibilities for bidding practices. He is not
advocating, wanting an International Model that would bring us down to just one manufacturer. But what he is saying is that there might be some advantages to including certain specifications that are beneficial to the Town. Chairman Hines questioned whether they could be put as an option in this package. The Superintendent reported absolutely, and this package is as generic as it can get, and he is not opposed to this package, all he is trying to say and express is – if we were to get something that were for some reason oddball, but it may not be in the best interest of the Town, and he just feels very strongly about that. Chairman Hines reported if you knew certain things that you wanted, say you wanted Cummins engines or certain types of brakes and so forth, could you put that in here as options, and then we could see what it costs, and if it comes to the same price and it is beneficial, then you would go ahead with it, if it were a big
difference in the cost, then you would have to look at it.
Chairman Hines questioned whether preference could be one person giving a better price than someone else, for the same engine. The Superintendent reported that is correct, it is just something that he wanted to discuss, we could run this ad the way it is and see how it comes out, it may come out to be very beneficial to the Town with a wide variety of bidders.
Mr. Woodford questioned why we never got a bid from MAC. The Superintendent reported MAC’s are very high priced equipment, the specs that he has or have been used in the past the MAC truck is capable of meeting that specification. The Superintendent responded he has never written anything particular into a bid that has excluded anybody. Chairman Hines questioned whether he is saying that MAC is so priced that they feel they would not be able to compete in the Town here. The Superintendent reported that is correct, he has sent them bids, they are on the mailing lists and he will do the same this time around. He thinks a MAC truck is a great truck, unfortunately that goes to starting a new fleet again, and that is the whole fleet philosophy. The Town Manager reported there are
efficiencies operationally, and then there is the capital cost up front, now if you have a $6,000 or $10,000 bid differential, and the only way you would know that is if you put something out the way you want it to spec it versus a generic thing, see what the capital difference is, figure out what that savings is going to be over 15 years the expected life of it, and then somehow, which is where it becomes more difficult, is quantifying the fleet managers approach to it - how much time does it save traveling to pick up parts for this truck, because it is not standard with the others, or how much off road time is that truck sitting in the shop between failures of parts. The life cycle costing aspect of things are very hard sometimes to quantify, and you also have savings in the sense too of how long does it take our mechanics to learn, replace and operate, so you try to do both within the limits of what you can but we have policies and procedures that we have to follow.
Chairman Hines reported he is open minded to do this, if we can show why it makes sense. Mr. Carlson reported the whole fleet approach is the right way of going, if you read what Southwest Airlines has done, that is their approach, they buy one type of plane, a 737, for maintenance purposes and training purposes, parts purposes, it is the only thing in their fleet, therefore it is proven, and it is the only airline in the country that made any money last year. It is a proven fact that the approach works, and when it comes to bidding he would use a Cummins engine or equivalent, then it becomes up to the vendor to argue with you over why the ABC engine is an equivalent or not. A Cummins engine or an equivalent would make a lot of sense and let them argue and prove their case. The Superintendent
reported another thing that he would like the Council to keep in mind, and again this is not targeted at any particular vehicle, but we run a conservatively tight ship here, and he has ten trucks, and ten plow leads, if a truck goes down on Friday night, and if we are geared up for that truck, it is not going to get running again until Monday morning, two days after the storm, which effects the Town, and public service, and the same thing with the fleet of equipment or vehicles, if we had the leisure of spare equipment he would not care. Mr. Woodford reported Mr. Carlson gave the perfect example. The Superintendent reported the specifications you have in front of you; he deleted a dozen or so specific components only, which every manufacturer is able to put into their chassis. Chairman Hines questioned whether we have support here to have the Superintendent put those words back in, such as Cummins engine or equivalent, and certain components that he would like to
have so that he has commonality. Chairman Hines reported those changes we made to the wording of the specifications, the Superintendent would need permission to go back to a more common fleet maintenance basis and put some of those key words back in. Mr. Shea reported the way Mr. Carlson stated it accomplishes both, as we do not want to create more problems.
Mr. Woodford reported when we bought the Toro lawnmowers, they were not the low bid. The Superintendent reported that is correct that was before his time. Mr. Woodford reported we do not always take the lowest bid, but now he sees that we have all kinds of different equipment, John Deer, Toro and all kinds of equipment. The Superintendent reported the Town’s fleet is still not part of the Board of Education’s equipment. They do not consult him. The Town Manager reported the small equipment that comes under the capital outlay portion of the budget sometimes does not meet the thresholds to get full bids because of the purchasing policy, and so sometimes they go around and look depending upon the size of the mower and what they are doing. These large mowers, like the Toro,
those items are bid out, but the small riding mowers or the push mowers are not. The Superintendent reported he saw that for the first time this year, it is the Board of Education’s. The Town Manager reported but it is in their operating budget and it may or may not be identified in their budget, and we do not know what specifications they are using, they go out to buy things off the lot, however, he has mentioned it to them. Mrs. Hornaday reported tell them that anything in their capital budget will be purchased by our purchasing people, specifically the Superintendent of Public Works, and if they purchase outside of ours, and our people do not know how to repair it, then we do not maintain it.
Mrs. Hornaday reported it is appropriate to say that either this or compatible or whatever in order to maintain the fleet idea, and she would move that it be changed. Chairman Hines questioned whether the Council had given the Superintendent enough guidance to move ahead. The Superintendent of Public Works reported yes, he will change the wording and get the Town Manager to approve it before it is run.
On a motion made by Mr. Carlson, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to sign the RFP as amended for soliciting bids for the purchase of a dump truck.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-22 Sponsorship of Avon High School Students for CCM Convention
Mrs. Hornaday the students get a lot of out of this, and they come back and report to the others, and get a sense of local government, it is a wonderful plan.
On a motion made by Mrs. Hornaday, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council authorize an invitation through the Superintendent of Schools for Avon High School Students to participate at the CCM Convention, and approve sponsorship in the amount of $40 per student.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-23 Review and Discussion: CCM’s 2004 Legislative Program
Chairman Hines reported for CCM’s 2004 Legislative Program, we want to push the binding arbitration change, and push all of the things that the Town Manager has been working on during the last year with CCM and CRCOG, there is not much new but we should keep after it. The Town Manager reported one of the things that we want to do too, is that they increased for a one year period in the local conveyance tax, and with all of the refinancing and it has been a big income producer, however, it has a sunset provision to expire June 30, 2004, so we want to try to get that continued. Chairman Hines reported another thing you want to go for is the reval. We have been pushing for a couple of years to see if we can avoid having to have a full revaluation, and if we can do it on a partial basis, and we are
going more and more on our computing and probably do not need this full revaluation as the dollars are big, and most towns are in favor of it and we do not know what happened to the legislation and how we got pushed down this past time. Mrs. Hornaday reported she thought we were allowed to do book revaluations, then every ten years a full one. The Town Manager reported that is correct, but what happens is that you have the physical aspect every twelve years, the statistical on an interim basis. What the Chairman is getting at is the option for a municipality to opt out of the statistical one every four years, if certain sales ratio criteria are met. In other words if you have not changed that much in four years, why should you have to spend $200,000 to go through reval again. What we are doing, in essence is that we have kind of a rolling reval going on of the physical side, because of building permits, and because so much of our stock is new and is
coming up all of the time, we are out doing physical valuations all the time, so that when we get to that 12 year bench mark, a lot of it is already up to date. The Town Council was in agreement that the Town Manager prepare something indicating the three items as discussed above being of concern to the Town for CCM’s 2004 State Legislative Program.
03/04-24 Review and Discussion: CCM Participation in CL&P Rate Case
Chairman Hines reported the Town Manager recommends we participate, even though at the moment we are not looking to purchase the lights, we might want to in the future. The Town Manager reported it is a good thing to support because down the road we may end up, as more and more communities are going that way, and both CRCOG, CCM and the Farmington Valley Collaborative have started to at least take inventories on what we have to see if this is something that we might want to do. Mrs. Hornaday reported this is one of the few things that she has had people ask her about, as to whether we are going to buy these lights ourselves. The Town Manager reported all he needs is a commitment from the Council to send this in, then we will receive the costs back, then you can vote on it. It was the consensus of
the Town Council to authorize the Town Manager to sign on behalf of the Town of Avon a commitment of support in order to obtain a price from CCM in the proposed rate case.
03/04-25 Supplemental Appropriation: $19,000 Fire Company #1 Kitchen Renovations
The Town Manager reported what we will be doing with this, assuming the appropriation goes through, is that the Superintendent of the Public Works Department and particularly the Buildings and Grounds Superintendent will be working to come up with a definitive plan, then we will be going out to bid, then returning for further approval. There is some concern in the Fire Department that this may end up costing us more money than doing it on a piece meal basis through contractors and us acting as the General Contractor. He has told the Fire Department that this is being run as a Town Facility. The Association President reported they have adopted the same kind of policy as the Town, and we tried to get three bids, and tried to do it ourselves and were not able to accomplish that, we were only able to get
two, and the bids were $20,000 apart which meant we definitely needed a third bid. Mr. Carlson questioned whether they ran a normal notice in the paper. The Association President reported no, because we were doing it ourselves and we thought by negotiating it and it coming from the Fire Department that we might get more reasonable bids, but they were $20,000 apart, and then the money discussion came up, that is why we are here. Chairman Hines questioned the cost of the sink area at the Senior Center. The Director of Recreation and Parks reported by the time we were through it was close to $6,200. The Association President reported we are using the old stove from the Senior Center in our kitchen plans, and we found an architect to draw up the plans without charging us anything.
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council favorably recommends to the Board of Finance an appropriation not to exceed $19,000 from Account #01-0390-43913 General Fund, Other Financing Sources, Undesignated Fund Balance to General Fund, Capital Improvement Projects Facilities, General Fund Capital Improvement Project, Facilities, Avon Volunteer Fire Department Co.#1 Kitchen Project, Account #01- 8501-53035 and Capital Projects Fund (Facilities & Equipment), Town CIP- Facilities, Account #02-4829-53035 for the purpose of
funding Co.#1 Kitchen Project with return of Avon Volunteer Fire Department encumbered funds.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-26 Review and Approval: Animal Control Officer Service Agreement; Town of Canton and Avon
Mr. Woodford questioned the rational between going from a contract for service, which to him makes a lot of sense, to a part time employee position. The Town Manager reported the individual involved was incapacitated and could not perform the duties of the job, and applied for unemployment, and Canton is handling this, but the unemployment compensation people concluded for their purposes, that she was an employee, and therefore municipalities do not contribute to the unemployment compensation fund, we are exempt. If somebody files for unemployment and it is sustained by them we have to kick in money to do this. They do a 21 point test of what is a contracted position and how much independence do you have. Mr. Shea reported they ask whether they work for anybody, and whether this is their sole
income. The Town Manager reported the bottom line is that she qualified and after discussions by Canton’s Chief Administrative Officer with their Labor Attorney and with our Human Resources Director, it was agreed that the best course of action would be to change it to a part time employee, but with no benefits.
On a motion made by Mr. Carlson, seconded by Mrs. Hornaday, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That Town Council authorize the Town Manager to sign on behalf of the Town of Avon the Animal Control Officer Service Agreement between the Town of Canton and Avon.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-27 Supplemental Appropriation: $48,117 Rails-to-Trails Reimbursement
The Town Manager reported this is the money that we had talked about previously when talking about the comprehensive plan of development and how we are going to pay for that, it also includes the funding for that conversion of the part time to the full time replacement in Planning & Zoning in preparation for a retirement.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council hereby recommends that the Board of Finance amend the FY03/04 Budget to approve transfer of appropriation in the amount of $30,000 from Account #03-4942-52219 Capital & Nonrecurring Expenditure Fund, Rails to Trails Project, Other to Account #03-4942-5800, Capital & Nonrecurring Expenditure Fund, Rails to Trails Project, Interfund Transfers-Out and an operating transfer in the amount of $300,000 to Account #01-0390-43918 General Fund Other Financing Sources, Interfund Operating Transfers in and increase Account #01-7101-52184 General Fund Planning, Service & Consultant for the purpose of updating the
Comprehensive Plan of Development.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-28 Acceptance of Resignation; Natural Resources Commission
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept with regret the resignation of Lenore Severni from the Natural Resources Commission.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-29 Appointment: Natural Resources Commission.
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mrs. Hornaday, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table the appointment to the October 2nd meeting.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT/MISCELLANEOUS
Chairman Hines reported we received a letter from our Council Representative to the Lakeview Association stating she would like to resign, therefore we will need an appointment. With their plan to install a gate there, there is an increasing need for this position. The Town Manager reported he will put that on the next agenda.
Mr. Woodford reported the flooring situation at Thompson Brook School looks promising. The Town Clerk reported yes, there is a tolling agreement where we have agreed to hold off on anything until April 24th 2004, because we want to see it go through the winter. We have hired a consultant for $2,500, who will be monitoring that floor. At the point we began investigating it, we spent some time over there and the floor looked in great shape, but it was the summer time, then the discussion came up that it was a humidity problem, whether the humidity is being controlled properly. They are looking at possibly the mechanical system, as what is creating the problem. This is where the consultant will continue to monitor that, it may end up that we may have to do something to modify the
mechanical system. Chairman Hines questioned the background of the consultant. The Town Clerk reported our Town Attorney Office requested three resumes from people who were in the field particularly for floorings, and the Consultant was selected by the Building Committee.
The Town Manager reported there are a few things coming up that you should be aware of. We have traditionally because of the volume of the traffic provided some traffic control support to St. Anne’s Church, which is usually at no charge as it has been the Officer that is on duty, unless there has been an emergency and he could not be there. We are now getting requests from two other churches for the same type of service, and we do not have enough people obviously to do this. The Police Chief is going to talk with the two churches and see if we can work something out, but if not we may end up having to charge all of the churches if they want special traffic control. Part of the issue is where the churches are located and the circulation of getting out onto the roads. For instance St. Anne’s has a traffic signal at Arch Road and West Avon Road, and West Avon Congregational has one down at West Avon and Country Club, but Valley Baptist does not. We are working on this, but it
could be something that eventually comes back. Chairman Hines questioned whether we could get some volunteers who might be willing to do that. The Town Manager reported we are potentially looking at that, it is one of the things that the Chief wants to talk over with the churches, presently they are not paying and if they had to hire an Avon Police Officer there would be costs.
Chairman Hines reported on Country Club Road in front of the Golf Course there are three areas designated where the golfers go across, there are signs in one direction on one, one on the other then on the middle one there is none. Mr. Shea reported the middle one is for going from hole 8 to hole 9, which he found out when he called the club, the club is responsible for the painting on the road, but the Town is responsible for the painting of the signs. Chairman Hines reported there should be signs for each direction on all three, he was surprised to see people going across when there was no signage. Mr. Carlson reported in the summer time there is a significant amount of children crossing there, that is the problem, and his biggest fear because people go fast on Country Club Road. Mr. Shea reported he
would suggest that Sergeant Post, Police Traffic Manager, call the General Manager, Mr. Young, to discuss this and come to some compromise between the Town and the Country Club as to getting the road painted again and the signage. The Town Manager reported we install the signs and bill it back to them, and they are installed in accordance with the Uniform Manual Traffic Control Devices. We are currently working on signage problems at several intersections.
The Town Manager reported one question you may have is that we have stopped using out-of-town police officers to fill vacant traffic control job slots on the road. The reason being that we have had problems with some of them sleeping in our vehicles while on duty, and people thinking that they are Avon Police Officers sleeping in a vehicle.
The Town Manager reported the Water Company is having their public hearing on the diversion permit for the Fisher Meadows Well on September 23rd at 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center. They may want us to provide a letter containing where we are in the process, and the Chairman may want to attend, as the Town Manager will not be able to. The Town Attorney will review the letter.
The Town Manager reported the Walkers who own the property adjacent to the Landfill to the West, have been after us to see if we are at interested in buying it for open space. The Staff is not enthusiastic in the sense that if we have money to spend on open space there are other areas that they would prefer. The land is located off New Road, it has already been broken out as Lots 1, 2 & 3, near the Buckingham ballfield area. The Staff has said it would be nice to have if we had it, and the Assessor has stated it is beyond what he feels would be a reasonable price for the 8 acres, from conversations it would probably be $100,000 an acre.
EXECUTIVE SESSION – None
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 11: 20 p.m.
Attest:
Caroline B. LaMonica
Town Clerk
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