 |
TOWN OF AVON
TOWN COUNCIL MINUTES
NOVEMBER 6, 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 and Mr. Carlson. Absent: Messrs: Shea and Woodford.
PUBLIC HEARING - None
MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETING
On a motion made by Mrs. Hornaday, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table this item to the December 4th meeting.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines and Carlson voted in favor.
COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE - None
COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL
Mrs. Hornaday reported she went to the Senior Center, and several members of town staff were there as well, it is always a pleasant affair. She also attended a promotion ceremony at the Police Station, which was very nice with a very nice turnout, it was nice seeing the Simsbury Chief, which is showing support and recognition from other communities.
Chairman Hines reported he attended a ribbon cutting for a Recreation Showroom in Avon, next to T J Max, selling essentially bars and billiard tables, their third place in the State of Connecticut. Tomorrow there is a meeting at the UCONN Law School, where they will be discussing the Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform, at 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. There will be an organization social at the Hartford Life Insurance Company, for a program called HUGS, Hartford Underwriters Giving Smiles. On Tuesday, December 9th, they are going to be in Avon going to the Avon Health Center, Laurel Gardens and Brightview of Avon to sing Christmas Carols, and visit people who are not in the best of health, he will be visiting at least one of them, perhaps that is something that the Council can join in on.
They are an hour each, they put on elf hats and Santa Claus is there as well, and they all sing.
Chairman Hines reported we want to honor our Director of Finance’s expertise for the Town receiving an award from the Government Finance Officers Association, for Distinguished Budget Presentation. We also want to congratulate our Town Manager as he has been elected President of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, CCM, we certainly appreciate that as we will have greater input into that organization and it is a very important one.
OLD BUSINESS
02/03-108 Status Report: Revaluation: Harry DerAsadourian
The Assessor gave an overview of the Revaluation process and reported the process started some eight months ago, this is our four year update in the assessments. We started this 12 year process in 1999 with the first physical reassessment, this is now the recalibration tables 2003. We have been working with the vendor, PBS Systems, and are at the point now where we valued all the properties, we have done all of the permit work, and are ready to prepare notices to mail out. We anticipate on mailing roughly 7,300 notices on the 14th of November. Starting on the 17th we anticipate scheduling appointments. It is hard to say exactly how many appointments we will be asked to make, but he is anticipating about 3%, which would be somewhere in the area of 225 appointments. We
will get a lot more calls, some will be people looking for information. The company is staffed for that number of appointments, as well as more should we need to. The plan is to have hearings the last two weeks in November into the first week of December should we have to, and they will be held here in Building 1. The changes we are seeing vary as in each reassessment, we are not seeing as large an increase on some of the commercial properties. In looking at the past two or three reassessments we have gone through a couple economic cycles and we found that typical office rents have remained flat, what is driving some of the values this time. There will be some increase in the commercials but not proportional to the increase in the residential properties. The residential properties have appreciated quite a bit in the past four years, one area that has appreciated a little better than others, are some of the condominiums. In the last
recession condominiums. were hit pretty hard, now condominiums have come back fairly strong – partly because of their affordability, partly because of their desire per the maturing population looking for a residence in Town which does not require a lot of maintenance. In the single family area, those homes that are below $400,000 have appreciated simply because of their affordability, the homes in the higher end and very high end have appreciated, of the ones in the $750,000 to one million dollar range are pretty typical in terms of their appreciation in that the increases go anywhere from 20% to 30%, there are some cases where the appreciation is a little less, and some where it is over 30%. A better way of looking at it is the amount of taxes that the individual property generates as it relates to the overall value of the property, and historically we have been anywhere from 1.5% to 1.6% of value for taxes.
The Town Manager reported what normally happens is as the grand list goes up the rate goes down, so the amount of the mill rate should decline based upon the large growth of the grand list. Mr. Carlson reported the mill rate decline is based on the overall average of the Town. The Town Manager reported that is true to a certain extent, so you do not have as much increase in the commercial and others, so it switches more over to the residential and there is more of an impact on residential. The Assessor reported they ran a quality control assessment sales ratio study, and found that our new assessments were at 67% of the sales price, by statute we are supposed to be at 70%, so we feel comfortable that the assessments do represent the appropriate percentage of market value. In terms of people’s
perception, he feels that there has been a healthy number of properties that have sold in the past 24 months and probably a much larger number of people who have refinanced and so a good percentage of property owners know the value of their property.
In the Farmington Valley we are probably the second lowest in terms of effective tax rate. The information that is comparative information of assessments will be available at the Town Clerk’s office as well as the Library. The Assessor reported you can see any assessment in Town, it will be listed by street , showing the old and the new. In addition to that we do have an Assessor’s web site, that lists all of the current information, We will be expanding that on a temporary basis to show the same data that will be in the Town Clerk’s office and the Library, so one could click on revaluation information, pick the street they would like to see and see all of the assessments old and new by address. We are leaving out the names for privacy issues. We went on the web site
approximately 12 months ago and as of this afternoon there have been slightly more than 51,000 hits, and we feel that to be quite a large number and a real tool in this reassessment process. As always we are open for property owners comments, that is how we purify the data, we have had a number of calls from individuals saying they did not think that we had the style of their house appropriately listed, or they had fewer bathrooms, and especially when they are trying to sell they want that data right and especially regarding finished basements.
Mr. Carlson questioned the building permit and the process used. The Assessor reported the Building Department gives us a copy of all building permits that are issued, we then process them to make sure that any changes that occur to a property we have reflected, and then update the assessment accordingly. We even go out on roof permits, it gives us a chance to familiarize ourselves with the property, walk around and make sure that everything is the same. Quite often we pick up patios, porches, and central air conditioning.
Mrs. Hornaday reported one of the questions that some of the older residents ask her about is that we are continuing to look at possible ways of reducing taxes for the older residents based on their age. She has an ongoing interest in that and the Assessor reads things as well and is aware of what is going on in other areas. She reported if something of interest comes to the Assessors attention she would like to make sure that the Council is made aware of it, as it is of growing concern on the part of some of our residents, and in looking at some demographic schedules it is interesting at how the aging population here is not moving away but it is growing at a slow rate, so we are going to have more and more interest. She reported she just wanted to express that if information comes across the Assessor’s
desk, and if there is something that another community is doing even in another part of the country that has some interest, she would like to be informed in order to be able to tell residents that we have explored this.
The Assessor reported the last two components of the grand list are the motor vehicle and personal property assessments, and in looking at the overall mix, at this point he has not been able to put a handle on motor vehicles, in terms of are we going to have an increase, even though sales have been strong for new cars, that strength has caused the used cars to come down in value. Though we use NADA for a price guide, those are for vehicles typically that are on a dealers lot, that have been safety checked and reconditioned, that is one view of a car – but what we are really taxing are cars that are registered on the road and being used every day that show in some cases above average wear and tear, with high mileage. So we are going to be looking at how we value cars, and what parameters we have to
make adjustments within the state recommendations, as well as NADA, and making some adjustments from that on the older vehicles. Personal property at this point we do not know, because there is a depreciation factor built into that valuation model. Chairman Hines questioned how big a component is that in the overall. The Assessor reported personal property is about $75,000,000 on what we think will be somewhere in excess of a $2,000,000,000 grand list.
Chairman Hines questioned how large is the tax exempt property in Avon. The Assessor reported as a percentage it is not large, the Town is the largest owner of non taxable properties such as the schools, second would be Avon Old Farms School, he would say around $100,000,000 over and above the $2,000,000,000.
03/04-09 Capital Improvement Program 2004/2005 through 2013/2014 Budget Review 7:45 p.m. General Government
The Town Manager reported this is the first night of our Capital Improvement Program Review, we are bringing up the General Government portion and the Police Department, included under General Government we only have one Town related item and that was the Director of Social Services subsequent year request for a van that we are reimbursed for through the McLean Home. Also under General Government we have the Secret Lake Association, and Peter Marzano is here to present that request.
Mr. Marzano reported he lived in Avon since 1983, and resided in Secret Lake for the past 18 months. We built a new home that backs up on to Secret Lake and it is everything that we expected, a lovely community. Since moving there he has become a member of their Board of Directors, and head of its Public Works Committee, therefore he is involved in interfacing with the Town’s Public Works Superintendent regarding roads. He is also involved now, in developing a request for specification to have an outside contractor come and do the snow plowing at Secret Lake with the Town Manager and Superintendent of Public Works guidance, we formulated a formal proposal requesting bids from different types of contractors, and their submitting sealed bids to us, we will look through that then take it to the Town Manager
and Superintendent of Public Works, and ultimately to the Town Council. He appreciates his being asked to replace the previous Representative, Florence Stahl, to interface with the Town Council. He also has been involved with the preparation of the capital budget for Secret Lake, we submitted a similar proposal last year. The request for capital is focused on the aging infrastructure of Secret Lake, which was developed in the late 1920’s, so that we generally have 75 years of people living in the community. Originally the roads were dirt trails, not really meant for traffic, but just a way for people to get into their summer bungalows and spend their summers in the community. With the development in the last 50 years, and specifically in the last decade, there is a lot more traffic that goes through the community and causes some challenges for the people living there. The infrastructure when it was originally designed did not support the
utilities the way they are supported today if a new developer came in. We do not have Avon Water Company water, however, we do have sewers thanks to the Town of Avon, and a part of the structure that is not working well is the storm water system. All of the storm water drains do not have sumps, for example, so at this time of year when the foliage falls, the pine needles and the leaves wind up going into the drains and ultimately into Secret Lake, and we basically have a challenge in Secret Lake itself because of the fill of nutrients over the last 75 years. But with respect to this storm water drainage there are issues that cause some of the property owners’ problems. In 1983 one of the people living at Secret Lake was involved in trying to put together a plan with the Town, and they came up with some drawings, and over the course of the last 20 years, some minor work has been done, but some of the work that was done is not engineered well. Some of the
other challenges are that the storm water drainage system has inadequate access to the lake itself, there is not enough trunk lines and so part of our request for capital is to initially develop a bona fide engineering plan that supports a good design, and the design of the storm water drainage system would be coordinated with the Avon Water Company so that as work is done over a period of time, by coordinating the drawing subsequently if there are requests to put in water then these things would not interfere with each other.
He further reported our request for funds really starts out with a $30,000 request for 2004/2005, which is to get the drawings done. With an eye to the future, Secret Lake will continue to be a wonderful part of the Town of Avon, and we would like to make sure that the infrastructure is developed appropriately to support the community in the years to come.
Chairman Hines reported this is something that the Association has reviewed with us in the past, and it needs to be done, it is an appropriate thing. He further reported he would like him to relay to Secret Lake that we are aware of their concerns regarding all of the traffic from the Canton Golf Course project there. He understands there is new signage that states that trucks are to enter and exit off of Route 44, and not on Secret Lake Road. He reported another thing we have heard is that some of the residents of Secret Lake would like to have a gate. Mr. Marzano reported that is true. Chairman Hines reported we have to be careful on something like that from an emergency standpoint, the Fire Department, and also whether the Town would continue to contribute to Secret Lake Association,
if that became a private group, like with Farmington Woods, then we do not get involved in that. You should be looking at, while it may not be a large amount, the Town support of Secret Lake is probably a very important component for you. Mr. Marzano agreed. Chairman Hines further reported while we have not taken any formal position on it, that is a concern. Mr. Marzano reported the Secret Lake Association was developed for the safety and health and good welfare of the people of the Community of Secret Lake, and the concept of the gate is directly tied to, #1 the increased volume of traffic, #2 the speed of traffic, and this was even a concern prior to the real estate development taking place on Route 44 in Canton. The Board of Directors is very concerned that if we as a Board do not take action to protect the citizens of our little community that both the Board and the Town of Avon would be remiss if something were to happen. For example,
we actually have made a request to the Police Department, which remains outstanding, for some traffic measuring devices, we are confident that they will support us. The speed is an issue, the width of the street of Secret Lake Road is not a legal width and because of that when two cars go down the street it becomes a challenge, parking is illegal and the Fire Department certainly wants access in and out. He has, as a resident and living on Secret Lake Road, actually stepped out at his personal risk with a broom handle to slow people down, and had altercations with people just telling them to please abide by the speed on the road. It is safe to say that it is measured for 25 miles an hour, and people who are cutting through are probably doing much higher at 45 miles an hour. Chairman Hines reported you have speed bumps there also, so it should slow them down. Mr. Marzano reported there are portions of the street where there are not speed bumps,
and while speed bumps are a likely solution, the Fire Department is not in favor of speed bumps, and so to be proactive and good citizens, members of the Association met last Saturday with the former Captain of the Secret Lake Firehouse and with Chief DiPace and put a three page memo together with our objectives explaining to them what our goals are, with respect to protecting the people who live in the community and to slow down the speed.
He reported the community is changing, we have many more young people, there are young mothers that are walking on the street with their carriages and there are more children playing today than there may have been just 10 years ago. As the population demographics change it becomes prudent upon not only the Board of Directors of Secret Lake but it is prudent upon the Town Council to recognize that it is not a matter of a threat of loss of funding, it is a matter of protecting the people who live in that community. We are absolutely going to work with the Fire Department, with the Police Department but we have not had a chance to speak to them as yet. We recognize that there are other emergency services, such as ambulances, one of the examples of solutions that we have seen, is that if there was a
call to the Fire Department and a tone that could raise the gate, and we are willing to have that gate open for even as many as four or five hours thereafter. It is just an attempt to keep the people in the new developments off of Route 177, and you can see the cars, late model cars, people in a hurry, people on cell phone driving by and not paying attention to the ladies on the street with their carriages. What if something happens, and if we do not have this dialogue and figure out what to do, we would all be remiss. We will continue to have the dialogue and he is hopeful this answers some of the Council’s questions.
Chairman Hines reported he often thought of closing it off to Route 44, one solution and not have a connection there and just come down from Lovely Street to enter – whether that would be better for this small development. In the long run the firehouse will probably be moved out of that area to a better spot so that has to be considered. But what would happen if the entrance was closed off from Route 44, and you entered from Lovely Street, considering it is such a small development would that be adequate – although he is not sure that the Planning & Zoning Commission would like that from a safety standpoint and the Police probably would not like it either. Mr. Marzano reported we think that there is a series of signs saying “no thoroughfare” right across from the beach,
if you were to go further south at that point there would be a ‘no outlet’ sign, which would mean if they proceed they would not be able to get out at the south end of Secret Lake Road. Chairman Hines reported but that would mean blocking the road out to Lovely Street – which is where now the cul-de-sac and the two join. Mr. Marzano reported that is correct. Chairman Hines reported he would like to qualify his comments – if you were to close off Route 44 or the other way going toward Lovely Street, he would look at that still having emergency capability for the Police and Fire Department, so there might be a gate or something such as a chain, that could be opened. Mr. Marzano reported we are not thinking of a chain of any kind, we are thinking of a single gate that is about 12 to 15 feet long, that can be controlled by a remote that simply opens up, and it would also have control by the Fire tone so that when the fire engines were
called it would open up and we would program it to stay open for at least four hours. Chairman Hines reported your residents would have the capability of opening and closing this gate. Mr. Marzano reported yes, the residents – whoever wanted to leave the community at the south end, it is a matter of life and safety. We would actually eliminate the speed bumps altogether, if in fact we could put that gate up, this way it would satisfy the fire department’s need as well to have a speed exit. Mr. Marzano reported we are all neighbors and we just want to preserve the safety of the people who live there. He further reported he appreciates the opportunity, and would like to give the opportunity for anyone to walk around and observe with him is certainly open to them in order to make them aware of existing problems. Secret Lake is truly a village, and how people think about each other, and support each other – if
there were more communities like that it would be a better place to live. Chairman Hines reported you are a great asset to the area and we appreciate it.
8:15 p.m. Police Department
Chief Agnesi presented the Police Department Capital Budget Requests for FY2004/2005 as follows:
Spacesavers Mobile Storage System $ 35,000
Chief Agnesi reported we have resubmitted some of the items previously eliminated. The first is the Spacesaver Storage System, which we would like to at some point to be able to put in our storage vault which is at the moment cluttered, currently we are operating at near capacity, as it is only 20’ x 15’. This type of system will allow us to grow for another 10 to 15 years with the space made available. We looked at several companies, who have selected the Spacesaver Storage System. We have begun a bidding process, and have increased the amount we had in there from the previous two years, from $30,000 to $35,000, an increase in the cost of the systems.
The second item is a $13,000 item, a generator for the Ridgewood Road radio site, as a backup power system. We were hoping through our negotiations with Sprint/AT&T, that we would be able to get them somehow to go for a generator, but we were not successful and we really need to look at putting a new generator at our primary emergency services site, not only for police, but fire apparatus. Mr. Carlson reported he was surprised to see this item here, as we have a cutoff for projects at $20,000. The Town Manager reported we do. Chief Agnesi reported that is right, but actually what happened is that we started out with four generators and changes in the system, went down to two for $26,000, then to one at $13,000, but it will be eliminated. Chairman Hines reported it will be put in the
operating budget for the coming year.
The Town Manager reported the item in the Police Department FY2005/2006 budget for communication research due to FCC refarming issues and the complete replacement of the Communications Center in amount $680,000 needs to be discussed during budget deliberations this winter and spring, as we would have to make a commitment to move ahead at that point in time.
03/04-16 Defined Benefit Pension: Repeal Ordinance #12e and 26, Adopt Ordinance #69; Set Public Hearing Date: 12/4/03, 7:30 p.m.
Chairman Hines reported we need to set a date for a public hearing on adopting a new ordinance, in the packet there are a number of documents regarding this. This is something that we have made aware of all along, and felt it would be appropriate, and this is the appropriate way to go. It is just a matter of following that procedure, setting up a public hearing for the next meeting, December 4th. The Town Manager this is an attempt to adopt changes that have been previously approved to the Pension Plan in an Ordinance format, we are talking about repealing Ordinance 12 Appendix E, which references the original adoption of the Retirement Plan, back in 1961, repealing Ordinance 26, which was adopted in 1968, a supplemental funding requirement at that time. The new Ordinance 69
incorporates all of that into it as well as changes made in the 33 or 34 years since the last change in 1968. We have spent four years on this project, getting all of these things up to date, having the Actuaries and the Town Attorney review them. He reported there is no change in substance from the way we are operating or anything else, we are just adopting it in a different format.
On a motion made by Mr. Carlson, seconded by Mrs. Hornaday, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council schedule a public hearing for December 4, 2003 at 7:30 p.m.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines and Carlson voted in favor.
03/04-17 Review and Discussion: Scope of Library Renovation/Expansion Program: Ginny Vocelli, Librarian/Keith Sherman, Library Board President
Chairman Hines reported at a previous meeting we requested a study be done looking at all of the potential sites, before we moved ahead to purchase any property. The Town Planner and several people from the Library took part in this. We did not take any action at our last meeting without Mr. Carlson who requested the study, since then we have received additional information, and several Council members have expressed their views in order to move ahead in this area. There are a couple of things we need to settle on, we looked at different sites, heard from several people on the fact that the present site is pretty good, but not for 50,000 square feet, which is the general feeling expressed by Council and planning people, that if they want to go that big Towpath is the area, whether you tear the
building down or modify it. The reason we are concerned about 50,000, is whether it would even fit into the present site, and whether Planning & Zoning would ever approve anything that big, and then it gets into the fundamentals - how the Town Council and Board of Finance could sell anything that big to the Town, when we are at 18,000 today. If 50,000 sq.ft. is the key, we have real concerns there, and not the direction we want to go. The second item is if we decide we want to move in this area and this is the right site, then we should look at adjacent property, and there is someone who is interested in selling, and the key site according to the architectural sketches the Library has prepared.
Mr. Carlson reported he has concerns about a 50,000 square foot facility in that local, and that is why he asked that we look at other locations, but that area of Town, going down to Scoville and up to Country Club is the right location for the library, but he does not favor a library at Towpath or Huckleberry. The central location of it presently is good, but after reading the materials he would agree that the branch system is not a good answer to the dilemma. Those issues not withstanding, what he would ask that we look at is the services offered by the library, to understand if indeed all of the services need to be offered in that one physical location. For example, if there were some things that might lend themselves to a community center, should we then look at Towpath for that, or should we then
look at the Senior Center for that, or an addition to the Senior Center. Can we somehow carve up the needs, and he is not arguing about the needs, what he is questioning is the venue for the needs. He would ask that we take a fresh look at that. We have a property owner who is interested in selling, we need additional space, but we may not need 32,000 feet there, we may need 1,000, and if we need that we will need more parking and access and if that is the case we may need some conversations around that issue.
Mrs. Hornaday reported the location the library is in is the best location, in terms of the schools. As far as safety features, driving on this side of Town off of Route 44 was the reason we placed it on Country Club Road in the first place. She questions 50,000 square feet, she recalled after our last meeting that the Library Director had told us that the direction of the Library was going to be moving away from volumes and into other means of having information available – volumes take up a lot of space - but if research materials are going to end up being on computers and CD’s as opposed to full books, we may not need the full 50,000 square feet that we had been talking about and that in fact a somewhat smaller facility could still take care of all of the materials that we want to have,
provide some of the activities such as children’s story telling time and some of that, and use the space we have – add on to the facility we have and get some extra parking. 50,000 sq.ft.is huge..
The Library Director reported we were looking at 49,100, and we are planning for 20 years into the future, and while we do not anticipate the collection should get much larger than it is now, but it is cramped now. We began with planning what we really wanted to have there, what we really wanted to have for the community, and especially some walking around space is what we really need, places for people to come and sit down and do their work. They may check their computer to see if the library has the book, but they still come to the library to look at it. She would ask that the Council not restrict them to a 35,000 level, 40,000 would be fine but she would not want to be too restricted, as the present building was too small, fairly shortly after the renovations were completed. We can agree
that 50,000 is probably too big, and we probably do not need it all. Mr. Carlson reported having been involved with a few school projects, rather than starting with the answer is 40,000 or 45,000, he questioned whether we should start with what the services we do not want to have to offer out of that building. We should go back to the point of looking at the services we want to offer out of the building and then how much square footage those services require. The Library Director reported we have done that programming, and determined nine priorities in terms of what the needs are - more space for the collections, expand the young adult area, more work area space for the children and work area space for volunteers. Mr. Carlson reported if needs added up to 50,000 sq.ft. and now you are hearing from people that they are not comfortable with that, what are the things that would fall off to drop it down to 40,000 or 45,000. The Director reported just
less space for each category.
Chairman Hines reported he found out last week from the Board President, that the Library Board has been looking at this whole financial situation, and they are willing to help to provide some of the funds. We did not discuss the actual amounts, and it would probably get into how big the program is and what their situation is, but that is a good thing for us to know, and it is going to be easier to sell the residents if they are making a contribution. This looks like a good site and according to comments we should proceed, he would like to agree to have the Town Manager look at this first parcel, for possible purchase, and the Library Director and Town Manager continue to look at all of the parcels, in order to let people know there is some interest for a right of first refusal or something of that type from
them. How to finance - we could consider taking it out of surplus, short term bonds that goes into a future bonding program when we expand the high school and library, and how to phase all of that needs to be decided. Mrs. Hornaday reported the first step is whether we can get the land, the property to expand, there is no point of developing plans without that. The Town Manager reported he would suggest that we inform the Board of Finance on what we are planning on doing, in terms of a total project cost, we have to look at the price of the house and the property, legal costs and demolition costs, therefore before we move ahead we must understand that there is a project cost versus just the acquisition costs. It was the consensus of the Town Council to move ahead in the development of plans for acquisition of land and continuation of defining the needs for an expansion of the Library, with less square footage than originally proposed.
03/04-29 Appointment: Natural Resources Commission
On a motion made by Mr. Carlson, seconded by Mrs. Hornaday, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table the appointment to the December 4th meeting.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines and Carlson voted in favor.
NEW BUSINESS
03/04-39 Review, Discussion, Approval: Planting Plan, Living Museum; Leslie Mancini, Avon Historical Society
Chairman Hines reported we have been given a planting plan that looked quite good. Mrs. Mancini, an Avon Historical Society representative, reported the planting plan is called a pocket park to be located next to the Living Museum property on Route 44. We have had discussions over the past year about improving the outside of the Living Museum area to make it more attractive, and overdue maintenance that needed to be done, to make it look like a more inviting place so that people would want to go into it and find out more about Avon and its previous history. During the past months we worked with a number of Town staff on this idea, as to what we wanted to do, including the Planning Department, Public Works Department and also the Town Manager. There was agreement that it was an interesting idea and
a good thing to do. The drawing for the proposal and several letters from the Historical Society, Public Works and Dr. Beebe, who owns the adjacent property, are included in the packet. It was decided that given the rather small nature of the project that we could proceed with it, but that it would be important to discuss this with the Town Council what we wanted to do, to see if the Council had concerns or suggestions for us. She further reported the pocket park would be located on Town land that is between the Living Museum which is in the 1830’s era and Dr. Beebe’s building which is of the style that is in the turn of the century 1900’s, therefore the landscaping in between would have an historical theme to it, but a transitional period between those two time frames. We propose the work to be done in three sections, first to put in a new brick walkway and patio which is relatively small and we are recycling a number of bricks that we had
around the museum in order to save money. We are in the process of finalizing what it would look like and have a contractor that we are working with to put together a letter of agreement. The second section is that there is a planting bed that goes under the trees in that area next to the new patio, our idea for this, in keeping with the historical theme, is that we are going to be using plantings of that period for the purpose of giving cuttings to others to share, but hopefully using plant donations to save money. The brickwork we are planning on doing before the ground freezes, the planting work in the Spring, and the third piece would be a base for a sculpture or some kind of art piece, and areas for some kind of memorial or commemorative benches, once we get a better sense of the elements, what it would look like and what that would cost, and whether we could find some people to be benefactors of this project.
Chairman Hines reported it sounds good. Mr. Carlson reported first his thanks to the Historical Society for all of their work around Town, it is appreciated and is one of the things that makes our Town very unique and very special. The only question he has on this type of project is the maintenance, is it something that the Town would maintain as it is on Town property? Mrs. Mancini reported it is as we have previously arranged with the other properties that the Historical Society operates, the Darren House, Pine Grove School House, and the Living Museum, which is that it is a partnership and we do expect to be doing a fair amount of the labor. All of the work that we have planned as deferred maintenance on the Living Museum has now been done as of this past month, and of course there
are always ongoing things, but that and the way that the new pocket park is planned that most of the touchy kind of work the first year or two as the plants are getting established and the Historical Society is committed to taking on the majority of that work, as far as mowing and maintenance around the walkways and so forth has been a shared type of thing and the Town has been wonderful with Public Works coming to do different things for the properties and we would expect that to continue. Chairman Hines reported we are highly in favor of what you are doing and appreciate it. Mrs. Hornaday reported she agrees it is a great idea. Chairman Hines reported yes, move ahead.
03/04-40 Review and Discussion: Recommendation for Construction Noise Ordinance
Chairman Hines reported we have had previous discussions and memos, the same as before, the Planning & Zoning Commission feel that the way they would have to enforce it would be very cumbersome and we would be better off with an ordinance. It is mainly an ordinance just for construction, nothing else, and just during the typical day, trying to say no work efforts on Sundays, and trying to enforce Saturdays we would have to look into as there is a lot of construction going on then. What is more important is the people who have been complaining about it, have been that it is too early in the morning, like 6:00 a.m. and in the evenings, therefore if we could make it an ordinance with some flexibility say until 6:00 p.m., but beyond that it may not be appropriate. We do not want any ordinance that
handicaps everybody who would want to work here in the Town.
Chairman Hines reported he would suggest to our Town Attorney is that he come up with an ordinance, then we do some survey work on this whole area also. Mr. Carlson reported we could look at what other towns have adopted. The few plans he has reviewed are more about early morning work, and if they were to look at that end of the spectrum it would be well served, we need to have some recognition that there are projects and then there are ‘projects’, meaning if someone has a one day job at their house and the builder say that he can get it done in a day but that he would need to go 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. – that is one issue and we run into those. On the other hand if it is going to be building 100 homes here over the next five years, that is a different situation, and people need to be
good neighbors as well. Mrs. Hornaday reported she would also ask that the Town Attorney look into making some exceptions for homeowners that are doing a little home repair, because they have to do it when they get home from work or on the weekend, so that is a little different. Chairman Hines reported the long term projects that are really causing the trouble.
On a motion made by Mrs. Hornaday, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council authorize the Town Attorney to review and draft a Noise Ordinance for the Town of Avon, based upon the aforesaid recommendations.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines and Carlson voted in favor.
03/04-41 Transfer of Funds for Capital Purchase $9,950; Emergency Generator
On a motion made by Mrs. Hornaday, 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 the transfers of appropriations in the amount of $3,070 from Account #02-4859-53348, Capital Projects Fund (Facil & Equip), B O E CIP-Facilities, AHS Field Project and $6,880 from Account #02-4859-53328, Capital Projects Fund (Facil & Equip) B O E CIP-Facilities, Port. Classrooms (RBS-4, AMS-3) to Account # 02-8700-5800, Capital Projects Fund (Facil & Equip), Other Financing Uses, Interfund Transfers-Out and an operating transfer in the amount of $9,950, to Account #01-0390-43918 General Fund, Other Financing Sources Interfund Operating Transfers In and increase Account #01-2301-53319, General Fund Communications, Other Equipment, for the
purpose of funding a generator at Huckleberry Hill.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines and Carlson voted in favor.
03/04-42 Review and Discussion: Request for Ordinance Regulating Vicious Dogs
Chairman Hines reported we have received correspondence and have asked the Police Department for their feelings, their history and problems. Their response is that they think that an ordinance would be appropriate, that it would help them and the Canine Officer and so forth. He questioned whether the Council would like to ask our Town Attorney to prepare such an ordinance. Mr. Carlson reported he would, as it would give the Police Department some guidance on how to handle these matters, and that is a good starting point. Mrs. Hornaday reported she would also. Chairman Hines reported he is in favor of it, and it may take several months for the Town Attorney to survey other ordinances, and come up with something that is reasonable and return to us, we would then hold a public hearing. We will keep people informed as to what is going on with this, and will not take anymore of your time on this, as we are sympathetic to the problem. Audience – thank you.
03/04-43 Tax Refund: Helen Ann Kotler 205 Lovely St., Avon $4,463.88
The Assessor reported this house is on a lot of which 40% of it is located in Avon, 60% is in Farmington, the previous owner maintained a Farmington address. The owners bedroom is actually located in Avon, therefore the new owner may switch their residence and the address to Avon because that is where the owners bedroom will be. We determine where residence is by where they actually live, and that includes choice of schools, etc. What has happened is that we used to mechanically maintain the records, and we knew that 40% was in Avon, we would value the whole house and then depreciate it, and then take 40% of that depreciated value for its assessment, and we would do a similar process on the lands. In 1999 when we computerized and did the reassessment, we did the same and valued the entire house but
we never went back and took the 60% off. When we realized our mistake, we brought it to the owners attention and informed her that we would process a refund. We have also spoken with Farmington and worked out an arrangement with them.
On a motion made by Mrs. Hornaday, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve a tax refund in amount $4,463.88 to Helen Ann Kotler, as recommended by the Collector or Revenue.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines and Carlson voted in favor.
Mrs. Hornaday reported when it is split, the community that is chosen as resident address, therefore having to provide schools and services, one would anticipate they would receive a greater portion of tax revenue no matter what the split. The Assessor reported that is a good point, we have four situations, three involving a house literally being split so that they might want to then revisit those as well. Chairman Hines reported how can you do that if you have a house that has an older couple, than a younger couple buys it, you cannot switch valuations back and forth, we have to come up with some reasonable number, then leave that alone, otherwise you could have an impact on the value of the property.
03/04-44 Bid Award - Dump Truck and Snow Fighting Equipment
On a motion made by Mr. Carlson, seconded by Mrs. Hornaday, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council award the bid to Navistar in amount $115,007 for the purchase of a dump truck and snow fighting equipment to be used by the Highway Department.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines and Carlson voted in favor.
03/04-45 Road Acceptance: Sheffield Lane
In a memo from the Deputy Town Engineer he reported the Developer of Sheffield Subdivision has requested acceptance of Sheffield Lane, the Engineering Department has inspected this road during all phases of construction and found it to be constructed in accordance with Town of Avon standards for road construction, all necessary legal instruments to convey title have been submitted and reviewed by the Town Attorney, and he would recommend acceptance at this time.
On a motion made by Mrs. Hornaday, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept Sheffield Lane into the Town of Avon roadway system as recommended by the Deputy Town Engineer.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines and Carlson voted in favor.
03/04-46 Road Acceptance: Williamsburg Lane
In a memo from the Deputy Town Engineer he reported the Developer of Williamsburg Subdivision has requested acceptance of Williamsburg Lane, the Engineering Department has inspected this road during all phases of construction and found it to be constructed in accordance with Town of Avon standards for road construction, all necessary legal instruments to convey title have been submitted and reviewed by the Town Attorney, and he would recommend acceptance at this time.
On a motion made by Mrs. Hornaday, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept Williamsburg Lane into the Town of Avon roadway system as recommended by the Deputy Town Engineer.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines and Carlson voted in favor.
TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT/MISCELLANEOUS
The Town Manager reported there is a status report on the M. H. Rhodes building, we are moving ahead with that, there are couple of things coming up. One item will be on the November 20th agenda, we now have a draft proposal from Ned Shanahan, the environmentalist consultant, to go into the Rhodes property now that the building is down and to ascertain and do the determination of whether there is any form of additional pollution underneath the slab of the building and to drill test wells that will have to be used to monitor things in the future, for up to four years as per the original WASSO commitment to the DEP when we bought the building. The Town Manager reported the cost is approximately $30,000 so we will be coming back for approval to sign the contract with Shanahan for doing this particular
work. We do have a sufficient balance at this point to cover that, obviously one of the biggest unforeseen things was the insurance costs of $80,000, so he is hoping we are going to be able to keep the whole project into the project guidelines. The subsequent issues that still needs to be done, is grading and seeding and so forth, and some of it may be above the project budget.
The other issue that we are working on and will be coming up is the fact that underlying the concrete slap for the whole building is a drainage system which includes tranzite pipe which as indicated, if exposed it becomes labeled hazardous material as friable asbestos, and we are anticipating it may cost us close to $40,000 to have that removed and disposed of as a hazardous material. Chairman Hines questioned whether we have to remove it. The Town Manager reported pretty much so, we would want to anyway because of the future use as a field, we do not want exposure. Chairman Hines reported we had no idea it was there. The Town Manager reported that is correct, but probably when they were putting in the base for the slab they wanted to make sure that it was well drained underneath and they happened
to use that tranzite pipe which of course is no longer manufactured. There will be a potential there so we will be coming back to the Council on that.
The Town Manager reported the quarterly financial report the Council received a copy of, and the Finance Director is here if there are any questions. Essentially we are doing well, particularly some of the revenues, the conveyance fees and so forth because of that state law change last year, we are ahead on that. The Building Fees, we are not quite as active as we were last year, down slightly, but they are still very strong. We will probably end up at this rate with somewhere around 100 building permits, last year there were 128.
The Town Manager reported we will closs the Senior Center to install the sprinkler system from January to March. The Recreation Director and Superintendent have worked on this, all of the activities that had been scheduled in there, we have managed to find other venues for them, we informed the groups. We feel comfortable that should move ahead and we should complete that project.
The Town Manager reported, as requested, he looked into CATV for our meetings. He did not finish the report, but he can give the Council the benefit of some of the input. There are some trends, one is that most of the communities seem to be either doing it themselves or there are private non profit groups that are doing it on a volunteer basis. Those communities that have the volunteer non profit groups, they are under a lot of stress, and a number of the communities are looking at moving the CATV process operation into the Town, rather than having the volunteer groups continue it because they are having problems getting volunteers. A common problem through just about all of them is the issue of quality, and definitely as a group the communities that are involved with this, are moving towards a
more quality operation which as you would anticipate is more expensive. Some other trends, those communities that are doing it by themselves, there becomes an FOI issue on retention of the tapes and access to the tapes, several communities have had people come back in and want copies of tapes of meetings to revisit comments that were made by individuals at prior meetings, so the tapes and their retention and storage is an issue we would have to look at if the Town is going to be doing it. Most towns that have started it have found that their meetings were lengthened, that the dialogue did increase, that there was around election times and other times there was posturing and citizens coming in to make statements and comments and so forth, so you can probably figure that the meetings would be lengthened.
Chairman Hines reported once the Town Manager has finished his survey report, the Council can look at it, then we can give some guidance as to whether we want it put in for consideration in next years’ budget, as now the money is just not there.
The Town Manager reported one aspect the Council might want to look at – some communities started out doing only one board and then moved to others, some communities were just looking at town meetings and budget meeting rather than doing every board meeting. Briefly on prices Nutmeg TV come out with one person and a camera, for a three hour guaranteed minimum of $75 per meeting. Bristol which has gone the high quality route, which most of the other towns are moving in that direction, they have three cameras, and the tape is professionally edited, and that is $500 a meeting. If we included Board of Education, Town Council and Planning and Zoning, you are talking at least three meetings or more per month. There are substantial potential start up costs if the Town is going to be involved
with equipment – in Glastonbury it cost $60,000 to get all of the equipment in place to have it done and, of course, you have the ongoing costs. Most of the communities that are doing it, the Council meetings are definitely covered, the Board of Education’s have been much more reluctant to get involved and in many cases they have come in years later. The Town of Canton started the program, did it for a year or two and because of quality problems and money problems stopped doing it.
Chairman Hines reported one of the problems he has, and he does occasionally listen to Bristol and Farmington, you do not know who is talking, and you cannot tell even when you see all of the people on one end, then someone over here talks and you do not know who that is. He spoke with Kathy Eagan of Farmington, and she said she gets a lot of calls and comments about it, so we know some people watch it, but how many they do not know. The Town Manager reported one of the comments too, is that there are people who watch it, it definitely increases participation in the sense that people watch, it is a very small number in most towns, maybe several hundred, but compared to having no one at the meetings, you have several hundred people that are at least watching them. Most of the towns also felt that it took
six months to one year to get used to it, but once they got used to it that it did not become a significant problem in terms of deliberations other than it did lengthen the meetings. Chairman Hines reported we would also like to know if it is live or on tape, because sometimes if they come out several days after the meeting, there are already articles in the paper, and everybody knows. The Town Manager reported most of them are taped and broadcast later, some have live coverage but that is even more expensive because of the line costs.
The Town Manager reported he will put all of the information together in a report, and distribute to the Council. Mrs. Hornaday reported on this topic, she would like the Town Manager to speak to the Superintendent of Schools, as they have a program where they make movies. The Town Manager reported he spoke with him, and he said at this point in time from his very quick discussion of it, that he did not think that there was a majority of the Board of Education interested, but that they would be happy to participate but that he would prefer that if we are going to do it that we do it on a quality basis, similar to the Bristol one, as he watches it on his television, and mentioned that Plainville is not good.
Chairman Hines reported he would imagine there are legal questions to it as well, we would have to get an Attorney opinion as well. There is a timing issue as to who said what, and it could get very touchy. Mrs. Hornaday reported some of the residents that have brought it up to her, are involved with the PTO’s, she mentioned to them that there was some expense involved that it could be substantial and that is when they said something to her, about being able to use the school’s equipment that they already have. The Town Manager reported you might have to transport the equipment for every meeting, that would be the only thing. Mrs. Hornaday reported we would have to find out if there were someone willing to transport it for every meeting. The Town Manager reported that is one
of the issues that came up in the discussion of the volunteers, was that you would have some who would be at every meeting to do it, practically, but then there were others that would do it for six months and then not. One of the issues with high school students and so forth, is that you have to pay them and they are not allowed to keep them out after 9:00 p.m. because of the child labor laws, so that became an issue. Mrs. Hornaday reported one of the reasons she wanted that done, is to be able to tell these people that is not a viable option, and here is why. Chairman Hines reported the summary the Town Manager has given is excellent. The Town Manager reported you now have most of the key points, and he will put it in a report.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
On a motion made by Mrs. Hornaday, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council go into Executive Session at 9:40 p.m.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines and Carlson voted in favor.
On a motion made by Mr. Carlson, seconded by Mrs. Hornaday, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council come out of Executive Session at 10:00 p.m.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines and Carlson voted in favor.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m.
Attest:
Caroline B. LaMonica
Town Clerk
| |
