Town of Avon, CT Minutes & Agendas Archive - Town Council Minutes 11/20/2003

Town Council Minutes 11/20/2003

AVON TOWN COUNCIL

SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES

NOVEMBER 20, 2003

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Selectmen’s Chamber by Chairman Hines. Members present: Messrs: Carlson, Shea and Woodford. Absent: Mrs. Hornaday.

OLD BUSINESS

03/04-09 Capital Improvement Program 2004/2005 through 2013/2014 Budget Review

a. 7:00 p.m. Recreation and Parks

The Recreation Director presented the 2004/2005 Capital Improvement Program for Recreation and Parks as follows:

Athletic Fields – Buckingham Road $93,000

- Phase I Completion

- Recreation Facilities – Comprehensive Master Plan 20,000

TOTAL $113,000

The Recreation Director, Douglas Evans and Robert Meyers of the Recreation and Parks Committee attended the meeting. They reported the first project are the fields at Buckingham, there is a consensus on the committee and among people in the community, that we want to complete the first phase of the project for an additional $93,000. The weather has hindered the schedule, however, the contractor has come back and seeded for a second time. The contract documents will be brought to the Town Council for approval, and to Richter and Cegan to finalize some of the items and to permit completion for the spring of 2005. Chairman Hines questioned whether the documents are going to require the additional $93,000. The Director reported no, we are going out for the balance of the grant, the detailed report will be ready for the next meeting. Chairman Hines reported then there is no commitment beyond the $200,000 right now. The Director reported there are items that cannot be finished on the project, essentially the outfield fences, the warning tracks, some of the walkways. Chairman Hines questioned whether they can wait another year and still be appropriate. The Director reported yes, we need to get the infield, backstop and all of that in, then assess once we finish up with the grant how much money we have left. We then can more accurately determine the amount that is needed. Some of the funds may be in services or from outside funding, mostly local sources, but we need to plan to finish the first phase.

Mr. Carlson questioned with regard to Buckingham, in the letter of transmittal, it says some will be from alternate sources of funding, is that additional money on top of the $93,000? The Director reported no, we have to have money appropriated to be able to spend it, and in the revenue codes in the detail page, the money may come from general revenues or other sources, which is why the entire amount is listed. Chairman Hines questioned whether the Recreation Committee thinks that this project is top priority. Recreation Committee Chairman Meyers reported yes, there are two things that we are asking for in the first year, one is to finish these fields, partially on a State grant and partially by work in kind from the developer, as required by Planning & Zoning, and we do not want it to sit there 80% complete and not be able to use it therefore that is the priority, and the other is to begin the master plan for which we have the first half of the funding for the first year.

The Director reported the Master Plan is a priority, as we share the facilities with the Board of Education it makes sense to do this in conjunction with them, but the amount of expertise and time that is required to do this, it needs to be done professionally. The Director reported this would be done by landscape architects or engineering firms, similar to the ones that we interviewed for the Buckingham project. If we want a plan into the future, it takes an inventory and an assessment not only of what we need but in conjunction with the Board of Education outdoors and otherwise, and put our needs to the available resources, and in the process of doing that we may get some schematics out of it. Chairman Hines reported the indoor facilities should be in the plan as well. Committee Chairman Meyers reported our plan is to study all recreational related facilities and needs, including the Board of Education. Chairman Hines reported if Towpath School is going to be a possibility let that be part of the plan.

Mr. Shea reported he would suggest that we reach out to other towns in Connecticut that have gone through this, clearly it is to our benefit to take a look at the indoor and outdoor facilities, it must have been done, reach out to other Athletic and Recreation Directors and find out who has done this type of work successfully. It should include the high school, as we will be spending millions on it, and it will probably be our last time, and to not utilize that space to its fullest in a real professional way would be shortsighted. He requested we talk to the Recreation Directors and Athletic Directors of other towns, before we even talk to professionals – asking them what they would do differently if they had to do it again, how would they improve this process. Mr. Woodford questioned whether $40,000 is enough to do the job. The Director reported if we add indoor facilities, no.

The Town Manager reported he would suggest that if we are looking at a macro look at recreation, athletic, programmatic, and then facilities as an outgrowth of the programmatic issue on a town wide basis, in a comprehensive manner as you are looking at, there needs to be a dialogue with the Board of Education, and a joint committee be set up or maybe both boards are sufficient enough to handle the issue. But what we are basically doing here is delving down now into the Board of Education’s curriculum, in terms of its athletic needs and programmatic needs, which goes far beyond what we are capable of doing, and what we were originally asked. He would say if that is the way the Council wants it done, it is a policy decision, but it may need to be sent back to be reconfigured in a broader sense because we do not have all of the input that we need from the education side, and potentially we may need additional funding to be able to complete. We are now talking about programmatic and academic issues that the Superintendent of Schools needs to be involved with, in terms of where is the educational system in this country, state and town going in terms of physical fitness and athletics. They need to be involved from the policy standpoint as to how they prioritize those within their own area. Chairman Hines reported the Board of Education are probably going to make a decision in December to meet with us to talk about high school facility needs - we then could set up a three board meeting including the Board of Finance, and devote it to that subject, and could add in this idea.

Mr. Carlson reported as suggested, we talk with other towns, that when we do the study of our needs and the study of what we might want to have – we look at what our surrounding towns have and what they are going to have in the future. For example, if another town is going to do lighted tennis courts, there may be some opportunities for us. Secondly, because this has grown you look at a joint committee that is the Recreation Committee, Council Members, Board of Education Members - there needs to be some oversight for the development of the master plan. He would suggest that a few members be added to the Recreation Committee on a temporary basis, that then forms the oversight committee, to make sure that indeed all of the interests of all of the parties are there - and he would agree that it is more than a $40,000 project – and you come away with the end product being what you want it to be.

Mr. Shea reported his point is that he would like to see it fast tracked. The Town Manager reported he would suggest the Town Council direct a letter to the Board of Education regarding this project and request some input from the Board of Education as to how they would like to approach dealing with this issue, so that we can move ahead with it. That puts it on their agenda, and then they can discuss how they want to do it. That way they feel full partners in this, and it is not something that we are doing –delving into their business.

The Town Manager reported one other aspect of this, both the Town Council and Board of Education, once we set up a mechanism for developing the RFP solicitation document, in the core of that will be the scope of services that we are asking the consultant to do, and he would suggest that it is almost imperative that both the Board of Education and Town Council to agree on that scope of services. One aspect of that which we might want to revisit, we looked at five years ago was the issue of facilities management, maintenance and operation, in terms of supervision, control, budgeting, resource allocation issues – it may or may not be, in looking for guidance from the Town Council, for even broadening this even further – to look at those particular issues as part of a study that would be done in terms of how we relate organizationally to one another in the utilization of the facilities – so far it has been pretty much ad hoc. Chairman Hines questioned whether that would be professional outside help working on that. The Town Manager reported he is picking up on the comments that other towns are doing this already. He reported West Hartford is already starting to get into a deep analysis of potentially combining a number of administrative functions of the Board of Education and the Town, for instance, they are looking at finance, at maintenance, at human resources, and one other area which he thinks has some potential is in the purchasing area, including everything that we buy. What he is looking at is, if we are broadening the idea, which is what has occurred here – then maybe instead of just looking at how many square feet a gym do we need at the high school, and how many square feet of ball fields of various types – maybe we should have them look at how we would manage them. Burlington had already done a master plan, Simsbury and others, we may need to look at how they manage the facilities. Mr. Shea reported that is two separate studies. Chairman Hines reported we have not asked the Recreation and Parks Committee to get into that kind of efforts in the past, so we may not want them to.

Mr. Woodford reported it would be very productive, and there is benefit to having a third party come up with some suggestions as to how to implement this. Chairman Hines reported we would want a different third party, rather than somebody that would be doing a recreation plan for us. Mr. Woodford reported he is not sure, he does not know who would be doing what, but it would be very productive. The Town Manager reported you would get a variety of responses to the RFP, not only landscape architectural people, but regular consultants, all kinds of people interested in that type of a product. Maybe what we need to do is to let the group, whoever it is going to be, get together and start, after we get Board of Education concurrence, input and involvement into a model of how we are going to move ahead. Then let them decide how far they want to go, on some of the issues. Mr. Woodford reported there may be an outfit out there that may do this all day long, that we are not aware of, and does them both, and does them both well. Chairman Hines reported if we are going to send a letter to the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools about this joint recreation plan, also look at how we can do our operations more efficiently, maybe this is an opportunity to expand the study to include something of this type.

The Town Manager reported he was not looking in this study to get into these other areas, he was looking at it in terms of the management of the recreation facilities and programs as a separate area, he was not looking for this study to get into finance or anything else. That to him is a different issue, but it needs to be done. Mr. Woodford reported yes, strictly athletics. The Town Manager reported not in a broadened scope – just looking at if we were going to really integrate facilities, physically, then maybe we ought to be looking at integrating management, organizationally, financially and other things in the recreation athletic area. Chairman Hines reported send the letter, and set up a meeting sometime in January, if the Board of Education says they want to meet with us, a special meeting on the high school, then we could talk about recreation too, but getting a letter out ahead of time to get them thinking about it would be good. Mr. Woodford questioned whether the Recreation and Parks Committee members felt this made sense. Mr. Meyers reported it makes perfect sense to us.

The Recreation Director reported he would say from the standpoint of the scheduling of the facilities that we have, that has never been much of an issue, because every community does that type of thing. The issue is where are we going forward, we are in a situation where the participation is off the chart, such as with our program of youth basketball grades 2 through 8, with 620 children, up 40 from last year. There are 12 travel teams that are unaffiliated with us, from 5^th to 8^th grade, last year there were 7. Chairman Hines questioned whether those include girls. The Director reported yes, and we have separate leagues, we are in the process for every grade level for girls basketball. LaCross is beginning to bust at the seams, these are all numbers that are disproportionate to our population standards. At the Connecticut Parks Association Meeting it was discussed that we can no longer use the standard numbers, it is a good thing but disproportionate and it does stretch our facilities, we continue to use the Board of Education’s gym facilities, other than the high school as they are so busy there is nothing available, everything else we use six days a week until 9:30 or 10:00 every night. The custodians are on duty every day until 10:00 p.m. and the Board of Education poses no charges for them, but on weekends when custodians have to come in, we pay them out of our special revenues which are fees we collect. It makes sense that all of these children are moving towards the middle school and high school level, and to not look at those numbers, would not make any sense.

Mr. Woodford reported he has a question for down the road. By this plan you seem to be saying that Towpath School is a viable place for you to do business. The Recreation Director reported what he is looking at right now is in lieu of a total assessment renovation, perhaps when some issues are cleared up with tenants, that perhaps an opportunity to use it on a limited basis may be available. The Town Manager reported if the Arts Center moves out. When that happens, that entrance over there allows handicapped accessibility into the gymnasium, would allow for overflows situations, and would allow for periodic one time activities that we could put into the gymnasium/auditorium for different things, and overflow situations. What we are looking at is potentially putting a small amount of money into it, to go ahead and doing it through the special revenues fund, which is essentially a pay to play fund, that we would use to make these improvements, and that would allow us to utilize that building. Mr. Woodford questioned how that gym compares to a standard elementary school size wise. The Director reported actually it is not bad, it is comparable to Pine Grove in terms of size, Roaring Brook is larger. Mr. Woodford reported then small children could use it. The Director reported there is another issue here, we have a whole avenue of recreation activities that we cannot do once basketball starts, because we have so many children in that program, so we are pretty much devoid of some of our exercise classes. Mr. Woodford questioned the other parts of the building such as the classrooms. The Director reported again, moving in and having control over some of that space that has classrooms, and other spaces during the Monday through Friday when schools are in session, but in the summer and at night the schools give us anything that we want. Mr. Shea reported the Fire Department talked about using some of that space also. The Town Manager reported in the discussions about a training facility, which was mentioned as a possibility, as very often the classroom training is associated with the outsourcing, and not as viable as it would seem. The Director it needs major renovations but this also may be the opportunity if it could be retrofitted in a manner that is acceptible to the Building Department, and all of the agencies that would have to take a look at it, it may give us an opportunity to see the value of having that available space, if that building were functioning fully with programs that we could not even do before.

The Town Manager reported what we are seeing here is, a $30,000 fix to provide overflow programs and other programs maybe on a temporary basis until the master plan is completed. For $30,000, to gain access to that much building space to be used would be a great thing for a three to five year basis. Mr. Woodford reported it would cost more than that, for a new gym floor. The Town Manager reported we are talking about the bathrooms, but we have not gotten that far to determine anything else. What we are looking at are activities that may not require a whole new gym floor, it can be refinished partially. Mr. Carlson reported we would run into code violations and all of that once we started it.

Mr. Carlson reported he has a question on the tennis court lighting. He did not quite understand, it says the cost of construction and up keep of courts is far greater than that of fixture installation and yearly lighting expenses, it still does not address the real issue which is the court availability after 5 p.m. The Director reported in talking about putting lights in there, we are addressing the shortage issue that we presently have. The shortage issue that we tend to have on tennis courts, occurs after 5 o’clock, the courts are open during the day, if we were to turn around and build more courts, another set of 4 courts elsewhere with no lights, it really would not necessarily solve the problem.

Mr. Shea reported he would like to revisit the lights at the Middle School, a way to reach out to the neighbors to see, as the lights today are technologically much more advanced. they would not be as obtrusive and is there a way to talk about it without saying we are going to do it or saying how much it is going to cost, just finding out if it is feasible. Mr. Shea reported the neighbors may listen, whereas Sycamore would be much harder. The Director reported one area of caution is that the Middle School tennis courts are in need of renovation. Mr. Shea reported we are doing the lights at Thompson Brook School. The Director reported yes, in the design process they were put into that site during the construction of the school. Mr. Shea reported as you look at the Middle School tennis courts, look into what it would cost to rebuild them and to light them.

7:45 p.m. Public Works

The Superintendent of Public Works presented their Capital Improvement Program for FY2004/2005 as follows:

7.58 C.Y.Dump Truck........................ $ 115,000

w/plow&sander (#2)

Utility Pick up Truck............................ 39,500

w/4 WD (#9)

Playing Field Mower I......................... 46,500

One Ton Utility Dump ........................ 46,000

w/plow&sander (#17)

Sweeper................................................. 160,000

Roadside Mower ................................. 87,500

Road Service Improvement Project... 225,000

7.58 C.Y.Dump Truck............................115,000

w/plow&sander (#10)

Playing Field Mower II.......................... 46,500

Asphalt Roller......................................... 28,000

TOTAL.............$ 909,000

The Superintendent of Public Works reported most of the items are not new items. At the top of the list is another dump truck, truck #2 that we are replacing will be 18 years old. The Superintendent reported we added a new plow route two years ago, but since then we had to take another vehicle out because the frame broke, so the replacement vehicle went back into service, now we only have ten running plow trucks, for 10 routes, but of those ten, one will be 18 and one will be 16 years old, and each plows 10 miles of road, so that when one breaks down 10 miles less can be plowed until the men get caught up. Mr. Shea questioned the average age of the fleet. The Superintendent reported max life expectancy of a plow truck is 15 years, the average age is 10 or older.

The Superintendent reported the shop truck #9 is the second item, a duplicate request from last year, a heavy duty pickup truck with a push bumper, which is used to tow and push our heavy trucks that break down. It is a working truck that carries fuel for our equipment off road, carries the tools, an emergency response vehicle, with over 100,000 miles, a 1991 vehicle, used as a second line vehicle for the Highway Department. The third item is additional, instead of a replacement item, another large mower as our needs have increased, with Buckingham Fields to mow next year, we have Alsop Meadows, and in the summer time we mow the Old Farms playing fields because the Town utilizes them, and in the summer we help out with the public schools. Mr. Woodford reported we should consider a facilities manager who takes care of everything, not separate budgets for the Board of Education and Town, and that department would have just one big facilities maintenance budget.

The Superintendent reported item #4 is a replacement for Buildings and Grounds, 1 ton utility 2 wheeled heavy utility vehicle, flat bed dump body that we put the plow and sander on, and sides on it in the summer for hauling mulches. This is a replacement for truck #17 that had its dump body replaced last year because of rust, and the chassis is lighter than made today, if replaced we could do all of the Town’s plowing of parking lots, the Town Fire Department and public buildings. The Superintendent reported the next two items are replacements, our current sweeper is a 1984 with safety issues, air quality and brakes, and are using it on a very limited basis, however it is important to have especially at accident scenes, they can be used pretty readily year round, especially with silt issue runoffs. Mr. Shea questioned whether it would be possible to have a joint effort on the sweeper, with Canton and Simsbury. The Superintendent reported the answer is yes, but in that short time frame in the crush of the season, he was on the phone for a week trying to rent sweepers, and could not get anyone into this Town to sweep for us at any cost. Mr. Shea reported could be make that a better number by sharing that cost of a new sweeper with Canton, making it $80,000 instead of $160,000. The Superintendent reported if the Council would want to entertain that, he could very well go out and look for a used sweeper that would serve our purposes very well, however $80,000 is an arbitrary number, and he may be able to get one for $60,000 but he does not know what the market is. The Superintendent reported the current sweeper does not run, it has not been used for the past two years. If we had a sweeper, you would notice a difference in some of the services that we could provide. The Town Manager reported we would still contract out our spring road sweeping. Chairman Hines reported looking at all of the efforts the department is trying to do and knowing the difficulty we are going to have getting all of this – if you can locate a good used one, come back to us. That has always been the case, if you can get a good used item and you think it is worthwhile, come back and maybe we can go to the Board of Finance as a special item. The Superintendent reported he check through surplus will continue to do so.

The Superintendent reported the sixth item is our roadside mower in amount $87,500, this is an item that is highly visible, we have a lot of rural roads that need to be mowed three quarters of the year. The present mower is just not cutting it, it is out at 8:00 a.m. and broken down by 9:30 or 10:00 a.m., in the shop for a day or two then out and breaks down, it is a piece of machinery that takes a lot of stress, with a large boom arm and heavy weight, lots of moving parts. It is a 1987 model which no longer does the job.

The next item is the road service improvement project for 6 miles of road per year, three years ago we did a little over 3 miles, last year just under 4, so that is 5 miles we did not do. The Superintendent reported he has asked for 6 miles this year, in amount $225,000, but in essence for those three years, he should be asking for 11 this year. The Superintendent reported he realizes the $909,000 budget is a lot of money, but this is what it will take.

The Town Engineer reported as far as that total overlay program, what is being said is true, we are losing ground and part of the problem is that we have renovated some of these roads in the past, and only put binders on – we scheduled in that we are going to overlay as we almost have to. We did Burnham Road, Chevas Road, but we are not really doing complete reconstruction – we are saving a lot of money but we did some horizontal and vertical improvements, grind the road up and go in with 3” of binder. We have to overlay them in three or four years and we have not been doing that. We really have to get back on track on that program, or we will be paying for it down the road.

8:15 p.m. Engineering Department

The Town Engineer presented the Engineering Department FY2004/2005 Capital Program as follows:

Infrastructure Management Plan – GIS............. $ 20,000

Renovation to Buildings 5, 6 & 7.......................... 500,000

Replacement Old Farms Bridge – design ......................... 25,000

over Farm River Including Old Farms

Road from Tillotson to Rt 10

Drainage Improvement – Deercliff .................................... 40,000

Reconstruction of Old Farms/ $Thompson Rd – ............ 50,000

State funding

TOTAL 635,000

The Town Engineer also presented the Sewers Capital program FY2004/2005 as follows:

Sewer Treatment – Simsbury and Farmington Plants........... $ 66,030

Capital replacement – infrastructure and upgrade to date....... 50,000

TOTAL.................. $ 116,030

Chairman Hines questioned the possibility that the bridge on Old Farms Road approaching Waterville Road and the work on the top of Avon Mountain could all happen the same time. He is thinking of the terrible traffic situation, with everyone having to go through Route 4 in Farmington. The Town Engineer reported it is possible, but he would think any closing would have to be coordinated, we are getting to the point where one of the major problems with the bridge is maintaining traffic on Waterville Road, there is a 50’ right-of-way and they want to maintain two lanes of traffic while we are building it. We are looking to do Route 10 at night where we have to close it for a section, and the majority that we are doing is a fairly small piece, and the majority of it that we are going to do is as an overlay and a thick lift asphalt, so it is going to be very quick, but the other part where we have to change the grade, we have to move the traffic over and build a lane, so we are looking to do that at night, so as far as really obstructing traffic it probably would not occur. The Town Engineer reported the bridge is going to be totally to the north and it is going to be constructed without obstructing traffic at all, we will maintain the integrity of the area, the plans for the staging of it are bigger than the plans for the project. We are going to close Old Farms Road for two weeks itself, and do our piece of the roadwork on Old Farms Road then we will put the traffic on the new bridge, and do some of the other work, but we are going to keep the traffic going on Route 10 and Old Farms while we are doing the bridge. Mr. Woodford questioned whether that is two years from now. The Town Engineer reported there was a delay on the type of structure for the bridge design - there are three separate girders, prestressed concrete, they are brought to the site and set on piers then post tensioned after, they send a cable through them and stretch and pull them together – so there is a lot going on, and the deflections must be configured in before they are connected. One that was being built in Connecticut was abandoned because of problems, and the State required an independent review of our design before finally approving it. There is very little maintenance on them which is one of the reasons he wanted this for the Town, no painting, no type of deck on it, it is just well sealed and does not deflect once it is built so that you are not replacing the deck every fifteen to twenty years.

The Town Engineer reported in the FY2004/2005 budget he did not include a major renovation or reconstruction project, as we just finished Climax Road, and have a final design on Deercliff Road, but have problems with the utilities. The utilities are unable to be moved so we did not start that, therefore he did not want to get another project on line and funded before it was complete. What he is trying to do is to have some of this money go towards rebuilding #7 of Town Hall, if we do not do something we are going to lose the building. The structure is over 30 years old and has not been heated, it is the type of structure that is masonry but it is just lime mortar, they look massive but they are very fragile inside. There is some money remaining for the flooring system but he would not want to start doing something then lose what we did, all of the windows are gone and we need to get going on that building. To expedite it, he put in $500,000 for Buildings 5. Chairman Hines reported your concern is that if we keep going the way we are that it is going to deteriorate further and will lose the whole building. The Town Engineer reported exactly, we put a lot of work into it, we have a floor system in it, we gutted the inside, and have enough to put a floor system on the second floor.

The Town Engineer reported our second project Infrastructure Management Plan – GIS, in amount $20,000 - we are pretty much along on our base map. This will lend itself, and we are starting to use the GASB 44 right now, accounting is pretty much underway with that in using some of the data collection. We are working on getting the dates on all of our roads, so that we can have a base to start with, we have done quite a bit in the field with our global positioning, picking up the infrastructure, at least the plan locations. So this will allow us to continue that, but it is a multi faceted thing and we are going to use it for the Sewer Facilities Plan, which was in the Sewer Operating Budget, to gather the inventory for all of the streets - catch basins, storm systems, sewer systems and to keep records of the maintenance and the dates to set them up. This is not a lot of money but a very important part of what we have been doing.

He further reported he tried to cut down on our total amount on Buildings 5,6 & 7, by breaking it down to $500,000 for each year. We may be able to save some by not doing all of the work on buildings 5 & 6. Mr. Woodford questioned whether it makes sense to do a lot to just building 7, assuming you cannot complete it, he questioned how much would it take to put that building together. The Town Engineer reported at least $500,000, that would include the core and the elevator.

The Town Engineer reported he is carrying $25,000 for the design of the Old Farms Road bridge project up to Tillotson and Rte 10. A good portion of that will be reimbursed, on a bridge any design work is 100% reimbursable. Additional landscaping and some work on Old Farms itself that will not be reimbursable. On Old Farms we are responsible for the design. Chairman Hines questioned the total cost of the project. The Town Engineer reported we are estimating $6,000,000. The Town Manager reported one of the issues that we need to look at that we have brought up before is the aesthetic issues of that bridge and Old Farms Roads approach to it on Waterville Road. We have included in the project design and everything a lot of special treatments like red brownstone and landscaping, that so far have survived in the project, but we are not sure it is going to survive the final process. We may be in a position that if we want this thing to look special, i.e. moving those pillars and all that sort of thing, we may end up having to pay for a significant part of that, that is something that we need to be aware of as we go into this project. Also it is going to be a major impact in terms of visually when they cut through there and put the bridge in, and it will look great after the landscaping has matured, but initially it is going to be shocking to people. The new entrance to Old Farms School has turned out pretty well, it is maturing and we are hoping that once we are done with the bridge and that part of it, that will look that way too, and then that will lend some support to the next aspect of this whole thing, which we are still fighting to get federal money, which is from Tillotson Road all the way up to Thompson Road and Scoville Road. Mr. Shea reported initially when this project came up several years ago, he was against it because he just could not defend it, but now there are safety issues on Old Farms Road.

The Town Engineer reported we have been carrying drainage improvements, that normally are done in conjunction with the major road reconstruction, but this $40,000 would be used on Deercliff, as we are looking to do some overlays on Deercliff, and it is impossible to do some of these, it would be just throwing money away unless we do some crossovers and drainage, north of Skyview subdivision. The Town Manager reported that has been a key thing in holding up what we are doing, with that subdivision in trying to get the utilities relocated, the issue of changing over the utilities and the issue of maintenance, as they have reduced the number of crews significantly. The Highway Department went up there this fall, and patched the entire street. He further reported there has been resistance over the years from a lot of the residents over any type of improvements to the road because they are afraid of more traffic and speed. But as we move ahead and development takes place up there, we are requiring them to rebuild the road, like in the Brocklesby area which has been widened and improved, and we are requiring the same thing here. Eventually there are going to be areas that are narrow, then wide, then narrow, and we are going to have to look longer term at making a commitment to that. The Town Engineer reported we are straightening out sections so that it is a better designed road. Under the operating budget we should have a program where you go in and cut these trees, not all at once, then when we go to make improvements there are only one or two trees to take out, we need to systematically continue. The Town Manager reported some of them we can do, and some of them we have to hire, and they are expensive – some $2,000 to $3,000 each.

The Town Engineer reported the remaining item in amount $50,000 is for reconstruction of Old Farms/ Thompson Road and Scoville, which is state funded. Chairman Hines questioned whether we are still working on the environmental aspects there. The Town Engineer reported we are working on that document, we have now asked for help from our State representatives, had a meeting at Old Farms School, which seems to have been effective, in meetings with the State they seem to be pretty cooperative, and we now have a contractor out there surveying for it. When we submitted the project in 1983, there was no response for three years, then they wanted new data, but we have managed to get them to use some of the old data, as for this type of project it is not like Route 84 or something, but it is because of state and federal money – we do not know where they draw the line – when looking at a $6,000,000 grant you need to go through some of this, but at some point if it does not work, we are going to have to go back and just do it on our own. Chairman Hines reported it is the general feeling of residents that they want the road improved, take care of a couple safety issues, but do not make it a big speedway. The Town Engineer reported we are attempting not to, we are trying to keep that with everything we are doing that is very important - what we do on the bridge treatment we are not looking at a formal drainage system, we are putting in swales. We do have the school being very cooperative in giving a conservation easement so there will not be any development along the road, so that when you drive along the road, even if the land is sold it is going to have constraints on it that they cannot develop along a strip, and it is going to vary – where it is wetlands where they cannot develop, but at some place where it is seen from the road it goes back 200 to 300 feet, and that will leave a couple points of access to it. At this point next year we will know if it is going to go or not, if it does not, then we are going to have to start looking to do something ourselves, and the school is very much against improving the existing alignment, they want to consolidate the campus and extend it, they have quite a few activities where beaver pond is so they want the road to go around that so that they will have their campus and they will always be safe. He further reported if the school were not cooperating we would never even be proposing this, we would be working within the corridor alignment.

Mr. Shea questioned whether the Building #7 project could be split into two year payment, with $250,000 in 2004/2005 and the rest in 2005/2006, then it still could be done in the time frame that you want. The Town Engineer reported as long as you are sure it is coming, you cannot go with half of it, and not be able to finish it, he has been monitoring the building and there is some movement. Mr. Shea reported when the Town Engineer says to us that that building is in danger, he takes that comment very seriously. Chairman Hines reported that is why we left the money in for this year.

The Town Engineer reported the final item is the Sewers Capital program in amount $116,030, with $66,030 for Sewer Treatment - Simsbury and Farmington plants, and $50,000 for Capital replacement of infrastructure and upgrade to date, which is very straight forward, as it is funded through the Sewer Fund. The Town Engineer reported the update on the Simsbury plant, they have submitted the design plans for the plant to DEP in June, and have not heard, therefore they are behind schedule. They are not looking for a payment, we are anticipating the first payment will be in 2006, as a major payment of $320,000 which we will be paying for the next 18 years. Other than that, we are looking for some telemetering items for our infrastructure and upgrades in amount $50,000, for our four treatment pump stations. They now have ways to telemeter the alarm systems, and to see what is going on in each of these plants. We are facing the need for a sewer department, we have more sewers in miles than Simsbury. The Town Engineer reported an engineer can design it, but Engineering should not be responsible for maintaining it. We are working on trying to get an emergency response with Farmington and Simsbury, especially for these pump stations – if you have a power outage, the problem is that you could get backups. and it is almost impossible to get an outside firm to guarantee service. The equipment is fairly expensive and they are not going to have it on a 15 to 20 minute call, a company could have the equipment but it could be down in New London or somewhere else when we need it. They are not going to guarantee response on that for us – so it is very important that we have this with the other towns – and generally they have been good, but again we still need the ability for someone to go out there in the middle of the night and it should not be someone from the engineering department. It should be set up through public works and the dispatcher just like any other emergency that the Town has. Mr. Shea questioned whether we could have a joint sewer department with Simsbury and Farmington. The Town Manager reported he proposed it and did not get too warm of a reception. He indicated to them that the Town of Avon was willing to pay a fair price to have them maintain those lines that flow into their plant from Avon with Farmington, Canton, Simsbury and they have not been that well received. He did get a commitment on emergency services, and we are in the process now of drafting an emergency services agreement from Farmington, Simsbury and Canton on coming out to take care of emergencies and we would pay. The Town Engineer reported even if they have that, you still need somebody from the Town to know where the system is, and to show them where it is from our Town. He further reported we even investigated the possibility of having Avon Water Company, or someone like that take it over, which would make a lot of sense, as they do have the personnel, the problem is if our system was complete totally we could turn it over - they are quite receptive to it. .

NEW BUSINESS

03/04-47 Participation with CCM in AFSCME

Chairman Hines reported the Town Manager has recommended we enter this case, there is a lot at stake here, it is appropriate.

On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:

RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve participation in the CCM case of the AFSCME lawsuit to capture proceeds from demutualization of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, with no monetary commitment at this time.