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AVON TOWN COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
DECEMBER 4, 2003
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen’s Chamber by Chairman Hines. Members in attendance: Messrs: Carlson, Shea and Woodford. Absent: Mrs. Hornaday.
PUBLIC HEARING:
The Town Clerk read the notice of the Public Hearing as follows:
“LEGAL NOTICE
TOWN OF AVON
Notice is hereby given that the Avon Town Council will hold a Public Hearing on Thursday, December 4, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. at the Avon Town Hall, Selectmen’s Chamber, 60 West Main Street, for the following purpose:
To consider adoption of a new Ordinance #69 – PENSION AND RETIREMENT PLANS as follows:
SECTION I
PURPOSE
The purpose of this Ordinance is to establish pension and retirement plans for the benefit of the officers and employees, and their beneficiaries, of the Town of Avon.
SECTION II
ESTABLISHMENT OF PLANS
The Town of Avon hereby establishes and adopts the following pension and retirement plans, as amended through the dates specified, for the benefit of the officers and employees, and their beneficiaries, of the Town of Avon:
Retirement Plan for Police, Non-organized Employees, Public Works Employees, and Dispatchers of Town of Avon, as amended and restated effective January 1, 2002, and as further amended effective as of January 1, 2004.
Retirement Plan for Board of Education of Town of Avon, as amended and restated effective January 1, 2002.
Town of Avon 401(A) Prototype Money Purchase Plan (A.N. 109284), dated June 15, 1995.
Town of Avon 401(A) Government Money Purchase Plan (A.N. 104844), as amended through July 1, 2003.
Town of Avon 457 Deferred Compensation Plan (A.N. 302055), as amended effective as of January 1, 2002.
SECTION III
REPEAL
Town of Avon Ordinance #12 Appendix E. and Ordinance #26 are repealed as of the effective date of this Ordinance.
SECTION IV
EFFECTIVE DATE
This Ordinance shall be effective 21 days after publication in a newspaper having circulation in the Town of Avon.”
Copies of the proposed Ordinance 69 are on file in the Town Clerk’s office, Avon Town Hall, and are open to public inspection during normal business hours.
Dated at Avon, Connecticut this 21st day of November, 2003.
Philip K. Schenck, Jr.
Town Manager”
Mrs. Hornaday came in.
The Town Manager reported this item only relates to the Defined Benefit Pension Plan in terms of codification. They do relate to the Defined Contribution Plans in terms of any future changes. The Town Attorney after reviewing changes that were made approximately four to five years ago, when we moved into the Defined Contribution Plan, recommended that the Defined Benefit Plan and the modifications to the Defined Contribution Plan that had been made subsequent to that be adopted by ordinance. Previously to that we had an enabling ordinance, back in 1961, but none of the subsequent modifications to the Defined Benefit Plan and later the Defined Contribution Plan had been adopted in an ordinance format. We had to go back and codify all of the changes, have the Actuaries review them, have the plan
language checked by both the Actuaries and the Attorneys. That has all been completed, now we are in the position of adopting what has already been in place by Ordinance, so it is really the form of the document, not the content nor any changes.
The public hearing was closed at 7:35 p.m.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council adopt ORDINANCE 69, PENSION AND RETIREMENT PLANS, to read as follows:
SECTION I
PURPOSE
The purpose of this Ordinance is to establish pension and retirement plans for the benefit of the officers and employees, and their beneficiaries, of the Town of Avon.
SECTION II
ESTABLISHMENT OF PLANS
The Town of Avon hereby establishes and adopts the following pension and retirement plans, as amended through the dates specified, for the benefit of the officers and employees, and their beneficiaries, of the Town of Avon:
Retirement Plan for Police, Non-organized Employees, Public Works Employees, and Dispatchers of Town of Avon, as amended and restated effective January 1, 2002, and as further amended effective as of January 1, 2004.
Retirement Plan for Board of Education of Town of Avon, as amended and restated effective January 1, 2002.
Town of Avon 401(A) Prototype Money Purchase Plan (A.N. 109284), dated June 15, 1995.
Town of Avon 401(A) Government Money Purchase Plan (A.N. 104844), as amended through July 1, 2003.
Town of Avon 457 Deferred Compensation Plan (A.N. 302055), as amended effective as of January 1, 2002.
SECTION III
REPEAL
Town of Avon Ordinance #12 Appendix E. and Ordinance #26 are repealed as of the effective date of this Ordinance.
SECTION IV
EFFECTIVE DATE
This Ordinance shall be effective 21 days after publication in a newspaper having circulation in the Town of Avon.”
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETINGS
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Woodford, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve the minutes of the October 2, 2003 meeting as read.
Messrs: Hines, Shea and Woodford voted in favor. Mr. Carlson abstained, absent from meeting.
On a motion made by Mr. Carlson, seconded by Mrs. Hornaday, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve the minutes of the November 6, 2003 meeting as amended.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines and Carlson voted in favor. Messrs: Shea and Woodford abstained, absent from meeting.
COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE - None
COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL
Mr. Woodford reported we usually send out a letter to the Garden Club thanking them for the great job they have done through the year on the grounds. It was the consensus of the Town Council to have the Town Manager send a letter to the Garden Club.
Chairman Hines questioned whether we have heard from the State on the request by the Police Chief regarding West Avon Road and Country Club Road intersection, part of it due to the parcel that is being developed on the southeast corner. People express the fact that use of common sense says it should not be the way it is now, that you should be able to make only a left turn from the left, and be able to go straight on the right and right turn, and you cannot do that. The Town Manager reported we are having the State Department of Transportation come out and look at the whole intersection. Probably what you are going to see is an upgrade of that intersection where there will be left hand turning movements on all four sides, a widening of the intersection on all four corners, because of the traffic capacity
issues with it. In terms of the specifics of the westerly movement on Country Club Road, that is the way that the Uniform Manual of Traffic Control Devices, which is the guideline we use, says it is supposed to be set up for that type of an intersection. He will have the Chief provide a report as to when we expect the State to be coming out to look at that. The Town Manager reported that is probably going to be several years away, in terms of implementation, and he is anticipating that we will pay at least for the Country Club roadside of it both east and west, roughly 50% of whatever the improvements are to that intersection including the signalization.
Chairman Hines reported last week he had asked the Council to look at the Newsletter that Peggy Roell sent to us, as a suggestion of doing something joint with the Board of Education. His feeling is that we have a newsletter that is working perfectly, as far as getting information out, and since the school has not had a newsletter for a while, if they are going to get into this, they are going to have to come up with something new. He would not want to delay our ability to get our newsletter out, and it is very limited. He would suggest that we stay the way we are, with our Town Council Newsletter, and when the Board of Education gets to the point where they feel they are ready to come out with a newsletter, and they want to do something joint with us, we would look at it at that time. The other
item is the sample newsletter they provided contains a lot of advertising, he would rather keep that out, as the only place we use advertising in for the Recreation brochures.
Mr. Shea reported the suggestion is a great idea to look at but his concern is the wealth of information that is going to be in the document, what we send out now, is almost overwhelming itself. He is wondering if we put the Board of Education information and the Town Council information together, it is just going to be too much information. There also should not be any advertising, it should just be a statement of fact of what we have going on or what is going to come up in the future.
Mr. Carlson reported the only other thing he would add to that would be that there are probably several times throughout the year when including some Board of Education articles and materials might be beneficial because most likely the readership is slightly different, for example as we deal with budget issues, building project issues or other such matters. It may be beneficial for us to solicit input on an article or what have you from the Board of Education or from the Administration. Chairman Hines reported he agrees, and any time the Board of Education has an article that they would like to put in our newsletter, we are open minded toward that and would include it.
Chairman Hines reported he wanted to talk about was the list of appointments the Town Manager recommended to the CRCOG, he has many key people, such as for Housing Committee our Social Services Director, for Transportation our Deputy Engineer and Alternate being Town Engineer, the Town Manager serves on Municipal Services, and Public Safety is Police Captain Rinaldo with Chief Agnesi as alternate, the Local Emergency Planning Committee served by the Town Manager, Chief Agnesi and Fire Chief/Assistant Building Official/Fire Marshal DiPace, for the Regional Planning Commission Linda H. Keith, and as alternate David Pena. Chairman Hines further reported it is important that we get representation on these committees, in addition he will be a member of the Policy Board of CRCOG and also serve as Member to the Economic
Development Council of Hartford Metro. At next weeks meeting he has been nominated to be reelected to the Executive Committee, and also become Secretary of the CRCOG, and also volunteered to be on their Legislative Committee. We will have good representation there, which is important and with the Town Manager being President of CCM, Connecticut Council of Municipalities, we should be able to get our viewpoints into the various committees.
Mr. Carlson reported once the capital budgets have all been presented, he would like the Town Manager to prepare a listing of all of the capital budget items for the FY2004/2005, and a listing of the items that were in the FY 2003/2004 capital budgets, for comparison of the totals.
OLD BUSINESS
02/03-52 Buckingham Fields: Update
The Director of Recreation and Parks reported after conversations with the Public Works Superintendent, because we are targeting the Spring of 2005 we probably have a window of this coming spring and through the summer into fall to complete the in-house labor and paying for material costs. Some of the items that we originally were going to put out to bid such as the aprons that go into the parking lot and some handicapped areas and the cut through the island. We will be using the department’s manpower, and the project will pay for the materials. Those three items, the aprons, the cut-through and the handicapped parking areas, may actually be all one in the same because we will pave them and do them all at once.
Chairman Hines reported the major thing is the state funding that may be available so we want to put in our ideas. The Town Manager’s idea is if it is $93,000, and they are offering something less, indicating we are matching the remaining part of it, that is the important part. The Town Manager reported he will contact our representative, and the Director is aware of getting the information into the staff that he needs to submit for the grant. The Director reported the original proposal for the Buckingham property contained all of the elements in the $93,000, so they have that documentation. This project that they are helping us fund is a project that is worth a lot more in total than $293,000 because of all of the work that we had done in advance. Chairman Hines reported this may be an
opportunity for us, if not we can take it out of the capital program.
Mr. Carlson reported he questions whether we are going to be over budget or under budget on this. The Director reported there is no additional funding other than $200,000, ignoring the $93,000, there are some things on the project that we will not be able to complete until we come up with the money. The base part of the project which is the field areas that we need in the spring of 2004, we could probably make those playable based on the amount that we have left in the grant, and some in-house money that we have access to from the general fund budget, and some surplus. But we may not be able to do some of the amenities like finishing the fencing on the baseball field and the warning track, present funding will do first to the 3rd base line. Chairman Hines reported when this was
presented for the capital program, we were assured that no more than the $200,000 grant would be spent for the project, and that there were no commitments with contractors to do more than that. Mr. Carlson reported are we going to be able to use the fields without spending more than the grant money. Chairman Hines reported it sounds like we will. Mr. Shea reported to look at it the other way, we could spend another $93,000 and complete the project with the additional state funds. Let us assume this was a $300,000 project, for the sake of discussion, the architectural fee seems a little high, based on a percentage. The Director reported part of what is happening is that we had a great deal of work to do, based on the things that were wrong in the original plan, such as grading issues, and drainage issues, landscaping issues and environmental issues around some of the areas that we had to get into such as the second parking lot. There has
been some overrun there, those are all extra billable services, part of that was in a plan, and based on the work that they have given us back, they have not billed us for a lot of the time that they spent on it. Mr. Shea reported as we go out in the future, as there are going to be other projects based upon what we have discussed, we come up with a fee so that when we go out to bid it is an all encompassing package which absorbs that kind of overruns.
02/03-72 M. H. Rhodes Building: Review Discussion and Approval Environmental Consultant Contract: Supplemental Exploration and Testing
The Town Manager reported we are ready to move on to the next step of the M. H. Rhodes site, and that step is to initiate the environmental review of the area underneath the cement slab, now that the building has been removed, and to drill the test wells and start the ongoing monitoring that we committed to in accordance with what the DEP wanted when we bought the property. The cost essentially for that, which Ned Shanahan will be doing, may cost approximately $30,000, so that is what we are looking at in terms of the potential cost of this part of the project. We do have the money available and we are asking the Town Council to authorize the Town Manager to sign the contract for these services so that we can move ahead with it. Assuming that is all done, and the testing comes back, we may have
supplemental expenses if there is something that is found there, that we did not anticipate. Then we get into the remediation component of it.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Woodford, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to sign on behalf of the Town of Avon a contract with Shanahan Consulting for exploration and testing of the property formerly known as M. H. Rhodes located at 99 Thompson Road.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-09 Capital Improvement Program FY2004/2005 through FY2013/2014 Budget Review
7:35 p.m. Board of Education
Chairman Hines reported before we hear their budget presentation we would like to thank the three members who are coming off of the Board of Education, Tom Carey, Marty Toyen and Pam Friedman, as they have done a tremendous job over the years and added a lot to the educational system in Avon.
The Board of Education presented their FY2004/2005 Capital Improvement Program as follows:
Pine Grove School Roof Replacement...................................................$ 598,000
Design and Contract......... $ 34,000
Construction ..................... 540,000
Project monitoring.................................................. 24,000
Pick up truck 1 ton diesel ..................................................................................... 42,000
w/plow & Equipment box
District
Renovation Towpath Annex .................................. .................................................35,000
Architectural Analysis
TOTAL................................................................... $ 675,000
Mr. Shopis, Board of Education Member, reported we developed a five year and an up to ten year budget, the second five years typically are just ideas and things that we want to be kept in mind. The five year program contains items that we know are going to be necessary for the capital improvements, there are 26 items that we would like included over the next five years, totaling $3,753,357, of those $675,000 are in the FY2004/2005 budget.
Mr. Shopis reported the FY2004/2005 budget includes replacement of the roof at Pine Grove which is 46,900 square feet, in the amount $598,000, which is significantly costlier than the original roof. The roof leaks, and we have had problems with the actual roofing materials itself, the flashing and seams, the amount will be offset by $100,000 that we already have from the roofing manufacturer for this project. We will also file with the State of Connecticut Board of Education for a reimbursement of 22% to 24%. Mr. Shopis reported we know there are some issues with the construction of the mason work, flashing, it is not just all roofing materials and we intend to correct those problems. He reported the repair work that has been done will get us to the point where we will be able to manage until the
actual project is done.
Mr. Shopis reported there are two small items in the 2004/2005 year, a pickup truck in amount $42,000 for an additional 1 ton diesel truck w/plow and equipment boxes. In addition we begin the first phase of looking at the Towpath Annex, in amount $35,000 for an architectural analysis study in preparation for foundation work renovations, we have code issues to deal with, design and space issues and roof issues, and this will be the first phase with the study and the design, in anticipation of renovation work to be done.
Mr. Carlson questioned with the Pine Grove roof, are there any known mold or other issues existing as a result of those leaks, similar to the ones we incurred at Roaring Brook. Mr. Shopis reported we are not aware of any, but none were recognized on the roofing surveys that we have had done. One issue was found in the kitchen facility area, partly because it was in fact shut down, and we had high humidity content in the building as well as outside, this was a problem that was throughout the state in several districts. We did get a cleanup crew in there and took care of it immediately, then came back for a quality assurance check and redid the cleaning again and it has been fine since, the custodians are on top of it.
Mr. Carlson reported his second question has to do with Towpath renovations, as to whether you have looked instead, or in addition to, or in conjunction with, instead of looking at just that building in renovating it, and meeting the code requirements, doing a financial analysis that says that we have x amount of space in there, usable about 8,000 sq. ft.. Does it make more sense to go up to the park and lease space at 8,000 or 10,000 sq. ft. and compare the cost of that versus a $35,000 study plus renovations down the road. Mr. Shopis reported he looked at that three years ago as to the cost of that, and we found it was the least cost per square foot here, based on the facility needs. He would have to update the numbers, which is something we will do as well. Chairman Hines reported you always
have that flexibility, but the more important thing is we do not know exactly what we are going to do with Towpath and the Annex yet. So that is always a question that we have got to answer, before we spend money on architectural studies, we have to answer that question.
Chairman Hines reported the other question is that he would like to see a well defined list by the School Administration on what is needed. Do not just call an architect and tell them to come in, to tell us what we would like to have. You should have well defined needs. Without a lot of work, you can pretty well define what are the needs for the School Administration in a little more detail beyond building codes, because if you are going to get an architect in you are going to have to tell him that anyway. We need that before we go any further, but that does not mean with that we would fund the study, we are not convinced the school should not stay as it is and find a good use for it, it is a good site and does not require a lot of off site parking. Mr. Shea reported that needs a lot of
discussion, as far as what we do with that site and how we go forward.
The Superintendent of Schools reported the Council recommended the Board of Education several years ago put the analysis into the capital budget. Mr. Carlson reported we know for example the Town has needs for additional space in this complex, we have buildings that we own and are contemplating renovation on them. Would it be better for us, as the Town landlord, to combine our needs with Board of Education needs, and do it all at once, whether in one building or two, and go that route, versus continuing to stay separate and continue to put money into two facilities. We need a comprehensive look at the needs of the administration, both ours and theirs. Chairman Hines reported the Town Manager looked into moving some of our facilities over to Towpath School and renovating it, rather than doing
modifications to Town Hall, it was decided that it might be better to look at renovations to town hall instead, and to look at adjacent buildings north of here that Ensign-Bickford owns which might be a good spot to bring the School Administration into. Mr. Shea reported it was right for us to look at developing some money three years ago for a study, but on the other hand a lot has changed in the three years, and the reason it is back here is because we have to take a look at our needs assessment. Chairman Hines reported the Superintendent of Schools has said to us many times that the schools location could be moved, they do not have to have that unique site, so there is flexibility and they are willing to move as long as we can give them a good facility.
Mr. Shopis reported we know we have some significant problems with the electrical system in that building as well as the mechanical system. The idea for putting this in the budget is to try to get something going sooner. We cannot just go another two or three years thinking about what to do, then we really run the risk of having something disastrous happen. Chairman Hines questioned what electrical problems are they having. Mr. Shopis reported we have had shorts in the system where repairs were needed, and mechanical problems with heating and cooling, being able to dehumidify the space, as there is a lot of storage in the basement, not a good situation from a working and storage standpoint, we have accessibility problems. There are a lot of things the building is in need of and we cannot go
many more years without doing anything. Chairman Hines questioned whether the safety items can wait for next years budget – if they are safety items we really should be working on them now, the interior renovation probably can wait, but if there is a serious safety item we should go to the Board of Finance and talk to them. Mr. Shopis reported his concern would be the electrical utilities, some is old cloth wiring, and his concern is to access it you would have to tear out walls. Chairman Hines questioned whether the $40,000 would be enough to do that. Mr. Shopis reported no, that is part of the estimate from last year, the total cost would require more. Mr. Woodford reported we have to decide what we are going to do with the site and what we are going to do with the building before anything can happen. This is all talk until we decide what we are going to do. Chairman Hines reported we should put that as a high priority item for the coming
year, as we try to resolve that.
Mr. Shopis reported the FY2005/2006 priorities are first of all Roaring Brook School, with a roof replacement in amount $357,500 (first 1/2 over 2 years), and renovations to rooms 200-213 including bathroom, ceilings, lights, toilets and flooring in amount $21,500. Included for Avon High School are replacement of the gymnasium floor in amount $137,540, walk-in freezer/refrigerator replacement $40,000, stage curtains and floor $35,528, roof replacement $900,000, kitchen equipment $25,000, and replacement of the dishwasher and hot water booster in amount $21,500, renovation and repainting lockers in amount $21,500, all of which are to be included in the anticipated Avon High School renovation project. For Avon Middle School included in that budget year is $25,000 for kitchen equipment at the Middle School, for a
total 05/06 request in amount $1,583,568.
Mr. Shopis reported the 04/05 has been started already with an internal sub-committee on planning for the high school, putting together all of the information on population and space. Our goal is that in the 05/06 year we actually start doing the work. The Superintendent of Schools reported in January they will come before the Council with their decision. Chairman Hines reported we need a special meeting for that, with the Board of Education giving their review, and the Board of Finance to attend as well. He questioned when the special meeting should be scheduled. The Town Manager reported our first meeting will be held on January 8th. We were also talking about having a three board meeting to go over the budget process, and some other things. Mr. Shopis reported
he would suggest that we wait until the new members are on board before we schedule anything, which will be after January 16th.
Chairman Hines reported the item that is missing are the bathrooms for the Middle School, and questioned whether they would be done this year out of their budget. Mr. Shopis reported that is correct, we broke it up into smaller projects and it will come out of our operating maintenance budget.
Mr. Shea questioned on the timing, if we were to go out for a bond issue, would you be adverse to trying to combine some of the roof projects with the bonding of the high school and library. With the state of the roofs there could be an emergency situation that would not allow us to do that. Mr. Shopis reported not with Pine Grove, that will have to go on its own it needs to be done right away, but with Roaring Brook by keeping tabs on it there is a good chance that would make it.
Mr. Shopis reported the FY2006/2007 budget contains the second half of the Roaring Brook roof replacement in amount $357,500, and Towpath Annex renovations in amount $560,000, for a total of $917,500. The FY2007/2008 budget in amount $452,289, contains resurface of Avon Middle School tennis courts, floor coverings at Avon Middle School, Roaring Brook and Pine Grove School, playscape upgrades at Pine Grove and Roaring Brook, track resurfacing at Avon High School, kitchen equipment for RBS and Pine Grove. The FY2008/2009 contains a 16 passenger van for Avon High School and Middle School, a Van replacement, and a 4x4 truck w/plow, in total $125,000.
8:15 p.m. Fire Department
The Fire Department presented their FY2004/2005 Capital Budget for Public Safety and Fire Service needs
as follows:
SCBA Replacement Program (1ST half)...............................................$ 200,000
Self Contained Breathing Apparatus.
The President of the Fire Department reported the first item for 04/05 is part of the SCBA replacement program for breathing apparatus, in amount $200,000 of the $450,000 needed. Our equipment is reaching its life span, and we need to either replace it or put significant money into the operating budget in order to upgrade it and replace the bottles. Mr. Woodford questioned whether a grant may be available for this. Fire Chief DiPace reported we filed for that grant money last year, combined with Canton, and ours was turned down. We did file for another grant for other items and again were turned down. Chairman Hines questioned whether it was because of our financial wealth. The Association President reported partly probably, but some departments do not have much equipment and are not as
funded as we are but we continue trying.
The President reported in the 05/06 budget, our planning committee has been working very hard with the facilities planning and felt it was time to formalize that process with $50,000 to do the engineering and architectural preliminaries. This involves the need for a new fire station on the west side of Town, the fire station in Secret Lake is a small building, that cannot house the size of the apparatus that needs to be stationed in that area, plus we have the small, narrow streets there, and makes it hazardous for driving the equipment from that station. Chairman Hines questioned whether they know how much acreage they need for the new site. Chief DiPace reported it would depend on what exactly the facility does, we are looking for also providing a training center, so you are talking 4 to 5 acres, in
order to do it together. Chairman Hines questioned whether we should ask our Town Manager to be looking at this time for a site in that area, a lot of that size is not going to happen overnight and there are not too many available. We might be able to reach agreements with them to give us first option on a parcel for the future. Mr. Shea questioned how about the landfill area? He reported in previous discussions, not that it is the site, but we have mutually discussed the landfill area and that seemed to be acceptable. Chief DiPace reported there are some reservations with the landfill but it certainly can be discussed, again if you are separating the facilities. If we are able to combine the facility, then you are having your classroom section and your training area all in one, and you are not talking about having multiple heating plants and all of the other infrastructure. Chairman Hines reported we should have the Town Manager looking at
potential sites, what might be possible including the landfill and the timing of when it might be available. He questioned if we were to build a new fire house in the western part of Town, and the Secret Lake fire facility was sold, would the Department be willing to put that money into the new facility since they own it. Chief DiPace reported the Corporation has not decided what it is going to do with that station, if we move our fire apparatus for Company 2 out of there, we have not come to any final conclusion on that.
The Association President reported in the 2005/2006 budget is the second half of the SCBA replacement program in amount $250,000, and $40,000 for an entry accountability system for the fire stations allowing us to keep track of overall access to our stations and being able to keep track o of our people for compensation purposes. Next concerns our water supply, in 2006/2007 in amount $130,000 and in 2007/2008 $105,000, for cisterns and continuation of water lines in several areas including Woodland/Pioneer Drive, Oak Bluff/Vermillion, Stony Corners and Bishop Lane/Cider Brook areas.
The Association President further reported in the 2008/2009 budget is the replacement of Engine ll, in amount $250,000 for the first half. It replaces a 19 year old pumper powered by a diesel engine automatic located at Company 2, used as a backup piece and refurbished in 1999.
Chairman Hines reported he would like to discuss the departments 600 or so calls, with six being for fires, yet the training facility seems to be centered around the fires. Chief DiPace reported it is around fire fighting, no question about it. Chairman Hines questioned whether we have enough fires to justify that kind of training facility. Chief DiPace reported the fact that we are not doing a lot of structural hands on fire fighting, that it makes it much more dangerous, and in effect the firefighters are not getting the practice. The first thing a firefighter needs to do, just like any of our jobs, we have to do it all the time in order to stay proficient, without any fires we are not getting that, and that becomes a safety problem. For us to have a training center where we can train
constantly and on Monday nights, and have a place that we can do this type of work, that is what is going to help us and keep us safe. Mr. Shea questioned whether it could be a regional training center. Chief DiPace reported we have talked with other department in the area to do things regionally, and have talked about a regional center. The Town is very outgoing when it comes to regionalization, we try to do a lot of it. It is the same with the department, we started a regional HAZMAT Operational Team. Mr. Shea reported he would like the Avon Fire Chief and other town Chiefs, managers or representatives work with the Town Manager on a regional plan, to discuss that Avon is going to build a training center, we would like some cooperation from other towns, such as Burlington and Canton, on a regional basis. Then we can say we are going to build a facility that is going to address the needs of the next 20 to 30 years, and that would need more than
the three acres, which is why he suggests the landfill area and the needs are going to change. Chairman Hines reported you would not want a large training facility where you are working outside in some of the residential areas, there would be objection to it. Chief DiPace reported there are many designs for fire stations that would fit into any area, they are shown in several trade magazines. Chairman Hines reported he would like him to give that information to the Town Manager, it would be helpful for regional planning.
8:45 p.m. Library
The Avon Public Library presented their FY2004/2005 Capital Improvement Program as follows:
Expansion of Library Building and Parking Lot................................$100,000
Planning & Engineering fees
The Library Board of Directors President reported the capital improvement plan for the Library is very brief as we have had some ongoing and recent discussions, so that everyone is pretty aware of our plans, and many of them have already been discussed.
One of the items that we discussed was whether or not the Library could live without 50,000 square feet, which was the original projection, based on Connecticut State Library guidelines. The Library Board discussed it even further since our last meeting with the Council, we have determined that technology advances will enable us to reduce the need for space. We believe technology will enable us to do with a smaller increase in space. For example, we put in the first wireless connection in the Library, and it is not only a success for the Library Director, but there are also patrons with their own laptops already connected utilizing a space where they otherwise would have needed a work station. Therefore, we feel that will have some major advantages with space. In addition, with so many
materials, particularly reference materials, going towards internet based and CD based, it should help minimize the amount of growth in storage for those materials as well. We are going to use wise architectural planning to maximize our use of space, and when we go forward with an architect we will be emphasizing the importance of designing multi use space and taking into account the idea that different types of people, different age groups, different needs, different times of the day, so that things can be used in the morning for one area, and possibly be suited to other uses later in the day as we go from students coming in and then adults coming in so that we can get very efficient use of space. Then we will also be emphasizing to the architect the need for re-configurable space, as ten years from now we do not know exactly what is going to happen as every game plan needs to be readjusted in mid course based upon unforeseen types of shifts in use and needs.
The only down side to not going up to 50,000 square feet, to meet the Connecticut State Library Space Guidelines, is the potential loss of some supplemental funding that they have in the past given out. But this is a small amount of money and it has not been dispersed in many years, and it does not look like they will have any funds for this size program. They give you guidelines for services, seats per thousand population, they determine your collection should be a certain size and figure out square footage, guidelines for work space and work stations. We can just cut back on some of that, and see what happens and we may qualify but we are not sure yet.
The Board President reported another issue that we discussed at the last Town Council meeting, and at our Board meeting a couple of weeks ago, was what contribution the Library Board would make to the expansion. In part because our Board is sensitive to the needs of the Town and its growing population with increasing expectations as with the Board of Education and the Fire Department and as the Town grows there are many more demands, we unanimously agreed that we would launch a major fund raising campaign. One of the things that we actually started months ago was the implementation of endowment funds to start to raise funds that would generate income not only to help with the expansion but ongoing support once the Library is expanded, recognizing that the extra space will have ongoing upkeep and requirements
in many dimensions.
Mr. Shea reported the Library Fund has roughly $101,000, have you earmarked any of that for this project or is that money that you are going to be using to do some other things? The Board President reported it is not earmarked for any major use over and above the income that we get, so that amount should be stable plus or minus 10% to 15% over the years, up from $65,000 several years ago. Chairman Hines questioned whether the Mitnick Fund is similar in value. The Board President reported the value of the Mitnick account we do not know as it is held elsewhere, we just get the income from it, so there is a separate balance we have from surplus Mitnick that we accumulated, then we have the income from the Mitnick Endowment that is separate, and we can earmark some of that. But for such a large
addition, even if we earmarked the whole amount, it would not even make a dent, so we are committed to doing a much bigger fund raising campaign.
The Town Manager reported one of the things as you move ahead, that we are always interested in particularly as with the schools, and sometimes it tends to be left behind is the additional operational costs of the building. If we are looking at converting part time positions into full time positions, those are major expense drivers for the operational budget. Keep in mind as we move ahead with the capital aspect of the Library project, we need to have an operational impact analysis of it and how we are going to accommodate that, whatever schedule is decided upon.
The Board President reported one other action the Board talked about and we have done is to begin organizing committees around a comprehensive fund raising program for expanding and sustaining the Library. Mary Sutter, Vice President on the Board, has done an organization plan. We are moving forward and taking actions as quickly as we can so that we can meet these needs that we know are going to come up as it costs money to build and also to sustain it. He further reported we appreciate the Council’s support for expansion of the Library, and are pleased that you came to the same conclusion that this location is a good location, providing that the size respects the environment that it is in. We also appreciate you support for acquisition of key properties and that the position is eminent but
not necessarily official.
The Board President further reported the last part, which is what is needed to proceed, they are two things that may be linked together, the time line or lines for the expansion because you may not have one particular one now. In the past different ideas on how to raise the funds may have impact on when and where this happens, but we would like to request funds to accomplish the next step which is to bring in an architect over the next year so that we can begin the space utilization plans, both internal and external, to move forward in developing the specific details for what we need.
Mr. Shea reported that would require us going out to bid for an architect. The Town Manager questioned if you moved in that direction you would want to form a building committee and start that process. The other thing would be to authorize the Library to come back with conceptual schematics and some preliminary cost estimates. Chairman Hines reported if they were going to do that it would cost $25,000 for the conceptual plans. You do not want to do too much work until you get very close to the work to do it, because if you put it off a couple of years, then you are going to need new drawings. The Council has some very big questions from what we heard tonight, meeting with the Board of Education the end of January to hear their recommendations on the high school, on the expansion there,
and the Council has done a lot of work with our Financial Advisor looking at financing, combining the Library and the High School. That is one decision we are going to have to decide. We have made the first major step, which is to go out and get the property, so the first major step is done. The exact timing is going to be something that we are going to have to look at, and how much we are going to spend. He likes the idea of some conceptual work so that we can come up with some pretty good prices on how big this is, and that may determine when you can do it. So that may be something that we do, not $100,000 but $25,000 for the conceptual work. The Library Director reported it may be closer to $50,000.
03/04-24 Participation CCM-CL&P Rate Change
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve participation in the CCM-CL&P rate change case and authorize a financial contribution in amount $750.00.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-29 Appointment: Natural Resources Commission
On a motion made by Mrs. Hornaday, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table the appointment to the January 8, 2004 meeting.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-49 Appointment: Recreation and Parks Committee
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Woodford, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table the appointment to the January 8, 2004 meeting.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
NEW BUSINESS
03/04-50 Review and Discussion: Avon’s 175th Birthday
Chairman Hines reported he would like the Council to recommend a size for a 175th Birthday Committee and also the Town Council select the Chairman for the Committee, and also authorize the Town Manager to develop a draft charge for the Committee for us to discuss in January, and make appointments in February so it would give the Committee about a year to work on the celebration. One of the items contained in the draft charge should be that the Committee should return to the Council after they determine a preliminary budget for the event. As far as the Committee size it should be about nine members, as we do not want it to be too large but do not want quorum problems either.
Mrs. Hornaday reported it should be coordinated with Avon Day, times have changed and her observation has been that what people responded to and wanted to go to and spend time at 25 years ago is not the same as it is today. Mr. Carlson reported he would suggest our Charge to the Committee would be (1) they look to coordinate their activities with other town wide activities, so that it gives them the opportunity to work with Avon Day or not, and perhaps gives them the opportunity with some other activity taking place.
03/04-51 Extension of Agreement for Actuarial Services
The Town Manager reported there were some minor revisions to the contract that we received to date from the Town Attorney, which are included in your folders, but essentially it is the same. There is one thing that we are beginning to see, and saw in this particular arrangement, and that is a creeping limit on the liability that these consultants will accept, they are limiting themselves to what they will pay in the case of some type of situation, and that is $1,000,000. Now we do not think that is going to impact us – but the Town Attorney told us that he is starting to see this more and more in different contracts, with auditors, actuaries – anybody that is involved in these types of services. Mr. Woodford questioned how many years have we had this company. The Town Manager reported since
1995, at some point we should probably change, but they do a good job. We recently had their presentation on the pension system, which was very good, and they have changed the principals servicing our account, this is the third person. Mr. Carlson reported he is familiar with the firm as well and they are outstanding, but he would suggest it be like the auditors that on a periodic basis you should bring different people in, as they have different methodology and it pays to go out and do that. Mr. Shea reported every five to seven years there is nothing wrong with going out and seeing what is out there.
On a motion made by Mr. Carlson, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to sign on behalf of the Town of Avon the Extension of the Agreement for Actuarial Services with Milliman, USA, as reviewed and recommended by the Town Attorney, at the end of the three year contract the Town go out for competitive bids.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-52 Review and Discussion: Request of UNICO for Continued Sponsorship of Avon Day
Mr. Shea reported a letter of appreciation should be sent to Randy Ginsburg for her years of service as Chairperson of Avon Day.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Hornaday, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council authorize UNICO to continue sponsorship of Avon Day for 2004.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-53 Resignation: Natural Resources Commission: Douglas Evans
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept with regret the resignation of Douglas Evans from the Natural Resources Commission, with congratulations for his appointment to the Board of Education.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-54 Appointment: Natural Resources Commission
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town council table the appointment to the January 8, 2004 meeting.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT/MISCELLANEOUS
The Town Manager reported we have a report on the Thompson Brook school gymnasium. The Town Clerk, Building Committee Staff Person, reported the agenda contains the report from Wood Science Specialist, Inc. regarding problems we are experiencing with the flooring. She recommends the Building Committee be disbanded at this time. Chairman Hines questioned whether all of the items are solved. The Town Clerk reported yes, particularly the major item, which was the gymnasium floor, the consultant has said that there really is not a problem, that it is the HVAC mechanical system. Chairman Hines questioned whether that will be resolved. The Town Clerk reported that responsibility goes back to the Board of Education. The Town Manager reported it is an operational issue, the heating and
keeping the temperature. Mr. Woodford questioned whether the floor is alright. The Town Clerk reported yes, the floor was installed properly, conditions were proper, and it is useable. The problem went away because it was decided to bring in a consultant, and his recommendation was that it is fine. Chairman Hines questioned whether the Town Clerk would make this recommendation to the Committee that they be disbanded. The Town Clerk reported yes, she included that on their agenda for next Tuesday morning, for their decision, they would have to approve some kind of a motion to appoint the Chairman to clean up the last few bills.
The Town Manager reported the next item, he is still working on the Cable TV item, which should be completed by the next meeting. He received a letter from the Superintendent of Schools, outlining the Board of Education’s concerns with it, and his experiences in Massachusetts dealing with it. The consensus that he is getting from the other communities is that everybody is moving towards a quality product – it started out as a grass roots thing and it is gravitating towards a professionally managed, run and budgeted item. We are going to be talking some substantial dollars if we want to do this. He is going to give some different total costs, one to the Council, one to the Board of Education and one for the Planning & Zoning Commission, and then some extra meetings like the budget
public hearing and so forth. It is going to be a substantial amount of money to do it correctly so that the audience can hear, see and understand what is going on. Then the issue will be whether we want to budget that or not, or we want to try it out maybe on the public hearings on the budget or something, and not do the regular monthly meetings of each of the boards. Mrs. Hornaday questioned whether they have any statistics on how many people view it. If it is something that a lot of the residents watch, then maybe it is worth it to them, but if it is just as people have said to her from the PTO that if it is a relatively small group in the community and the rest of the people do not care about it, then maybe we get to say that there is not enough broad based interest to warrant spending this money. The Town Manager reported in talking with other towns, there is definitely a number of people that watch and he gets the feeling though that it is
in the low 100’s, if that, out of these larger communities like Simsbury or Farmington, where they have 25,000 people. Mrs. Hornaday reported on a percentage basis, that is low.
The Town Manager reported we received a call from Kevin Witkos’ office, saying that there was a potential opportunity to get somewhere between $50,000 and $80,000 in grant money for a project that was ready to go, not in a planning phase. We immediately contacted the Director of Recreation and Parks to take the $93,000 that we were hoping to raise from private sources. Mr. Shea reported he would suggest we also call those involved in the planning, they may be able to help.
The Town Manager reported with regard to the Recreation Master Plan, he wrote a letter, as requested by the Council, to the Board of Education asking for their participation and involvement with that. He received a response back from the Superintendent of Schools, stating that he talked it over with the Board of Education Chairman, and that they would be more than willing to participate and that they favored a committee similar to what was done for the facilities maintenance effort back in the late 90’s, that would have Board of Education members on it, as well as Town members and the Superintendent of Schools and their School Athletic Director would serve as ex-officio members, or at least they would be at the meetings as staff representative. The Town Manager reported at the next meeting, the Town
Council can go ahead and write a letter to the Parks and Recreation Committee and say basically that they are being charged to undertake this effort, and outline our expectations, he will prepare a draft.
The Town Manager reported the Board of Finance met last week, they had lengthy discussion about setting some form of targets and goals for whatever you have for the budgets or tax increases. They did not come to any conclusion, what they did ask him to do was to gather an extensive amount of data which we are putting together. The Board of Finance is having a special meeting on December 15th, to review all of this data, and possibly come up with some form of guidelines on the budget or tax figures for next years budget. Mr. Shea questioned whether the Town Manager could pinpoint four or five pieces of data that they needed to come up with this. The Town Manager reported they wanted essentially a ten year history of all of the budgets and the changes over that ten year period, dollar and
percentage. They wanted to take the new grand list and the old grand list, and run a comparison on six or eight properties to get an idea of what the taxes would be on those properties with certain incremental increases in the levy such as a 1% tax increase or 2% or 3% or 4% increase, and then apply them towards these sample properties, both with the new mill grand list and also with the old grand list with the same levels of increases. Mr. Shea questioned whether they tried to factor in if we try to go out and bond projects like the high school, the library, Towpath School, the Fire Department. Did they figure out that is going to take up a certain percentage of their target increase? The Town Manager reported one of the things that they asked for too, and we are providing them, is the per capita figures, they are looking for in this compendium of ten year budgets and the amount of the increase. They want the enrollments and that will allow them
to determine each year the per capita change in the budgets. We have the new CPEC, Connecticut Policy and Expenditure Council, book that lists all of the per capita data and it lists all of the towns in the state in terms of their bond rating. We are duplicating that, and we are including that with the agenda material, so that they can each go in an pick out what Farmington or Simsbury has, and mix and match and come up with their own tables, the base data is all there. He reported we will make sure the Council gets the same information, so that you are kept aware.
Mrs. Hornaday reported while we are on this topic, she read the article in the paper about what our town expends per pupil and the other communities in our demographic group, and one of the things that at some point we need to be talking about is they do not count all of these major infrastructure things that we have done all of the buildings, all of that kind of thing which is not counted in the per pupil expenditure and we are probably going to be hearing that from the parents groups. But the bottom line on the tax, for the other folks is still the same thing, they do not care where the money has been expended, the tax is still, and if you pro rate into that what we have paid for facilities, then we are very high. She is just saying if we want to change what has happened over the last couple of years with
regard to the budget process, we really need to be prepared to lay out more in terms of what we are paying whether it is for text books or whatever it is, this is what we are paying. She reported we need to get that information out, because what the State uses per capita leaves out a lot. She understands how they compute the per pupil because it is the direct whatever is paid for supplies, staff, but the fact is for the residents it is an entirely different figure and we have to prepare to at least talk about that, and how fast do we want to drive some of these capital items.
The Town Manager reported it seems that the Board of Finance at the meetings is focusing in on two things in terms of getting a budget this year, the impact of the revaluation and the complexities of explaining how that works with the mill rate, so that the homeowners are not confused to the point where they just vote against it. The other part of it is the issues that have been brought up over the last two years, which are the sizes of the increases, both the percentage of budget increase which while that may have an impact on their tax rate, the interplay of revenues and grand list growth really effects the tax rate as much as the budget increase, the drop in state aid can have as much an impact as a percent or two on a budget. So these tables that we prepared are designed to do comparative work on the two
grand lists, the new and the old and also are designed to help them arrive at some form of a guideline, to give them the historical data.
Mr. Shea reported the more information and data the better to make informed decisions, but we have a growing community in a State that is stagnant, this exercise is great but at the end of the day we are looking at a renovation to Avon High School and the Library and what we are looking at is penalizing the operating budgets because we are looking at how we change or approach the expense side management. We are going to have to bring a private sector environment to the Board of Education and the Town Council because it is going to be an expense side issue. Mr. Woodford reported the only problem with setting guidelines is that it sets the bar, and the public says alright that is the bar, and no matter what programs any department has, that is it, which is unfortunate, no decision should be made until they have
a rough idea of what the capital budget is or where it is going to be for that need.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: Negotiations/Litigation
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council go into Executive Session at 10:00 p.m.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council come out of Executive Session at 10:40 p.m.
Mrs. Hornaday, Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 p.m.
ATTEST:
Caroline B. LaMonica
Town Clerk
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