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AVON TOWN COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
MAY 6, 2004
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen’s Chamber by Chairman Hines. Members Present: Messrs: Carlson, Shea and Woodford. Absent: Mrs. Hornaday.
PUBLIC HEARING: None
MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETING: April 12, 2004, April 15, 2004
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve the minutes of the April 12, 2004 meeting as read.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve the minutes of the April 15, 2004 meeting as read.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE
Linda Merlin, 48 High Gate Drive, reported the Avon Taxpayers Association put out a lot of information, but we are very close to the vote which is next Wednesday, and so they are handing out the flyers to certain neighborhoods. They are actually putting them on mailboxes which is illegal, she checked with the post office but it is not a Council issue, and she took it to the Town Assessors Office to check out the number structure, and the information in it is inaccurate. She does not know what recourse there is to take. It is one thing to allow the Town to be completely divided over an issue just to get that no vote out, but it is another to totally mislead people and put out inaccurate information. Again she does not know what the Town Council can do, but you are the leaders of the Town, and again
she does not know how to do the numbers but the Assessor looked at it, and maybe he can issue a press release, putting out accurate information, or denounce the information publicly. Chairman Hines reported we try, as a Council to stay out of these kind of situations. There are a lot of groups who put out information that is incorrect, we try to put out the best information we can, as factual as possible. The best thing that can be happening is that when you find out information like that is to let other people know that it is wrong. Mrs. Merlin reported she is just one citizen and does not have the resources that public officials have, you can denounce something that is wrong, that is an ethical context. Chairman Hines reported it is frustrating and we go through it all of the time, the best thing we can do is to have our meetings, our newsletter that is put out with everything we think is factual. But if we started to comment on
everything we receive in the papers or in the mail it would get to be a great deal of effort, and we could get accused of being biased as well. Mrs. Merlin reported she understands what the Council is saying but she wanted to bring this to their attention. Mr. Carlson reported there is a Town endorsed site, which gives a clear answer to the impact on ones property of the tax increase, done by the Assessors office and it clearly shows the impact of assessment, as well as the proposed tax increase.
Diane Carney, 36 Rosewood Road, reported she did not come here to speak on this issue, but she and her husband are one of the ones who have used the website and read what was sent out, it is exactly the same information, she belongs to the Taxpayers Association. Mrs. Merlin reported she took it to the Assessor, and was told it contained inaccurate information. Mrs. Carney reported the information it contained was for one particular property.
Diane Carney reported her comment has to do with a letter in yesterday’s newspaper by a Canton person talking about their budget problem, and proposing that their town vote separately on the Board of Education budget and the Town Council budget. Chairman Hines reported there has been a Supreme Court Case recently which said you could separate those two budgets, when the towns want to, in the Town of Avon it would take a Charter Revision to do that. He reported we should look at the total cost of the town in running it and not separate the schools, but for years it was not possible. Simsbury has been doing it for years, and now the Supreme Court says that you can do it. Mrs. Carney reported when it comes to Town spending versus Board of Education, that is not the issue, she was just
thinking as to whether it could be done, and if so, how would she pursue it further. Chairman Hines reported you could ask the Town Council to form a charter revision commission and make that happen, if they said no, you could petitions it and force it.
Mr. Rosignol, 37 Andrea Lane, reported he is representing Briar Cliff Swim Club as President, the Town Council received a letter from the swim club. Basically the gist of the letter is that we are a swim club on the shores of Secret Lake off Craigemore Circle, and the facility has been there for 42 years. It has deteriorated and we are in the process of renovating it and trying to put in a new pool this year, we have done a lot of work including engineering, site work, have come before the Planning & Zoning Commission, we have extended our membership from the neighborhood and made it town-wide, with approvals from every commission, and are now seeking the State Health Department approval for our new pool, the designing has been done. We are estimating that we will be spending about $160,000 to
$170,000 on this project, we depleted our funds, basically on the planning part of this, we are going to be getting a loan. The situation we are in right now is that we have about 35 core member families that are supporting this, and we need to get the membership up to 92 families to fully support it, which may take three years, in the meantime we have to support this loan and keep paying it out. This year it is a catch 22 situation, where we have that core membership which is supporting it, but we are going to be heavily taxing them, if we cannot build up the membership right now while the building is being done, which is the hard part because people will only want to join when there is a pool there. We are looking for help, $80,000 is needed, or any other kind of help in terms of in-kind services that the Town would provide would help defer some of our costs. It is a wonderful facility for the neighborhood, it takes some of the load off of Sycamore Hills
Park. Chairman Hines reported this is not something which the Town normally gets involved, with a private club. He questioned whether they would open this up to all residents of the Town, whether they are members or not, nor just purely members. Mr. Rosignol reported anyone in Town would be able to become a member, but the membership is what supports the operation of the pool. Chairman Hines reported it is no different than the Avon Golf Club, for example, to get into it you have to become a member and spend several thousand dollars. Mr. Rosignol reported it would be $400 a year, but he understands the premise. Chairman Hines reported that is not the kind of thing that we normally take tax payer dollars and give to private clubs. We have so many needs for our Town we cannot give to private clubs. Mr. Woodford reported he cannot believe that someone is asking us to support a private organization. Mr. Shea reported if the
Town Council had that ability and it has been stated rather clearly, that there would be many private organizations coming to ask for support. Chairman Hines reported the answer is that we would not be interested in supporting it.
Neil Livingston reported he is here to find out whether the Town Council is receptive (he submitted a tax plan) to this kind of policy or not receptive. Chairman Hines reported it is kind of vague, and with the newspaper articles he does not know what it is about, because with the county governments, and we do not know how they are supported from income taxes and other areas. Mr. Livingston reported with the high school that addition has been there for how long? Chairman Hines reported less than ten years. Mr. Livingston reported he read in the newspaper that Sudbury, off of the field area, there was an opportunity to buy that land, and the Town Council decided not to do that. Now he hears that possibly a new high school would have to be offsite. Chairman Hines reported we do not think
that will be the case. Mr. Livingston reported that is why he decided to move forward with this plan, rather than to say that he is unhappy with the taxes, he put a plan together, he would expect it would be the basis upon which the Town Council would move forward to do something about this. With two referenda that have been defeated, and the third one coming up, he personally will vote no because his taxes went up 14% this year, and if he does not plan ten years ahead for his retirement here, it is pretty much what another resident said, people who cannot afford this Town are just going to have to leave.
Mr. Carlson reported this Town has done a pretty good job of planning over the years, we do not always make the right decisions, but with due respect for those who sat here before him, they made a decision, and we now bear the repercussions of that. Chairman Hines reported the Board of Education made the decision of not buying it. Mr. Carlson reported on the other hand, the same Town Council, 11 years before that made the decision to buy the Pine Grove property, before we built that building, which was 20 years later, good planning, good thought process and it worked out. This Town Council this year looked at and acquired through the vote of a Town referendum, the property on Thompson Road, M. H. Rhodes, again another long range plan of looking at open space, etc. So there is a long
range plan. When looking at Mr. Livingston’s document he was hoping to find a way that would help us to stabilize taxes, but when he went through it, it said the Board of Education needs to do this, and we need to do that. He questioned whether Mr. Livingston had addressed his concerns to the Board of Education, because we do not have any control over the Board of Education. Further more as he looks at the two towns cited, one in New Jersey and one in New York, and in both cases both towns are subject to county taxes, school district taxes and one is subject to a library district tax. So while they have held the line on their town property taxes, some of the other county, school district or library taxes have escalated. It concerns him that it is being looked at as the same, but to endorse these two towns and what they have done, endorsing a concept that would separate out the entities within this Town, he would not be in favor of that, we do not
live in a cocoon, we live here in a Town, and he does not use the pool but is supportive of it. It is not the right thing for the Town to have this plan and does not feel supportive of this town having that.
Mr. Livingston reported the reason he put those towns in there, they were examples of townships or counties that have managed to come up with ways to reduce the property taxes, and it may or may not be like Avon, but the point being there are people out there that are capable of keeping this under control, taking a look at the revaluations and the bias towards residential and away from commercial, as they are looking for tax breaks as well, and people will say they cannot afford Avon anymore.
Chairman Hines reported you must realize also that this is not unique to Avon, every town around the greater Hartford area is going through the same problem. What we have tried to do is keep out taxes among the lowest, and if you cannot afford Avon anymore you cannot afford the other towns as their taxes are a lot higher than ours. This is not a problem we are going to easily solve, and the biggest problem we have is binding arbitration and if you want to do some good there, work with the State Legislators to try to solve that problem. Mr. Livingston reported if we had a policy like this where we took a hard look at this thing, slowed up the development, we could probably at least ease it.
Chairman Hines reported he talked with several people recently who said, at the public hearing on the Board of Finance, it is all enrollment that is causing our problems. He can just turn and look east to West Hartford and they are completely built up, and they have the same problems, it is not just the enrollment that is doing it, that has not had a big impact on building schools, but in the operating budget still the cost of labor, it is really hurting us, and West Hartford has the same problems with a large increase because of revaluation, every town around is going through the same problems, it is not unique to us.
Mr. Livingston reported bottom line, do you support developing a tax stabilization policy for the Town of Avon? Mr. Woodford reported quite frankly he does not know what Mr. Livingston is talking about. To him this was fairly obvious, and a lot of it may be illegal. We hire a Town Manager, we have a Town Council, we elect a Board of Finance, and you want to hire a consultant to tell us how to stabilize our taxes? A lot of this is buying open space, and that is something that we talk about regularly. He reported the idea of trying to give a tax credit to people that do not have children in the school system is absurd in his humble opinion. Mr. Livingston reported but you are representing the whole town, not just the school system. Mr. Woodford reported yes we are, and we
should not hire a consultant to come up with something like this, this is fairly obvious. Mr. Shea reported he agrees with his three colleagues, that we are troubled, and it is a challenge to try to address the growth that we have and the appreciation of the houses that we have, it is a very desirable community, a great place to live and Avon is very well run. He gave this a good look and he is just not in agreement, it is great that these other communities tried to do new and creative things, it is great that we listen and learn about that, but at the end of the day, and he has a house much like Mr. Livingston and his taxes are going up much like his, and like others he does not use the pool, or the schools, he basically just uses the roads, but we have to look at this as a complete and entire, and whole community, and we have to do what we feel is best for everyone within the authority and the policy of the Town Council. We use consultants for legal issues,
accounting issues, and insurance issues, but when it comes down to how much we pay in taxes, the people in this Town are the best consultant. They elect their leaders, and by and large the people that are going to vote no, and the people that are going to vote yes, are not voting as a party, this is not about democrats, republicans or third parties, this is just people’s opinion, and they are entitled to it. He does not think that a budget going down, although he hopes it does not, it is a message, it sends the Town leaders a message to go back and try to do it again. Mr. Livingston reported but a couple of referendums we voted in down, to send you that message. Mr. Shea reported how many years did we go without that happening, and no one is sitting here just saying that we want to raise taxes. Mr. Livingston questioned what about this large increase, it was 14%. Mr. Shea reported that was the result of the reval. Mr. Shea reported we
live in a great community and at the end of the day, everybody here, people that work for the Town, people that live in the Town, whether they are leaders or whether they are citizens involved, are doing the best they can to be involved in the process.
Mr. Carlson reported when he looked at this, what he was trying to do was whether there was a place for us to save money, a place for us to find something new, but this is not new, it say we should be actively engaged in it, and we are. There appears to be a tax credit for those who do not have children, or as we heard at the last public hearing, as with the Planning & Zoning Commission, the moderator stated there are some legal impact fees for stopping development. This appears to be cost shift, while they may have held the line on their property taxes, there are other taxes that these citizens are liable for in these communities that you noted here, that for example in one community their cost per pupil is $12,516 last year, therefore there is a shift and we have to be careful of that. The real
challenge and what you are trying to get at is that we as elected people in Town and people that participate in the process need to continually look at new and creative ways to address the challenges of trying to keep taxes low, and we do not need a consultant to do that.
Mr. Woodford reported the taxpayers group and all of us, we are like little minnows nibbling on a whale and that whale is salary and benefits, that is what is driving the budgets - $22,000,000 of the education budget is salary and benefits, of that salary 50% are for benefits, binding arbitration is what drives that. Town employees and teachers get a step increase every year, get a step increase every year plus a pay increase, binding arbitration does not give the Town any opportunity to have a say in what happens with those contracts, and until and unless the State does something about that, we can stay and talk all day long but you are not going to have a major impact on the budget. Mr. Woodford reported the State exempts themselves from this, and they do have a say over binding arbitration, but they do not
give that same say to the Towns. Chairman Hines reported we do not want to sound negative, we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to keep costs down, and we are, and if you have suggestions, continue and do not hesitate, to come back to us again. Mr. Livingston reported he put that out as a benchmark to provide some information and to give the Town what he could find after doing research, and hopeful it would help. Mr. Woodford reported we are doing many of the things already that were mentioned, and we have a lot of faith in our Town Manager and pay him to run this Town.
COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL - None
OLD BUSINESS
03/04-40 Set Public Hearing: Adoption of Ordinance #71 Restriction on Construction Activities: 7:30 p.m., June 3, 2004.
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council set the public hearing for June 3, 2004 at 7:30 p.m.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-55 Appointments
Natural Resources (formerly 03/04-29)
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council appoint Thomas J. Portelance, Jr. to serve on the Natural Resources Commission for a term to expire on December 31, 200 .
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
Natural Resources (formerly 03/04-63)
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council appoint Marianne A. Landers Clark to serve on the Natural Resources Commission for a term to expire on December 31, 200 .
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
Natural Resources (formerly 03/04-55)
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council appoint Robert H. Breckinridge, Jr. to serve on the Natural Resources Commission for a term to expire on December 31, 200 .
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
Board of Assessment Appeals (formerly 03/04-86)
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table this item to the June 3, 2004 meeting.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-56 Adoption of Ordinance #70: For the Delinquent Payment of Property Taxes on Motor Vehicles
The Town Manager reported we have preliminary readings that the State has come up with a whole new system, that they are going to pro-rate the cost of running the system by community based upon the number of vehicles, and that we will be charged with an annual fee of so much. We do not know whether there is an enabling provision in there to recover that or not, therefore he would suggest we table it for one more meeting.
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table this item for one more meeting.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
NEW BUSINESS
03/04-91 Review, Discussion and Designation, Planning and Zoning Commission as the Municipal Aquifer Agent
The Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman reported this is not a position we are seeking, but the Town Planner and Town Manager seem to think that the most sense was the Planning & Zoning Commission, and if that is what the Town Council wants we will take it on. Chairman Hines reported the Commission is the best place, when an applicant comes in with a Planning and Zoning application, that is the place where the applicant must know about the Aquifer also, it is better for the applicant. Fortunately, we have two good boards, Inland Wetlands and Planning & Zoning and a common administrator and it works out well.
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council designate the Planning & Zoning Commission as the Municipal Aquifer Agent.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-92 Review and Discussion: Request for Funding: ACORN Playground, Thompson Brook School
Mrs. Tsacoyeanes reported she is here representing ACORN and ready to give an update on the Community Playground Committee for Thompson Brook School. We appreciate your endorsement of our project from last month. The community is continuing to financially support the playground, we have commitments of approximately $30,000 and continuing to receive contributions from families, community organizations, the PTO’s and local businesses. Our student fundraiser raised over $17,000, the children worked hard and did a great job, that is a lot of cookie dough. We currently have in hand $50,000 towards our project, in addition we have promised to us $15,000, for a total of $65,000. Our goal is $125,000, and in order to install equipment before school starts in September, the equipment needs
to be ordered no later than June 14th Chairman Hines questioned whether they can order it in a partial basis so that you do not have to commit to the whole project. Mrs. Tsacoyeanes reported we want to have the whole plan, it was finalized with the representative today. We are aggressively continuing fundraising, and in addition Kevin Witkos will let us know by June 1st if any State grant money is available. We have come this evening to solidify our public/private partnership, we respectfully request that the Town continues to consider an amount available from the Thompson Brook building fund to assist in providing the balance of the monies needed to complete this project, because June 1st our fundraising ends.
Chairman Hines reported we may not know all of the answers about the Thompson Brook School by that time. At this point we cannot give any more definitive information than that we are generally supportive and want to help, but when we could have the money is the question. We have always tried to support of these kinds of programs with some kind of funding, and the Town Council has been supportive. Mr. Shea reported he would suggest strongly, as he thinks it is a very worthy project, is that you should come back to the June 3rd meeting because a lot can happen in 30 days. Chairman Hines reported we will keep this item on the agenda. The Town Manager reported we are still working on the floor issue at the school. If we can get this floor issue settled or well on the road to
being settled, we will know more about how it is going to come out in terms of planning the funding maybe we can do that by June. Mr. Carlson questioned whether the Thompson Brook School project is being done like the one we did at Roaring Brook with community involvement in the actual building. Mrs. Tsacoyeanes reported no, it is going to be done professionally. Mr. Woodford reported if the referendum goes down, that will have a huge impact on what we are able to do. Mrs. Tsacoyeanes reported we understand there are outstanding issues, and we appreciate the Town Council continuing to look at availability of any funding towards this project. The Town Manager reported as it is now, we are receiving a significant increase in requests, which you have seen here tonight, for funding, which if they meet the legal criteria could be potential problems. He reported the Avon High School Renovations/Addition Committee is to report back to the Town
Council at the next meeting, looking for $50,000 to $100,000 to start doing schematic studies on the high school renovation. That money is not going to be available out of surplus, because we used the surplus to balance the tax rate. So we are running into some significant funding constraints here, and we have to look at how we are going to do these things. There is another playground project that is percolating along and they are interested in money, and unless these things are budgeted and approved we are not going to have much discretionary money. Mrs. Tsacoyeanes reported we are continuing to look for other grant money for this.
On a motion made by Mr. Carlson, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table this item to the June 3, 2004 meeting.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-93 Review and Approval: Buckingham Field Bids
Mr. Meyers, Recreation and Parks Committee Chairman, reported we are here to give an update of the fields at Buckingham. The most immediate need is to build the fence that will keep motor vehicles off the fields because most of the work that has been done, can be undone in the night by children and dogs. The bids came in higher than anticipated and higher than the funds remaining with the grant, largely because of precipitous increase in the price of steel over the last year. There is steel in the post and cable fences and obviously in the chain link fences. Approximately a $60,000 to $70,000 shortfall which probably can be made up in approximate thirds by negotiating again with the bidders, the low bid was $209,000, so we would be looking for something less than a 10% reduction.
He was told the Director of Recreation and Parks can find in his various revenue accounts, monies in the area of $20,000, that would still leave him the ability to meet unforeseen needs, and the plan was initially to see if the Town Council could find the last third of $20,000. But in reflection it is better not to ask you to act on that tonight for a few reasons. He spoke with the Director recently about the increase in steel, and questioned whether wood could be used for the fence instead. It turns out that the 100’ of fence to keep cars off could be wooden and is just about 1/2 the price of steel, a $12,000 savings. We will separately bid that out, a relatively short process, get that installed and keep cars off of the field, to give us more time to address these other issues.
He further reported the soft costs have taken more than we expected out of the grant funds, being the landscape, architectural and all the like, they have done a fine job, including things extra not charged for, but they do need to get paid. With the grant it was 2/3 State money, and in order to meet our obligation, 1/3 is in-kind services from the Town. We are alerting the Town Council to the problem, but not really asking for anything, but we may have to request a small amount to close the gap.
On a motion made by Mr. Carlson, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted,
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table this item to the June 3, 2004 meeting.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-94 Authorization to Apply for LoCIP Grant
On a motion made by Woodford, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to apply and sign, on behalf of the Town of Avon, the LoCIP Authorization/Expenditure Form, for grant funds in amount $97,349 as reimbursement for FY2003/2004 capital expenditures, road overlay projects.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-95 Award Bid: General Dial-a-Ride Service
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council award the contract to the low bidder Managed Transportation Services, Inc. in amount $48,450 per year for provision of general dial-a-ride service for a period from 7/1/04 to 6/30/05.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-96 Approve Agreement Renewal: McLean Elderly Day-Care Dial-a-Ride.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Carlson, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve the contract renewal in amount $9,270 with McLean for provision of Elderly Daycare Dial-A-Ride for the period from July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
03/04-97 Review and Discussion: 435 Waterville Rd., Avon, CT
Chairman Hines reported when we decided to accept this parcel, it was mainly because the land goes down to the river, we may now want to sell the part of it with the house on it. Mrs. Foster has said that we can proceed with that. The Town Manager reported he will be speaking with Mrs. Foster, our agreement allows us to sell that particular piece of property with the house and the two acres, the money would then go into the open space fund. We are going to need to make a decision as to whether we are going to do that, and if so when and how, he can put a process together. He reported it is a 5.5 acre piece, divided into two lots, 3.3 acres of it is to remain with the Town as open space for educational purposes, the part that goes from the road down and then all of the property along the river.
The other part of it is the house and 2.2 acres of land which we really do not need. We could sell either sell it, or we could keep the property and tear down the house or keep the property and the house and rent it out. Chairman Hines reported we do not want to be involved with that, sell it, we would get the main land where our interest was down along the river. The Town Manager reported he will put together a process on moving ahead to sell and market the property. The Land Trust is potentially interested in doing something with that. He reported we are tight on money, and we do not have a lot, although we could use money out of the open space fund from selling the house to buy something. Chairman Hines reported if we sell the 2.2 acre lot with the house on it, as we agreed on, that money would go into the Open Space Fund. The Town Manager reported that fund can be used to purchase or maintain open space. It was the consensus
of the Town Council to have the Town Manager proceed to put together a program.
VIII TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT/MISCELLANEOUS
The Town Manager reported in the quarterly financial report, at the Board of Education’s suggestion because they were interested in receiving more financial information about the Town’s side of things, from an educational standpoint, we asked them to give us a report, which they had done. This is the first time that we have a consolidated quarterly financial report of both the Town and the Board of Education’s operation.
The Town Manager reported the second item is the Simmons Farm in Fisher Meadows. Mr. Simmons has received an opportunity to get a grant to do a significant amount of work down there, because we own the property we have to sign off on the grant. He had the grant sent to the Town Attorney for review, who indicated we are all right essentially in signing it, there was no contingent liabilities down the road that the Town would find itself in by doing that. What he would like to do is to basically have the authority contingent upon any final recommendations of the Town Attorney to sign that agreement so that Mr. Simmons can get the grant.
Mr. Carlson reported related to the Water Company, and the grant’s request that there not be farming does this have an effect? The Town Manager reported the grant would pertain to all parcels, but there is a deed restriction on that parcel that the Water Company is going to do the well, so he would have to abide by that particular restriction. Mr. Simmons is aware of that. The Town Manager reported after the last meeting he made sure that the corn field just north of Fisher Meadows is not included in this grant program in terms of its five year duration. It was the consensus of the Town Council to allow the Town Manager to sign the grant to enable Mr. Simmons to receive the funding.
The Town Manager reported we have given out a number of dates for potential work sessions, if for some reason the referendum does not pass. The 17th of May will be a work session, the 25th will be a Public Hearing/Town Meeting at the Senior Center to discuss the modifications that the Board of Finance made on the 17th, then the next meeting would be the 27th would be another work session and sign off on what they are going to do and that would be where the Board of Finance would take into consideration public comment on the subsequent revisions that they had made to the referendum on the budget, and decide if they wanted to once again modify it, then June 7th which would be the second referendum.
The Town Manager reported the next item is the Avon Water Company, they have received their permit from the State of Connecticut to move ahead on the well at Fisher Meadows. He is anticipating that would be moving ahead pretty quickly.
The Town Manager reported we received a letter from Brian and Charlotte McLaughlin, 267 Country Club Road indicating their interested in selling their house. We have not done anything at this point other than to say that we were interested. He questioned whether the Council would want him to tell them that we are definitely interested, and start negotiating the price. It was the consensus of the Town Council for the Town Manager to enter into negotiations.
IX EXECUTIVE SESSION: Litigation/Negotiation
On a motion made by Woodford, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council go into Executive Session at 8:50 p.m.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
On a motion made by Mr. Woodford, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council come out of Executive Session at 9:05 p.m.
Messrs: Hines, Carlson, Shea and Woodford voted in favor.
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
Attest:
Caroline B. LaMonica
Town Clerk
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