AVON TOWN COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
NOVEMBER 15, 2007
I. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. at Countryside Park, 335 Huckleberry Hill Road by Chairman Carlson. Members present: Messrs Shea, Woodford and Zacchio.
II. PUBLIC HEARING: None
III. MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETING: None
IV. COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE
Claire Cote reported although she is not a resident of Avon she has worked in Avon for the past six years in a residential facility for older adults. I am working on a research project - we sent out a survey to all the towns in Connecticut trying to find out what they had concerning property tax relief for the elderly and I am here to report on an overview of two programs. One is called the Circuit Breaker program and is open to all Connecticut residents who are over the age of 65. There are income eligibility guidelines that have to be met each year. There is also a state funded Tax Freeze program, which allows eligible residents to freeze their monthly taxes at the 1967 rate. Unfortunately this program was only open for two years until 1969 and there are only a few people left on this program.
She also reported in 2004 and 2006 legislation was passed allowing municipalities to create a local tax relief program. Public Act 06-176 specifically outlines what a typical freeze program would look like, however both pieces of legislation do permit individual towns to set income and asset eligibility guidelines, with only one mandated lien placed on a home when the Circuit Breaker program and the Local Program pay up to 75% of an elderly constituents’ taxes.
She also reported Avon is obviously a very affluent suburban town with a population of about 15,832 and a median household income of $90,934 per year. There probably is not a whole lot of discussion focused on tax relief for the elderly. She reported according to the 2000 census, however, 15% of Avon’s population is over the age of 65 while a whopping almost 30% of your population is between 45 and 64 years of age, who eventually will be eligible for these programs. Those over the age of 65 have an income range level anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000 a year so it is important to keep the discussion open about programs and eligibility guidelines so that more people are eligible. Thank you for allowing me to speak today.
Chairman Carlson reported we have had a tax relief program in place for a number of years. It is a program that is more generous than state guidelines and is also reviewed on an annual basis. We have very actively engaged the services of our towns Social Services Director, who is most knowledgeable of those who really have the need, through his connections with churches, synagogues and other areas of need. So we keep a close focus on that and try to make sure that those requests get channeled in.
V. COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL
Chairman Carlson reported this being our first meeting, post election, we would like to thank all the Town employees, the Registrar’s of Voters, the Poll checkers – this is the first election using this type of technology, everything seemed to go very well. My conversations with the townspeople were very positive regarding the way the election went, in terms of operation.
Mrs. Hornaday came in.
VI. OLD BUSINESS
07/08-12 FY 08/09 Budget: CIP Budget Presentations
a. 7:00 p.m. Recreation and Parks
The Director of Recreation and Parks reported we have had our Master Plan in front of you, on a number of occasions so most of the items here have been discussed before. Our main objective for the 08/09 FY is to focus on having the parking lot done at Sperry Park and the Pool Painting at Sycamore Hills. In our Capital Improvement Program, we are requesting both the one to five (1-5) year plan and five to ten (5-10) year plan. A lot of the items in the proposal were also in the Recreation and Parks Facilities Master Plan, which is currently being published. The things mentioned here are the top priority items. The whole purpose of the Master Plan is to look at everything. The value of the five-year project is 3.5 million dollars and is based on two relatively big-ticket items,
which are Fisher Meadows at $1,500,000 and Thompson Road Facility at $1,600,000. These items will undoubtedly require help from the state or the federal government, in terms of grants.
He reported the cost for the parking lot at Sperry Park is $165,000. $45,000 of that needs to be used for engineering and architectural work and about $120,000 will be used in actual construction. He reported the pool at Sycamore Hills needs to be painted every four to five years.
Chairman Carlson questioned if they were going to try to get through the summer without painting or does it have to be done earlier. The Director of Recreation & Parks reported we will try to bid this project out – if it can be done in stages, we will have the primer done in the spring and one coat in the spring. We are not really sure we want to do two coats in the fall because it will have to go through the winter of freezing and thawing.
The Director of Recreation & Parks reported the area at Sperry, if we brought cars into the park, across from the Marriott, it will cut down on the congestion and cars can continue to exit at the light as they are currently doing. Most of the traffic going into Sperry Park is coming from the greater part of Avon, so a right hand turn into that area would be relatively simple. Obviously, we would not want a left-hand turn coming out, so it might be a one way entrance, with the exit being at the other end. There is also the possibility of storage lanes, where there will be an extra lane to break down the traffic, but that will require some work from DOT. Right now there is a circular driveway on Simsbury Road that we could use as an entrance and bring the traffic in the other way but it would not
serve our longer-term needs.
Mr. Zacchio questioned if there was consideration for another exit other than the one that is in place today. He reported, as a little league parent, he knows as we increase the amount of spaces for cars, that one exit is tough today because there is a gap between the stop sign and the small parking area for the Rails to Trails and then the stop light, it tends to back up. The Director of Recreation and Parks reported the biggest issue here is the left hand turn, because of the direction that most people will be exiting the park. Another option is to have people travel through residential neighborhoods, or put another exit in the location of the annex building. The Town Manager reported that would still make it a left hand turn.
The Director of Recreation and Parks reported, regarding Fisher Meadows, when we purchased the property, there was a provision to give the farmer a five-year notice that we want to reclaim. That notice will expire in January of 2008. The primary focus here would be to extend to the north. One of the revisions that is being made, as a result of discussions with the Town Council, the final document will not have soccer listed on it. It will be rectangular, all-purpose fields because we will have to base the use of the fields on future projections.
He further reported we have had discussions with Old Farms School about doing this as a circular loop and coming back out. There was no agreement with them, only preliminary discussions, but it might be a possibility if we secure that area.
He further reported the Thompson Road property can be a fully multi-purpose, lighted, synthetic turf and can progress in a number of different ways. At full build value, it is probably about a 3.5 to 4 million dollar project. One good thing here is that the area is relatively flat and utilities do serve the property, so we would not have to bring everything in. It is also geographically, right in the center of town.
Chairman Carlson reported across from that property is Thompson Brook School and field hockey is being played there on Saturday afternoon. He questioned if that field is big enough to be used as a football field and reported it would be an ideal location because the school parking area could be utilized. He also reported that area is accessible from both schools and is well buffered because of the wood line, on one side. The Director of Recreation & Parks reported he would have to check into that.
Mr. Shea questioned if the pool is something that really needs to be done. The Director of Recreation & Parks reported the pool is strictly a maintenance issue and needs to be done. It needs two coats and will cost about $14,000 for one coat.
The Director of Recreation & Parks reported that Public Works finished the project at Buckingham and could not have been a better job if it had been done by an independent contractor. They did an exceptional job.
The Town Manager questioned, in terms of the Sperry Park project; do you want us to take a more detailed look at the traffic circulation issues there? He reported this could lead to an escalation, in the cost of the project - involvement with the State and a number of other different alternatives. But if you want us to look at it more seriously in terms of traffic signals and other things, we can certainly do some of that work ahead of time.
Mr. Shea reported we would rather do it right once, rather then doing it and get a lot of feed back from town residents who are using the property that there are all kinds of traffic issues. The Town Manager reported it is also possible that if it reaches the threshold of the State Traffic Commission that they might get involved with it anyway.
Mr. Zacchio suggested to look at an alternative, which would be to look at and avoiding any left hand turns, creating traffic tie-up into the property and at the light at Fisher Drive. We just do not want to create more of a problem then we already have. He reported we do not want this project to get bigger than it needs to be, but there should be other alternatives to the parking access situation, other then what is there today; and where would those alternatives bring us, so we might have a better view of what it could bring, it could bring a lot more money to the project, or maybe not.
The Town Manager reported the traffic all the way from Avon center up to the Konover Shopping, River Oaks proposal, if it ever goes, or some other proposal, the State Traffic Commission has already said they will come all the way back into Avon Center to look at the traffic patterns going north. He also stated if that occurs in the future, that could be our aspect of that project, and we can get some of those improvements done at a later date, as part of whoever develops that property.
Mrs. Hornaday reported it would be prudent because we are talking about a situation where there are a lot of children; there are people in cars and children are excited because they just won or lost, there are a lot of distractions and we just want to make sure that people can arrive and leave with some assurance of safety.
The Director of Recreation & Parks requested $165,000 for the FY 08/09 for the cost of the Parking Lot at Sperry Park and $26,000 for the Pool Painting-sycamore Hills, for a total of $191,000 in the Capital Budget. The 08/09 FY Requests, along with Capital Improvement Budget Presentation are attached and made part of these minutes.
Pavement Program
Mrs. Robinson reported Mr. Anthony Garro is here to discuss the Pavement Program. Mr. Garro reported we would like to give the Town Council an overview of what we used to develop the plan and the process that we went through. We came to develop a town wide roadway management system. This system includes public roadways, approximately 107 miles of town roads and also town maintained parking lots. We were hired by the Board of Education to look at the school facilities as well. The most important part of the project is to develop a capital plan and present it. On the technical side, we have the GIS data base aspects of the project, which allows you to analyze your roadway network; it allows you to map where all your roads are and the conditions of those roads, what you are planning to do
for those roadways. We are working with engineering to make a connection between the data base and the GIS System. This also includes budget projections, taking this out over three, five, ten year periods. We are also working with engineering to add additional attributes to get information to the database that will allow for some additional analysis, such as crack information and traffic data. He reported that Pavement Management is not an exact science. Basically, you want to identify which roadways are in poor condition, or ones that may be falling into a poor condition. The database allows tracking information, you want to save the town money, you want to extend the life expectancy of the roadways by implementing different types of repair strategies. You have improvements you have been talking about at Sperry Park, the property on Thompson Road, construction of the schools, so it is important that you look at, not only the actual
condition of the roadway, but also the importance of that roadway in the community and how that affects the network. You look at, what we call functional classification of roads; we have collector, arterial, cul-de-sac, so it helps you to prioritize which one should be done first. He reported that roads are rated from 0 to 100, with 100 being the best, and the idea is to catch the roadway before it falls off the curve of 50, which means it is a fair category. The purpose of this plan is to identify these roadways before they get into disrepair, which will cost additional funds to keep them up. He reported we have approximately 160 miles of roads in town, which includes state roads (about 16 miles), private roads (36 miles), and 107 miles of roads that are currently maintained by the town and these are the roadways that we evaluated.
He reported the second step of the process is to actually go out into the roadways and inspect them, looking for different stressors; like cracking, potholes, drainage, and curbing. All of these things contribute to a rating, which is called RSR (road surface rating). Once you determine the rating (0 – 100), it will help you decide what type of repair method is applicable to that segment of road.
He reported the next step in to develop a network backlog, which tally up all the repairs that are required to pull each roadway up to a 100—that perfect mark.
He further reported then you want to prioritize those roadways, not only based on condition, but also the function of the roadway, and also available funding. You do not want to spend too much money on one roadway project, and neglect the other roadways that need maintenance. Verville Road has a rating of 23, which happens to be a low rating and puts it into a reconstruction category. One thing we have been working on with the Director of Public Works is the different repair options that are available to you in developing the pavement management system. The Option and RSR Range is as follows:
Defer Maintenance 90 – 100
Crack Seal 80 – 90
Overlay 70 – 80
Mill & Overlay 50 – 70
Reclamation 30 – 50
Reconstruction 0 – 30
If the roadway has a high rating of 90 – 100, you do not have to plan anything, but in a few years if it falls into the cracking category, some of the things that may need to be done is crack sealing or overlay.
He reported over the past year, we have done 15 miles of crack sealing and there are still more roadways that could be crack sealed in the next season. Anything below a rating of 50 are the more expensive items.
He reported another thing you want to look at as you are developing your plan is drainage and sewer projects. You may want to add that to your database, so you will know not to overlay a road this year, if a sewer project is planned on it in the next few years.
He also reported the overall network (RSR) for the community is 81, which is a good rating. When we started the project, the rating was between 79 and 80, but with the work that we completed this fall, it elevated to 81. About 40% of your roads are in the rating of 90 –100. About 18 percent of the roads are in good condition but need to be crack sealed, 24 percent are in fair condition, and around 10 percent are in poor condition. Overall, the roads are in good condition, but we want to maintain it at that condition. Therefore, we need adequate funds to do that. According to our backlog, in order to bring all the roads up to good condition, we would need about 7.3 million dollars. This is based on costs that are local to the area, based on bids by local contractors. We are looking
to address the backlog, which is about $723,000 per year over a ten year period. He also recommended funding from 10% to 15% range of the backlog to maintain roads at an acceptable level. We are just about there but 15% of the backlog would be better so you can maintain them at the 81 range, which is what we are at now. The Town Manager reported we are currently at $565,000 and were trying to build this up over the past few years, but the price of oil went up and means less savings.
Mr. Shea questioned how many miles of road maintenance will $600,000 cover. Mr. Garro reported it all depends on what you use it on. If an overlay needs to be done or drainage basins need to be installed, the cost will be higher.
The Town Manager reported we had hoped to have this completed prior to the capital budget season and we are not quite finished with it, but we thought it was important to bring it in where we are at this point in time and go through the process. He reported the Town Council may want to maintain a road at 80 to 85 percent, then we can start locking in the projects we want to handle.
Mr. Garro reported another part of the program that was developed was an LSR (Lot Surface Rating),
which is on the same idea as the RSR (Road Surface Rating). But we also look at drainage, striping, ADA Compliance, and other types of things related to a parking facility. We do have a complete report on all the parking lots and come up with a cost to repair of $818,000. But some of the lots, like Sperry Park and Thompson Road should be deferred until you decide what you want to do there. We are also looking at the high school parking, as well, because that should all be added to the database.
Mr. Garro reported we are now finalizing the 2008 roadway improvement program. That will be based upon the money that is available for us, and also in coordination with some other projects that are on hold. The Pavement Management Program is made part of the minutes.
b. 7:30 p.m. Secret Lake Association
A resident from the Secret Lake Association reported over the last few years they have seen an outreach from the town, a new partnership between the town and Secret Lake, where we are no longer separate but can work together. She reported there has been increased traffic on Secret Lake Road because of the new shops. That road is in dire need of repair, first because of the level of the road and secondly because of the drainage. Any improvements the Town Council approves will help the residents in that area, as well as alleviate some of the road problems we deal with daily with Secret Lake. It will also help with improving the property values, once the road is reconstructed.
The Town Engineer reported there are some significant changes in the original Capital Improvement program, as far as priorities and price changes. Last year we were attempting to do what we had done in Lakeview, by installing public water but that did not happen. We have tried to change the priority for the road portion of it by spreading out the cost of $825,000 over a period of four years, with $75,000 proposed for the 08/09 FY to do the legal work, the engineering, right of ways, drainage, right to discharge, etc.
He reported a project change that the Association wants is to raise a portion of Secret Lake Road above the Flood Plain. This involves about a 350 foot section and would be feasible with local permits because it is not in a flood plain; it is covered with backwater. We are proposing raising that section of roadway about three feet. One of the things we would have to do to compensate is to remove that amount of fill from another section of land in the area so the net would be zero. The cost to do this would be around $200,000. It would benefit both the town and the residents if we can use the land that is currently under water.
The third project is to drain and dredge Secret Lake at an approximate cost of $25,000. This is basically to do a study on the possibility of draining the lake and look at the environmental aspects of draining it. We have done a good job with developing the stream, as far as the sediment coming in. Secret Lake itself has a lot of weed in it. We will have to do some borings to check that and bring in fill that will not cause future problems.
The total estimated cost of the three projects is $1,050,000. The estimated expenditures for 08/09 FY are $300,000.
c. 8:00 p.m. Engineering
The Town Engineer reported we are proposing to do the reconstruction of Verville Road, with a cost of $250,000 for FY 08/09 and each fiscal year through FY 12/13. The total cost of the project is estimated at $1,250,000. This project will include widening the travel way, installation of sanitary sewers and installation of formal storm water drainage systems. He reported we have isolated the sewer cost as a separate project and there is a capital improvement program for the sewer. Next year we will have a list of things that need to be done over the next five years that we can use as a guide.
The Town Engineer reported the Infrastructure Management Plan – GIS is very efficient. We have managed to get a lot done and we do have a good data but we want to continue to update periodically to accommodate new projects. We have all our sewers in, all our as-built forms, house connections, property information, the assessment maps. Next in the process is to continue the integration of this information with other factors such as storm drainage, traffic and safety and roadway alignment. This line item will allow us to put that information into the system. Currently, we have to physically go out to the area in question. Once we have it in the system, we will be able make intelligent decisions and to do our calculations and recommendations right from a lap top computer. The
estimated total cost is $45,000 with estimated expenditure for 08/09 FY of $20,000.
He reported we did not put any money in the 08/09 FY for the replacement of Old Farms Bridge over the Farmington River because it is pretty well designed – it just has to be reviewed. Hopefully they will vote for construction in FY 09/10. He reported the State has acquired four acres for the purpose of opening up the travel area and we are into that for 10 percent to allow us enough space to replace that bridge and improve the traffic area. There is some funding for this and we will have to actively apply for it. He further reported the problem is not so much the design, it is the environmentalists that keep changing the rules. He reported if there is a flooding problem on Route 4 or Route 185 and now the problem with Avon Mountain, you really need Old Farms Road as an alternate route. This road is not intended to provide traffic to other communities but for Avon itself it is important.
The Town Manager reported just as a reminder, we have had a petition for the past two to three years, from the businesses in Avon Park South, requesting that connector be built. We had it in last year’s budget but took it out as part of the budget process. Richard Leone, who is the new president of the Chamber of Commerce and is also the CEO of CT Online Computer Company, has called a couple of times wanting to make sure this gets into the Capital Improvement Program for this coming year. The Town Engineer reported the road improvement at Arch Road and Darling Drive is at the request of Planning & Zoning Commission. We review it every year but it is not a priority.
Mrs. Hornaday questioned if Inland Wetlands Commission has looked at this area. The Town Engineer reported the road was actually boxed out when they put in for a fire road. We would not have to do very much to get it approved.
The Town Engineer reported the Chidsey Road Drainage Improvement is one of the most unusual drainage in Avon. It comes down from the mountain near Deercliff Road and Ely Pond, through Reverknolls, at the end of Chidsey Road. It is pretty close to the highway garage. He reported an individual came in to do some work in the wetlands and the engineering department required them to make sure that they could retain the water. That is very significant by the numbers, about 500 GFF comes into that thing in a 500 year storm. That is 500 cubic feet per second of water. That is like Roaring Brook flowing at flood stage. We will try to increase some of the storage. Currently there is a 24 inch pipe. We are proposing over the next two years to correct this problem by installing a three
to four foot diameter pipe and also provide for the road itself to carry some water. Total estimated cost is $330,000 with request for $100,000 in the 08/09 FY.
The Town Engineer reported these are budgeted items that are reimbursements to Simsbury and Farmington. Simsbury was looking at a couple of years payment at about $550,000 but it is going to be about $290,000 per year for the next 18 years. He reported it is all funded from the sewer account and revenues from collections from user charges coming in. We have raised our user fee; and we have raised our connection fee in anticipation of making payments. For Farmington, we have another eight or nine years to pay. They are also in the process of looking at nitrogen removal and another upgrade, down the road.
The Town Manager reported we would be front ending the sewer projects and we want to get them into a process, where we are doing one per year and we will be taking money out of the sewer fund to pay for it and then getting reimbursed with assessments. Those assessments will be charged- we will determine the price and the life of the assessment. There are three ways you can defer – if you are over 65 and lower income with a lien put on your property until it is sold at which time you would pay. The deferral is based upon age, income and the ability to pay. The other is the installment payment option, which is the interest rate on the unpaid balance over a period of time. The third way is lump sum payment
The Town Engineer reported we saved a few dollars on one of our pump stations by putting in a generator. It currently has a diesel engine that starts the pump. He reported a major item coming up is the upgrade of the Route 44-pump station to meet current standards. Currently it requires two people to be present when it needs service because it is 47 feet below the surface. Because this is a major pump station, we will probably upgrade it to a commercial station, where the pumps would be kicked up from the top and all the equipment brought up, similar to what was done on New Road. It is a lot safer and a better design. Depending on how much we can salvage from the existing pump, it is a difficult construction and the cost will range from $500,000 to $700,000. We are requesting $30,000 in
the 08/09 FY Capital Improvement Program.
d. 8:30 p.m. Public Works
The Director of Public Works reported the first project is the Pavement Management System for $723,000, which Mr. Garro had discussed previously. The next two projects are the Roof Replacement Projects on the Public Works building and the Senior Center. We had provided partial funding in this fiscal year. We are here to request the balance for both of those projects. The overhead door replacement for $36,000. Salt Shed for cost of $35,000 (in 09/10 FY), Sidewalk Improvement Plan for a cost of $100,000., Underground Fuel Storage Elimination & Replacement for $50,000. The total estimated cost is $5,807,500, with the request for $1,367,000 in the 08/09 FY.
He reported we have included replacement costs the following:
Fire Department Co. 1 Membrane $ 92,000
Senior Center Shingles $148,000
Countryside Park Shingles $ 28,000
Public Works Facility B.U.R. $352,500
He reported the shingles on the Senior Center have totally dried out because of insufficient ventilation in the rafters, causing the roof to fail prematurely. Part of the project is to take the roof down to the rafters, install new plywood, re-shingle and install proper ridge and soffet vents to allow airflow into the attic space. The flashing around the chimney will also be fixed-that was not installed properly.
Mr. Shea brought up the subject regarding escalation. This work will not be started until July 1, 2008. He questioned if the amount of $271,000 will still be an accurate estimate at that time. We do not want to be short $10,000 to $15,000 and have to go find it from other sources. He recommended that an escalation factor for the next eight months.
The Director of Public Works reported the overhead garage doors are deteriorating from rust and lack of insulation. The Town Manager reported a couple of the doors have been replaced, but the majority of them are original from 1976, when the garage was built. The Director of Public Works reported the gas bill for that building has been astronomical – we spent over $44,000 to heat that building last year. The recommendation is to replace the original doors with insulated doors with 2” of injected polyurethane, giving the doors a R-value of 14.68. He reported the floor and wall coatings in the shop are also original and recommended epoxy coatings on both the walls and floors. These coatings will provide a tough, slip resistant, heavy duty abrasion and impact resistant area that will last
for 25 years.
The Director of Public Works reported the rear wall is collapsing due to age and lack of footings. Also there are broken roof trusses that have to be replaced. He reported the estimated cost to repair this is $35,000 and is under 09/10 FY expenditures.
The Director of Public Works reported the list of priorities on vehicle replacement is as follows:
ITEM COST
Replace 1991 Flat Bed Dump 4 x 4 Truck $50,000
Replace 1995 1/2 Ton Pick Up $50,000
Replace 2002 Heavy Duty Pick Up Truck $47,000
Replace 1992 7.58 C.Y. Dump Truck (w/plow & sander) $180,000
Replace 1995 Pick Up Truck (4W/D, w/plow) $50,000
Replace 1987 Wood Chipper $50,000
Replace 3 Ton Asphalt roller $50,000
TOTAL for Highway = $477,000
TOTAL for Buildings & Grounds = $159,000
Total for both $636,000
Mr. Shea questioned how often is the Wood Chipper used. The Director of Public Works stated it is used on a weekly basis.
The Director of Public Works reported we have three options for handling this request.
Option 1/Cash Highway = $477,000
Buildings & Grounds = $159,000
TOTAL $636,000
Option 2
Municipal Lease/Purchase Program (Government Vehicle Leasing Company)
Principal $636,000
Term 3 years / 3 Annual Payments
Current Interest 4.28%
Annual Payment $226,279
Total Cost $662,279
Interest Payments $26,740
Option 3
Purchase equipment based on current FY 08/09 funding feasibility;
Expansion of equipment replacement fund for future equipment;
Purchase future equipment with funded savings.
The Town Manager reported we can evaluate to pay versus the willingness to pay and maybe we should check with Moodys and SNT and it may be that the level of averages is what everybody is doing out there and how they rated other triple A rated communities. He also reported Option 2 shows up as debt on our financial statement – so that is the issue. How much short term debt do you take on and for what purpose.
The Director of Public Works reported most of our small fleet have rusted fenders and are corroded from rust. The ones we are requesting to purchase in the 08/09 FY are as follows:
Replacement of Athletic Field Mower w/o Trailer 49,000
Replacement of 1994 1 ton pickup w/plow (#81) 55,000
Replacement of 1995 1 ton utility dump w/o plow (#17AV) 55,000
We are requesting that these be replaced because all of these have been giving us a problem. We have issues with the field mower because of the constant use it gets and some areas have to be mowed twice simply because the mower cannot handle it with one cutting. This machine has had very little down time – about 190,000 miles to date. The maintenance costs in FY 06/07 were $6,594 and the costs for FY 07/08 to date are $3,485. The 1994 1 ton pickup currently has 53,482 miles to date. It is used to pull a trailer with a mower for eight months of the year and is used for snow removal in parking lots 3-4 months per year. The 1995 1 ton utility dump with plow has 80,681 miles on it. This vehicle is used to pull heavier equipment during the summer months. It is
also used to plow, sand and is also set up for leaf collection and disposal.
The Director of Public Works reported the average mileage overall of this equipment is 140,000 miles. He reported all the other vehicles purchased by the Town for police or Board of Education, are assessed by miles. Public Works is actually the second highest user. The CIP Budget Presentation is made part of these minutes.
VII. NEW BUSINESS
07/08-31 Review and Discussion: Participation in CRCOG Regional Service Sharing Grant Program
The Town Manager reported the State of Connecticut has come up with a grant program of approximately 8.6 million dollars statewide to fund service sharing arrangements between municipalities that have demonstrated impact on those that are participating, in their taxing mill rate. This is the first time we have had this grant program. There are some substantial issues with the administration of the program. We have a number of projects, both from the police and others that we have indicated that we would like to participate in. We do not know at this time, which projects are going to be selected. We need an authorization from you to have me sign the appropriate paperwork with the understanding that you will have to approve individual resolutions on each project, more than likely at the
December 6th Town Council meeting. We are not sure yet but it will probably be in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 different items that we will basically pass the same resolution for. We are looking for the authorization tonight, from the Town Council, to submit these with the idea that a significant number of them will not get funded.
The Town Manager reported we are mainly interested in the projects with the Farmington Valley Towns, rather then having each town doing different levels of maintenance at different times on the bike trail, this way it would be a coordinated program that we work with the other towns. Basically, we would be given the equipment. Simsbury has agreed to store the equipment and manage the program. They were the ones that originally managed the trail program and they have been generous enough to volunteer to manage the maintenance program. We have been working with CRCOG to put out a combined bid for trail maintenance.
Ms. Robinson reported the grant program will go first to the projects with the largest number of town participating and advised the Town Council to look first at those projects. She also reported the following Resolution of Endorsement needs to be adopted:
The Legislative Body of the Town of Avon met on November 15, 2007, and adopted a resolution by the vote of 5 to 0 which endorsed the Regional Performance Incentive Program proposal referenced in Section 8 of Public Act 07-239 – (An Act Concerning Responsible Growth). Such proposal is attached to and made a part of this record.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Hornaday it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve the Resolution of Endorsement and authorize the Town Manager to sign all documents, on behalf of the Town of Avon, to participate in CRCOG Regional Service Sharing Grant Program.
Mrs. Hornaday and Messrs Carlson, Shea, Woodford and Zacchio voted in favor.
07/08-32 Review and Discussion: Permission to Construct Nature Trail Behind Pine Grove School
The Town Manager reported the Town has been asked to support a Avon Education Foundation Grant to the PTO’s for the construction of a nature/environmental teaching trail between Pine Grove School and Thompson Brook School. The group that has been involved has requested approval from the Town Council on using the money for that purpose. The Town owns both the buildings and the property, but has given the Board of Education operational management and control over the property and the buildings. He reported they are here to basically ask permission to construct a trail on Town property.
Chris Collier reported our original proposal was to establish a trail that was safe as well as educational. Mr. Woodford reported it is a great idea and a good use of that piece of property. With the location of the schools, I think we will get a lot of use from it. I had one question and as I read through the material, there was a notice about no trespassing signs being posted on adjacent properties and questioned if there were concerns from those property owners. Mr. Collier reported we were doing this as a precautionary measure because there is a stretch of wooded area that is close to some property owners and we wanted to make it perfectly clear as to where the boundaries are. Chairman Carlson questioned if the homeowners were satisfied with the remediation process that you went through. Mr. Collier reported they seemed satisfied but we will speak with them again prior to putting up the signs.
On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Shea it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept the proposal to construct a Nature Trail behind Pine Grove School.
Messrs Carlson, Shea, Woodford and Zacchio voted in favor.
VII. TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT/MISCELLANEOUS
The Town Manager reported the copy of the draft that is still being finalized. It is a proposal from Robert Hunt to set up the Police merit awards program, which will be on the December agenda. He is willing to make a substantial contribution to start the program. Make sure to review that before the next meeting, in case there are some problems.
He reported we are still working on the potential demolition of the burned out house at 457 New Road. We may have to go in and demolish it and then put a lien on the property. We are still working with the Town Attorney on this issue.
He further reported you have a list of all the appointments that will need to be made to the various boards and commissions and those are the appointments that need to be looked at. These appointments will be made at our first meeting in January.
Chairman Carlson reported he asked the Town Manager beforehand, knowing that the Arbitration panel would be making their decision within 20 days and questioned if the Town Council will have to have a Special Meeting or will it come before us at the December.
The Town Manager reported it will be transferred to the Town Clerk so it will be a day of two before we get the decision. Then you have 25 days to respond to it. We would anticipate you will have to do an economic presentation of the outcome by the Board of Education. We can schedule that but you will probably have to have a special meeting to do that and decide what you want to do with the arbitration results. In my discussions with Attorney Mooney, during the arbitration process, I was asked to testify on behalf of the Board of Education, I asked how many of these arbitrated settlements have gone to the governing body and in essence, sent back to be re-arbitrated. The attorney said since the law has been in affect that allows for that provision, there have been 15 or 16 that have gone
through that. The Town Manager reported that is a relatively small number base upon all of the contracts that have gone through the State of Connecticut. The Town Council will have to make that decision, which may be the difficult part unless you have an economic presentation. We certainly have not seen a lot of aggressiveness on the part of the Board of Education or the teachers. I think they approached it in an equitable manner, allowing the process to take itself. Some interesting information that did come out was that Avon teachers are the highest paid in the capital region and the fifth highest paid in the State of Connecticut. They are higher paid than a significant number of Fairfield County towns. The teacher’s argument was that the Town of Avon had the ability to pay and all the indices for per capita income, and equalized net grand list, indicate that we have that ability. The Board of Education’s argument was we
do not have the ability to pay and here is the record. We have all these defeated referendums, we have target caps from the Board of Finance and we do not have the ability to pay. Looking at the article in the paper today, the Board of Education and the teachers last best offer, neither one of them seemed to me, with the labor market, are outrageous. Both of them are within the realm of acceptability, however we are not sure what the arbitration panel is going to come out with. We anticipate it will be split, the board may get the first year and the teachers may get the second, the board the third or vice versa.
Mr. Carlson reported it was our sentiment this summer that we get this Economic Impact Statement presentation from the Board of Education, that they would give it to us with the contract. So if the decision comes out on December 5th that it is 3.1 here and 2.2 here, they can not do that over night. There is a fair amount of work that comes into play so I doubt very much, we will be able to get that information, adjust it and make the decision in December. The Town Manager recommended the Town Council request the Superintendent of Schools to begin mapping out the statement and communicate that to Peggy and Dr. Kisiel, on behalf of the Town Council.
Mr. Zacchio questioned, had this not gone to arbitration, and this Council decided to send it back, would it then have gone back to the negotiating table and then gone to arbitration? Now that it has gone to arbitration, if we were to reject it, what is the next avenue? The Town Manager reported it goes back to another panel of three neutral persons and they look at all of the evidence, all of the testimony that was presented and they render a final decision. The Town Manager reported it is your call as to whether you want a presentation. I am hearing that you want a presentation made by the Board of Education. He further reported there is a good outline that the Board of Education sent out a “to the point” newsletter, there is a very good outline as to what the process is.
He reported he does not think the final offers are that far apart in terms of unreasonable. The Town Manager reported that the headlines in the paper state that the Board of Education is running a $200,000 to $300,000 deficit and the Board of Finance is concerned about that and the Board of Education is setting people up for the fact that they may have to reduce programs and the extreme situation would be to reduce the work force. We are watching our budgets very closely, but what has ended up happening is everyone has moved in and micro-managed their budget so there is not as much slack as there was and it is becoming an increased burden to manage everything.
The Town Manager reported he has been asked by the Superintendent of Schools to come up with a critical path chart for the Board of Education meeting next Tuesday for the artificial turf and lights. Apparently there is some interest on the part of some members of the Board of Education to bring this item back up again and he is looking for a definitive answer from the Planning & Zoning Commission perspective as to what has to be done. He reported the Town Council also has a role in this because this is being looked upon as a donation and the Town Council would have to accept the donation. If there is any guidance that you would like to give informally, let me know. Some of the concerns that were raised this past summer, over the issue related to the fact that 1) all of the money was not raised
to do something, 2) how does it fit into the capital improvement plan, should the Board of Education, they basically control those facilities and it would have to be a priority for them in the capital improvement program, if they were going to recommend it, assuming the money got donated. So, you may see this. We have not received the Board of Education Capital Improvement Budget yet. That will be on the December 6th meeting as well. This may be a precursor to whether they decide to put something in their CIP prior to December 6th.
Mr. Shea questioned if we could ask the Superintendent to have the Board of Education draft a response to the top three criticisms by the neighbors, which involve litter, behavior and security. He reported he would be curious as to how to measure our ability to we address those issues. Mr. Woodford reported it went from four or six on the fall season to 40 and that was a pretty big concern from the residents across the street. Mr. Shea reported we need to strive to make improvements for the neighbors having to deal with this. The Town Manager reported that Steve Kushner said if it is just lighting, they do need to have approval from the Planning & Zoning Commission for lights. If it is just artificial turf, unless there is major drainage engineering issues, they do not need to go to
Planning & Zoning. But if there are drainage issues, it will depend upon the drainage that engineering plans for it. They could either concentrate it into a holding area or disperse it, and depending upon the implementation impact of that would indicate whether it needed to go to Planning & Zoning or not. If they are going to combine them and do both, then you at least have the lighting component that has to go with it. The analysis of the drainage issue was if they were not expanding in any way the amount of fields with artificial turf replacing natural turf, then they would probably not have to go to Planning & Zoning for that particular issue, unless the drainage was a major component there. He also reported if this is something they really want, they could tell the Board of Education to go ahead and it can go on their list of priorities. The Town Manager further stated this whole thing was not accepted the first time
because the Town Council did not want to accept half of the money and be under the gun to come up with the balance of the money to complete the project because they were not able to raise all the money.
Mrs. Hornaday reported we need to know if this project is in the proposal that we accept. Why do anything if our reaction, at the end of the line is still going to be, we do not want it. The Town Manager reported the Superintendent of Schools informed him that this project in way down the list of things to do, at some time in the indeterminate future, on their CIP Presentations. But the Board of Education may decide next Tuesday to change this. Mr. Shea reported he also would need more information before he could make a decision on something like this. We need to know how late the lights are on, how many nights per week.
V. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Litigation/Negotiation-None
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 10:05 p.m.
Attest:
Caroline B. LaMonica
Clerk
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