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AVON TOWN COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 3, 2008
I. OATH OF OFFICE: Town Clerk
The Town Clerk gave the oath of office to the members of the Town Council, Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson, Pena, Shea and Zacchio.
II. CALL TO ORDER
The Town Clerk called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
III. NOMINATIONS AND ELECTION OF COUNCIL CHAIR: Town Clerk
The Town Clerk called for nominations and election of Council Chair.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council appoint John F. Carlson, to serve as Council Chairman.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Pena, Shea and Zacchio voted in favor. Mr. Carlson abstained.
Chairman Carlson thanked the Town Council members for their vote of confidence and for the by-partisan support. We have great talent here and one of the reasons that we do is because of exactly that, that we all work together with a common goal, and that is for the betterment of Avon. Thank you.
IV. PUBLIC HEARING:
07/08-41 7:40 P.M. Annual Update: Code of Ordinances, Article II, Sections 2-21 Retirement and Pension Plans
The Clerk read the call of the Public Hearing which reads as follows:
"TOWN OF AVON
LEGAL NOTICE
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Notice is hereby given that the Town Council of the Town of Avon, Connecticut will hold a Public Hearing on Thursday, January 3, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. at the Avon Public Library, 281 Country Club Road, Avon, CT to consider the following:
To consider and permit all interested persons to speak on the plan of the Town Council to revise and restate the Retirement Plan for the Board of Education of the Town of Avon effective January 1, 2006 as defined in the Town of Avon, Connecticut Code of Ordinances.
A copy of the proposed revision is on file in the Avon Town Clerk's Office and open to the public for inspection during normal business hours.
Dated at Avon, Connecticut this 18th day of December, 2007.
Philip K. Schenck, Jr.
Town Manager"
The Human Resources reported on the advice of the Town Attorney's Office we adopted changes to the Pension Plan by Ordinance, and Attorney Liz Gioia is here to highlight those changes. Attorney Gioia reported since the inception of the Board of Education's Plan, it has been the Town that has adopted the Plan, there were some inconsistencies in the plan document, as to who maintains the plan, meaning the Town, and who administers the plan, and the meanings for that, so we have tried to clean those inconsistencies up. We have also brought the plan into conformity with all of the collective bargaining units.
The other main change was to eligibility, no substantial changes with perhaps the exception of the Director of Finance for the Board of Education. There have been some concerns going back to the beginning of his employment, that he was not eligible to participate in this program. He was not permitted to participate in this plan. After our office reviewed the plan, it appeared that he should have been in the plan, based on the plan itself. He has been brought into the plan, and he has purchased some past service.
Mr. Zacchio questioned as you went through that process of review, was the School Director of Finance the only person that was subject to that review, or did you review across the board every member and personnel of the Board of Education. Atty. Gioia reported the Board of Education did. Mr. Zacchio questioned if the Director of Finance position was the only one in question. Atty. Gioia reported she believes there was one other, Director of Maintenance, and she believes he is also part of the plan, but there was no need for remediation.
David Goldsholl, 57 Old Kings Road. - Is there any assessment in terms of the cost to the Town for these investments? Attorney Gioia reported the Board of Education funds this portion of the plan, and she does not know exactly what the cost would be.
The Town Manager reported there are five plans or accounts within one plan, the Town is responsible for administering the Plan, the plan was originally established in 1961, with the various Town employees, the Board of Education non-certified employees such as the nurses, secretaries, cafeteria workers and maintenance personnel and all were part of the plan. The Town closed its four accounts, the Police Union, the Public Works Union, the Dispatchers Union, the Non-Bargaining Unit Employees, that plan was closed in 1997. There has been no new entrance into that plan since January 1st, 1997. There are approximately 42 town employees still remaining, out of the 112 town employees, that are still covered by the Defined Benefit Plan. All Town employees starting in January of 1997 are covered by a Defined Contribution Plan. The
Plan that we are talking about today is strictly the Board of Education's Plan which is one of the five under the umbrella, which is still an active plan and covers a number of bargaining units, which can negotiate provisions of that Defined Benefit Plan with the Board of Education. The two positions that we are talking about today were apparently eligible to be included in the plan. Upon a legal review of that plan by the attorneys through the Board of Education, a settlement was reached with that individual to allow that individual to buy back into the plan and buy back some years of service, with him contributing the appropriate actuarially determined amount. What that amount is, we are not exactly sure, you could go to the Board of Education meeting. The Town Manager reported we cannot speak to the Teachers Retirement Plan, that is a State managed and administered plan, that has significant financial issues. The State two years ago contributed over
250 million just to keep it going, there are currently negotiations on them in the Legislature to provide a COLA to teachers now in the retirement plan. We can anticipate that there will probably be increased costs at least on the State basis for the Teachers Plan. Several years ago an attempt was made by the State to distribute part of that liability to the Towns, and have the Towns start paying into the State. The State Legislature, under a lot of political pressure, backed off on that. But you will see in some of our financial statements, a liability component, actuarially determined, on what portion of the State's Teacher Pension Fund is chargeable to the Town, and you can get through the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, it is in the Audit. Mr. Goldsholl questioned whether that is accrued for out of the annual budgets. The Town Manager reported no, but part of the liability that the State has is reflected as underlying debt that the
Town of Avon has.
The public hearing was closed at 7:55 p.m.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve the annual update of the Code of Ordinances specific to Article II, Section 2-21, Retirement and Pension Plans, as presented.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson, Pena, Shea and Zacchio voted in favor.
V. MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETINGS: December 6, 2007
December 17, 2007
On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept the December 6, 2007 minutes as read.
Messrs Carlson, Shea and Zacchio voted in favor. Mrs. Samul and Mr. Pena abstained (term of office effective 1/1/2008).
On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table the December 17, 2007 minutes to the next meeting.
Messrs Carlson, Shea and Zacchio voted in favor. Mrs. Samul and Mr. Pena abstained (term of office effective 1/1/2008).
VI. COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE: None
VII. COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL
Mr. Zacchio reported he heard from several residents, regarding our snowy year. One resident said that Public Works is doing a fantastic job especially with the way the storms have come this year, the roads have been kept clear, especially in comparison to other towns as they were traveling home. Also, people were inquiring as to how our overtime budget looks, because of the storms, and he did not have the answer. The Town Manager reported we are between 50% and 60% expended.
Mrs. Carney, Rosewood Road, reported she was coming down Avon Mountain yesterday, there were five Avon police cars. The Town Manager reported the procedures that govern contracting, whether it is this project or CL&P or any other project, are partially governed by our union contract, a private contractor who is doing the work on Avon Mountain calls the Police Department and specifies that they need 'x' number of people, that is reviewed by the Police Department to make sure that is correct. The 'jobs' are posted on a board, officers sign up for them and are assigned to those particular jobs. Under the union contract there is a four hour minimum block of time that the contractor is purchasing. The Town of Avon charges approximately a 30% overhead charge on top of what the officer gets, because of the cost of the
vehicles, the cost of benefits and the administrative costs of processing. The Town itself does not pay anything, the contractor pays for it. We are anticipating this is going to continue. Beginning in April, the State Project 04-123 which is the large 7.5 to 8 million dollar project which starts at the top of Avon Mountain goes through November of 2010, so that road will be under construction from April of 2008 to November 2010. There is going to be a considerable presence of probably not only Avon, when we have officers that do not want to fill those positions, they are made available to our surrounding communities, so you may see a Bloomfield, Canton, Simsbury and Farmington police officers. This is going to cause a significant increase in the budget because we run this money through the Town, it is going to show a tremendous increase in what we call our Special Services Account, if they go ahead and use that many people for that long a period of
time. There is no cost to taxpayers, we pretty much allocated that overhead at the appropriate amounts, so that we are recovering the Town's costs, both the payroll costs and the administration of officers.
VIII. OLD BUSINESS
07/08-15 Appointment: Town Representative: Plainville Area Cable Television Advisory Council
On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table this item to the next meeting.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson, Pena, Shea and Zacchio voted in favor.
07/08-12 FY 08/09 Budget: Town Council Budget Workshop
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council schedule the Budget Workshop for Saturday, February 9, 2008 at the Board of Education Conference Room, as follows:
8:00 a.m. Budget Overview
8:30 a.m. Library
9:00 a.m. Fire Department
9:30 a.m. Break
9:45 a.m. Police Department
10:15 a.m. Public Works & Parks
10:45 a.m. General Government
11:15 a.m. Public Safety (except Fire and Police)
11:45 a.m. Health/Social Services
12:00 p.m. Lunch
12:30 p.m. Recreation
1:00 p.m. Conservation & Development
1:30 p.m. Engineering/Sewers
2:00 p.m. Break
2:30 p.m. Special Revenue Funds/Capital Improvement Program
3:00 p.m. Adjustment, Wrap-up - Adjourn
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson, Pena, Shea and Zacchio voted in favor.
07/08-37 Appointments: Fire Inspector: Scott Hatinen
Fire Investigator: Joseph Speich
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council appoint Scott Hatinen to serve as Fire Inspector, and Joseph Speich to serve as Fire Investigator.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson, Pena, Shea and Zacchio voted in favor.
IX. NEW BUSINESS
07/07-42 Resignation: Planning & Zoning Commission
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept with regret the resignation of Pamela Samul from the Planning & Zoning Commission.
Messrs Carlson, Pena, Shea and Zacchio voted in favor. Mrs. Samul abstained.
On a motion made by Mrs. Samul, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept with regret the resignation of David Pena from the Planning & Zoning Commission.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson Shea and Zacchio voted in favor. Mr. Pena abstained.
07/08-43 Resignation: Inland/Wetlands Commission
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept with regret the resignation of Brett Eisenlohr from the Inland/Wetlands Commission.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson, Pena, Shea and Zacchio voted in favor.
07/08-44 Appointments
Depository of Town Funds - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint the following to a two year term;
Bank of America
Reich & Tang L.P.
Municipal Investors Service Corporation (MBIA-Class for Connecticut)
Connecticut State Treasury's Short-Term Investment Fund (STIF)
Simsbury Bank & Trust Company
People's United Bank
Webster Bank
Citizens Bank
Farmington Savings Bank
Sovereign Bank
TD Banknorth, NA
Planning & Zoning Commission - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted unanimously to table the vacancy (Pena) to the February meeting.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Carol Griffin to a four year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Linda H. Keith to a four year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Douglas Thompson to a four year term.
Planning & Zoning Commission - - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted
Panel of Alternates unanimously to appoint Elaine Primeau to a two year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint David B. Freese to a two year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to table the appointment to fill vacancy(Keith) to the next meeting.
Inland Wetlands Commission - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint John Logan to fill vacancy, term to 2009.
- On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Dean S. Applefield to fill vacancy, term to 2009.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was unanimously voted to appoint Michael R. Beauchamp for a term to 2011.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Diane Carney for a term to 2011.
- Vacancy
Natural Resources Commission - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Daniel Schwartz, to fill vacancy, term to 2009.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Robert Breckinridge, for a term to 2011.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Mary C. Harrop, for a term to 2011.
- Vacancy
Recreation & Park Committee - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it as voted unanimously to appoint David A. Jadovich to a two year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Peter J. Ponziani, to a two year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Donald R. Droppo, Jr., to a two year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Michael Trick, to a two year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Peggy J. Roell to a two year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Kathy L Thompson to a two year term.
- Vacancy
Committee On Aging - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was
voted unanimously to appoint Gloria L. Farrell to a two year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Alice W. Herrmann to a two year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Cynthia Hopper to a two year term.
Water Pollution Control Authority- On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted unanimously to appoint John M. Ernst to a four year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted unanimously to appoint Louis N. Usich, Jr. to a four year term.
Zoning Board of Appeals Alternates
- On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted unanimously to appoint Samuel D. Chester to a four year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Marianne A. Clark to a four year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Robert M. Paine to a four year term.
Building Code Board of Appeals - On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted unanimously to appoint William L. Brown to a four year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint James Eacott, III to a four year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Dana Hinman to a four year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint William A. Ferrigno to a four year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Louis N. Usich, Jr. to a four year term.
Town Attorney - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Dwight A. Johnson to a two year term.
Asst. Town Attorney - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Murtha, Cullina, Richter & Pinney to a two year term.
Town Treasurer - On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted unanimously to appoint James R. McCarthy to a two year term.
Insurance Agent of Record - On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Wolff-Zackin -Webster Insurance to a two year term.
North Central EMS - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Mark Rinaldo, Chief of Police to a two year term.
CRCOG COMMITTEE REP
Transportation - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Lawrence Baril to a two year term.
Housing Commission - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Alan Rosenberg to a two year term.
Municipal Service - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Philip K. Schenck, Jr. to a two year term.
Community Development - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Richard W. Hines to a two year term.
CRCOG Regional Planning Commission
Council Rep. -On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Linda H. Keith to a two year term.
Alternate -On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted to table the appointment to the February meeting.
CRCOG Policy Board
Member -On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint John F. Carlson to a two year term.
Alternate -On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Diane S. Hornaday to a two year term.
Alternate -On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Richard W. Hines to a two year term.
Alternate -On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted unanimously to appoint Philip K. Schenck, Jr. to a two year term.
CRCOG Public Safety Council
Council Rep - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Mark Rinaldo, Chief of Police to a two year term.
Plainville Area Cable TV, Advisory Council
- On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Elaine Primeau to a two year term.
Central Region Tourism District - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Nancy Weiner-Anstey to a two year term.
Conn. Conference of Municipalities
Member - On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint John F. Carlson to a two year term.
Alternate - On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Philip K. Schenck, Jr. to a two year term.
Mental Health Board - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Maura L. Shea to a two year term.
Farmington Valley Visitors Bureau- On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Nancy Weiner-Anstey to a two year term.
Constable - On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Monte J. Hopper to a two year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted unanimously to appoint Robert M. Propiescus, Jr. to a two year term.
Town Council Representatives
Lakeview - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Ebbe C. Blomstrand to a two year term.
VNA - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Mary C. Harrop to a two year term.
Senior Citizens - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Anona A. Broadman to a two year term.
Volunteer Fire Dept. - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to appoint Russell C. Peckham to a two year term.
Secret Lake - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted unanimously to table the appointment.
Director of Health/Sanitarian
Avon Health Department - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted unanimously to appoint Farmington Valley Health District to a two year term.
Director of Health/Sanitarian - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted unanimously to appoint Richard H. Matheny, Jr. to a two year term.
Town Council Rep. - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted unanimously to appoint Alice W. Herrmann to a two year term.
Town Council Rep. - On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted unanimously to appoint Philip K. Schenck, Jr. to a two year term.
Wild & Scenic River Study Committee
- On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted unanimously to appoint Diane E. Field to a two year term.
- On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted unanimously to appoint Henry E. Spring to a two year term.
07/08-45 Supplemental Appropriation: $62,370.94 Insurance Reimbursement,
Computer Equipment
William Vernile, Human Resources Director, reported the $60,000 plus claim was the result of a lightning strike that struck near our equipment in the Police Department and destroyed a lot of our equipment. The UPS system went down and collateral equipment was destroyed. Based on the fact that it was a lightning strike, we made a claim with our Carrier, it was reviewed by an adjuster, and based on information that we provided as to replaced equipment and various costs associated with that, they approved the $62,370.94 so that we could purchase replacement equipment, which covered the loss minus the deductible of $2,500. Since that time we have replaced monitors that were destroyed, so we will supplement our claim, by an additional couple thousand dollars.
Mr. Shea questioned whether they made any recommendations to minimize the impact of this, if and when it happens again. Mr. Vernile reported the new equipment that was purchased is so much superior to what we had in place that we believe it would provide adequate protection if something similar happened. Mr. Shea questioned whether they made any recommendations for any other areas, while the adjuster was here - anything more we can do for other areas in the Town to prevent this from happening. Mr. Vernile reported most of our equipment is tied in through this system, so it would provide that overall type of protection.
Mr. Zacchio questioned the equipment that was actually destroyed, what happens to that equipment, and if it goes out to some kind of reclamation process was there any data, hardware, hard drives that might have personnel information, town's people information, tax information, or was that wiped clean. Mr. Vernile reported any data that was involved or any disposition of that material was handled by people within the IT area, actually a former Police Officer, Tim Whitten, was involved with that to ensure that data was protected. Mr. Pena questioned if the purchase of the equipment was made, and was it upgraded. Mr. Vernile reported yes it was and there was an upgrade. We have state of the art equipment and all the purchases were reviewed by the Adjuster and approved. They said the equipment now in place really provides
state of the art protection for that type of situation.
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council hereby recommends that the Board of Finance amend the FY07/08 Budget by increasing:
REVENUES
General fund, other Local Revenues, Refunds & Reimbursements, Account #01-0360-43612 in the amount of $62,370.94
And increasing
APPROPRIATIONS
General Fund, Information Technology, Service & Consultant, Account #01-1920-52184 in the amount of $23,239.90, General Fund, Admin Services, Computer Operation, Account # 01-2101-52206 in the amount of $39,131.04, for a total of $62,370.94 for the purpose of recording the insurance reimbursement for loss and damage to equipment and associated labor costs as a result of the lightning strikes on September 9, 2007 in the vicinity of the Police Department.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson, Pena, Shea and Zacchio voted in favor.
07/08-46 Supplemental Appropriation: $10,000.00 Insurance Reimbursement,
Legal Fees
William Vernile, Human Resources Director, reported this is an unusual type of claim. This is an endorsement on our policy for non-monetary claims, and this is the result of some citizens making a claim against a decision that was made by the Planning & Zoning Commission. As a result of that, it went through the lower courts where the Town did not prevail, we appealed the decision, and it went to the Appellate Court, and as a result of all the legal processes, we incurred $18,000 in legal fees to Murtha Cullina. Although we did not have coverage from CIRMA for the legal representation, we did have this endorsement for nonmonetary claims subject to a $5,000 deductible, and a maximum $10,000 coverage. Since we were at $18,000, we absorbed the $5,000 deductible, and did seek and receive the reimbursement for $10,000.
Now we are looking at some various other non monetary claims that might be pending, where there may also be some subsequent claims that we can make with CIRMA for some reimbursement.
Mr. Shea questioned when does our contract with the carrier expire. Mr. Vernile reported it covers through next fiscal year, 08/09. Mr. Shea reported on July 1, 2008 we should be looking to go out to bid. Mr. Vernile reported yes we could at that point, remarket again and see what is out there. Mr. Shea reported he would suggest to the Town Council that we recommend, a year in advance, that Mr. Vernile go out to bid with a year's notice, it gives him time to work on it, plus get other bids from other agents, it is a limited pool but it is a soft market.
On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
That the Town Council hereby recommends that the Board of Finance amend the FY 07/08 Budget by increasing:
REVENUES
General Fund, Other Local Revenues, Refunds and Reimbursements, Account #01-0360-43612 in the amount of $10,000.
And increasing
APPROPRIATIONS
General Fund, Legal Services, Legal Fees and Expenses, Account #01-1501-52183 in the amount of $10,000 for the purpose of recording the reimbursement of legal defense for the Newman claim.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson, Pena, Shea and Zacchio voted in favor.
07/08-47 Review and Discussion: Proposed recommendation for proposed FY 08/09 Board of Education Budget, Bud Usich
Chairman Carlson reported this recommendation is presented to us by Mr. Louis N. Usich, Jr. The issue for those in the audience who do not have the information, is the enrollment/overcrowding problems at Roaring Brook Elementary School described by Mr. Usich. Mr. Usich appears before the council tonight as a citizen not representing any particular board.
Mr. Usich reported this is a personal interest in Roaring Brook as a grandfather and my wife Nancy who has been a secondary teacher at Roaring Brook for the past twenty five years. The Town Charter makes a provision that the Town Council can make recommendations on budgetary issues to the Board of Education concerning the budget.
The Town Manager reported there is a potential conflict. Mr. Zacchio reported "I can appreciate that, I will recuse myself". Mr. Usich reported he spoke with the Town Attorney today, he feels that for these significant issues, Mr. Zacchio should leave the room. Mr. Zacchio left the room.
Mr. Usich reported on the problems of Roaring Brook. He reported the Board of Education has not addressed the issues. He will make recommendations through the Council to the Board of Education for budget inclusions. He referred to the revised ed specs for the Roaring Brook School. You will see capacity data for Roaring Brook School, enrollment data, this relates to the ed specs developed for the renovation in 1994, to expand the school to its present form. Developing the educational spec, it met the criteria then of the State space criteria per student and that criteria carries through to the next facilities plan concerning the high school. The capacity of Roaring Brook School was 609 students, that is in the ed spec. The existing enrollment at Roaring Brook School is 775 students. The Pine Grove ed specs,
the pupil capacity there, that was built prior to the expansion of Roaring Brook School, built in 1991 stands at 648 students. The enrollment presently at Pine Grove School is 614 students, obviously Roaring Brook School is over considerably, Pine Grove has certainly growth latitude left. A High School Facilities Needs Study done in 2003 to define and promote and defend the second expansion of the high school. There are mistakes in there, relating to Roaring Brook School that obscure the true situation at Roaring Brook School. That was a serious problem because it negated any fair look at what the actual situation was and obviously has either discouraged or obliterated that fact. You will see where that criteria used to defend the high school expansion is their design to pass it. The high school was coming up to its design criteria limit at 180.5 ft per student, to cure that problem with the future needs of the school, and keep the class sizes within specs,
you have a $25 million project addressing that. He has no problem with that and he does not think the numbers for Roaring Brook would have had any impact on the success of the high school.
Chairman Carlson reported one thing - - - we need to be careful, and he does not know this as he is not on the Board of Education and not an expert in this area, but comparing different types of schools, i.e. a high school to an elementary school, in terms of space requirement per student, may be or may not be a valid comparison. We do not know if it is 'x' feet in one elementary school, is it also 'x' feet in a high school or is it 'y' feet in a high school. Mr. Usich stated what has gone on at the high school and the expansion therein, it serves the educational needs of the Town, and the apparent overburden that was approaching the high school. The problem is a similar situation has existed at Roaring Brook for the past five years and has gone without any initiative. The elementary schools exist to grade 5 at 120 sq ft per student. You will see the square footage at Roaring Brook School is 75,400, the design student enrollment capacity is 609. The recommended square feet was
appropriate at 120, the enrollment in 2003 was not 665, it was 685, if you transpose those numbers you would find that the current square footage was about 110 feet at that time, that is 10 feet under, given the existing enrollment, the space criteria per student stands at 97 feet per student. When the study was adopted, the school was already some 60 students over, and now it is 125 to 200 students over capacity.
Mr. Usich reported the student/teacher ratio now is at historic high, there are all above the defined contractual limit. The problem with that is that the growth of the teacher/pupil degrades the educational effort, all of the schools in Town are below their design criteria, all of the schools in Town satisfy the teacher/pupil ratios established by contract. With the overage at Roaring Brook, it will continue to grow, the educational effort is being diminished. My wife has clear concerns about her ability in a classroom of 25 students, versus the 18 or 19 she had ten years ago. "I commented to my wife the slow kids are really having a hard time, she was very informative and very forcefully stated the upper achieving children in elementary class are not entirely self taught that they can kind of handle themselves
and get through the material as it is presented. The lower eschalon student gets special attention, the wheels slow down to accommodate the bottom tier, who is lost in all this are all the students in the middle." The teachers have finite time per day in the classroom, as the numbers grow the effort they have to address, the medium needs are lost. It is degrading the educational effort, and it has to be corrected. For the past five years Roaring Brook has essentially languished without attention is a serious oversight. It finally has become apparent through the Roaring Brook community, the parents and grand parents, those that have a vested interest in the kids that attend there, and have started to attend the Board of Education meetings. We were at the meeting in October, and specific remedies were offered up to the Board of Education. We asked if a redistricting was eminent, and we were told no. There was concern expressed
about class sizes, we were told in all likelihood will grow larger because of the continuing enrollment growth in the west end of town. That is very disturbing, in making a request of the Town Council to make recommendations to the Board of Education to address the problem, will catch their attention and hopefully encourage them to do something about it in an expedient fashion.
He further reported they are completing a new facilities plan now, they have formed a sub committee on the Board of Education, to develop a new plan, to review the k-6 situation in Town. All the numbers involving Roaring Brook School and class sizes were in front of them. Forming this new facilities plan sub committee, and within three or four months they will get back with some recommendation regarding the k-6 situation. The Board of Education did not take a hard specific look at development potential in the west end of town, and that is what has created all the problems over the past five years. The growth at the Pine Grove School has been great, there is a 91 student growth in that time in Roaring Brook School, that could make up five classrooms, that is impacting everything and it is going to continue. We look
forward to their findings in that report, and it is going to have significant impact on educational efforts at Roaring Brook School.
Mr. Usich suggested to the Town Council, to make the following recommendations to the Board of Education. (1) a redistricting effort made to reduce the population of Roaring Brook. (2) to recommend to the Board of Education centralizing all the pre-k nursery students to a facility other than Roaring Brook School, that would gain classrooms at Roaring Brook. Take the pre-k students who are at Roaring Brook and centralize them at Pine Grove School. Mr. Shea questioned are you suggesting that there be a separate pre-k just at Pine Grove. Mr. Usich reported there is one there already, he is saying merge them into one core unit. Maybe Thompson Brook might be the right one. There are two other items that Mr. Usich recommended (1) the capital budget submitted by the Board of Education included dollars for four
modular classrooms, which were earmarked for the 09/10 budget. He asked that the Town Council recommend to the Board of Education they move that to the 08/09 budget. (2) one further condition to that, at a school other than Roaring Brook School, such as Pine Grove School.
He further reported the ed specs for the school, Roaring Brook School was never intended to be expanded further, it is an older school, 600 to 700 feet long, if you add additional school rooms off of that, you have to walk a mile. The school is beyond its core capacity, it is not the place for portables. He recommended the Board of Education initiate some study for a new elementary facility in the west end of town.
Mr. Pena questioned what is the number of pre-k students. Mr. Usich reported he is not sure, what he is asking is they shift the 27 students to Pine Grove. At Roaring Brook we have those pupils in one classroom. Mr. Pena followed up on that question - of those pre-k that would come in from Roaring Brook School, are they bused? Mr. Usich reported our pre-k, parents drop them off. Mr. Pena questioned - - - you mentioned about the teachers concern, saying they pay more attention to the slow learners or they are getting more attention than others. Is that just done through your independent polling, or what you hear from the teachers, or what your wife has said or what, what did you base that on? Mr. Usich reported in my wife's case, the more needy end of the educational spectrum gets attention, but the middle will
never get attention that they need, it is a matter of numbers versus time. Mr. Pena reported he understands that part, but again is it something that you just had a gut feeling or teachers have told you. Mr. Usich reported yes.
Mr. Shea stated the obvious problem is we have a growth issue in the west end of town. We did not learn that here tonight, we knew that long before this evening, the numbers speak for themselves. He agrees with Mr. Usich but he does have confidence in the Board of Education, especially now that they have formed this committee. We need to address the facility issue at the west end of town, how we go about configuring all this is going to take some time. His one concern would be he would hate to see us get to a spot where we have children traveling from the west end of town to the south end of town, creating all sort of traffic problems. The real issue here, we are looking at spending some money in the west end of town, call it another facility, call it portables, call it whatever this may be. He has great
confidence that the Town will work towards solving this problem, as the Board of Education will do due diligence. It is good that the three boards are going to have to work together, because the Board of Finance now has to understand we may need some money spent on a facility in the west end of town, and how do we plan that, so that our debt service does not choke and overtake the budget. No one Board is going to solve the problem, but there are specific responsibilities dedicated to the Board of Education that we have to acknowledge and understand. The Town Council cannot decide on redistricting. He would suggest to the Board of Education that they work with the Planning & Zoning Department as there are projects right now in the pipeline for development there, which is going to dramatically affect that. He stated this involves four boards, Planning & Zoning Commission, Board of Education, Town Council and Board of Finance.
Chairman Carlson reported he has some comments and observations. One, he appreciates the work and the comments made by Mr. Usich. Two, for our Board of Education members who are here tonight, redistricting is never popular or easy, having sat on the last Board of Education Redistricting Committee. Also, he would remind the Board of Education and members that one of the reasons that we built the 5/6 school, rather than other options was because that gave us a certain degree of flexibility should we ever get to this crunch. He would like to make a recommendation, if the Town Council concurs, that we direct the Town Manager to write a letter to the Board of Education, through Dr. Kisiel, asking for their response and their thoughts regarding this issue at Roaring Brook School. The members of the Town Council instructed the
Town Manager to develop a letter to the Superintendent of Schools recommending the following options, (1) The Board redistrict students for Roaring Brook to Pine Grove School to alleviate the overcrowding at Roaring Brook School. (2) Remove the pre-k at Pine Grove School and centralize all pre-k at Pine Grove School, Thompson Brook School or Avon High School. (3) Amend the Board of Education Capital Improvement Budget to include modular classrooms in FY 08/09 rather than FY09/10 and they be installed at a school other than Roaring Brook School. Also express the Council's concern regarding the growth in the west end of Avon and how should that be addressed. We should say it has been brought to our attention by Mr. Usich, as a citizen, and that we would like to see them respond. Mr. Shea reported he believes that our message through the Town Manager to Dr. Kisiel should be one of, this is a four board process everyone working together, all communicating as best as
possible, that is the Planning & Zoning Commission, Board of Finance, Town Council and Board of Education.
Mr. Pena questioned Mr. Usich regarding the fact that you feel that parents at Roaring Brook were upset because of the overcrowding. Is that something said- are they upset because nothing is being done - the process itself, the fact that they go before the Town Council, or the Board of Education or the Board of Finance, going around in circles - or what exactly. Mr. Usich reported yes, at the October meeting we were told there would be no consideration of any of the recommendations, we should go to the Board of Finance. He further reported we did go to the Board of Finance, because the Board of Education was essentially using budgetary constraints as a reason for any action, and we should take our concerns to the Board of Finance. The Board of Finance said they cannot do anything for you, you have to go back to the
Board of Education. Yes, we are going in circles.
Mr. Usich reported we are presently the highest populated k-4 facility in the State. He appreciates the Town Council's reception, and your remarks and your initiative to pass something on to the Board of Education, it is very important. He hopes there is an appropriate response, and it gives us the answer.
Barbara Zuras, 428 Deercliff Rd, reported she feels it is necessary to represent a different perspective of what transpired at that meeting of the Board of Education, which was parents understandably upset, coming to the Board of Education, and saying do something now. What Dr. Kisiel is facing and trying to deal with is a deficit, and they explained to the parents that financially there was not anything that could be done in this school year. The directive to the Board of Education, as we all learned last month by the Board of Finance - - they gave us guidelines, which sort of sets the parameters for what we can ask the community for, so it is a question of money. It is not a question of indifference, lack of concern, you cannot be involved in the process in going to meeting after meeting and hearing the Board of
Education having to say no to a whole range of things that need to be taken care of. She stated the parents were asking for something that night that the Board of Education felt incapable of doing, because they are running out of funds, even with a spending freeze that was imposed the first of the school year, that is what she heard. She feels a number of parents misunderstood the issue of how the Board of Finance operates in this process, as a directive to go to them and demand the money for this year, which was not what she understood. It is not by a lack of concern, it is a lack of money.
A resident - Northgate - thanked Mr. Usich for all of his work, and the Town Council for addressing these issues. But in response to the question made before, he has a second and third grader at Roaring Brook School, and he can address first hand what has happened in a second grade class and his children had the same teacher, and class size went from 19 to 23, and saw the teacher struggle with, instead of four reading groups, having five reading groups. The teacher had less time to address all of the educational needs the children. He just got involved more and attended meetings, was at the Board of Education meeting, and he thinks they were not prepared to give a response, or suggestions on how to answer the issue. All the parents were asking is have some committee, which sounds like they have now taken those
steps, and the money is the issue. But to just pawn off the problem to the Board of Finance, which did not solve any problems. It is not like we are asking for immediate solution, it is a process that has been going on for a couple of years, and has not been addressed. He knows last year the principal at Roaring Brook School asked for one additional teacher, somehow that did not happen because of monetary concerns. This year, although she needs two, she only asked for one, because she thought if she asked for two there was no way she was going to get them both. Another issue he knows was brought up in the past was moving the pre-k as Mr. Usich explained. He suggested moving it to Pine Grove, another option which was brought up years ago was moving to the high school, which they do in other towns, then some of the high school students who are interested in child development actually help out and there is less taxing on the teachers. But once
again he is here and hope to get something moving and greatly appreciate your efforts and hearing us tonight.
Ken Notestine, 31 Indian Pipe Trail - He reported he is a member of the Board of Education, he did not come prepared to make any remarks, and certainly does not speak on behalf of the entire Board of Education. He would just like to say two things. One, as Mr. Usich indicated, we have designated a sub committee to handle facility usage. He reported the Board of Education has many members that are concerned about the issue, and that we are not afraid to deal with it. Two, we would welcome the letter, and sure that the facilities usage sub committee will be only too happy to report back with its findings.
Mr. Shea reported this is a great chance for everybody to move forward. He believes that it will be well spent if we spend less time on the past and the problems of the past, and more time on the solutions. It is more about the future meetings and everybody working together, you can pass that on to every parent.
Diane Carney - 36 Rosewood Road - She reported she listened to the presentation by Mr. Usich, and remembered hearing something, and questioned what the average class size was at Roaring Brook now, and whether it was over the mandate. Chairman Carlson reported the data for the answer to that question needs to come from the Board of Education, they have that. We need to make sure that we are dealing in exact numbers.
Mrs. Samul reported the letter should be used as a positive vehicle by everybody involved, the parents, the general population in the Town of Avon, the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Schools, etc. This is a win/win for everybody in her mind.
07/08-48 Review and Discussion: Save or demolish Guard House, Avon Town Hall
Ms. Robinson, Assistant to the Town Manager, reported now it is time to make a decision about the guard house. If anyone has been by the building 5/6 connector, and sees the adjacent building to it, you would notice it is quite close, about 5 feet from where the doors open outward from the connector straight to the guard house in front of you. To leave the building you will have to get around those doors to go over the bridge, and vice-versa coming back. She further reported the deck will be in between the two buildings and will end at the far end of the guard house, across from the new structure. You will not be able to go out of building 5/6 and turn right it would not be possible. You will only be able to go left, and if the door is open out into that space someone leaving the building or going in would be fine,
but someone trying to come in and exit at the same time might present a challenge. If we had the need for a significant number of people who need to leave this building at one time, while it meets code, it is going to create a bottle neck.. The guard house has not really had a use in a number of years, beyond storage of some minor tools, salt, snow blower on occasion, and it does not have a future use that we have been able to identify. $9,500 will only fix the outside, we will do nothing for the inside, the basement is completely gone, and would have to be completely rebuilt and the second floor would need some work.
Chairman Carlson reported the cost to demolish it is actually higher than the cost to refurbish. Ms. Robinson reported it is slightly higher, the figure just to take it down is $10,500, but to that we need to add some money for at least lead abatement, and perhaps some asbestos if we are going to handle it appropriately. We would want to extend the sides of the deck that abuts the new entry. Mrs. Samul reported it is not just the demolition it is the demolition plus a revised deck. Ms. Robinson reported yes, plus the abatement, then a slight overhead the Construction Manager would be entitled to under the contract. Mr. Shea questioned contractually we have to use a Construction Manager, not go out to bid? Ms. Robinson reported for 3% it is worth it and we also have a timing issue. They wanted
to put the deck up last week, she informed them they had to hold off until we can make these decisions. We are not going out to bid, it would take six weeks to do that, it would compromise the construction schedule. It is not part of the Building 5/6 budget, but we can afford either option under the project, whichever you prefer. Chairman Carlson reported that is without digging into the town's Contingency. Ms. Robinson reported we will not need contingency, but believes we will be bringing the project in under budget, that would reduce that savings.
Mr. Pena questioned the $9,500 is strictly for repairing the outside of the building, nothing to do with inside. Ms. Robinson reported that is correct. Mr. Pena reported then we would still end up with nothing to be done inside. You stored small amounts of supplies but you said it was a snow blower and maybe miscellaneous. Ms. Robinson reported we cannot store anything on the bottom level, the floor is gone. Mr. Pena questioned how many employees are located in those two buildings. Ms. Robinson reported 15 in building 5 and probably 8 or 9 in building 6, as well as other people who might be in the building visiting offices, but they could choose to go the another direction to evacuate. There are so few people in the buildings we are not required to have smoke detectors and fire alarms. Mr.
Zacchio stated it is so limited as to what we could use it for. Mr. Pena questioned whether people who have worked here for a long time, have expressed whether they really like the building. Ms. Robinson reported yes, there is a save the guard shack movement. Mr. Shea reported the long term benefit to the Town is that it is going to look better without it.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve the demolition, with regret, of the Guard House located in front of Town Hall buildings 5/6, in an amount not to exceed $17,000.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson, Pena, Shea and Zacchio voted in favor.
X. TOWN MANAGER'S REPORT
The Town Manager reported we have several items, first he will turn it over to Ms. Robinson to give an update on our capital projects.
Ms. Robinson reported her report contains what has been happening over the past few months. Buildings 5 and 6, even with the guard house is under budget right now, and on schedule. We will finish a few days before the end of March. The big items happening is the elevator going in this week, and continuing with the finishes on the inside of the buildings, with the cold we are not doing much on the outside.
The Avon High School is also on schedule and under budget, currently under the contracted amount by just over $741,000, and the Town and Contractor Contingency is just less than $720,000. The Building Committee decided at the last meeting to increase the FF&E budget, furniture fittings & equipment, the furniture and technology items, the school wishes to buy and the quality they wish to buy, are about $50,000 more than the $600,000 they had planned. There is the Kabota tractor that was in the CIP as a request and the Board of Education Chairman, Mrs. Roell, asked the Committee to consider buying that out of the project, and they did.
Mr. Shea reported could you go over a couple of things, one the request and how that was approved, and they are buying different types of equipment or they are buying more equipment. Ms. Robinson reported they are buying the same equipment, they looked at the quality of the desks and chairs that were planned for the school, and wished to purchase a higher quality, more durable long lasting items. Mr. Shea questioned if this is with the coordination of the Architect's specialist on FF&E. Ms. Robinson reported yes and the High School Principal and so there was an increase of those items that they wished to buy, that is one aspect of the increase. Chairman Carlson reported he thought that as we started to get into this when we recognized that we could have potential large positive variance here, that there was
a concern voiced by the Council that we not see a lot of change orders, and that change orders over a certain level or large magnitude, come back before the Town Council. It may be the best decision to increase the quality, but he just thinks if we are increasing our costs by $100,000, that is one that should have our purview.
Ms. Robinson reported another aspect of it, the furniture item might be that when the budget was developed several years ago, costs may have been 'x' or 'y' amount, and she does not know what percentage you can relate to that. All of those items will go before the State and they will approve them prior to us being able to budget them to make sure that we get the maximum grant funds back. The tractor, was after the presentation and discussion, it was considered to be paid out of the project. The Board of Education had that sense, and asked the Committee to reconsider it, which they did. Now that is not an eligible item to be reimbursed.
Mr. Shea reported in the past what we have done is for an item like the tractor we had a discussion about it, there was not formal motion We thought we were going to revisit it, and he was in favor of it. Chairman Carlson reported the minutes would reflect this, that at that budget presentation "I was the one who said - - if the useful life of the asset exceeded the bonding life, which we were told it did, in this case, that to me made sense. My concern would be that we not bond computers or something of that nature." Ms. Robinson reported the Committee voted to go ahead and part of the increase in the FF&E was to buy the tractor. It has not actually been purchased.
Chairman Carlson questioned whether the tractor would have been necessary had we not done the building expansion? Ms. Robinson replied we certainly would not have the extra sidewalk and area to maintain that they had before, it certainly is an expanded site, more parking, walkways, fields, that did not exist. Mr. Pena questioned the cost of the tractor, and does that include all of the extra equipment that they mentioned at one time. Ms. Robinson reported yes, at $21,000, off of the State's contract.
The Town Manager suggested it be an agenda item at the February meeting. The Town Council felt it should be an agenda item. Mr. Zacchio stated he was less concerned about the tractor per se, and was in favor of purchasing the tractor, it looks like it was a needed item. More concerned about the methodology that we have gotten to this point and if there is going to be increases in spending, because we had said this up front, when we had talked about this project, if there is going to be change requests going forward we would like to be included, and be part of the consideration, because the contingency is there to cover unexpected expenditures, not increases to what you want to purchase. We went before the public and we asked them for money to purchase an addition to the high school, it did not include new trucks, it did not
include new tractors, it did not include a new irrigation system - but if we are going to be considering using contingencies going forward with any large amount, which am not sure if we ever defined what it was, and maybe we should. It is something that we should be counseled on.
Chairman Carlson reported the large amount for him --- we have used the threshold of $20,000 for capital items. Anything below that should be in the operating budgets, that is the way we decide. That is our normal capital process. For me $20,000 is the threshold on this as well. Mr. Zacchio stated he was fine with that number but is just thinking in terms of using contingency not for just spending. Ms. Robinson stated she needed to check with the furniture interior designer because they were moving ahead with State approval in order to be able to do the purchasing to have it in place when the school is finished in April, and that my stopping it might impact that. About $50,000 of this increase is related to the increased costs of the items they are going to purchase, not more items, typically increased cost of them, be it
quality or inflation.
Chairman Carlson questioned refurbishment $10,000 an ineligible costs, rather than replacement, it is going to cost us more than refurbish? Ms. Robinson reported it costs more to replace it. But the budget of $600,000 never included the cost to refurbish and reuse some of those pieces. It was a lower cost way of being able to reuse what they already have, but had never been included in that $600,000 figure, they said this was a worthwhile use of our money to improve what we have rather than buying new. Mrs. Samul questioned is the $100,000 for - - - $21,000 for the Kabota, then $50,000 FF&E, we are up to $70,000… Ms. Robinson stated you are correct the items do not add up, the reason they do not was that when it was being discussed at the meeting the consultant was referring to a cost she
had gotten to refurbish the furniture of $40,000, and that was incorrect, it was for storage $30,000 of that amount, and only $10,000 was refurbishing, so I am showing it correctly. Mrs. Samul questioned is that $30,000 in some place else. Ms. Robinson reported it is the extra here, this does not need to be $70,000, but rather than to report an incorrect amount. Mr. Shea reported his concern is if we wait until February how does that compromise what we are trying to accomplish? Ms. Robinson explained we are not sure what the answer is with the State's process.
Chairman Carlson stated regarding the tractor, it should not have any effect on timing. Ms. Robinson reported she will talk to the Chairman tomorrow, and let him know that it is an issue and we want to talk about it in February. Mr. Shea suggested we go ahead with the FF&E. This project is looking to button up by April. Ms. Robinson stated the construction will be complete and the intention was that the furniture be in place. Mr. Shea reported it is his opinion to go forward with the FF&E, hold the tractor until February. All Council members were in agreement.
Mrs. Samul questioned the process, will we be approving a $100,000 change, but it can only be used for FF&E items, and if so and there is money left over, then can be reallocated by whomever. Mr. Shea replied no, it is going to be far less than the $100,000, that money will stay in contingency. Mr. Shea reported Ms. Robinson should effectively communicate to the Building Committee and the Board of Education that we would just like to have a little more communication on this, without trying to slow up the project.
Chairman Carlson reported what the Council is saying is that we are approving the $50,000, but are asking to hold on the tractor. Also, we are asking that any future change orders or budget changes, that exceed $20,000 come back before the Town Council, if it is necessary to have us have an emergency 7:00 a.m. meeting in the morning, because you have a deadline, we will do that. We are not trying to hold up the process, we are saying we are responsible to citizens.
Ms. Robinson reported you should be aware of with the high school, under change orders, while none have been approved at the last meeting and none are on the agenda for the January meeting. There will be one, which is already taking place, there is structural issues with the kitchen servery, with the basement underneath the floor, and the amount of support that had been in the kitchen, asbestos that they found fitting in equipment - they have had to move forward with structural work to complete that kitchen - and there will be a change order - approximately $25,000. Chairman Carlson stated that is exactly the reason you have a contingency, also that is not a change of scope. Mr. Zacchio reported he is fine with any construction cost related to what we have voted on as a community, beyond that, that is not within the scope
of that referendum, is something that if it is $20,000 or more we should be counseled.
Ms. Robinson stated the last one you should be aware of is additional utility costs. The Board of Education brought a letter to the Committee at the last meeting stating that they had expended $86,000 on unbudgeted electrical costs from the beginning of the project November 2006, through November of 2007, they attribute that to rate increases and increased cost of electricity for the project and to run new spaces over that period of time, and have asked the Committee to refund them - to make a payment to the Board of Education out of the project costs. Mr. Shea questioned how did the CM handle that. Ms. Robinson reported the utility costs are never part of the construction manager contract, it is all to be borne by the owner. Since we have taken over portions of the school, during this fiscal year, we are now running a new
gym, running more lights, we have taken over that kitchen servery cafeteria, we will start using it actively during January - besides electricity costs from November of 2007 to the end, you will also have heating costs for a whole new space that we did not have. We do not expect this to be the limit, the Building Committee did not initially accept that request on its face, they did ask for some information about rate increases, because they understand that we are locked into the cost of generated power under a different contract. They wanted to see the actual difference between what we have been spending in the past and what this is. The Board of Education owes them information back before they will say yes to that. It certainly is a start of some other expenses.
The Town Manager reported another thing you should realize these go back to November, 2006, we have already closed out the 06/07 budget, those bills have already been paid, and that budget year audit is completed. You have got that period of time, that the Board of Education operating budget was constructed based upon receiving the building in April 2008. The contract calls for picking up the electricity costs by the Board through the project, and it also includes as they turn aspects of the project like the gym over, and we are already using that. It is not like the project ends April 30th, and we accept everything, we have already accepted parts of it, which were not included in the Board of Education's operating budget. There is some justification for their request, as the owner, but you should be aware that, they
are recapturing bills that they have already paid in a prior fiscal year. They are going to want to appropriate that to the current fiscal year to offset existing bills in the current fiscal year. Some of those bills are in the current fiscal year, the 07/08 fiscal year. Mrs. Samul questioned are we talking about during construction, before a building is even closed, you have electrical costs, would those be picked up by the school budget? Town Manager reported they are in this situation. Mrs. Samul stated the concern that during construction when the building is still see through and they are using torches or whatever for steel or whatever, then there was no phase in occupancy of the building for operating expense by the Board of Education? In the school operating budget did they not anticipate a phase in of the occupancy of the project? The Town Manager reported only from April of 2008 to June 30th of 2008 was included in the operating
budget. Mrs. Samul questioned but they did in the previous year? The Town Manager reported no, they anticipated accepting the project in April, 08, and then paying from April of 2008 through June 30th 08. We have already accepted the gym and are using the gym. Mrs. Samul questioned what should have been in your standard operating expense budget, in under a capital improvement budget. Ms. Robinson replied it is really nowhere, and that is what they are asking is to be made whole from the capital budget to the operating budget for what has been spent. We expect more will come in natural gas costs to heat all of that new space, and continued electrical use. Mr. Zacchio reported the utilities are born by the Town of Avon in this particular project for all construction costs, that is what it comes down to. Chairman Carlson stated he agreed, you cannot segregate it out, new quarter from the old three quarters, but they came up with a cost of $86,000.
Ms. Robinson replied they looked at their bills for the past November to November. Chairman Carlson questioned reimbursement for 2006 costs since the books are closed. The Town Manager reported he does not know the details about going back to check the year end reconciliation, because the year end reconciliation of all of these accounts has been completed and the Board of Finance voted on that in December and that is closed. To go back and pay the Board of Education for electric bills that occurred from November of 2006 to June 30, 2007, would not be appropriate. Ms. Robinson replied the only reason she would see why we would want to go back to being part of the project is that it is reimbursable by the State, 24.5 cents on each dollar that we otherwise would not be able to do. Ms. Samul questioned but we have already paid that, so why could we not submit that bill anyway. Ms. Robinson reported we would have to pay it out of the capital
projects. Mr. Shea stated that from July 1st 2007 to now, we agreed it is the Town's responsibility. Chairman Carlson stated you are going to have to determine the plans for the reimbursement. Ms. Robinson reported she and the Town Manager will figure out what is the most beneficial way to do this for the Town. Whether the project pays it all and gets reimbursed or a portion back to July 1, whichever we think is best. Chairman Carlson questioned if there is some way to get reimbursed for 06/07 costs? The Town Manager stated yes, if there is we will do it, and we will let you know the status. Ms. Robinson reported the Building Committee wanted to be sure what the kilowatts used were, they want an analysis by the Construction Manager about what they expected to use during construction, try to feel more comfortable this number was appropriate. Mr. Shea reported once they agree on that number, whatever that kilowatt number is, from July 1 2007 to
November 2007, once we come up with that formula, do not see why we could not just release those funds. Mrs. Samul stated but not from November '06 to June 30, 2007. Ms. Robinson replied unless we determine exactly what that is. Mr. Zacchio reported find out if we can get a reimbursement, then how do your do it, what is the best methodology.
Ms. Robinson reported Roaring Brook is essentially complete, we do not expect it to be more than another minor bill. The Public Works and Senior Center Roofs, the design is to be completed in time for summer 2008, try to go out to bid early this spring so that we have a number before the budget, then lock in a contractor, before they get busy on other projects.
The Senior Center exterior painting is essentially completed except for the fact that there should be chimney flashing which we will do later with the roof.
Mr. Shea questioned how the gymnasium is going at the high school. Ms. Robinson reported it is going well, but there is a request to have the floor redone next summer when school is out, some of the lines were not done quite right, and we will have that finish sanded off and redone at no additional cost to the project. The contractor will do it again, just some minor imperfections when you look at it closely. Mr. Shea questioned whether there were any other issues in the new gym that we should be aware of. Ms. Robinson reported not that she is aware of.
**subject regarding on line tax service.
The Town Manager reported there is a report that was given to us by Diane Field, Wild and Scenic River Designation, we will have them come in February with an overview. If that designation is approved by Congress, it is going to have a significant impact on all property that borders the Farmington River, in terms of activities and zoning, or stream protection areas, we should be aware of it. The Town Manager reported it will be more of a briefing, as to what it includes, there will probably be maps showing the areas.
The Town Manager reported we had a claim against American Crushing and Recycling regarding the July 29, 2005 accident on Rte 44 for $60,000 to $70,000 to cover our costs associated with that. The Court made a distribution of the assets, and we received $1,230.54.
The Town Manager reported there is a report in your folders from Shanahan Consulting, on the environmental work being done on the M H Rhodes site. The conclusions, one well still has some traces of something, fortunately that is on the very edge of the site. Once we get a letter back from the DEP clearing the other three or four sites, which are in the middle of the property, we will then have the property brought back, substantially cleared and we can start to look at what we may want to do with that property. When we bought it, it was our intent to, at least on an interim basis, turn that property into playing fields for either practice or games. What we will probably end up doing is starting to work on that when we get the DEP approval. We will have to bring in some top soil, spread it around, start to seed it and
work on it. There is public water out there, if we want to irrigate it. That is a semi-positive indication that site is pretty well cleaned up. We do not anticipate anything back from the DEP, for four to eight months, that is the turn around time.
The Town Manager reported another e-mail that we received in the last day is about the replacement bridge on Old Farms Road, and the widening of the Old Farms Road/Waterville Road/Route 10 intersection. That is supposed to start, it is out to design right now, we should be under construction in 2010/2011. We have worked on this close to 15 years, but it comes from the State so it may have a little bit more validity.
The Town Manager reported he needs some budget guidance. We are supposed to have the proposed 08/09 operating budget to you by the end of the month. The Board of Finance met on December 17th, essentially to set a 5% guideline for a tax increase, not a budget increase. Board of Finance Chairman Harrison asked him to prepare a Scenario of what that would mean at a 4.95% level, that was the seventh, they had looked at six previous Scenarios. He is looking for some guidance of how the Council would want him to proceed. The Board of Finance basically said the Town Council and the Board of Education should work together to come up with how they want to divide up the 5% tax increase. This table, which he was asked to prepare after that meeting, dated December 18th, shows a 4.95% tax increase as requested. It
shows a spending increase applied equally to each of the various budgets, of 4.84% for the Town, Board of Education and Capital Improvement Program and the Debt Service. We then added $425,00 onto the Board of Education budget which gave them an increase of 5.89%. What he is looking for is whether the Town Council wants him to prepare a budget, in accordance with Scenario 7, whether they want to give him some other guidance, or whether they just want him to go ahead and do what he thinks is best, and bring it in to the Town Council.
Mr. Shea questioned the $425,000 for the additional operating adjustment for the Board of Education, that has been the number that has been around for a couple of years, does that take into account all of the fuel and other increases that have taken place in the past few months? The Town Manager reported he is not sure that it has all of that in there. Mr. Shea requested that be double checked because that number could be low. The Town Manager reported he would say based upon what he has already seen in the Town's budget for 08/09, the utility increase is just phenomenal. Chairman Carlson reported his feeling is that the Town Manager should develop the best budget for the Town of Avon. He and the Town Manager sat at the Board of Finance meeting and felt that if we needed more, we were to justify it, on the other hand he is
not saying the right number is 4.8465%, the right number may be 4% or it may be 6%. The Town Manager should go through with the department heads and develop the best budget to present to the Town Council on February 9th. We may, as we have in the past, adjust it one way or the other, but he would rather start on a bottoms up approach, rather than saying the number is 5% .If the number ends up being more than 5%, then we need to justify why we think that is the right number and what we are going to risk if we do not do 5%. Also, if the right number is 4%, we go in with that. Mr. Shea and Mr. Pena concurred - the Town Manager needs to come up with the best budget. Mrs. Samul reported she concurs, one of the reasons she says that, is when talking with people in hopes of being able to sit here, one thing that kind of came back to her was are we deferring maintenance until we can get it into a capital expenditure. If it means including an extra $50
for a can of paint to take care of a door, throw it in because that $50 is better than $500 if we have to replace the door in another five years. She would like to see something that is realistic and has some value to it.
Chairman Carlson reported he does not mean we should go in with 6% or 7%, and Mr. Shea has pointed out numerous times over the past several years, we are about to get into some tough budgetary times, with the shrinking of the rate of increase in the grand list. All the same we have to maintain our infrastructure, we have to maintain our programs, and we have to put away money for our health benefits for our retirees, all of those things need to be done. That is how you run a Town well, and we have run this Town very well for a lot of years.
The instruction to the Town Manager was to come up with the best budget he can on February 9th.
Mr. Shea reported he feels that it is not, with a 1.5% growth in the grand list, and all of the capital projects that are on the docket that we saw this evening, he does not feel that it is very fair for the Board of Finance to put us in competition with the Board of Education. He thinks both bodies independently need to work together with the Board of Finance, and it is not fair to say - here is your increase, try to share it. Justify it to each other and come back to us to see what you are going to do.
Mr. Zacchio reported all he could think was, we all heard the voters say many times that they want the boards to work better together - - that is all three boards. Having the Board of Finance in the position they are today, to set that target, set that goal, and say, - we are not going to play with the other two boards, we are going to let you guys work out what we think is appropriate as a number. He further stated coming to a table with a budget that we feel is the most appropriate, and the Board of Education hopefully doing the same, that we are able to sit down with the Board of Finance and talk about the needs. We are all very well aware of the community and how our past referenda have come out, however, as three boards going forward and presenting what we feel is in the best interest of the Town, as elected
members of that body is the way that we should be approaching it, and it starts with bringing forward our best budget.
Chairman Carlson reported we also have an obligation to the Towns people to say, here is what you are giving up, here is what we are having to put aside. If we do not do the roof over the Town Garage, we have employees working in a leaky environment and those employees do not have a group that is going to go out and argue for them, it is not the friends of the snow plows, it will never happen. They have every right to work in a safe work environment just like everybody else. The Town's people ought to know what we are not going to do and here is why, rather than just say what the arbitrary number is for. Mr. Shea reported do not know how you throw in a pot of money, and say divvy it up. The number could be high or we may come in lower than, but the initial approach is a tough one to take on.
Margaret Bratton, Member of the Board of Finance, reported what started all that was really a lot of parents coming to meetings, saying - we want you to work together, they saw differences between the two budgets, and it seemed like no matter which way it was done, it did not seem to be working and they wanted to try something new. It was really two things, there was a spending cap question, because we have to look at everyone in Town not just students, not just elderly, but everyone's needs in the Town in general. Also, we have done the one on one with the Town Council, and the one and one with the Board of Education, that happens to not meet the needs that the Town's people wanted. That was part of the reason, it is just a difference, it is not a change to make a change. But since the other was not working,
making suggestions apparently toward the end of the budget process, people did not like, they did not like us making suggestions at the beginning, we just thought this is a different way and like you are saying if you are needing to be above, and someone else might be below theirs. People did not like the fact that we chose 50/50 at one point, and then it was 60/40 depending on what it was, this way it was less of us telling other boards what to do with their money. "I think that was really the true intent behind it."
Mr. Zacchio reported we do not see how this process gets us any closer to working together. Do not see how this process is any different than what we had before, what we had before was a set of guidelines that were around spending, now we have to set of guidelines that are around tax increase. My suggestion at times to your board was to look at all of the requests and then say - - - we are giving up a snow plow over here so that we can get a teacher over here, and is that the decision that our Towns people want to make, and I am fine with that decision, even if I am the one that looses out on the snowplow, because at the end we are accountable to the taxpayers. Doing it this way where we go meet with the Board of Education, and say you do 4% or you do 6%, and we do 4%, you never have that open discussion, where you see what
those trade offs are. The Towns people ought to see those trade offs. He further reported that is why it starts with developing the best budget, because in your scenario, this target environment, that snow plow and that teacher may not make it into that budget to be considered, because you are trying to stay under a cap. He heard a lot of people at the meeting saying they did not want to see any kind of guidance and they wanted this to be developed in the spirit that we are talking about here.
Mrs. Bratton reported we also were thinking about the following year being the reval year, and thinking if we then went up to this 5%, that is how we change the tax increase, that technically even though you are going from 3% to 5%, you are almost doubling the tax increase, because you are starting from a higher base. That was a major factor and a big concern. Mr. Zacchio reported he is not arguing with the 5%, he cannot tell whether that is the right number - - - just do not know whether this tax increase passes. It is very high and a lot of Towns people would think that. The way we ought to do this, in both boards, is to do what you want, is start with the best bottoms up budget and bring that to the Towns people and show them what we have come up with.
XI. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None
XII. ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m.
Attest:
Caroline B. LaMonica
Clerk
* *to be inserted Pg. 19, Town Manager's Report
Ms. Robinson reported each month she gives a report on purchasing of major items we are handling. On line tax collection payments, we had two interviews today of collection firms that offer that, we will start offering that with the next tax bills season in July. That will be offered at little or no cost to the Town itself, but as through a convenience to be paid by residents who choose to use it. Either payments over the phone, payments on line directly to a site or linked through our site, the fee for taxes is around 2 3/4 to 3% per transaction, it does not need to be used by residents but it can. The firms we talked say people who are anxious to collect mileage points and things like that tend to use it, and people who might not be able to make a full payment through their bank account will be able to use it. The tax payers
will pay the 3%, not the Town itself. It is a convenience for taxpayers, should they chose to use a credit card or an electronic funds transfer, or debit card, rather than by check. Those people who pay through their mortgage would not be affected at all. We will talk more about it, maybe not until April, when we have actually signed a contract and are sure it is moving forward.
Mr. Pena questioned whether it was a service that had been requested by people. Ms. Robinson reported, not so much, according to the Tax Collector, she does not get a lot of calls requesting it, but it is the kind of thing that it is not a cost to the Town, and if it makes the process for tax payers easier to handle their finances, then it is something we would like to be able to offer for them. The Town Manager reported what we found is that people do, depending upon what the situation is, that they tend to do more and more on an electronic basis, so we are hoping, as that cuts down on our work load and cuts down on people coming into the office, although most of our transactions were already done through mortgage transfers of escrow accounts. Mr. Pena questioned if someone is having difficulty they can make arrangements through
the Town. Ms. Robinson reported yes they can. The Town Manager reported we do not advertise that, only under extreme circumstances, when payment is anticipated shortly the collector will work with them up to a point, then we start the foreclosure procedure. Ms. Robinson reported but for someone instead of deferring payments, like you might use at your own bank, to pay a certain amount every month that has been agreed to, for delinquent payments and interest due, we provide the information the company will collect the correct amount. The Town Manager reported liens are put on almost immediately. Mr. Pena reported that would be 3% on top of the credit card. Ms. Robinson reported if someone did not have the full tax bill amount, it gives people some flexibility where they might not otherwise have it.
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