AVON TOWN COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
November 24, 2008
I. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. at the Avon Town Hall, in the Selectmen's Chambers by Chairman Carlson. Members present: Mrs. Samul, Messrs. Pena, Zacchio and Shea.
II. PUBLIC HEARING: none
III. MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETINGS: none
IV. COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE – Items not on this Agenda
The President of the Avon Education Association, 119 Old Farms, stated they have recently learned of the possible switch in the healthcare provider from Anthem to CIGNA and will not be able to attend the next Council meeting where it will be discussed. There are three hospitals that recently dropped CIGNA; Manchester, Rockville and Laurence Memorial. Chairman Carlson reported he fully understands but in fairness that information should be given to the people who are doing the evaluation of the providers so they can take it into considerations.
V. COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL
Mark Zacchio reported on the greening initiatives that has been discussed over the past several months and asked staff to have an alternative energy commission draft for the next meeting so it can be considered. Some research from other towns shows that new building project, and purchasing, working in conjunction with those to set a policy that would making greening an option or at least have it be considered. This way the specifics and engineering can be thought out. Chairman Carlson reported any capital project should evaluate a green alternative. Mr. Zacchio further reported any capital project big and small. It may not be cost effective on some items at this time, but it should be considered. Some other communities have done these things and they work into the community as well. One item that may be of
interest is residents can put panels on their roofs and the town can get energy credits for it. Many programs are out there and they can be brought to the town through this committee. These are just a few ideas of things that have been done in other towns. The Town Manager reported he planned on coming to the December 4th meeting with some ideas on this topic. The outreach aspect is great. The only thing to be aware of is these things cost money. A fiscal impact statement can be created since someone will have to do the minutes. Chairman Carlson stated if we are going to purchase a Dial a Ride van, we should look at a diesel van, electrical van and the costs and paybacks. Mr. Zacchio reported it may give us a policy so an option is in front of us to consider and the committee can spend time researching these options. The Assistant Town Manager reported the state has passed some laws that would impact what we do in this area. If we pull a permit after the end of next year,
we would have to adhere to the LEED certifications and the such. The Town Manager reported in terms for the economic development community and in terms of companies looking to relocate and build new buildings are proving to be a negative and they are going to places that do not have those requirements.
Chairman Carlson sadly reported that Mr. Bud Herman passed away. He served on the Board of Finance for over 20 years and was "Mr. Avon" in many ways we were blessed to have him.
VI. OLD BUSINESS
08/09-04 FY 09/10 Budget: CIP Budget Presentations
a. 7:00 p.m. Recreation and Parks
The Director of Recreation and Parks reported the department has a master plan and the capital improvement program mirrors the master plan. The greatest priority is the parking lot at Sperry Park, is being looked at by the Engineering and Public Works departments. The cost would be $160,000 to hire an architectural firm to look at the project and are seeking alternatives in-house to bring that number down. The $20,000 for Fisher Meadows is anticipated to come out of the Fisher Meadow funds, and will be back at the December 4th meeting to ask for release of those funds. Mr. Simmons has been notified that he can not have access to the area in the spring, so test holes can be dug. The digging of he test holes, and testing of the soil is about $4,000-$5,000 of the $20,000 figures. The rest of the money would
go to hiring an architectural firm and we will go out with an RFP for the search and see what they can do for the amount we have. We want to put real numbers on the plan. Mr. Zacchio questioned how long the fields will go unused. The Director of Recreation and Parks reported about one more years. The Town Manager reported we will work with Mr. Simmons and do the borings around his planting and mowing schedule. The Director of Recreation and Parks stated the Capital Improvement Program submission mirrors the Recreation Master Plan. The pool has had some damage and will need to be repaired.
He further reported the area of focus at Fisher Meadows is approximately 12 areas. The questions are what type of drainage and irrigation will be needed for the area. Chairman Carlson questioned if the area near the river is fenced and it is not. The Director of Recreation and Parks reported this project will solve a lot of issue we have with that area at Fisher Meadows. These are multi purpose fields. The Thompson Road project is to have the field turfed and lighted. The baseball field is to be artificially turfted as well. The area has no neighbors so lighting can be done. This would solve the game issue we have had for the past several years. The presentation made by the Director of Recreation and Parks is attached and made part of these minutes.
b. 7:30 p.m. Secret Lake Association
Jean Dellamarggio, Representative of the Secret Lake Association, reported on two items. The first of the items is the cleaning out of the area of the water outfalls where sand and sediments have built up, and the improvements to the storm water drainage systems and streets. It totals about $2,000,000. The $50,000 for FY 09/10 will be for administrative work by Engineering, and legal fees leading up to the project. The start of the project will be in FY 10/11. One area of the road does sit low and we are requesting one area be raised so when the water level rises we are not flooded in. The presentation made by the Ms. Dellamarggio is attached and made part of these minutes.
c. 8:00 p.m. Engineering
The Town Engineer reported many of the projects have been in the capital budget for the past five to ten years, so go back even further than that. They primarily deal with the major infrastructure of the roads and follow the management plan. The Thompson Old Farms Road bridge project is left to be worked on. We worked on Deercliff Road a few years ago and this past year was Verville Road, and this year coming up will be Chidsey Road. Mr. Shea questions the safety aspects of the road. The Town Engineer reported it is because of the storms and major washout for the road. Schools buses use the road and will eventually become an issue.
The flow of water over the road is pretty heavy. We are looking into getting some easements so we can try to control the water and contain it so it would not come down Chidsey Road. It is probably one of the biggest natural water retention areas in Avon, but we want to incorporate a balance outlet. We want to build an outlet structure on the water retention areas. It will be expensive but it is needed. It use to be $25 to $30 per foot and now it is more like $150 per foot to have the pipe installed. It has been put off and it is not a priority until we get a big storm and then it will be a problem. Mrs. Samul questioned the cost and whether it is for the design or the actual labor and supplies. The Town Engineer reported it is $175,000 for the road reconstruction and culverts, and $100,000 for the
drainage. Some of the overlay money would be used for the road way. The preliminary design is complete the next would be for actual work. Mr. Shea reported this was determined a high priority problem last year but we had not some all the preliminary design work done. Chairman Carlson reported with the tough times we are in any project must be considered high priority like a roof, or something like this. Mrs. Samul questioned the paving of Chidsey road and the name of the other account that can be used for funding these projects. The Town Manager reported the overlay account essentially comes from three sources; Fund 08-TAR grant from the state, Fund 11 -LOSAP which is a state grant, and tax money through the CIP program. Portions of this would come out of those three funds, either a combination or just one.
The Town Engineer reported the Old Farms Road/Route 10 project. The construction should not be to bad since traffic can continue on the road. It would be a help to the traffic at rush hour. There will be another left turn lane to help move traffic onto Old Farms Road.
The Town Manager reported the Arch Road/Darling Drive connector has been submitted to the state. They are looking into possibly a grant program as an economic stimulus package and this is one project that we can quickly start. The Town Engineer reported the more projects we have ready to go the money will be there. The projects are getting harder to get ready with the permits and environmental permits. The Old Farms/Thompson Road project has been ongoing for years but we are starting to have good support for the project. We hope to have a walk thru in the next few weeks. There is a lot of history here. We hope to have a document within a year, then we can go into final design. We are looking for various ways to fund this. At this time we have almost $2,000,000 in funding but it could be close to
$20,000,000. One project for the sewers is the extension of the lateral extension program. It will expand the sewers in conjunction with road reconstruction needs. The Town Manager reported the funds come out of the Fund 05, where we have the money. The homeowner needs to pay for a sewer hookup. If they do not pay it off we provide a two or three year installment payment. We can't go over that without a change in state statue. Legislation is in place that may be changing this. This would cut down the cash flow on a yearly basis. If the property is sold then the lien would be paid off at the closing. These will be coming more often as we do more of these projects. The Town Engineer stated we don't want to get to a point where we can not accept more sewers. The presentation made by the Town Engineer is attached and made part of these minutes.
d. 8:30 p.m. Public Works
The Director of Public Works reported we are looking at the same identical miles as last year but the price has changed. The pavement management plan has gone up from about $7,000,000 to over $13,000,000. The liquid asphalt pricing has gone up significantly. The rest of the projects are about the same cost as the past fiscal year: parking lot improvement, salt shed, shop floor coating and walls, sidewalk improvements and removal of underground storage tank. Mr. Pena questioned if the salt shed was discussed as a regional option. The Town Manager reported this was not something he had heard about, but they did discuss storage in general. We have looked at putting salt at the landfill but we are finding we are using less so there is less travel involved.
The Director of Public Works reported we have to look into removing the tanks at Arch Road and Huckleberry Hill Road. We are not using them but it is considered abandonment and there are three that they consider this. They all would have to be physically removed and replaced above ground tanks. These are 6,000/8,000 gallon tanks.
The Director of Public Works stated they had a good year with roof replacements. We still have a few more to go but Building One and Two and the Police Gym all need to be replaced. Building One has visible leakage.
The Superintendent of Operations reported several of the vehicles used by the Department of Public Works are in very bad shape and need to be replaced. It is not just the mileage of the vehicles but also that wear and tear of the vehicles from years of sand and heavy lifting of the trucks. Several of them are in the need of being replaced.
The Director of Public Works stated the dollar amount of the capital budget proposed this year is unlikely but there are some options to help us buy time, for example is the crack sealing instead of plowing. We are aware this will not be an easy budgetary year. The presentation made by the Director of Public Works is attached and made part of these minutes.
08/09-29 Approve Resolution: Avon Middle School Roof Replacement
Chairman Carlson reported the Council needs to formally approve the resolution for the state grant.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted:
WHEREAS: The Avon Board of Education has approved a recommendation to the Town Council for the Superintendent in conjunction with the architectural firm selected by the Town to file the appropriate forms for a grant reimbursement to the State Department of Education for the proposed Avon Middle School re-roofing project, and
WHEREAS: The Avon Board of Education has approved a recommendation to the Town Council for a building committee for the Avon Middle School re-roofing project of three individuals consisting of Gary J Franzi, Director of Finance, Mr. David Paul, Director of Building and Grounds, and Ms. Blythe Robinson, Assistant Town Manager, and
WHEREAS: The Avon Board of Education has recommended to the Town Council to approve the
building committee to authorize the preparation of schematic drawing and outline
specifications for the building project and approve the construction documents and
specification for the proposed roof replacement at Avon Middle School, and
WHEREAS: The Avon Board of Education approved the submission of this action of their
November 18, 2008 meeting to the Avon Town Council for resolution.
BE IT RESOLVED: That the Avon Town Council authorizes establishing a building committee of
three for the proposed re-roofing project, approves the building committee to authorize the preparation of schematic drawings and outline specifications, and to approve construction documents and specifications for the proposed re-roofing project, and authorizes the Superintendent to file an application to the State of Connecticut for the re-roofing project.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson, Pena, Zacchio, and Shea voted in favor.
VII. NEW BUSINESS
08/09-35 Status Report and Presentation: Avon Landfill History and Current Operations
The Assistant Town Manager reported the presentation will touch on the history and current operations of the landfill. Each topic can be discussed in length but we will just touch on each. The presentation made by the Assistant Town Manager is attached and made part of these minutes.
Chairman Carlson questioned if all the items are accepted all year round. The Assistant Town Manager reported they are and we will start to accept e-waste next year which is electronics.
She further reported the landfill will be going to single-stream recycling which will be seen as a benefit. It will require fewer containers to hold the recyclables. Mr. Zacchio reported that is the area we will flatten out to add another compactor. Most problems are being caused by the police barricade that was put in because now people are walking into the traffic. More times than not people are starting and stopping with people walking in front of them. The Director of Public Works reported single stream recycling can upon us fairly quickly. Every month we prolong this will increase the cost. The payback is great and there will be big savings.
Chairman Carlson reported getting several letter regarding the fees. It’s a structural thing that we are getting complaints on. There is an annual fee and then you change again for every time you bring something to the landfill. That is the issue we keep hearing over and over. The Assistant Town Manager reported the goal to this point is to charge a one time fee so people were not being over charged for items. Chairman Carlson questioned there is an annual fee and is there an additional fee for every other item. The Assistant Town Manager reported there is the annual fee and you are only charged again for appliance, brush, paint. When there would be an additional cost to us. Mr. Zacchio reported the fees seem to be very subjective. One day it would be $15 for a television, and then the
next day it is $5. The structure that Chairman Carlson was speaking about would be a one time fee to do everything. The Director of Public Works reported that fee would be a rather high fee. Mr. Shea questioned why a resident who uses the landfill every week for their garbage should have to pay more for the user who visits the landfill to dump larger items. The Town Manager reported the main complaints are from people looking to dump larger items, brush and building materials. We have a balance at this time. We charge the heavy users an additional fee. Mr. Shea stated as long as it is per visit. That may be a cafeteria plan that may work The Town Manager reported their being many complaints when the fees were initially changed back in July. Chairman Carlson questioned what is needed to bring brush to the landfill. The Superintendent of Operations reported you needed a permit, it can be any permit. Chairman Carlson stated he does
not want anyone to feel turned off and then not bring the items to the landfill and disposing of them improperly. Mr. Zacchio questioned if it is possibly to create a permit system that is based on use. The other complaint is why they have to pay a permit to use a free swap shack. People are upset that this once was free and now it is costing more money. Mr. Shea reported less than one third of our residents use the facility and we are losing money. Mr. Zacchio stated if we are going to operate the landfill to be a profit center, how is that going to be done. Mr. Pena questioned how many trips are people making to the landfill that use to have the brush picked up. The Director of Public Works reported they are making several trips. Mr. Zacchio reported we will never make money on this and we will never break even on this. Chairman Carlson reported he is not looking to increase fees or lower them but it is the structure of the fees. Mr. Pena reported the cost of disposing
of something can be a deterrent for the residents. Mr. Shea reported we have hazardous waste days. We should advertise these for residents to use. This would be a way to mitigate this. The Assistant Town Manager questioned if the Council would be open to a slight fee increase in July, 2009. Mr. Shea stated he would not be supportive of this in the economic time we are in. If they do raise the one fee, he would rather them raise individual cafeteria style fees. The Director of Public Works questioned if the Council would be open to the permitting the swap shack. Mr. Shea stated we should not be open to lowering or eliminating fees.
The Town Engineer stated he would recommend looking into extending the capacity of the landfill. It would take much to extend and double the size of the landfill. It is our land and elevation we have space. Even for our own use, we should keep every space of it.
VIII. TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT/MISCELLANEOUS
The Town Manager reported the December 4th agenda is being put together including the health insurance issue. In response to several questions the Town Manager reviewed the history, process, and issues that would need to be followed and resolved to get the item on the agenda for the December meeting. Chairman Carlson reported unless the whole item is buttoned up, then we should hold off on the item. The items discussed should be factual in nature. The Town Manager reported if we are not definite by Monday afternoon then it will be taken off the agenda.
IX. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Land/Negotiation :
On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council go into Executive Session at 10:05 p.m. to discuss land negotiations.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson, Pena, and Shea voted in favor.
On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council come out of Executive Session at 10:20 midnight.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs Carlson, Pena, and Shea voted in favor.
X. ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 10:20 p.m.
Attest:
Caroline B. LaMonica
Clerk
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