AVON TOWN COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
March 7, 2011
I. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. at the Avon Town Hall, in the Selectmen's Chamber by Chairman Zacchio. Members present: Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Evans, Shea, and Pena.
II. SERVICE AWARD: Presentation of Natural Resources Award
Chairman Zacchio reported that the recipient of the service award for the Natural Resources Commission is Jan Titus and Mary Harrop is going to present the award. He reported that he cannot say enough about Mrs. Titus and all that she has done for the Town of Avon over the years and a family that has been here for a long time. He reported that we cannot think of enough good things to say about all that Mrs. Titus has contributed to the Town of Avon and appreciation from all of us on the Town Council and a special appreciation for the Natural Resources Award, so thank you and thank you very much for all that you have done for the Town of Avon. Mr. Shea reported that Jan Titus embodies the spirit of community volunteer and can think of no higher compliment then to give that to someone and you do it with a
smile, perseverance, and a level of professionalism that is a real example for everybody in town; this award is long overdue and greatly deserved.
Chair Steven Samul introduced Natural Resources Commission member Mary Harrop. Mary Harrop stated that it gave her great honor and pleasure to present this award; Jan, as you all know, has been in town for many years and has been so deserving of this award; she epitomizes the conservationist that all of us would like to be and so with that she read the Natural Resources Award and it stated:
In recognition of your outstanding achievements in the preservation, enhancement, and beautification of public properties throughout the Town of Avon; and for promoting awareness of the Town’s natural resources through active involvement in recycling programs, conservation initiatives, and environmental issues.
Mary Harrop asked Jan to stand up and would also like to say that we wish every person in Avon was as committed to volunteerism, conservation, and preservation as Jan is. Ms. Harrop asked each of the Natural Resources Commission members stand up and introduce themselves so that you will all know that it was a unanimous vote on our part. The following members were present: Dan Schwartz, Susan May, Bob Breckinridge, and Barbra Chester.
Jan Titus stated that never did she ever dream that she would be awarded this reward for her volunteer work; she really likes to be involved; she likes to serve others and help others in this great town of ours and it truly is a great town and she really wants to thank the Natural Resources Commission for believing in her; she has sat in those chairs and awarded other people but she never thought it would be her; she truly wants to thank the Commission for this award because she will cherish it and thanked everyone very much. Chairman Zacchio added that it is safe to say that the thanks go to Jan, so thank you.
III. PUBLIC HEARING - None
IV. MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETING : February 3, 2011
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept the February 3, 2011 minutes as submitted.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Evans, and Pena voted in favor.
V. COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE - None
VI. COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL
Mr. Pena reported that the Avon Dollars for Scholars has been around since 1978 and during the inception it has raised over $1 million to give scholarships to needy kids as well as through a merit basis. He reported that they are having a fundraiser on April 3rd, “March Madness comes to Avon” with the Harlem Ambassadors at the Avon High School and all the proceeds go towards scholarships from this event and highlighted some of the players including Ray Allen, Brad Seaman and Doug Goblet. He reported that it will be a great event, tickets are going very fast, and would urge if you can to make an effort to be there.
VII. OLD BUSINESS
09/10-06 Emergency Medical Services
Chief Mark Rinaldo reported a committee was formed a few years ago; he will provide a history of our current operations, our analysis and proposals being looked at, and contracts in place. He reported that the Police Department has held first responder status since approximately 1999, receiving official recognition from the state in February 1999. He reported that AMR is our ambulance provider and they hold the basic life support transport designation; ALS is undesignated which is your paramedic service; UCONN paramedics have been contracted for years as our back-up service and they respond to calls that we need them on. He reported, and very happy to, that the Avon Volunteer Fire Department became supplemental first responders in 2009. He reported that in 2009 UCONN had notified us that they were
going to get out of the paramedic service and not provide service to the town; that decision has since been reversed, however, that is what has caused us to look at the EMS service that we provide to the town in case this happens again.
Chief Mark Rinaldo reported that our current operations is that emergency medical calls will come into our dispatch center, we transfer those off to AMR; AMR does an emergency medical dispatch (EMD) protocols and rank the call by its seriousness and they actually dispatch AMR. He reported that our dispatchers stay on the line, listen to the call, they send the police officers to the call for service; AMR does complete the EMD protocols and they currently dispatch the UCONN medics which we can also do but we are changing our protocols to have AMR do the complete dispatching of all medical providers. He reported that with these committees that we have formed, UCONN has taken over their medical control; previously AMR used to have medical control out of Waterbury Hospital but now it is out of UCONN which is very
good because it Dr. Kamin who makes decisions on how medical services are provided to the town and reviews what they do. He reported that the committees have been collecting data and done some analysis and will get together to develop some benchmarks; we are looking at showing the different models that are out there, be it the Police Department responding, continuing to respond, either having a complete Fire Department response or having UCONN continue with their service. He reported that the committee has put together some very good things for the community because now we are not only looking at the level of service and the response time but also looking at pain management and how we handle things pre-hospital care. He reported that the committees have been working well together and Dr. Corrado has been an excellent resource and finally we are getting into the contracts, one with UCONN and one with AMR. He reported that traditionally Avon was involved with
Farmington and AMR, that was providing the ambulance transport system but now we are going to move between a contract between us and AMR. He reported that the committees are looking to develop a 2, 3, and 5-year plan.
The Town Manager reported that when the Chief mentioned the committees, there are actually two committees that he is meeting with regularly; one is a regional committee that has representation from Farmington, Avon, AMR, and UCONN and the other committee which is the one that has been in existence since July 2010 is a local stakeholder committee looking specifically at Avon’s needs and what really drove the Chief and the Town Manager with respect to the creation of this committee is recognizing that our needs are potentially different from Farmington’s, it has an Avon centric focus, and it is looking at contingency planning as well as current service delivery models, worst case scenario that UCONN is not willing to renew which all indications are that it is on a year-to-year basis, we want to have a
contingency plan that is ready to go. He reported that along with the contingency planning, looking at other service delivery models, for example, a locally based EMS service in town and what that would look like. Chief Mark Rinaldo reported that the local committee should be meeting later this month; it will be awhile before we look at the data collectively and decide where we are going to go with that or what the data is actually showing us, response times and level of care, maybe one or two months but the contracts will hopefully be settled by April. The Town Manager reported that what Council can anticipate is that between April and May one of those Council meetings will have contracts on for your review and consideration and the contracts will be in the form of both a continuation with UCONN Health Center and an agreement with AMR that will modify the modification of the original 5-year agreement with Farmington and going into a direct contract for a one-year
term.
Chairman Zacchio questioned that at one time we had both UCONN for paramedic services and AMR for transportation services. Chief Mark Rinaldo responded that was correct. Chairman Zacchio questioned if we envision both responses still happening with the new contracts or do we envision one service provider, the concern there being our citizens getting billed twice in two different ways. Chief Mark Rinaldo responded that is a possibility; UCONN is looking at billing individually and also reducing the cost of the contract we currently have. He reported that right now we still do dispatch both however UCONN had rewritten the protocols and it looks like we are going to go to AMR doing the entire dispatch function but we are still working through the committee on that one as there is still a lot of
discussion going on. Chairman Zacchio questioned if we would have that by April. Chief Mark Rinaldo responded that those protocols will probably be in place within the next couple of weeks as we have already started transitioning towards that; it seems to be working well. He reported that the issue, after speaking with Chief Mancini today, is that if UCONN keeps responding to calls and gets canceled because AMR gets to the call first then it is a waste of resources because of being pulled off campus; Chief Mancini indicated that he would be happy to respond to all of our ALS calls but AMR who has put on a third ambulance during peak periods so by nature of being here are getting to the calls faster. He reported that on accidents and fires UCONN comes anyway, along with our own fire department; some of the town’s firefighters are paramedics.
Mrs. Samul questioned that our firefighters who are paramedics could not respond as paramedics when they responded as fire. Chief Mark Rinaldo responded that is correct but that changed in February 2009 when they got the first responder supplemental status. Mrs. Samul questioned that AMR is called by the police dispatcher when there is a medical call. Chief Mark Rinaldo responded that when a medical call comes into the police department, we take the call and transfer it immediately to AMR, they begin the EMD protocol; our dispatcher stays on the line and sends the police officer to the scene as we are the first responders. He reported that if we respond to a lift assist and during the EMD process it may turn a little worse so they will call us back and the police department will dispatch UCONN
currently. He reported that what we are looking to do is to have AMR dispatch everybody and this way you will not have two paramedic services running at the same time which was really at the request of UCONN. Mrs. Samul questioned if there are any statistics back yet on whatever they are collecting statistics on yet. Chief Mark Rinaldo responded not from UCONN who was looking at the delivery of service to when we send a patient to Hartford or St. Francis and we will be reviewing later this month. Mrs. Samul questioned if the “we” in that case refers to the local Avon interest group or the regional group. Chief Mark Rinaldo responded that is the local group.
Chief Mark Rinaldo reported that they are also looking into the cost of different service models, tier the cost and see what type of tiers we are going to recommend and then the committee will come back as a whole and make a recommendation with three or four different types of service that Council can choose from and decide which way you would like to go; that will be a longer process and will not be done before June, but the data analysis and the collection and the review of that will be ready for the July 1st contracts. He reported that Peter Canning, EMS Coordinator at UCONN, is looking at the pain management side of things; so we are not only looking at response times, we have gone deeper into the emergency medical care in Avon and thinks that is a good thing for the community. The Town Manager
reported that going deeper it means not only looking at response times but also keying in on the result so once the patient gets to the hospital what happens from that point. Chief Mark Rinaldo responded that there will be follow-up; right now we do not know unless they go to UCONN or we are notified in some tragic event; we are looking at now what the level of care is from the inception of the call to the time they get to the hospital and did that make a difference; statistically what they are telling him is that it is pain management that is really important. Mrs. Samul questioned if AMR can administer the pain medications. Chief Mark Rinaldo responded yes, that paramedics can; the difference between an AMR paramedic and a firefighter paramedic is the firefighter can actually go in; they have the equipment to get into cars, meters for carbon monoxide, etc. He also reported that if we have a medical call or crash the fire department is in charge by statute
so the Avon Volunteer Fire Department can get on the scene and call UCONN, Simsbury; decide what the resources are and they do an excellent job with that. Chairman Zacchio questioned that the Police Department will continue to be first responders. Chief Mark Rinaldo responded yes, they are not looking at changing that but looking at the ALS side of things.
Chairman Zacchio reported that a letter was received from Jeff Brighenti regarding when his father passed away and especially notes our first responders were so professional, gave such a sense of calm, hope and compassion and was very impressed with the level of service and care that both Adam Lazinsk and Susan Kassey gave the family that morning. Chairman Zacchio, on behalf of the Town Council, thanked Adam Lazinsk, Susan Kassey and Chief Mark Rinaldo for the compassion that you show in those situations and the professionalism, you represent us very well.
10/11-01 FY 11/12 Budget Development
Chairman Zacchio recues himself from this agenda item due to personal conflict as his wife is part of the Board of Education collective bargaining unit and to maintain that transparency and a level of integrity there that is important. Mr. Shea presided as Acting Chairman for this item.
Acting Chairman Shea reported that the Town Manager has provided documentation to Council that outlines and documents the town budget, the capital budget, the debt service budget, the sewer budget, and as you know we have the Board of Education budget which we have received. The Town Manager reported that with respect to the sewer budget even though it does not hit the tax rate we are still in that period where we are waiting to find out what happens with the Haynes Road proposal and to the extent that if the developer does the Haynes Road sewer project that appropriation would back out of the budget; they are having a series of informal hearings and the developer is in the process of polling interest down the street right now but the developer’s self-imposed deadline is the middle of April; the Town Manager
thinks that by the end of March we will have a real good sense of where that stands. He reported that we will be talking more about the AHS boiler in executive session as it is a pending claim with possible litigation so that number may change. He reported that with regards to the fire truck he is looking at that very much as basically a pre-funding of the fire trucks; we talked about the possibility of swapping bodies because we have a situation where we would replace Engine 7, put a new body on Engine 9 because Engine 7 would move to Company #1 and Engine 9 would move to Company #4 and the Engine 9 body currently does not fit in Company #4. He reported that we have some mechanics and manufacturers looking at the body of Engine 9 to see how feasible that is so that $350,000 that was included in capital for FY 11/12 is not necessarily for any particular truck at this point and will know a lot more about this as we go through and do our due diligence.
Acting Chairman Shea reported that Council approved a 2.77% increase and the Board of Education has passed along to us a 4.41% increase, along with the capital budget, the debt service and the sewers that brings the total budget increase to 3.8% and based on current assumptions this increase would require a tax increase of 4.09%. Acting Chairman Shea asked for comments from Council before a recommendation was made to the Board of Finance.
Mr. Evans questioned the mathematical equation on how we get to the 3.8% budget increase as that number in particularly on the town side includes an understanding with respect to certain revenue sources and took into account our understanding that we were going to have declining investment income as part of our budget. He would have thought that even with a modest increase of our grand list that a 3.8% budget increase would result in something lesser of a tax increase. The Town Manager responded that on the revenue side while we did have a fairly significant increase in the grand list, approximately 0.7% increase on the 2010 grand list, that equates to approximately $520,000 in new revenue; there were a number of other offsets to that revenue and the big ones are the continued reduction in the investment
income; we also made some assumptions with respect to the state/intergovernmental revenues and assumed a reduction of approximately $200,000 in the general fund and then some carryovers in the special revenue funds. He reported that when you start to add back in the reductions it nets out; we also look at the fees for permits and licenses and it all cascades through the revenue budget so that in the end the 4.09% is what it all equates to; having said that it is possible that as we go through the budget process we may be able to add some revenue back. He reported that we have the Governor’s budget proposal; we always start off a little bit conservatively because when we are putting the revenue budget together we are doing it in December/January for a budget to take effect the following July 1st so as things start to firm up a bit it is possible we will add some money back there. Mr. Shea reported that as in the past we are going to learn more
about the state budget in the months of April/May and we will have a better idea as to how it looks. Mr. Evans questioned that is possible that number could go down based on current assumptions. The Town Manager responded that it is possible. Mr. Evans reported that he supports the Board of Education’s budget request; he thinks it is a responsible budget, we heard the presentation from the Acting Superintendent Jody Goeler before us last month and his personal recommendation is that we propose that budget on to the Board of Finance without any further adjustment. Acting Chairman Shea reported that members can make a comment or not make a comment but then the Council needs to pass it on with or without comment.
Mrs. Samul questioned if we knew if the Board of Education approved their budget unanimously and that was everyone was supportive of it. The Town Manager responded that he did not know if it was unanimous. Mrs. Samul reported that she is not going to second guess the Board of Education and would be in favor of moving the budget on to the Board of Finance. Mr. Pena reported that with regards to the Board of Education budget he is not suggesting that they did not come up with a good budget nor is he suggesting that if they were to take more time to deliberate and look at their budget that they could actually, whether it be the Board of Finance or individually or the Board of Education, could come up and some people think they could find extra money but he does think that in these economic times it is
important to suggest to the Board of Finance that they take a hard look at the budget, particularly the Board of Education budget because it is such a large number at close to approximately $50 million. He reported that he owes it to the voters to let them know that he certainly did take a look at the budget and he attends to agree with the Board of Education budget but at the same time he thinks that it is important that he is not suggesting to the Board of Education that they did not come up with a good budget but that the Board of Finance should take a hard look at the Board of Education budget and see if there might be some creative ways of saving some money. He reported that he is more familiar with the town budget as they deal with it on a regular basis whereas some of the items that are on Board of Education’s budget he is not as comfortable.
Acting Chairman Shea reported that his comments will be reserved to that he has participated in and believes in the process and the process is that the Board of Education produces a budget, they pass it along to us; we produce a budget, capital and operating, and we pass it along to the Board of Finance; the Board of Finance then does their job and presents it to the community for comment. He reported that last step is the critical component in all of this so each individual member has had an opportunity to make comments; he would suggest that the Council pass on these budgets without comment to the Board of Finance so that we can go through the very healthy process of finding out what the community thinks and allowing the Board of Finance to act as our check and balance and see what we can accomplish as far as the
budget for FY 11/12. Mr. Evans questioned Acting Chairman Shea’s suggestion that we do not have a formal declaration of a comment as a whole but whatever our individual comments are they are noted for the record. Acting Chairman Shea responded that he did not mean to suggest that but did not hear us come up with a unified comment; if someone would like to try and frame a unified comment they are free to do so; he is in favor of passing it on without comment. Mr. Evans questioned that Acting Chairman Shea’s idea of a comment is a collective comment. Acting Chairman Shea responded that our job is to pass it on with a collective comment or without; the process as we know it, as we have experienced it in the past, takes place. Mr. Evans responded that we should pass the Board of Education on with a comment that we as the Council support the Board of Education budget. Acting Chairman Shea responded that he thinks it would be better framed
that we support the entire budget and thinks that if the unified comment was that we just support the Board of Education budget, the action of us proposing the Town Council budget shows our support but it becomes bulky. Mr. Evans responded that he supports that we as a Council support passing the entirety of the budget, capital, Board of Education, and municipal then he agrees with that. Acting Chairman Shea reported that the entire Council supports these budgets, supports the process, and supports moving these budgets to the Board of Finance and have the full confidence in the Board of Finance and the citizens to participate and comment on the budget.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approves and forwards the FY 11/12 Proposed Budget of $75,643,646 to the Board of Finance, as follows:
REVENUES
Property Tax & Assessments $ 67,128,557
Intergovernmental 3,454,515
Licenses, Fees & Permits 864,480
Charges for Current Services 3,159,655
Other Local Revenues 452,466
Other Financing Sources (Uses) 583,973
TOTAL $ 75,643,646
EXPENDITURES
Town Operating Budget $ 19,614,213
School Operating Budget 47,945,180
Sewer Operating Budget 1,709,207
Capital & Debt Service Budgets:
Debt Service 4,808,189
Capital Budget (CNREF,
Facilities & Equipment) 1,566,857
Subtotal: Capital & Debt Service 6,375,046
TOTAL $ 75,643,646
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Shea, Zacchio, Evans, and Pena voted in favor.
Mr. Shea turned the meeting over to Chairman Zacchio.
10/11-26 Appointment: Avon Clean Energy Commission (12/31/2011)
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council appoint Lisa Levin and Brian Preleski to the Avon Clean Energy Commission.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Evans, and Pena voted in favor.
VIII. NEW BUSINESS
10/11-38 Review and Approval: 2011 Girl Scout Week Proclamation
Chairman Zacchio, on behalf of the Town Council, invited the Girl Scouts at the meeting to come to the front of the room. He stated that they volunteer in an organization and you volunteer in your community and if you do not know the Town Council is all volunteers and we are glad to see that they are involved with Girl Scouts and glad that they see volunteerism as something important for your community because it is and you were able to witness someone who has lived in town for a very long time who is receiving an award for all of her volunteer work and that is the essence of our community and how we continue to move forward as a group because of the good volunteers and you are part of that group so thank you for your service to the Town of Avon and to the Girl Scouts. Chairman Zacchio read the proclamation.
WHEREAS, March 12, marks the 99th anniversary of Girl Scouts of the USA, founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912 in Savannah, Georgia; and,
WHEREAS, throughout its distinguished history, Girl Scouting has inspired millions of girls and women with the highest ideals of courage, confidence, and character; and,
WHEREAS, through the Girl Scout leadership experience girls develop the skills and lessons that will serve them a lifetime so that they may contribute to their communities; and,
WHEREAS, Girl Scouting takes an active role in increasing girls’ awareness of the opportunities available to them today in math, science, sports, technology and other fields that can expand their horizons; and,
WHEREAS, more than 3 million current Girl Scout members nationwide will be celebrating 99 years of this American tradition, with nearly 50 million women who are former Girl Scouts and living proof of the impact of this amazing Movement;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mark Zacchio, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Chairman of the Town Council of Avon, Connecticut, do hereby applaud the commitment Girl Scouting has made to support the leadership development of America’s girls and proudly proclaim the week of March 6, 2011, as Girl Scout Week.
10/11-39 Supplemental Appropriation: Interlocal Animal Control Officer, $18,268.20
Chairman Zacchio reported that this is the portion of the Animal Control Officer’s salary that comes from the Town of Canton; we are in a sharing resource situation with our Animal Control Officer. He reported that this is a formality of accepting these funds which go into the account that will pay her salary.
On a motion made by Mr. Evans, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council hereby recommends that the Board of Finance amend the FY 10/11 Budget by increasing:
REVENUES
General Fund, Other Local Revenues, Interlocal Program Funding, Account #01-0360-43657 in the amount of $18,268.20
and increasing
APPROPRIATIONS
General Fund, Canine Control, General Service, Account #01-2503-52185 in the amount of $18,268.20 for the purpose of recording the Canton share of the Animal Control Officer contract with Avon.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Evans, and Pena voted in favor.
10/11-40 Resignation: Avon Water Pollution Control Authority (R - 12/31/2013)
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Evans, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept with regret the resignation of William Eschert from the Avon Water Pollution Control Authority.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Evans, and Pena voted in favor.
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council adds an item to the agenda – 10/11-42 Appointment: Avon Water Pollution Control Authority.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Evans, and Pena voted in favor.
10/11-41 Approval of Real Estate Tax Refund, $3,283.63
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approves a real estate tax refund to Barbara J. Christofer in the amount of $3,283.63.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Evans, and Pena voted in favor.
10/11-42 Appointment: Avon Water Pollution Control Authority (R-12/31/2013)
On a motion made Mr. Evans, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council appoint Terence Ryan to the Avon Water Pollution Control Authority with a term to expire on December 31, 2013.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Evans, and Pena voted in favor.
IX. TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT/MISCELLANEOUS
Misc. A: Purchasing Update: The Town Manager reported that there are a lot of large contracts that are going out or have gone out for RFP process, the Dial-A-Ride Contract and significant maintenance contracts. He reported that we have various assumptions in the operating budget about how those bids are going to come back.
Misc. B: Library Project: The Town Manager reported that things are coming along very nicely on the project; we are approximately two weeks behind our best case scenario which is something given the winter that we have had. He reported that we have been working with the interior designer to get the furnishing bid out in a competitively bid package. He reported that the Library Building Committee has added back a couple of items that they have identified as being value added, including ceramic tile in the bathroom, sprinkler heads, and lighting fixtures. He reported that we had setup a contingency of approximately $450,000 on this project and looking back Council’s direction was that if there were items as we moved forward that make sense to add back,
the Building Committee with the input from staff would consider that. He reported that we have a very tight list of items for potential add backs; on the $8.7 million project we have approximately $43,000 in potential add backs; $12,489 which have been done so far. He reported that he had a follow-up discussion with Diane Hornaday, Library Building Committee Chair, and all of these items are carefully vetted. He reported that the only reason they would be adding any of these back is if they go through it, and our Director of Public Works is sitting at all of these meetings, and at the end of the day when the project is done it will be his responsibility to maintain it so they are leaning on him and really looking to future wear and tear on these items.
Chairman Zacchio questioned if there is a threshold in which we might want to have the Library Building Committee come back before Council to talk about any of these items. He reported that it certainly makes sense for items that extend maintenance and certainly they are staying within the authorized budget amount, but does it make sense at some degree if we get into some of the larger items. The Town Manager responded that in talking with the Ms. Hornaday some of these items that are on the list we know are not going to be added back, for example, the Preschool Avon Marketplace streetscape, a $5,000 expenditure that they are really going to try to earmark for a donation opportunity. He reported that the only concern that he would have about this in terms of the date by which a decision needs to be made
to add back or not, for those marked 3/16/11, if Council feels strongly about it we can try to get those items extended to April and bring them back around.
Mr. Shea reported that he is comfortable with all of the items that are going to be addressed prior to 3/16/11 but he thinks that the Chairman’s point is a good point and we should leave it up to the Town Manager’s, Assistant to the Town Manager’s, and Director of Public Works’ discretion as to when you should come back and talk to Council about items that are of significance; clearly he thinks that the items that you are including are items that will help us from a maintenance perspective and a quality of control perspective as he is comfortable with the Preschool Avon Marketplace streetscape being removed. Mrs. Samul reported that she has some concerns in that when we voted to increase the contingency she did not understand that we were voting to allow them to add back into the cost of the
project items that they had taken out to get the project down to reach our desired amount. She reported that she understood contingency to mean legitimate change orders, unexpected expenses such as one of the reasons they thought they were able to bring their budget down was a decline in oil prices at that time last summer as well as the general economy and labor, etc.; oil prices are going up, there could be unexpected delivery surcharges, with just four percent of their budget expended they are proposing to reduce their contingency amount by 5-10%; we are ten days behind, they are optimistic that they can make those days up but what if they cannot; it is very, very early in the process to start reinstating things that they had cut by taking it out of contingency. She reported that she has no qualms about any of the things they want, she just thinks this is premature. Mr. Shea reported that from a construction stand point there are timing issues. Mrs. Samul
agreed and added that they have not even gotten bids on everything yet. Mr. Shea responded that he was referring to the items that they need by a certain date and if we pass on those it could either slow the project down or it does not get done.
Mrs. Samul questioned if it is really imperative that the Committee bid or agree to buy the particular fire head now when they have just barely broken ground or could they wait maybe a few more months. The Assistant to the Town Manager responded that Enterprise Builders was asked to put this list together based on lead time for certain items that they had to order, sprinkler heads were a part of the February decision package because of the extensive lead time that was required. He reported that when the budget was being put together the original contingency was $300,000 and there was also a $50,000 owner contingency for discretionary items and during the contract process and getting the project ready for Council were blended and then increased from a total of $350,000 to $450,000 which is what ultimately was
approved. Chairman Zacchio questioned if this is coming out of the same contingency bucket but within the contingency bucket there is an owner contingency of $50,000 for things like this and the remainder of that is construction contingency; and it is early but he would defer to the Assistant to the Town Manager to decide that these are truly items that decision dates are predicated off of lead time and ordering time. The Assistant to the Town Manager responded that if there is a critical item that we needed an extra month to decide he thinks Enterprise Builders can probably do that but they stagger these based on their best guess of when they would need to get these back to the trade so they can get pricing on it. Mrs. Samul questioned that they are going to use all but $6,300 of their money right now, up front, rather than waiting to see if they really need it. The Assistant to the Town Manager responded that the complete list of remaining items is around
$40,000 and they have approved $12,500; he thinks most of these items will probably stay out because they came out for a fairly good reason.
Mr. Shea reported that he has served on three different building committees for the Town of Avon and many different building committees outside of the Town of Avon and one thing that you can lose sight of when you are not on the building committee is that as you go through this process, and use of contingency is an important thing and it should be scrutinized and watched, but as you go through the contingency process an item that might be better used now and save money on the maintenance. He thinks that is where we have to have some flexibility because that is what the contingency is for and that valued judgment. He is sensitive to how contingency is used and how early in the process that it is addressed but the awkwardness of this comes in that the building committee is living, breathing, and working on this
and we are seeing it from a little bit of a distance and it is good to have these checks and balances and good that staff is here to comment on them, but would urge all of us just to have an open mind when it comes to how we view a contingency item; he stated that it should not be a want, it should be more of a we need to do this to better the project and make the future more palatable financially. Mr. Evans questioned if these were items that were already removed from the project as early as last year. The Assistant to the Town Manager responded that they were removed in October/November 2010. Mr. Shea added that these items were identified as potential removal because they had to do some value engineering prior to the bid. The Town Manager reported that these are the items that we were getting down to the bottom of the barrel and really wanted to have them in but because we were not sure how the bids were going to come back we took them out. Mr.
Evans questioned what has changed since October/November 2010 to now for the Committee to say that now the time is right to put them back in. The Town Manager responded that the bids came back more favorable so there is room in the project. Mr. Evans reported that if they are within that $50,000 range that we had already earmarked for that then we should give the Building Committee that discretion.
Chairman Zacchio reported that with the Assistant to the Town Manager and Director of Public Works along for those meetings and understanding the maintenance part of that and how that will save us in the long run, he is comfortable with the decision-making process yet is a little less comfortable with how much we restore and does like the idea of a threshold of some type because although there is only $50,000 when we start to get into the construction phase portions there inevitably may be decisions that do need to be vetted with Council and discuss how those move forward. He is comfortable with this in terms of what has been done and these are items we recognized that if the bids were not as favorable this is the well that we go to; if the bids are ok then these are the ones that we think are still important to us
and the Committee is picking the ones that are long-term maintenance issues that are important. Mrs. Samul reported, being also familiar with construction, knowing that when it is your project sometimes it is just a few extra pennies for this or little bit more for that regardless of what the item is it is easy to lose track of the bottom line number so she is comfortable because she knows the Assistant to the Town Manager is monitoring that bottom line effect and she appreciates that as these nickels and dimes add up and would like some kind of threshold to be kept informed. Chairman Zacchio reported that maybe the threshold is that any of the construction contingency needs to be vetted with Council. Mrs. Samul reported that the cost of oil impacts so much, including just the transportation of cabinets, etc. she could see them having to go into contingencies. The Assistant to the Town Manager reported that one of the trades has already asked that we
consider giving them more money in light of commodities cost going through the roof and we have the Architect and Construction Manager to listen to their concern, review their request, and then promptly respond.
Misc. C: Avon Old Farms Road Project: The Town Manager reported that we are still waiting for political movement at the state; the new Governor is making a lot of progress in terms of appointing department heads and commissioners but as of yet we do not have any DOT Commissioner but rest assured that once they make the announcement for who it is we will be sure to schedule an appointment, go down, and give the Commissioner an update on the project. He reported, by way of background, that Fisher Meadows was under water today so we were able to get some good footage and that will go into the file. Adam Lazinsk reported that at around 1:00 p.m. today one could barely see the tops of some guard rails and at the intersection of Tillotson Road and Old Farms Road maybe
eight inches but there is a dip before you get to Fisher Meadows entrance and it is probably two feet.
Misc. D: Farmington Valley Health District: The Town Manager reported that the Health District is going to be moving effective July 1, 2011. He reported that they have been located at 50 Avon Meadow Lane for the last five years and it was an economic decision as they found office space in Canton on River Road that better meets their needs and is at a lower price. He reported that they had a sub-committee that was appointed by the District Board to look into options, an RFP process was completed, and that was the best space that they found. He reported that it is a substantial savings to the District which of course helps us because it keeps our per capita cost down.
Misc. E: Assignment of Town Vehicles: The Town Manager reported this item comes up every so often and it is a good idea every once in a while to give Council an overview of the policies and procedures that we have in place and the positions that are assigned vehicles basically for commutation purposes. He reported that out of the entire population of town employees there are seven positions right now that have the ability to use their town-assigned vehicles for commutation purposes and that is down from a high from nine or ten a couple of years ago; we have had a few retirements in Public Works and those positions have not been replaced or have been reclassified so they do not require town vehicles. He reported that the former Town Manager had a town vehicle.
He reported that of the seven positions, four of them are in the Police Department, the Chief, the Captain, and the two Lieutenants; there are two in Public Works being the Director of Public Works and the Deputy Director of Public Works; and there is one position in Engineering and that employee is responsible for the maintenance and emergency response to all of our pump stations and sewer lines in town. He reported that there is a policy that goes back to 1986 which was adopted by Council that has since been updated, but basically there was a determination made that the nature of these positions is such that they require a vehicle for commutation purposes and that is basically emergency response; these are all positions that are on call 24/7 and these vehicles are outfitted with specialty equipment. He reported that for all of these positions we look at the data for how often they respond; at least twice a month the police department is getting called to crime
scenes or other responses after hours; a lot of these pump stations are in sensitive areas and if you have an overflow situation or a pump that is malfunctioning that can very quickly turn into an entirely disastrous situation. He reported that the key with these positions is that because of the call-outs that they may have to respond to we do not want them slowed down, to have to come back and go to the appropriate department to pick up their vehicle and then respond; we want to have the ability to get there as quickly as they possibly can. He reported that there is a cost associated with it; whether or not they have commutation we would still have to have vehicles on site for these employees because when you look at the cost for providing a vehicle versus the cost of an IRS reimbursement these are employees that are in their cars all day so that reimbursement cost would rival the cost of a vehicle to begin with. He reported that the total cost of providing the
vehicles per year is approximately $30,000 by the time you add up operation cost of the vehicle in town with a fraction of that being the cost of providing the employee with the ability to commute back and forth. He reported that he took a careful look at it and with any of these positions he feels that these are all positions that it really is in the town’s best interest to have them supplied with the equipment to respond in the quickest and most efficient way possible. He reported that it is not a reason to provide these employees with the vehicles but other towns basically have the same practice for the same reason; if it did not make sense then he would be making a different recommendation but it really does and it is important. Chairman Zacchio reported that he asked the Town Manager to take a fresh look at this as it was a request that we relook at this again even though we had just examined it less than one year ago.
Mr. Shea reported that each Council member should weigh in individually as the e-mail was addressed to all Council members and if we all weigh in we will then be able to respond as a Council if we are able to do that. Mr. Shea reported that he supports the Town Manager’s reasons and the town’s policies for the vehicles and the present use thereof. Chairman Zacchio agreed completely. Mr. Pena reported that it is important to understand that the jobs being performed, as they are on call 24/7, require it to be made easier for them to be able to access their job and agreed. Chairman Zacchio reported that when the police staff are in the town cruisers are required to respond to emergency situations and people in need. Adam Lazinsk responded that he did not know whether they are
required by law to or not but it certainly provides them the opportunity and does not know how frequently that occurs or does not occur. The Town Manager reported that the personal use nature of the vehicles, the police because of the special nature of public safety they do have personal use of the vehicles; the other employees do not. He reported that the policy spends some time on that and for those other three positions they can use it for minuscule personal uses. Mr. Evans questioned when the Town Manager was analyzing it as far as the cost does it include the wear and tear on the vehicles that are resulted from the additional miles which are put on every year or straight out of pocket every year. The Town Manager responded that you would have to know the miles that are attributed to commutation; it is the operating cost and then you assume it is a fraction of the operating cost that is attributed to the commutation privilege. Mr. Evans reported
that it is a sound policy and these are persons who have active and direct need for use of vehicles on and off their time and supports it as written. Mrs. Samul reported that this is the most cost effective way to serve the community and meet the needs of the community.
The Town Manager reported that the Obama Administration declared the disaster that Connecticut had requested so it looks like there will be some money from FEMA for the storm back on January 12, 2011. He reported that our cost for that storm was approximately $50,000; if we are fully eligible we will get back approximately 75% of that cost.
X. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Litigation/Negotiation
A. Pending Claim/Litigation – Avon High School Boiler
B. Discussion of strategy with respect to pending claims by the Police Union
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Evans, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council go into Executive Session at 8:50 p.m.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Pena, and Evans voted in favor.
The Town Manager, the Assistant to the Town Manager, and the Clerk attended the session.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council come out of Executive Session at 9:20 p.m.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Pena, and Evans voted in favor.
XI. ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m.
Attest:
Caroline B. LaMonica
Clerk
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