AVON TOWN COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
September 1, 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. Shea, Pena, and Evans.
II. PUBLIC HEARING
11/12-07 Accept Property from Susan M. Maskel, Sandra T. Schwartz and Marjorie Swank to the Town of Avon
The Town Council held the following Public Hearing:
“TOWN OF AVON
LEGAL NOTICE
NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING
Notice is hereby given that the Town of Avon, Connecticut will hold a Public Hearing on Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. at the Avon Town Hall, Selectmen’s Chamber, 60 West Main Street, Avon, Connecticut to consider the following:
The Town of Avon to accept a parcel of land from Susan M. Maskel, Sandra T. Schwartz and Marjorie Swank situated on the Southerly side of Haynes Road known as Lot #41 on a map entitled “LAND SUBDIVISION PLAN – NORTHINGTON-NOLAN KERSHNER BUILDERS INC. AVON, CONNECTICUT MERTON HODGE land surveyor UNIONVILLE CONNECTICUT SCALE 1” – 100’ DATE 1-24-1955 REVISED 1-27-55, 4-14-1955.
Dated at Avon, Connecticut this 5th day of August, 2011.
Brandon L. Robertson, Town Manager.”
Chairman Zacchio reported that back in 2005 the Council considered in lieu of back taxes from an estate, approximately 1.1 acres on Haynes Road. He reported that because of a title transfer issue that has drawn out until today and we felt with the legal advice that it was appropriate that we have an additional public hearing on the matter as time has passed and the amount of back taxes has grown from approximately $1,750 to $3,500. Mr. Evans questioned what this parcel is worth in current dollars. The Town Manager responded it will be minimal. Mr. Evans questioned if it is more or less than the $3,600 in back taxes owed. Chairman Zacchio responded that it is probably strategically more, the piece of property is currently deemed as wetlands or not buildable by the Farmington Valley Health
District, where it does have an advantage is that it butts up to the rear portion of the Smith Farm which is currently privately held but open space nonetheless. He reported that what he thinks the Council considered back in 2005 was because of its topography in connection to that piece of property that it had a value that was important and because the estate did not sell it made sense for us to take ownership of it.
Chairman Zacchio closed the Public Hearing.
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept a parcel of land from Susan M. Maskel, Sandra T. Schwartz and Marjorie Swank situated on the Southerly side of Haynes Road known as Lot #41 on a map entitled “LAND SUBDIVISION PLAN – NORTHINGTON-NOLAN KERSHNER BUILDERS INC. AVON, CONNECTICUT MERTON HODGE land surveyor UNIONVILLE CONNECTICUT SCALE 1” – 100’ DATE 1-24-1955 REVISED 1-27-55, 4-14-1955 to the Town of Avon.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Pena, Shea, and Evans voted in favor.
III. MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETING: August 4, 2011
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept the August 4, 2011 minutes as submitted.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Pena, and Evans voted in favor.
IV. COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE - None
V. COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL
Mrs. Samul reported that she talked with Nancy Anstey with the Farmington Valley Visitors Association today and Mrs. Anstey told her how other towns like New Hartford, Simsbury, and Farmington, all have brochures that she can hand out to people telling them a little bit about the history of the town, the school system, the municipal structure, but nothing on Avon. She reported that Mrs. Anstey would be very interested in the town putting together a tri-fold brochure. She asked the Town Manager if he was familiar with what was done in Simsbury, what his thoughts on that were. The Town Manager responded that Simsbury has a separate Tourism Committee that has a budget to publish various publications every year, brochures, trail maps; they used to do a coloring map of sites around Simsbury. He reported
that it is certainly easy enough to do and in the past in Avon, approximately ten years ago, there was a folder that was put together by a professional advertising firm and it was about doing business in Avon, living in Avon, and so on. Mr. Pena reported that in 1999 the Chamber of Commerce did one in conjunction with the Town and published quite a few of them and gave them to realtors and were distributed accordingly. He reported that as many as we printed, it was too many as they did not go anywhere, the demand was there but it just never materialized. He thinks it is a great idea but caution the number of copies that are made; it was not inexpensive but Group 4 actually did them for us.
Mr. Shea reported that if we are going to look at that, we should also look at our web site and making it as user friendly as possible not that it is not, he thinks it is good but it could be better. He suggested that perhaps Mrs. Anstey could look at the web site and provide us with some information or insight to where she thinks it could be improved. He also suggested that we reach out to the Chamber of Commerce and a Realtor Association if there is one in Avon to get their ideas. He reported that if it goes along until next summer we could make it a summer intern project or for some high school students if they are looking to participate; there are a lot of innovative ways that we can try to communicate our message that are so different than it was in 1999; those were valuable but he also questions
the usage and if Steve McGuff, who was on the Board of Finance and involved with the Chamber of Commerce, was here he would have shared those thoughts also but nonetheless a worthy topic.
Chairman Zacchio reported that the timing on this is really good as we are going to be looking at the web site from some of the public comment received from Storm Irene around whether or not we can carve out an emergency section, update road closures and the like, so while we are taking a look at the web design we might consider this as well. The Town Manager reported that a couple of weeks ago at a Rotary Club meeting there was an economic development consultant who used the Town of Avon’s web site and pointed out some of the shortcomings, some of the areas where it could be a little better in terms of the information it provides to developers and so on; and after hearing that he and the Assistant to the Town Manager are discussing working with the Director of Planning and Town Assessor and talk with Mark
Waterhouse, Economic Development Consultant, and take a look at best practices, see what some of the other communities are doing, and we will model something accordingly.
Mr. Shea re-emphasized his point, and he knows that we might need more expertise than a high school student could provide, but we could reach out to the faculty at Avon High and make it an ongoing fall and spring project in coordination with the Board of Education and the students and where we need professional insight, guidance or expertise we can use it but why not take advantage of some students that could benefit from that from both credit and experience standpoints if they are willing. Mrs. Samul responded that she was thinking of transferees, but also businesses that might be interested in coming in and trying to encourage that. Mr. Pena reported that businesses that do want to come into the area are always looking for that and they do go to the web site. Mrs. Samul reported that she was not
thinking of anything as elaborate as what the Town Manager describes Simsbury is doing, but rather a simple tri-fold. Mr. Shea responded that it is always good to look at the efforts and evaluate the efforts of our Economic Development Officer.
Mr. Pena thanked the Town Manager for all of the communication during Storm Irene. He appreciated the e-mails and updates and status; it made it easy to share with other people and appreciated the fact that we do have that kind of communication. He also expressed thanks to the Town staff that was involved and appreciates it very much.
Mr. Pena reported that during the last budget session someone mentioned that maybe we should consider when we have the budget referendum adding a line as to whether or not why they voted no. He reported that at that time, Mr. Harrison, Board of Finance Chairman, was addressing the crowd at that particular meeting and Mr. Harrison said it was a good idea but felt that it was late in the game to look into and might confuse the voter but something to give consideration. Mr. Pena reported that he wanted to get ahead of the curve, he is not in favor or disfavor of it, but in the event that it should be brought up at least we will have some information as to whether or not it is something that we want to pursue not to say that we would or would not. He questioned who would be the driver with it, he thinks it
would be the Council. He suggested the Town Manager research to find out if any towns actually do this. Mr. Shea responded that part of this is the Charter and it drives a lot of what we do as we go through the process, recognizing at the end of that process the Town Council if three referenda were to fail, as recently happened, the Town Council has some responsibility as to setting a budget. He would first look to the Charter and start there; although it was a worthy suggestion he thinks we have to use caution about how we go about doing something like that in light of how we obtain information and try to communicate information. Mr. Pena agreed and restated that he is not way or the other with it, but he thinks it warrants not waiting until someone brings it back up in May and responding that we do not have time to look into it or it might confuse the voter whereas we know a little bit ahead of time and we could make a decision. Chairman Zacchio
asked the Town Manager to go back to the Charter and research as to where that comes from; his recollection is that has come up before and that is under the authority of the Board of Finance to consider what is on the budget ballot because it is a Board of Finance issue; if it indeed is the authority of the Board of Finance to make that consideration let the Board of Finance know that we had this conversation and provide them with a copy of the minutes and ask that they revisit it.
Chairman Zacchio thanked our emergency staff during Storm Irene, including but not limited to: Jamie DiPace, Emergency Management Director was up all night sending messages, Alan Rosenberg, Director of Social Services to make sure people are cared for, the Town Manager, Chief of Police, and our Public Works Department; they did a fabulous job for Avon and we were fortunate not to get the brunt of the storm as most of the eastern part of the State did however we did get our share of flooding and problems and they did a great job and deserve some recognition for it. He thanked the Town Manager for everything that he did and asked to make sure that the team knows that we are very grateful for what they provided for us. The Town Manager responded that he would be happy to that and also shared that this was his
first real emergency in the Town of Avon, a very significant weather event, and he is pleased to report that you have a very good team, everybody worked well together and Gary Mala, the Superintendent of Schools came in on Saturday morning and sat through some pre-event meetings. He reported that in Council’s folders this evening is a brief synopsis, a play-by-play, and some additional about how the FEMA reimbursement process is going to work and hopefully you find it useful. He reported that next week he will hold a post-event debriefing, get all of the players around the table and talk about our experience, where we can improve, where we did well, and get better for the next one.
VI. OLD BUSINESS
10/11-58 Appointment: Wild & Scenic River Study Committee (D – 12/31/2011)
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Shea, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table the appointment to the Wild & Scenic River Study Committee to the October 6, 2011 meeting.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Pena, and Evans voted in favor.
10/11-59 Appointment: Youth Services Bureau Advisory Board
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Evans, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council appoint Harrison Stanczyc to the Youth Services Bureau Advisory Board with a term to expire on December 31, 2011.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Pena, and Evans voted in favor.
VII. NEW BUSINESS
11/12-12 Transfer of Appropriation within the Capital Projects Fund and Appropriation
from Use of School Facilities Fund Undesignated Fund Balance and Transfer
of Appropriation to Capital Projects Fund, $40,000
Chairman Zacchio reported that tonight we have to officially approve an appropriation for the Avon Middle School tennis courts donation from the Town and the Board of Education. He reported that last month we talked about going through this process and developing an appropriation that used $20,000 of designated fund balance from a capital account on the Town side and $20,000 from the Board of Education and we have an additional donation from the Town to the tennis court funding group. He reported that the reason we needed to do this was the United States Tennis Association is in line for an approximate $36,000 grant and wanted to see an official movement by the Town to show that we had the dollars behind it to complete the project. He reported that this is contingent on the receipt of that grant and the
tennis court funding group to come up with the rest of the funds so no money moves now until that takes place and once that does take place we move this money to complete the designated fund balance account to be able to work on the tennis courts; if we do not receive those monies this would then stay where it is and probably go to the reserve account at the end of the year and this would be a budget item in the capital budget for us to consider on a priority basis.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council hereby recommends that the Board of Finance amend the FY 11/12 budget by transferring from Capital Projects Fund (Facil & Equip), Town CIP-Facilities, Police Communications Center Upgrade, Account #02-4829-53070 to Capital Projects Fund (Facil & Equip), BOE CIP Facilities, AMS Tennis Courts, Account #02-4859-53109 in the amount of $20,000; and an appropriation not to exceed $20,000 from Use of School Facilities, Other Financing Sources, Undesignated Fund Balance, Account #15-0390-43913 and Use of School Facilities, Other Financing Uses, Interfund Transfer-Out, Account #15-8700-58000; to Capital Projects Fund (Facil & Equip), BOE CIP-Facilities, AMS Tennis Courts, Account #02-4859-53109 and Capital Projects Fund (Facilities & Equipment), Other Financing
Sources, Interfund Operating Transfers-In Account #02-0390-43918 in the amount of $20,000 for the purpose of Town and BOE funding for the AMS Tennis Courts.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Pena, and Evans voted in favor.
11/12-13 Presentation: Avon Clean Energy Commission/Energy Plan
Chairman Zacchio reported that we have a presentation tonight from the Clean Energy Commission by Chairman Bernie Zahren along with Steve Weisman, our consultant who has been hired with the federal grant that we have used for regional approach at our energy plan.
Mr. Zahren reported that the Clean Energy Commission meets every month and noted that another member of the Commission was in the audience, Marty Kaplan and publicly thanked Marty who has put in many hours not only on our Commission but on the joint Commission looking at the potential for the hydro facilities along the River; he does his homework and is an important member of the Clean Energy Commission.
Mr. Zahren reported this is a good news, bad news story; the good news is that Mr. Weisman has done a job that normally a town would write an energy plan and say we want to address our energy use and reduce it to have a greener profile. The first item in most of those plans is the need to establish a baseline, do an inventory of all of our facilities and see what we are working with. He reported that we have put the cart before the horse because we have this grant and so we jumped right into it and we now have a very good baseline on both the Board of Education and Town facilities, outlining everything including potential areas for savings. He reported that still on the good news side is that among the five towns that are sharing this $250,000 grant, it is Mr. Weisman’s opinion that we are in the
best shape, we have done a lot and thanks to the Town Council, the Board of Education, our schools, and town facilities have done quite a bit in energy conservation already. He reported that the bad news is that is the low hanging fruit, the stuff that is kind of easy; if changing these light bulbs has a one and a half year payback in energy savings it is a pretty easy thing to do. He reported that the Commission in conjunction with a previous grant that we had not only changed the garage doors in the maintenance facility but this summer we used the balance of that grant to change lighting in the schools; those are easy decisions because the payback is very quick. He reported that Mr. Weisman will get into some of the highlights of where we might go.
Mr. Zahren reported that their primary recommendation is that we set a goal of reducing our energy use using a metric of usage per square foot because it does not make sense unless you have a metric to measure it against, for example, we hope the library is going to be a lot more efficient per usable square foot of space but obviously by doubling the size of the library you are going to have a bigger energy bill than you had with the old library so you cannot just say that you want a lower energy bill than we had before that is not feasible but on a per square footage basis it is fifty percent less energy intensive than we are getting somewhere. He reported that their recommendation is to shoot for a fifteen percent reduction in our energy intensity per square footage by 2015 and that would involve converting
everything to a uniform BTU-type of equivalent whether it is electric or fuel for our vehicles or gas or oil or whatever form of energy we may be using. He reported that the second goal which is a little bit broader and a little more difficult to clearly define is a standard that many towns and indeed many states are promoting and our state is as well which is twenty percent renewable energy by 2020. He reported that they said twenty percent clean energy because it is possible that we would still be using a fossil fuel but using a cleaner method of doing that and he considers that is a win also; gas is cleaner than coal, we do not have an electric generating plant here in the Town that we can convert but on a micro-level we could get to that. He reported that they have left a couple of blanks in there, this is a draft energy plan and it is up to the Town, staff, and various parties to look at this and say if we looked at our street lighting what do we really think
we could do; they did not want to throw a number in there and say ok you have to reduce your energy efficiency there because we have no real hard cost numbers yet as to what it would cost; everything we do has to be cost effective. He reported the same with using our vehicle fuel, what can we do? He reported that some day he would hope that we have an all electric fleet but that is somewhere downstream as you replace vehicles as they become more efficient. He reported that the final recommendation is the carbon footprint, something he is very passionate about because he does believe that unless we address the carbon issue we have a long-term problem with the acceleration of the rate of global climate change; global climate change happens no matter what but we are accelerating it by our use of fossil fuel so we want to deliver that message.
Mr. Zahren reported that this energy plan is just for the Town and Board of Education facilities, but the long-term plan is and will take some time and implementation as to get the whole town engaged in this through a dialogue through some charettes that we may run on a town-wide basis but not quite ready to tackle that problem yet but we do want to engage the town. He reported that the first thing they hope to do and this is going to be done through the initiative of the Board of Education, Gary Mala has promised to go to the Parent Teacher Organizations in all of the schools and see if we can get them to join together in a contest to get free solar panels primarily for the Middle School; the new roof that went on there a year or so ago which cost approximately $6 million was designed with panels in mind at a
future date but as of today we have only qualified in the town for two kilowatts which does not begin to justify putting in a system with all of the infrastructure but if we get up to ten or twelve kilowatts it is a viable system and in order to do that we have to get town residents to sign up for basically buying the RECs (renewable energy certificates). He also thanked Council for endorsing the fifteen percent by 2015 initiative. He reported that we bought those RECs very cheaply because they come from states where they do not really have any value; we just passed an energy value in Connecticut that is putting a bogey on RECs of $350 which is $0.35 per kilowatt, a very significant new incentive in Connecticut for renewable and hopefully we can take advantage of that in some of the designs of renewable energy systems that we would use in the town. He reported that the first initiative that the Clean Energy Commission wants to support and look to the Council to
support is to urge our citizens to sign up for clean energy; if you change your basic energy supplier to one of the cheaper alternatives to CL&P which are out there and at the same time you sign up for the clean energy option which costs you a little bit more, the net of the two should amount to paying nothing extra on your electric bill but in the process we get free solar panels for our schools. He reported that it would not only be a great initiative to see the panels on the school roofs but it is a great teaching vehicle for the students in Middle School; it is something that Gary Mala support very strongly. He reported that the new energy bill passed by the State Legislature in June has a lot of goodies in it; none of which are fully implemented, for example the sale of SRECs for renewable energy is to establish some form of bidding process by the end of this year instead of the Clean Energy Fund that they gave out grants and have now created the Clean Finance
and Investment Authority which means they are looking to loan money at subsidized rates and to draw private capital in to help finance renewable energy in the state and that could be a very significant effort because private capital will be attracted to these things as the costs come down. He reported that solar panels are dropping and has great potential for multiple uses in this town; a solar installation cost eight to ten years ago is now less than half of that price. He reported that the State has set, relative to the our fifteen percent reduction by 2015, a goal of ten percent reduction in all of their facilities by 2013 and another ten percent by 2018; they do not define specifically on the same metric that we are talking about which is a comparable use per square foot of facilities but theirs is in general a little more aggressive than ours so ours is not over the top.
Mr. Weisman reported that his firm was hired by five towns in collaboration under a regional energy grant and of the five communities they have worked with thus far from the point of view of current levels of energy efficiency and what he would characterize as investment in infrastructure, Avon is clearly the leader. He reported that each of the five communities is very different in terms of their demographics, character, size, the kinds of buildings they have, and he thinks those differences are in part reflected in building performance and perhaps their philosophy towards reinvestment. He thanked Mrs. Samul who found their arithmetic errors and the bottom line is that we are currently spending approximately $2 million on energy between electricity, gas, and oil, plus additional money for transportation fuel
for all of the town vehicles that is a significant amount of money and potentially one of the few controllable costs that you have in the town budget if you elect to control it. He reported that they have identified some specific areas and opportunities for us to reduce costs in specific buildings; their charge in the context of the grant is to take this very specific information on the ground looking at buildings, street lights, and vehicles and incorporate them in an action plan that summarizes what we can do. He reported that in general the facilities managers that we have are very attentive to all of this and what is critical in the long run is for the Town to adopt and embrace an ethic of energy efficiency so that everyone who makes decisions with respect to Town buildings including yourselves, building managers, teachers, students, Town staff, are all thinking about the cost implications of decisions they make, to leave lights on, etc. He reported that the
plan ultimately will suggest that the Town Council and the Board of Education provide leadership. He reported that a lot more detail will appear in the final energy plan including discussion about potential for renewables if that is something that the Town wants to pursue.
Chairman Zacchio questioned with regards to reducing the operations by fifteen percent by 2015 off a 2008 baseline and being halfway there, how are we doing against the fifteen percent? Mr. Weisman responded that they have not done the calculation yet; the reason we set the 2008 baseline rather than starting now is that in talking to the Board of Education officials in particular they saw that over the last three or four years they had already made significant investment in energy efficiency and felt that it was not unreasonable to give them credit; they had taken advantage of all of the programs that CL&P offered and so because 2008 is the baseline year to get the fifteen percent you are halfway there. Chairman Zacchio questioned when the energy plan will be completely updated. Mr. Weisman responded
that he is hoping for November 1, 2011.
Mr. Pena questioned if the Commission has a booth at Avon Day. Mr. Zahren responded yes. Mr. Pena questioned if residents can sign up there for the energy program. Mr. Zahren responded that they tried two years ago and it is a hard sell with the other activities going on plus residents need to sign-up through the link on the Town’s web site in order to receive credit for the solar panels. Mr. Zahren reported that they could try to obtain the resident’s name and e-mail address at the booth and follow-up with the sign-up process. Mr. Pena reported that the process needs to be simplified. Mr. Pena reported that in addition to having the PTO involved, perhaps also sending the elementary students home with some kind of literature. Mr. Zahren that material can be provided. Mr. Pena added that by stating that if you sign up so many families you get a free solar panel, there is a goal to be achieved and it could drive the program.
Mr. Zahren responded that the goal is to get the students engaged. He reported that they had run an energy savings contest with the schools in 2010 and Thompson Brook School won and were presented with their plaque yesterday; the students were enthused, they get this and understand what the differences are and some of the impacts of saving energy. He envisions a contest between the schools as represented by the parents as well as the students. Mr. Zahren added that he hopes we can have a goal of making Avon green; we are ranked as the number one town by Hartford Magazine in our population range in the region so he wants Avon to be the number one green town.
Mrs. Samul questioned the term “average condition” with regards to Board of Education buildings and asked to confirm that this refers to the condition of the structure and not referring to energy consumption. Mr. Weisman responded that the term refers to the physical building, although in terms of energy efficiency your buildings are very efficient. Mrs. Samul questioned that the plan is comparing everything whether it is a police station or a school building to office buildings, office buildings vary depending on the size and of the age. There is no standard for the various types of municipal buildings where the consumption can be compared to other municipal buildings. Mr. Weisman responded that municipal buildings are often very much like office buildings at their core with the
exception of animal shelters, police stations, town garages or fire stations; there are metrics that can be used. He reported that the purpose of providing this analysis is to look at some of these buildings and if they really jump out at you; their initial goal is not to say you are better than the Town of Simsbury or the Town of Bloomfield. He reported that he can look at some of these numbers and say that, for example, the police station has an energy use index of 188 and he would expect it to be closer to 120. Mrs. Samul questioned why. Mr. Weisman responded that it is what we typically see for other police facilities. Mrs. Samul reported that rather than making this presentation more complicated by comparing it with other like facilities you chose to go with a standard. Mr. Weisman responded that at this point this is all raw data meaning we have not compared it to anything except to take the energy use and divide it by the number of square
feet of the building and provide a score. Mr. Weisman reported that benchmarking is really big in just about any field anywhere and the energy field is no different; the biggest difficulty with benchmarking is you do not really know much about what you are being compared to, what their habits are, how old the equipment is, or what is going on in the building. Mrs. Samul questioned under the recommended energy goals, at what point is there a tipping between energy efficiency and safety or is that for us to decide? Mr. Weisman responded that presumably if you want to go with more efficient lights in the end they have to be lights meaning they are there for a purpose and they have to do the job. He reported that their perspective on efficiency in any context is that it should not interfere with your business objectives and your business objective for lighting is safety and secure. Mr. Weisman reported that the question is if we can come up with an
alternative product that gets the job done at either a lower expense in terms of energy use or in terms of maintenance cost. Chairman Zacchio commented that it focuses on getting the work done but not at the expense of the energy efficiency. Mr. Zahren reported that the whole life cycle monitoring of these things is important. Mr. Weisman reported that one of their goals in doing their analysis is to make sure that people understand the energy implications of the decisions they make. He reported that to the extent that the cost is a priority they will point it out but the decision as to what is most important to you is yours.
Mr. Pena questioned if they looked at anything related to a privately owned business that maybe you can make an example to other businesses with how cost efficient they are at saving energy. Mr. Weisman responded that their charge is to focus on municipal energy. Mr. Zahren reported that is the next phase which is a much bigger job and take this message not only to homeowners but to the businesses and everyone that comes through this Town of how we reduce the overall carbon footprint in energy intensity. He reported that there are proactive things that you will be able to do over time, for example, change your building codes to be more efficient that is one way to get people’s attention towards this but you have to be cost effective in that as well.
Chairman Zacchio thanked Mr. Zahren and Mr. Weisman for their presentation which was very informative and brought Council up to speed. He asked what with the next steps if they need anything from Council. The Assistant to the Town Manager responded that the main goal tonight was to give an update, to talk about the goal that the Commission has been struggling with, some of the members wanted to go higher than fifteen percent by 2015 while some thought lower was better and settled on fifteen because based on what is happened since 2008 they thought they could get there, and put the draft in front of Council for your review and comment.
11/12-14 Approval of Real Estate Tax Refunds, $24,735.51
On a motion made by Mr. Evans, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approves real estate tax refunds to the following homeowners: Julia Burnett $7,003.06, Corelogic Tax Services $3,286.50, James E. Pabich $3,195.60, Paul F. & Linda S. Pendergast $3,782.42, Bryan M. Schleppy $1,299.08, and Ariane Sirop $6,168.85.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Pena, and Evans voted in favor.
Mrs. Samul questioned if it was any one lender with this or a smattering. The Town Manager responded that it is a combination; in some circumstances what happened was that even though homeowners were escrowing they were also getting statements in the mail and perhaps forgetting that they were escrowing and paid the statement direct; it was not a town wide issue. Mr. Pena reported that he also received a bill for his house taxes and even though he does pay escrow when he came to Town Hall to pay other taxes he was told that the house taxes had been paid by the bank.
11/12-15 Review and Approval: United Way Day of Caring Proclamation
Chairman Zacchio reported that we are also being recognized at the Senior Center’s Luau Lunch scheduled for September 7, 2011 as one of the twenty signature projects featured by that day.
On a motion made by Mr. Evans, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council waive the reading of the entire resolution and approve the resolution as follows:
WHEREAS: September 7, 2011, marks United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut’s 20th Annual Day of Caring; and
WHEREAS: In excess of 65,000 volunteers from 220 workplaces have shared their time and talent with more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations and schools in the 40 towns served by United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut; and
WHEREAS: United Way’s mission is to engage people to improve lives and change community conditions; and
WHEREAS: The Town of Avon wishes to thank all volunteers for their time and energy in joining the force to build a better community.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, THAT I, Mark W. Zacchio, Chairman of the Avon Town Council, Avon Connecticut, do hereby recognize and proclaim September 7, 2011 as United Way Day of Caring Day in the Town of Avon and commend all volunteers for their efforts and contributions in this great community event.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs. Zacchio, Evans, Shea, and Pena voted in favor.
11/12-16 Review, Discussion, Set Public Hearing: Acceptance of Sewer Easement:
131 Deepwood Drive
The Town Manager reported that Engineering is recommending acceptance of the easement so all documents should be in order and he recommends that Council schedule a public hearing. Mr. Evans questioned when the project is expected to be completed. The Town Manager responded that it is complete; this is from Phase 1 of the project. He reported that typically the easements are completed at the end of the process but in the case of Haynes Road (which will be discussed further under Town Manager’s Report) there is a value to that easement that the Town will be paying and he wanted to make Council aware.
On a motion made by Mr. Evans, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council schedule a public hearing to accept a permanent easement on or over a certain piece of land situated in the Town of Avon as shown and designated as “Proposed 20.00’ Sanitary Sewer Easement to the Town of Avon” on a map entitled “Map Showing Proposed Sanitary Sewer Easement In Favor of Town of Avon Across Property of David & Victoria Dicenso 131 Deepwood Drive Avon Connecticut Scale 1”=40’ September 2009 to be held at the October 6, 2011 meeting.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Pena, and Evans voted in favor.
11/12-17 BOE Lease/Purchase Request Pursuant to Debt Policy
Chairman Zacchio reported that this is a practice that the Board of Education has used in the past in terms of leasing technology for a number of years and using that in a budget go forward, just a smaller amount each year, instead of one big lump sum purchase. He reported that the difference here is that they have just finished the lease of current technology that is within the schools, at the end of that lease they had done a purchase option which is more expensive than the Board of Education wants to spend to keep that technology so that is being packed up and sent back. He reported that Council did not have to approve that because there was no capital asset at the end of the lease but because the lease that they are looking into is a purchase lease whereas at the end of the lease for one dollar they will
own the equipment. He reported that the Board of Education is now are invoking an idea that they will roll that technology down into the lower grades and replace the newer technology at the higher grades because there is an asset at the end of it. He reported that it falls under the Town’s debt policy whereas we need to look at anything where we are putting debt out against the ceiling for debt which we all know we are far under the limits on so that is why it is before Council tonight.
The Town Manager reported that we are well below our debt limits but this does count towards the debt limit and we will have to disclose it in the CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) and the Official Statement.
Mr. Evans asked Mr. Franzi with the computers that have now come off lease that they could have purchased them if they wanted to. Mr. Franzi responded yes but it was at a much higher price than a dollar buyout; it was a fair market value lease including the asset disposition and asset recovery; they had an opportunity to buy it but based on the three-year old condition of the equipment and the purchasing price it was more favorable to move in the direction with a new lease with a one dollar buyout at the end. Mr. Evans questioned if they had a chance to value some of the computer equipment and determine whether it was worth it to bring it down to lower levels. Mr. Franzi responded that they did not look at that aspect of it because the mix of this next equipment is going to desktops and laptops and
different than what is currently in the district at this point. He reported that the plan will be if they enter into this new lease purchase financing would be at the end of the four years to do a one dollar buyout and cascade that down into the other schools but helping them to stay current with technology so they are not building their operating budget up with several thousand dollars to do it all in a one shot acquisition; this keeps a steady line item going forward for a specific amount and keeps them current with technology.
On a motion made by Mr. Evans, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council approve the Board of Education technology lease pursuant to the Town of Avon’s Debt Policy.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Pena, and Evans voted in favor.
VIII. TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT/MISCELLANEOUS
Misc. A: Purchasing Update: This item was not discussed at the meeting. Mr. Pena commented regarding online recreation registration with the contract ending on December 31, 2011 and when he looks at the monthly reports the Director of Recreation and Parks indicates his frustration because of the low number of people utilizing the online registration program at approximately seventeen percent. He questioned how the other eighty-three percent are registering for programs. The Town Manager responded that they are registering via mail or coming into the Recreation and Parks Department. Mr. Pena commented that the online registration needs to be promoted and/or have some kind of incentive to get people to sign up online. He also suggested that perhaps
if people are walking into the Recreation and Parks Department that there is computer there to register online instead of waiting in line. The Assistant to the Town Manager reported that the Director of Recreation and Parks has talked to Canton and Simsbury and they are seeing two or three times the level of turnout; part of the problem is the system we currently have people get frustrated, leave the house, drive to Town Hall, and tell the Recreation and Parks Department that they started your online system, got frustrated so I am here to sign up. Mr. Pena reported that he went to the online registration and it is a frustrating system. He reported that last February the Director of Recreation and Parks reported that the recreation online registration has a low turnout and here we are six months later talking about the same thing. Peggy Roell, Board of Education Chairman, questioned if there is a charge to use the online registration which could deter people
from using it also. Chairman Zacchio asked the Town Manager to talk with the Director of Recreation and Parks regarding options.
Misc. B: Construction Update: The Town Manager reported that there no leaks in the new roof at the library and no damage from the winds from Tropical Storm Irene.
Misc. C: Route 44 Avon Mountain Project Update: The Town Manager reported that as they are finally buttoning it up some of the landscaping has failed and the contractor is still under warranty so they will be replacing the trees and shrubs with something more robust. He reported that moving forward there is the issue about maintenance on a going forward basis; we have been talking with the State for awhile and the State will not maintain that median. He reported that the best that they are willing to do is to provide us with signage that has a value of approximately $12,000 and they will set us up with an approved traffic pattern that will help with the encroachment permit. He reported that we have gone out through the Public Works Department and have talked
to a few private vendors as to what would be recommended to maintain the landscaping, what the cost for that would be and it looks like it is potentially a cost of up to $10,000 per year. He reported that we have worked very closely with the State on this, they have been very accommodating up to a point, but we cannot seem to get it much further than where it is at. He reported that there may be a budget impact on this and it may be as soon as the FY 12/13 budget. Chairman Zacchio questioned what exactly is involved with the maintenance of the median. The Town Manager responded that it will require a pre-emergent spray to keep the weeds down, the contractors recommended once a year, but may be able to do it less often than that; there will be weeds and a trash collection required. He reported that it is not something that we have the manpower to do and not something that the town crews are trained to go into that kind of high traffic area and should
hire a contractor which is what we are doing with most of our properties at this point. Mr. Evans asked if this was not generally known to us that we were meeting this obligation going forward and did not think in perpetuity that the State would be taking care of this issue. The Town Manager responded that this is not a surprise; the DOT Project Engineer reminded us that they could have solved the maintenance issue very easily by using jersey barriers. This has always been a loose end that we knew about; we have done extensive research to see if there was any other similar arrangement in the State that we could use as leverage and have been told by DOT that the Department policy has brought this as far as it will go. He reported that we are going back and forth with the State on the language for a very brief letter of understanding as to how this is going to work and how the responsibilities are going to flow; the State provided a first draft, the Town
Attorney is reviewing it now, and he will send to Council for review/comment before he executes. Mr. Evans reported that on the positive side the total project came out great, looks great, it is well landscaped, and reflects well on the Town; the traffic pattern seems to be better, safer so overall the Town added a significant improvement to that portion of the highway. Chairman Zacchio reported that over time as all of the greenery grows in and shrubs/trees get larger, it will probably become less of an issue.
Misc. D: Avon Park North: This item was not discussed at the meeting.
Misc. E: Town Manager’s Office Space: The Town Manager reported that we are thinking about the vacant space in the Town Manager’s office. We have some plans in mind, lower cost, mid-range and higher end options; we will talk more about it during the CIP process.
Misc. F: Finance Updates: The Town Manager reported that we recently had a meeting with Milliman, the Town’s Actuaries, and at the staff level something that is done every year and a “check-in” with the actuaries to look at how we are tracking in terms of our OPEB (Other Post Employment Benefits) and also look at how the pension plans are doing. He reported that the Town of Avon closed its pension plan in 1997 and we do have active employees in those plans but we are beginning the process of thinking about how do we close out a pension plan; the actuaries tell us that we are not there yet as we have too many liabilities outstanding and too many current employees to think about just bonding it all off. He reported that we looked specifically at the
assumed rate of return for the investments because if we go with a lower assumed rate of return for the pension plans for instance, that has an impact on the operating budget as one way or another we absolutely have to make the actuary required contribution. He reported that a few years ago we dropped it down from 8.25% to 8.0%; there is some discussion and asked Milliman for advice on this and the earlier the better to keep Council informed and know how it will impact the operating budget. He reported that if there is a recommendation to lower the assumed rate of return he will advise Council as soon as possible and quantify the impact. Mr. Evans questioned the term “return on investment” and if that is an investment return as if it was invested in bonds and stocks. The Town Manager responded yes. Mr. Evans questioned what it is being invested in if it is getting 8.0%. The Town Manager responded that it is based on an actuarial table
and a very complicated formula that they use and they have a very long time horizon they look at and not really like an individual investment plan. He reported that in terms of the funding levels in our plans they are not what you would like to see because of what the market is doing right now and because we do not have a lot of people in our plans so every time an employee leaves it knocks down the funding level. Mr. Shea reported that the good thing is that Milliman is doing the modeling and involved without any vested interest in how it performs so their recommendation is valuable. The Town Manager reported that we will work with Milliman in conjunction with the Fiduciary Investment Advisors to make sure that we get the right mix. Mr. Shea made a suggestion to Council that Milliman come in once a year on an ongoing basis to report to Council with an independent recommendation that management has already received and responded to, it is on public record,
and Council has an opportunity to hear it. Mrs. Samul reported that November might be the best time for that just as we are getting into the budget and they can make some assumptions based on it. Mr. Shea reported that we are trying to capsulate the work that the Town has done with them. The Town Manager responded that he will talk with Chris Kachimar and see what his recommendation is. Mr. Shea reported that part of the report hopefully can include how long Milliman has been with us, how often we go out to bid, much like we do with the auditors.
The Town Manager reported that a few months ago we had a discussion regarding stop loss coverage and that is something that he and the Superintendent of Schools have talked about and at some point in the near future we will be addressing that with Steve May and the direction from Council at the time was to put together a sub-committee to take a look at that and see if the levels are appropriate; it will be done well in advance of the budget process.
The Town Manager reported that today the he, the Superintendent of Schools, Board of Education Finance Director, and Town Finance Director met to discuss the year-end closing process. He reported that this has to do primarily with the revenues that are remaining in the revolving account and Council has received a spreadsheet that shows what the current plan is in terms of the liquidation of these funds. He reported that one update on that spreadsheet is that in their meeting today they gave some hard thought about whether or not it makes sense to set up more special revenue funds; there are two that they had initially talked about, pay for play and a second fund. He reported that it is the Board of Education’s call as much as ours in terms of how they want to see that structured; from an accounting
and auditing perspective it is always nice when you can fold it all in to the general fund because it reduces record-keeping and easier as you do not have separate rules and procedures set up for it. He reported that the rule of thumb, at least with finance, you want to have as few special revenue funds as possible. The Town Manager reported that there are a number of line item balances left in the revolving account after all of this activity has settled out and there has been some discussion as to whether or not that money is going to be encumbered or returned to fund balance; they will continue to discuss and he expects that a good portion of that will return to general fund undesignated fund balance. Mrs. Samul questioned when the Board of Education budget is due to Town Council, the close of FY 10/11. The Town Manager responded that the accounting entries are with the Town’s Accounting Department now and he understands that the BOE Accountant and
Town Accountant are meeting next week to go through all of the journal entries; the auditors are going to be setting up within the next few weeks so it continues at the staff level until we present you with the year-end financial transactions and comes out in October/November. The Town Manager reported that the good side of this is that he had a discussion with Dennis Dix, our financial advisor, last week as it is never too early to begin thinking about the next rating agency presentation which will probably be in late 2012 or early 2013 for the library project debt and how to best position the community as we are on a negative outlook and want to be prepared. The Town Manager reported that the Town has a fund balance policy where the Town must have 10% undesignated fund balance and right now we are around 6.3%; compared to other AAA communities it is low. He reported that the financial advisor was adamant that we do everything that we can to bump up fund balance
and minimize any churning of activity in the general fund in terms of transfers from reserves and supplemental appropriations and that level up there as much as we can in anticipation of the rating agency review. Mr. Shea questioned what $500,000 or $600,000 brings us to. The Town Manager responded that it might bring us to approximately 7%. He reported that the most important thing is that what it does is gives the Town a good story; it raises the percentage and we are making progress. Chairman Zacchio reported that until your budget goes up your fund balance percentage goes down and you have to track towards that goal; one is to have a policy and two is track to it. The Town Manager reported that whenever the rating agencies look at us it is both ability and willingness to pay and fund balance really plays into that. Mr. Shea reported that it is fair to say that Simsbury and West Hartford have to be going through the same exact issue. The
Town Manager responded that they are but interestingly their fund balances are a little bit higher. Mr. Shea asked strategically what we will discuss in the upcoming months to try to accomplish that goal; what is the plan? The Town Manager responded that there are a couple of things: we do have a few reserves on fund balance right now, a pension reserve and an OPEB reserve and there may be a discussion about liquidating those encumbrances and moving them over to undesignated fund balance, that can have positive and negative effects; it is nice to have that capacity in the background to the extent that we need to pull it in if we have higher than anticipated operating budget increases. Chairman Zacchio reported that those are options that we would seriously have to think through and we need to have an item to discuss all of those options and start thinking about what that plan is. Mr. Shea responded that even if we do nothing at all it is going to help us
from the minutes, explaining our position, to have a story that tracks our strategy, and if we can explain why we were not able to follow the strategy that is a different discussion for a different day.
The Town Manager reported, and it is unaudited and very preliminary at this point, that he is hopeful that the Town will have had positive operations as of the conclusion of the fiscal year; we had some good things happen this past year, some one-time revenues, like ICMA forfeiture funds and FEMA money, we did the 1% giveback about half way through the year, we had some vacancies that we did not fill so he thinks that when it all nets out between revenues and expenditures we should look pretty good at the end of the year. He reported that there are always decisions that can be made with respect to that, you can set aside money for the twenty-seventh payroll, you can set aside money to set yourself up for revaluation costs; given where we are at in the cycle of things it is probably going to be his recommendation
that we send it off to fund balance. Mr. Shea reported that the only large project going on right now is the library and recognizing that we are borrowing money for that is there any way to capture any of the funds from that without compromising the project; are there any Town funds that were involved that we knew were not going to be spent? The Town Manager responded that he did not think so but the good news on the library front is that the numbers are coming in nicely and when are discussing it with the rating agencies it is important to note that there is an appropriation that has been approved and this is where the actual cost comes in. He responded that he would look into Mr. Shea’s inquiry. He added that it may also be possible that we can pull in balances from some of the Town’s special revenue funds to bump up fund balance; the one that everyone looks at is the general fund – undesignated fund balance but there is over $1 million
in sewers and other smaller balances. Mr. Shea responded that in our previous conversations with the former Town Manager those were not allowed to be included. He questioned the timeframe for being rated by the agencies. The Town Manager responded that it is contingent on when the library project is complete and when we have all of the final costs. Mr. Shea responded that it would be after the fiscal year. He added that in essence the Board of Finance could run it through the budget process. Mr. Evans questioned how far behind we are versus other municipalities. The Manager responded that it changes, those numbers are all over the place because they are a percentage of the operating budget, but if you look at what Moody’s has they want to see you between fifteen and twenty percent, nobody in Connecticut has fifteen to twenty percent. Chairman Zacchio reported that it is one aspect of what the rating agencies look at so he would
not get too tangled up as to how we benchmark where other communities are because the budgets and percentages are different. Mr. Evans responded that is the area identified by the credit rating agencies that we need to improve. Chairman Zacchio responded that it is more related to having a policy around what our fund balance should be and that we are tracking to that policy and are making meaningful progress towards it or have a good excuse to not. Mr. Shea responded that he is worried about, culturally, how the rating agencies are going to change their approach due to the problem with the federal government; he thinks the pressure or focus might change a little bit where they do not take in everything that they should. The Town Manager responded that it is something that we really need to think about and now as we get closer and coupled with the fact that we see what is happening at the federal level that scrutiny is really going to pick up.
Misc. G: Dispatch Consolidation Study: This item was not discussed at the meeting.
Misc. H: Library BAN Sale: This item was discussed under the Finance Updates. The Town Manager reported that the Library Board has reached their $500,000 responsibility to the Town; it is ready to be donated and he anticipates that it will be on one of Council’s upcoming meeting agendas.
Misc. I: Old Farms Road Project Update: This item was not discussed at the meeting.
Misc. J: Police Captain Recruitment Status: The Town Manager reported that everything is on track to fill the police captain position; there are no deviations from a memo to Council dated August 23, 2011; the panel has been selected and he will continue to update Council as we continue to go through that process.
Misc. K: Emergency Medical Services Update: This item was not discussed at the meeting.
Misc. L: CCSWA Update: The Town Manager reported that Council will be reading more and more about this in the Hartford Courant and other publications. He recalled that the Town entered into this approximately one year and a half ago. The Town Council adopted an ordinance allowing the Town to enter into the Central Connecticut Solid Waste Authority (CCSWA). This group was basically put together in an effort to regionalize the procurement of trash removal services; all the communities that are members have CRRA as their disposal site and given the cost involved with trying to go out and procure those services we all thought it would be a better, more efficient, and cheaper way to regionalize it. He reported that all of the towns have paid an assessment
based on population; Avon has been paid approximately $6,000 to date to be involved in this process which he thinks is a very good deal given the due diligence that the consultants have done. He reported that the bottom line is that we have two vendors, CRRA and Murphy Road Recycling in Hartford; CCSWA’s attorney negotiated form contracts and our Town Attorney has all of the contracts and is reviewing it and so far no issues with it. He reported that as we went through the process the Town Attorney had input with CCSWA’s counsel. He reported that there are some choices to make and what his recommendation with Council will hinge on is looking at the term of the agreement that we enter into because we do not want to do this again anytime soon, the cost that is involved, the combination of vendors that are involved, and may not be the least expensive option because the least expensive option includes Murphy Road Recycling and they are not permitted yet so
that is an issue. He reported that this item will be on Council’s next meeting agenda for more discussion along with his recommendation.
Misc. M: Haynes Road Sewer Project Easement: Mrs. Samul questioned that this has nothing to do with any of the work that has been going on over the last week. The Town Manager responded no. He reported that the project is underway. He reported that there are agreements involved in this, a license and acquisition agreement and the sewer permit agreement; the contractor on this project is Bill Ferrigno and has subcontracted out the site work. He reported that there are some issues that we are working out on the Town side having to do with legal items; our Town Attorney does not feel that it is necessary to get Council approval on the agreements as they are technical and Council has not needed to approve in the past. He reported
that at the end of this project there will be the request for the Town to purchase an easement that is next to the convalescent home; there is a cost associated with it, if you recall during the budget process we budgeted approximately $420,000 for the Haynes Road Project thinking that the Town may finance the project, although at the time he did advise that the developer may upfront the financing. He reported that given the fact that is not necessary as the developer ended up financing we do have funds available for the easement. He reported that the Town Engineer negotiated the easement and based on recommendations by the Town Assessor. He reported that the number is good and seems reasonable.
IX. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Pending Claims / Litigation including High School Boiler
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council go into Executive Session at 9:10 p.m.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Pena, Shea, 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 9:42 p.m.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Pena, Shea, and Evans voted in favor.
The Town Manager reported the Town has reached an agreement with Kaestle Boos Associates regarding the Avon High School boiler. The agreement has been reviewed by the Town Attorney and is in agreement with discussions held by both parties.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council authorize the Town Manager in consultation with the Council Chairman to sign the agreement between the Town of Avon and KBA regarding the Avon High School boiler.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Pena, Shea, and Evans voted in favor.
XI. ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.
Attest:
Caroline B. LaMonica
Clerk
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