AVON TOWN COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
December 1, 2011
I. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. at the Avon Town Hall, in the Selectmen's Chamber by Chairman Zacchio. Members present: Mrs. Samul, Messrs. Shea and Pena. Mr. Evans arrived at 7:20 p.m.
III. MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETING: November 4, 2011 Special Meeting
November 9, 2011 Special Meeting
November 15, 2011 Regular Meeting
November 16, 2011 Special Meeting
November 23, 2011 Special Meeting
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table the minutes from the November 4, 2011 special meeting, November 9, 2011 special meeting, November 15, 2011 regular meeting, November 16, 2011 special meeting, and November 23, 2011 special meeting to the January 5, 2012 meeting.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, and Pena voted in favor.
IV. COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE
Adam Lazinsk, 88 Deepwood Drive, complimented and thanked the members of the Avon Volunteer Fire Department for their countless hours of volunteering during Storm Alfred. He had a chance to work with them quite a bit during that week and a half and there was a core group of volunteer firemen who were there all of the time; they were kept busy. He thinks sometimes we lose sight of the fact that they are just volunteering and it really was a full-time job for them during that time.
V. COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL
Mrs. Samul noted that Harvey Reeser and the Avon Volunteer Fire Department provided Thanksgiving dinner for the people working on the debris collection; it reflects very well on Harvey personally, on the Fire Department, and all of those who contributed and helped to make it a successful event; based on what she saw on the television the debris collection group were extremely pleased with the reception they got in Avon and speaks well of the Town.
Chairman Zacchio reported that there is a proclamation here for Bill Shea on behalf of the Town of Avon and the Council, as well as the Councils that Bill has served with for years before us. Bill has been a good friend to all of them, he has been a great partner through the years especially for him; we will miss his guidance and his robust debate to get to answers that are the best for the Town of Avon and we will have Bill on our speed dial.
On behalf of the Town of Avon and the Council Chairman Zacchio presented Bill with the proclamation that read as follows:
WHEREAS, Bill’s 7 1/2 years on the Board of Finance and his 18 1/2 years as a Councilman cover a total of 26 years of service to Avon. He has been a major force in this community’s commitment to provide excellent school facilities for Avon students by serving on several building committees.
WHEREAS, Bill, your youthful approach, your enthusiasm, your personal commitment, and your ability to articulate your thoughts and vision have been a major force in guiding this community in the direction that is recognized by so many throughout Avon. You have demonstrated the ability to understand the problems and issues that Avon faced and have been able to work through issues and reach amiable solutions.
WHEREAS, Bill, early on as a young man, a life time resident of Avon, you became involved in local government. You have demonstrated a thorough knowledge of all facets of government and you have earned the respect of your colleagues. Your zealous support for Public Safety, Social Services and Education for Avon was never as prevalent as at budget time when you consistently supported these services with vigor. You have always maintained that Avon had to provide these services for the good of all our citizens. You were a visible supporter of all athletic activities in Avon and you made every effort to attend most of the games, and was always ready to acknowledge our outstanding athletes.
BE IT THERFORE RESOLVED: We are taking this occasion to honor you as a dedicated public servant and this Resolution is our earnest expression of appreciation and friendship and a symbol of our gratitude and Avon’s for the splendid quality of service which you, Bill, have rendered. Your service and commitment to the Town means more than can be expressed in mere words.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That this Resolution be spread upon the minutes of the December 1, 2011 meeting of the Town Council.
Mr. Shea accepted the proclamation and stated that he would be remiss if he didn’t say thank you to everyone for the opportunity to serve. He is very grateful; it has been a wonderful twenty-six years. He has had a great experience and attributes that to the management team for the Town of Avon, many of the people that he served with on the Board of Finance, many of the people that he served with on the Town Council and the people that he serve with now. He has learned a lot, really met some wonderful people, and it has been a tremendous experience that you hope after twenty-six years that you were able to do some good and make the Town the best that it could be and in working on that shared vision with everyone it has been a wonderful experience. He stated that it is him thanking you for the
opportunity to serve. He would encourage anyone to get involved; it is just a wonderful experience and he looks forward to the next chapter. He added that this was a lot of fun and he looks forward to the fun that is going to be in the future and he can’t thank you all enough.
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 Mrs. Samul, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table the appointment to the Wild & Scenic River Study Committee to the January 5, 2012 meeting.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, and Pena voted in favor.
11/02-02 Regional Dispatch Feasibility Study Overview
Chief Rinaldo introduced Lieutenant Kelly Walsh who took over project management of the Regional Dispatch Feasibility Study this past June. He reported that this study started back in 1999. He reported that CRCOG commissioned a firm called CTO (Concepts to Operations) to look at the consolidation of regional dispatching. The plan originally included consolidating the sixteen towns in the capitol region into one dispatch center. CTO quickly determined that probably would not be a good thing to do and they divided the towns to east and west of the Connecticut River; Avon is on the west side of the Connecticut River and there were eight towns that were initially formed back in 1999. He reported that the west group had formed planning groups including: management, governments, operations,
technology, and labor issue. The planning groups were making a lot of progress and then we had the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001 and that changed how police and fire departments were communicating and there was a lot of talk about that.
Chief Rinaldo reported that by 2002 the west group had shrunk to three towns including Farmington, Avon, and Simsbury. He added that they continued researching feasibility of combining those dispatch centers with those three towns and the State of Connecticut at the same time was offering substantial subsidies and incentives to do this consolidation effort and they did require three or more towns to consolidate. He reported that shortly thereafter OSET (Office of Statewide Emergency Telecommunications) offered incentives for multi-town PSAPs which are two towns which the Town of Farmington was already dispatching the Burlington Fire Department so they took advantage of it and got some pretty good incentives. Farmington then withdrew from the three town centers. He reported that in 2003 and 2006
there were a few other studies including a microwave feasibility study and an interoperability study. CRCOG commissioned the interoperability study and another result of the 9/11 attacks and looking at how we can communicate better between towns and police and fire departments. He reported that around 2008/2009 the former Assistant Town Manager and former Town Manager reached out to Senator Dodd’s office and received the $75,000 grant. He reported that they put together this new study of Avon, Canton, and Simsbury to look at regional dispatching which brings us to the current group that they hired, Intertech out of New Jersey. He reported that since 1999 the issues have not changed and the things that Intertech will be looking at are dark police stations, prisoner monitoring, economic benefits, and the community’s interest and support for something like this. He reported that they have a kick-off meeting next Tuesday and the study will be
completed in approximately six to eight months.
The Town Manager reported that we have been talking about regionalizing dispatch for as long as he has been in this business and especially in the Farmington Valley it has gone through at least three distinct iterations which began with the CRCOG study back in 1998/1999. He reported that it has come close a couple of times and one point where Farmington and Avon were ready to pull the trigger which was shortly after the completion of the new dispatch center in Farmington and then the Farmington Police Chief at the time decided it was not something that they were interested in doing. He reported that approximately two years ago the Town of Avon took the lead in applying for this grant and what this project is designed to do working with Simsbury and Canton is to once and for all ferret out these issues, define
them, and really see how this could or should work out. He reported that the consultant and the chiefs all agreed and Council authorized the contract in July and that is the plan going forward. He reported that as we meet certain project milestones this is something that will continue to come up under Town Manager’s Report on Council’s meeting agenda. He reported that it will take approximately six to eight months to get the final report completed but certainly before that we will have a draft and we can talk about some of the implications.
The Town Manager reported that with Storm Irene and the most recent storm it really taught us a lot about regional dispatch and some of the potential issues as well as some of the potential benefits of doing it especially with that level of storms so we are going to be talking about that and incorporating that into the discussion. Chairman Zacchio commented that was the very question that he was going to ask if we can incorporate the real time data that we are still going through our own post-mortem and figuring out things that we could have done differently or in different timings and if we can use that in this real study, the first thing he thought was how we would have handled that kind of call volume across a tri-town area where he knows the volumes were through the roof and we had folks in the room sitting on
the phones as well as dispatch and glad to hear that we are going to incorporate that in.
Mr. Pena questioned if we have a timeline for this study. Chief Rinaldo responded yes, there is a whole project schedule and some of the tasks are overlapping. He noted that the first tasks include the kick-off meeting next week and that is really to talk about the things that Chairman Zacchio had expressed with what happened during the storm, what do we need, and what are some of the obstacles that we are going to have. He added that we are doing a lot of data collection and the consultant is going to compile it and present a package to us. He reported that as we get deeper into it there will come a point where we really have to think about if this is something that we are going to do and then it branches off from there and that data should be available to us in approximately three to four months.
Chairman Zacchio asked that as we look at Simsbury, Avon, and Canton if this study will show us if we only have two towns, knowing that we have been through this process before and got a point where then one town pulled out, could we frame it up such as we could show that if you engage in a three-town dispatch versus a two-town dispatch we have that option within the work to show that just in case we get to that point and you have both options laid out. Chief Rinaldo responded that we will and one of the things the consultant is going to look at is if there is availability of state funding still. He heard that as recently as today that the State may not be funding these consolidated PSAPs any longer so if one of the towns chooses to pull out the issues are going to be the same for each town individually and
the cost is a driver. Chairman Zacchio commented that the Office of Policy and Management recently talked about another round of grant funding for helping seed towns for shared services and maybe we can find ways to use that.
11/12-06 FY 12/13 Budget: CIP Budget Presentations
- 8:30 p.m. Fire Department - a power point presentation is attached and made part of these minutes
Melissa Gugliotti, President, reported that as in tradition with the Avon Volunteer Fire Department, the Vice-President is in charge of capital improvement budget. She noted that this is the end of her two-year term as President and as of January 1st Ken Sedlak will now be your new President and Rob Shillington will be your new Vice-President.
Ken Sedlak commented that Chief Trick and Chief Appell will be assisting with this evening’s presentation. He reported that the Fire Department has paid for a lot out of their corporate funds, some substantial items including the chassis for Truck 16, a generator for Truck 16, purchased Truck 18 and Car 19, purchased at least one thermal imaging camera, purchased a fire prevention trailer, and each year they have their clambake and annual dinner expenses. He reported that this year they did get funding through the Neighborhood Assistance Grant, a total of $35,000 towards green initiatives for lighting and window replacement most likely at Company #2 and Company #4.
Chief Trick reported on the engines and noted that last year they were fortunate enough that they were given $200,000 for the first portion of an engine replacement. He added that the number designation of the truck is not set in stone. They have Engine 9 which needs replacement first and unfortunately it is the newer apparatus with a lot of mechanical issues with the body and he worked very closely with the Town Fleet Manager and what their recommendation is that we go with Engine 7 because of its mechanical need is greater than Engine 9 at this point. Some of the perspective plans that they have, when this engine is replaced Engine 9 is going to get a service life extension by having its body removed where most of the issues are with its structure and replaced with a newer body. If things go as
planned, when they get Engine 7 fully funded and it will be anywhere from two years away depending on how they can creatively finance it. He commented that by then they will be looking at Engine 9 already being an apparatus that both cab and chassis should be theoretically looked at as being as part of a whole replacement instead of taking the body off, putting a new one on over a twenty year old chassis. We have to study that with help from the Town Fleet Management. He reported that Engine 7 has become more costly to maintain in the fleet and a problematic piece.
Chief Trick reported that with Rescue 8, the concept they are going after is a rescue pumper and seems to be an industry wide direction as most departments are suffering from what they are with a little bit less turn out for every event and the likelihood of getting two apparatus on the road for a single motor vehicle event which are a majority of their calls. He added that a bigger concept is a multi-use vehicle so it can handle most of their demand for vehicle accidents and fire suppression or hazmat incidents in one unit. If they continue on that concept Engine 7 and 9 would be rescue pumpers; Rescue 8 which is a 1998 and is in very good condition for its age is going to be considered a back-up apparatus and as we find that we have more and more mechanical issues it will have to be replaced but it will not
necessarily have to be of this nature of a vehicle; it could be smaller to support other operations.
Chief Trick reported that the oldest apparatus is their 1984 Pumper and only spare apparatus that can be housed at all of their fire stations. He reported that years ago Engine 10 was built and designed specifically to fit into Company #2 at Secret Lake. He added that this is the only other apparatus that when out of service Engine 10 can be their spare apparatus. He commented that it is not very wise to entertain the thoughts of building another apparatus specifically designed for a station. The 1984 Pumper is 500 gallons and Engine 10 is 750 gallons; their recommended fleet size that they have settled upon is 1,000 gallons of water on any one of their apparatus. He wants to make sure that they have adequate water supply and an apparatus that will be first due to any one of their incidents. Mr. Sedlak reported that on that side of Town large homes are being built on the Northwest side and to have apparatus that does not have the gallons to get started is detrimental to the
homeowners that are paying for support.
Mr. Sedlak reported on the need for a Northwest Fire Station and commented that it has been talked about in the past. He reported that they would like to get a facility study going and in this year’s capital budget are asking for $50,000 to start the study process and talk to an engineer or architect about what they really need and look at their other facilities too and see if there are any long-term repairs that need to be done to them. Mr. Sedlak reported that at their Board Meeting tonight Chief Trick mentioned that the HVAC unit at Company #1 that is end of life. Mr. Shea commented that as valuable as that study is and there is great merit to it, he asked there has been any consultation with Simsbury on the two most recent firehouses that they built and how much they spent and what the specs
were. Chief Trick responded yes and that is well within the ball park that they recommend. He added that incorporated with the feasibility study and monies there would be starting to develop engineering drawings/plans/specifications. He added that in talking with Simsbury that is about where they were for their fire stations; the proposal that they have on the table for their fire station would be slightly below as they did not have the size of the facility in mind. He added that they have to get property acquisition where Simsbury already owned the property. He reported that the study will help them to identify what is the optimum size and features that they need in this fire station. Mr. Shea commented that as much as looking at potential sites is valuable he asked if they are going to include potential land that the Town owns. Chief Trick responded that they are looking at sites in the vicinity of St. Matthew’s Church. Mr.
Shea commented that if they are unable to get the piece that they desire most, he asked if they are also going to look at land that the Town owns in that area. Mr. Sedlak responded that they will work with the Town to see if it owns a suitable piece of property in the Northwest corner.
Chief Trick reported on the multi-town training facility. He commented that Farmington has gotten their approval processes through Planning and Zoning, they have a site, they have designs, they want to move forward with this; the location is by their sewage treatment plant right off Route 4 on the police range property. He reported that $300,000 would be Avon’s contribution with four towns. He added that Farmington has already put some of their capital monies into the development of this and are looking around January to be able to come back and get information from the other towns and see what levels they are willing to participate with them in the construction of their Class A burn building. He reported that this facility is not just for burning, it is for some place that is durable that
they use with ladders and do search and rescue and ventilation, pump it and draft it. The four towns are also looking for use by the Police Departments to train as well for their S.W.A.T. teams, etc. He added that we use ladders on our property and buildings are not designed as training facilities but we do it because of necessity which causes wear and tear to our own buildings. He added that the AVFD incorporated some of this thought into the development of their new Northwest station but the tendency seemed to be that the neighbors may not like that type of encroachment in their neighborhood. The training facility is a viable alternative to that, a dedicated facility and very close to Avon. The Assistant to the Town Manager asked if Farmington considered dealing with other towns to see if they had interest. Chief Trick responded that they did and it has come down to the four towns that are interested.
Chief Appell reported that the AVFD continues to work on their water supply in the Deercliff area. He reported on the issue with the dry hydrant with the pond on Chase’s property. Chief Trick reported that they have been working with the Town and were going to do some boring samplings with some encumbered money that they have set aside for this project. This has been delayed due to Storm Irene and subsequent events. He reported that when the pond was drained it was found that it was only two and half feet deep and it did not meet the Fire Department’s needs for an adequate water supply. They have to find a different facility. Chief Trick has been working with the Director of Public Works to look into finding a tank donated; Fire Marshal Jamie DiPace was looking for other
types of creative funding that we could get something short-term and as cheap as we could economically to replace that impounded source. He added that they do have cisterns further down Deercliff, they are adequate for a first strike response until they can get other resources available but they need something on that first part of Deercliff Road and has been a necessity.
Chief Trick reported on the pond at Oak Bluff and needs some routine maintenance. He also reported that the Vermillion dry hydrant needs attention. He noted that historically these items have been put into the capital budget for at least fifteen years; the list has gotten smaller due to development and initiatives have been taken by Planning and Zoning and Fire Marshal’s office to make sure that when new developments go in we either have cisterns installed or extensions to the water system. He added that as we extend the water system their hydrant rental increases and that is an investment in their future as far as fire protection. These are still areas of concern that need to be addressed because the necessity is still there.
Chief Appell reported on that the radio system upgrade. They use three independent sites, Ridgewood, east site on FSB, and Kingswood. He noted that with the FCC downgrading the outputage and the amount of wattage that goes out and the channel spacing, it becomes a problem with primarily pager and portable coverage in Town with the hills and valleys. He noted that currently when their dispatch talks they talk off one repeater and the outgoing transmission have to cover the entire town; they get spotty pager coverage so they cannot hear what the calls are going to. He noted that the upgraded system is linking all of the radio sites together so they will simulcast the transmission from the dispatch or any other radio keying up equaling 98% radio coverage in Town. Chairman Zacchio asked if the
AVFD utilizes the same sites that the Police Department does today. Chief Appell noted that the Police Department is not on FSB. Chairman Zacchio asked if we have similar coverage issues with the wattage changing. Chief Appell responded that they have the same issues when the Police Department uses their portables when they leave the car, but not as bad as the Fire Department because they rely on its pagers.
Mr. Sedlak reported long-term on the replacement of the SCBA bottles between 2019 and 2021; currently the cost to replace them is $183,000 and replacing them with some that will give them a longer life when the time comes. Chief Trick commented that this goes back to the capital improvement budget that was granted to them to replace all of the bottles and upgrade to their SCBA bottles. He noted that the current bottles have a 15-year life span and all 183 bottles will need to be replaced. He reported that the plan is to spread it over two years over two different budgets and replacing some at 14 years and the rest at 15 years. He reported that they were under the hopes that Department of Transportation which regulates the bottles would have enough time under their belts to re-evaluate the type of
cylinders that they have and grant an extension of life of 5 years; it was talked around in the industry but does not seem that is what is going to happen and the DOT is not moving anywhere close to that. He added that there are new cylinders that have been approved from the manufacturer for 30-year life span but that would not be the wisest decision because the recommended life span for SCBA without a major overhaul is 15 years. He reported that there are 65 air packs in the inventory that are going to need an overhaul to make sure they can get some more life out of them.
11/12-10 Avon Middle School Tennis Courts
Chairman Zacchio reported that the Avon Middle School tennis court fundraisers are here and after a long and very difficult role have been able to come up with all of the donations that are necessary to take care of the tennis courts including all of your hard work in the public, all of your hard work coming to the Town Council and the Board of Education to get the funds together on a very worthy project and appreciate all that they have done. He added that with the United States Tennis Association’s grant they hit their goal and we will be able to move forward with that project come springtime.
On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That in accordance with Town Charter, Section 4.3.2(1), the Town Council hereby accepts a gift of $23,500 from ACORN to be used towards the Avon Middle School tennis court project.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, and Pena voted in favor.
On a motion made by Mrs. Samul, 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 increasing:
REVENUES
Capital Projects Fund (Facility and Equipment), Other Local Revenues, Donations and Grants, Private Sources, Account #02-0360-43651 in the amount of $23,500.00
and increasing
APPROPRIATIONS
Capital Projects Fund (Facility and Equipment), BOE CIP-Facilities, AMS Tennis Courts, Account #02-4859-53109, in the amount of $23,500.00, for the purpose of recording a donation from ACORN to be used for the AMS tennis court project.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, and Pena voted in favor.
On behalf of the Town, Chairman Zacchio thanked the fundraising committee for all that they have done.
11/12-19 Request for a Supplemental Appropriation-Board of Education
The Town Manager reported that a funding source has been identified and has been communicating with the Superintendent of Schools about this. It is a matter of finalizing it once the dust settles from all of the storm-related costs and will have something for Council next month. Chairman Zacchio commented that this is related to the roof-top units at Roaring Brook School that the Board of Education has replaced already out of their current year operating budget and have asked for a supplemental appropriation back into their budget; the funding source is still being worked out. Chairman Zacchio asked if there is any pressure in the Board of Education budget for this to be taken care of tonight. The Town Manager responded no.
On a motion made by Mr. Evans, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council table the Request for a Supplemental Appropriation – Board of Education to the January 5, 2012 meeting.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Evans, and Pena voted in favor.
11/12-26 Storm Debris Removal
The Director of Public Works reported that the data as of 11:30 a.m., not counting today, we have collected approximately 127,000 cubic yards. He added that with Michael’s we have spent on the debris $1.4 million. We had roughly 5,363 hangers and spent $522,700 with that. He reported that on the November 21st we cleaned up in the private areas, Secret Lake, and Lakeview and over the eight days from November 22nd through the 30th we have cleared 138 roads and we have 161 roads remaining. He commented that Michael’s wants to close the streets as quick as we can. We are bringing in additional trucks tomorrow anticipating that we have a good weekend and the debris continues to come to the right-of-ways. He invited Council to look at Cotswold,
Stony Corners, Winding Lane, we have picked it up once and it is just as bad as it was before we picked it up. He commented that the faster we can close the roads the better control we will have over our costs. Chairman Zacchio asked if those roads that we went through prior to the deadline of November 21st. The Director of Public Works responded that we focused on three areas that were hardest hit, the Climax area, Stony Corners, and Woodhaven areas. He reported that we started November 14th through the 20th in there and went through 60,000 cubic yards in those first clearings. He commented that we wanted to give people a chance to get the debris to the curbside by November 21st and here we are on December 1st. Chairman Zacchio commented that debris is still being put out there and cannot stress enough that should not be taking place. The Director of Public Works commented that you
really cannot be in control of the game until you close the roads. He reported that complaints have been coming in about wanting another round; we try to hold the line and we have held the line that we have picked it up and we are done.
Mr. Shea reported that there has also been a lot of positive feedback as the Town and contractor are getting rave reviews. He added with a disaster like this it is going to be hard to contain that conversation but there are a lot of positive comments about the senior management team and the contractor. The Director of Public Works commented that the contractor has been ideal with any direction that we give them and whatever it takes they are doing it. He noted that the contractor had been working since November 14th without a day off, they took Thanksgiving off, and right back at it again. Mr. Shea commented that the Town of Avon has handled this as well as any disaster we had. The Director of Public Works responded that he wished we could have been better on target but every
community is far off their numbers; you cannot control what is brought to the curb. Chairman Zacchio commented that you can only ask that people take heed and be reasonable to our November 21st date because that is what predicated the dollars that we put forward to do this and we are not going to be able to do this forever.
The Town Manager commented that we have been very proactive. We have some folks out in the community and members of our Public Works Department who are checking as they see people bringing debris out to the right-of-way at this point and in some cases telling them to bring it back because the more of that stuff that comes out the more others look at it as an opportunity. He reported that one thing that is important to keep in mind with the number of roads cleared and roads remaining is that we did start off by emphasizing the harder hit areas first so we have not hit a good percentage of the roads yet but those are the roads that we are really hoping do not have the amount of debris that the others do. He added that we are assuming that what is out there is basically what is going to be there to pick up
so we feel we have a pretty good sense of it.
The Town Manager commented in terms of the finances, what we are dealing with now is a total appropriation of approximately $2.3 million which was approved in the two resolutions by Council and Board of Finance. He reported that he talked to the Director of Public Works today and trying to get a sense for where it looked like things were going to be going into the future and what that appropriation does at the current rate is get us through Sunday and maybe into part of Monday. It is likely that we are going to need a little bit of additional funding but his plan for that additional funding is to fund it through current appropriations in the operating budget; there is enough room in the operating budget at this early point in the year, between operating and capital, we have some money to do that to close the
gap if we need it. Mrs. Samul asked when do we pay our vendor. The Director of Public Works responded that invoices are being received and paid weekly. Chairman Zacchio commented that he would think the contractor has a lot of interest in clearing Avon quickly as they have Farmington and Glastonbury to clear. The Director of Public Works responded that he would like to have this shut down by next Wednesday as it is the only way to get control over it.
Laura Young, 57 Hitchcock Lane, commented that this amazingly herculean task from her point of view, and she does a lot of driving around Town, has been handled with the most incredible grace under pressure and she has not seen one day when there are not trucks on the road so it seems to her that they are working 24/7. She added that on her street today there was somebody doing private tree clearing of a tree that she had seen down and has been on the person’s lawn for a very long time and guessing they probably could not get anyone to take this enormous tree down to a point where it could be taken to the curb prior to the 21st. She reported that on her street there are sixteen homes, four of which had trees through their roofs so people had to wait for insurance adjusters to come out and then
wait for someone to come out and take those trees off their property and cut them. She asked how you handle these situations where people simply could not get the debris to the curb but it has been there since the storm. Chairman Zacchio responded that they are probably going to have to be handled with a private contractor to take it away as they would take away any tree during that time. He noted that our problem is we do not have an open end on a contract and an open end on the checkbook where our goal is the mass of this to be picked up from a disaster recovery perspective it has some cracks in it that you just described that we just cannot control unfortunately. Mrs. Samul commented that those people are probably also getting insurance money if it went through their roof; they are collecting insurance to take care of that. Chairman Zacchio commented that it is not a perfect scenario but it is aimed to take care of the majority of the disaster.
Mr. Pena commented on homeowners bringing debris back out again and telling them not to do that and tying that up a little bit is that the State is still picking up. He has noticed the State coming back to West Avon Road three or four times now so they see a truck coming back to that area and think they have an opportunity to bring more out. He asked the Town Manager when the last time is that the State is going to pick up. The Director of Public Works responded December 15th. Mr. Pena commented that is not going to help the Town when the State keeps going back and forth. The Director of Public Works noted that he has not seen a lot going back out and thinks that when it is picked up people are relieved that it is gone; it wears out pretty quick when you are starting to drag brush.
Mr. Evans asked if we are through the full $2.3 million. The Town Manager responded no. Mr. Evans noted that it gets us through Sunday. He asked the Town Manager if he has any sense of where we are going from there, how many more days. The Town Manager responded that we think three more days should do it. The Director of Public Works reported that there are some heavy areas again that have built up due to not being able to close the roads. He added that we are estimating another 50,000 cubic yards. Mr. Evans asked the Town Manager if he can handle that out of operating budget and do not want a discussion about another appropriation. The Town Manager responded he talked about it today and looked at some other resources within operating and capital; the issue is that he hates
to throw another number out there as we sit here tonight because we have done that twice now and it has been exceeded both times. He added that he can move money around within capital, there are some appropriations there; what will happen is depending on the rest of the activity in the budget throughout the fiscal year we may have to deal with it through end-of-year financial transactions for FY 11/12. He noted that by then we will hopefully have the money back in from FEMA and it will all wash out. He commented that at this point we have the resources internally and he would just assume going forward in that way. Chairman Zacchio responded that if you have to have another special meeting and supplemental appropriation think it through, with only six months left in the fiscal year, he would trust the Director of Finance to be able to give us solid guidance on what might be there but do not overextend the operating too far. Mr. Shea commented that
management’s guidance is great but the problem where he is struggling a little bit is in a disaster your estimates are always going to be off so he would not be cautious or overly concerned over the fact that you had two estimates and you need a third. He reported that from this seat we are dealing with a disaster and we are going to be dealing with capital and operating budget money. He knows the Board of Finance has to weigh in but he would rather see it come back. The Town Manager asked for some flexibility there because the other issue that this raises is that there is some Charter language about emergency appropriations and not being able to exceed 4% of the tax levy and even where we are at now with the additional projection of approximately $200,000 on top of the $2.3 million puts us right within $50,000 of that which is a little close and if it is paid for out of the operating budget which is appropriated then it does not count towards that 4% of the
tax levy which eliminates a potential Charter compliance issue. Chairman Zacchio commented that at best we will be able to come up with a couple of hundred thousand dollars even if we do that but that would ease some of the pressure on the operating side so he asked the Town Manager to think that through, do not feel like he cannot come back, even if it is a special meeting. Chairman Zacchio commented that speed is more important because getting it off the road at this point gets this done and stops the bleeding.
Mr. Pena asked when the road is closed where it is listed. The Director of Public Works responded that we video it and list the road on the network where it is available for anybody to look it up if a resident calls to question or ask, we have the date and the street and inform that yes it has been picked up or it will be picked up. He noted that a lot of people feel like we have forgotten them because it is still there. Mr. Pena asked if it would help to leave a notice that the street has been completed at each door step. The Director of Public Works responded that would be time consuming, the staff is tight with what we are trying to get accomplished. Chairman Zacchio commented that it is not the closed roads that we are really having an issue with; it is the roads that we hit before
November 21st.
VII. NEW BUSINESS
11/12-31 Chris Kachmar: Investment Portfolio Overview - a power point presentation is attached and made part of these minutes
The Town Manager reported that Council has a report that Chris Kachmar and his staff put together that includes the asset allocations for the defined benefit plan investments and the other post-employment benefit trust. He added that this is something that the Pension Committee and staff work closely with Chris Kachmar on. Mr. Shea asked the Town Manager to refresh the group with who is on the Pension Committee. The Town Manager responded that the Pension Committee consists of the Town Manager, Finance Director, Human Resources Director, Business Manager for the Board of Education, Chair of the Board of Finance, and the Town Treasurer. Mr. Shea commented that you have good representation.
Chris Kachmar reported that you can appreciate this is a well informed group and the markets have been particularly challenging this year. He reported on who Fiduciary Investment Advisors (FIA) is. FIA does not manage money directly; they are not making selections of individual securities; what they do help us do in a larger sense is frame the strategic asset allocations, what is the appropriate posture in terms of the amount of risk that we can take based on objectives for each of the pools of money, select individual managers, hold those managers accountable from a performing stand point, make modifications to both the allocation and the roster of managers along the way. They sit along the Committee in a non-discretionary sense giving advice, perspectives, and working to common decisions in terms of
how the portfolios will be administered too. He reported that they are based in Windsor with a thirty-five person staff, 100% employee owned company; they advise approximately 150 institutions.
Chris Kachmar reported that the objective from their stand point is to sit at the top of the pyramid and not be simply a reactionary entity but try to be pro-active in terms of developing solutions and view points towards the markets, the allocations, what your peers are doing and what they may lend to the effort and really trying to stay in front of the issues as they arise. He detailed the team and noted the longevity of some staff and their staff being well credentialed. He noted the duties of the research analysts and they meet with them on a quarterly basis.
Chris Kachmar reported that the municipal space is a very important one for them; they have a fairly broad footprint, particularly here in the Farmington Valley and in the Capitol Region but also extend into Fairfield County. He noted that by fairly large measure they are the largest advisor to municipal plans in the State of Connecticut. He reported on the services provided to the Town. He added that they do not have a trading mentality; they operate under the tenant that the markets over time work in your favor if your allocation strategies are correctly specified, if you have good managers with compelling long-term track records while certainly along the way we may need to make changes it is very much a strategic tone and approach in terms of administering to the assets. He reported that
diversification is critical and portfolios are customized to each town’s wants and needs.
Chris Kachmar reported on data as of October 31st and stated that in the aggregate across the five pension plans there was roughly $19 million of invested assets. He noted that one of the things we worked with the Pension Committee on recently, the nature and status of these plans is a little different so we may modify the underlying allocations to each of the strategies to reflect those differences and has worked to date very well to have a shared allocation strategy across all of the portfolios.
Chris Kachmar highlighted the allocation strategy and line-up for the OPEB Trust and you can see given the circumstances in the financial leads of the trust that the allocations strategies are a little bit different; somewhat more conservatively construed than the pension plans. The approach taken is a little bit different, the drive on the front end has really been to get the allocation strategy appropriately construed and let the size of the trust build up before we start to engage active managers. He explained that active managers are more expensive than indexing.
Chris Kachmar highlighted the retiree medical fund. He noted some changes afoot here in working with the actuary; these are monies that are flowing off into the OPEB Trust over time. This allocation is exceedingly conservative and intends in the very near future to get even more conservative and likely be 100% short-term, high grade fixed income.
Chris Kachmar highlighted the smaller Board of Education OPEB Trust. The allocation strategy is identical to the larger OPEB Trust and the utilization of strategies and the portfolio is identical.
Mr. Evans asked where the policy benchmarks come from. Chris Kachmar highlighted the “Summary of Results.” He explained that the benchmark is the underlying asset classes that the portfolio has exposure to so it is a view into a fully indexed approach and over longer periods of time the objective is to generate incremental return over those benchmarks. It is a fair and obvious observation that when you look at the pension results near term it has been a struggle; what is not evident here is that the pension plan was invested several years ago with an ING organization. FIA worked with the Pension Committee to extract the monies out of that equation; unfortunately there is a relative drag because that legacy under performance is baked into these numbers so they can display longer term
track record. Mr. Evans asked when the benchmarks are set. Chris Kachmar responded those numbers are a reflection of an underlying allocation; with the broader benchmarks the comparison is a little curtailed by that legacy activity. He reported that they have done a lot of work with the Pension Committee, they think they have the right mix of managers and the allocation is construed appropriately; it is a relatively immature program but over the long haul it should work and we should start to see those managers accrue values over those benchmarks which has been their longer term tendency pretty distinctly.
The Town Manager reported that staff, Chris Kachmar, and the actuaries have been looking at the underlying investment structure to ensure that the interest rate that it is driving is appropriate; if the actuary assumes an 8% return on the investments is the underlying investment structure designed to drive that kind of return and is that in fact happening and if it is not what kind of changes do we need to make. Chairman Zacchio asked how we compare with that 8% actuarial target to other communities. Chris Kachmar responded that across Connecticut the range that they see, the bulk of municipalities fall in a 7.5 to 8.5% range and they capture 90% of the towns/cities in the State. He added that 8% is very much a representative number. He reported that in light of what is going on in the markets
recently the pressure on that number has been to lower it. He noted that 60/40 mix, equity fixed income with some incremental returns from good active managers should get an annualized total return that approximates 8%. He noted that how we justify that, that is the work that they do.
Mrs. Samul asked what the period is over which you are coming up with the average. Chris Kachmar responded that in terms of their expectations for the markets, it is a two-tier process starting with an observation over long periods of time (40-50 years) of data of what markets have done. They develop expectations for all of the asset classes being utilized and look and start with that basic profile of the long-term historical averages and what are the risks, issues, and do we have to make modifications to reflect the here and now. He noted that in the modeling done over the last year their expectations for a lot of the asset classes, particularly equities, have been truncated down and that has been an industry thing as well to reflect the uncertainty in the environment today and some of the challenges
that we face on a global scale.
Mr. Shea asked when Chris Kachmar thinks in the near future he would be able to say to the Pension Committee with some confidence that he thinks the 8% would be a reasonable target. Chris Kachmar responded that the 8% they stand behind today is developed with a view that extends out over what they call a secular timeframe, about 7-10 years. Mr. Shea asked how much notice can you give the Pension Committee if you are not going to be able to get there. Chris Kachmar responded the Committee would know the minute they know; when they are doing their allocation work as part of the quarterly reporting that they do they are retesting those assumptions and with the view towards the markets; if something is off the Committee is going to know and they are going to make suggestions about modifying the allocation
strategy to reflect those changes. He noted that the pressure has been to reduce those rates across the State it has been in exactly the setting and the challenges that as the Council you have, as the Board of Finance has, as the Pension Committee has.
Mrs. Samul asked if Chris Kachmar is meeting with Avon quarterly. Chris Kachmar responded that they get together with the Pension Committee on a quarterly basis to review the manager performance, reallocation strategies in the markets, and make suggestions for modification based on the circumstances and our expectations going forward.
The Town Manager reported that as staff works with the team, Chris Kachmar and the actuaries, we have already begun thinking in terms of the development of the fiscal year 2012/2013 operating budget what some kind of phased in reduction in the return of investment might look like. We are at 8% now and are looking at different strategies for reducing that percent; the flip side is that there is a cost, if we reduce the assumed rate of return then that hits the operating budget and on the transmittal page given to Council it says that the increases driving this operating budget are: assuming a reduced rate of return on the defined benefit pension plan.
11/12-32 Review, Discussion and Approval: Year End Transfers and Appropriations
The Director of Finance reported that with revenues overall for FY 10/11 the Town did very well across the board with all funds; an exceptional year as we either reached our 100% budget goal or exceeded it. She reported that with regards to the Board of Education revolving account we were able to successfully dispose of all of the revenues that existed that the Board of Education and Town agreed to; we had our final meeting last Monday and for FY 10/11 and FY 11/12 we did move in and plan to move in a large portion of the activity which would be revenues and expenditures into the General Fund budget. She reported that she has not had the opportunity yet to see the Board of Education budget in detail but she believes the Superintendent and their staff will be budgeting for these revenues in FY 12/13. She
noted that we did move a small portion into a Special Revenue Fund on a temporary basis, the Pay-to-Play, but our understanding is the Board of Education will be budgeting that activity in their General Fund budget as well. She reported that we are leaving a very small piece in an account that we are calling a Clearing Account, not a Revolving Account, approximately $13,000 to $14,000 and it will truly be used as a wash account with guidelines set up. She will be following up to document this last meeting as to what the plan is going forward so we were able to come to agreement involving the auditors, the Board of Education, the Town and really put everything in its proper place and easily identified and reportable. Mr. Shea asked the Town Manager if he was good with this. The Town Manager responded that he is excellent with this. The Director of Finance reported that the Town Manager and the Superintendent have been at almost every meeting that they
have had along with the operations staff. Council noted a well job done. The Director of Finance commented that it was a team of people and the operations staff had to do all of the entries and balance and reconcile; it was successful and we are on schedule. Mr. Shea asked if we have established the overage number. The Director of Finance responded yes; in the Revolving Account it was not just revenues, it is expenditures and revenues so when you shift everything over to the General Fund there are expenditures that come with it and the net of what took place in the General Fund reflects approximately $612,000 of unbudgeted revenues in our General Fund; there are no expenditures attached with that. Mr. Shea asked if from that overage is where we use the money for the $224,000 for the new software program. The Director of Finance responded that is already included and net of the $612,000. Mr. Shea commented then it was closer to $800,000. The Director of Finance responded
that it was closer to $900,000 as it also reflected the retirement incentive that they had offered and is included in the expenditure; $612,000 is net of everything except the $480,000 request the Board of Education asked for capital projects. She added that the $480,000 does not have anything to do with the FY 10/11 budget but what they are requesting for the FY 12/13 budget. The Town Manager commented that is going to be requested through the budget process and has nothing to do with this. He added that at the end of June the Board of Education had approved several encumbrances that amounted to $480,000. Mr. Shea commented that if they had used that to do what they wanted to do the $612,000 would have been less. The Director of Finance responded yes.
Mr. Evans asked about Pay-to-Play not being a Special Revenue. The Director of Finance responded that the way we are handling it, initially our recommendation and our agreed upon path was to set it up as a Special Revenue Fund. The Board of Education asked that to be reconsidered, the new Superintendent felt very strongly that he wanted to keep it in the General Fund and did not want the flexibility a Special Revenue Fund would offer and they also feel with their new financial system that they can do the appropriate tracking for revenues and expenditures by still keeping it in their operating budget. She noted that the auditors came in to talk to everyone about the pros and cons of either one of those decisions and the final result is that it is going to be in the General Fund. Mr. Evans asked
about the Cafeteria Operations and if that is the same. The Director of Finance responded that Cafeteria has been a Special Revenue Fund for years. Mr. Evans asked why treat one differently than the other. The Director of Finance responded that one of the topics of discussion was the fact that the Pay-to-Play program is not self-sufficient and cannot absorb all of the charges and because they budget a substantial amount for salaries in their operating budget they felt by moving in the smaller revenue component, which was estimated at $175,000 for the current fiscal year, that piece should be in the General Fund because it was much smaller and did not need a Special Revenue. Mr. Shea asked if people will be able to monitor how much the Pay-to-Play fund is. The Director of Finance responded yes and with their new financial system they are now going to have revenues in their chart of account which they previously had not had. We are working with
them to setup all of these separate revenue accounts so they can track exactly to the dollar if someone asks how much came in for these particular programs. She added that if they choose to go into further detail by sporting then that will be their choice.
Mr. Shea commented that the reason he asks is that there are some who want to see the Pay-to-Play removed and it is an item that needs to be monitored and discussed thoroughly. The Director of Finance noted that we have Special Revenue Funds now that we did not have before, right now we have twenty funds on the Town and Board of Education in total; we may find that fund down the road may end up being a Special Revenue Fund for some reason; it is a good decision in terms of financial reporting either way but there may be some compelling reason to have us handle it differently down the road. Mrs. Samul asked by leaving revenue funds whether it be Pay-to-Play or anything else in with the General Fund is there the flexibility to use those funds for other items or is the use of those funds restricted to the item
that they were made for. The Director of Finance responded that was a discussion that they had with the Superintendent and there did not appear to be a clear cut policy which is why he did not want it in the Special Revenue Fund as he did not want the flexibility but there is some language as to what it is to be used for and that does not go away; they still would have to allocate in an identifying expenditure that would be paid from that as a revenue source. She noted that it will be up to the Board of Education to decide and track that. She referred to a Town revenue, for example Building Permits, when we report it on a financial basis we say that revenue for Building Permits is applied towards a General Government function but do we match dollar for dollar, that revenue to an expenditure, not necessarily but could we, yes we could come up with an estimate and provide it. Mrs. Samul asked if the revenue from Building Permits was designated as being used
for Building Inspections, etc. could we use that to pay for things going in the Town Clerk’s office as opposed to in the Building Department. The Director of Finance responded that you could not if it was designated for that. Mrs. Samul asked what the flexibility is that the Board of Education has on the Pay-to-Play or any other. The Director of Finance responded that they actually lose flexibility by bringing it into the General Fund.
The Director of Finance reported that we are at 99.74% for tax collection and is a credit to your Collector of Revenue and her staff who are doing a great job there. She noted that the only area she has to report in terms of a negative variance on the revenue side by a category was in the area of interest income, approximately ($139,000); we budgeted returns at 0.25% and were lucky if we were making 0.18% at times and even approaching 0%. She reported that there are two intergovernmental revenues that have to do with some changes the State made: one in the PILOT Manufactured Machinery Equipment with a variance of ($40,000) and the Telephone Gross Receipts with a variance of ($40,000) so in total on a $72 million to have negative revenues in the $200,000 range is something we can live with; everything else was
very favorable. She reported that overall in revenues we saw an increase of approximately $750,000 over budget and helps our fund balance.
The Director of Finance reported on the expenditure side of the budget that we had very positive expenditure results. There were quite a few positions that were not filled, we have retirements, positions were being phased in, and delays in hiring for some positions and all of that returned approximately $880,000 back to the budget. In total between the positive revenues and the positive expenditures we increased our fund balance by $1.5 million to the General Fund. She noted that we went from a 7.2% fund balance as a percentage of gap expenditures and operating transfers to a 9.2%. Mr. Shea asked if that includes the Board of Education. The Director of Finance responded yes.
The Director of Finance highlighted each tab in the book. Tab A includes transfers and encumbrances; this section is our housekeeping entries and brings the budget into Charter and budgetary compliance. She noted that this is the first year since FY 2005/2006 that we actually put on some encumbrances to the General Fund, approximately $33,000 on the Town side and approximately $167,000 on the Board of Education side; we had such lean budget years that we have had to deny all requests for that.
The Director of Finance reported that Tab B includes supplemental appropriations to the General Fund and there is only one with no impact to fund balance on this entry. She noted it is with the Board of Education as a result of the some of the revenues mentioned earlier that we brought in that were in the Revolving Account, associated expenditures come with it. This supplemental appropriation is strictly because their expenditures exceeded their budgeted appropriation and is a wash; we have revenues to cover it and no impact to fund balance.
The Director of Finance reported that Tab C includes supplemental appropriations for other funds and are standard; most of them have to do with grants or additional revenues that have been received and we need to bring the accounts into budgetary compliance. She noted that we have one for capital projects, the STEAP grant for the lighting in the Town Center, there are two or three for capital and non-reoccurring and has to do with different grants that Planning and Zoning received and also some grants that Engineering is involved with in terms of the Old Farms Road/Thompson Road project. We also have some from LoCIP that usually is a result of receiving the State numbers, we go with the original estimate and we find that we usually receive a slightly larger dollar amount so again strictly for budgetary
compliance. She noted some other standard entries for recreation activities as they receive more revenues for a particular trip and record that to match their expenditure. She noted that there are three standard entries for the Board of Education for the grants, the Cafeteria, and use of school facilities; they receive more revenues than they had budgeted for thus their expenditure appropriation is also exceeded so this is a wash, revenues come in, they cover expenditures, budgetary compliance. She noted no impact to any fund balance from any of these funds.
The Director of Finance reported that Tab D includes transfers and fund balance designations. We have a past practice that Public Works when they sell any capital assets at an auction, we allow them to take the funds from that auction and move them into a designation within the General Fund called capital asset replacement. She noted that we did move $50,000 out of the General Fund Undesignated Fund Balance into a designation for a 27th payroll that is coming up for the Town; we estimate the liability to be approximately $300,000 in total. She noted that with this addition our fund balance will be $200,000. Mr. Evans asked if that is for two years. The Director of Finance responded that she thought it was a little later and is verifying and believes that every seven years we run
into this the way our payroll falls.
The Director of Finance reported that the last tab includes appropriation or designation from fund balance. This is for the $500,000 that we are actually moving out of Undesignated Fund Balance into compensated absences which is a fund that we would pay out employee retirement expenditures for accumulated vacation and sick time. She noted that we had an opening fund balance of approximately $66,000 in this particular fund, we have expenditures for FY 10/11 of $320,000, and this would be in deficit position if we did not at least fund it to the level of the expenditure at $320,000. She reported that what we decided to do as we have also done in the past is we look at the current year draw down of this plus we try to project out a year or two and plan accordingly for future liability. She strongly
recommended doing this one especially in a year where we have had such good operating results to use because we may have some tougher years ahead of us and we won’t have to do an entry like this in a year or two.
The Director of Finance would like to stress the fact that with all of the funds we have very strong fund balances ranging from the General Fund at 9.22% all the way up to Internal Services Fund at 25%; we have been talking about how to build that up and have been able to do that. She noted that our Sewer Fund is at an unbelievable 86% but they have also been putting in more capital project requests. We are certainly in very healthy shape all the way across the board which will be great when we go for the credit rating review in October 2012 because they will look at all of the funds and want to see that not only did have stellar operating results in the General Fund, all the funds are in good shape.
The Town Manager reported that we have shared the results with Dennis Dix, our Financial Advisor, as we begin to weave together our story for the Moody’s when we go for the rating agency review. He noted that the two areas that he is most pleased with, with respect to FY 10/11 results, are the almost 2% increase in General Fund Undesignated Fund Balance and the Medical Claims Fund which is our only Internal Service Fund and for years that had languished very low percentages and now it is really very healthy to the point that it gives us some other options that we will be talking with the Health Insurance Sub-Committee about.
On a motion made by Mr. Evans, second by Mrs. Samul, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council hereby recommends that the Board of Finance approve the Fiscal Year End Transactions: Transfers, Supplemental Appropriations, Designations and Appropriations from Fund Balance as outlined in the booklet Final Fiscal Year Transactions FY 2010-2011 and as described in the memoranda from the Director of Finance to the Town Manager.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Evans, Pena, and Shea voted in favor.
11/12-33 Resignation: Avon Clean Energy Commission (D – 12/31/2011)
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council accept with regret the resignation of Brian Preleski from the Avon Clean Energy Commission.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Pena, and Evans voted in favor.
11/12-34 Road Acceptance: Charlotte Court
On a motion made by Mr. Evans, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council based upon the recommendation of the Town Engineer accept into the Town of Avon’s Highway System 0.03 miles on Charlotte Court.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Pena, and Evans voted in favor.
11/12-35 Review, Discussion and Approval: OPM Regional Performance Incentive
Grant Proposal
The Town Manager reported that this is a continuation of the OPM regional grants that initially go back to FY 07/08; some of you were on the Council when there were discussions about the cooperative purchasing of the equipment to maintain the Farmington Valley Rail Trail and this is the program that was used to purchase it.
The Assistant to the Town Manager reported that the funding in FY 07/08 was a one-time grant, $8.5 million set aside in the State budget for regional projects. He added that there were a number of projects that Avon had in the works back then that have been a benefit to the Town, the most relevant would be the Farmington Valley trail equipment that we participated in with towns to provide equipment to maintain the trail and has been successful and the equipment is housed in Avon and other towns can “check it out” through the Director of Public Works. He noted that in the most recent budget that the State passed they set aside what is to be an ongoing annual appropriation for the Regional Performance Incentive Grant and are anticipating approximately $7 million this year and to be available every
year. He reported that the five projects that are encapsulated in the resolution are the five that the Municipal and Shared Services Committee and the CRCOG Executive Board put forward as priorities.
The Assistant to the Town Manager noted that the two in particular are the GIS mapping which relates to the Engineering Department and the regional assessment study to take a look at a capitol region level and what it could look like down the road particularly since our Town Assessor has phased down to part-time and at some point we will be readdressing the situation. He noted that in order for CRCOG to submit this application to the State, they have to show that 50% of member towns support the proposals.
The Assistant to the Town Manager also reported that we were going to apply again for regional equipment; Simsbury Director of Public Works had some ideas, Granby and Avon were interested, then Winter Storm Alfred hit and every Public Works Department in the Farmington Valley became side-tracked. He noted that the plan is next summer since this will be an annual event to put our heads together and see if we can find some equipment to apply for.
On a motion made by Mr. Evans, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
Whereas Section 5 of Public Act 11-61 (An Act Concerning Responsible Growth)passed by the Connecticut General Assembly provides statewide incentive grants to regional planning organizations for projects that involve shared services; and
Whereas the Capitol Region Council of Governments is acting as a convener and facilitator of service sharing projects around the CRCOG region; and
Whereas on November 16, 2011 the Policy Board of CRCOG passed a resolution authorizing development and submittal of an application package to the State Office of Policy and Management for funding under the Regional Performance Incentive Grant Program, on behalf of the Council’s member municipalities, and municipalities of other regions, which are participating in Council initiatives; and
Whereas, the Chief Elected Officials and municipal staff of the Capitol Region have developed a list of service sharing project proposals that will be included in this application package, to the benefit of individual municipalities and the region as a whole; and
Whereas the Town of Avon has expressed an interest in taking part in the project proposals titled:
1. Back Office Service Sharing Study,
2. CAPTAIN 4G,
3. GIS Expansion,
4. IT Application Sharing and Development, and
5. Regional Assessment Study
Now, Therefore Be It Resolved that the Avon Town Council does hereby endorse the above referenced Regional Performance Incentive Program project proposal and authorizes the Town Manager to sign all necessary agreements and take all necessary actions to allow for the Town’s participation in this program.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Pena, and Evans voted in favor.
VIII. TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT/MISCELLANEOUS
Misc. A: Assistant Town Manager: The Town Manager reported that Steve Bartha, Assistant to the Town Manager has been promoted to Assistant Town Manager effective Monday, December 5, 2011. Council expressed congratulations and the promotion being well deserved.
The Town Manager reported that he met with the Superintendent of Schools earlier this week after he presented the first draft of his budget to the Board of Education and he provided the Town Manager with a folder full of background data and providing to all of his Board of Education members; he dropped off two additional copies, one for Town Council and one for the Board of Finance. It includes all of the supplementary information that you see in the Town budget book and is in the Town Manager’s office if Council wants to see or borrow it.
Mrs. Samul commented that other trails through Town have suffered significant damage because of trees and limbs coming down. She asked if we have anything that Recreation and Parks is doing to clean-up the Town trails. Chairman Zacchio asked the Town Manager to contact the Land Trust and others who often put together springtime clean-up parties. Mrs. Samul asked if there might be funds available specifically for Fisher Meadows from the Parks Special Revenue Fund.
IX. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Collective Bargaining/Personnel
On a motion made by Mr. Pena, seconded by Mr. Evans, 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. Evans, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council come out of Executive Session at 9:30 p.m.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Pena, Shea, and Evans voted in favor.
XI. ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.
Attest:
Caroline B. LaMonica
Clerk
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