The Board of Finance held a regular meeting on Monday, February 12, 2007 in the meeting room at Town Hall South, 3 Main Street, Newtown, CT. Chairman John Kortze called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
PRESENT: John Kortze, James Gaston, Michael Portnoy, Harrison Waterbury, John Torok, ABSENT: Joseph Kearney
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Herbert C. Rosenthal, Finance Director Ben Spragg, Legislative Council members Pat Llodra and Stacy Doyle, two members of public, one member of press
VOTER PARTICIPATION: Ms. Pat Llodra, Council member, handed out a copy of her summary of the Governor’s proposed budget (attached). There are some benefits to the town and some areas where we should be concerned.
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Upon motion by Mr. Torok, the minutes of the 12/18/06 meeting were unanimously accepted as presented.
Upon motion by Mr. Gaston, the minutes of the 12/13/06 meeting were unanimously accepted as presented.
Upon motion by Mr. Gaston, the minutes of the 12/5/06 meeting were unanimously accepted as presented.
Upon motion by Mr. Gaston, the minutes of the 11/20/06 meeting were unanimously accepted as presented.
Upon motion by Mr. Gaston, the minutes of the 11/9/06 meeting were unanimously accepted as presented.
FIRST SELECTMAN REPORT: Selectman Rosenthal stated that he feels the Governor’s proposed state-wide budget was the best budget proposed in a long time, although “hold harmless” towns like Newtown don’t do as well in the formulas as some towns. Last year, we estimated a state revenue of $284,000 and only received $40,000.
FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT: Mr. Spragg distributed a summary of the proposed Selectmen’s budget. The operating costs are up by 5%, the debt service is up another 3% and the Selectmen are recommending putting $750,000 into the Capital Reserve Fund.
TnT Partners – Business Incentive Application
Mr. Mike Bodetti was present and advised that the name of the company is now TnT Expense Management. They are a technical and finance business currently located in 5,000 sf at 13 Berkshire Road. Their business is expanding and they are planning to build a 25,000 sf building at Curtis Park. They expect that within a year they will have 100 people working for them and a lot of new clients. The new building will cost $4.5 to $6 million and will be a corporate headquarters type structure. First Selectman Rosenthal advised that the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the tax abatement and the Economic Development Commission supports it as well. Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker drafted an analysis of what the taxes might look like because we won’t know
exactly until the building is built and assessed.
Mr. Bodetti advised that they had considered expanding in Monroe, Southbury or Newtown and decided that the business incentive made Newtown very attractive. Mr. Bodetti also lives in town. It was decided to take action at the next meeting.
Consulting Services
Legislative Council members Pat Llodra and Stacy Doyle were present. Ms. Llodra stated that there has been a lot of debate about build-out in town. She thought it might be helpful to get more concrete information. Mr. Kortze stated that he would like to find out what land is still available for development. He contacted a research analyst at CCM who gave him names of firms that could provide this information. Mr. Rosenthal advised that an RFP or RFQ would be necessary to hire any professional services in excess of $2,000.
Ms. Llodra asked if a consultant would take data from our current Plan of Development or where would they start? Mr. Rosenthal stated that they would look at our zoning regulations and our current Plan of Conservation and Development. Ms. Llodra would hope that a plan would take into consideration the big picture, ie. streets, transportation, recreation needs, open space, greenways, etc. Mr. Gaston feels this would help us see what the town will look like past the five year CIP. Mr. Kortze feels the first step is to identify the potential and then try to find a consultant to take us there. Mr. Kortze suggested working on a list of objectives, questions and try break things down. Mr. Rosenthal suggested talking to the Chairman of the
Planning & Zoning Commission and make sure they are included. Mr. Kortze and Ms. Llodra will get together to discuss further possibilities.
Transfer
Mr. Portnoy moved to transfer FROM Account 01570-2000 Contingency $32,433.00 TO Various Salary Accounts $32,433.00. Motion seconded.
First Selectman Rosenthal advised that this transfer will cover salary increases for the town hall workers union contract that was recently finalized. Their contract expired on 6/30/06 and they were going into arbitration but then agreed to settle.
MOTION UNANIMOUSLY CARRIED.
Budget Meeting Schedule
It was decided to meet to get an overview of the Selectmen’s budget on Thursday, 2/22; the Board of Education budget on 2/27; hold a public hearing on 2/28; a budget deliberation meeting on 3/1, and if necessary, another deliberation meeting on 3/12. Times and locations will be determined asap.
ADD TO AGENDA
Mr. Portnoy moved to add possible executive session to discuss legal matters to the agenda. Motion seconded and unanimously carried.
Mr. Portnoy moved to enter executive session to discuss legal matters and to invite the Finance Director to attend. Motion seconded and unanimously carried.
Meeting entered executive session at 8:50 p.m. (at which time the clerk left the meeting) and the meeting returned to open session at 9:05 p.m. when it was adjourned.
Jan Andras
Attachment: Pat Llodra Summary of Governor’s Budget (attached to original minutes)
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