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AMENDED MINUTES
The Board of Finance held a special meeting on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 in the Council Chamber of the Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street, Newtown, CT. John Kortze called the meeting to order at 7:02pm.
PRESENT: John Kortze, James Gaston, Michael Portnoy and Harry Waterbury (via conference call).
ABSENT: Martin Gersten, Joseph Kearney
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman E. Patricia Llodra (7:15pm), Finance Director Robert Tait, Public Works Director Fred Hurley, two members of the public and two members of the press.
VOTER COMMENTS: none.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Discussion and possible action:
- Resolution: A RESOLUTION AMENDING A RESOLUTION APPROPRIATING $1,000,000 FOR ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE PLANNING AND DESIGN OF A PARK AND RECREATION COMMUNITY CENTER/SENIOR CENTER AND AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF $1,000,000 BONDS OF THE TOWN TO MEET SAID APPROPRIATION AND PENDING THE ISSUANCE THEREOF THE MAKING OF TEMPORARY BORROWINGS FOR SUCH PURPOSE
(The purpose of the resolution is to increase the total appropriation and bond authorization by $425,000 from $1,000,000 to $1,425,000. The additional $425,000 is appropriated for additional work, including but not limited to, asbestos abatement and demolition.) Mr. Kortze stated there was email traffic (Att. A) that included the Board of Finance, the Board of Selectmen and the Legislative Council as a whole. Although he understands the intent of people weighing in it is a violation of the Freedom of Information Act to discuss public issues via email outside of a warned meeting. Section 1-200 (2) of FOI states: “Meeting” means any hearing or other proceeding of a public agency, any convening or assembly of a quorum of a multimember public agency, and any
communication by or to a quorum of a multimember public agency, whether in person or by means of electronic equipment, to discuss or act upon a matter over which the public agency has supervision…”
Mr. Gaston moved the waiving the entire resolution: Resolution: A RESOLUTION AMENDING A RESOLUTION APPROPRIATING $1,000,000 FOR ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE PLANNING AND DESIGN OF A PARK AND RECREATION COMMUNITY CENTER/SENIOR CENTER AND AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF $1,000,000 BONDS OF THE TOWN TO MEET SAID APPROPRIATION AND PENDING THE ISSUANCE THEREOF THE MAKING OF TEMPORARY BORROWINGS FOR SUCH PURPOSE . Mr. Portnoy seconded. All in favor.
See attached Excerpt for the Minutes of the Board of Finance Meeting, December 15, 2010 (Att. B) for the motion on the entire resolution and the letter from R. Tait to the BOF (Att. C).
Mr. Kortze explained that the Board of Finance did not act on the resolution as presented on Monday evening although time was spent on questions. He spoke at length with Glen Santoro, bond counsel, to make sure the resolution read correctly and explained the Board of Finance did not feel comfortable with the lack clarity in the past resolution. They also spoke regarding special appropriations vs. emergency appropriations, about at town meeting and the charter. The charter section on special appropriations talks about an adopted budget with money in it and then an appropriation to follow; his concern is there is no money in the budget for the appropriation. Mr. Santoro was very specific in saying it is a special appropriation. There is a clause in the charter about a
cumulative amount of money. This is not cumulative because the original appropriation was done in 2008, this is a separate one. It is the personal opinion of Mr. Kortze this should go to a town meeting to be addressed by the public.
Mr. Gaston submitted three documents (Att. D,E,F) regarding the timeline of the Litchfield Hall, Parks & Recreation/Senior Center project. Mr. Hurley stated that at no time was an asbestos concern identified in any of the in the sills when survey work was done on the campus. The problem occurred in an area that had not come up before. There was no indication that there was anything unique to be discovered around the windows. It was a budgeting error to think that the cost of the demolition for Litchfield would be equal to the cost of the demolition of Fairfield, a mirror building because Fairfield had previous remediation of various sorts done by the state for continuing usage of the building. Time is of the essence because the building is more than half way demolished,
it is an ongoing liability issue for the town. It will not be cheaper in the future to complete the demolition and there is a specific method and price in place to get the project done at this time.
Mr. Tait noted the impact statement (Att. G) reflects the impact of the $425,000 on debt service, which is $36,000 in the first year. There are level principal payments, always the highest in the first year and decreasing over the life of the bond. The extra $425,000 will not increase the estimated debt service levels of the CIP. There is savings of $180,000 from an approved bridge and there will also be savings in the middle school roof; the town will be bonding less than planned even with this additional $425,000 because of that savings. Mr. Gaston asked if there would be a re-order or an elimination of any projects. Mr. Tait said there would not. Mr. Hurley said it may be worth spending more money on testing on the buildings. Also, there are sometimes unexpected
costs if you leave yourself short on the architectural and supervisory costs. Mr. Kortze said that bond counsel said a town meeting in not required but he believes when dealing with Fairfield Hills the Town would be better served exhausting every public venue they could. Both Mr. Gaston and First Selectman Llodra agreed. Mr. Gaston stated that this is the second meeting held because the BOF wanted to make sure the notice was properly warned and that people understand what this is about. Mr. Waterbury said that the information supplied by Mr. Hurley and First Selectman Llodra was very informative to the town.
ADJOURNMENT:
Having no further business the Board of Finance adjourned their special meeting at 7:35p.m.
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Susan Marcinek, Clerk
Att. A: emails to the BOF,BOS,LC re: subject resolution
Att. B: Excerpt for the minutes of the BOF meeting 12/15/10
Att. C: R. Tait letter to BOF, 12/14/10
Att. D: Community Center/Demo Project Summary
Att. E: Time line, architectural & eng. Serv. For planning & design, P&R/Sr. Ctr.
Att. F: Task Order No. 4
Att. G: Impact Statement
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