Minutes of the Charter Revision Commission Meeting held on Tuesday December 5, 2006 in the Mary Hawley Room at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street, Newtown, CT.
PRESENT: Al Cramer, Guy Howard, Joan Plouffe, LeReine Frampton, Joseph Hemingway, Public Building & Site Commission members- Bill Furrier, and, Bob Mulholland, Council member Joe Borst
ABSENT: Carolyn Signorelli.
Chairman Al Cramer called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM.
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Upon motion of Mr. Hemingway, the minutes of the regular meeting on 11/28/06 were unanimously accepted as presented.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: None
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
1. Mr. Cramer proposed language to the Charter recommending how Annual Town Reports will be distributed to the public. Ms. Frampton felt that a notice should be placed in a paper with substantial circulation in Town indicating that the reports are available at the Town Clerks office or on the Town website. Mr. Cramer will revise the language for the next meeting.
2. Public Building & Site Commission.
· Bill Furrier explained that the commission is essential to the Town given the size and scope of projects that arise. The commission acts as an interface between the Town and the contractor on a job. Town and Board of Education administrators have enough to manage already without adding the management of a construction project. He feels that the continuity and experience of the commission allows the Town to ensure that they receive what is stated in contracts and that since contactors know that they are answering to a commission with experience, bills are typically more accurate.
· Bob Mulholland stated that the commission reviews all bills and questions the contractors on projects they are involved in before payments are remitted. Mr. Mulholland added that there should be a dollar threshold on a project that would force the commission to be involved. Mr. Hemingway disagreed, explaining that the commission should be involved in all projects relating to Town buildings, and that smaller jobs can be more difficult to manage because a construction manager may not be involved.
· Mr. Mulholland sees a conflict between the current Charter language and the ordinance empowering the commission. He distributed an amended ordinance that has been given to the Legislative Council for review (Attachment A).
· Joe Borst expressed concern over the commission’s lack of involvement at Fairfield Hills to date. Mr. Borst offered examples of projects in the past where problems arose when the commission was not involved. Mr. Mulholland also is concerned over the commission’s lack of involvement at Fairfield Hills and conversely offered several examples of projects where the commission was able to save the Town money due to their review and suggestions on projects. .
· Ms. Plouffe noted that the Charter specifically states that the commission “shall” be involved with all public building projects. Mr. Howard and Mr. Cramer questioned the consequences for violations of the Charter given the examples given of projects where the commission was not involved.
· Mr. Furrier feels that if commission members were elected rather than appointed, the commission could have more responsibility and accountability. He also feels that the Charter should state that funds may not be released for a public building project until the commission has reviewed the project.
· Mr. Cramer will question the Town attorney on the issues raised and how the language can be revised to eliminate the conflict.
3. Legislative Council-election at large.
· Ms. Frampton feels that if the Town changed from the current 3-district system to an at large vote, there would be too many candidates for the voters to have to choose from. She feels that a 2-district system would benefit the Town by removing voting from the elementary schools, and that the political parties would benefit from moving away from the 3-district system where there usually seems to be an abundance of candidates from one district and a shortage in another.
· Mr. Hemingway feels that a change to a 2-district system does not solve the problem that arises when a citizen wants to vote for a candidate who may live in another area of Town. He feels it should stay at 3-districts or go to at large.
· Mr. Howard does not see a problem in having an at large system and feels that it gives the voters the most choice. Mr. Cramer currently sees voters not being familiar with many of the candidates and feels that the problem would compound with an at large system.
ACTION TAKEN: None
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting will be held on Tuesday December 12, 2006 in the Old Courtroom at Edmond Town Hall.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: None
ADJOURNMENT:
Mr. Cramer moved to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded and unanimously carried. Having no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:02.
Attachment
Public Building & Site Commission Amended Ordinance Draft 06/04/06
I This ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the Newtown Public Building &
Site Commission Ordinance.
II Organization and structure of Public Building and Site Commission;
A) There shall be a Public Building & Site Commission (PBSC) of the Town of Newtown consisting of seven (7)
members, no more then four of whom shall be members of the same political party.
The term of office of each member shall be four years from the date of appointment.
All appointer members of the PBSC must be electors or residents of the Town.
A member will vacate his or her position if said member fails to attend a regular meeting for four consecutive
months or 5 out of 12 regular consecutive meetings.
B) There shall be two (2) alternates appointed for four two year terms with no more than one alternate from the some
political party.
The term of the alternates shall run from January 1 of the even year through December 31st of the odd year.
If a regular member of the Commission is absent, the Chairman of the Board shall designate an alternate to act in
the absent member’s place, choosing the alternate in rotation so that they shall act as nearly equal a number of
times as possible.
C) Members shall have relevant professional experience to perform functions required by the commission.
Relevant experience includes engineering, construction, architectural design, mechanical design and construction
(HVAC), building or construction consultant, major project management or administrative experience and any
law degree or practice that is relevant to the execution of town building projects.
Other professional experience outside those sited above needs to be approved by the sitting commission prior to
nomination.
III The Board of Selectmen shall appoint, whether for full terms or to fill vacancies, the members and alternates of said Commission. The Commission shall choose a Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary annually from its membership. The Commission shall appoint a clerk who will keep minutes of meetings and record all votes and other actions of the Commission. Said clerk shall not be a voting member of the Commission.
IV Public Building Project Defined:
A public building project shall be defined as any project that includes all alteration, construction or extension, furnishing or equipping of a building to be used for public purposes including the acquisition and improvement of land there for, with the improvements thereon, if any.
V The powers and duties of said Commission shall be as follow:
A) To render such services in connection with all Town of Newtown building and
site projects undertaken & controlled by the Board of Selectmen, Board of
Education and or any other said town authority so designated as and responsible
for said projects, (project owner).
B) To appoint associate members of said commission, with voice but without vote,
as it may deem desirable to fulfill duties relative to specific projects. The term of
office of such associate member shall not exceed the length of project appointed
for or term of office of the members of said commission.
C) Will provide consultation with all other Boards and Commissions of the Town of
Newtown on public building and land needs prior to any project initiation and
submit written recommendations on said projects.
D) To investigate, examine and help select sites for all public building & land-use
projects;
E) Interview professional services including Architects, Construction Management, Engineering and Consultants
as well as Construction firms and make recommendations to Boards and
Commissions of the Town of Newtown for engaging said professional services.
F) Review reports, preliminary plans and cost estimates contained in proposals or
evaluations of and from professional service firms.~ Make formal recommendations
relative thereto to affected Boards and Commissions or the
Town's Purchasing Authority as applicable.
G) Present recommendations to other Boards and Commissions for the purpose of
securing permits, approval of funding in connection with Public Building and
Site Projects.
H) Approve plans and specifications for bid.
I) Analyze bids and make recommendations to Boards and Commissions of the
Town of Newtown for their action relative to said bids, and in the creation of their contracts resulting from this
analysis, in concert with the Town’s Purchasing Authority.
J) Direct contracted services within the limits of authorized contract controlled and maintained by the authorizing
Boards and Commissions of the Town of Newtown.
K) Supervise and monitor the construction and progress of all public buildings, and land
site projects, through a Clerk of the works or Construction Management firm selected by the commission and the
authorizing Boards and Commissions of the Town of Newtown.
L) Monitor and review all Change Orders, Contractual Invoices and any other
documents associated with the work in progress relative to said project. Approve or reject said requests relative
to each project, make recommendations to the authorizing Boards and Commissions
for appropriate action for said project for their action through the Town’s
Purchasing Authority.
Patrick M. Kelley, Clerk
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