The Legislative Council held a regular meeting on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 in the Conference Room of the C. H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street, Newtown, CT. Chairman Rodgers called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
PRESENT: T. Holian, D. Amaral, D. Brown, J. DiCandido, J. Shpunt, J. Borst, F. Pennarola, J. Hemingway. ABSENT: W. Rodgers, P. Baiad, R. Recht. ALSO PRESENT: Financial Director B. Spragg, Board of Education members P. Nanavaty and P. Mangiafico, Board of Education Director of Business R. Bienkowski, two members of public and one member of press.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. Mr. Spragg presented a calendar for the budget process (A). He said that the Board of Finance must submit the budget to the Legislative Council by March 14. He also said that the Board of Selectmen will submit the budget to the Board of Finance by February 14. The Board of Finance will meet on February 14 and February 24. The public hearing on the budget will be on March 2. Mr. Spragg also distributed the Official Statement that is issued whenever we issue bonds (B).
MINUTES. Upon motion of Mr. Borst, the minutes of the regular meeting of December 15, 2004 were unanimously accepted as presented.
COMMUNICATIONS. Mr. Holian noted that the remaining Board of Selectmen budget meeting is on February 3.
Correspondence was received from the Tercentennial Committee inviting participation by the Legislative Council.
The Board of Education will hold budget workshops tomorrow and on February 7 and February 8 in the Reed Intermediate School.
A letter was received from Newtown Hook & Ladder inviting the Council members to view the existing firehouse.
John Kortze, Chairman of the Board of Finance, had sent correspondence to Elaine McClure, the Chairman of the Board of Education, asking for monthly budget records or audits from the Board of Education rather than the quarterly reports that the Board of Finance now receives. The Legislative Council is on board with this request. Mr. Mangiafico personally feels that the Board should comply. Mr. Rosenthal said that the Charter does indicate that the Board of Finance has the right to request whatever financial information it wants.
COMMITTEE REPORTS. None noted.
FIRST SELECTMAN’S REPORT. Mr. Rosenthal reported that the Town and Board of Education offices moved from Canaan House to 31 Pecks Lane, the Kendro Laboratory Building. The Town departments are color coded. The air quality and climate control in this building are very good. The Town has a five year lease but is likely to leave after three years. Canaan House will be closed and the excess files will be stored in a safe place. Under the Fairfield Hills Master Plan the building is scheduled to be scaled back or demolished. There is a problem with water seepage in the basement. Mr. Iassogna said that an excellent job was done with the design of the interior space in Kendro. Mr. Rosenthal said that the Board of Selectmen will meet tomorrow at 7:30 in Edmond Town Hall for its third budget meeting and they will try
to finish the budget at the February 7 meeting.
OLD BUSINESS.
Charter Review Committee. Mr. Holian reported that the response was very low and that there were four verbal inquiries only. This item will continue as Old Business.
NEW BUSINESS.
Intent to Bond Request by the Board of Education. Mr. Nanavaty explained that the resolution does not obligate the Town to borrow. He said that about $300,000 has been spent for the cleanup before remediation and that the remediation costs are not known. Mr. Bienkowski said that Phase I of the project was the emergency response by the DEP and Fleet Environmental. The next phase is the Exploratory Phase to determine the areas where oil can still be trapped under ground. The Remedial Phase can go on for one to two years. There is considerable oil under the boiler room. The total impact as of today is $366,000. Fleet Environmental estimates it will cost another $200,000 through the end of February, including test wells. An oil separator will be in a shed by the stream. Another shed will be set up by the manholes at
the school. There will be a recovery system in the boiler room. Mr. Bienkowski said that the DEP has the final say as to whether this will be enough. Ongoing testing of the soil will be needed. Absorbents picked up 250 gallons; under the boiler room 217 gallons were retrieved, 920 gallons were retrieved at the stream; 1,000 gallons may have gone into the stream and there are potentially 2,000 gallons under the boiler room. This appears to account for about 4,000 gallons which was the total amount of the spill. Test holes under the halls in the school should be done to see if there is oil under the school. Mr. Mangiafico said that the contractors’ bills have to be paid.
Mr. Rosenthal requested that Representatives Wasserman and McKinney look into establishing legislation so that the State Bonding Commission approve funds for the Town for expenses for the spill.
Open Space Parcels (Eichler Cove Marina and Laurel Trail).
Mr. Rosenthal said that the Board of Finance has not acted on accepting the above two parcels but he hopes that the Council can approve the purchases on February 16 or March 2 if the Board of Finance acts before then so that we can go to a town meeting quickly. Mr. Rosenthal said that a resolution is proposed for $10 million for a five year period but not for any particular properties and a $2 million resolution for these two parcels. Mr. Rosenthal presented photos and maps of the two parcels to the Council members for their review. He will forward to them an appraisal of Eichler Cove Marina.
Transfer.
Mr. Borst moved to transfer from Account 01570-2000 Contingency $105,188, to Account 01510-2031 Sand $36,750, to Account 01510-2032 Salt $34,688 and to Account 10510-1003 Winter Overtime $33,750. Second by Mr. Brown and unanimously carried.
Public Participation. John Urso, 38 Brookwood Drive, said that the marina is beautiful but it needs a lot of work. If the Town buys it, where will the money come from? You are buying only one building lot. Mr. Rosenthal said that there are three or four building lots there.
David Nanavaty, 28 Currituck Road, presented a breakdown of the invoices and estimates for the Reed School oil spill. He said that regarding Mr. Kortze’s request for monthly reports, the Board of Education decided that quarterly reports are sufficient. Transfers will now be provided to the Legislative Council and the Board of Finance.
Executive Session. Mr. DiCandido moved to enter executive session at 9:20 p.m. to discuss a legal matter and to invite Mr. Spragg and the clerk to attend, second by Mr. Brown and unanimously carried.
Executive session was exited at 9:24 p.m. Mr. Borst moved to grant the Town of Newtown and its designated officials to go to court against Mr. Michael Inteman, 28 John Beach Road, to force him to clean up his property and to abide by the zoning regulations, second by Mr. Iassogna and unanimously carried.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 9:28 p.m.
Ann M. Mazur, Clerk
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