Minutes of the regular meeting of the Legislative Council held on Wednesday, December 5, 2007 in the Meeting Room of the C. H. Booth Library, 14 Riverside Road, Sandy Hook, CT. Temporary Chairman Aurelia called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
PRESENT: Temporary Chairman Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia, Legislative Council members William Rodgers, Francis Pennarola, Daniel Amaral, John Aurelia, Jan Brookes, Jeffrey Capeci, Gary Davis, Joseph DiCandido, Joseph Hemingway, Patricia Llodra, Christopher Lyddy, Po Murray. ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Joseph Borst, Selectman Paul Mangiafico, Financial Director Benjamin Spragg, six members of public.
ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN.
Mr. DiCandido nominated Mr. Rodgers as Chairman, second by Mr. Pennarola.
Mr. Davis nominated Mr. Hemingway as Chairman, second by Mrs. Murray.
Mrs. Murray nominated Mrs. Llodra as Chairman, second by Mr. Davis. Mrs. Llodra declined the nomination. Mr. Hemingway then declined his nomination.
Mr. Davis nominated Mr. Pennarola as Chairman, second by Mrs. Murray. Mr. Pennarola declined the nomination.
Mrs. Murray nominated Mr. Capeci as Chairman, second by Mr. Davis. Mr. Capeci declined the nomination.
Mr. Hemingway moved to close the nominations, second by Mr. Pennarola and unanimously carried.
Vote to elect Mr. Rodgers Chairman: YES (10) (Amaral, Aurelia, Brookes, Capeci, DiCandido, Hemingway, Llodra, Lyddy, Pennarola, Rodgers). NO (2) (Davis, Murray). Motion carried.
ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN
Mr. Hemingway nominated Mr. Pennarola as Vice-Chairman, second by Mrs. Llodra.
Mr. Davis nominated Mr. Lyddy as Vice-Chairman, second by Mrs. Murray. Mr. Lyddy declined the nomination.
Mrs. Llodra moved to close the nominations for Vice-Chairman, second by Mr. Capeci. Motion unanimously carried.
Vote to elect Mr. Pennarola as Vice-Chairman was unanimous.
APPOINTMENT OF CLERK TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
Mr. Capeci moved to appoint Ann Mazur as Clerk to the Legislative Council. Second by Mrs. Llodra and unanimously carried.
MINUTES. The minutes of the regular meeting of November 21, 2007 will be amended to note on page 4 that Mr. Pennarola seconded Mrs. Doyle’s motion. Upon motion of Mr.Pennarola, the minutes of the regular meeting of November 21, 2007 were unanimously accepted as amended.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. Mr. Rodgers advised the audience that they may address any item on the agenda, including the elections. Ruby Johnson, Chestnut Hill Road, addressed the matter of year-round schooling. She said that Westport had looked at this but found problems with staffing and with vacation schedules being interrupted.
Keith Jacobs, 27 Ashford Lane, ran for the Legislative Council as a voice for change but the change that he wanted did not occur. Listen with more of an open mind.
Sarah Beier, 7 Yogananda Street, was dismayed that she had very little opportunity to listen to the stance of the First Selectman and felt that without the help of the #2 selectman… At this time Mr. Rodgers advised Mrs. Beier that he was referring to the elections held by the Legislative Council tonight when he advised the audience that they may address the elections. Mrs. Beier said that she had completed her comments.
Paul Mangiafico, 15 Kent Road, congratulates the new and returning Legislative Council members.
COMMUNICATIONS. None noted.
COMMITTEE REPORTS.
Education. Mrs. Llodra discussed year-round schooling. She said that feedback from former Superintendent Pitkoff, Interim Superintendent Jokubaitis and Assistant Superintendent Gejda was that the Board of Education is not going to conduct a thorough study at this time. They will consider addressing issues that NEASC is concerned with, such as overcrowding. Also would the upcoming construction schedule have an impact on the school schedule. Mr. Rodgers noted that this was the reason that the Legislative Council is waiting for a response from the Board of Education. Mrs. Llodra said that the schedule is tentative. If the referendum is successful, construction may begin July 1. During the initial year exterior work will be done. Gym renovation is scheduled for the second year of construction. The Board of Education
may modify the school calendar with an early start in September 2008 with the school year ending one week later in June 2009 and beginning one week later in September 2009. This should give more time in June, July, August and September 2009 for work. Mrs. Llodra said that no calendar decisions have been made yet. She asked if the Legislative Council agenda items could be directed to those issues.
Mr. Rodgers advised that audience may also address any items in the First Selectman’s report.
FIRST SELECTMAN’S REPORT. Mr. Borst congratulated the new Legislative Council members as well as those returning. He noted that revaluation forms have been sent to residential addresses today and that residents should not multiply the new assessment by the current mill rate. Mr. Amaral asked how much did the revaluation go up. Mr. Spragg advised that residential revaluations were going out and that commercial and condo revaluations have not yet gone out, so there is no way yet to tell what the growth of the grand list will be. Mr. Pennarola noted that an ordinance was passed that allows an increase in the members of the Board of Assessment Appeals.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
An irrevocable trust fund to benefit the Town of Newtown. Mr. Rodgers noted that this item was a project of David Brown’s and Mr. Rodgers did not sense a large degree of support to continue this discussion. He noted that the Town Attorney said that though a fund could be established there is a difficulty with putting Town money into such a fund. The Attorney General felt that this was a local matter. Mrs. Murray asked why Mr. Brown requested that this be put on the agenda. Mr. Rodgers said that Mr. Brown wished to established a dedicated savings plan for the Town for open space and other purposes but that statutes do not allow this. Mr. DiCandido noted that it is nearly impossible in tight budget years to fund such a project. Mr. Pennarola said that we voted to establish such a fund but that funding was
questionable. Mr. Rodgers said that in the past we had asked for private donations but did not receive funding. Mr. Rodgers asked Mr. Spragg to contact the Town Attorney about establishing a trust fund into which citizens could donate funds. Mr. Rodgers advised that this item will be taken off the agenda.
Year-round schooling. Mr. Rodgers noted that the term Year-Round Schooling was an unfortunate characterization of the issue. The issue was referring to an alternative scheduling arrangement while the high school addition was being constructed but without depriving anyone of a vacation. Mr. Rodgers advised that this item will be taken off the agenda for the present.
Report from Finance Committee concerning suggestions for Administrators’ Contract (possible executive session). Mr. Rodgers noted that the Administrators’ Contract will be discussed by a member of the Board of Education in executive session.
Request by the Town of Newtown Water & Sewer Authority to increase the general water and sewer rates and sewer and water rates for Nunnawauk Meadows. Mr. Rodgers advised that this matter will be referred to the yet to be appointed Ordinance Committee and will be carried forward on the agenda.
NEW BUSINESS.
Committee assignments. Mr. Rodgers noted that the Legislative Council has two major committees, Finance and Ordinance, and that each member is expected to be a member of one of these committees. The minor committees are Education, Public Works, Public Safety and Administration. He said that we must re-examine what is major and what is minor. The minor committees in the past were a conduit to the Town agencies that were associated with dividing budget areas. We will have a base discussion of the utility of the committees.
Possible Part Two presentation (finances) from the Fairfield Hills Authority. Mr. Rodgers advised that Fairfield Hills Authority Chairman Bob Geckle is out of town and expects to make a presentation probably at the next meeting. Mr. Rodgers said that the Fairfield Hills Authority is obligated to report to the Legislative Council annually. Part I was presented by the Authority to the Legislative Council in October but there were numbers in flux.
Mr. Davis asked Mr. Rodgers how to put items on the Legislative Council agenda. Mr. Rodgers said to send a request to him seven days in advance of the next meeting but that requests do not have to be put in writing. He said that technically an item can be placed on the agenda by the First Selectman, a member of the Legislative Council or by a request from eighty citizens. He noted that Legislative Council rules allow an item for discussion but not for action to be added to the agenda during the meeting.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. Jean Cole, 26 Canterbury Lane, said that Branford or North Branford has a trust specifically for open space. Maybe we want to see how they fund this.
ANNOUNCEMENTS. None noted.
EXECUTIVE SESSION. Upon motion of Mr. DiCandido, executive session was entered at 8:33 p.m. in order for a member of the Board of Education to discuss the Administrators’ contract. At this time the clerk left the meeting.
Ann M. Mazur, Clerk
Addendum to the minutes of the Legislative Council of December 5, 2007.
Executive session was exited at 9:32 p.m. Upon motion of Mrs. Llodra, the meeting was adjourned at 9:33 p.m.
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