Minutes of the meeting of the Legislative Council Finance Committee held on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 in the Mary Hawley Room of Edmond Town, 45 Main Street, Newtown, CT. Chairman DiCandido called the meeting to order at 7:37 p.m.
PRESENT: Daniel Amaral, Jeffrey Capeci, Joseph DiCandido, Po Murray.
ALSO PRESENT: Board of Finance Chair, John Kortze, and Councilman, Gary Davis.
Chairman DiCandido called the meeting to order at 7:37PM. He also welcomed Mr. Davis’ participation in discussions of the subcommittee.
VOTER PARTICIPATION: None noted.
NEW BUSINESS:
BOF adopted CIP: Ms Murray said the CIP is not adequate and we need long range planning. Mr. DiCandido said that any long range planning he had ever been a part of changed because it is difficult to predict the future beyond six months with any certainty. Mr. Capeci stated that the CIP is on the agenda. Long range planning may be useful and we should encourage the Board of Selectman to take the next step but our business tonight is the CIP. Mr. Davis suggested that a CIP should contain more information on the how urgent the needs of the projects are. Mr. Kortze stated that the CIP is a spending plan then discussed how the CIP was generated using the priorities given to the Board of Finance by the Board of Selectman and the Board of Education. Their goal was to cut 10% from
each year of the CIP. This was achieved by culling the lowest priority projects from the requests. Mr. Kortze stated that an ideal situation would be to devise a CIP from a master plan but it is a challenge to create a five year CIP let alone looking ten or twenty years down the road. Mr. Davis said that if the chairman of the various boards and commissions in town believed strategic planning should go forward, they could put pressure on the selectmen to do so. Mr. Kortze stated that he has been a proponent of long range planning which is why he asked the council for the funds to get the Planimetrics report.
Mr. Davis suggested that Tech Park is not something he believes the town can manage at this time and perhaps that should be cut. Mr. DiCandido said that Tech Park is a grant and will likely not go forward if the funding is not available from the state. He then suggested that open space acquisition may not be a priority in today’s economic climate. Mr. Davis stated that his understanding of the recreation building is that it is a mess. It is full of code violations and hazards to workers. He believes that the repairs to this building should be put back on the CIP. Why would we make repairs to tennis courts at Dickinson Park when we have possible safety issues at the maintenance facility? Mr. Davis questioned why the recreation building is needed and why Parks & Recreation
can not work out a deal with the Board of Ed to use classrooms during the summers. Mr. DiCandido added that he was in favor of getting more utilization from the school buildings. Mr. Davis said that the Conservation Commission has made a great case to the council for preserving open space. We don’t necessarily have to give them $2,000,000 per year, why not cut it back to $1,000,000?
Mr. DiCandido suggested that we focus our discussion on making recommendations to the council. Mr. Davis suggested removal of the Dickinson Infrastructure renovations from year 1 and adding back the Parks and Recreation Maintenance Facility renovations. Mr. Capeci suggested that per Commissioner Marks, the whole $700k would not be necessary to bring the facility to code and suggested $350K. Mr. DiCandido said that he did not believe that the Police Radio equipment should be bonded nor should temporary classrooms.
Mr. Davis suggested removing the recreation center from year two because not enough collaboration has occurred between Parks & Recreation and the Board of Ed. Ms. Murray was concerned that this center did not consider the needs of the senior population. Mr. Davis expressed concern that this project is not planned out, that the costs are unknown and that until this project is better defined it should be pulled from the plan.
Mr. Capeci moved that the Finance Subcommittee recommend to the Legislative Council the following changes to the 2009-2010 CIP as adopted by the Board of Finance on December 8, 2008:
Remove $1,000,000 per year in years 2009-10 through 2013-14 from Open Space Acquisition.
Year 2009-2010:
Remove Dickinson Infrastructure Renovations $620,000
Add Parks & Recreation Maintenance Facility Renovations $350,000
Move Police Radio Enhancements from Bonding to General Fund
Move Temporary Module Classrooms from Bonding to General Fund.
The motion was seconded by Mr. Amaral. In discussion Ms. Murray suggested reducing the New Recreation Center to $1,000,000 in year 2010-2011. Mr. DiCandido suggested leaving the amount alone but warning them we will be looking for solid justification next year. Ms. Murray stated that she believed Dickinson should be put back into 2010-2011. Mr. Davis suggested that because it is hard to understand how Parks and Recreation came up with the numbers they requested, using the $4,000,000 to cover the cost of both the Recreation Center and the Dickinson renovations in year 2010-2011. Ms Murray agreed with the suggestion and Mr. Capeci agreed to change. Mr. Capeci withdrew his motion. Mr. Amaral withdrew his second.
Mr. Capeci moved that the Finance Subcommittee recommend to the Legislative Council the following changes to the 2009-2010 CIP as adopted by the Board of Finance on December 8, 2008:
Remove $1,000,000 per year in years 2009-10 through 2013-14 from Open Space Acquisition.
Year 2009-2010:
Remove Dickinson Infrastructure Renovations $620,000
Add Parks & Recreation Maintenance Facility Renovations $350,000
Move Police Radio Enhancements from Bonding to General Fund
Move Temporary Module Classrooms from Bonding to General Fund.
Year 2010-2011:
Add Dickinson Infrastructure Renovations $620,000
Reduce New Recreation Center (Phase 1) from $4,000,000 to $3,380,000.
Motion was seconded by Mr. Amaral and unanimously passed.
Discussion concerning the past, present and future responsibilities of the Legislative Council Finance Subcommittee: Mr. DiCandido suggested that the subcommittee should meet monthly to discuss relevant financial matters. Mr. Capeci suggested that the role should be to advise the larger council on such matters including the budget. Mr. Davis stated he believes the subcommittee should also be responsible for looking at the larger financial picture of the town including new state and federal funding possibilities.
Ms Murray moved that subcommittee of the Legislative Council encourage the Board of Selectman to move forward with strategic planning. The motion was seconded by Mr. Capeci and unanimously passed.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 9:35PM pursuant to a motion by Ms Murray seconded by Mr. Amaral.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Capeci
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