Minutes of the regular meeting of the Legislative Council held on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 in the meeting room of the C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street, Newtown, CT. Chairman Rodgers called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM
Present: Joseph Hemingway, Po Murray, Patricia Llodra, Gary Davis, Jan Brookes, John Aurelia, Francis Pennarola, Will Rodgers, Daniel Amaral, Joseph DiCandido, Paul Lundquist
Absent: Jeffery Capeci
Also Present: First Selectman Joseph Borst, Superintendent Dr. Janet Robinson, Finance Director Robert Tait, 8 Members of the public and one member of the press.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – Mr. Pat Barzak, 21 Grand Place, Chairman of the Parks & Recreation Commission reiterated that the commission is in favor of the ordinance changes.
MINUTES of August 5, 2009 – Tabled
MINUTES of September 16, 2009 – Ms. Murray moved to accept the minutes of the September 16, 2009 as presented. Ms. Llodra seconded, motion unanimously accepted.
COMMUNICATIONS – Mr. Rodgers has been working on a letter to the commissioner of DEP regarding the Housatonic Railroad. The letter will be sent out tomorrow. Ultimate action is months away. DEP is expected to shortly issue a notice of sufficiency or insufficiency regarding the application. Then the application will be revised further.
COMMITTEE REPORTS – Ordinance Committee did meet to reconsider the noise ordinance. They expect to publish a revised noise ordinance proposal and have a public hearing on November 4, 2009. Education Subcommittee– Mr. Capeci is the observer for the Council. While he is traveling, Ms. Llodra is the substitute observer. They are expecting a settlement short of arbitration. ADHOC Maintenance Facility Committee – Mr. Lundquist reported that they are in the stage of pulling together a report before the council turns over.
FIRST SELECTMAN’S REPORT – The town has received a $100,000 steep grant for the Animal Shelter. $750,000 has already been allocated for bonding. There is a deed
for the property but there is no record of remediation on the site. Until that is complete, the town attorney does not want take over the deed.
Mr. Davis asked in terms of the remediation requirement, what is the hold up in getting that information? Mr. Borst replied that they state cannot find it. This is the only hold up.
Ms. Llodra asked if they are saying that remediation work has been done or if they don’t know? Mr. Borst replied that they don’t know.
Mr. Borst reported that by the end of next week they are expecting to have the Certificate of Occupancy for the new municipal building.
Ms. Murray asked if there is a lack of storage space? Mr. Borst replied that he does not believe that there is an issue on the town side. The BOE needs to keep personnel files for 50 years and storage is an issue. Dr. Robinson articulated that when O&G did their original walk through, they did not count for 65 of their current filling cabinets and therefore, are not accounted for in the current plan in the new building.
Scenic Road application – Mr. Rodgers read what the process is. He pointed out that there is a 45 day window for each agency. The Legislative Council shall hold a Public Hearing 65 days after receipt of the application by the Selectman, which was received on August 25th. Since there is a delay getting this to the agencies, their 45 day clock started when they received it. The Legislative Council does not have to render a decision the evening of the public hearing, they have 45 days to act. Substantively, Mr. Rodgers has a major concern, the ordinance says that the majority is not the majority of property owners, but the majority of street frontage. A letter from the town clerk states that the road frontage is 6404 feet. There are
12 properties on the street and 8 that have signed the patition. Of the 8 combined properties the road frontages equates to 2362 feet which is not the majority. Ms. Brown, the originator of the application, stated that it was decided after a meeting with conservation to shorten the distance of the application. Mr. Rodgers suggested that a revised application is needed. Ms. Brown withdrew the application and will re-file and updated application.
State of the Schools – Dr. Robinson reported that they were working to making the strategic plan a living breathing document. This document is guiding their work in the school district. There are 5 action teams developing action plans that align with the strategic plan. Each of the schools are developing goals and objectives to align with the strategic plan.
Current enrollment overall is 5498 with a swing of 6 kids. Overall enrollment is down either 105 or 111. There is a big decrease in Head of Meadow School of 56. The only elementary school that is up is Hawley School which is 17. Middlegate is down 21, Sandy Hook is down 8, Reed down 41 Middle School is down 33 and the High School is up 25.
Their excess grant which they normally get 90% will only be 70% and next year it is expected to be 60%.
Ms. Llodra questioned if there any qualifications or descriptions as to why the enrollment in upper class is off. Dr. Robinson replied that they didn’t know what to anticipate with the economy and anticipating private students coming back to. She asked Dr. Robinson to come back with a report as to the upswings and declines.
Mr. Lundquist asked if Dr. Robinson had heard from other superintendents in the community confirming this trend. She replied that Ridgefield is down, Farmington is down very slightly but their pattern is down like ours. In 2005, CT had a mini baby boom.
Mr. Pennarola moved to adopt the revised Parks and Recreation Commission Ordinance as published in the Newtown Bee with the change that where it says Finance Director to Financial Director. Ms. Llodra seconded, motion unanimously accepted.
Mr. Pennarola moved to adopt the Sustainable Energy Commission Ordinance with one change, add to 21-33A at the very end of the sentence a comma and the phrase in which town residents, businesses and organizations may also benefit from. Finance Director will also be changed to Financial Director. Mr. Hemmingway Seconded. Motion unanimously accepted.
Mr. Pennarola moved to adopt the amendment to the Commission on Aging Gift Fund account as published, changing Finance Director to Financial Director. Mr. Aurelia seconded. The reason for this amendment is to make sure that the financial funds handling is properly centered in the Selectman and the Financial Director. Motion unanimously accepted.
Mr. Pennarola moved to adopt Other Post Employee Benefits Trust Ordinance, Ms. Llodra seconded. The town is required to maintain certain retiree medical benefits. The purpose is to keep the funds in a trust. Motion unanimously accepted.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – Bob Merola, 22 Ashford Lane. He expressed his concern about the state of the schools report. The projections are going up but the enrollment is falling. Looked at Ridgefield’s numbers, they have 1700 in school now and in 5 years the projection is 1500. This is going to impact the town greatly.
Announcements – None
Having no further business, meeting was adjourned at 8:50 PM
Arlene Miles
Interim Clerk
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