Minutes from the Regular Meeting of the Legislative Council held in the Municipal Board Room in the Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street, Newtown, Connecticut, on Wednesday, February 17, 2010. Chairman Jeffrey Capeci called the meeting to order at 7:36 pm.
PRESENT: Jan Andras, George Ferguson III, John Aurelia Sr., Kevin Fitzgerald, Chris LaRocque, Richard Woycik, Mary Ann Jacob, Benjamin Spragg, James Belden, Gary Davis and Jeffrey Capeci.
ABSENT: Daniel Amaral
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Patricia Llodra, Finance Director Bob Tait, 1 member of the press and four members of the public
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: none
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of February 3, 2010: Mr. Belden moved to accept the minutes of January 20, 2010 as corrected. Mr. Woycik seconded and the motion was unanimously carried.
Corrections: Mr. Woycik noted the following correction: page 3, “motion to table” prior to adjournment, the motion should read “Mr. Ferguson made the motion to table. Mr. Woycik seconded and the motion failed 3-8.”
Ms. Andras request that the final two motions of the evening be listed in the order they were made and approved. The order of the motions should read as follows: “Mrs. Jacob made the motion to approve the settlement agreement between the Town and the owners of 38 Lake View Terrace dated December 17, 2009. Mr. Spragg seconded the motion. After a brief discussion, Mr. Woycik made the motion to table. Mr. Woycik seconded and the motion to table failed 3-8. Voting in favor were Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Woycik and Mr. Aurelia. Voting against the motion were Ms. Andras, Mr. Belden, Mr. LaRocque, Mrs. Jacob, Mr. Spragg, Mr. Amaral, Mr. Davis and Chairman Capeci.
Following the failing vote on the motion to table, Chairman Capeci called for a vote on the prior motion to approve the settlement agreement between the Town and the owners of 38 Lake View Terrace dated December 17, 2009. The motion was approved 8-3. Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Woycik and Mr. Aurelia voted against. Ms. Andras, Mr. Belden, Mr. LaRocque, Mrs. Jacob, Mr. Spragg, Mr. Amaral, Mr. Davis and Chairman Capeci voted in favor.”
Chairman Capeci noted the following corrections: page 1, under COMMUNICATIONS, the first of two items from the tax collector, “First, there is a request to increase the CAP for Newtown tax relief for seniors and the totally permanently disabled from $1.2 million to $1.225 million to complete for the fiscal year commencing in July 1, 2010;”
COMMUNICATIONS: Chairman Capeci told council members that he sent a letter to the Selectman and the Superintendent with regard to the motion concerning the Ad Hoc Facilities report.
The chairman also reported that he took the town side budget and broke it down by committee assignment. He passed out a list and asked that anyone who wanted to recommend any changes please do so.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Finance Committee - Mr. Spragg, Chairman of the Finance Committee, reported that the Finance Committee met February 4, 2010 and addressed two items.
- The Fairfield Hills Authority negative lease – Mr. Spragg noted they discussed how they were going to approach the matter and the committee members were then assigned areas to research..
- The Capital Improvement Plan recommendations – recommendations passed on by the prior council - were narrowed down from 21 to 7. He noted that the 7 will not impact the current CIP recommendations, but said the new 7 recommendations will be a new section that will be added on. Mr. Spragg said he will contact the Board of Selectman, Board of Finance and the Board of Education with the draft of the 7 regulations and ask for their input. Once they have their input, the Finance Committee will me and discuss their suggestions. The committee will then pass the recommendations on to the council for their approval.
Mr. Spragg said that the Finance Committee’s next meeting will be Thursday, February 18, 2010.
Education Sub-Committee – Mrs. Jacob, chairman of the Education Sub-Committee, informed council members that the Board of Education passed an Amended Budget that reduced the superintendent’s recommendation by approximately $184,000. She said the council will all be getting new budget book showing current status of the budget as its going to be passed to board of finance She then told council members that the sub-committee had split the responsibilities for the upcoming Board of Finance meetings and will be meeting between the 25th public hearing of the Legislative Council and the 30th drop dead date to have a recommendation in.
Mr. Spragg questioned the minutes from the Board of Education meeting regarding the green house. He noted the original project included moving the green house, but that in the process of moving the green house it fell apart. Mr. Spragg informed the council that a recommendation was made for a new green house for between $130,000 and $150,000. He questioned whether the use of the board’s funds is correct and if the town should be spending $150,000 on a green house in such a tight economy. Mr. Woycik agreed and questioned that if the removal of the building by the sub-contractor was part of the bid and in the process the structure fell apart and said doesn’t that contractor bear the responsibility of it.
Mrs. Jacob noted that building and site owns the project so they would have to approve it.
Mr. Davis asked a broader question about the budget. He questioned how the Board of Education is using the strategic plan to make some of the decisions around the budget; and what some of implications are for some of the budget reductions coming before the council in terms of implementing the strategic plan. Mr. Davis concluded by suggesting that the committee keep that in mind as its monitoring the budget.
FIRST SELECTMAN’S REPORT:
Mrs. Llodra informed council members that she had few items for them. The first, she noted was to the $102,000. Stimulus Grant called the Energy Grant.” The grant was oriented in three ways: conduct investigation into feasibility of converting town fleet to natural gas; convert street lights to LED; and, isolate approximately $20,000 for consultant services to help Town become smarter consumers of energy. The second item Mrs. Llodra wanted to address was the new Animal Control Facility. To bring council members up to date, the first selectman gave a brief history and handed out site plan maps of the 14-acre property denoting the exact location of the proposed facility, a proposed dog park and a designated conservation area. She noted that the property was located up at the old sewage treatment plant at Fairfield
Hills and indicated that there are no longer any structures up there and officials are almost through with the site testing. Mrs. Llodra concluded that she hopes that in a couple of weeks she will be able to come before the council and report that all the hurdles have been cleared.
Mr. Ferguson expressed his concerns regarding the managerial control of the facility and questioned whether those issues should be rectified before the new facility is designed. Mr. Belden indicated that regardless of what the written policy is he believes a new facility is needed. The final issue the first selectman wished to address was the rumors that the town had run out of sand and salt. Mrs. Llodra stressed that the town did not run out of sand and salt and that no directive was given to the drivers not to deliver product on the roads. She concluded by stating that these kinds of rumors were harmful and distracting, and stated that it was a bad storm and caught everyone off-guard.
NEW BUSINESS:
Increase the cap for the Newtown Tax Relief for seniors and the Totally Permanently Disabled Benefit from $1,200,000 to $1,225,000 for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2010 – Mrs. Jacob made a motion to assign the ordinance committee to look at increasing the cap for the Newtown Tax Relief for Seniors and the Totally Permanently Disabled Benefit from $1,200,000 to $1,225,000 for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2010. The motion was seconded by Mr. Belden. After being made aware that the ordinance is written in such a way that the numbers can be changed without going through the typical process of an ordinance that requires a public hearing, Mrs. Jacob withdrew her motion and Mr. Belden withdrew his second.
Subsequently, Mr. Spragg moved to increase the cap for the Newtown Tax Relief for seniors and the Totally Permanently Disabled Benefit from $1,200,000 to $1,225,000 for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2010. Mr. Aurelia seconded the motion and after a brief discussion the motion was unanimously carried.
Date for Budget Special Meeting scheduled for April 14, 2010 - Chairman Capeci informed the council that Inland Wetlands normally has the room that day, but said the council will work it out. He concluded by saying the council will address it at their next meeting.
Transfer request from account 01570-2000 Contingency to account 01890-000 Transfer out – Cap Project – Mrs. Jacob made the motion to transfer from account 01570-2000 Contingency to account 01890-000 Transfer out – Cap Project the sum of $19,000. Mr. Spragg seconded the motion and after a brief discussion the motion was unanimously approved.
Mrs. Llodra informed the council that the money needed to provide resources for Edmond Town Hall to have the bricks re-pointed on the south wall. She noted that the repairs cover approximately 1600 square feet and will help prevent the water from coming into the building. Water, which the first selectman said, is thought to have caused the mold problem in the Judge of Probate and Assessors’ offices.
Transfer request from account 01570-2000 to account 01100-2013 Selectman Expenses – Mrs. Jacob moved to transfer $1,000 from account 01570-2000 to account 01100-2013 Selectman Expenses. Mr. Belden seconded the motion and after a brief question and answer session, the motion was unanimously carried.
According to Nicky Singer a Housing Advocate for the Association of Religious Communities (ARC), ARC provides housing counseling to low to moderate income families and persons who behind on rent or lost their job to help them come up with a plan to pay back their landlord. She noted that they are currently helping one family in Newtown as well as families in Danbury, New Milford, New Fairfield and Sherman. Ms. Singer told the council that since the beginning of this fiscal year they have worked with a total of 176 households – 86 families and the rest were single adults, and she noted that they have seen a 60% increase over the last several months. She added that although ARC received a stimulus grant of $4,000 for each family, this $1,000 will be an operating fund contribution.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Mr. LaRocque said he knows everyone is aware of the state budget shortfalls, and he asks that council send a letter to their representative at the state level voicing their concern and their position regarding the conveyance tax. He added that the legislation is coming due on June 30. According to Mr. LaRocque, there is a ¼% tax now on real estate transactions; and, if the legislation concludes, that rate will “sunset” back to the original rate of .11% on transactions which will which will obviously hurt the Town in terms of revenue. In 2007, he believed that to be about $600,000 and added that this year it might be less because there are fewer real estate transactions and houses being sold.
Mr. Capeci if the Town loses revenues it makes its ability to stabilize property taxes that much more difficult. Subsequently, he suggested that this was something the finance committee could look into.
Mrs. Jacob made motion to refer Mr. LaRocque’s request to consider council action on writing a letter regarding the conveyance tax in the past to the finance committee. The motion was seconded.
Mr. Davis offered an amendment that “the conveyance tax and other potential issues that the LC may want to weigh in during the legislative session. The motion with the amendment was unanimously approved.
Mr. Spragg announced that Mr. Amaral was home recovering from surgery and suggested that the council send him a get well email. As many members were unaware of Mr. Amaral’s surgery, Mr. Capeci asked that on behalf of the council, Mr. Spragg wish him well and, hopefully, a speedy recovery.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Bob Merola, 22 Ashford Lane, told the council that having worked for united way they have expanded their assistance from 7 to 15 towns and fund over 80 programs for 40 agencies – one such organization is ARC. However, Mr. Merola noted that this year fundraising is down 10% to 12% so they had to forego assisting some programs such as ARC. He added that he would not be surprised if the Town sees more requests for donations coming forth by such programs as ARC.
POSSIBLE EXECUTIVE SESSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON LEGAL MATTERS, LAND,
PURCHASES, EMPLOYEE MATTERS: none
ADJOURNMENT: Having no further business, Mr. LaRocque made the motion to adjourn at 8:48 pm. Mr. Aurelia seconded and the motion was unanimously carried.
Ted Swigart, Clerk
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