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Motions of the Regular Meeting of the Legislative Council held on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 in the Municipal Board Room, 3 Primrose Street, Newtown, CT
Chairman Jeffrey Capeci called the meeting to order at 7:30pm
PRESENT: Jan Andras, George Ferguson, John Aurelia, Kevin Fitzgerald, Chris LaRocque, Richard Woycik, Mary Ann Jacob, Ben Spragg, James Belden, Gary Davis, Dan Amaral, Jeff Capeci
ABSENT: None
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Pat Llodra, Finance Director Bob Tait, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Janet Robinson, Approx 50 members of the public and 3 members of the press
Mr. Ferguson moved to accept the minutes of the April 7, 2010 meeting. Mr. LaRocque seconded, motion unanimously accepted.
Mr. Ferguson moved to accept the minutes of the May 5, 2010 meeting, Mr. Woycik seconded. Ms. Jacob said that the word Road should be stricken from the last paragraph. Motion unanimously accepted.
Mr. WoyciK made motion to decrease the BOE budget by $375,000, Mr. Aurelia seconded. Discussion of the savings found by the BOE were discussed. Mr. Davis stated that Dr. Robinson’s blog mentioned a one million dollar deficit from the originally submitted budget as of now. An additional $450,000 has been found which still leaves a $550,000 gap. Ms. Jacob and Mr. LaRocque stated that they cannot support the reduction.
Mr. Woycik stated that believes that these are commodities and infrastructure savings and that the gap will begin to close with more savings.
Mr. Fitzgerald asked Dr. Robinson if she would be able to run the district with this deficit. She replied that they have cut back on professional development. They have not moved forward however, they have made it seamless for the children. Everyone took a cut so it was seamless for kids. These decisions will increase class size. Every penny counts.
Mr. Spragg and Mr. Capeci stated that they are not going to support the reduction to the BOE. Mr. Davis is not going to support it. He is hearing that people are willing to pay more taxes for the education.
Mr. Woycik withdrew his motion and Mr. Aurelia withdrew his second.
Ms. Jacob made motion to send the budget back to the voters as is, Mr. Amaral seconded. Ms. Jacob said that this is a risky move. There is additional savings that does not affect the kids with the insurance savings. The risk is 2 fold, the people in the room do not feel that is not enough. However there are a number of the No votes because it is too high. Dr. Robinson expressed that she feels that they should put money back in to the BOE. Mr. Davis said that he thinks they are moving in the right direction. We have seen a paradigm shift. We can make a difference. We can offer a small amount of money to the BOE in addition to savings the budget will pass. Mr. Davis suggested increasing the BOE budget by $300,000. Mr. Aurelia expressed
concerned that the BOE budget is up 1% but the Selectman’s budget is down $211,000 as of today. Mr. Fitzgerald stated he would support Mr. Davis’s suggestion. Mr. Belden stated that he thinks that Ms. Jacob’s motion is fruitless. Adding $300,000 back to the BOE is a better direction. Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Capeci said that they would support Mr. Davis’s suggestion to add money back to the BOE. Mr. Fitzgerald stated that the public is prepared to support a budget that preserves education. Mr. Davis questioned if the same budget is presented and it doesn’t pass because it isn’t attractive to one of the key groups that they need behind them. He would love to put something forward that would get people excited. He does not want to increase the budget so give the BOE $300,000 or even $200,000, whatever it takes and take out a road project. Ms. Andras abstains from the subject because the
transportation contract affects her.
Mr. LaRocque moved to amend the motion and put $200,000 back into the BOE budget. $100,000 will be taken from the BOS Contingency Fund and $100,000 from increased taxes, Mr. Spragg seconded. The tax impact would increase from 2.4% to 2.5%.
Ms. Llodra is hopeful that this will pass the budget. We need to get behind this budget and pass it. The BOS budget is now -$311,000 going into next year than it is this year.
Ms. Jacob agrees and hopes it works. Mr. Capeci believes this is a compromise. Hopeful that people who vote for the budget will offset those that have been disappointed. Amended motion passed 10-1 Yes(Capeci,Jacob,Amaral,Belden,Davis,Ferguson,Fitzerald, LaRocque,Spragg,Woycik) NO(Aurelia) Abstained (Andras).
Original motion passed 10-1 Yes(Capeci,Jacob,Amaral,Belden,Davis,Ferguson,Fitzerald LaRocque,Spragg,Woycik) NO(Aurelia) Abstained (Andras).
Mr. Spragg moved to approve the bottom line budget of $104,284,615. Seconded by Mr. Woycik the motion passes 11-1 Yes (Capeci, Jacob, Amaral, Belden, Davis, Ferguson, Fitzgerald, LaRocque, Spragg, Woycik, Andras) NO (Aurelia)
Ms. Jacob moved to accept the Memorandum of Understanding between the Town of Newtown and the Newtown Board of Education regarding establishment of self funding of insurance. Mr. Ferguson seconded, motion open for discussion. Mr. Spragg amended the memorandum deleting (after the April 29 LC adjustment reflecting the latest Aon projection). In the fourth bullet to; Town $3,664,000, Board of Education $9,729.951 for a total of $13,393,951. Motion unanimously accepted.
Ms. Jacob made motion to refer the proposal of a Child Protection Ordinance to the ordinance committee. Mr. Spragg seconded, motion unanimously accepted.
Ms. Jacob moved to accept the town recommended settlement in litigation Tomlin vs. Newtown regarding tax collection. Mr. Belden seconded, motion passed 11-1 Yes (Capeci, Jacob, Amaral, Belden, Davis, Ferguson, Fitzgerald, LaRocque, Spragg, Woycik, Andras) NO (Aurelia)
Amendments to an Ordinance entitled “Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance of the Town of Newtown", Chapter 232, Ordinance 54b – Mr. Sibley spoke asking for an approval. Ferguson moved to recommend to the Legislative Council to adopt the Ordinance as revised. Mr. Belden seconded. There is an 18 page revision to the original plan. There would be no federal funding if this is not adopted. Mr. Sibley stated that if this is not passed there would be a tremendous financial impact. The properties would not be eligible for federal flood insurance. Every person who owns property can apply for the federal flood insurance. There are about 350 people in Newtown that apply for it currently. Motion unanimously accepted.
Arlene Miles, Interim Clerk
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