Minutes of the regular meeting of the Legislative Council held in the board room in the Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street, Newtown, CT, Wednesday, May 19, 2010. 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
VOTER PARTICIPATION
Carla Kron, 4 Clapboard Ridge Road – asks the Legislative Council to come up with a budget that will pass.
Debra Zukowski, 4 Cornfield Ridge – She is a fiscal conservative. She moved here in 2001 and has seen programs being slashed while we were in the boom. She has seen the roads deteriorate so badly that she is afraid to ride her scooter on them. If they reduce the budget she is going to have to vote No to the budget for the first time in.
Mark Mockovak, 3 Nelson Lane – There has been 2 budget referendums that have failed. The Newtown Bee’s survey states that 27% of the people voted no because there is not enough money in the school budget. The first selectman handed the Legislative Council a $500,000 savings and instead of giving it to the BOE and staying with the number they (the Legislative Council) felt was a good number for the budget. If the Council restores the money from the Selectman’s budget to the BOE a lot of people would have respect.
Mark Michaud, 78 Narragansett – The Legislative Council, Board of Finance and the Board of Education are playing a game of chicken with his children’s future and he is upset. The actual Unemployment rate of Newtown is 5.1% that is 1.1% over what the government says is full employment. At the Middle School the population for next year will be exactly the same, how does that justify cutting 2/5 the rotation from a cluster. There is a political agenda going on that the BOE is bloated yet when the Board of Finance went over the numbers they went over it with a fine tooth comb. He doesn’t see the bloat. He sees larger class size, ceiling tiles falling when it rains. The increase taxes will be about $70 for the higher income homes, his will
go up about $30, and he can afford that.
Steve Delgiudice, 2 Leopard Drive – There is fear out there. If you don’t vote Yes, your children will suffer. Don’t cut teachers and don’t cut aides. He asks not for him but for his children. Please consider giving back to the BOE.
Lauren Elliott, 34 Cobblers Mill Road – She was disappointed that the savings from the town side was not given to the BOE. The districts that our kids are competing with to get into college are offering AP classes as freshmen. In Newtown, they are offered that opportunity as juniors and seniors. We need to put money back into the budget.
Kanga Walsh, 21 Horseshoe Ridge Road – Asked the Council to review all the aspects of budget vote. The No vote does not mean a reduction in budget. If you take out the commodities, the budget is flat. Families will be faced with not only increased taxes but pay to play as well which will double their cost. And there are people in town who depend on those after school activities to keep their kids safe and secure. Restore $500,000 back to the Board of Education.
Sally Lynn MacDonald, 5 Beagle Trail – Most people are afraid of what you are going to do tonight. What she wants them to do is think about the people who voted yes because they were afraid. Realize if they cut one dollar from the education budget, they will vote no.
Crystal Preszler, 15 overlook Drive – Brookfield’s budget with a 4.1% increase passed on the first try. If BOE isn’t increased she will join the No vote. Please restore funds to the education budget.
Po Murray, 38 Charter Ridge Drive – Urged before the first referendum to present a budget that we can all support. The Selectman’s budget was supported but the BOE was not. She urges a compromise that reflects these voters who voted no. If the Council restores $500,000 to $1 million the budget would be supported. Many of us do not want a flat BOE budget. This is the first time in 10 years she has voted no twice.
Tom Lynch, 72 Mile Hill Road South – Thanked everyone for the time and effort put in working on the budget. He supports everything that has been said tonight. He moved here 24 years ago for the schools. If the education goes south, the property values will go down. Everyone who is speaking is speaking in favor of the BOE. People are looking for a good faith effort put forth by the Council.
Charles Hepp, 4 Winter Ridge-Questioned why it took the failure of the first budget to finally understand and see the savings. SAT scores are showing that Newtown is dropping the ball. The other 19 communities within our DRG are moving forward and we are not.
David Navataty, 28 Currituck Road – The solution in this case is simple. Take a million from surplus and put it to revenue and ear mark it for the BOE. Asking the Legislative Council to take a risk and move this budget along. This will not get the BOE where they need to be but it is a compromise. It will bring the town together instead of pulling apart.
Keith Alexander, 8 Fawnwood Road – If you put money back into the BOE budget you can bring back the yes votes. Last year the Board of Finance cut money from the BOE and the LC put a portion back in and the budget passed.
Robin Fitzgerald 24 Old Farm Road – She is advocating putting money back to the BOE budget. Putting funds back into our education will bring the town together.
Virginia Erickson, 5 Cady Lane – She voted no because she refuses to support a budget that takes away from her sons education. She is willing to spend more money for the services and the education.
Bruce Walczak, 12 Glover Avenue – Questioned what the Legislative Councils vision is and were Newtown is headed. Come over and live on the cheap or cover over and have a high quality of living, good education and great kids.
Approval of the Minutes
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.
COMMITTEE REPORTS - None
FIRST SELECTMAN’S REPORT – The Board of Selectman (BOS) will want to bring the next budget to referendum. If the Legislative Council (LC) takes action tonight and files with the Town Clerk tomorrow the clock starts clicking. There has to be a town meeting the first date that the meeting would be June 2nd. At that town meeting they set the referendum date of June 8th.
Ms. Llodra explained that they have been working with the superintendant and the district business manager to have one consultant for insurance. Self funding has been fully supported by the BOS and the BOE. They will be going out for an RFP early next year for the service providers to test the competitor’s waters to make sure they are getting the best price for the best product. $9,729,851 will be the Board of Education’s (BOE) portion of the fund. This number is only for this year, the next budget will change should it be over/under. Once this is funded, there is no additional liability in this fiscal year. This is a risk the town is not fully insured. The town’s contribution is 3,214,000. The BOS is asking the LC to
endorse the concept and then write code for the board.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
2010 Town of Newtown Budget – Mr. WoyciK made motion to decrease the BOE budget by $375,000, Mr. Aurelia seconded. Discussion of the savings found by the BOE was 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.
VOTER PARTICIPATION –
Gael Lynch, 72 Mile Hill South – Thanked the Council for returning $200,000 to the BOE
Crystal Prezsler, 15 overlook Drive – Thanked the Council.
Mark Mockovak, 3 Nelson Lane - Thanked the Council
Having no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:53pm
Arlene Miles, Interim Clerk
ATTACHMENTS
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