Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Legislative Council
Held in the Board Room in the Newtown Municipal Center,
3 Primrose Street, Newtown, Connecticut
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Chairman Jeffery Capeci called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm.
PRESENT: Robert Merola, Jan Andras, Ben Spragg, Jeff Capeci, Mary Ann Jacob, Dan Amaral, Gary Davis, Kathy Fetchick, George Ferguson, Richard Woycik, James Belden, Kevin Fitzgerald
ABSENT: None
ALSO PRESENT: Finance Director Bob Tait, Superintendent Dr. Janet Robinson, Director of Land Use George Benson, BOE Chairman Bill Hart and two members of the press, Director of Public Works Fred Hurley, First Selectman Patricia Llodra
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – none
APPROVAL of the MINUTES of the regular meeting of September 15, 2010:
Mrs. Jacob move to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of September 15, 2010, with corrections. Mrs. Fetchick seconded and the motion was carried.
Corrections:
Page 2, 5th paragraph under Communications add Mr. in front of Spragg
Page 3, 1st line under First Selectman’s Report, delete the word “number” after the word couple.
Page 4, 4th paragraph the last sentence should end “before such an ordinance is needed”.
Page 4, 5th paragraph second line, delete ”could be out of the weather when doing so” and add “would be able to do so indoors”.
Page 6, 3rd paragraph second line should read He, not E
Page 6 after exiting executive session the following motion was made
Upon exiting executive session, Mr. Ferguson moved to approve the stipulated agreement between the Newtown Youth Academy and the Town of Newtown as identified in docket number DBD-CV-10-6003217-S. The motion was seconded by Mr. Woycik. The motion passed unanimously in a role call vote.
Chairman Capeci adjourned the meeting at approximately 9:40pm
COMMUNICATIONS – Mr. Capeci spoke with Mr. Hart who had requested some names for the School Enrollment Committee. Mr. Capeci gave him 4 names, one from each district and one from the Education Committee. They are Mr. Merola, Mr. Woycik, Mrs. Fetchick and Mr. Belden.
Mr. Spragg reported that the Finance Committee met on October 5th and the sole item on the agenda was the Capital Improvement Recommendations (Attachment A). When they started the process they went through many recommendations and since then several have been implemented. The BOF will add a page in the CIP listing each project by bond issued. This will clarify which projects the Legislative Council can anticipate if there is a bundled borrowing resolution. The BOF will implement detail activity sheets and summary sheets for all projects. Updates will be quarterly. The committee has no need or recommendations for changes to the Capital Improvement Plan. Mr. Tait handed out a sample of the summary sheet and explained how it works. Mrs. Fetchick
questioned if a multi-year project will have the same project number each year which Mr. Tait confirmed that it would. Mr. Spragg said that he would like to see the entire 5 year plan with the plan on how to bond it. Mr. Davis reported that the Administration Committee will meet tomorrow. One of the things they are going to discuss is the Plan of Conservation and Development. They will be looking at the plan and making recommendations. They will discuss if there are departments that they would like to talk to prior to the budget process.
State of the Schools Report by Dr. Janet Robinson – Dr. Robinson handed out a synopsis of the strategic plan (Attachment B). They are using the motto” inspire each student to excel”. It is posted in every class room and every entryway of every school in the district. Action Teams have been put in place and they developed a Capital Improvement Plan, Communication Plan, Achievement Plan, Character Education Plan, and a Personal Success Plan. They have updated and reviewed the website. They have added a parent page and the blog for the high school expansion gets an average of 800 hits a day. They have also implemented a parent porthole which will allow parents and students to sign on to their own porthole and get up to the minute grades. The Personal
Success Plan is a work in progress. The State has determined that every student will have a Personal Success Plan. They have started with 9th grade last year and this year they are moving up and down a grade. Every administrator meets with the superintendent to make sure that their goals moving forward meet the goals of the students Personal Success Plans. They will attempt to assemble the original 30 person committee together and re-evaluate the Strategic Plan.
The BOE has worked up their goals and objectives (Attachment C). NEASC will be meeting in January, once the high school expansion is complete and final letter is sent. The committee has the option to remove the warning status at that time. They normally go to the schools every 10 years but when there is a warning they go back in 5 years. The State of CT has increased the graduation requirements. Newtown has rejoined Tri-State consortium. This is a group of high achieving school districts in NY, NJ and CT. You can only join if you are invited and it does put stress on the school district to measure up to their standards.
The unofficial enrollment (Attachment D). There are 72 less students in 10-11 than 09-10. Compared to Dr. Chung’s projections there are 43 pupils above what Dr. Chung projected.
Questions: Mrs. Fetchick questioned the timeline for full day kindergarten and when will they go forward. Dr. Robinson replied that they will probably be able to report the rational and the metrics to the BOE at the next meeting. The cost will probably be available in December. The space committee will have to work on the full day kindergarten. They have footprints of all the buildings and will decide if this is viable. Mrs. Fetchick questioned if the BOE goals are for the district, not for the BOE. Dr. Robinson replied that it is for the district and that each person from the BOE will be monitoring a goal. Mrs. Fetchick asked Dr. Robinson to forward her the list of who is monitoring what goals. Mr. Davis questioned why enrollments the odd grades there are significant
swings upward where grades 8 and 10 there are opposite swings. Dr. Robinson explained that they are transitional years. Mr. Hart explained that last year the 8th grade class was small and now it moved to 9th grade. These swings are just large classes moving up. Mr. Davis questioned if they have looked at communications and if another person is needed. Dr. Robinson replied not always reporting success or information is inherent because of the daily workload. Mrs. Llodra explained that this comes down to resources and is a shared responsibility between the BOE and the Town. It is a Town’s responsibility to inform its constituents of what is happing in the town and that the BOE and the Town will continue to work together to work on this. Mrs. Jacob was surprised that in the goals and objectives there is nothing about enrollment. Dr. Robinson replied that the enrollment is what it is. The BOE does
have a Facilities Subcommittee that is taking on enrollment. Mr. Hart replied that it could have been a goal, but the focus was on education. Mrs. Jacob questioned the high school delay. Dr. Robinson said that it will not open on November 2nd as planned. The delay is caused by code issues. Mr. Capeci questioned if the contractor gave a date of completion or if there is a financial impact to them to finish. Dr. Robinson replied that they have not given a date and there is nothing in their contract that holds them financially responsible. Mr. Woycik questioned measurable goals. The DRG is measureable but the others weren’t and wanted to know how will they be measured, is there a baseline? They have been measuring on recall and now the teachers will shift into a different assessment, which is a work in progress.
Ms. Llodra commented on the incoming/ outgoing student data. What Dr. Robinson’s office is trying to provide the story behind the data. Did students move to another school district or is it an economically related?
Mr. Amaral asked if the computer programs with the BOE and the Town are working together. Dr. Robinson replied that there are collaborations between the BOE and the Town. The software has not been discussed. The BOE uses Pheonix and the town uses Munis. If there is going to be a consolidation there needs to be a study. The current software works for them and if they are going to make a change they need to make sure it is a solid decision. Mrs. Llodra added that there is a meeting scheduled to discuss an RFQ. The Town pays ADP to process payroll but BOE is done internally and that may be a way to collaborate.
Mr. Merola questioned the warning status being waved in the first quarter of next year. He recollected that they were sighted for 3 of the 7 standard offenses. Dr. Robinson believes that the citations that have been given have been addressed but that does not mean the work has ended.
Mr. Fitzgerald asked about the feedback of the blog. Dr. Robinson said that parents and children do go to the blog to find out what is going on.
Mr. Ferguson assumed that the issues about the school day at the Reed School have been resolved. A consultant has been called in to assist in the transition.
Mr. Capeci asked what groups are involved in the full day kindergarten. Dr. Robinson said it was primarily administrators. A year ago they started doing the research. They have polled the parents and they were thrilled with the idea. The kindergarten teachers would like it because they do not have enough time with the students. The first grade teachers said that the students that went to private full day kindergarten had more vocabulary and better reading skills.
Mr. Belden moved to authorize the chairman of the council to sign the letter to T.R. Rowe in support of the Stream Flow Standards and Regulations. Mr. Woycik seconded. (Attachment E)Mr. Belden explained the background to the regulations. This addresses the resources in local communities which have not been regulated in the past. This particular regulation comes from a 5 year process which included every stake holder. Mr. Belden feels that Newtown can only gain from these regulations in many ways. Mr. Benson feels that the letter is important and should be sent out. They have been trying to get United Water to do studies that now the State would do according to these regulations. There is no direct impact to Newtown as
he can see, it is all ground water withdrawals, however, in the State it will help us with United Water issues in some ways. If the water companies were to follow these regulations, it would help them plan better. The 50 year plan that United Water set up have no sites for potential wells. These and other regulations will help force the water company to make future plans. Mrs. Llodra added that a major disappointment in the regulations is that the water companies will be grandfathered. The regulations do not address the impact from United Water to the Pootatuck River. Mr. Belden explained that the stream is the first tell tale sign of what is happening with ground water. Mrs. Fetchick stated that the regulation doesn’t really seem to help Newtown and the letter should reflect that. Mr. Belden said that the Town has good data with the stream gauges to show the Commissioner the impact to the streams which these regulations
do help. If we see impacts in the flow in the river due to the draw from the data we collect, there is a process to petition that a remedy be applied. The bad thing is the impact has to happen before the remedy can be set forth. Mr. Ferguson asked if we had a stratified drift aquifer and a stream. The stream is the measure of the health of the stratified drift aquifer and the responsibility of this is the State who owns the water. He questioned who is the advocate of the body of water, is it the State? Who has the authority? Mr. Benson replied that he thinks the Town has a responsibility to supply its residents with clean water and he believes it needs to be established that the Town has rights to protect the water source for the Town. We protect the watershed with all of our land use agencies and regulations as well as time and money. We need to stand up and make a statement. Mr. Ferguson explained that if the
aquifer is drained so badly, it will contract and irreparably damage it. United Water was asked to develop a compact with the Town of Newtown. Their response is that they were waiting for the stream flow regulations. Mr. Amaral stated that they got water years ago from Taunton Lake why can’t they use that and not the Pootatuck. There can’t be a septic within 200 feet of the water source so Taunton Lake is not viable for drinking water. Motion unanimously accepted.
Mr. Spragg moved to Resolution Providing For A Special Appropriation In The Amount Of $2,070,000 For Various Public Improvements As Authorized In The Capital Improvement Program (2010-2011 To 2014-2015, Inclusive) And Authorizing The Issuance Of $2,070,000 Bonds Of The Town To Meet Said Appropriation And Pending The Issuance Thereof The Making Of Temporary Borrowings For Such Purpose.” Mrs. Andras seconded.
Mr. Spragg said that in the past we got away from bonding smaller projects but we are moving back to it and that he would rather see us put these projects in the budget and not borrow for them. Mr. Davis asked if the 4 projects that we are going to bond with are ready to go in the next 12 months. Mrs. Llodra answered that they are. Mrs. Jacob asked if they would be bonding for a multi-year project in the first year. Mr. Tait explained that this is how open space was handled. $10 million was bonded and budgeted $2 million each year for 5 years. Mrs. Jacob moved to dispense the reading of the entire resolution, Mrs. Fetchick seconded. Motion unanimously accepted. The main motion approving the resolution passed unanimously on a roll call vote.
Mr. Spragg moved to authorize the Board of Selectman to hold a Special Town Meeting to consider and take action upon the resolution entitled “Resolution Providing For A Special Appropriation In The Amount Of $2,070,000 For Various Public Improvements As Authorized In The Capital Improvement Program (2010-2011 To 2014-2015, Inclusive) And Authorizing The Issuance Of $2,070,000 Bonds Of The Town To Meet Said Appropriation And Pending The Issuance Thereof The Making Of Temporary Borrowings For Such Purpose.” ~~Mrs. Jacob seconded, motion unanimously accepted.
Mrs. Jacobs moved to transfer $38,913 from Contingency fund(01570-2000) to Payroll (01500-1003)$22,713, Payroll (01515-1002)$5,074, Fica (01240-2002)$2,126, Life Insurance (01270-2003)$9,000. ~Mr. Fitzgerald seconded. Mrs. Llodra explained that this is the impact of the Public Works contract. Mr. Woycik questioned what the final agreement was. It is a 3 year contract, the general wage increase in the first year is 1.5%, the second year is 1.75% and in the third year is 1.9%. The insurance plan has changed from the most comprehensive plan to a step down plan. In addition they have moved the Public Works employee from a flat rate to a percentage of insurance cost share. In the past the average contribution averaged about 3% of the total cost of the medical package, they have been
increased to 6%,7%,8% respectfully. ~Motion passed 9 to 3 YES (Capeci, Jacob, Andras, Merola, Belden, Davis, Ferguson, Fitzgerald, Fetchick) ~NO(Spragg, Amaral, Woycik)
Mrs. Jacobs moved to transfer $16,675 from Contractual Services(01510-4060) to Overtime(01500-1004). ~Mrs. Fetchick seconded. Mrs. Llodra spoke with the specific action related to sweeping. Mr. Hurley took on the initiative to see if doing the sweeping in house was cost effective. The price of the contractor in one year doubled which initiated the Town in the street sweeping business. Mrs. Jacob questioned that the sweeping was getting done on overtime. Mr. Hurley corrected that is it not. Mr. Hurley passed out an analysis on the subject (Attachment F). They are being swept all during the day and then a second shift works over time at night and a double shift on Saturdays. The goal is to finish the street sweeping by July 4th. Mr. Ferguson questioned if
the Town is using the same equipment as the contractors and the State. Which Mr. Hurley answered that yes, it is the same equipment. The sand that is swept is air stripped for a year, mixed with other material and used for backfill. Mr. Amaral questioned if Mrs. Llodra was aware of the spending. Mrs. Llodra expressed that she was aware of this. Mr. Amaral asked if the streets can be swept during straight time alone. Mr. Hurley responded by saying that it is possible but it would be Christmas before they would be finished. Mr. Hurley reported that when this program was initiated a day by day analysis had been completed to see if doing the sweeping in house was cost beneficial to contracting which it was.
Motion passed 11 to 1 YES(Capeci, Jacob, Andras, Merola, Belden, Davis, Ferguson, Fitzgerald, Fetchick, Spragg, Woycik) ~NO(Amaral)
Mrs. Jacob moved to transfer $7,100 from Contingency Fund(01570-2000) to Overtime (1500-1004). ~Mr. Spragg seconded. Mr. Woycik questioned if there is a minimum for workers. Yes, any time there is a road call that is a 3 hour automatic call back but it if it is a building call, it is a 2 hour minimum according to their contract. If it is a continuation of the work day, they get paid for what they worked. Motion unanimously accepted.
FIRST SELECTMAN’S REPORT – Mrs. Llodra alerted the Legislative Council of a situation at Litchfield Hall. There are some additional items in the building that need abating. The building was constructed dissimilar than other buildings at FFH. The original cost for the demolition in combination with the design of the community center for $1,000,000. $400,000 was allotted for the design of the community center and $600,000 for the demolition of the building. At a meeting that was held earlier today, it was determined that the million dollar appropriation is insignificant, however, the actual number is still not known. The remaining work will take about 6 to 8 weeks so there is a time pressure with the heavy frost coming. There may be a need for a series of special
meetings.
The Board of Selectman has accepted and approved the Eichlers Cove subcommittee to take over Eichlers Cove. The private contract was never intended to be a long term contract. The residence over time will be demolished and the site improved.
Mrs. Llodra and Mr. Tait are continuing to transition the responsibility of FFH from a contracted service with Demarco to a Town obligation. They are looking at moving the contract for landscaping services to Park & Recreations and moving the security to the Town’s Police Department.
The Board of Selectman has identified the Planning of Conservation and Development (POCD) as a task that they want to take on. There are two things that are not happening: (1) Community input, if the plan is to represent the hopes and plans of the community it is very important to get their input. (2) Implementation strategy, without it to hold the town, its agencies and the decision makers accountable, the document will not mean anything.
The Town is starting to use a financial modeling tool which is based on a set of assumptions that Mr. Tait has created. Mrs. Llodra asked for it to be on the agenda sometime in the future so they understand the connectives in resources.
There is concern the Ordinance Subcommittee will not have the ordinance language completed regarding the self funding.
VOTER PARTICIPATION – none
ANNOUNCEMENTS – Public Safety Committee met this evening and elected Mr. Merola the New Chairman. Also the October 5th meeting was not posted in time and therefore there are no minutes, but the notes will be posted.
Having no further business 10:47 PM
Arlene Miles
Clerk “Pro Tem”
Attachments: Attachment A – Finance Committee Report
Attachment B – State of the Schools
Attachment C – BOE Goals and Objectives
Attachment D – Unofficial Enrollment
Attachment E – Street Sweeping Analysis
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