ADMINSTRATION COMMITTEE
OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
September 1, 2010 Meeting
The Administration Committee of the Legislative Council held a meeting on Wednesday, September 1, 2010, in the Municipal Board Room in the Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street, Newtown, CT
Present: Chair Gary Davis, George Ferguson, Mary Ann Jacob, Jan Andras
Guests: First Selectman Pat Llodra
The meeting was called to order at 6:40 p.m.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
No one spoke during public participation.
COMMITTEE MINUTES
The Committee minutes from the meeting on July 7, 2010, were approved unanimously
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Communications Update: Mr. Davis said he was partially complete with development of a simple instruction manual for use of the television recording equipment in the A/V Room in the Municipal Board Room. He planned on giving the instruction manual a test run by recording the Legislative Council meeting that evening. Mr. Davis said he had asked the school district administration for the updated guidelines for Channel 17 that Mrs. Llodra and he had developed with Superintendent Janet Robinson and her staff. He was told he should have the guidelines soon. The Policy Subcommittee of the Board of Education still needs to address the policy for use of Channel 17, but that should not prevent the town from having meetings videotaped and broadcast on the channel. Mr. Davis said he had
contacted Jason Huiro, the assistant principal at the high school, about organizing volunteers for the high school tech team to help in recording the meetings. However, he wanted to start recording some meetings to get the process started until volunteers could be organized. Mrs. Llodra noted that despite numerous requests for adult volunteers, and offering to pay a fee of $10/hour to help run the A/V equipment during town government meetings, there had been little interest expressed. Mr. Davis said for tonight’s Legislative Council meeting he was following a suggestion from Mrs. Jacob at the last meeting to turn on the equipment and let it run, recording the meeting from one camera angle to see how it might look.
Long-Range Planning: Mrs. Llodra shared her reaction to the draft letter from the Committee that Mr. Davis had sent to her for her comments. Mrs. Llodra was unsure of the appropriate role for the Legislative Council and the Administration Committee within the town’s long-range planning efforts as it was primarily the purview of the Board of Selectmen and the Planning & Zoning Commission. She urged the Committee to consider advocating for a new town facilities study to update a similar study that was presented by Kaestle Boos Associates in May 1999. Mr. Davis said that he had received comments from Planning & Zoning Chair Lilla Dean that had been very helpful in understanding the process being undertaken by P&Z’s to develop a new Plan of Conservation and Development. Mrs. Dean had invited Mr. Davis to the P&Z meeting on Thursday, Sept. 2, to discuss what the Administration Committee was trying to accomplish in its efforts to promote better long-range planning.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
No one spoke during public participation.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mr. Davis said he would contact the other committee members to determine a date for the next committee meeting.
Having no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
Gary Davis
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