Old Lyme Board of Selectmen Unapproved
Regular Meeting Monday, October 20, 2008
The Board of Selectmen held a regular meeting at 8:00 A.M. on Monday, October 20, 2008 in the Meeting Hall at the Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall. First Selectman Timothy Griswold, Selectman Skip Sibley and Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder were present.
1. Approval of Minutes: 3 October 2008 (Regular Meeting)
The minutes of the regular meeting on October 3 were reviewed. Selectman Sibley moved to accept the minutes as presented and Selectwoman Reemsnyder seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
2. Communications:
a. National Federation of the Blind
First Selectman Griswold read a proclamation designating October 15 as White Cane Safety Day in Old Lyme. The National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut has instituted White Cane Safety Day to confirm the rights of the blind to carry a white cane or be accompanied by a guide dog.
3. Appointments: None
4. Old Business:
a. Information Technology Position
Selectman Griswold read a memo outlining the details of creating a full-time Information Technology Clerk position and hiring a part-time Tax Clerk. Currently Ruth Roach splits her time between Information Technology Clerk and Tax Clerk. The information technology requirements have expanded due to new FOI regulations, the South Lyme Property Owners registration project and the Laserfiche scanning project. Ruth does not have enough time to do all that is required without being a full-time Information Technology Clerk.
Selectman Sibley moved to go forward with a full-time Information Technology Clerk position and the part-time Tax Clerk position, as outlined in the recently discussed memo, on two conditions: that a formal job description is created that reports to the First Selectman and that there be 6 month reviews by the Board of Selectmen. Selectwoman Reemsnyder seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
First Selectman Griswold will present the proposal to the Board of Finance.
b. High School Building Referendum - $47,790,000 Appropriation Passed
. The High School Building Referendum passed and the project will be moving forward. Selectman Sibley stated that about $200,000 has been spent from District 18’s operating budget’s contingency fund.
c. Special Town Meeting to Elect a School Board Member to Replace Andrea Fenton – Term Ending Dec. 2009 – Middle School Auditorium 20 Oct 2008 at 7:30 PM
There will be a Special Town Meeting this evening to elect a School Board member to replace Andrea Fenton. The meeting will be held in the Middle School and voting will occur in the Gym.
d. Town Hall Expansion – Financing – Status
The Town Hall Expansion financing is being arranged and should come through at under 3% for one year. Right now short term financing is about 1% to 1.5% less expensive than long term borrowing.
e. Landfill Closure and Bus Barn Parcel - Status
There will be a meeting with the engineer this week to talk about the soil test results and to discuss the Bus Barn project. The soil was tested for arsenic. There is some additional soil that must be removed from the Bus Barn parcel and then the landfill cover process may be started. There is excess landfill capacity that may be sold as well and that will be quantified.
f. Public Works Garage Building Committee - Update
The committee met last week and reviewed the work that was performed. The broken radiant heating in the floor of the bays was discussed. It would be very expensive to repair ($60,000 -$80,000) and, according to Mr. Adanti (Acting Public Works Supt.), there is notenough use of the garage in the winter to justify the expense. He believes replacing the furnace and adding wall mounted heating units will do the job. The project has $200,000 approved to replace the roof, siding, passenger doors, concrete floor/radiant heating plus other things, so not replacing the concrete floor and radiant heat should reduce the expense substantially. The specifications of the project will be completed soon and the project will be put out to bid.
g. Church Corner - Update
The plans have been completed and an informational meeting will be held for local neighbors on November 6th. A town informational meeting will be held on November 24th and then there will be a Special Town Meeting will be held on December 15th to vote on the project. The requested appropriation will be about $600,000 including a substantial contingency. If the project is approved, it will be put out to bid in January. The town has received approval of a STEAP grant of $425,000 to help pay for the project.
h. Staffing of Positions - Update
Land Use has finalized the replacement for Sue Bartlett. The Finance position is still open because the candidate declined the offer for personal reasons. The Animal Control and Public Works positions will be finalized in a few weeks.
5. New Business:
a. Earth placeCitySummit – Regional Selectmen Participation
First Selectman Griswold participated in the Selectman’s Panel at the Earth Charter Climate Change Summit in East Haddam on October 11, sponsored by the Earth Charter Community of the Lower Valley. The Selectmen spoke about what is being done in local area towns to address global warming, invasive species, etc. The discussion was videotaped and can be seen at www.eccolov.org.
6. Public Comment
Regarding the Information Technology position, Mary Jo Nosal asked whether the town has looked into hiring a consultant to perform some of the services. Selectman Sibley responded that those points have been raised by the Board of Finance and will continue to be discussed. Selectwoman Reemsnyder responded that the town has found that consulting services are more expensive than if a town employee does the work.
7. Other Business
Selectman Griswold has passed on to town attorney Marylin Clarke the ordinance Frank Pappalardo prepared regarding the restriction of large bus vehicles on certain streets in Sound View. If the ordinance is approved by the town attorney, it could be presented for approval at the town meeting in January 2009.
Selectwoman Reemsnyder recommended creating an Affordable Housing Formation Committee to consider the prudence of forming a town Affordable Housing Commission or Board and would like the Board of Selectmen to consider the mission statement for the committee. Selectwoman Reemsnyder will prepare a sample draft and the matter will be discussed at the next Board meeting.
Selectman Sibley met with Frank Pappalardo last week to discuss the issues in Sound View. Selectman Sibley recommends creating a committee to consider the formation of a regulatory board or commission to manage issues in Sound View. He will draw up some recommendations for the committee for the next Selectman’s meeting.
Selectman Sibley would like to schedule a special meeting to discuss recommendations made by our auditors in the last audit. Treasurer John Bysko should also be involved.
8. Executive Session- None
9. Adjournment
Selectwoman Reemsnyder moved and Selectman Sibley seconded to adjourn the meeting at 9:14 A.M. SO VOTED.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Hansen
Recording Secretary
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