Old Lyme Board of Selectmen
Regular Meeting Monday, December 7, 2009
The Board of Selectmen held a regular meeting at 7:30 P.M. on Monday, December 7, 2009 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: 16 November 2009
The minutes of the regular meeting on November 16 were reviewed.
Selectman Sibley moved to accept the minutes as presented. Selectwoman Reemsnyder seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
2. Communications:
a. Letter from DEP Commissioner – SBA Cell Tower and Cross Lane Deed Restriction
First Selectman Griswold read a letter from the DEP Commissioner concerning the SBA cell tower proposition. SBA constructs cell towers and sells space on the towers to cell phone companies. They propose to erect tower on a 75’ by 75’ parcel on the Cross Lane Firehouse property, which they would lease from the town. During the due diligence process, it was discovered that, when the property was developed, there was a deed restriction because state/federal grant money was used. The deed restriction states that the property must remain recreational or in Open Space. Selectman Griswold spoke with the DEP Commissioner about it and there is a state statute that spells out the conditions that must be met in order to get the necessary approval to lease the parcel for a
commercial purpose.
1) All practical alternatives to the conversion (using the space for a tower) must have been evaluated and rejected on a sound basis.
2) The fair market value of the property to be converted and the property proposed for substitution must have been established. If the property has a value of less than $5,000 only a statement of value is required, if the value is between $25,000 and $100,000 an appraisal is required.
3) The property proposed for replacement must be able to viably support a recreational component similar to that being converted. Selectman Griswold stated that the spot where the tower would be going is not and would not be used for recreation. It is in the woods near (not in) some wetlands.
4) An environmental description of each property must be submitted and the remaining portion of the original Open Space parcel and the replacement parcel must be defined.
5) If the Commissioner approves the conversion there would be a recordable amendment.
6) The replacement property cannot be existing locally owned parkland or Open Space.
7) The property would be maintained and dedicated as Open Space and be open to the public.
The letter has been reviewed with the SBA representatives. The town now needs to have a meeting with the DEP Commissioner to talk about the parcel and possible substitutions. One possibility is a town owned 46 acres parcel across the street which surrounds the CT Water Company property with wells. First Selectman Griswold must request the Planning Commission for an 8-24 municipal referral for the property to be substituted. The substitute parcel can be in another part of town.
b. Atty. Clarke – Opinion on Board of Selectmen Action – SBA Tower Option
Attorney Clarke wrote a letter responding to the criticism by William Folland about the vote by the Board of Selectmen to enter into an option agreement to lease a portion of the Town’s Cross Lane property to SBA Tower for a commercial cell tower.
“The Board of Selectmen has followed the appropriate procedure, which is
- To enter into an option agreement
- Review by the State Siting Council of that option agreement along with several other option agreements entered into by private landowners with other telecommunications providers (T-Mobile, etc.) to determine the best site or sites
- The tower(s) selected by the Siting Council would proceed to a public hearing on the proposed lease per statute
- The Selectmen’s presentation of a resolution for a town meeting approval of the proposed lease.
The actual lease will not be entered into by the town until all of the above steps have taken place. The Board of Selectmen has acted appropriately.
The procedure has been discussed with the SBA representatives, who understand that the process can take months to complete.
c. DOT – Approval of High School Expansion re: Driveway Impact
The Commission of Traffic Engineering has reviewed the submission on behalf of District 18 about the impact of traffic from the High School as a result of the renovation. The Commission found that the traffic generated will not substantially affect the State highway system in the area; therefore a certificate will not be required at this time.
3. Appointments: None
4. Old Business:
a. Bus Barn Project – Update
There was a mandatory site walk last week attended by about 24 people. It is hard to tell how many will bid on the job. The engineer made a list of the questions asked about the project and a letter responding to the questions will be sent out tomorrow. The plans and specifications have been distributed. The engineer will produce large format drawings which will be available at Town Hall this week. The bids are due on December 23.
The work is expected to be started in March, and should take about 3 months, finishing in June.
b. Church Corner Project – Update
The final paving should be done this week but the utility poles still have not been moved (after 16 months of assurances). There have been a number of engineering issues that have complicated the project and there are some drainage issues at the west end of Ferry Road that must be resolved.
c. Public Works Garage Renovation – Update
All the metal work has been completed. There should be about $40,000 available to pay for the truck wash bay and an overhead door for the pole barn.
d. Town Hall Expansion – Update
John Forbis has prepared and quantified a list of items for the attorney to include in a letter to the contractor.
A subset of the Expansion Committee discussed some additions to the Meeting Hall. There will be shades installed on the windows on the west side to help eliminate glare and a large commercial grade carpet will be installed under the conference table.
e. District 18 High School Building Project Fees – Discussion
There was discussion about the High School Building Project fees. After all the Board has learned about issue, it is the sense of the Board that no fees should be charged this time. The Board wants to draft changes to the ordinance concerning fees that will create a policy to cover future municipal and District 18 building projects. The Selectmen agreed that the Town needs an ordinance which provides that all municipal building projects and District 18 building projects costing below a specified amount will be exempted from building project fees. District 18 projects above the amount would require town meeting approval in order to have the project fees waived. The Selectmen will look at the current ordinance at the next meeting and get recommendations from
Attorney Clarke concerning the required changes. Before bringing the revised ordinance to a town meeting, the Selectmen want input from the Board of Finance.
f. Probate Court Reconfiguration – Update
Old Lyme, East Lyme, Montville and Salem have combined to create Probate Court District 32, with a population of about 50,000, with a case load of about 3,000. A total of 54 courts were approved and they will be functional in January 2011.
g. Revaluation – Update
Vision Appraisal has finished holding revaluation hearings but any changes have not been sent out yet. If people are not satisfied with their revisions, they can come before the Board of Assessment Appeals in February. If they are still not satisfied, they can take their case to court.
Compared to 5 years ago, the Grand List will be up about 5%
h. Police Dept. Food Drive - Results
The Old Lyme Police Department held a food drive in November to benefit the Shoreline Soup Kitchen. First Selectman Griswold received a note from Louise Lynch, Director of the Old Lyme Congregational Church Food Pantry, thanking the Town and the Police Department for the 2,346 lbs of food that were collected. Selectman Sibley suggested that the note be shared with the Police Department and that the Board of Selectmen thank Department also.
5. New Business:
a. H1N1 Flu Shot Clinic – 5:00 – 8:00 PM on 9 December – Christ the King
The Ledge Light Health District will be conducting an H1N1 Flu Shot Clinic on December 9 from 5-8 pm at Christ the King Church. The clinic is restricted to pregnant women, household contacts and caregivers of infants less than 6 months of age, children aged 6 months to 18 years,
healthy healthcare workers and Emergency Medical Services personnel who have direct contact with patients or infectious material and all persons age 18 through 64 years with high risk medical conditions. People must pre-register online at www.ledgelighthd.org or by calling 860-448-4882 line 2. The flu shots are free.
b. Update on State of CT Budget
The Governor has stated that there will be $84 million in cuts in municipal aid to towns and cities, in addition to previous program cuts. The Council of Small Towns and the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities will be lobbying the State Legislature. When the State cuts funds to towns and cities, the property taxes must be raised or services must be cut. This year the state cuts may come in the middle of the year, after the towns have already set their budgets. So far there is no news regarding the reimbursement funds for the High School Building Project.
6. Public Comment:
Mr. Bill Foland has prepared a presentation for the Board of Selectmen to substantiate his concerns regarding that lease agreement for the property at 290 Shore Road violates state statutes. Mr. Foland stated that the letter from Attorney Clarke did not address his concerns. He read a statement about how the town of Old Lyme handles the leasing of town-owned property.
(there was a lot of static on the recording at this point).
Another person, could not understand his name, said something about conflict of interest and the land use boards. He spoke about the need to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, even when there is none.
7. Other Business:
Selectman Sibley spoke about a situation going back to 2006 on Four Mile River Road regarding Mr. Sheffield and a stone wall that was moved. This was in response to an inquiry he received after the last Selectman’s meeting. Mr. Sheffield still needs to apply for a zoning variance or else move the stone wall back to its original location, according to Zoning records. Selectwoman Reemsnyder suggested that Mr. Sheffield should be notified that if he does not move the stone wall back to its proper location, that the town would do it and send him the bill.
Selectwoman Reemsnyder made a motion, seconded by Selectman Sibley, to go into Executive Session at 9:13 PM. SO VOTED.
First Selectman Griswold asked that the motion be amended to invite Diana Atwood Johnson to the Executive Session because of her knowledge of the matter and the fact that she is chairman of the Open Space Committee. Selectwoman Reemsnyder accepted the amendment, which was seconded by Selectman Sibley. SO VOTED.
8. Executive Session: Discussion on Possible Land Purchase
9. Adjournment:
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Hansen
Recording Secretary
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