TOWN OF OLD LYME
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
July 5, 2016
The Board of Selectmen held a Regular Meeting at 7:30 pm on July 5, 2016 in the Meeting Hall of the Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall. First Selectman Bonnie Reemsnyder, Selectwoman Mary Jo Nosal and Selectman Skip Sibley were present.
- Approval of Minutes:~~~~~~
June 20, 2016
Selectwoman Nosal requested the following change in the minutes:
Page 6 - New Business- item 5b.The last sentence to read:
Selectwoman Nosal shared a conversation she had with one of the weed study committee members from Lyme. He mentioned that there could have been some use of the chemical we are planning to use by some lake residents. He suggested that the water be tested for the chemical and its excipients in the areas we plan to treat as a baseline. He was also going to discuss this with First Selectman Eno.
Selectman Sibley requested the following change in the minutes:
Page 2-Correction - EMS should be all caps
A motion was made by Selectman Sibley, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal, to approve the minutes of the June 20, 2016 Meeting minutes as amended. Motion passed.
- Communication:~~None
- Appointments:
A Motion was made by Selectman Sibley, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal, to add Luisa Grogan to the list of appointments for the WPCA Hearing Panel. Motion passed.
Jeffrey Meinke (U) – Harbor Management Commission alternate – 4 year term to Jan. 2019
A motion was made by Selectman Sibley, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal, to appoint Jeffrey Meinke to the Harbor Management Commission alternate for a 4 year term to expire in January 2019. Motion passed.
John Cody (R) – Lyme Senior Center Board of Directors – 3 year term to July 2019
A motion was made by Selectwoman Nosal, seconded by Selectman Sibley, to appoint John Cody to the Lyme Senior Center Board of Directors for a 3 year term to expire in July 2019. Motion passed.
Robert DePianta (D) – WPCA Hearing Panel –1 year term to July 2017
Luisa Grogan () – WPCA Hearing Panel –1 year term to July 2017
A motion was made by Selectman Sibley, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal, to appoint Robert DePianta and Luisa Grogan to the WPCA Hearing Panel for a 1 year term to expire in July 2017. Motion passed.
- Old Business:
- Boathouse Hains Park Improvements
First Selectman Reemsnyder gave an overview of the bids received for the Boathouse project and turned it over to Paul Gianquinto and Paul Fuchs, Co-Chairs of the Boathouse Hains Park Improvements Committee. They reviewed the Bids received and the process completed to bring a recommendation to the BOS. They received seven bids which ranged from $587,000 - $938,000. After reviewing the bids and meeting with the low bidder, the committee recommended the BOS approve signing an agreement with and awarding the project to Scope Construction Company. They were very impressed with the plans that Scope Construction Company presented and the thought they had put into the scope of work which meets all of the requirements. There is one area they are still working on concerning the type of turf model to be used and the committee is working with
them to resolve this discrepancy.
After discussion and questions,
A motion was made by Selectman Sibley, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal, to sign a contract with and award the Hains Park Boathouse project to Scope Construction Company. Motion passed.
- Rte. 156 Bikeway/Sound View Improvements
First Selectman Reemsnyder announced they are ready to go out to bid on this project and it is on the agenda for the Town Meeting on July 18, 2016 to approve the construction costs.
Selectwoman Nosal has been working on the Advertising for the bid which has been approved. She also announced there will be a special meeting on July 11, 2016 to prepare for the Town meeting.
The advertisement will be posted on the town Website, DAS and the newspaper. They will be holding a non-mandatory site walk and packages will be available at the town hall. They will advertise for a minimum of 21 days. All questions and clarification will be responded to by the engineer to the individual companies as well as being posted on the website. First Selectman Reemsnyder summarized her discussion with the Board of Finance. Originally, she asked them to approve an additional $30,000 beyond the Estimate of Probable Costs developed by the Engineer. After discussion, they decided to accept the recommendation to increase the amount by 10%, which would be an additional $75,000 instead of $30,000. After discussion, the selectmen agreed that this was prudent.
A motion was made by Selectman Sibley, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal, to approve an expenditure not to exceed $887,000 for the construction, inspection and administrative costs for the Rte. 156 Bikeway/Sound View Improvements project, which was recommended by the Board of Finance for approval and to a Town Meeting. Motion passed.
- Administrative Order/WPCA Update
First Selectman Reemsnyder gave an update; the WPCA gave us a scope of work to look at for Woodard and Curran to finalize the plan and to publish the environmental impact evaluation. This has been approved by both the BOS and BOF. The costs will come out of FY2016 line item; WWM Project Consultant.
This was sent to Carlos Esguerra of the DEEP and First Selectman Reemsnyder heard back from him requesting some changes to the scope of work, including increasing the coordination meetings to five from three. He also copied Jay Sheehan on this email. First Selectman Reemsnyder will contact Jay Sheehan to see if this impacts the cost of amendment #3.
- Special Town Meeting for June/July – set date
- Approval of construction costs for the Sound View project
- Approval of Queen Anne Court as town road
- Resident Trooper Department Costs
- Easement for well on Town Property/Hains Park
After clarification, questions and discussion of the above including the change in the amount approved at the last meeting for the Sound View project recommended by the BOF, requiring the repairs to Queen Anne Court be completed to the satisfaction of the town, and the state of the current budget for the Resident Trooper Department the “CALL” for the Town Meeting scheduled for July 18, 2016 7:30PM at the Middle School is as follows:
- To authorize approval for the construction cost of State Project #104-172: Route 156 Bikeway/Sound View Improvements Project in the amount of $877,000, as recommended by the Boards of Selectmen and Finance.
- To authorize the acceptance of Queen Anne Court as a Town road with the condition that all cracks in the road be repaired to the satisfaction of the Town prior to the deed being filed.
- To appropriate an amount not to exceed $60,000 to cover excess costs of the Resident Trooper Department, including annual cost, DWI overtime and other overtime cost.
A motion was made by Selectman Sibley, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal, to approve the “CALL” of the July 18, 2016 Special Town Meeting.
- Rogers Lake Weed Treatment
First Selectman Reemsnyder gave an update on the actual permit and reported that the application was completed today by Solitude Lake Management. The testing on the well prior to treating the lake, which was a requirement of the permit, has been completed and they will follow-up with the after treatment testing as well.
Although this application does not require restrictions on swimming in the lake during the application, the lake was closed to the public as an extra precaution.
The permit is good for three years so they can treat the lake again for the next two years if needed. She will keep an eye to see how this is progressing.
Selectwoman Nosal asked what the long term plans for public education were, and how we are approaching this. First Selectman Reemsnyder replied the Rogers Lake Authority and the Conservation Commission currently reach out to residents regarding wells, septic tanks, chemicals and the use of lawn fertilizers, etc.
Selectman Sibley noted there also seems to be an increase in the lily pads this year and asked if the BOS should recommend physically removing them and if so, is there a plan.
First Selectman Reemsnyder noted that the recommendation for lake management included, if the residents would like to pursue hydro raking this would need to be a separate project and they would need to apply to the BOF and for a separate permit. This will also be addressed as part of the lake management process when looking at budgets for the upcoming year.
- Meeting Hall Sound System Proposal
First Selectman Reemsnyder gave an update on the status of the Meeting Hall Sound System; she received an email from Markus Warlitz of Sennheiser today letting her know he received the message the Town was ready to move forward with this. He has most of the equipment and is awaiting arrival for the rest from Germany.
First Selectman Reemsnyder gave an overview of the Meeting Hall Sound System for the members of the public attending the meeting.
Once Sennheiser has received the remainder of the equipment, they will get the cable ready to install.
First Selectman Reemsnyder reminded everyone that the Midsummer Festival will begin on Friday, July 29th with a kick off concert and dinner at the Florence Griswold Museum and will run all day Saturday, July 30th with activities all along Lyme Street including; a variety of vendors, food and a farmer’s market and evening fireworks behind the middle school.
Mark Mongillo, 26 Clifton St. made a couple of suggestions to the BOS;
- In regards to contracts made by the town; a punitive damage rider should be included in all future contracts (possibly monetary) to protect the town from loss should the contract not be fulfilled in a timely manner. He gave the swim line buoys as an example.
- Over the past several weeks there has been a lot of activity on the beach and noted the following;
A general lack of respect for the police, people’s property and attitudes
He would like see the BOS work with the BOF to find extra money to engage extra security officers.
The BOS should review the Ordinances and Rules of the Beach Area, maybe using stronger language allowing the town to better enforce the rule.
More attention be given to private permitted parking lots – suggested increasing fees and strengthening rules. Violations of rules could then allow for possible revoking of permit or non-renewal. The additional funds from increased fees and/or fines could be used towards adding extra security.
Frank Pappalardo, Chairman of the Sound View Commission gave an update of the frustration and concerns expressed by the Sound View residents at the last meeting including; trespassing on private property; bad attitudes of visitors; tents and drinking on the beach. Residents are asked to call and report issues, but they do not have the resources to follow-up on all of the issues or when the police do arrive they are gone. This year things seem to be getting worse, private parking lots are not monitoring themselves well; groups of people are not leaving and are intimidating residents. He would like to see the town be more proactive, the police and rangers are doing a good job but they are limited, there are too few of them for the number of visitors on Hartford Ave. and the Beach. Miami Beach has been working with Sound View. The
Beaches are fine Monday -Friday but after 10AM on Saturday and Sunday and until 7PM it is a whole different place. We need to look at a better way to focus our resources during these busier times. Residents don’t feel like they can even go down and use the beach on the week-ends. This is due to the crowds, bad attitudes of the visitors who just trash the beach.
He would like to see us get a handle on this soon, there are some short term things that can be put in place and then they need to look at long term.
Robert Tulisano, Hartford Ave. stated he feels like he is under siege; he has been intimidated, verbally abused and practically attacked by some of these people. He would like to be on record as stating “ that this is a public safety hazard” people are urinating in public, speeding up and down Hartford Ave., playing loud offensive music, screaming and yelling, littering and trashing the beach. They are throwing parking tickets at the police.
The police are not policing, they are parked at the end of Hartford Ave. they are not walking up and down the street patrolling. His family will not go to the beach on the week-end because they are afraid. He is very concerned something is going to happen to a member of his family and if it does there will be a price to pay. He is begging the BOS for help and is very concerned something bad is going to happen down there. Suggested the possibility of speed bumps, very concerned someone is going to get hit.
Heidi Fields, Hartford Ave. agrees with Robert Tulisano and expressed the following concerns; visitors are just tearing up parking tickets and are not getting towed, littering, public urinating, speeding, running stop signs, and is concerned it is getting very dangerous. She would like to see something done about the commercial parking. She doesn’t feel she can go away for a week-end because people are parking in her driveway and she feels she has to be there to police her property. The visitors this year are very intimidating and rude; she has never encountered people like this before this year.
In regards to the Osprey Festival, none of her tenants (14) received any notice about this and were displaced from 7AM – 9PM. She would like to see this done differently next year.
First Selectman Reemsnyder responded to the public comment; she is hearing their concerns and is continuing to work on solutions; this is not an easy problem to solve. She agrees that the visitors have nasty attitudes and are very concerning, she wishes there was an easy fix but isn’t, and they will continue to work on this issue.
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported they went to a refunding bond; TD Bank gave them a rate of 1.44% which will save them approximately $130,000 over the next nine years. The bond closed on June 30th, the money went to the escrow agent and the bonds will be paid off on October 15, 2016.
Selectwoman Nosal asked for an update on the” Emails Confirm High Speed Rail Through Old Lyme” article which appeared in Lymeline.com. First Selectman Reemsnyder reported she has reached out to the FRA, DOT, Congressman Courtney’s office and Senators Murphy and Blumenthal’s offices to ask for input. She has not heard back from the FRA but did get a response from one of the members from the team stating the FRA is putting together their response but she has not seen it yet. She expects to meet with the DOT Commissioner to discuss the article and emails.
Selectman Sibley commented on the public comments made during the meeting tonight and states these are hard complaints to hear. He hopes First Selectman Reemsnyder will have a conversation with the Resident Trooper to convey the seriousness of what is occurring down in Sound View. First Selectman Reemsnyder replied she does take this very seriously and agrees there is an increase of bad attitudes and negative behaviors among the visitors to the Sound View Beach area and they continue working on finding additional resources to address this issue. She agrees this is not only a potential public safety issue but is concerned about the safety of the Rangers as well.
Selectwoman Nosal pointed out that the number of visitors has increased in part due to the excessive advertising by the restaurants and bars on the beach. They are seeing an increase of boating visitors as well as cars. This is an issue that needs to be worked on by everyone, not just on the local level but the state level as well.
- Executive Session:
- Adjournment:
A motion was made by Selectman Sibley, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal to adjourn at 9:09PM. Motion passed.
Respectfully Submitted,
Patti Broedlin
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