TOWN OF OLD LYME
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
The Board of Selectmen held a Special Meeting at 4:00 pm on July 18, 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:~~~~~~
July 5, 2016 Regular Meeting
First Selectwoman Nosal requested the following change to the minutes:
Page 3, Old Business e., second paragraph to read;
Although this application does not require restrictions on swimming in the lake during the application, the lake was closed to the public for swimming as an extra precaution.
A motion was made by Selectman Sibley, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal, to approve the minutes of the July 5, 2016 Regular Meeting minute as amended. Motion passed.
First Selectman Reemsnyder read a letter she received from the Historical Society, thanking the Town for allowing them to store their archives in the Town Hall until their dedicated archives room was completed at 55 Lyme Street. The room has been completed; the shelves are in place, an alarm system is in place and a climate controlled system keeps the conditions just right for the archival materials. The Historical Society will invite Town Officials for a tour sometime in the future.
Rebecca Waldo (D) – Conservation Commission, alternate, – 1 year term to Jan. 2017
A motion was made by Selectwoman Nosal, seconded by Selectman Sibley, to appoint Rebecca Waldo to the Conservation Commission, as an alternate for a 1 year term to expire in Jan. 2017. Motion passed.
4. ~~Old Business:
- Boathouse Hains Park Improvements
First Selectman Reemsnyder has received the contract and it is ready to be signed, before signing the contract she wanted to discuss the Memorandum of Understanding and Lease agreement with the BOS.
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported she has received communications of concern from Bob Dunn, Chairman of Parks & Recreation and Nancy Hutchinson regarding the MOU and Lease agreement. Due to the large amount of concerns she forwarded this on to the Town Attorney. She then requested a meeting with the Superintendent of Schools, their attorney and the Town Attorney. That meeting took place last Thursday and everyone agreed that language in the MOU allows the town to make changes to the lease. Once the MOU is signed, the Town will be the owner on the Deed and they will lease it to Regional School Dist. 18, who will in turn have an agreement with the community rowing program. The MOU states that the lease is to be signed within 30 days of receipt of Certificate of Occupancy. The BOS discussed the MOU, the Lease agreement and the
concerns that were raised including; maintenance, security, certificate of occupancy, STEAP reimbursement and town oversight of the project. The BOS agree they will be able to adapt the lease to meet the concerns of the Parks and Rec. Commission.
A motion was made by Selectwoman Nosal, seconded by Selectman Sibley, to approve the Memorandum of Understanding including the Lease as written. Motion passed.
- Rte. 156 Bikeway/Sound View Improvements
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported the construction costs are on the CALL for approval at the Town Meeting tonight in the amount of $877,000. First Selectman Reemsnyder received the approval to advertise and the bids were advertised today. She also received a letter from the State Department of DOT granting full approval and they are requesting authorizing of Federal Highway Administration for authorization of the construction funding. First Selectman Reemsnyder, Selectwoman Nosal and the Engineer have prepared a handout and Power Point Presentation for tonight’s meeting. This included the project components, the process and the breakdown of the funds for approval.
Selectwoman Nosal clarified the original town meeting in March 2014 was for Phase I, Plan and Design of the Project and tonight’s meeting is for Phase II, Construction Costs. She also gave an overview of the process that has taken place to date and all of the hard work the committee has accomplished.
- Administrative Order/WPCA Update
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported the revised Amendment #3 was presented to the WPCA at last week’s meeting and was discussed and approved. The Task Force met and reviewed the revisions to Amendment #3 and approved it as well. First Selectman Reemsnyder has sent the revised Amendment #3 on to Carlos Esguerra of the DEEP for his final review and requested an approval letter from DEEP stating the project is eligible for the Clean Water Funds (CWF) reimbursement. For the record this is at a cost of $24,948 which is already in the budget. If it is eligible for CWF the town would get 55% reimbursement on that amount. She will not be signing any contracts until we have received the approval letter from the DEEP.
Also discussed at the last WPCA meeting was the Phase I well network evaluation (copies were handed out to the BOS). This will be discussed further at the next WPCA meeting. First Selectman Reemsnyder gave a summary of the recommendation of the well testing in Hawks Nest Beach to the BOS. The testing will determine the number and location of wells that may be needed.
- Special Town Meeting tonight
First Selectman Reemsnyder reviewed the “CALL” for tonight’s meeting.
The “CALL” will be as follows:
- Approval of construction costs for SV project -80% reimbursement
- Approval of Queen Anne Court as a town road – First Selectman Reemsnyder reported that the required repairs have been completed and meet the town’s specification.
- Approval of Resident Trooper Department Excess Costs
- Midsummer Festival/Fireworks
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 LOL Middle School.
They are still awaiting the actual permit, but do not anticipate any problem with this.
5. New Business:
- Middlesex Paramedics Service Agreement
First Selectman Reemsnyder gave an overview of the Middlesex Paramedics Service Agreement to date and presented an overview of the new agreement. She reported the RiverCOG formed a small committee of approximately 5 Selectmen from the towns involved, and they reviewed the contract with the hospital and one town’s attorney. First Selectman Reemsnyder has also reviewed the contract with the Director of Finance whose only comment was the term “Grant Application”. This was suggested by the committee to be sure that towns were not taking on any liability for the actual Paramedic. During the budget process in the spring, the BOF determined that there was money available for this year, should we agree to this new cost-sharing request. If the agreement is signed, Middlesex Hospital would bill the Town of Old Lyme quarterly at the per
capita rate of $1.00.
First Selectman Reemsnyder would like to see the BOS, BOF and the Town Attorney review the contract before signing the agreement or making a payment.
The BOS discussed the following aspects of the agreement; cost of $1 per capita with an annual increase of $1 per capita per year with a cap at $5 the fifth year; ambulance service for accidents on I-95 would not impact the rate that Old Lyme pays; how many other towns have approved the original request (about 1/3) with the current consensus of about 2/3 of the towns signing the agreement; this is a service that is required for towns to provide; and the clarification between the Valley Shore 911 fees that are based on the number of calls (separate issue). They also discussed how Lawrence and Memorial Hospital was handling this issue.
First Selectman Reemsnyder reminded the BOS that the contract includes an advisory committee which will include two town selectmen, allowing for oversight going forward.
Claire Haskins, President of the Old Lyme Ambulance Association was present at the meeting to hear the conversation. First Selectman Reemsnyder gave her a copy of the Middlesex Paramedics Grant Agreement to review.
- Ledge Light Health District Discussion
First Selectman Reemsnyder reviewed an offer she received from Ledge Light Health District outlining what they would like to see as an agreement between themselves and the Town of Old Lyme. This would address the additional cost of $67,000 per year to allow Old Lyme to become a member. Old Lyme’s membership would require LLHD to hire a Sanitarian to conduct the many inspections that would need to be completed.
The actual proposal is:
- LLHD is agreeable to hiring the current Old Lyme Health Department employee, Patti Myers, and designating the Old Lyme office as her primary workspace.~ They believe that it will be beneficial for Ms. Myers to spend a portion of her time in our main office in New London.~ The exact distribution of her hours will be determined by the operational needs of LLHD, but she will be assigned to the Old Lyme office for at least 50% of her time during the first two years of her employment with LLHD. It is also assumed that Ms. Myers will spend a significant amount of time in the field, regardless of where her primary workspace is located.
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2.~~~~Based on the anticipated expenses to LLHD, which hinge largely on the anticipated installation of public sewers in certain beach communities, they propose that a transition fee of $60,000 be paid for year one and year two. In the third year, this payment could continue or be eliminated, based upon the actual operational expenses of LLHD.~ In any case, the annual payment made by Old Lyme after the three-year transition period would revert to a straight per capita formula equal to that of our other member municipalities contribution.
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3.~~~~The projected cost for LLHD to assume public health duties in Old Lyme assumes that the per capita contribution from DPH is provided as projected.
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- Any services that Ms. Myers now provides to the Old Lyme WPCA will be terminated after the transition, except those that would normally be provided to a partner municipal department.
After discussing the above offer the BOS raised a couple of questions including; what would happen if the Old Lyme employee should leave during this time and how will this affect the current Health Director whose appointment does not expire until December 2017. These questions will be discussed and explored further. First Selectman Reemsnyder, Selectwoman Nosal and Selectman Sibley were pleased with the offer and agree it is fair and the town would benefit from the range of services and the resources that would be made available to the town. First Selectman Reemsnyder pointed out that once a town joins the LLHD they are required to stay for two years.
First Selectman Reemsnyder will review the proposal with the BOF tomorrow night. There will be further discussions with the BOS before moving forward. Once this has been agreed upon by the BOS and the BOF the next step will be to hold a public meeting and then approval at a Town Meeting.
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- Meeting w/Commissioner Redeker – NEC Future
First Selectman Reemsnyder gave a summary of the meeting she attended with Commissioner Redeker of the NEC Futures’ Plan on July 7, 2016. The meeting included Commissioner Redeker , his Legislative Director, Pamela Sucato, State Senator Paul Formica, Devin Carney, and Rob Haramut from RiverCOG, and Greg Stroud from SECoast.
This summary will be available on the Town Website as soon as she receives a response from Senator Formica.
The meeting addressed the emails that were obtained through a freedom of information act by Greg Stolba.
First Selectman Reemsnyder summarized the meeting that was held in March and the current concerns raised by constituents.
Commissioner Redeker made it clear at the meeting that he is not part of the planning team. He does sit on the Regional Commission that wrote the proposal to address infrastructure upgrades and improvements to the North East Corridor. He stated a new Tier 1 EIS is necessary because the EIS written in the 1970’s has expired. A current EIS is required for any work to be done, whether maintenance or infrastructure improvements.
This plan and the recommendations are from the FRA and Commissioner Redeker encouraged the Town of Old Lyme to continue to invite them to present their plan at public meeting.
Senator Formica, Representative Carney and First Selectman Reemsnyder signed a letter on Friday requesting that the FRA come to the Town of Old Lyme to meet with people and provide an opportunity to answer questions. She will forward a copy of the letter onto Selectman Sibley and Selectwoman Nosal.
The BOS discussed the concerns with the innuendo in the press; closed door meetings are a deterrent and the public is feeling very left out with the lack of communication and information shared with the public.
6. ~~Public Comment: None
7. ~Other Business:
First Selectman Reemsnyder pointed out that the current LOL Seniors Artwork on display has been the first opportunity to display artwork in the Memorial Town Hall. This made the paper on Friday under the Opinion Section; “Never too Old for Art”. Congratulations to the LOL Seniors for making the paper.
8. Executive Session: None
9. Adjournment:
A motion was made by Selectman Sibley, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal to adjourn at 6:10PM. Motion passed.
Respectfully Submitted,
Patti Broedlin
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