TOWN OF OLD LYME
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MEETING MINUTES
The Board of Selectman held a Regular Meeting at 8:00 am June 29, 2018 in the Meeting Hall of the Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall. First Selectman Bonnie Reemsnyder, Selectwoman Mary Jo Nosal and Selectman Chris Kerr were present.
18 June 2018 -Regular Meeting Minutes
A motion was made by Selectman Kerr, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal, to approve the minutes of the June 18, 2018 regular meeting. Motion passed.
18 June 2018 -Regular Special Minutes
First Selectman Reemsnyder thanked Selectwoman Nosal for taking the minutes for the meeting.
A motion was made by Selectwoman Nosal, seconded by Selectman Kerr, to approve the minutes of the June 18, 2018 special meeting. Motion passed.
2.Communication: None
3. Appointments: None
4. Old Business:
- PGN Library – Town Meeting
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported the BOF recommended this to a Town meeting at their June 19th meeting. The BOS discussed dates for the next Town Meeting. She suggested they hold the meeting on Monday, July 23rd at 7:30pm and the selectmen agree with this date.
First Selectman Reemsnyder added they are still working on how this will be funded whether it will be a loan, bonding or partially out of surplus. This will be discussed further after they have approval for the expenditure. She also added that they are being solicited by a couple of other banks which is resulting in lower interest rates.
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported she has forwarded copies of the lease and agreements from both companies onto the Town Attorney for review and has not heard back from him on these yet. She will keep the selectman updated as she hears more. She also suggested they add this to the CALL for the Town meeting incase it is ready and tabling it at the meeting if it is not. She asked the selectmen for their thoughts on the presentations and the Selectman agree they liked the second company (Independent Solar) better and were more comfortable with their proposal. The only concerns were with how the tariffs could affect the costs and if the company were to go out of business. After further discussion the BOS agrees should the company go out of business they would have options available to maintain or re-lease the project.
- SW and Recycling Ordinance Amendment
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported she has sent the Amendment to the Town Attorney for review and re-wording. She has not received this back yet but will forward it onto the selectmen as soon as she gets it.
- Employee Handbook updates
First Selectman Reemsnyder thanked Selectwoman Nosal for her comments and suggestions on the Employee Handbook. She gave the selectmen a copy of the Handbook with all of the changes (clarifications and wording), noting the most important changes were to the short-term disability policy (must work one full year between requests in order to be eligible) and the accrual of vacation time for employees.
A motion was made by Selectwoman Nosal, seconded by Selectman Kerr, to approve the Employee Handbook as written. Motion passed.
5. New Business:
- Request for use of Parking Lot/Bus on Hartford Ave.
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported she received a request from the owner of the Pavilion to use the Town parking lot (local guests) and allow a shuttle bus on Harford Ave. for a wedding on Sept. 8th from 4-9:30pm. She also shared the response she received from Frank Pappalardo, Chair of the Sound View Commission including his thoughts for consideration (bus to use Swan Ave., issuing parking pass, charge nominal fee per vehicle). The BOS discussed reserving approximately 30 spots for wedding guests, the shuttle bus using Hartford Ave. for pick-up/drop-off and using the town lot to turn around in and requiring the Pavilion to provide security (instead of charging for parking) and closing the lot at 10pm. The BOS approve the request and First Selectman Reemsnyder will reach out to get a specific number of parking spaces needed
and the arrival/departure times for further discussion at the next BOS meeting.
- Discussion on Date of Special Town Meeting and Call of Meeting
- Authorization for 1.75 Million for library
- Amendment to Harbor Mgmt Ordinance
- Town Lot and Lease?
- Solar Farm Land Lease?
- SW and Recycling Ordinance Amendments?
First Selectman Reemsnyder reiterated their prior discussion on the date for the meeting and the BOS agrees the meeting will be scheduled for July 23rd at 7:30pm at the Middle School. She went onto address the call of the meeting and noted that item i. Authorization for 1.75 Million for library has been approved by both the BOS and BOF and is ready to go to the Town Meeting. She also noted item ii. Amendment to Harbor Mgmt Ordinance has also been approved by the BOS and is ready for the Town Meeting. She noted item iii. Town Lot and Lease is currently with the Attorney for review and hopes this can be reviewed and approved by the BOS at their next meeting (does not want to rush this). She suggests it be kept on the agenda and if it is not ready they can table it at the meeting. She also noted item iv. Solar Farm
Land Lease documents are also with the Town Attorney for review and is hoping the BOS will be able to approve them at the next BOS meeting as well. She also suggests this be kept on the agenda and tabled at the meeting if it is not ready. The BOS discussed keeping these items on the agenda with the intention of passing them and tabling them if they are not ready. They also discussed item v. SW and recycling Ordinance Amendment also with the Town Attorney for review and they agree this should be kept on the agenda as well. If needed the BOS will schedule a Special meeting prior to the Town Meeting.
The BOS also agree there will be presentations and/or committee members along with the Town Attorney present to answer questions on each of the items.
They went onto discuss changing the order of the CALL and they approved changing the CALL to:
- Amendment to Harbor Mgmt Ordinance
- SW and Recycling Ordinance Amendments?
Authorization for 1.75 Million for the Library
6. Public Comment:
Doug Whalen, President of the Old Colony Beach Association addressed the BOS to express a couple of concerns. The first being the confusion with the trash/recycling pick-up schedule which is causing blight with over filled trash and recycle cans. He would like to see the new contract include weekly trash and recycling pick up.
The second concern he raised is with boats and jet skis crossing the swim lines. He would like to see more rangers patrolling on the beaches and increased water patrols. He also mentioned an incident where a resident called the police to address an issue and the call was transferred to the State Police and they were told there was nothing they could do about it. This was reported to one of the members of the police committee.
First Selectman Reemsnyder addressed Mr. Whalen’s comments. She reported to him that the new garbage committee has included weekly trash and recycling pick up into the new contract. They are also looking at ensuring the contractors website will have a scheduled posted as to which streets will have pick-up on which days to eliminate confusion.
She acknowledged hearing his concerns regarding increased patrol on both the beach and water. She also suggested concerns regarding police response should come directly to the Selectman’s office, so she can address them directly with the commander at Troop F. Committee members don’t always have the ability to address these concerns.
Selectwoman Nosal suggested having a meeting with the powers that be to address the issues of jet skiers crossing the swimming lines and thinks it is a good idea to have the rangers walking the beach. Selectman Kerr agrees.
7. Other Business:
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported the committee working on the solid waste and recycling contract are hoping to have an RFP ready in July for the BOS to review.
8. Executive Session: None
9. Adjournment:
A motion was made by Selectwoman Nosal, seconded by Selectman Kerr, to adjourn at 8:52am. Motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Patti Broedlin
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