TOWN OF OLD LYME
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MEETING MINUTES
The Board of Selectman held a Regular Meeting at 7:30 pm September 4, 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.
20 August 2018 -Regular Meeting Minutes
First Selectman Reemsnyder recommended tabling approval of the August 20th meeting minutes to the next meeting due to technical difficulties.
A motion was made by Selectman Kerr, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal, to table approval of the August 20, 2018 regular meeting minutes until the next meeting. Motion passed.
First Selectman Reemsnyder shared a note she received from Mr. George Hunt Jr. commending Officers Wayne Collins and Sam Barnes for their assistance. She will make sure that acknowledgement of this will be put in the employee files of Officers Collins and Barnes.
3. Appointments: None
A motion was made by Selectwoman Nosal, seconded by Selectman Kerr, to add item 5. c. Connectivity Grant to the agenda. Motion passed.
4. Old Business:
- Haines Park Bathrooms – Committee
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported she has suggested putting together a small committee to work on the Hains Park Bathroom Committee. After speaking with the Chairman of the Park & Rec Committee, she recommends the following committee members: Phil Parcak, Rick Caulkins, Skip Sibley, Don Bugbee, and Mark Wayland as ex-officio. Although she does not have a charge for the committee, the plan is to begin with putting together an RFQ for design and build companies or possibly hiring an architect to put together a design and go out for an RFP. The budget for the project is $150,000 plus the balance of what was left over from the boathouse project. They anticipate tearing down the old building and putting up a new building. The BOS also discussed having the members complete the required form for committee members.
First Selectman Reemsnyder will keep this on the agenda to keep the selectmen regularly updated.
A motion was made by Selectman Kerr, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal, to appoint Phil Parcak, Rick Caulkins and Skip Sibley to the HP Bathroom Committee. Motion passed.
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported the committee (Chris Kerr, Gary Yuknat and David Kelsey) finalized the RFP and it was put out for advertising in The Day, sent to a select group who may be interested and was posted on the Town Website (link for documents available). She also asked the selectmen to give her any names of anyone who may be interested so she can reach out to them. She gave a brief overview of the timeline:
Sept 14th Mandatory pre-bid meeting 9 am
Sept. 21st questions are due – responses will be made by Sept. 28th
Oct. 12th bids due by 2 pm – immediately followed by public opening of bids
Dec. 2018 – they are hoping to be able to make the award in the beginning of December depending on the bids they receive.
- Pump Station Lease – Update
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported she has received the green light from the three Beach Associations on the language in the lease agreement. She has forwarded a copy of the agreement on to Frank Pappalardo, the Chairman of the Sound View Commission and Rich Prendergast, the WPCA Chair. She has since received a list of questions from David Kelsey and shared the questions and her responses with the selectmen.
The BOS discussed clarifying the term “Tenant” in the agreement, as they were not sure if this means each beach individually or the three Beaches as a whole. First Selectman Reemsnyder will follow up on this but believes it is the three Beaches as a whole. They also discussed the emergency alley way, the time-line of the project, the amendment and the EIE being the full document of the project. After further discussion First Selectman Reemsnyder reiterated there has been a lot of time and work put into the lease to get to this point.
The next steps would be to schedule a public hearing which will require 10 days’ notice and then scheduling the Town Meeting. Although they have not heard back from the Sound View Commission she anticipates hearing from them soon and they do have approval from the WPCA on the lease. The BOS discussed tentative dates for the public hearing (Sept. 19th at 7:00pm) and the Town meeting (Sept. 24th at 7:30pm) both to be held at the Middle School and they will approve the CALL of the meeting at the next BOS meeting. The BOS also discussed adding approval of the Solar Lease to the CALL of Town Meeting and agree this would be a good idea, so they can begin the process for this.
- School Resource Officer for Region 18 – Update
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported she has continued to work on the request of the Superintendent of schools to put a School Resource Officer (SRO) from the Town of Old Lyme police department in the LOL schools. She has sent the selectmen the information she has received from the Town Attorney on this. According to statute an MOU is required (example provided), and it must include language articulating the graduated response model for student discipline. The attorney also recommended they make an agreement between the Town and the State Police (Troop F), with the plan being the SRO be one of the OL Police officers and will be supervised by the Resident Trooper. He also recommended an agreement between the Towns of Old Lyme and Lyme so that the SRO could have jurisdiction at Lyme Consolidated School. One of the concerns is approving the
funding for this based on an annual part-time salary of approximately (from the Finance Director) $65-75,000 which would include; wages, tax’s, phone, car, and uniforms. Nicole has reached out to the auditors to see if they can apply this under the private duty line item for the Police Dept. for this year and they agreed with this approach. First Selectman Reemsnyder will check with the BOF Chair to be sure he is comfortable with this.
First Selectman Reemsnyder reminded everyone they have a leadership meeting on Friday and she is hoping to have the Job Description and MOU completed for discussion and review during their meeting.
Selectman Kerr asked what kind of time-line she was looking at for the SRO to begin. She replied she would like to see this in place no later than Nov. 1st but is hoping for Oct. 1st. She noted they would be able to post this internally and is aware there is an internal candidate interested. She also added that she has spoken with Steve Matson and updated him on the information, as well as shared pertinent documents.
The BOS also discussed the possibility of the Leadership Committee serving as a committee for this including outside members to ensure public awareness.
First Selectman Reemsnyder will share the draft MOU and job description with the selectmen and they will discuss this further at the Leadership meeting on Friday.
5. New Business:
- Public Hearing on Pump Station Lease
First Selectman Reemsnyder noted this was discussed in item 5. a. and scheduled the meeting for Sept. 19th which allows them enough time to publicize this.
- Special Town Meeting to schedule
First Selectman Reemsnyder reviewed the items to be on the town meeting, and again noted that the Finance Director suggests this item may not need to go to the Town Meeting As previously discussed the BOS would also like to add the lease approval of the landfill for a Solar Farm to the agenda. The tentative date for the Special Town Meeting was set for Sept. 24th which will give the BOS time to approve the final CALL of the meeting at the next BOS meeting on Sept. 17th.
First Selectman Reemsnyder reported she has reached out to the Department of Transportation and has confirmed that the grant is for up to $400,000 (not a matching grant) to complete the sidewalk on the west side of Hartford Ave., connecting Bocce Lane to Rt. 156 and beyond if the funding allows. She needs to confirm the municipality of Old Lyme would like to accept the funding and proceed with the CCGP (Community Connectivity Grant Project) process by Sept. 7th. She has shared this with the Chairman of the Sound View Commission and he is delighted. She also added they would need to appoint a committee to complete this project, similarly as they did with the recent Hartford Ave. project which was just completed. Selectman Kerr asked if there was a timeline or deadline involved with spending the grant funds. First Selectman
Reemsnyder replied she was not sure but will follow-up and report back. Selectwoman Nosal asked it this would need to go to a Town Meeting for approval to spend these funds. First Selectman Reemsnyder replied they would need approval from a Town Meeting. She also noted that BSC provided them with a conceptual plan for the sidewalks as part of the Gateway plan, but they would want to get an estimate from BSC on what the design costs would be. The BOS also discussed having the project completed before or after construction of the sewers and the Town controlling the cost of the project.
A motion was made by Selectwoman Nosal, seconded by Selectman Kerr, to accept the funding for the Connectivity Grant and proceed with the CCPG process for sidewalks on Hartford Ave. Motion passed.
6. Public Comment:
Judith Read of Ben Franklin Road in Old Lyme addressed the BOS regarding the Connectivity Grant. She is questioning the Town accepting funds from the State for the Connectivity Grant while the State is in a fiscal crisis and has heard from other community members that they are uncomfortable with this and asked how the BOS feels about this.
First Selectman Reemsnyder responded to Judith and is sensitive to how some people feel about taking money from the State while it is in a fiscal crisis. However, she thinks it is fair for the Town to apply for grants particularly as they may go to another municipality if they do not accept them. These grants allow Old Lyme to make improvements that they may otherwise not be able to afford. Selectwoman Nosal stated she agrees with First Selectman Reemsnyder and Selectman Kerr had no comment.
7. Other Business:
First Selectman Reemsnyder commented that it looks like the school year got off to a good start.
Selectwoman Nosal asked if there was any update on the bid for the roadway resurfacing. First Selectman Reemsnyder reported they received one bid from Pasteryak Paving and they have signed a contract with them. She also added that the resurfacing should begin in Sept./Oct. and read a list of the roads to be resurfaced.
Selectwoman Nosal asked for an update on the Lieutenant River Water Access. First Selectman Reemsnyder reported they received 5 or 6 bids and the documents have been sent to Geoff Steadman, who wrote the RFP for his review to ensure they meet all of the requirements. Once he has confirmed they meet the requirements, they will make a selection.
Selectwoman Nosal asked for an update on the status of the well in Hains Park. First Selectman Reemsnyder reported Phil Parcak met with the well driller and it does not look like fracking will be an option and they will be looking into the
costs and funding options to drill a new well. She thinks this will be a costly project that will need to be completed before next spring.
Selectwoman Nosal asked if she has heard anything back from the RiverCOG transportation feedback they provided. First Selectman Reemsnyder reported she has not heard anything back on that, but anticipated hearing something after their September meeting.
Selectwoman Nosal noted there is a wedding taking place in Sound View this week-end they had previously discussed and asked if everything was in place. First Selectman Reemsnyder reported she has spoken with the owner of the Pavilion and he will be picking up the parking passes. The Pavilion will provide security if it is busy but based on last week-end the Resident Trooper didn’t feel it would be necessary. She also added there is another resident hosting a wedding who will be utilizing the parking lot near the police station for approximately 20-30 cars and they will also be getting passes.
Selectwoman Nosal asked if there was any feedback from the selectmen on the Bike Walk CT program she mentioned at the last meeting. First Selectman Reemsnyder asked what the $20 fee was for and would like more information. Selectwoman Nosal will send her more information.
8. Executive Session: None
9. Adjournment:
A motion was made by Selectman Kerr, seconded by Selectwoman Nosal, to adjourn at 9:13 pm. Motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Patti Broedlin
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