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Chairperson Janice Snyder called the meeting to order at 4:32 p.m.
Members Present
Dr. Saud Anwar, Town Council (arrived at 4:40 p.m.)
Dr. Kate Carter, Superintendent of Schools, Board of Education
Matthew Galligan, Town Manager
Michael Gantick, Director of Public Works
Patrick Hankard, Director of Facility Services, Board of Education
David Joy, Board of Education
Elizabeth Pendleton, Town Council (arrived at 4:35 p.m.)
Janice Snyder, Town Council (Chairperson)
Members Absent
Chris Chemerka, Director of Finance and Operations, Board of Education
Carol Driscoll, Board of Education (Vice Chairperson)
Lisa Maneeley, Board of Education
Guests Present
Jeffrey Doolittle, Town Engineer
Raymond Favreau, Director of Parks and Recreation
Clay Major, Facilities Manager
Scott Roberts, Director of Information Technology
Walter Summers, Fire Marshal
Stephen Wagner, Town Council
3. Approval of Minutes Previous Meetings
Mr. Michael Gantick made a motion to approve the February 19, 2014 Minutes; Mr. Patrick Hankard seconded that motion; and it was approved unanimously.
4. Discussion Items
Review Prioritization of Projects
Town Manager Galligan said that many of these projects have been on the drawing board for many years. The Town Council was told that the economy is getting better, and now is the time to put items back into the budget. The Capital Projects Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2014/2015 is up to $587,000. Town Manager Galligan’s fear is that if the budget is kept low, in future years there will be huge tax spikes from projects that will absolutely need to be done. He suggested that projects that include grant funding should take priority. Chairperson Snyder asked if either Mr. Michael Gantick or Mr. Patrick Hankard could go through the prioritization process shown on the Proposed List (Exhibit A). Mr. Hankard said that all of the projects were blended into a single list. The 100s are projects
that truly involve either safety or code requirements. The 200s are projects that have some payback either in the forms of grants or reimbursements. The 300s are projects that were thought to be important enough to be included but did not fit into the 100 or 200 category.
Town Manager Galligan said there is a new ADA Coordinator for the State Department of Public Health. This Coordinator is now visiting all municipalities to discuss ADA compliance. This will be a serious topic over the next two or three years as ADA compliance in public buildings gains momentum. He will find out more during the webinar/seminar that he will be attending. Some good faith will have to be shown in putting the ADA projects forward so that the Town will be meeting the ADA guidelines.
Mr. Hankard further emphasized that on the Proposed List, under each subsection, the projects are alphabetized by Department. They are not in any priority order other than in 100, 200, and 300. Mr. Gantick said that all of the projects need to be done on the list, and the hard part is deciding which projects will be funded for the 2014/2014 Fiscal Year.
Councilor Elizabeth Pendleton asked Mr. Gantick if any 200 projects also fall under the 100 category with code requirements, such as one of the bridges. Mr. Gantick said that many roads and sidewalks in Town are hazards and ADA issues. Town Manager Galligan stressed the liability of failing road and drainage systems.
Mr. Joy pointed out that the proposed budget for Capital Projects only covers about half of the 100 priority group in Exhibit A. He asked Chairperson Snyder if the Committee’s task is to draw a line or figure out a number that could be negotiated. Chairperson Snyder said the focus of the Committee is to look at the projects put forth by staff and draw a line. Mr. Joy asked if the projects that make the cut are what are presented to the Town Council, even though all of the projects are worthy. Chairperson Snyder said that is correct. The Committee is allowed to submit a $1.2 million Capital Projects plan to the Town Council because the Council will need to review it. Mr. Joy emphasized that projects within the priority groups should be further prioritized. Chairperson Snyder said that is
what the Committee should accomplish during this meeting and emphasized that the proposed budget amount is just a placeholder. The Committee needs to decide on a proposed number to bring to the Town Council.
Mayor Saud Anwar asked if any grant money available would be lost if certain projects were moved to another fiscal year. Town Manager Galligan said the grant money would be given to another Town. Mayor Anwar asked if there is a formula for the grant money. Mr. Gantick said most of the grants have been programmed through the Capital Region Council of Governments and the State Department of Transportation. Mr. Jeff Doolittle said there are many different grant programs. Some grants may still be there if the project is pushed off for a year, while other grants will disappear. It could also paint the Town in a bad light. Chairperson Snyder said many grants have timelines, but some have extensions available. Mayor Anwar asked if nothing happened this year, would the list change for
2015/2016. Mr. Gantick said more projects will be added to the list because items are coming due. Mayor Anwar asked if it is feasible to categorize the list for Fiscal Years 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. Chairperson Snyder said there is always flexibility depending on community needs, but it is difficult to actually fund projects because the budget has not been adequately funded for four years.
Chairperson Snyder asked if Town staff is comfortable with the ordering of the list. Mr. Walter Summers said he is happy with where his project is located on the list this year. He suggested that the Committee recommend to the Town Council all of the projects in the 100 category and have the Council decide which of the projects in categories 200 and 300 will also be done in addition to the 100 category. Mr. Stephen Wagner asked how much money will actually come out of the taxpayers’ pockets in Fiscal Year 2014/2015. Town Manager Galligan said all of the projects come out of the taxpayers’ pockets, whether through bonding or leasing. He also stressed that there is approximately $125 million worth of projects in Town that need to be done. He also said that the political parties need to
change their mindsets when it comes to taxes, otherwise it will turn into a cancer and infrastructure will crumble.
Superintendent Kate Carter asked what a typical town’s capital budget is in Connecticut. Chairperson Snyder said that Glastonbury has $8 million in their Capital Budget. Town Manager Galligan said it is very embarrassing when staff goes to a function and is told that South Windsor is the Town that funds Capital Projects the least out of the entire State of Connecticut. South Windsor used to be on top for Capital Projects. Town Manager Galligan said the Town should be around $8 million for Capital Projects funding. The Town is a business that provides services to the community, and there should be adequate funding for infrastructure.
Chairperson Snyder asked if Mr. Raymond Favreau could discuss the ADA Upgrades at Veterans Memorial Park. Mr. Favreau said the chairlift in the pool needs to be replaced since lifts now need to be self-operable by the disabled person. Currently, pools are a major target for ADA compliance. Handrails need to be added to the zero depth slope. Chairperson Snyder asked about gutter leveling and crack repair. Mr. Favreau said the pools do have issues, and the facility is on a very high water table. The center of the facility has settled, so the gutters are not uniformly filtering water because of the difference in elevation. All perimeter gutters should be drawing water into the circulation system overnight, and they no longer do that because they need to be leveled. Mr. Favreau stressed
that the Parks & Recreation Department cannot guarantee the same water quality that the public should be getting. When there are people in the water, they displace water over the gutters and help circulation. The big problem happens overnight when the water is still.
Chairperson Snyder asked if there was a demand or list of sidewalks that need to be repaired and replaced immediately. Mr. Jeff Doolittle said there is a list that the Engineering Department updates. The $200,000 is a start to the repair and replacement of sidewalks for the unfunded mandate. Some sidewalks also need to be ADA compliant.
Chairperson Snyder asked about the grant available for the Fiber Communication Network project. Mr. Scott Roberts said the grant, which is for the Nutmeg Network, will go to another community if South Windsor does not utilize it.
Chairperson Snyder asked Mr. Clay Major about the Town Buildings projects in the 100 category. The elevator has not been cited yet, so technically the Town could wait on the elevator project until a citation is received.
Chairperson Snyder asked Mr. Hankard about the Fire Alarm Upgrades at Pleasant Valley and Wapping. Mr. Hankard said the control panels are so old that any failure would mean total replacement of the unit with another model. Fire code has changed in the past twenty years since the current system was installed, and now signals need to be installed in every room.
Mr. Major voiced a concern about the boiler in the Town Hall. It is original to the building, which was built in 1968. If the boiler fails, Town Hall would be shut down until the boiler could be fixed or replaced. The boiler is also starting to fall apart. If it exposes any asbestos, that is a major environmental concern. Chairperson Snyder asked if there is a grant related to the project. Mr. Major said the grant is coming from Connecticut Light and Power. Chairperson Snyder asked if the Town Hall would hook up to natural gas. Mr. Major said it did not make financial sense when it was looked at in previous years, but it is an option.
Mr. Joy asked if the Committee could move forward in choosing projects to recommend to the Town Council. Chairperson Snyder said she would like to hear input or questions from either Town Manager Galligan or Mr. Gantick first. Mayor Anwar suggested adding the front entrance to the Town Hall to ADA compliance. Mr. Major said the elevator upgrade would eliminate the need for a ramp to the front entrance because of the handicapped ground floor entrance. Mr. Gantick said an estimate for a ramp would be around $100,000 and the doors would have to be replaced. Councilor Pendleton asked what is included in the ADA upgrades listed in the Proposed List. Mr. Summers said they would be creating an area of refuge on the top floor and adding handrails on the stairs.
Mr. Hankard said it is has been difficult over the years to create a list only to have the Town Council pick and choose projects without giving too much consideration to the importance of the priority order. He agrees with Mr. Joy that all of the 100 projects should all be included in the current recommendation. He also added that there are three projects in the 200 category that have very attractive funding streams. Town Manager Galligan said that he does not want anybody to work with the placeholder amount. He wants the Committee to work with the actual projects instead. Now is the time to start replenishing capital projects while the Grand List is growing. There has to be a point where the political parties need to work together for the best interests of the Town.
Mr. Gantick said the Committee needs a plan and needs to start now. Councilor Pendleton suggested regrouping after the start of the Fiscal Year to come up with a plan to meet the needs of the citizens and safety of the community.
Town Manager Galligan told the Committee about the opportunity bond that was discussed while Mr. John Pelkey was Mayor. That bond would have taken care of five projects on the Proposed List. At the time, many people thought that the bond was ridiculous.
Chairperson Snyder discussed the proposed funding stream. Town Manager Galligan said that if there were new taxes or revenue, 20% of that should automatically go into capital. He has suggested various ways of getting a policy in place to fund capital, but it has always gone by the wayside in favor of keeping taxes low.
Chairperson Snyder asked the Committee what should be recommended to the Town Council. She suggested including all projects in the 100 category, the Fiber Communication Network, and Town Hall Boiler project since those two projects have grants. Mr. Doolittle said some of the road projects could be stretched out over two years. He just needs enough money to get them started, and the Town would still be eligible for grant money. Chairperson Snyder said including some money to put towards road projects, the Committee could recommend $1.7 million. Mr. Joy said without knowing the timeline for certain projects, how can the Committee back into a number? He does not feel that $1.7 million is enough for any of these projects. Embarrassment is bad enough, but this is not good stewardship. Mr.
Joy asked Town Manager Galligan to give a great presentation to the Town Council that includes information about other towns’ capital projects plans compared to South Windsor’s. Mr. Joy would like to see a commitment from the Committee to get the capital fund back to $7-8 million. He would like to suggest $2 million, even $2.5 million to the Town Council. The backlog of projects will continue to grow faster than the budget if something is not done.
Councilor Pendleton asked if the Committee is supposed to pick and choose projects to get a number. Chairperson Snyder said that the Committee should decide on a number because there are plenty of projects to fill that number. Mayor Anwar said he would vote against a $2.5 million increase in capital. It needs to be brought to a level that is palatable to the community that will also increase the fund in the future. As a Councilor, he would vote for a number around $1,000,000.
Mr. Joy said it is hard to balance what hats to wear while being in this Committee. As the Board of Education Chairman, he finds it hard to increase the capital budget since it puts more of a focus on the Board of Education’s budget when it comes time to cut items. As a community leader, he would like to fix the capital budget in order to do the Town right. The Town Council may have to make difficult choices, but neglecting the infrastructure of the Town is bad stewardship.
Mayor Anwar said the budget should be increased to $1,000,000 to start, and money should be put in from revenues in order to take the protection. A public hearing should be held if any money will be taken from the capital fund. Getting the fund back to capacity will not happen on day one.
Chairperson Snyder said she would still like to do the 100 category and the top two 200 projects. Town Manager Galligan said he would like to add the projects that will receive grant funding because the money will go away from South Windsor if it is not utilized. Many of those projects just need a fraction of the entire budget this year just to get them started, and the grant money could still be utilized. A few projects with grant money have huge return investments. He suggested possibly putting the elevator off to Fiscal Year 2015/2016. Without the elevator project, $1.4 million would cover all of the 100 projects and most of the 200 projects.
Town Manager Galligan said that if $1.4 million was put into the capital budget every year for the next five years, in six years there would be about $8 million in the capital budget. He also suggested getting an ordinance passed to protect the capital budget. He suggested that the Capital Projects Committee should present projects in June, July, and August that they would like to see done in the next Fiscal Year. This would give everybody ample time to review those projects while putting together the General Government and Board of Education budgets. Chairperson Snyder asked if the Town Attorney was working on a draft ordinance. Town Manager Galligan said yes, but there are issues with the Town Charter.
Chairperson Snyder asked the Committee for final suggestions for Council recommendations. Councilor Pendleton suggested that for every project that needs to be done, that amount should be cut from the respective jurisdiction. For example, the Board of Education should cut $110,000 from their budget to offset the cost of the Fire Alarm Upgrades. Mr. Joy said that would be very damaging to the Town budget because of the amount of projects. Mr. Gantick said that the Police Department Heat Pumps have been put into the operating budget, the capital projects budget, and gone out to referendum three times. That project has not been able to get funding for years, and Mr. Gantick said he is out of ideas. The money has to come from some place.
Mr. David Joy made a motion to recommend a capital budget of $1.4 million to the Town Council; Mayor Saud Anwar seconded the motion; and it was approved unanimously.
Chairperson Snyder asked if Mr. Gantick and Mr. Hankard could work with Town Manager Galligan to figure out which projects from categories 100 and 200 that would fit into the $1.4 million amount.
Mayor Anwar thanked the Committee for all of the hard work that was put into deciding the recommendation to the Town Council.
5. New Business
None
6. Old Business
Proposed Funding Streams
Chairperson Snyder said that proposed funding streams are on a to-do list for Town Manager Galligan and herself.
Mayor Anwar asked if an infrastructure bond would be a part of the proposed funding stream. Town Manager Galligan said there should be a two-fold approach to the Town Council. They should first be approached with the $1.4 million recommendation, and other important projects should then be proposed as part of an infrastructure bond referendum. Chairperson Snyder said she would work with Town Manager Galligan on that issue. Town Manager Galligan said if the bond could be kept low enough, then they should be taken out as notes. Notes will be paid off quicker with smaller interest rates.
Chairperson Snyder said there would be another meeting in April to fully discuss funding streams.
7. Adjournment
A motion to adjourn was made by Mayor Saud Anwar at 6:00 p.m.; the motion was seconded by Mr. David Joy; and all were in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
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Ashley Summers
Recording Secretary
(Approved 4/30/14)
Exhibit A Proposed Project List
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