TOWN OF SOUTH WINDSOR
WORK SESSION MINUTES
TOWN COUNCIL MONDAY, MAY 4, 2009
COUNCIL CHAMBERS TIME: 7:00 P.M.
1. Call Meeting to Order
Mayor Prague called the Work Session to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. Roll Call
Members Present: Mayor Prague
Deputy Mayor Bazzano
Councillor Kathryn Hale
Councillor Edward Havens
Councillor Lisa Maneeley (arrived at 7:19 p.m.)
Councillor Kevin McCann (arrived at 7:07 p.m.)
Councillor Paul Oates
Councillor John Pelkey (arrived at 7:03 p.m.)
Councillor Keith Yagaloff
Also Present: Matthew Galligan, Town Manager
3. Public Participation
Mrs. Betty Warren, 494 Abbe Road came before the Town Council on behalf of SWALPAC. She explained that she had received an email regarding the leases on Foster Farm and public access. She explained that SWALPAC’s concern is that the farmer should be allowed to farm the property at 215 Avery Street without concerns of public safety. If the Town opens the property up to the public, safety could be an issue. The initial purchase of open space is not all intended for parks or public participation, some are to preserve the agricultural character of the Town of South Windsor. There are plenty of other areas in Town where residents can go and walk. She urged the Town Council to grant a farming lease to the Foster family allowing them to farm the property located at 215 Avery
Street.
Councillor Yagaloff explained that his concern is that he is torn in wanting to preserve farmland for farm use and also when purchasing property with public funds, wanting to use the land for public use. The Town paid $2,800,000. for this property and residents are not allowed to use it. Councillor Yagaloff suggested that the Town consider shortening the lease period.
Mrs. Warren explained that farmers make improvements to the property and a shortened lease will create loss to a farmers investment. A five year lease is reasonable. The preservation of farmland is a very important issue to some residents of South Windsor.
Work Session – Town Council
May 4, 2009
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3. Public Participation (continued)
Mrs. Pat Botteron, 34 Victor Lane came before the Town Council on behalf of the Open Space Task Force. Mrs. Botteron explained that the Open Space Task Force endorsed the purchase of the Foster Farm and felt it was kept from being developed. If public access is allowed while it is currently being farmed there is a concern regarding the maintenance of the property, and liability to the Town. In the future when the economy turns around, the Town could possibly looked into creating trails on this property.
4. Communications
Councillor Hale noted that there is a team of South Windsor employees doing an exercise with the Hartford group who is preparing for any sort of mass dispensing. The Town is continuing to be prepared and monitor the Swine Flu which appears to not be strong.
Answering questions from the Council, Mr. Galligan explained that the Town is presently researching two companies regarding the emergency phone systems. Mr. Scott Roberts, Director of Information Technologies is in contact with both companies.
5. Town Manager’s Report
Will be presented during the Regular Meeting
6. Items for Discussion
A. Fire Marshal Budget
Mr. Walter Summers, Fire Marshal came before the Town Council to review his proposed budget. He stated that this year’s budget has a proposed reduction of $588.00 to maintain current services. There are two issues that could impact the budget that are not accounted for in the budget which are the Connecticut Studios project and State mandated changes. Mr. Summers then reviewed items that could create possible revenue sources for the Town which are as follows: 1) the new Fire Prevention Code is going to allow Fire Marshals to issue citations up to $250.00 per incidents based on ten different violations of the fire code; and 2) the Fire Prevention Code is proposing is a list of fifty-three operations which Towns could create permit and fees to be charged to residents.
Work Session – Town Council
May 4, 2009
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6. A. (continued)
Answering questions from the Council, Mr. Summer’s explained that Town’s can make a decision on which item from the list each Town wants to do or not do. The list is just suggestions that the State will allow the Town’s to create permits for. Councillor Yagaloff stated that he does not feel comfortable making decisions regarding which items the Town should be charging permits or fees for. Councillor Yagaloff then requested that Mr. Summer’s come back before the Town Council to explain the work load requirements for each item.
The Work Session was recessed at 7:30 p.m. in order to hold a public hearing. The Work Session was reconvened at 7:36 p.m.
Mr. Summers stated that currently the Fire Marshal’s Office is supposed to do 702 inspections and there may be 300 more inspections that are mandated by the State. This brings a total of 1,002. The Town presently does not meet the mandates with the current staffing levels. In order to meet the mandates, the Town would need two to three full time workers. The Fire Marshals Office will be trying to address the impact of Connecticut Studios by implementing a fee schedule for various inspections that the Town presently does not charge for. The Fire Marshals Office presently gets three to four complaints per week which also triggers inspections.
The Work Session was recessed at 7:45 p.m. in order to hold a public hearing. The Work Session reconvened at 7:57 p.m.
At 8:00 p.m. Mayor Prague recessed the Work Session in order to call the Regular Meeting to order. The Work Session reconvened at 8:01 p.m.
B. Information Technologies Budget
Mr. Scott Roberts, Director of Information Technologies came before the Town Council and explained that the budget for Information Technologies is down 2.1% from last year. The department has worked hard to renegotiate maintenance contracts where possible to keep particular items as low as possible. All other line items have been held in order to maintain our current levels of service to our departments. The IT Department has worked hard this year to increase service while looking for new ways to streamline tasks and avoid future costs.
Mr. Roberts answered various questions from the Town Council.
Work Session – Town Council
May 4, 2009
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6. Discussion Items (continued)
C. Capital Projects Budget
Mr. Galligan reviewed the list of Capital Projects and stated that the projects were not officially adopted by the Capital Projects Committee.
Answering questions from the Town Council, Mr. Roberts explained the goal for the replacement of computers is three years, but it is between 7 to 10 years before the Town will get rid of a computer. The Town’s portion of this line item is $125,000, and the Board of Education’s portion of this line item is $389,000. There is a strong dependency on the technology.
Mr. Roberts reviewed anticipated Capital Projects for the IT Department as follows:
- Two cisco switches that maintain our network. One at Town Hall needs to be upgraded to take care of voice over IP and the Police Department is at maximum capacity and will need to be replaced.
- The MUNIS server that runs our financials needs to be replaced.
- C.O.T.T. server in the Town Clerk’s Office needs to be replaced.
- Wireless capabilities in the Town Hall (Council Chambers, Madden Room, and Sprenkel Room)
- Email archiving
- Internet Filter
- Wireless capabilities down at VMP
Mayor Prague recessed the Work Session at 8:30 p.m. in order to go to the Regular Meeting. The Work Session reconvened at 8:35 p.m.
Answering questions from the Council, Mr. Galligan explained that the Plan of Conservation and Development is funded every two years. This item is required by the State to be completed every five years. The Revaluation is also done every five years and the line item of $45,000 is divided over a five year period.
Councillor Pelkey reviewed items that were suggested to be reduced in the Capital Project listing.
Councillor McCann also reviewed items that were suggested to be reduced in the Capital Project listing.
Work Session – Town Council
May 4, 2009
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D. Pension Fund Update
Mayor Prague reviewed attached Exhibit A with Town Council members.
Answering questions from the Town Council, Mr. Galligan explained that the Board of Education was previously behind in their pension. The Board of Education had some surpluses that they applied to the pension fund, which means they put more in the fund then was originally required. The Town has had a reduction in the pension fund because there were pension changes through negotiations. Mr. Galligan then answered other various questions regarding the pension fund.
7. Executive Session
None
8. Adjournment
At 9:00 p.m. Councillor Havens made a motion to adjourn the Work Session. Mayor Prague seconded the motion; and it was approved, unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah W. Reid, Clerk of the Council
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