TOWN OF SOUTH WINDSOR
WORK SESSION MINUTES
TOWN COUNCIL MONDAY, APRIL 5, 2010
COUNCIL CHAMBERS TIME: 7:00 P.M.
1. Call Meeting to Order
Mayor Pelkey called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.
2. Roll Call
Members Present: Mayor John Pelkey
Deputy Edward Havens
Councillor Gary Bazzano
Councillor Janice Favreau
Councillor Tom Delnicki
Councillor Kathryn Hale
Councillor Kevin McCann
Councillor Cary Prague
Councillor Keith Yagaloff
Also Present: Matthew Galligan, Town Manager
3. Public Participation
Mr. Lou Poma a resident of South Windsor came before the Town Council to discuss the Moderate Price Housing Program. Mr. Poma stated that his home is currently under this program and he has his house on the market for sale. He has received five offers since put on the market. All of the potential buyers have been denied because they make too much income or had too many assets. The program may have been helpful at the time it was implemented, but today the program is outdated. Mr. Poma feels this program should be eliminated.
4. Communications
None
5. Town Manager’s Report
None
6. Items for Discussion
A. Town Council Budget Presentation
Mr. Galligan explained that the largest item in the budget is for $50,000 which is an item that is for the South Windsor Volunteer Fire Department Abatement program. Usually this item is taken out of Contingency and this year has been put into the budget. The other area that has increased is wages, due to a 53rd pay period this year. There are fees for the annual audit, courier services, indexing, and other misc. items. There is a small amount of operating materials. Other items included in the budget are the annual report and referendum printing.
Work Session – Town Council
April 5, 2010
Page 2
ITEM:
6. A. (continued)
Answering questions from the Council, Mr. Galligan explained that the National League of Cities is made up of small towns throughout the United States. There are two conferences within a year period. The first conference is to discuss lobbying and to make sure small towns are getting their fair share of federal dollars. The second conference is to discuss issues within each towns area and to set up individual meetings with various Chairpersons of certain congressional items that each town may have an interest in. Mr. Galligan then explained how he determined the budget of an 8% increase. First he figured out what revenues the Town had coming in and then figured expenditures that the Town is obligated to pay. Mr. Galligan stated that he did not make any policy decisions which could lower
the budget because he feels those decisions should be made by Council members. Mr. Galligan requested that the Council members go through the budget and determine where cuts could be made to lower the increase to the budget. The Contingency account is very low and needs to be built up. The Recruitment line has $4,000 budgeted because the Town will be looking for a new Town Attorney and it is not known how much will be spent for advertising. Last year there was $2,753 used out of that account.
B. Town Manager Budget
Mr. Galligan presented the Town Manger’s budget explaining that there has been an increase in salaries, reminding the Council that there will be 53 pay periods this coming year. There is also a larger item in the Town Manager’s budget under Professional which is for Craig Stevenson who is the Town’s Economic Development Consultant. Also under Professional are the ICMA conference and the Economic Development conference. Other items in the budget include Chamber fees, ICMA dues, CCM convention, newspaper subscriptions, and Economic Development organizations.
Council members discussed the 53rd pay period in the upcoming budget. Councillor Yagaloff requested that the Council seek an opinion from the Labor Attorney. There must be a way to break that out in a different way other than having 53 pay periods every seven years. Councillor Yagaloff also requested that the Town Manager come back to the Council with a breakdown of each department showing how much is expected in promotions, new hires or other items unrelated to the contractual amounts.
Mr. Galligan added that he would like to eliminate business lunches and dinners from the Town Manger’s budget.
C. Boards & Commissions Budget
Mr. Galligan explained that the only change to the Boards & Commissions budget is a $1,000 reduction in the Economic Development Commission budget.
Work Session – Town Council
April 5, 2010
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ITEM:
6. C. (continued)
Councillor Prague stated that the Patriotic Commission does a great job with their programs, but he would like to see more publicity for the fireworks display and Armed Forces Day. Mayor Pelkey suggested that instead of having an essay contest, this could be a contest to publicize these events. Deputy Mayor Havens suggested that the Town Council meet with the Patriotic Commission to discuss these ideas.
D. Police Department Budget
Commander Reed came before the Town Council to introduce the Police Department budget. He explained that the current staff level is 41. There were two vacant positions that were not filled and are being eliminated. The Police Department currently has seven individuals that are eligible for retirement. The training for new officers takes approximately one year and if recruitment were to begin now, there would be new personnel by the end of this year. The budget has already been cut $262,000 by the Town Manager.
Answering questions from the Council, Commander Reed explained that if two more positions were put back into the budget he could not guarantee that overtime would be reduced. A break down of savings could be drafted, but explained that when individuals request time off is when overtime is mostly used. A lot more officers would have to be hired in order for there to be a significant savings in overtime. There would be a difference in overtime if another dispatcher were hired.
At 8:00 p.m. Mayor Pelkey recessed the Work Session in order to call the Regular Meeting to order. The Work Session was reconvened at 8:01 p.m.
Answering further questions, Commander Reed stated that there is a large increase this year in fuel. There is a cushion in that amount because it is not know what the price will be in December when that price is re-negotiated.
7. Executive Session
At 8:13 p.m. Councillor Hale made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss possible purchase of real estate for the Town (190 & 260 Niederwerfer Road) and to discuss documents containing financial information provided in confidence and exempt from disclosure pursuant to C.G.S. § 1-200(6) and 210(b)(5)(B) regarding The Connecticut Studios project. Councillor Delnicki seconded the motion. Mayor Pelkey made a friendly amendment to add two personnel issues, both individuals are aware that they will be discussed in Executive Session. The motion was approved, unanimously.
Work Session – Town Council
April 5, 2010
Page 4
ITEM:
7. Executive Session
The following individuals went into Executive Session: Mayor Pelkey, Deputy Mayor Havens, Councillor Bazzano, Councillor Delnicki, Councillor Favreau, Councillor Havens, Councillor McCann, Councillor Prague, Councillor Yagaloff, Town Manager Matthew Galligan, and Clerk of the Council Debbie Reid (only for personnel issue).
At 9:09 p.m. Councillor Prague made a motion to adjourn the Executive Session. Councillor Bazzano seconded the motion; and it was approved, unanimously.
8. Adjournment
At 9:13 p.m. Councillor Delnicki made a motion to adjourn the Work Session. Councillor Hale seconded the motion; and it was approved, unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah W. Reid
Clerk of the Council
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