TOWN OF SOUTH WINDSOR
WORK SESSION MINUTES
TOWN COUNCIL MONDAY, JULY 16, 2012
COUNCIL CHAMBERS TIME: 7:00 P.M.
1. Call Meeting to Order
Mayor Delnicki called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. Roll Call
Members Present: Mayor Thomas Delnicki
Deputy Mayor Gary Bazzano
Councillor M. Saud Anwar
Councillor Cindy Beaulieu
Councillor Ed Havens
Councillor Kevin McCann
Councillor Cary Prague
Councillor Janice Snyder
Councillor Keith Yagaloff (arrived at 7:14 p.m.)
Also Present: Deputy Chief Richard Riggs, Acting Town Manager
3. Public Participation
Ms. Anna Mae Davis, 9 Ridge Road came before the Town Council to bring to the Town Council’s attention a severe drainage problem on Ridge Road that has been ongoing for over 32 years. Ms. Davis requested that before any referendums are done, this issue be addressed.
Mayor Delnicki requested that Deputy Chief Riggs bring this to the Town Manager’s attention for a solution.
The following residents came forward to speak in favor of the creation of more athletic fields and improvements to existing athletic fields:
- Mr. Greg Micoletti, 89 Sally Drive
- Mike Mundo, 249 Maskel Road
- Bob Goldman, 153 Krawski Drive
- Dana Weber, 41 Jonathan Lane
- James Mitchell, 197 Hillside Drive
4. Communications
Mayor Delnicki congratulated Chief Kevin Cooney on being sworn in as the 4th Fire Chief for the Town of South Windsor.
Mayor Delnicki then informed the Council that he received a communication from a resident concerning a 13 year old car re-evaluation raising the taxes by $20.00. Mayor Delnicki requested that Deputy Chief Riggs bring this to the Town Manager’s attention and have him look into this situation.
ITEM:
4. Communications (Continued)
Park & Recreation Department has invited the Town Council to come visit the Veterans’ Memorial Park which has been extremely busy due to the hot weather.
5. Town Manager’s Report
Deputy Chief Riggs reported to the Council that today CIRMA conducted training for the Department Heads and Supervisors for work related accident investigation and reduction. This is a yearly program which is in compliance with OSHA regulations. Next month there will be a workshop regarding blood borne pathogens for the same individuals. Deputy Chief Riggs thanked the Town Manager for the opportunity to be at the Council meeting as today marks his 33 years of service to the Town of South Windsor and he feels this is a fantastic way to celebrate that.
Councillor Yagaloff thanked the staff of the Police Department. The South Windsor Police Department has professional quality individuals working in the department.
6. Items for Discussion
- Capital Projects Survey (requested by Councillor Prague)
Councillor Prague explained that he would like a bipartisan committee established who would work with Town staff to create a survey that would be used to survey the electorate for referendum desires. The survey will provide valuable feedback without having to waste resources in preparing a referendum and increase the likelihood of passage through awareness. Being proposed at this time is a community referendum which consists of 28 separate items, athletic field improvement project and a proposal for a Recreation Complex. The survey should be an anonymous randomized field numbering system that can be completed by hand or online. Each online entry or mailed entry must have a serial number. If a serial number appears twice, only one of the surveys will be counted. If a serial number is not
found in the data base, the survey will not be counted. The survey will be distributed to an equal number of voters in each district, age group, gender and party affiliation. Councillor Prague explained the process of randomly selecting voters to take the survey and the generation of a serial number. The public should be questioned if they would support a referendum comprised of all of the projects or if the projects should be separate out. A survey will help give the Town Council understanding of what the electorate wants.
ITEM:
6. A. (Continued)
Councillor Yagaloff stated that he feels people need to know definitively what they are voting for and the items should be smaller packaged projects, not everything that has been discussed. The Town Council should identify the most important projects, (approximately 3-5) and then a survey can be done on those priorities. The public can be questioned how they feel about the priorities. The other question on whether projects should be done on one referendum or separate referendums should also be asked.
Councilor Anwar felt the Town Council should separate the items onto separate referendums.
Councillor Havens stated that he supports the survey but does not know what the survey will accomplish.
Deputy Mayor Bazzano stated he would support the survey, but questioned how soon the survey would be sent out, how many people would receive the survey and when would the survey be sent back with the results? Councilor Prague stated that there would be approximately 1,500 surveys sent out which would cost $1,500. It is hopeful that 375 would be returned. The survey will give the Town Council some guidance and allow the Town Council to position the referendum more correctly.
Mayor Delnicki recessed the Work Session at 7:59 p.m. in order to call the Regular Meeting to order. The Work Session reconvened at 8:20 p.m.
Councillor Beaulieu stated that she feel the Council should review the total debt the Town has relative to the grand list, the Town’s peers, affordability, what is coming due and what is coming off of the list before referendums are debated. At this time interest rates are low and the Town Manager introduced different ways for projects to be financed. A survey will help the Town Council to get more information.
Councillor Yagaloff agreed with Councillor Beaulieu that prioritization needs to be looked at as well as the value of money. Councillor Yagaloff said he is in favor of going to referendum but would like everything all set in order to get the voters to support it.
Mayor Delnicki felt a survey is going to be the necessary tool to get a referendum to pass. If there is no support for some items, it would be in the best interest of the Town not to lump projects together. The amount that is sent out to referendum needs to be a reasonable number. Mayor Delnicki established the Council Survey Committee to consist of Councillor Prague, Councillor Anwar, Councillor Havens and himself.
ITEM:
- The Sale of Cigarettes in Pharmacies (requested by Councillor Anwar)
Councillor Anwar began discussions regarding the sale of cigarettes in pharmacies being banned explaining that today pharmacies have minute clinics in them and are becoming health care facilities. The first thing you see when going into a pharmacy is cigarettes being sold. Cigarettes are one of the biggest causes of death and illness in the world and should not be sold at the same facility.
Councillor Prague stated he would support this if the ban included every store in South Windsor.
Councillor Yagaloff said a pharmacy is a place where people go for healthy items. Councillor Yagaloff felt that the Town Council should get an opinion from the Town Attorney asking if the Town Council could do this by ordinance or resolution.
Mayor Delnicki felt that if this is something that is going to be proposed, it should be proposed across the board and one business should not be singled out.
Councillor Anwar felt that the Town Council has a responsibility to the Town.
Councillor Havens stated that the Town Council should get a letter from the Town Attorney.
Mayor Delnicki felt it would be a fair approach to get an opinion from the Town Attorney as to whether the Town has the legal right to ban the sale of cigarettes at a pharmacy.
7. Executive Session
None
8. Adjournment
At 10:15 p.m. Deputy Mayor Bazzano made a motion to adjourn the Work Session. Councillor Yagaloff seconded the motion and it was approved, unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah W. Reid
Recording Secretary
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