TOWN OF SOUTH WINDSOR
WORK SESSION MINUTES
TOWN COUNCIL MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013
COUNCIL CHAMBERS TIME: 7:00 P.M.
1. Call Meeting to Order
Mayor Delnicki called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.
2. Roll Call
Members Present: Mayor Thomas Delnicki
Deputy Mayor Gary Bazzano
Councillor M. Saud Anwar
Councillor Cindy Beaulieu
Councillor Edward Havens
Councillor Kevin McCann
Councillor Cary Prague
Councillor Janice Snyder
Councillor Keith Yagaloff
Also Present: Matthew B. Galligan, Town Manager
3. Public Participation
Mr. Michael Sullivan, 24 Jared Court came forward and requested that the Town Council give adequate time to review the details of the Town Manager’s Office budget. Mr. Sullivan also requested an explanation regarding the use of surplus from the general fund which seems like yearly is reinstituted at the value of $800,000. The fund balance should be between 5-10% of the general expenditures from the year before but the report has not shown what is in the fund balance.
4. Communications
Councillor Anwar mentioned to the Town Council that there was hate based graffiti found at South Windsor High School. The community should recognize that the Town has zero tolerance for this type of act. Councillor Anwar thanked the Police Department for doing an excellent job in identifying the person who did this.
Councillor Snyder stated that it is was very disturbing to hear that this had happened but wanted to point out that the South Windsor Human Relations Commission issued a press release on March 30, 2013 condemning the graffiti. In that press release there was one sentence which accused a student of South Windsor High School of doing this act. When this press release went out, this incident was still under investigation and no one should have accused anyone of doing anything until the investigation was done. The investigation has been finalized and it was found that it was not a student of South Windsor High School. An apology should be given by the Human Relations Commission to the South Windsor High School administration and the Superintendent of Schools. In the future press releases should be
reviewed by the Town Manager or Mayor.
ITEM:
4. Communications
Mayor Delnicki stated that he agrees and then apologized on behalf of the Town Council and all Commissions that report to the Town Council. There needs to be discussions in the future on how to prevent this type of situation from happening.
Councillor Yagaloff felt that the Council should stay focused on the act itself and come out strongly on condemning this type of behavior. The second issue would be how to make sure incorrect statements are not made.
Councillor Prague thanked the Board of Education/Town for taking care of this situation and erasing the graffiti as quickly as they did.
Councillor Anwar felt that the Town Council should be staying focused on the issue that someone attacked other community members. The Town Council represents the entire community.
Mayor Delnicki stated that he has called for a Special Meeting for Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. regarding the reverter clause.
Councillor McCann stated that the Special Meeting that is being called is actually after the time for the expiration of the reverter clause. The reverter is scheduled to expire at the end of business on Wednesday and will expire if Connecticut Studios does not pull its permits for the two primary buildings and pay for those permits on or before the close of business on April 3, 2013.
Councillor Yagaloff said that he had voted against the extension last time and agrees with Councillor McCann. If the reversion actually takes place, the property would go back to the Town.
Councillor Prague stated that this project has come a long way. A lot of money and time has been spent and Councillor Prague said he believes more time should be given because everything is very close to being done.
Councillor Anwar felt that there have been a lot of delays that are not in the control of Connecticut Studios. The pieces are coming together and the Town has invested a lot of time and should stay the course.
Councillor Havens requested to hear the Town Manager’s input on this issue.
Mr. Galligan explained that there is a report that the Town Council should have received tonight. This has been one of the most difficult projects that the Town has done. The Town Council should not pull the plug on this project. The project is close and it has been unfortunate that there have been delays that have been beyond Connecticut Studios control. Mr. Galligan stated he is worried more about the capital stack then about permits being pulled. This is a very unique project for the Town. Mr. Galligan stated that the Town Attorney wanted to have the Special Meeting on Wednesday.
ITEM:
4. Communications
Councillor McCann said that the last deadline was set for April 3, 2013 and should be done tonight, not after the reverter deadline has expired.
Councillor Beaulieu stated that she would be in favor of putting a resolution on the table for tonight and have this issue discussed in front of the public.
Deputy Mayor Bazzano said that he is in favor of extending this project but feels it should be discussed and done tonight.
Council members requested that Mr. Galligan see if Mr. Stevenson and Mr. DelVicario are available to come to the meeting tonight.
5. Town Manager’s Report
None
6. Items for Discussion
A. Pubic Works Budget Presentation
Mr. Michael Gantick, Director of Public Works came before the Town Council stated that the Council has received the Public Works budget and presented additional information to the Council, as shown in attached Exhibit A.
Answering questions from the Council Mr. Gantick explained that a lot of what is in the Public Works budget is driven by other departments. The gasoline and diesel are budgeted in the Public Works Department but there are a lot of other users. The Board of Education does reimburse the Town but there are other departments that the Public Works has to fund. There are standards that are used to evaluate the life expectancy of vehicles. Public Works has $8M of rolling stock and the average useful life on equipment is about 20 years. Industry standards are used to determine the useful life expectancy of equipment. A lot of the equipment has emission standards that are applied. There are changes to the frames and it has been found that frames do not last as well as they did years ago. Right now the standards have not changed over the last 5-10 years. Public Works monitors its equipment and there is equipment that is run beyond the industry standards and there have been equipment
that has not made it to the industry standard. It is a balancing act where each piece of equipment needs to be reviewed. Some of the equipment has had to be taken off line because of the frames. The Town has four trucks that are beyond the life expectancy at this time but has tried to keep trucks going. The Town is first responders and the Fire Department and Ambulance Corp. rely on Public Works to clear the snow during storms. In another five to six years, the Town will be looking at approximately 20 pieces of equipment that are beyond that recommended life
ITEM:
6. A. (Continued)
expectancy. The proposed budget is requesting 2 leaf machines and a road side mower attachment.
At 8:05 p.m. Mayor Delnicki recessed the Work Session in order to call the Regular Meeting to order. The Work Session reconvened at 8:05 p.m.
Answering further questions, Mr. Gantick explained that there are three plow trucks that are coming up for replacement which has been discussed with the Town Manager. There are a variety of ways to handle large snow storms. In the future the Town will need to contract payloader service and trucks purchased in the future will be able to handle large snow storms like we saw this year.
Deputy Mayor Bazzano felt that in the future it would make sense to shift the burden of the fuel to the different department so it does not fall under one department. Mr. Gantick told the Council that Human Services has gone from three buses to four buses and they use the fuel. Deputy Mayor Bazzano questioned if the Ambulance reimburses the Town for gas? Mr. Galligan explained that the Town has sent bills to them but they have been ignored.
Deputy Mayor Bazzano questioned how the Park & Recreation Department get split up from the Streets Department? Mr. Gantick explained that during the snow storms and leaf collection everyone is using the same trucks. There are keys that are used to keep track of who is getting gas.
Mr. Galligan explained to the Council that the use of the fuel for the Ambulance Corp. was part of a prior contract. It was supposed to net out but it has not and they have been asked to pay the difference. In this year’s budget there has been an item put into the Town’s budget that they usually taken care of by the Ambulance Corp. so if the Council wishes to move ahead and cut them off from fuel that could be done.
Councillor Yagaloff stated he would like the funds that are proposed for fuel for the Ambulance Corps. taken out of the budget so they can get their own fuel. Mr. Galligan said he would send a letter to the Ambulance Corps. explaining that this will be done.
Mr. Gantick explained that the plow trucks cost between $150,000 to $160,000 fully equipped. The Fleet Manager was taken out of last year’s budget. The Town is currently down one mechanic. The Town has used about 2,500 tons of salt this year. The average of the previous five years is about 2,300 tons but has used 1,200 tons as a minimum and up to 3,600 tons as a maximum. The Town has been one of the highest in the region for recycling efforts.
ITEM:
6. A. (Continued)
Mr. Shaw explained that the Town has been working with CRCOG to determine how to handle hazardous waste materials. A lot of their membership is made up of these non-member MDC Towns. CRCOG was going to request an RFP and look at the options. South Windsor is also reviewing other options. The upgrade to the Plant has made it much more capable of doing things the Town was not able to do before but there is a lot more preventative maintenance involved. The one position being added would be used to beef up the Town’s efforts to clean the collections system. The Town used to be able to do the whole collection system once every three years but that has been falling off the last couple of years because more staff has been shifted towards the preventative maintenance part of the Treatment
Plant.
Answering further questions, Mr. Gantick reviewed Town’s fleet explaining that the average age of the fleet is about 8 or 9 years.
Councillor Snyder voiced concern that there are so many trucks that will need to be replaced at one time.
Mr. Gantick stated that there have been different options reviewed to take care of the under carriage of the trucks. The Town presently has two payloaders. At the Town Garage there are two supervisor positions and three open maintainer positions that the department is down. The Fleet Manager responsibilities have been divided between a couple of people. The fleet amount is 360 piece of rolling stock. Some items are sent out to get fixed but for the most part the Town has three mechanics that work on that equipment. Mr. Gantick stated that he is concerned for the future about the reliability of equipment.
Councillor Snyder voiced concern of how the Town would catch up in the future on the equipment that is beyond useful life expectancy.
Councillor Beaulieu requested an explanation on the additional $40,000 under professional? Mr. Gantick explained that the capital budget was eliminated for GIS and Mr. Galligan requested that it get put into the Public Works budget.
Mr. Gantick explained that there is a cost if recycling was picked up every week and he would get that calculation for the Council.
Councillor Anwar suggested that a strategy going forward should include a power point presentation because it would be beneficial so the public can follow the conversation. The usage of contractors should be minimized if possible. There should be ways to reduce over time in the budget in the future. Councillor Anwar suggested discussing with Vernon to extend the sidewalks so people could walk to go shopping. All departments that use the fuel should be reimbursing Public Works. Councillor Anwar questioned if there was any resurfacing in 2012 done? Mr. Gantick explained that there was work that was performed where bond funds were used.
ITEM:
6. A. (Continued)
Councillor Anwar then suggested that the Town should coordinate with surrounding Towns for the use of different equipment. Mr. Gantick stated that South Windsor does coordinate with surrounding Towns for use of equipment. The problem is that all the Towns usually use the same equipment at the same time. Councillor Anwar felt that fuel storage should include for emergency situations. Mr. Gantick explained that this is a critical component of emergency response and is being reviewed. Councillor Anwar questioned if having recycling and trash every two weeks would create any savings, this can be answered at a later time. Councillor Anwar voiced concern regarding the Main Street bridge. The State is no longer providing the Town the necessary resources to fix this bridge, so if the
resources do not come in, is the Town going to try to wait for the resources or will something be done? Mr. Doolittle explained that the previous Governor suspended the grant funding that the Town was supposed to receive for the Main Street bridge. The current Governor has not completely reinstated funding for it but has proposed it in his current budget. The Town is waiting to see if funding is reinstated in the current budget. The Town is also looking at a federal local program to help fund for local bridges. By June or July the Town will know more.
Councillor Anwar stated that the budget is reasonable and Public Works does amazing work.
Council members discussed having the fuel costs go under each individual department. Mr. Galligan made suggestions of how to show what each department actually uses through the budget process but would have to do for next year’s budget.
Mayor Delnicki requested that Mr. Gantick break out the equipment and vehicles that are beyond life expectancy as well as the dollar amounts. Mayor Delnicki also requested that alternative methods be reviewed for special incentives from both the State and Federal Government on natural gas powered equipment.
7. Executive Session
None
8. Adjournment
At 9:11 p.m. Deputy Mayor Bazzano made a motion to adjourn the Work Session. Councillor McCann seconded the motion and it was approved, unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah W. Reid
Recording Secretary
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