TOWN OF SOUTH WINDSOR
WORK SESSION MINUTES
TOWN COUNCIL MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013
COUNCIL CHAMBERS TIME: 7:00 P.M.
1. Call Meeting to Order
Mayor Delnicki called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m.
2. Roll Call
Members Present: Mayor Thomas Delnicki
Deputy Mayor Gary Bazzano
Councillor M. Saud Anwar
Councillor Edward Havens
Councillor Kevin McCann
Councillor Cary Prague
Councillor Janice Snyder
Councillor Keith Yagaloff
Also Present: Matthew B. Galligan, Town Manager
Members Absent: Deputy Mayor Gary Bazzano
Councillor Cindy Beaulieu
3. Public Participation
Mr. Don Gonsalves, 40 Bayberry Trail came before the Town Council and explained that he could not find the school budget meeting on television. Councillor Snyder explained that the Town Council meetings are usually on the local channel 14 but she has heard of other who were watching it on channel 16. Mr. Galligan stated that channel 16 is our local media and channel 14 should be the Board of Education.
Mr. Gonsalves then stated that the other issue is, he posed a question to the Chairman of the Board of Education and he did not have an answer for him. The Board of Education has not received an audit report and they should have. Mr. Gonsalves stated he would like to know how the Board of Education went from $64 million dollars to $77 million dollars.
Mr. Galligan explained that if you look at the back of the financial report there is a Board of Education fund that had a balance of $98,000, they include the cafeteria fund, the facilities fund and a grant fund for $3 million dollars. There was about a 6.4 or 6.6 million dollar number that is a State grant and Mr. Galligan said he requested that the auditor break those out and he will send them to Mr. Gonsalves.
The last point Mr. Gonsalves made was he has seen nothing in the paper regarding the Board of Education budget. The public has the right to know what has happened with that budget.
Ms. Patricia Russo who lives in Manchester but was a long time member of the South Windsor Ambulance Corp. when it was a volunteer service. Ms. Russo explained that she has been working with the Board of Directors in an unofficial status. The Board
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3. Public Participation (Continued)
requested that she come before the Town Council to give an update on the recent happenings at the Ambulance Corp. Ms. Russo explained that on April 3, 2013 Larry Gorman retired as President and Chief of Service for the South Windsor Ambulance Corp. after 18 years. On April 9, 2013 the Board of Directors resoled that Carol Salcius will be Acting Chief of Service and is empowered to conduct all business of the organization. Carol has been authorized to search for potential paramedic staffing providers that are available to South Windsor in its journey to upgrade to the paramedic level of service. The Board will being actively seeking an Executive Director to replace the position of President and Chief of Service. The Board will be reorganizing the position of the Executive Committee and how they
interact with the Board. The Town Council will be given future summary of events on a monthly basis. For the month of March, South Windsor Ambulance has responded to 145 calls that required transportation to an area hospital. In addition to those calls there were three patient lift assists, 22 calls which the patient refused transportation to a hospital and two cancelled calls.
4. Communications
Councillor Yagaloff stated that he is concerned that the person who has replaced Mr. Gorman works full time. It is really positive to see the changes in the Ambulance Corp but a full time Director is needed. Two conclusions that were validated by the report from the Ambulance Corps consultant is that the Town should have paramedic service and that service can be provide at no additional cost, only capital costs to get additional equipment into the ambulance. The Council was previously told that it would cost a large amount of money to do paramedic service in Town. Ms. Russo stated she would bring these issues to the Board of Directors.
Councillor Snyder stated she does not feel comfortable discussion issues with the South Windsor Ambulance Corp because there is an RFP going out for paramedic service.
Mr. Galligan told the Council that if there is anyone who would like to comment regarding the EMS Bill can find contacts on the Town’s website.
5. Town Manager’s Report
Mr. Galligan reviewed the Town Manager’s Report as shown on attached Exhibit A. There was a memorandum from Chief Reed also discussed briefly, as shown on attached Exhibit B. Additional information provided to the Council was the MDC budgeting overview which was put on the Town’s website. There are a lot of residents that are looking at substantial increases in the water rates. Mr. Galligan then explained that the Connecticut Studios received a commitment last Friday for two $5 million dollar financing loans. They are looking to take out the construction loan which would be a $10 million dollar loan. Mr. Galligan has the appraisal report, letter from Foss who is looking to buy the $14 million dollars in credits and a letter from another company that is buying
$4.6
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5. Town Manager’s Report (Continued)
million dollars in credits. Mr. Galligan also talked about the credits for the fuel cells. There is a 65 page report of everything that was sent to the State.
Answering questions from the Council, Mr. Galligan stated that Connecticut Studios has a total of $14 million dollars in committal from First Niagara. The Town will not move forward with the infrastructure agreement until Connecticut Studios capital stack is all together. The public improvements can be done at a municipal bond rate. The Power Purchase Agreement is what pays off the lease and that is where the public improvements come on. Mr. Galligan explained that Dwight Johnson, Dan Marsh, David Panico and himself will get together to go over the public improvements. Public infrastructure will be defined.
Councillor Anwar commented that every community needs to be better prepared for emergency situations and is looking forward to working further on Emergency Management. Although the Town has done a good job with a comprehensive strategy, the Town should have a person dedicated part time to do this work.
6. Items for Discussion
A. South Windsor Public Library Budget Presentation
Ms. Mary Etter, Director of the South Windsor Public Library came forward to present the Library’s budget, as shown in attached Exhibit C. The budget request is has increased by $2,449.00. It does not represent any expansion of programs or expansion of hours.
Councillor Anwar thanked the Board as well as the Library staff who have done a great job. Councillor Anwar informed the public and Ms. Etter that there is a way to get programs online which would allow people to learn multiple languages for free. The Libraries are going to change in the future where there will be more online abilities to learn and have the community use it. Every year there is an increase of about 2% in the personnel budget and the Town should challenge departments to prioritize other critical items that are needed.
Answering questions from the Council, Ms. Etter explained to the Council the different positions that are held in the Library.
At 8:00 p.m. the Work Session was recessed in order to go to call the Regular Meeting to order. The Work Session reconvened at 8:11 p.m.
Councillor Yagaloff stated that the Library provides excellent service to the community, but felt that there will be a need to cut back in the future if the economy does not turn around.
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6. A. (Continued)
After answering further questions, Councillor Prague suggested to Ms. Etter that the Library encourage the public to donate used DVD’s to the Library. Councillor Prague also suggested that the Library put events into the Recreation Magazine.
The role of the Friends of the Library is to assist as a support group to the Library. They do hold some fund raisers which helps to support other events, pay for buses for kindergarten visits and have taken on some maintenance items.
Council members discussed briefly that the hours of operation for the Library will be reviewed further in the future.
7. Executive Session
None
8. Adjournment
At 8:40 p.m. Councillor Anwar 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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