January 12, 2005
The Board of Selectmen held a regular meeting on this date at 7:00 p.m. at the Stonington Police Station Community Room. Present were First Selectman William S. Brown, Selectman Stephen E. Bessette and Selectman Peter L. Balestracci. Also present were members of the press and students from Stonington High School.
(1) Call to Order
Mr. Brown called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
(2) Mystic Irish Parade
A letter dated December 19, 2004 was received from Rob Welch, Parade Coordinator, Mystic Irish Parade Association, regarding the 2nd Annual Mystic St. Patrick’s Parade on March 20, 2005.
A motion was made by Mr. Bessette, seconded by Mr. Brown and unanimously voted to grant permission to the Mystic Irish Parade Association to conduct their parade on March 20, 2005.
(3) Request for partial tax abatement - 25 Main Street
A letter dated December 22, 2004 was received from John and Martha Mitchell, requesting partial abatement of real property taxes for 25 Main Street on the basis of its historical and architectural merit.
A motion was made by Mr. Balestracci and seconded by Mr. Bessette to deny Mr. & Mrs. Mitchell’s request for partial abatement of taxes.
Brief discussion was held and then the motion to deny was unanimously voted.
(4) Bid Awards / Letters of Agreement – None.
(5) 9-1-1 Street Numbering
The Planning and Zoning Department forwarded the following recommendations for assigning street numbers in accordance with the Street Naming and Numbering (Emergency 9-1-1) Ordinance. The Assessor concurs with these recommendations.
Map |
Block |
Lot |
Address |
67 |
3 |
1C |
58 Stony Brook Road, Stonington, CT 06378 |
67 |
3 |
1D |
54 Stony Brook Road, Stonington, CT 06378 |
67 |
3 |
1E |
56 Stony Brook Road, Stonington, CT 06378 |
67 |
3 |
1F |
38 Stony Brook Road, Stonington, CT 06378 |
67 |
3 |
1G |
30 Stony Brook Road, Stonington, CT 06378 |
The Planning and Zoning Department also forwarded a recommendation to amend a previously assigned street number (117 North Stonington Road, Stonington, CT 06378) as follows:
Map |
Block |
Lot |
Address |
167 |
3 |
1A |
117 North Stonington Road, Mystic, CT 06355 |
A motion was made by Mr. Bessette, seconded by Mr. Balestracci and unanimously voted to assign these street numbers as recommended by the Planning and Zoning Department.
(6) Correspondence
a. Long Island Sound Council
A letter dated December 28, 2004 was received from Susan McNamara, Executive Director, Long Island Sound Councils & Assembly, requesting a representative be appointed from Stonington to the Long Island Sound Council program. The Town has not been represented within the last two years. She enclosed a copy of their 2005 scheduled meeting dates.
Mr. Brown inquired if either of the Selectmen wish to be designated as the Town’s representative and both Selectmen declined due to other commitments. Consensus of the Board was to advertise the vacancy in the local newspapers.
b. Correspondence from the Charter Revision Commission
A letter was received from June Valenti, Chairman, Charter Revision Commission (CRC), regarding the recent resignation of David Brown. Consensus of the CRC was that at this point in time it would be difficult for a new member to be appointed, for various reasons outlined in Ms. Valenti’s letter.
The Board of Selectmen concurred with the CRC’s recommendation not to appoint a new member to the Charter Revision Commission.
(7) Re/Appointments Boards and Commissions
Mr. Brown commented that Conservation Commission alternate member Jennifer Herbst’s term expires on January 14, 2005.
A motion was made by Mr. Balestracci, seconded by Mr. Bessette and unanimously voted to reappoint Jennifer Herbst to another term as an alternate member of the Conservation Commission.
(8) Old Business - None
(9) New Business
a. Resolution re: Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan
A memo dated January 7, 2005 was received from Joseph Bragaw, Town Engineer, explaining that in October 2000, the Federal government passed a law known as the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. One provision of this law requires that all communities adopt a hazard mitigation plan as a prerequisite for being able to obtain disaster assistance funds in the event
of a Presidential disaster declaration. The most cost effective way to prepare a plan of this
nature was to use a regional approach. Therefore, the Southeastern Connecticut Council of
Governments (SCCOG) obtained a grant from FEMA that helped pay for a regional plan as
well as individual annexes for each of the communities which make up the SCCOG. The primary purpose of the hazard mitigation plan is to identify hazards and risks, existing capabilities, and activities that can be undertaken by the local municipalities to prevent loss of life and to reduce property damages associated with the identified hazards. Mr. Bragaw has reviewed the regional plan as well as the Town of Stonington’s Annex and the proposed Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan Resolution and recommends that the Board proceed with adopting the Resolution. He mentioned that there is a separate annex for the Borough of Stonington and they will need to adopt a Resolution as well.
A motion was made by Mr. Balestracci, seconded by Mr. Bessette and unanimously voted to adopt the Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan Resolution (see Attachment A of these minutes)
b. Request to increase the threshold for CIP requests
A letter dated January 11, 2005 was received from George R. Sylvestre, CIP Chairman. The letter states that the Long Range Capital Improvements Committee recommends increasing the threshold for CIP requests. The current $5,000 limit was set at the inception of the program in 1988. The Committee feels that this amount is too low and requests that it be increased to $10,000, effective with next year’s CIP.
A motion was made by Mr. Balestracci and seconded by Mr. Bessette to accept the recommendation and increase the CIP threshold to $10,000.
Brief discussion was held, during which time Mr. Bessette inquired how many items this is likely to affect. Mr. Brown stated that most of the CIP requests are far higher in amount. Mr. Balestracci commented that increasing this threshold might have some kind of affect on the bid process and if we’re going to look at changing the CIP threshold we might want to look at changing the bid process threshold. Consensus of the Board was to table this matter for further review.
Mr. Bessette withdrew his second, Mr. Balestracci withdrew his motion, and the matter was tabled.
c. Submission of the CIP for FY 2005/2006 through 2009/2010
A letter dated January 10, 2005 was received from George R. Sylvestre, Chairman, CIP Committee, along with the Capital Project Requests for inclusion in the Town of Stonington Capital Improvement Program for fiscal years 2005/2006 through 2009/2010. The Board of Selectmen will meet with the CIP Committee in the near future to review and prioritize the requests.
(10) Comments from the Public – None.
(11) Adjourn
There being no further business to come before the Board, the regular meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kathy A. Kent
Recording Secretary
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