MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL & WPC AUTHORITY
JUNE 6, 2005
A REGULAR MEETING of the City Council & WPC Authority was held on Monday, June 6, 2005, in the Council Chambers.
Those in attendance included Mayor Owen J. Quinn, Jr. (arrived at 6:48 p.m.), City Councilors Thomas C. Jerram, Paul F. Samele, Jr., (arrived at 6:48 p.m.), Marie P. Soliani, James F. McKenna, and Paul W. Summers, Corp. Counsel Albert Vasko, City Engineer Edward Fabbri, and Fire Chief John Field. Councilman Drake Waldron was absent.
Councilwoman Marie Soliani called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m.
MINUTES #020
On a motion by Councilor Summers, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held May 2, 2005.
On a motion by Councilor Summers, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the Public Hearing held May 12, 2005.
On a motion by Councilor Summers, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the board voted to approve, with the exception of Councilor McKenna who abstained, the minutes of the regular meeting held May 16, 2005.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #040
On a motion by Councilor McKenna, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public.
Mayor Quinn took over as chairman of the board.
Mary Ellen LaTulipe, 15 Fairview Street, and Sam Fiorrello, 25 Fairview Street, informed the board that three accidents occurred within the past year when, people fell asleep or were intoxicated, and drove through the stop sign at Wyoming and Litchfield Street, crossed Litchfield Street and barreled straight-on through to Fairview Street. These people hit trees and fences, totaled vehicles, and set a porch back by three feet.
Ms. LaTulipe has already spoken to Officer Shopey. She stated he installed a “Stop Ahead” sign and another sign with an arrow, and said, the signs are fine, but if they were asleep or intoxicated, the signs wouldn’t help. Her concern was that the next accident could be much worse. She asked if guard rails could be installed to prevent vehicles from ending up in someone’s yard. She asked if placing boulders would create a liability issue. She asked the Council for direction on this matter.
Corporation Counsel Al Vasko indicated that the city does not allow individuals to construct or place anything like boulders in a right of way because it could cause a liability issue.
At the Mayor’s request Ms. LaTulipe agreed to meet with him, Officer Shopey and Edward Fabbri,.
RESOLUTION: HOMELAND SECURITY #390
On a motion by Councilor Summers, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the board voted unanimously to authorize the spending plan developed by the Public Safety Task Force for the use of the FY 2004 Homeland Security grant funds and to adopt a Resolution in regard to the use of the grant funds.
RESOLUTION PERTAINING TO USE OF FY 2004 HOMELAND SECURITY FUNDS FOR REGIONAL PROJECTS:
WHEREAS, the Northwestern CT Council of Governments and the Litchfield Hills Council of Elected Officials have established a joint subcommittee known as the Northwestern CT/Litchfield Hills Public Safety Task Force (PSTF) to advise the two Regions on issues related to domestic preparedness and public safety, and
WHEREAS, the PSTF believes that regional coordination in the use of federal and state funding assistance for domestic preparedness will serve to maximize the benefits to the Regions, and
WHEREAS, the PSTF has developed a strategy for investing the FY 2004 Homeland Security Grants made to the Regions’ towns which includes the use of 22% of this funding for regional projects and 78% of the funding for municipal use, and
WHEREAS, the Northwestern CT Council of Governments and the Litchfield Hills Council of Elected Officials have endorsed the strategy developed by the PSTF.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Torrington, acting through its Board of Councilmen, does hereby agree to allocate 22% of its municipal allotment of the FY2004 Homeland Security Grant for implementation of regional projects as defined by the PSTF.
IN WITNESS THEREOF, the undersigned as affixed his signature this 9th day of June, 2005.
Owen J. Quinn, Mayor
PROVISIONAL ACCEPTANCE: BRIGHTWOOD AVE. #410
On a motion by Councilor McKenna, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the board voted unanimously to grant provisional acceptance to a 185' extension at the north end of Brightwood Avenue to serve two lots and to provide a cul-de-sac turn around.
SMALL CITIES: COMMUNITY HEALTH & WELLNESS #420
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Summers, the board voted unanimously to authorize the payment of $14,547.00 from Small Cities Fund #278 to Community Health & Wellness Center for services rendered from April 22 through May 19, 2005 in regard to the subrecipient agreement executed on February 8, 2005. Invoice is to be paid upon receipt of drawdown #4.
SMALL CITIES: REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN #425
On a motion by Councilor McKenna, seconded by Councilor Soliani, the board voted unanimously to authorize the payment of $184.80 from Small Cities Fund #250 to the Republican-American for two invitation to bid ads.
UNITED WAY SIGN #430
On a motion by Councilor Summers, seconded by Councilor McKenna, the board voted to approve, with the exception of Councilor Soliani who opposed, the request from United Way to install their thermometer in front of City Hall from September 6 to November 18, 2005.
FORECLOSURE ACTION: CHRIS J. KNOX #460
On a motion by Councilor Samele, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the board voted unanimously to authorize Corporation Counsel Vasko to begin foreclosure action against Chris J. Knox for anti-blight fines for property located at 260 Riverside Avenue.
Councilor Jerram inquired whether this action could take place quickly to show how serious the Council is about taking care of these matters.
Corporation Counsel Vasko indicated that the $50,000.00 mortgage which Mr. Knox had recently applied for would give the city some leverage. The city does have a lien against the property. The lien was filed after the mortgage but the lien has priority over the mortgage.
LEGAL ACTION: ENOCH J. LITTLE #500
On a motion by Councilor Soliani, seconded by Councilor Samele, the board voted unanimously to authorize Corporation Counsel Vasko to begin legal action against Enoch J. Little for zoning violations on property located at 521-523 Harwinton Avenue.
Mr. Little is no longer living at a motel, and has access to the house.
Corporation Counsel Vasko stated that this was not a foreclosure action, but merely an action to clean up the property. He also stated that Mr. Little had appealed some health code violations on his property to the Department of Health, and that the city could include them as well in the lawsuit. An injunction against Mr. Little would make him clean up the property and, in all likelihood, we would clean up the property and place a lien on it.
BUS: DEPT. HEADS #550
On a motion by Councilor McKenna, seconded by Councilor Summers, the board voted unanimously to consider business presented by Department Heads. There was none.
BUS: MAYOR & MEMBERS #570
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Samele, the board voted unanimously to consider business presented by Mayor Quinn and members of the City Council.
Councilor Jerram indicated that Janice Pepper was representing a group of volunteers working for the Community Experience Program who were collecting old cell phones to give to battered women who could use them to call 911 in case of an emergency. They were requesting Council approval to place a collection box somewhere in the confines of City Hall.
Mayor Quinn said they could be handled similarly to the books presently being collected at the front entrance. Ms. Pepper could contact either the City Clerk or the Mayor’s Office to find out when the book collection will expire so that it can be replaced with the cell phone collection, in order to eliminate any possible confusion.
Councilor Jerram inquired about the status of a possible street light on Weigold Road. He reported that the person requesting the street light had encountered several incidents which possibly could have been avoided with more lighting.
Mayor Quinn said he had promised Councilor Jerram that he would look into the matter and now that the budget is behind them, he would re-visit the issue.
In regard to the budget, Councilor Jerram said it was great to see that everyone had worked toward a zero mill increase as presented by Mayor Quinn. He said he would really like to see some work done on the Vehicle Replacement Account. He had received the list of vehicles used by the Board of Education and wasn’t certain whether the increase in hours in Equipment Maintenance was justified to service these vehicles. If his calculations were correct, he didn’t believe it would take 1,000 hours to service 8 vehicles, 10 mowers/tractors, 3 sets of sanders and plows, a trailer with a generator, a trailer, one bucket loader, one heavy hauler, 2 snow blowers, a leaf vac, and the book bus.
He hoped some investigation could be performed on how they could insure the taxpayers that they were getting the value they had come to expect from the current administration.
Councilor Jerram commended all those involved in putting together the Memorial Day Parade.
Councilor Jerram asked if Parks & Recreation Director John Timm could post any closings of ball fields on the Web Page due to inclement weather.
Mayor Quinn noted that the city put the technology in place in order to communicate better with its citizens, so he would talk to Mr. Timm about his request.
Councilor Summers noted how successful the Tour of Connecticut Bike Race was, even though the weather wasn’t the best. He hoped the bike race would continue to draw residents from all over the state. His only regret was that downtown merchants, other than Chiane’s, were not open for business.
He inquired about the removal of sand on city streets, and was told it was on-going.
Councilor McKenna also commented on how great the bike race was, and was also hoping the city could build on the event. He thought it was an excellent opportunity to draw a number of people to Torrington.
Councilor Soliani agreed with her colleagues about the bike race.
She thanked Deputy Fire Chief Jaye Giampaolo for the wonderful dedication on Memorial Day. She thought it was extremely moving and very well done. She was very impressed with the Viet Nam vets who attended the celebration.
Mayor Quinn stated that Jaye Giampaolo, the Veterans’ Action Committee, and all the volunteers who worked on the parade had done a superb job. The stunning moment was when Tom Preato called out to Viet Nam Veterans to stand up and receive recognition and applause, which they dearly deserved for a job well done.
Mayor Quinn agreed that the bike race was something the city needed to build on. It should be a Torrington tradition in the future, but will need more sponsors. He thanked the press for portraying the excitement that took place. It was a great event for Torrington and for Litchfield County.
ADJOURNMENT #1070
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor McKenna, the board voted unanimously to adjourn at 7:15 p.m.
ATTEST: JOLINE LeBLANC
ASST. CITY CLERK
| 
