MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL & WPC AUTHORITY
DECEMBER 5, 2005
A REGULAR MEETING of the City Council & WPC Authority was held on Monday, December 5, 2005, in the Council Chambers.
Attending included Mayor Ryan J. Bingham, City Councilors James F. McKenna, Thomas C. Jerram, Andrew Slaiby, Marie P. Soliani, and Drake L. Waldron, Corp. Counsel Albert Vasko, Director of Elderly Services Nancy Gyurko, and WPC Administrator Raymond Drew. Absent was Councilman Rick E. Dalla Valle.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. He congratulated all the elected officials of the City of Torrington. He recognized his family from California and Connecticut and thanked them for their support throughout his campaign.
MINUTES #020
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Soliani, the Council with the exception of Councilor Slaiby who abstained, voted to accept the minutes of the regular meeting held November 21, 2005.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #050
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor McKenna, the Council voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public.
Greg Bingham, 166 Park Avenue, Long Beach, California, on behalf of Mayor Bingham’s family and friends, congratulated him, wished him luck, and stated how proud they all were of his accomplishments.
Bridget Beauchaine, 113 Sharon Avenue, congratulated Mayor Bingham for his success. She looked forward to seeing his visions realized for Torrington, with the assistance of his City Council, and asked that he not forget his campaign promises.
Karen Paganini, 114 East Pearl Street, informed Mayor Bingham and the City Council that a sanitation sewer line was installed through her property in 1985. She indicated that she received a letter from City Engineer Edward Fabbri stating that she had until December 8 to let him know whether or not she wanted to continue with the federal government program to fix the wall that caved in on her property, and that he would notify the NRCS of her decision by December 9th.
Ms. Paganini said of course she wanted to continue the program. However, the city wouldn’t touch it, and her driveway was falling in.
Corp. Counsel Vasko stated that the October rains caused a retaining wall built in 1985 when the sanitary sewer was installed, to collapse. He explained that FEMA had two programs, one for damaged municipal property, and another for damaged private property. Ms. Paganini was referring to this program. She needed to let the city know by December 8th whether or not she wanted us to continue working with FEMA. Atty. Vasko would talk to Mr. Fabbri in the morning.
Ms. Paganini’s brother, Joe Ammirato, said the city contends that it’s private property and they refuse to repair the wall. He stated that a 30 inch sewer line on this property was exposed.
Councilor McKenna asked if the matter would become a battle with FEMA as to who would pay for the repairs.
Mr. Ammirato said FEMA was ready to do the job which will take between two months and one and a half years to get the funding. In the meantime, half of the driveway has collapsed, and the sewer line is exposed to the river. FEMA told him it was a potential catastrophe. He pointed out that Ms. Paganini was presenting the matter before the City Council because it is a city sewer line, a utility. She can’t ask FEMA to fix it, and her insurance won’t repair the wall or cover any liability if anyone gets hurt. The city is responsible for the sewer line, and they are telling her to either get an attorney to fight with the city about repairing this wall and cover the sewer line, or sign the paperwork. The problem with the paperwork is that the city wants his sister to take over the
responsibility of the sewer line one year after completing the job. She totally refuses to do that. It’s been there for twenty years. It has washed away the fence and the wall, the driveway has caved in, and the sewer line is exposed, and Mr. Fabbri refuses to do anything to repair it.
He stated that his sister would be willing to sign the temporary easement to let them go on the property if it’s worded in such a manner that she would never be responsible for the wall, the driveway, or the sewer line.
Councilor Soliani asked Mr. Ammirato if Mr. Fabbri had given them a reason for refusing to do the repairs.
Mr. Ammirato said Mr. Fabbri said it was because it was on private property. He further stated that Atty. Vasko based his decision on was the fact that the city had done nothing to maintain that property in the past twenty years.; However, Ms. Paganini had photographs of when the city repaired a large whole in the driveway in 1996.
Ms. Paganini indicated that the sanitary sewer line was installed through her driveway. The wall on the other side of the river was repaired as soon as it caved in because it’s city property. They tell her that she has to hire an engineer to draw a design.
Councilor McKenna assumed the sanitary sewer line must be running through an easement on her property.
Ms. Paganini indicated that the paperwork said it was a temporary easement. She has requested copies of everything in her file regarding this issue and has yet to receive a single copy, and the file had disappeared. Supposedly there were copies on what Atty. Vasko based his decision on, that the city wasn’t responsible.
Mr. Ammirato said his sister received a registered letter stating that she had one week to sign the forms for the temporary easement or he (Mr. Fabbri?) would call the federal agency to cancel the project.
Ms. Paganini said she has yet to receive any papers telling her what will be done, when, where, how, and why.
Mr. Ammirato said he and his sister had been trying to resolve this matter since October.
Councilor McKenna assumed that Ms. Paganini’s presence before the Council satisfied the requirement of letting the city know that she wants to move forward with FEMA.
Atty. Vasko said yes.
Mr. Ammirato said no. He noted that the city wanted Ms. Paganini to sign a temporary easement by Thursday. However, she refuses to sign the easement if it’s worded in such a way that she will take full responsibility afterwards. He asked the city to change the wording in the easement so that she would never be responsible for the city sewer line.
Mayor Bingham said he would meet with Mr. Fabbri in the morning and would get back to Ms. Paganini.
Anne Ruwet, State Representative and mother of the newly elected Mayor, congratulated Mayor Bingham and the other elected officials. She thought Torrington would go to places where it had never been before. She reminded everyone about the Public Hearing scheduled for December 14 on the three sites for the court house. It was important for everyone to express their opinion to the Department of Public Works, the Judiciary Department and the local legislators.
RESOLUTION: STILL RIVER GREENWAY PROJECT #450
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor McKenna, the Council voted unanimously to adopt a Resolution incorporating a Certificate of Incumbency and to authorize Mayor Bingham to enter into a Personal Services Agreement with the State of Connecticut for financial assistance in the amount of $30,000.00 concerning the Still River Greenway Project.
RESOLUTION:
I, Joseph L. Quartiero, CMC, do hereby certify that I am the Clerk of the City of Torrington, a municipal corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Connecticut having its principal place of business at 140 Main Street, Torrington, CT 06790, that I am the keeper of the corporate records and seal, that the following is a true and correct copy of a resolution duly adopted and ratified by the Board of Councilmen, on December 5, 2005, in accordance with the constituent Charter of the City of Torrington, and that the same has not in any way been modified, repealed or rescinded, but is in full force and effect.
Resolved, that Ryan J. Bingham, Mayor of the City of Torrington be and hereby is authorized to execute on behalf of this municipal corporation the Sue Grossman Still River Greenway Project, as written.
In addition, that Ryan J. Bingham was elected Mayor. His term of office began on December 5, 2005 and will continue until December 3, 2007. As the Mayor, Ryan J. Bingham serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the City of Torrington, and is duly authorized to enter into agreements and contracts on behalf of the City of Torrington.
Dated at Torrington, Connecticut, this 12th day of December, 2005.
Joseph L. Quartiero, CMC
City Clerk
ERA II #460
On a motion by Councilor McKenna, seconded by Councilor Soliani, the Council voted unanimously to authorize the payment of $10,000.00 from the Sanitary Sewer Capital Improvement Fund #490 to ERA II for the installation of sanitary sewers regarding Newbury Brook and referred it to the Board of Finance.
WPC Administrator Raymond Drew stated that the City of Torrington has an intra-municipal agreement with the town of Litchfield for 150,000 gallons of flow per day. As part of the agreement to accept the Hunter’s Chase Condominium Complex in Litchfield, certain rehabilitation was needed on the New Litchfield Street sewers, and this payment was our portion of the cost sharing to rehabilitate that section of line. This is a one-time, lump sum payment.
RESOLUTION: HOME MANAGEMENT GRANT #510
Councilor Jerram made a motion to accept the recommendation from the Services for the Elderly Commission to adopt a Resolution and to authorize Mayor Bingham to sign the Home Management Grant #143-SBG-30 in the amount of $40,803.00 for the October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006 grant year. Councilor Waldron seconded the motion.
Director of Elderly Services, Nancy Gyurko, amended the amount to $46,803.00.
Councilors Jerram and Waldron amended their motion and second to reflect the change in dollar amount. Motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION:
I, Joseph L. Quartiero, of the City of Torrington, a municipality organized under the laws of the State of Connecticut, hereby certify that the following is a full and true copy of a Resolution adopted at a meeting of the Board of Councilmen of said company, duly held on the 5th day of December, 2005
“RESOLVED, that Ryan J. Bingham, Mayor, is hereby authorized to make, execute and approve on behalf of this municipality, any and all contracts and amendments and to execute and approve on behalf of this company, other instruments, a part of or incident to such contracts and amendments effective until otherwise ordered by the Board of Councilmen”.
Also, I do further certify that the above resolution has not been in anyway altered, amended or repealed, and is now in full force and effect.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the corporate seal of said company this 7th day of December, 2005.
JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
COMMUNITY HEALTH & WELLNESS #540
On a motion by Councilor McKenna, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to authorize the payment of $14,603.00 upon receipt of drawdown #10 from Small Cities Fund #278 to Community Health & Wellness Center per the subrecipient agreement for services provided from October 20, 2005 through November 18, 2005
JUDSON REED, JR. SRA #550
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to authorize the payment of $300.00 from Contingency to W. Judson Reed, Jr. SRA for professional appraisal services rendered and referred it to the Board of Finance.
SRS REMOVAL ACTION TRUST #560
On a motion by Councilor Soliani, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to authorize the payment of $1,494.87 to SRS Removal Action Trust for Assessment #19 and referred it to the Board of Finance.
ADD ITEM TO AGENDA #585
Mayor Bingham requested adding an item to the agenda by 2/3rds vote in regard to adding another “Open to the Public” session toward the end of agendas in order for the public to discuss items that were on the agenda only.
ADD OPEN TO THE PUBLIC SESSION #600
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Jerram, a discussion took place in regard to this matter.
Mayor Bingham explained that he wanted to give the public a second opportunity to discuss the items which the Council had already talked about.
Councilors McKenna and Soliani stated that the public would talk about items that had already been voted upon and that nothing they said could change the outcome of their vote.
Councilor McKenna expressed his concern that it could become a harangue session by someone who is upset about the outcome of a particular vote.
VOTE #800
The Council voted unanimously to add the item to the agenda for this meeting and to give the public a second opportunity to discuss the items on the agenda. They would try it in future meetings to see how it worked.
RE-OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #810
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to re-open to meeting to the public.
Arthur Mattiello said the additional “open to the public” session could be especially helpful on issues where the Council merely discusses matters and no vote is taken.
Bridget Beauchaine agreed with Mr. Mattiello. She stated that the public may not always know what is transpiring and they would appreciate a second opportunity to ask questions.
Atty. Samuel Slaiby, 204 Benham Street, said he was surprised to find out that we had city sewers with interim easements.
Atty. Vasko explained that there was a temporary easement in the river area to make repairs to a wall that was built when the sewer line was installed because the bank was eroding.
Atty. Slaiby asked if the city would have to get permission from a landowner to make repairs to a public sewer line if said landowner had an easement that only gave the city a temporary right to access it if there was a problem.
Atty. Vasko said it was his recollection that there were two easements, a permanent sanitary sewer easement and a temporary work easement, which is the one in question. He noted that the matter is rather complicated. One easement was done in the early 80's and the other in the late 80's, and at the time there were two property owners.
Atty. Slaiby inquired whether this type of situation might be widespread throughout the city.
Atty. Vasko said not that he was aware of, but there may be others.
BUS: DEPT. HEADS #940
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor McKenna, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by Department Heads.
City Clerk Joseph L. Quartiero informed the Council that he administered the oath of office to Councilor Rick E. Dalla Valle when he visited him at the hospital today.
WPC Administrator Raymond Drew congratulated Mayor Bingham and members of the new administration and looked forward to another great two years.
Director of Elderly Services Nancy Gyurko wished everyone luck and invited them to attend their monthly meetings and meet the Commissioners.
BUS: MAYOR & MEMBERS #990
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by Mayor Bingham and members of the City Council.
Councilor Jerram looked forward to an intriguing two years working with Mayor Bingham and the Board of Councilmen. On behalf of the citizens, the Council will continue to work hard and do their best to make things better for the City of Torrington.
Councilor McKenna congratulated all city officials who were administered the oath of office today.
Councilor Slaiby also congratulated everyone for their recent victory. He looked forward to gaining experience and vowed to do what’s best for Torrington.
Councilor Soliani congratulated everyone. She welcomed Mayor Bingham and the new members of the City Council. She looked forward to a bipartisan approach to helping the City of Torrington, which is the reason they serve as Councilmen.
Councilor Waldron welcomed everyone and looked forward to the next two years.
Mayor Bingham thanked everyone for attending his first meeting. He noted that one of the first things on his agenda would be to work with the Council to fill vacancies and make appointments to boards and agencies.
He reiterated his reason for opening up the meeting to the public a second time was because he truly believed in openness in communication between city government and the residents of Torrington.
On behalf of Councilor Dalla Valle, Mayor Bingham stated that he (Councilor Dalla Valle) would have loved to attend this meeting, and that he is feeling better every day. He appreciated having the City Clerk swear him in as member of the Board of Councilman.
Mayor Bingham introduced his Administrative Assistant, Stephen Nocera. He noted that Mr. Nocera worked hard on his campaign and is a driven young man who shares the same goals and aspirations as he (the Mayor) does for the City of Torrington.
ADJOURNMENT #1180
On a motion by Councilor McKenna, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Council voted unanimously to adjourn at 7:05 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
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