MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
CITY COUNCIL & WPC AUTHORITY
MARCH 27, 2006
A SPECIAL MEETING of the City Council & WPC Authority
was held on Monday, March 27, 2006, in the Council Chambers to review budgets.
Those in attendance included Mayor Ryan J. Bingham, City Councilors James F. McKenna, Thomas C. Jerram, Rick E. Dalla Valle, Andrew J. Slaiby, Marie P. Soliani, Drake L. Waldron, Comptroller Alice Proulx, Public Works Director Gerald Rollett, City Engineer Edward Fabbri, City Planner Martin Connor, Purchasing Agent Charlene Antonelli, Director of Elderly Services Nancy Gyurko, Data Processing Manager William Hoffman, Superintendent of Parks and Recreation John Timm, and Superintendent of Streets Robert Lizotte.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.
APPOINTMENTS #030
On a motion by Councilor Dalla Valle, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to appoint the following to the Board of Assessment Appeals:
Ray Rubino to fill the position vacated by Andrew Lach, to expire 12/07.
Kathleen Waltos, to fill the position vacated by Christine Cornish, to expire 12/08.
MINUTES #040
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor McKenna, the Council voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the special meeting held March 13, 2006 on budgets.
BUDGETS #055
On a motion by Councilor Dalla Valle, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Council voted unanimously to review budgets.
ENGINEERING #070
On a motion by Councilor Dalla Valle, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Engineering Budget.
BUILDING #100
Line Item 5101 - Salary II, a reduction of $55,000.00
Line Item 5103 - Regular Wages, an increase of $5,197.00
Line Item 5753 - Emp FICA, a reduction of $3,810.00
Mayor Bingham stated that the increase in Regular Wages is for additional hours for an assistant as well as other people in the field to make up for not hiring a new person.
Line Item 5350 - New Equipment F & F, a reduction of $2,500.00.
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Building Department Budget.
PLANNING & ZONING #160
Mr. Connor said he was comfortable not budgeting any money for Line Item 5233 - Legal Stenographer, because he didn’t foresee any lawsuits in the next year.
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Planning & Zoning Budget.
PURCHASING #330
Mrs. Antonelli noted that she was unsuccessful in her attempts to dispose a trailer in Line Item 5406 - Disposal. The trailer does not meet code for being on the road, therefore, it must be taken apart, put into dumpsters, and moved out. The Fire Department has volunteered to cut it up, but it still has to be disposed of, which will bear some cost because it needs to be separated out, i.e., metal, wood, rubber, etc. Waste Management will not provide the city with a dumpster for this trailer.
Councilor Dalla Valle offered to look into the matter to see if he could come up with a better alternative.
On a motion by Councilor Dalla Valle, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Purchasing Budget.
SENIOR CENTER #500
Line Item 5246 - Parking Lot Maintenance
Mrs. Gyurko stated that it currently costs approximately $7,500.00 a year to maintain the parking lot, however, that cost is shared with Nutrition. She asked the Council to remember that they currently have two fairly large lots and a lot of hand shoveling is required. The snow removal is usually done before 8:00 a.m. when they open. She thought the liability would increase if the city is responsible. She was comfortable with the present schedule, but, if a city department was able to maintain the same schedule, she would be happy as well, but didn’t know how much of a strain they were already under to add to their work.
Councilor Dalla Valle suggested that perhaps Parks and Recreation could maintain the lots seeing their equipment is somewhat smaller than the Street Department’s equipment.
Public Works Director Jerry Rollett indicated that timing would be a critical factor because the Parks Department has now taken over a lot of the work that the Parking Authority used to contract out.
In regard to paving the lot, Mrs. Gyurko stated that, after speaking with Bob Lizotte and Edward Fabbri, they can probably get away with just doing an overlay, do some work around the catch basins and utilities, and make repairs where needed. She didn’t know if the $30,000.00 currently in the budget is enough, because she still wanted to extend the lot to gain eight or nine more spaces. She was expecting more information in the next few weeks.
Mrs. Gyurko asked to reserve the current $30,000.00. She may need more. She hoped to get the work done before the end of this budget year, and use a state bid.
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Services for the Elderly Budget, pending further information on the paving of the lot.
DATA PROCESSING #810
Line Item 5345.0001 - Computer City-Wide Upgrade, the Council had suggested decreasing this line item by $28,620.00.
Mr. Hoffman explained that these funds were to provide the city with some disaster recovery capabilities. It would mean bringing in a new main frame computer at City Hall and moving our existing computer to a location at the Fire Department. The city is in need of additional capabilities, especially between police, fire and City Hall, and he felt that some funds should be put aside for this item, even if we wait six months and budget half of the cost. He has been in contact with Tom Vannini to see if Homeland Security funds are available.
Mayor Bingham suggested hiring an offsite company at a lesser expense, and use Homeland Security funds should they become available for the city wide upgrade.
Mr. Hoffman felt the city would have to pay between $500.00 and $1,000.00 a month for an off site service. He would like to take the option of looking into NSI or one of these other groups for hardware backup, just in case, because we don’t have a contingency.
Line Item 5295 - Telephone, the Council had suggested decreasing this item by $40,000.00. Perhaps this could be funded through Homeland Security as well.
Line Item 5346 - Software, decreased by $3,000.00 for an upgrade to the web page. He thought he had enough funds in consulting fees in this year’s budget to pay for this item.
Line Item 5223 - Education and School Classes, the $5,000.00 amount is approximately the cost for one visit from New World Systems. That should remain intact.
On a motion by Councilor Slaiby, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Data Processing Budget.
PARKS #1680
Line Item 5360 - New Equipment, a reduction of $800.00.
Councilor Jerram inquired about Parks employees’ duties during the winter months.
Public Works Director Jerry Rollett and Superintendent of Parks and Recreation John Timm indicated that Parks employees are busy with Christmas Village until Christmas Eve, then they start refurbishing Christmas Village, which takes approximately six weeks. This includes storing decorations, cutting and stacking wood, taking the lights down, etc. They also plow and move snow at all city facilities, i.e., city hall, fire department, police department, plus the parking areas in their parks and playgrounds, and sidewalks.
They do major brush removal and prep the parks in anticipation of getting them ready for better weather. They clear the basketball courts on a yearly basis. They do indoor painting, and service some of their vehicles. They maintain the skating rink, if it’s a good year for it.
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Parks Budget.
PARKS - CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT #2000
Mr. Rollett informed the Council that $1.5 million was budgeted for the STP funds to take over the construction of the bike path. He stated that the bike path was experiencing major delays with various permit processes and that it had been shortened to 1.5 or 1.8 miles. The $1.5 million is what will be available from the state, but if the project moves forward in 2008 instead of 2007, we may be short anywhere from $200,000.00 to $500,000.00.
Councilor Dalla Valle inquired about B24, the North End Park, which has zero dollars budgeted. It was his belief that discussions were held when the conceptual master plan was created that something would be done with this park this year.
Mr. Rollett wasn’t aware of anything progressing in terms of what will be done at that location. It probably should be looked at by the Parks and Recreation Commission for future budgets.
Councilor Jerram inquired whether additional lighting would be installed at Toro Field.
Mr. Timm indicated that the present lighting is twenty years old and inadequate. The new system will be energy efficient and non glare so the focus will be on the field instead of being wasted on other areas. The old lighting could probably be used at other sites.
RECREATION #2220
Line Item 5105 - Part time, the Council had previously questioned the increase of $20,000.00.
Mr. Timm stated that he had to meet with Personnel Director Tom Gritt to discuss an option for other funding. He noted that the new Skate Park generated an estimate of $10,000.00 for supervision.
Line Item 5113 - Part Time Police, Councilor Dalla Valle inquired how much of the budgeted $19,200.00 was for Fuessenich Park.
Mr. Timm answered $7,000.00. He was not aware of any sort of agreement on this matter, but would check to see if he could modify the amount of coverage. It was believed that police coverage was determined by the amount of people present.
Councilor Soliani inquired whether a non-resident is charged more than a resident to play in the Midget Football, Junior Soccer, etc. She inquired why the city should have to budget any monies to these programs since participants are usually required to pay a sum of money to play.
Mayor Bingham also inquired on how each level of funding is determined, since there is such a variation in price.
Mr. Timm stated that, in years past, the city’s stipend paid for equipment needs and insurance costs over and above what was generated in fees, but he didn’t know what the stipend was being used for today. He would research the matter.
Councilor Jerram asked Ms. Proulx if the city was receiving any revenue from the Elks or the Varsity Alumni in terms of fees to pay for the custodians.
Ms. Proulx said she was not aware of any revenue.
Mayor Bingham said his concerns were twofold: 1) the parity between the programs, and 2) why the city subsidizes some programs and not others.
Mr. Timm said it was his belief that most of the stipends within the budget began when leaders of certain programs approached the Commission asking for said stipend.
(It was noted that two members of the Commission are directly involved with two of the leagues that receive stipends.)
Mr. Timm explained that the department has an out-of-town fee. Torrington residents are given first choice, and any openings thereafter are offered to those from out of town at an increased fee.
Mr. Timm noted that the Mickey Mantle Baseball was non-existent at the moment, but it may come back. There is another group who may approach the board next month.
It was noted that funds are included in Line Item 5105 - part time, to man the skate board park. The small driveway in that area will be paved and summer basketball will not be a repeat of last year because it will be run by a different group.
On a motion by Councilor Dalla Valle, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Council voted unanimously to table the Recreation Budget pending further information.
STREET DEPARTMENT #2980
On a motion by Councilor Dalla Valle, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Council voted unanimously to approve the Street Department budget as it stands with a 0% increase.
Under Street Department, Capital Improvement, Mr. Rollett noted that they were doing less streets with the same amount of money because costs were up nearly 35% over the past two or three years.
CITY REAL ESTATE #3280
On a motion by Councilor Dalla Valle, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Council voted unanimously to approve the City Real Estate Budget.
PUBLIC WORKS #3350
On a motion by Councilor Dalla Valle, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to approve the Public Works Budget.
CITY HALL #3515
Line Item 5296 - Telephone Long Distance, was reduced by $2,000.00.
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the City Hall Budget.
LANDFILL #3715
Line Item 5406 - Disposal, decreased by $16,000.00 to $1,184,000.00.
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Landfill Budget.
SANITARY SEWER/STREET LIGHTS #3760
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to approve the Sanitary Sewer/Street Lights Budget.
HEALTH #3820
Line Item 5203 - Recycle Contract, a decrease of $8,000.00 to $623,000.00.
Mr. Rollett indicated that when he put together the costs for Refuse and Recycle contracts, it was based on a cost of living increase of 3.2%, which was the most recent data he had, however, as of last week, that rate was closer to 4.4% for the year. He didn’t know what it would be by the time the March numbers come out because they are the numbers which the contracts are based on. The difference of 1.2% is an increase of $21,000.00.
More education for the public on recycling was planned.
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor McKenna, the Council voted unanimously to table the Health Budget until the final numbers are known.
MAYOR #160
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to approve the Mayor’s Budget.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT #200
Line Item 5400 - Programs Community, reduced by $1,000.00.
Line Item 5900 - Programs Expenditures, reduced by $10,000.00.
On a motion by Councilor Dalla Valle, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Economic Development Budget.
ADJOURNMENT #335
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to adjourn at 7:45 p.m.
Joline LeBlanc
Asst. City Clerk
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