MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL & WPC AUTHORITY
MARCH 19, 2007
A REGULAR MEETING of the City Council & WPC Authority was held on Monday, March 19, 2007, in the Council Chambers.
Those in attendance included Mayor Ryan J. Bingham, City Councilors, Thomas C. Jerram, Rick E. Dalla Valle, Andrew J. Slaiby, Marie P. Soliani, and Drake L. Waldron, Corp. Counsel Ernestine Yuille Weaver, Comptroller Alice Proulx, City Engineer Edward Fabbri, Police Chief Robert Milano, Deputy Fire Chief Jaye Giampaolo, Board of Public Safety Commissioner James Potter, and Emergency Management Coordinator Thomas Vannini. Councilor James F. McKenna was absent.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 6:36 p.m.
Due to the fact that there was no quorum for the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the City Employees’ Retirement Fund, the Council agreed to hear the presentation on the Actuarial Report from Ms. Assantes during the regular City Council meeting.
ADD TO AGENDA #070
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to add to the agenda by 2/3rds vote, the presentation on the Actuarial Report for the Board of Trustees of the City Employees’ Retirement Fund from Ms. Shirley Assantes, representative from Hooker & Holcombe.
PRESENTATION: HOOKER & HOLCOMBE #85
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council allowed Ms. Assantes to give her presentation.
Ms. Assantes stated that the city had a total of 206 participants as of July 2006. The active population in 2004 was 164 as compared to the current number of 163. The inactive population increased from 91 to 103, primarily from retirements. The actuarial liabilities two years ago were $20 million and increased to $23.8 as of 2006. The total liabilities increased from $23.8 to $27.5. Assets increased from $18.8 to $21.7. The unfunded actual liability as of 2004 was almost $5million and increased to $5.7 million in 2006. The net change was about an $800,000.00 increase in unfunded liability. Ms. Assantes noted a number of reasons for an increase in unfunded liability. Plan changes, and changes in actuarial assumptions were two reasons; however, neither
of these changes contributed to the increase in unfunded liability in the city’s plan. The primary reason for the increase was an actuarial loss of a little over a million dollars, and contributions in excess of the requirements to keep the unfunded stable were about $275,000.00,
Ms. Assantes reported that the funded ratios were 79% in the 2004 valuation as well as in the 2006 valuation. In 1996, they were 63%. The funded ratio on a market value basis for the asset measurement is about 83%, which is a pretty good funding ratio.
Page 10 shows a reconciliation for the assets for the two year period of 2004-2005. The assets increased from $19.6 to $21.3. The contributions were about $1.5 million in total and the benefit payments were about $1 million. The rate of return was about 5.6% for 04/05. In 2005/2006, the assets start at $21.3 and end with $22.8. Again, the income from contributions is about $1.5 million, while the benefits rose to $1.2 million in payouts. The asset return was 5.2% for the year.
Because Ms. Assantes uses an assumption of 8%, there was a resulting actuarial loss. She reported that 8% is not an uncommon assumption; however, she feels as though she may have to re-visit that number for the next valuation because it may be too high for this portfolio. She pointed out that the returns averaged about 4.5% over the last eight years, which is well below the assumption. Only two of the eight years exceeded the 8% expectations.
The contributions recommended for the year is up from $970,000.00 to $1.51 million, primarily due to the loss in asset returns. The contributions to the fund with respect to the recommendations have consistently been over 100%. In 2006, it was about 111%. The last time it was below the recommended contribution was in 1999, at about 98%, and in 1998, it was 77%. Normally, you would expect that to improve your funded ratio, and we may be gaining ground in contributions, but losing ground in asset returns.
Councilor Jerram inquired whether we would have to contact those who manage the investments if we wanted to actually achieve an 8% return.
Ms. Assantes indicated that we could change our returns by either getting better investment advice or changing our allocations. The plan is invested in the stock market, which is why she uses an 8% return. An 8% return is pretty standard for plans that have that type of allocation.
Ms. Assantes noted that the liabilities will go up if she decreases the 8% return. If the plan can’t sustain an 8% return, she will continue to have actuarial losses.
Ed Fabbri said he expressed his concern about excessive management fees being charged by the Bank of America in July or August of 2006. He thought it was something the board should discuss and re-visit.
Mayor Bingham noted that the same sentiment was expressed at the last meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Police & Firemens’ Pension Fund.
Councilor Jerram stated that the matter could be better re-visited by the Purchasing Agent.
Mr. Fabbri indicated that he had the specifics on a spread sheet.
Mayor Bingham asked Mr. Fabbri to furnish him with the spreadsheet and another meeting of the board will be scheduled. He thanked Ms. Assantes for her presentation.
MINUTES #580
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the regular meeting held March 5, 2007.
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the special meeting held March 12, 2007.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #605
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public.
When people from the public inquired about the public hearing, Mayor Bingham indicated that the public hearing will be continued to April 2 in order to give the Engineering Department ample time to notify those who will be affected by the possible street abandonments. The public hearing for Gaylord Lane shall be scheduled for May 21.
SECTION 8-24 REFERRAL #675
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council, with the exception of Councilor Dalla Valle who opposed (specifically for Gaylord Lane), voted to accept Planning & Zoning’s Section 8-24 referral to abandon the following streets:
Portion of Gaylord Lane, Portion of East Lawton Street, portion of Old “New Litchfield Street”, Passway off Baeder Street, Eichner Road, Volkman Lane, Kansas Street, Hinsdale Road, Ice House Road, Portion of Avenue “A”, (Sanford Street) Portion of Talbot Street, Portion of Pleasant Street, and a Portion of Arthur Street.
Councilor Dalla Valle stated that the Council already voted not to abandon Gaylord Lane, and expressed his concern over the fact that it was back on the list to abandon. He didn’t think they should keep re-visiting the same issue.
Councilor Jerram suggested that the Council could vote on each street individually after the public hearing is closed.
Mayor Bingham said that would be his recommendation as well.
Councilor Dalla Valle insisted that a public hearing had already been held and the Council had already opposed the abandoning of Gaylord Lane, and there was no reason to have a second public hearing; therefore, Gaylord Lane should be excluded from the Section 8-24 from Planning & Zoning.
Councilor Jerram felt he should be entitled to vote on something he disagreed with that was voted on ten years ago.
SCHEDULE PUBLIC HEARING #870
Councilor Jerram made a motion to schedule a Public Hearing for April 2, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. to consider abandoning the following streets: Kansas Street and Passway off Baeder Street.
WITHDREW MOTION
Councilor Jerram withdrew the aforementioned motion.
PUBLIC HEARING #880
Carol Anderson, Recording Secretary, read the legal notice to abandon Volkman Lane (Entire Length from East Main St. to Franklin St.), Ice House Road (entire length from Norfolk Road to the end of the road), and a portion of Arthur St. (The south end of Arthur St. Between Hayes and Grant Streets.)
Mayor Bingham made a recommendation to continue the Public Hearing to April 2, 2007, at 7:00 p.m., but was willing to hear testimony from anyone in the public.
Bachi Prevalla, 140 Linton Street, owner of property on Volkman Lane, indicated that at one time, according to history records, Volkman Lane was owned by the property he owns and would like to take it back.
Arthur Barrone, Arthur Street, says he owns a piece of property on Arthur Street. He said “They want to now change it over to Grant Street, but they said they would like to turn it over to us and we agree on that.”
Councilor Dalla Valle noted that Mr. Prevalla and Mr. Barrone were willing to take over two of the roads the city was willing to abandon and asked Corp. Council Weaver what would occur if the Council voted to abandon said roads? In other words, who could claim an interest in the abandoned portions?
Corp. Counsel Weaver said she will have an answer when the public hearing is continued on April 2, 2007.
CONTINUE PUBLIC HEARING #990
On a motion by Councilor Slaiby, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Council voted unanimously to continue the public hearing to April 2, 2007, to consider abandoning Volkman Lane (Entire Length from East Main St. to Franklin St.), Ice House Road (entire length from Norfolk Road to the end of the road), and a portion of Arthur St. (The south end of Arthur St. Between Hayes and Grant Streets.)
SCHEDULE PUBLIC HEARING #1030
Councilor Slaiby made a motion to schedule a Public Hearing on April 16, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. to consider abandoning the following streets: Kansas Street and Passway off Baeder Street. Councilor Jerram seconded the motion. Unanimous.
WARN PUBLIC NOTIFICATION SYSTEM #1050
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Council, with the exception of Councilor Slaiby who opposed, voted to authorize Mayor Bingham to execute a contract with the WARN Public Notification System and to authorize the use of a total of $11,200.00 from Contingency, from which $7,200 will be used to enter into the WARN Public Notification System and $4,000 will be used to purchase equipment to shelter pets, and referred it to the Board of Finance. The entire amount of $11,200.00 will be reimbursed by Homeland Security. On a 4-1 vote, the motion carried.
Emergency Management Coordinator Thomas Vannini explained that the city is in a joint partnership with Charlotte Hungerford, TAHD, Fire, Police and Emergency Management to use a public notification system in the event of an emergency or disaster. The five entities will equally split the yearly maintenance fee of approximately $5,000.00 a year, and will receive free upgrades for each year they participate in the program. The program will now be enhanced by adding a GIS in order to do a one mile notification instead of a city-wide notification.
Mr. Vannini indicated that there’s a charge of twelve and a half cents for every call that makes a connection; however, in his call budget of $2,000.00 for the past three years, he has used about $200.00.
PRESENTATION: TORRINGTON DEVELOPMENT CORP. #1270
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to hear a presentation/update from the Torrington Development Corporation
On behalf of the Torrington Development Corporation, Atty. Victor Muschell and Christina Emery thanked the Council for their cooperation over the past year. He gave an accounting of the $50,000.00 the Council entrusted to the Corporation, of which there is still approximately $44,000.00, and detailed some of the events that have taken place since then.
He noted that the Council was furnished with a letter detailing the above, however, what was not on the letter was a proposed scope of services from consultants hired to do the development plan, Malone & McBroom.
Atty. Muschell informed the board that the “Plan” was more of an “Ordinance” which the Corporation was in the process of writing that will be presented to the City Council to be adopted as the law that will apply to the project area in downtown Torrington.
Christina Emery, Executive Director of the Torrington Development Corporation, stated that the corporation has established an office in a portion of the Work Center Building and it is open to the public on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. A website is under construction at the present time. The public was invited to stop by if they had any questions or if they wanted to review plans.
She indicated that the corporation will be in touch with the newly established consolidated office of Brownsfield in the future, and that they submitted an application to the EPA for a large downtown property. She noted that there is fairly close contact between herself and the Economic Development Coordinator. They meet on a bi-weekly, formal basis with a group of people including representatives from the TDC and the city. She talks with the Economic Development Coordinator, Mayor Bingham, and Steve Nocera whenever she needs to.
Councilor Jerram asked where the city was in terms of a timeline to complete the study by Malone & McBroom.
Atty. Muschell said they are just starting that project and the mechanical part of the process is estimated to take six to eight months. A number of approval processes will be necessary thereafter. He estimated a year.
Mrs. Emery said the MVP process is regulated by state statutes, and they are following DECD guidelines.
Mayor Bingham added that the state delegation of our representatives and senators are working diligently on our behalf. From all indications, things have been going well; however, they move slowly.
RE-APPOINTMENTS #1580
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to re-appoint Robert Waselik and Robert Good to the Torrington Area Health District for three-year terms to January 2010..
APPOINTMENT: NW CT CONV. BUREAU #1590
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Council voted unanimously to appoint Steven Criss to the NW CT Convention Business Bureau.
APPOINTMENTS: SERV. FOR THE ELDERLY #1625
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to approve the following appointments to the Services for the Elderly Commission:
Accept the resignation of Donald Angino as a regular member.
Appoint Peter Bronzi as a regular member to fill Mr. Angino’s position for a term to expire July 2009
Appoint Adele Reale as an alternate to fill Mr. Bronzi’s position for a term to expire July 2009
Re-appoint Roger Janelle for a three year term to expire July 2009
SMALL CITIES: REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN #1635
On a motion by Councilor Slaiby, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Council voted unanimously to authorize the payment of $226.00 from Small Cities Fund #279 to the Republican American for an invitation to bid ad.
SMALL CITIES: CITY OF TORRINGTON #1660
On a motion by Councilor Slaiby, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to authorize the payment of $75.00 from Small Cities Fund #250 to the City of Torrington for a title search performed.
BUILDING DEPT. REPORT #1670
On a motion by Councilor Slaiby, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to accept the Building Department Report for February 2007.
INVOICES: TORRINGFORD SCHOOL #1685
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Council voted unanimously to approve the following invoices from the Torringford School Building Fund #314:
Nystrom #176876, dated 11/15/06 for US & World Maps for $6921.30
Everlast Climbing Inc. #18690, dated 2/22/07 for Climbing Wall, $2053.00.
USE OF FUNDS FROM CONTINGENCY #1700
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to authorize the use of $24,000.00 from Contingency to purchase rescue tools for the Fire Department from Shipman’s Fire Equipment, and referred it to the Board of Finance. Funds will be reimbursed from Homeland Security.
Deputy Chief Giampaolo said “We are going to purchase this tool from the same company that we purchased the other tools from, which would be a $24,000.00 expenditure and the whole bid process, I want that out in the open so that we’re aware of that. If we may have to act on that, because obviously, it’s over our threshold.”
Councilor Dalla Valle said they could act on that as an agenda item from the Purchasing Office when the purchase is about to be made. They can just waive the bid process at that point.
USE OF FUNDS FROM CONTINGENCY #1880
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to authorize the use of UP TO $21,000.00 from Contingency to purchase bullet proof vests for the Police Department, which will be reimbursed from the federal government, and referred it to the Board of Finance.
Councilor Dalla Valle was confused by the numbers on the paperwork. One said $50,920.00 and the Police Department was looking at $42,000.00.
Chief Milano indicated that they could only purchase up to a certain amount of current and short term anticipated employees. They only need 76 vests, which will cost a bit less than $42,000.00. He noted that the vendors had entered into a bidding war amongst themselves, bringing the price down to $42,000.00. The vests will not cost the city any money.
BUS IN SECTION B #2030
On a motion by Councilor Dalla Valle, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Council voted unanimously to consider business in Section B.
APPOINTMENT: PLANNING & ZONING #2040
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to appoint Gregory Mele (currently an Alternate) as a regular member of the Planning & Zoning Commission to replace David Frascarelli for a term to expire in December 2007.
A letter of appreciation will be sent from the Mayor’s Office on behalf of the city thanking Mr. Frascarelli for his years of service.
SCHEDULE PUBLIC HEARING #2060
On a motion by Councilor Slaiby, seconded by Councilor Dalla Valle, the Council voted unanimously to schedule a Public Hearing for Monday, June 18, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in regard to Neighborhood Assistance.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #2070
On a motion by Councilor Slaiby, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public for “Agenda Items” only. There was no public participation.
BUS: DEPT. HEADS #2090
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Slaiby, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by Department Heads. There was none.
BUS: MAYOR & MEMBERS #2100
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by Mayor Bingham and member of the City Council.
Councilor Jerram inquired whether further snow removal could be done on the more narrow streets, as well as the downtown streets.
Mayor Bingham made note of it.
Councilor Dalla Valle asked if the city could coordinate with the state in terms of snow removal, since the downtown streets still had a lot of snow accumulation as opposed to the north end that had none.
Mayor Bingham indicated that this matter was brought to the state’s attention last year and we will have to mention it again
Mayor Bingham noted that discussions in regard to parking meters in the downtown area will begin in the near future.
ADJOURNMENT #2400
On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to adjourn at 7:40 p.m
CAROL ANDERSON
Recording Secretary
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