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Minutes 05/28/2009
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MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING BOARD OF COUNCILMEN MAY 28, 2009 |
A SPECIAL MEETING of the Board of Councilmen was held in the Main Room of the Senior Center on Thursday, May 28, 2009 to discuss city budgets.
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Those in attendance included Mayor Ryan J. Bingham, City Councilors Michael Colangelo, Elinor Carbone, Thomas Jerram, Marie Soliani, and Drake Waldron, Board of Finance Members Daniel Farley, Laurene Pesce, Mark Bushka, Thomas Scoville, Wendy Traub, and James Zeller, Corporation Counsel Ernestine Yuille Weaver, Treasurer Richard Friday, various members of the Board of Education and Comptroller Alice Proulx. Councilor Richard Dalla Valle was absent.
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Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. He presented the following changes to the budget; a 6.05% decrease in the engineering budget due to an early retirement, the street department budget increase was reduced to 17.82% due to an early retirement, and the health insurance increase was reduced to 7.9%.
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Mayor Bingham said the Tax Collector voluntarily froze wage increases, giving his budget a 42.23% decrease, and the Police union agreed to a zero percent wage increase, leaving a 5.69% increase in their budget.
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APPROVE BUDGET #218 On a motion by Councilor Colangelo, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Board of Councilmen voted unanimously to give final approval to the recommended changes to the proposed 2009-2010 city budget, and forward them to the Board of Finance for Adoption.
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ADD'L LINE ITEMS #226 Councilor Colangelo made a motion to: A) establish a line item for funding additional lighting at the Colangelo Complex for Midget Football in the amount of $5,000; B) provide a line item or stipend for Torrington American Legion Baseball P-38s in the amount of $2,000; C) create a line item for book reimbursement to St. Peter/St. Francis school for $6800; and D) create a line item with zero dollars attached for future consideration of the Trinity Church fund. Councilor Jerram seconded the motion.
Councilor Waldron said the ideas were great but it's a tough year to help special interest groups.
Councilor Jerram explained the need for the Colangelo Complex lighting line item, and the Mayor responded this budget is a very lean one with the goal of not increasing taxes.
Councilor Colangelo pointed out that every student in parochial school is a savings of about $12,000 for the city.
Councilor Carbone said that regarding the Colangelo Complex lighting fund, she prefers to get the numbers and look at them over time. She feels the fields are valuable and overused.
Councilor Soliani said because we're already spending a lot of money repairing and redoing parks, she prefers to see what other areas can be moved around to fund this.
Councilor Carbone said regarding the book reimbursement, state statute provides the opportunity for parochial schools to borrow textbooks from public schools and although she wants to support them, she prefers to explore a lending program.
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ADD'L LINE ITEM: COLANGELO COMPLEX LIGHTING #659 On a motion by Councilor Colangelo, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Board of Councilmen voted to deny the establishment of a line item to fund additional lighting for the Colangelo Complex for Midget Football for $5,000. Councilors Carbone, Soliani and Waldron opposed.
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ADD'L LINE ITEM: P-38s #672 On a motion by Councilor Colangelo, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Board of Councilmen voted to deny the establishment of a line item for the Torrington American Legion Baseball team "P-38" in the amount of $2,000. Councilors Carbone, Soliani and Waldron opposed. |
ADD'L LINE ITEM: PAROCHIAL SCHOOL BOOK REIMBURSEMENT #682 On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Colangelo, the Board of Councilmen voted to deny the establishment of a line item for St. Peter/St. Francis Textbook Reimbursement in the amount of $6800. Councilors Carbone, Soliani and Waldron opposed.
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ADD'L LINE ITEM: FUTURE CLOCK TOWER FUND #690 On a motion by Councilor Colangelo, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Board of Councilmen voted to establish a zero dollar line item for a future Trinity Church clock tower fund. Councilors Jerram, Carbone and Colangelo voted for the motion, and Councilors Soliani and Waldron opposed.
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RESTORE LEVEL FUNDING #724 Councilor Jerram stated his wish to restore level funding to Park & Recreation stipends. He compared self-sufficient programs with those who have no pressure on them to shoulder the unfair burden of field maintenance and care.
Mayor Bingham explained no decisions have been made regarding funding distributions, that program funding wasn't cut haphazardly--the overall amount was reduced in order to reduce the overall budget.
Councilor Jerram said he has an issue with the Parks & Recreation Commission having the final say because, while they all work hard and are appointed, they don't have to be responsible to the voters. He said for the sake of consistency, the Boards and Agencies stipends should be treated the same way as Parks & Recreation program stipends.
Mayor Bingham suggested the formation of a subcommittee.
Councilor Jerram said he would be in favor of the Parks and Recreation Commission forwarding recommendations to City Council and opposed to them having the final say on the distribution of program stipends.
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Mayor Bingham summarized the discussion by saying that a future City Council meeting would include discussion on forwarding recommendations for changes to stipends' amounts from Park & Recreation Commission to City Council for final approval, and that Comptroller Proulx would create a line item with zero funding for the Trinity Clock tower.
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BUDGET APPROVAL #976 On a motion by Councilor Jerram, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Board of Councilmen voted unanimously to approve the budget as presented for the fiscal year 2009 – 2010 in the amount of $52,580,939.
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ADJOURNMENT #1901 On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the Board of Councilmen voted unanimously to adjourn at 6:35 p.m.
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ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC CITY CLERK
Respectfully submitted, Carol L. Anderson, CCTC Asst. City Clerk |
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