A REGULAR MEETING of the City Council & WPC Authority was held in the City Hall Council Chambers on Monday, September 20, 2010.
Those in attendance included Mayor Ryan Bingham, City Councilors Drake Waldron, Gerald Zordan, Elinor Carbone, Marie Soliani and Gregg Cogswell, Purchasing Agent Pennie Zucco, Deputy Fire Chief Gary Brunoli, Comptroller Alice Proulx, City Engineer Ed Fabbri, Administrative Assistant to the Mayor Stephen Nocera and Personnel Director Thomas Gritt.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
MINUTES On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the special meeting held September 15, 2010, with the additional change of the word ‘delirious’ to the word ‘deleterious’ in Councilor Soliani’s remarks.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Soliani, the Council voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public.
South Street Jim Locche and Bob Hunter of South Street spoke about the street’s condition. Mr. Locche said it’s a terrible mess and plows have knocked down the stone wall which was then replaced with an ugly and dangerous Jersey barrier. Mr. Locche requested this be taken care of. Mr. Hunter added that the street hasn’t been paved in 48 years. He said the stone wall was nice, and repairable, but when the City was asked to repair it, they knocked it down to replace it with the Jersey barrier. Two resident stone masons would have been happy to repair the wall, he said, and the Jersey barrier is dangerous with kids playing there. He
said his street isn’t actually plowed, as only one pass is made down the center of the street. He requested some action on this. Mayor Bingham asked that Mr. Fabbri address this later in the meeting, and said there are a number of streets that haven’t been repaved, but he’s made a concerted effort during budget processes to maintain that increased level of funding to resurface roads. He said he has seen progress, but there have been years of neglect.
Emerg. Mgt. Director David Reynolds and Glenn MacLeod spoke against the appointment of our new Emergency Management Director. Mr. Reynolds said that, according to the press, Mr. Dalla Valle did not meet the basic qualifications of the job. Saying that if the Mayor and Council aren’t trusted on small things, how can they be trusted on big ones, he asked the Mayor to give serious consideration to this issue, the impact on the town and the City’s perception of its government. He said we want a Mayor and City Council that we feel we can trust. Mr. MacLeod accused the Mayor of putting ‘the people of Torrington’s safety at risk
by ignoring the job description’. He said the Mayor should rescind the appointment and seek applications from qualified candidates.
AmVets Bob Hunter spoke on a second issue – that of finding 300 sq. ft. of storage space, with unfettered access, for AmVets’ donated carts, walkers, crutches, and other things to help Veterans get around.
Emerg. Mgt. Director Mayor Bingham said his appointment of Mr. Dalla Valle to the Emergency Management Director position, is an important issue to address. He said he feels very strongly that he followed a good process and vetted a number of candidates. Mayor Bingham clarified that this is a Mayor’s Appointment, not a typical hire. He pointed out that his other appointees, without prior experience, have done a phenomenal job and have been assets to the City. He said he acted with the advice and consent of our Emergency Management Professionals, the Fire Chief and Deputy Chief. Mayor Bingham said the previous EMD, Tom Vannini, had been generous with his time, working without pay, but was no longer able to serve as EMD. A press release was issued (for the vacancy), the Mayor said, and since the Fire Department had been so involved in Homeland Security and Emergency Management issues, he decided to put that position within the purview of the Fire Department, appointing Chief Field as the temporary EMD.
In February, Mayor Bingham said, Mr. Dalla Valle expressed interest in the position, submitted a resume, and apprised the Mayor of a number of educational opportunities that he took upon himself with National Incident Management Standard training, along with having worked hand-in-hand with Mr. Vannini at CERT classes, the local emergency response team.
Mayor Bingham said Mr. Dalla Valle worked on training people in the community, providing a level of service to them to coordinate groups of people, and took it upon himself to learn to be a trainer in various CERT levels and CPR. He said that the best thing to come out of the interview was Mr. Dalla Valle’s unparalleled love for the City. Although it was his prerogative to appoint Mr. Dalla Valle, Mayor Bingham said, he decided to post the vacancy on a number of websites and in a press release to see what was out there. Of the resumes received, the Chiefs recommended four top candidates to interview. In June, the four candidates were interviewed, but three were not local
people, one was. There was no question who the top candidate was, the Mayor said. They were grappling with the issue of whether or not they needed a local representative, and considered Mr. Dalla Valle as a Deputy should the top candidate accept the Director’s job. Mayor Bingham said there’s been some human resource armchair quarterbacks that have put Rick at the bottom of the candidate list in comparison to a 2006 document that exists saying what the qualifications for the job are. He said he’d go on record and say that no amount of degrees can prepare you for dealing with this community, coordinating public entities and non-profits, preparing our City with the plans necessary to deal with an emergency situation and an intimate knowledge of our Police and Fire Department is paramount to that. Mr. Dalla Valle resigned from City Council on August 2nd, Mayor Bingham said, and the top candidate was offered the EMD job on August 3rd. After a few weeks he turned down the job and the Mayor asked the Chiefs what they recommend be done next. They recommended that they saw a lot in Rick Dalla Valle to be our Emergency Management Director and the job was offered to him in late August, early September. Mayor Bingham said the notion of his patronizing a Council member and assuming he owes somebody something is preposterous and ridiculous. He said he doesn’t owe anybody any favors, and does this job with the utmost respect to our community, to
past City Council members as well as to the residents of this community. He said that after the last four years, he’s proven that. He said he has received a report from the Chief and Deputy Chief on how Mr. Dalla Valle’s doing, and has heard of at least six accomplishments in the last few weeks from organizing animal shelters that have gone unnoticed for years to getting a head start on paperwork and attending some of the regional meetings. Mayor Bingham concluded that Mr. Dalla Valle’s work performance is going to have to speak for itself over time; he truly believes he made the right appointment and time will tell.
Local Flood Protection Project On a motion by Councilor Cogswell, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to award the Local Flood Protection Project Vegetation Clearing Contract – Phase I – Step 2 to Storm Reconstruction Services, Inc. of Mobile, AL, in the amount of $140,788 from the Public Works Department Budget. Councilor Zordan asked what this contractor does and Mr. Fabbri explained they will clear the banks of the Naugatuck River where the Corps of Engineers have instructed they be
maintained.
PUBLIC WORKS GRIEVANCES Councilor Waldron made a motion to accept the recommendation of the Personnel Committee regarding AFSCME Public Works Grievances #10-03, 10-04, 10-05, 10-06 and 10-07. He rescinded the motion upon Councilor Zordan’s request. Councilor Carbone made a motion to table this, allowing the Personnel Committee some time to deliberate these grievances. Councilor Zordan seconded, and the motion to table was unanimously approved.
TRANSFER FUNDS On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to authorize the transfer of open purchase order balances to Capital Project Fund 0310 and Capital Reserve Fund 0311 per the Comptroller’s memo of Sept. 13, 2010. Ms. Proulx explained this accounting procedure provides a clearer, more transparent method of keeping track of big projects.
WATER STREET IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Soliani, the Council voted unanimously to approve payment of $2784.30 from Fund #282, Water Street Sidewalk Project, to CT Clearing Desk of CL & P for Drawdown #2. Mr. Fabbri explained three wooden telephone poles with overhead wires were removed and underground wiring installed.
WATER STREET IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously approve payment of $644.58 from Fund #282, Water Street Sidewalk Project, to CT Clearing Desk of CL & P for Advance Fee charged for the Street/Security Lighting per CL & P letter dated September 8, 2010 from Thomas Moskaluk.
BUILDING DEPT. REPORT On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to accept the Building Dept. report for the month of August 2010.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, AGENDA ITEMS ONLY On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public on "agenda items" only. There was no one who wished to speak.
BUSINESS BY DEPT HEADS On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by Department Heads. Mr. Fabbri said one of the problems with South Street is that it has been at the bottom of the repair list, as streets with heavier traffic are at the top. If we continue to budget money from here on out, he said, we will get to the ‘South Streets’ in town. Councilor Soliani asked Mr. Fabbri to get back to Mr. Lochee and Mr. Hunter to tell them where they are on the schedule. Mr. Fabbri said the list is created by Mr. Lizotte who typically tries to cover East, West, North and South without concentrating on any one end of town. He offered to talk to Mr. Rollett about it.
BUSINESS BY MAYOR AND COUNCIL On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Soliani, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by the Mayor and members of the City Council.
Councilor Soliani said her opposition to the appointment (EMD) is about public safety, not about personalities or politics.
Mayor Bingham reiterated that time will tell regarding this appointment. He added that when things have to be said, he says them and backs them up with documentation and a clear conscience.
ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to adjourn at 7:18 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC CITY CLERK
Respectfully Submitted, Carol L. Anderson, CCTC Asst. City Clerk |
