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MINUTES Vol. 25 Page 757
CITY COUNCIL & WPC AUTHORITY
March 28, 2011
A SPECIAL MEETING of the City Council & WPC Authority was held in the City Hall Auditorium on Monday, March 28, 2011.
Those in attendance included Mayor Ryan Bingham, City Councilors Drake Waldron, Paul Samele, Gerald Zordan, Marie Soliani, Elinor Carbone, and Gregg Cogswell, Comptroller Alice Proulx, Board of Public Safety Commissioner Jim Potter, Deputy Fire Chief Gary Brunoli, City Clerk Joseph Quartiero, and City Treasurer Arthur Mattiello.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m.
TREASURER
Mayor Bingham said Mr. Mattiello did a great job with one of the smallest City Budgets and he will add $765 back in to avoid setting a precedent with the salary line, and $500 for car allowance to avoid contractual issues.
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Treasurer’s Budget of $37,447, with a 2% decrease over last year.
BOND REDEMPTION + BOND INTEREST
Mr. Mattiello explained that the principal amount of $975,000 for Vogel Wetmore School has been paid off; and there’s no principal due this year on the two new bonds, leaving a payment decrease of about one million or 24%. All nine interest payments went down about $150,000, but with the new City Hall and Torringford School items, he said, the interest payment will be about one million dollars, an 80% increase over previous years. Mayor Bingham said the combined effect is a net zero impact. Mr. Mattiello said the Build America Bonds rebate will come back as revenue in the amount of $330,000 and the Bonds can be seen as costing us about $700,000. Mayor Bingham said when $975,000 is taken off for Vogel Wetmore, and $700,000 is added in, there’s a net savings in this Budget of about $200,000.
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Bond Redemption and Bond Interest Budget.
ENGINEERING
Mayor Bingham said the Equipment Maintenance Chargeback and Vehicle Replacement line items, across the board, will be removed into a separate line item to allow them to remain steady and fixed. Once the Budget has been passed, they will be put right back. He noted this is the only change to the Engineering Budget, and said a question was raised by the Budget Subcommittee about the Contract line item, used for additional staff or inspection services. He further noted that the printer contract will be cut.
On a motion by Councilor Soliani, seconded by Councilor Samele, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Engineering Budget of $494,164, approximately a 4% decrease.
EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to table the Equipment Maintenance Budget.
STREET & STREET CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT
Mayor Bingham said all State, Federal or Grant-funded projects would be removed from this Budget to give a clearer picture of what comes out of the General Fund. The following line items were put into a separate account: Vehicle Replacement, Fuessenich Park Extension Drain, Wall St. Bridge, Sidewalks, Washington Ave. Bridge, Levee Restorations, Eastside Drainage, Corridor Management, Peck Road Area Reconstruction, Kennedy & Dibble, and Equipment Maintenance Chargeback.
Mayor Bingham said $200,000 is budgeted for road reclamation bridge repairs and 1.66 million in drainage improvements. He said he is still trying to reach that $2,000,000 mark and hopes to identify the Street Dept., specifically road reclamation, as a priority if the Budget goes extremely well.
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Street and Street Capital Improvement Budget of $4,310,559.
PARKS & PARKS CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT
Mayor Bingham listed the following recommendations: eliminate the addition of a staff person to save $49,431, increase the Parks Improvement Major line item from $1000 to $25,000, zero out Vehicle Replacement, reduce the Electric line item by $5000, reduce the Fuel line item by $1000, zero out Equipment Maintenance Chargeback, and reduce the Telephone line item by $3000.
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Parks & Parks Capital Improvement Budget of $980,672.
CITY REAL ESTATE
Mayor Bingham said the only increase is for Southeast School, preparing for the potential replacement of a boiler. On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Samele, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the City Real Estate Budget of $79,275.
PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
Mayor Bingham noted that Regular Wages is not increased, but represents a contractual obligation for longevity. He said the Equipment Maintenance Chargeback and Vehicle Replacement line items were zeroed out.
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Soliani, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Public Works Director Budget of $129,752.
CITY HALL
Mayor Bingham said we’ll have a better cost projection for this next year, but last year was under budgeted. The 22% increase represents actual costs experienced over the last 11 months. He noted the Elevator Service Agreement line item was increased by $3000.
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the City Hall Budget of $258,719.
LANDFILL
Mayor Bingham said the bulk of this budget is disposal of household waste. He said this budget represents savings achieved through the recycling program, as any ton that is recycled is a ton that we don’t have to pay for. He noted that a $14,000 rebate was received, and is considering half to be given to taxpayers in the General Fund and half to be used to increase and improve our recycling program.
On a motion by Councilor Cogswell, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Landfill Budget of $1,150,000.
SANITARY SEWER / STREETLIGHTS
Mayor Bingham said this budget represents a savings in the Electric-Maintenance line item, particularly in streetlight maintenance as the City switches to LED streetlights. His plan is to take half the amount saved and credit the taxpayers in a reduced line item; and the other half will be used to buy additional LED streetlights to perpetuate the program.
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Sanitary Sewer / Streetlights Budget of $505,920.
HEALTH
Mayor Bingham said the Dispatch line item will increase by $464,426 to $478,808. This is going to be the direct cost for the new combined Dispatch Center. As a point of reference, he said, last year $449,948 was budgeted just for the Police Dispatch line item, without including any associated cost for personnel at the Fire Dept., Acting Officer pay, employee’s health insurance, or defined contribution matches. This is a direct savings to Torrington taxpayers, he said.
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Zordan, the Council voted unanimously to tentatively approve the Health Budget of $2,680,693.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to adjourn at 6:33 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
Respectfully Submitted,
Carol L. Anderson, CCTC
Asst. City Clerk
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