MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL AND WPC AUTHORITY
OCTOBER 3, 2011
A REGULAR MEETING of the City Council & WPC Authority was held in the City Hall Auditorium on Monday, October 3, 2011.
Present were Mayor Ryan Bingham, Corporation Counsel Ernestine Yuille Weaver, City Councilors Paul Samele, Gerald Zordan, Gregg Cogswell, Elinor Carbone, and Drake Waldron. Also present were Deputy Fire Chief Gary Brunoli, WPC Administrator Ray Drew, Municipal Renovations Committee Chair Mike Clark, O & G Project Director Bob Prentiss, and Building Official Brett Zuraitis. City Councilor Marie Soliani was absent.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public.
Mr. Chris Wiley said he believes the City Council is going in the wrong direction with their fiscal policies and is not prepared for the future. He urged them to increase the size of the Grand List, not the mill rate.
He recounted his experience in discarding construction debris which was found to be a difficult process. He asked the City Council to keep things simple and improve the way we get rid of trash in Torrington.
MUNICIPAL RENOVATIONS UPDATE
Mr. Clark said the project is closed out with the exception of the HVAC system which has some disappointments. The disappointments have been addressed, he said, and he wanted to make the City Council aware of the incredible amount of time Mr. Rollett has put into the remediation of the problems with the HVAC system. He further noted that Project Director Bob Prentiss and Project Supervisor Brian Pracuta went beyond the demands of their contract with the City. He also commended City Hall staff who was uncomplaining for the most part during times when it was uncomfortable. He said the HVAC remediations are 99.5% complete.
Mr. Clark further noted that we are under budget from the amount of money approved at referendum. He said they are seeking the recovery of HVAC remediation costs with an attorney.
Mr. Prentiss said the renovated building was occupied from mid-May 2010, with cooling issues arising shortly thereafter. He said he started meeting on the 9th of June with the Architect, Mechanical Engineer, Commissioning Agent, Contractor Stuart Mechanical and his Subcontractor, the temperature control contractor, the balancing contractor and the coils manufacturer.
He said controls were installed on the energy recovery unit, modulating the outside air damper, the pumps impellers' size was increased to get more flow to the building, and coils' size were increased in the energy recovery units with the hope of getting more cooling in the building, thereby reducing the humidity.
This didn't solve the entire problem, he said.
Mr. Prentiss said engineer Van Zeln was hired to evaluate the building, who felt the system needed to be redesigned. This was completed and Van Zeln was then hired to do the commissioning work to check everything after the work was completed. The go-ahead was given in April, 2011, he said, and work started in May, with meetings held every two weeks throughout the summer to make sure things were moving along. He said this is basically complete and things are working very well.
Mayor Bingham asked about the elevator issue, and Mr. Clark explained that the architect's design did not call for a tie-in to the generator, which has been paid for by MRC project funds.
In answer to Mr. Zordan's question on how HVAC work will be paid for, Mr. Clark explained that an attorney is working with Friar's insurance company, trying to keep this from going to litigation, and it will be remediated at some point in the future.
SANITARY SEWER CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Zordan, the Council herein acting as the Water Pollution Control Authority voted unanimously to approve the following payment from Fund #490, Sanitary Sewer Capital Improvement for Capital Project D-13 New Harwinton Rd Pump Station Reconstruction and D-19 Sanitary Sewer ROW Clearing:
DATE CONTRACTOR INVOICE # AMOUNT DESCRIPTION
9/13/2011 Wright Pierce 78791 $5,241.72 Design Efforts New Harwinton Road Pump Station
NEW HARWINTON RD PUMP STATION REHAB
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Samele, the Council acting herein as the Water Pollution Control Authority voted unanimously to accept the recommendation of the Purchasing Agent and WPCA Administrator and award Bid# NHR-041-092611 titled “New Harwinton Road Pump Station Rehabilitation” to the lowest responsive bidder Delray Contracting, Inc. of Ellington, CT for the Base Bid price of $587,000 plus Bid Alternate A for a total contract price of $665,000.00.
MUNICIPAL RENOVATIONS
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to approve the following payments from Fund #316, Municipal Renovations:
VENDOR INV# AMOUNT DESCRIPTION
McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter 714101 1,361.90 Prof Svcs. 8/31/11
O&G #24-CTYHALL 63,957.32 services thru 8/31/11
SMALL CITIES PROJECTS
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Zordan, the council voted unanimously to approve Small Cities Project #143-303 in the amount of $9,100.00 for an emergency roof replacement.
Councilor Carbone asked if back taxes were owed on this property. Councilor Waldron explained there were no liens, and it is mortgage-free property.
On a motion by Councilor Cogswell, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the council voted unanimously to approve a change order on Small Cities Project #143-266 in the amount of $2,900.00 for delaminated plywood replacement and leaking hot water heater.
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the council voted unanimously to approve payment of $226.86 from Small Cities Fund #251 to the Republican-American for Invitation to Bid ads for Projects #143-303, #143-270, and #143-266.
OPEN TO PUBLIC ON 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 FROM DEPARTMENT HEADS
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Samele, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by Department Heads.
Brett Zuraitis reported on the major differences between last year's Building Department report, and this year's. He said his memo outlines the volume of permits during the course of the year with a doubling of permit fees and values in August, compared to the previous year. He noted a slight uptake in construction, but said he is not sure if it will be sustainable. He said he does not see an increase on the horizon that will increase permit values, thereby affecting the Grand List.
Ray Drew reminded the Council of the upcoming Hazardous Waste collection on October 15th.
BUSINESS FROM MAYOR AND COUNCIL
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by the Mayor and members of the City Council.
Mayor Bingham reported briefly on his trip to China's Zhonglou district of Changzhou, saying our sister city has 4 or 5 million people, with Torrington's Seitz Corporation doing their manufacturing there. He said it was interesting to see the constant amount of people, traffic and movement. Mayor Bingham said he observed the Communist form of government in their everyday way of life from newspaper to internet, and noted that the people speak very positively about it, with pride in their heritage and culture.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, and unanimously approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:58 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
Respectfully Submitted,
Carol L. Anderson, CCTC
Asst. City Clerk
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