MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
CITY COUNCIL AND WPC AUTHORITY
FEBRUARY 21, 2012
A REGULAR MEETING of the City Council & WPC Authority was held in the City Hall Auditorium on Tuesday, February 21, 2012.
Present were Mayor Ryan Bingham, City Councilors Gregg Cogswell, Elinor Carbone, Gerald Zordan and Drake Waldron, WPC Administrator Ray Drew and City Clerk Joseph Quartiero. City Councilors Paul Samele and Marie Soliani were absent. Corporation Counsel Ernestine Yuille Weaver arrived at 6:27 p.m.
MINUTES
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the Public Hearing and Regular Meeting held on February 6, 2012.
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Zordan, the Council voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the Special Telephonic Meeting held on February 14, 2012.
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. There was no one present who wished to speak.
BOARD OF ETHICS: K. Rines
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Zordan, the Council voted unanimously
to approve the Mayor's appointment of alternate Kate Rines to the Board of Ethics as a full member
for a three year term to expire September 1, 2014.
BOARD OF ETHICS: T. Driscoll, J. Todor, C. Barth, J. Dillon
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously
to approve the Mayor's re-appointment of the following members of the Board of Ethics for three year
terms to expire September 1, 2014:
Timothy Driscoll John Todor |
Candace Barth Jack Dillon |
Mayor Bingham added that before her resignation, Atty. Mattiello had been a tremendous asset to this Board, but Kate Rines is stepping up.
POPPY SALE
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to approve the Polish American Veterans request to sponsor a poppy sale on Thursday May 3, 2012 through Friday, May 4, 2012.
Mayor Bingham said this is a traditional event, and he wants to support their efforts to raise money, and thank them for their service.
SANITARY SEWER CAPITAL IMPRV.
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Waldron, acting herein as the Water Pollution Control Authority, the Council voted unanimously to approve the following payments from Fund #490 Sanitary Sewer Capital Improvement for Capital Project D-6 Central Interceptor CCTV and Cleaning and Capital Project D-13 New Harwinton Road Pump Station Rehabilitation.
Date |
Contractor |
Invoice # |
Amount |
Description |
1/11/2012 |
Wright Pierce |
81233 |
$928.17 |
Central Interceptor – Toro Siphon |
1/11/2012 |
Wright Pierce |
81231 |
$8,180.21 |
New Harwinton Road PS Upgrade |
ZONING VIOLATIONS: 287 Old Winsted Rd.
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to accept the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation to pursue legal action against Pierre Bauchiero of 287 Old Winsted Road for outstanding zoning violations described in Mrs. Barbieri's Agent Report to the Planning & Zoning Commission dated February 7, 2012. (Addendum 1)
Councilor Zordan asked if the Court will decide whether or not the City will be paid the $88,000 that is currently liened against this property. Mayor Bingham said yes, or a settlement will be agreed on. He said it's important to send a message to potential violators to not allow these citations to stack up, and further pursue clean-up of properties in non-compliance.
DISPOSE VACANT CITY LOT: 494 Main St.
On a motion by Councilor Cogswell, seconded by Councilor Zordan, the Council voted unanimously to accept the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation under a Section 8-24 referral to dispose
of a vacant city lot at 494 Main Street as described in Atty. Weaver's memo of January 31, 2012. (Addendum 2)
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 January 2012.
Councilor Zordan commented that permitting was a million dollars less than last year, an ominous sign.
Mayor Bingham suggested a year-end report be generated.
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 Zordan, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by Department Heads.
Mr. Drew updated the Council on the Fats Oils and Grease facility which is processing a million gallons of brown grease per year. The grease goes to the municipal incinerator in Waterbury to be used as an auxiliary fuel. He said he has met with a UConn-affiliated company to consider turning our concentrated brown grease into bio-diesel to be used in furnaces and boilers, blended with regular diesel to operate City Vehicles, or sold to a vendor as an additional revenue source.
Mr. Drew said the rehabilitation of project the New Harwinton Road Pump Station is receiving new equipment submittals and may be completed this summer.
He said he is working on the facility upgrade and noted that we will soon be subject to phosphorus limits that will require a reduction from current discharge levels. Working with other municipalities, he hopes to curtail or at least minimize the impact from this phosphorous legislation.
Mr. Drew said he is also working on obtaining DEP approval to improve 48,000 feet of sewer line in the East Drainage Basin.
With a 30% grant from C L & P, he has completed a lighting retrofit at the treatment plant which will provide electricity cost savings.
Mayor Bingham said the facility is being run very well. Mr. Drew said it is an exceptional facility and he has an exceptional staff who is trying to adapt to the recent loss of their Chief Operator.
Atty. Weaver informed the Board that she is not yet familiar with the zoning violations at 287 Old Winsted Road. In answer to Councilor Zordan's question about the Court's potential enforcement of the property liens, Atty. Weaver offered to review the files.
BUSINESS FROM MAYOR AND COUNCIL
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by the Mayor and members of the City Council.
Councilor Cogswell asked for an update on the status of the LED streetlights. Mayor Bingham said it's in Atty. Weaver's, Mr. Rollett's, and Mr. Fabbri's hands, and they are working with 3 or 4 responsible parties trying to come to an agreement. They will replace the LED s that hadn't been working, and it is now a matter of recovering the funds.
Mayor Bingham said he is in the process of meeting with Department Heads to pare down their budgets, and will be reviewing health benefits administrators along with a committee that includes members of the Board of Education, Administration and the Chairman, the Purchasing Agent, Personnel Director, Health and Welfare Benefits Consultant, the Comptroller and the Mayor. They are looking at the advantages offered by each vendor and how claims are affected. Early projections on the fixed cost numbers look good, he said.
Mayor Bingham commended the Finance Department for the excellent job done on the live rollout of the new financial management system upgrade that occurred last month. He said it involved a significant amount of investment, hardware upgrades, and time over the last two years.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Waldron, and unanimously approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:43 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
Respectfully Submitted
Carol L. Anderson, CCTC
Asst. City Clerk
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