MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
CITY COUNCIL & WPC AUTHORITY
March 18, 2013
A REGULAR MEETING was held by the City Council & WPC Authority in the City Hall Auditorium on Monday, March 18, 2013.
Those in attendance included Mayor Ryan Bingham, Corporation Counsel Raymond Rigat, City Councilors Drake Waldron, Paul Samele, Gerald Zordan, Elinor Carbone, and Gregg Cogswell, Comptroller Alice Proulx, City Clerk Joseph Quartiero, and Mayoral Aide Timothy Waldron, along with Board of Finance members Laurene Pesce and Bill Lamoin. City Councilor Marie Soliani was absent. Arriving later in the meeting were Fleet Manager Emil Castro, Purchasing Agent Pennie Zucco, Parks and Recreation Superintendent Brett Simmons, and Public Works Director Gerald Rollett.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 6:07 p.m.
ADD TO AGENDA
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to add to the agenda.
PURCHASE COMPUTERS
Mr. Crowley said he wanted to order (20) replacement desktop computers and (24) 24" replacement monitors in keeping with his replacement policy. He said this is based on state contract pricing and the vendor is one he has dealt with a lot in this fiscal year. Mr. Crowley said this was budgeted for this fiscal year and that state contract prices are higher.
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to accept the IT Director's recommendation to purchase (20) replacement desktop computers and (24) 24" replacement monitors for $17,740 from The Ergonomic Group of Rocky Hill, CT.
MINUTES
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the Public Hearing held February 19, 2013, regarding the Right to Farm Ordinance. Councilor Samele abstained from the vote.
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the Public Hearing held February 19, 2013, regarding the City Hall as a Historic Property Ordinance. Councilor Samele abstained from the vote.
On a motion by Councilor Cogswell, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to accept
the minutes of the Regular Meeting held February 19, 2013. Councilor Samele abstained from the vote.
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the Special Meeting held March 5, 2013. Councilor Samele abstained from the vote.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
On a motion by Councilor Cogswell, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public. There was no one present who wished to speak.
TABLED: COE MEMORIAL pARK pHASE II
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Zordan, the Council voted unanimously to consider authorizing the Mayor to award a contract for Coe Memorial Park Phase II Bid #CMP-041-021313 and further authorize him to act on behalf of the City regarding the execution of the contract and its administration including approval of pay applications, having been approved by the Parks and Recreation Commission on March 4, 2013, and having been tabled by City Council on March 5, 2013.
Councilor Cogswell wondered if there was an issue and if it had been resolved. Mayor Bingham said the Parks and Recreation Commission approved the awarding of the contract to Millennium Builders. He said the Coe Memorial Park Committee was not able to make a recommendation because they didn't have a quorum at the joint meeting with the Parks & Recreation Commission.
Councilor Samele asked if the Coe Memorial Park Committee needed to make a recommendation and Mayor Bingham said no, because they are advisory in nature. Councilor Zordan added that the Council tabled it to allow any feedback to occur. Councilor Waldron asked if this should be addressed later in this meeting.
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to table this to later in the meeting.
VETERANS' MEMORIAL WALL FUND AGREEMENT
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to
authorize the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the Community Foundation of NW CT for the Torrington Veterans' Memorial Wall Fund.
Mayor Bingham explained this is the perpetual fund to take care of the Memorial Wall, and is an appropriate place to invest the fund and have it well taken care of. He said it is the intent of the Veterans' Memorial Wall Committee to branch out, further education, and create programmatic activities to benefit our community in relation to recognizing and honoring our Veterans from Torrington.
CITY HALL HEATING & COOLING
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to accept the Public Works Director's recommendation to waive the bid process and accept the February 21, 2013 proposal from VanZelm Engineers to continue assistance with the City Hall Heating and Cooling Project in the amount of $17,900 from Municipal Renovations Fund #0316.
Mayor Bingham explained there are some heating issues remaining in a few offices.
ELECTRICAL CONTRACT
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to accept the Purchasing Agent's recommendation to authorize the Mayor to extend the current electrical contract for FY 13/14 to Connole's Electric LLC of Torrington, with the same rates, terms and conditions in effect for this period.
CLEANING SVC – sTREET, RECREATION HALL & aRMORY
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to accept the Purchasing Agent's recommendation to authorize the Mayor to extend the current cleaning service contract for the Street Dept., Recreation Hall & Armory for FY 13/14 to Jani-King of Windsor Locks, CT at an annual cost of $30,996.
ADD SECTION B TO AGENDA
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Samele, the Council voted unanimously to add Section B to the agenda.
SMALL CITIES COMM. DEVEL. BLOCK GRANT
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to adopt the following resolution authorizing the Mayor to apply to the State for $400,000 in order to undertake a Small Cities Community Development Program and to execute an assistance agreement.
WHEREAS, Federal monies are available under the Connecticut Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program, administered by the State of Connecticut, Department of Economic and Community Development pursuant to Public Law 93 – 3 83, as amended; and,
WHEREAS, pursuant to Chapter 127c, and Part VI of Chapter 130 of the Connecticut General Statutes, the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development is authorized to disburse such Federal monies to local municipalities; and,
WHERAS, it is desirable and in the public interest that the City of Torrington make application to the State for $400,000 in order to undertake a Small Cities Community Development Program and to execute an Assistance Agreement therefore, should one be offered.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE City Council:
That it is cognizant of the conditions and prerequisites for State Assistance imposed by Part VI of Chapter 130 of The Connecticut General Statutes; and,
That the filing of an application by the City of Torrington in an amount not to exceed $400,000 is hereby approved, and that the Mayor is hereby authorized and directed to file such Application with the Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development, to provide such additional information, to execute such other documents as may be required by the Commissioner, to execute an Assistance Agreement with the State of Connecticut for State financial assistance if such an Agreement is offered, to execute any amendments, rescissions, and revisions thereto, to carry out approved activities and to act as the authorized representative of the City of Torrington. |
PURCHASE VEHICLE – Fleet Mgr.
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to accept the Fleet Manager's and Purchasing Agent's recommendation to purchase a 2012 Jeep Liberty from Imperial Chrysler Dodge Jeep of Milford, MA in the amount of $16,977.
Councilor Carbone asked if this take-home vehicle is a contractual obligation and Mayor Bingham confirmed that it is. Councilor Carbone regretted that the price is prohibitive for vehicles with greater fuel economy. Councilor Zordan said the Vehicle Replacement Advisory Board discussed that, and this is the lowest price vehicle with the highest gas mileage that could be found.
CITY HALL EMERGENCY PA SYSTEM & CAMERA UPGRADES
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Carbone, the Council voted unanimously to waive the bid process and accept the following proposals from SoundWorks & Security in the amount of $46,973.89 to install an Emergency Public Address System and Camera System Upgrades in City Hall with payment from MRC line item 0316.8888.5900.6194.
Estimate 2921, Emergency Notification PA System:~~~~~~~ $12,750.00 Estimate 2951, Revision Upgrade for PA System:~~~~~~~~~ $11,700.00 Estimate 2020, Camera Installation:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ $19,638.89 Estimate 2952,
Replace Existing Recorder:~~~~~~~~~~~~~ $ 2,885.00 |
Mayor Bingham explained the security systems in City Hall, School buildings and other public buildings are being evaluated in the wake of the Newtown tragedy. He said this proposal is the most prudent recommendation for City Hall and will include training for employees.
MUNICIPAL RENOVATIONS
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Zordan, the Council voted unanimously to approve a payment of $282.20 from Municipal Renovations Fund #316 to Staples for a mail room utility table.
SMALL CITIES SUBORDINATION
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Samele, the Council voted unanimously to approve the subordination of a Small Cities Loan to F. Corey, as recommended by the Small Cities Committee.
Councilor Waldron noted that the Small Cities Committee met and reviewed this subordination of a new mortgage. He said the City is keeping the same position for our two liens and the homeowner is just getting a lower rate. He added that there is plenty of equity.
BUILDING DEPT. REPORT
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Samele, the Council voted unanimously to accept the Building Department Report for February, 2013.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, AGENDA ITEMS ONLY
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Samele, 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 Samele, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by Department Heads. No business was presented.
COE MEMORIAL pARK pHASE II
On a motion by Councilor Carbone, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to authorize the Mayor to award a contract for Coe Memorial Park Phase II Bid #CMP-041-021313 and further authorize him to act on behalf of the City regarding the execution of the contract and its administration including approval of pay applications, having been approved by the Parks and Recreation Commission on March 4, 2013, and having been tabled by City Council on March 5, 2013.
Mr. Simmons said the Parks and Recreation Commission met on March 4th in a joint meeting with the Coe Memorial Park Committee, but there was no quorum from the latter. He said a presentation was made to the Parks and Recreation Commission on the research that was performed and the bids analysis. Mr. Simmons said the Parks and Recreation Commission chose to make a recommendation to award the contract to Millennium Builders, the lowest bidder of four. He said extra time was taken to thoroughly analyze the bids, review the contractor, and perform reference checks on all the subcontractors involved.
Mr. Simmons described the Phase II project saying it will entail work from the Civic Center back to the parking lot. He said it will encompass the entire parking lot, installing pavers in the parking lot, installing storm water management systems, extensive landscaping to complete major renovations in the park, installation of some site lighting, and an upgrade of the existing electrical panel.
PRESENTATION: LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Senator Witkos spoke about the governor's proposed budget. He reassured the Council that the proposed car tax can be classified as 'dead on arrival' as most legislators are not in favor of it. He noted that although our population remained fairly steady, inflation has gone up 98% and state spending has gone up 318% from 1987 to 2013. He said 40% of state revenue comes from income taxes, 20% from sales tax and another 18% comes from the federal government. This accounts for close to 80% of our state dollars, he said. The state expends
22% to fund education, 22% to fund social services, 11% to repay debt, 11% to fund corrections and judicial, and 11% to fund other post-employment benefits. He said you can see there isn't much room in the State budget.
Senator Witkos reported that this session has been affected by what took place in Newtown, and has been spending a lot of time on issues other than the budget.
He noted that the Governor's budget is just a footprint, and it’s the legislature that develops the budget and moves it forward. He said one particular proposal is harmful to towns in that it will prevent towns from rolling out devaluations over an extended period of time.
Representative Willis said this budget year is the most difficult she has experienced, with very few places for additional cuts, while costs and obligations have increased. She said their challenges include the contracted salary increases promised to state employees two years ago with the hope that the economy would get better.
Representative Willis said that aid to education has stayed, Town Aid Road has increased, and LOCIP money has stayed. She added that no one likes this budget and there are major problems that need to be fixed. Although no one likes the car tax, she said, phasing it out would create a 21 million dollar hole in the budget.
She said it's very hard to think about the budget and car tax while they haven't finished debating about what to do in the aftermath of Newtown. She added that another big issue is the hospital provider tax, which would create another 67 million dollars per year that would have to be fixed, if it were phased out. Representative Willis said that all of these things are problems that have been put on our shoulders to solve.
Representative Cook said there will be another $700,000 more in ECS funding, and there's a proposal for transportation cuts because the Governor is trying to promote regionalism. He wants municipalities and local Boards of Education to work on regionalizing their transportation costs, she said, and then apply for grants.
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Mayor Bingham noted that the State is not increasing aid to Education if it is also decreasing aid to municipalities because it's coming from the same pocket. He said if Pilot payments and Pequot/Mohegan dollars are eliminated, amounting to $234,000 and $275,000 respectively, and then Education dollars are increased by a similar amount, it’s a pass-through. Mayor Bingham said local property tax dollars have to be collected for what the State doesn't cover and there is a hold-harmless grant that keeps us at a level funding from last year. Mayor Bingham said to suggest there's an increase in Education aid is a misclassification.
He said he doesn't want people to think that there's an influx of money in Education when there's a direct cut in Municipal Aid at almost the exact same number.
Representative Willis said the legislators met with 19 towns before the session started. At that point we knew that things were very bleak and municipal aid was expected to be cut, she said, and the towns were asked what they could live with. The response was ECS, Town Aid Road and LOCIP.
Mayor Bingham said Torrington made a major change in how road improvements are funded because of the projected changes. He asked the legislators to remember to continue to fund Town Aid Road, LOCIP, and the hold-harmless grant which would amount to nearly $966,000, a considerable amount.
Senator Witkos said the judicial monies that come out of the municipal side and go into the education side are exempt the first year under MBR, but they are counted under the MBR any subsequent year. He said this will be a huge impact to municipalities unless they meet the MBR requirements.
Mayor Bingham said that, thankfully, the MBR isn't an issue here in Torrington as we've had slight increases in enrollment. Since he's been Mayor, we have not reduced funding to the Board of Education, he said, which would impact the MBR.
Senator Chapin reviewed the budget process, saying the Governor's budget serves as a blueprint for the Appropriations Committee. He said this year a lot of individual lines were consolidated into groups that were difficult to follow. This is not a transparent way to do business, he said.
The Appropriations Committee held hearings over the course of two weeks, and then broke up into subcommittees. We're in the process of getting additional information from the agencies, he said, and trying to decide whether we agree or disagree with the governor within each agency. Senator Chapin said the subcommittees will make recommendations to the Chairs of Appropriations within the next two weeks. He said that sometime in the next four weeks, the Appropriations Committee will probably vote a budget out of Committee, and it will then be negotiated by the Governor and the legislative leadership.
Senator Chapin said he's not sure that the Governor has broad support eliminating the State Property Pilot program or the Piquot grant. He said he opposed the elimination of the municipal revenue sharing account two years ago because the money comes from a portion of the increase in sales tax, the luxury tax and conveyance tax. He asked for a break down of what each municipality has contributed to that fund and how much they are getting back, but never received concrete numbers. Senator Chapin said that now, two years later, the Governor is proposing to eliminate it. That's the one fund that has the greatest chance of disappearing, he said.
Senator Chapin said he hopes the budget will be done by June 30th.
Representative Case reported that the Governor said we're going to be living within our means and then issued a budget with a 9% increase. He noted that Torrington has a good contingency of people working for the betterment of Torrington and their other towns. They are fighting against much larger municipalities that want bigger dollars. The governor increased Town Aid Road money to 60 million dollars which will accrue 27.8 million dollars in interest over 20 years at 5%. Representative Case said we're financing our future and definitely not living within our means.
He said he has worked on Education Appropriations and is learning how those numbers are actually put together, especially with the MBR, to make sure it's fair and equitable across the board. He said they are trying to figure out where every dollar is, and when the Governor suggested 1.5 billion dollars be put into UConn, they asked about UConn Torrington.
Representative Case said it might be premature to talk about the budget while working on it, but it's important that constituents know where they stand and what's being done in Hartford. He noted that it's important to get the numbers to the towns early enough for them to create their budgets.
Mayor Bingham asked if there is any news on the future Torrington Courthouse. Representative Case said he's still waiting for answer. Representative Willis said it's in the design phase and she is hoping it will break ground in 2013.
Senator Chapin said there has been some discussion on equalizing the car mill rate and the discussion continues.
Mayor Bingham cautioned that the State may end up collecting the property tax and redistributing it. He said he gets nervous when proposals interfere with very important pieces of revenue especially during these difficult financial times. He noted that in the budget meeting held prior to this meeting, City Council cut close to $350,000 just from seven or eight departments. Senator Witkos reassured him that out of 4,000 or 4,500 proposed bills, perhaps 300 make it through the pipeline.
Representative Cook said she asked local leaders back in January to come up with four or five grants that they could do without. She said no one responded, so it's difficult to figure out how to balance the budget if municipalities continue to ask for money for special interest projects. Mayor Bingham replied that Torrington cannot do without anything received over the last few years as general revenue that will be moved over into capital. He said that it is critically important that those funds remain, because the State is burdening local property taxpayers to cover deficits that the State has created. He added that he is not here to do the legislators' job and they have to make difficult decisions as we do. He said there are a lot of grants that get doled out to municipalities, nonprofits, private
organizations and businesses that, from our perspective, probably could be cut.
Mayor Bingham stressed that any cuts to municipalities equate to an increase in property taxes, or form a reduction in service.
Representative Cook commended the High School Band, and noted that Torrington has been recognized for the 13th year in a row for being in the top 100 musical districts.
Senator Witkos said in closing that the five Legislators are working together to come up with the best public policy and budget that can be delivered to our residents. He noted that when a person reaches out to one of them, they have the attention of all five. He urged everyone to keep the lines of communication open.
Mayor Bingham said that, during his time here, as a group, they have been very responsive to Torrington's needs. We appreciate your efforts, he said.
BUSINESS BY MAYOR AND COUNCIL
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by the Mayor and members of the City Council. No business was presented.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Councilor Zordan, seconded by Councilor Waldron, the Council voted unanimously to adjourn at 7:10 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
Respectfully Submitted,
Carol L. Anderson, CCTC
Asst. City Clerk
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