MINUTES
PUBLIC HEARINGS AND REGULAR MEETING
CITY COUNCIL & WPC AUTHORITY
May 19, 2014
A PUBLIC HEARING was held by the City Council & WPC Authority in the City Hall Auditorium on Monday, May 19, 2014 to solicit citizen input regarding the sewer use charge for the year beginning July 1, 2014 and ending June 30, 2015.
Those in attendance included Mayor Elinor Carbone, Corporation Counsel Raymond Rigat, City Councilors Christopher Anderson, Paul Cavagnero, Gregg Cogswell, and Drake Waldron. City Councilors Anne Ruwet and Paul Samele were absent. Public Works Director Gerald Rollett, WPCA Administrator Ray Drew, Purchasing Agent Pennie Zucco, City Clerk Joseph Quartiero, and Fire Chief Gary Brunoli were also present.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, Mayor Carbone called for a moment of silence to remember Millie Waldron, Registrar of Voters for 37 years, who passed away on May 18th.
Mayor Carbone called the public hearing to order at 6:37 p.m. City Clerk Joseph Quartiero read the legal notice.
After introducing Treatment Plant Operator Edward Tousey, Mr. Drew said in consideration of projected deficits and the need for continued infrastructure improvements, he is recommending a residential sewer use charge of $202 per dwelling unit and $202.00 per 65,000 gallons of volume of flow for all other users.
There was no one present who wished to speak. Mayor Carbone closed the Sewer Use Charge public hearing at 6:41 p.m.
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A PUBLIC HEARING was held by the City Council & WPC Authority in the City Hall Auditorium on Monday, May 19, 2014 to review and discuss proposals for participation in the 2014 Neighborhood Assistance Act.
Mayor Carbone called the public hearing to order at 6:41 p.m. City Clerk Joseph Quartiero read the legal notice.
There was no one present who wished to speak. Mayor Carbone closed the Neighborhood Assistance Act public hearing at 6:43 p.m.
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A REGULAR MEETING was held by the City Council & WPC Authority in the City Hall Auditorium on Monday, May 19, 2014.
Mayor Carbone called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m.
2014 NEIGHBORHOOD ASSISTANCE ACT
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Board of Councilmen voted unanimously, by roll call vote, to accept the proposals presented for participation in the 2014 Neighborhood Assistance Act.
WPCA SEWER USER FEE
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Board of Councilmen voted unanimously, by roll call vote, to accept the recommendation of the WPCA Administrator and set the sewer use fee for the year beginning July 1, 2014 and ending June 30, 2015 as follows:
For Residential Users: $202.00 per dwelling unit
For All Other Users: $202.00 per 65,000 gallons of volume of flow.
WPCA BUDGET
Herein acting as the Water Pollution Control Authority, on a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Anderson, the Board of Councilmen voted unanimously to approve WPCA Budget for year beginning July 1, 2014 and ending June 30, 2015.
WPCA MISC. FEE SCHEDULE
Herein acting as the Water Pollution Control Authority, on a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Anderson, the Board of Councilmen voted unanimously to approve the WPCA Miscellaneous Fee Schedule for year beginning July 1, 2014 and ending June 30, 2015.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Anderson, the Council voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public.
Mr. Ed Arum spoke on behalf of the Turf Committee, updating the Council on where the project stands.
Ms. Donna Winn asked the Council to save the Recreation Director position for the City, suggesting a review of City expenditures to eliminate all unnecessary costs before cutting the jobs.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Continued
Mr. Casey McKenna and Mr. J. Timothy Quirk spoke against the elimination of the Recreation Director’s job. Mr. Quirk said Ms. Winn is a valuable asset to the City, urging the Council to reconsider eliminating her position.
LANDFILL SOLAR PROJECT
Mr. Rollett reminded Council of their September resolution to participate in the CCM Energy Program with an attempt to place a solar project at our City landfill. He said he would like to see this project go forward.
Mr. Andy Merola of CT Conference of Municipalities explained the competitive process to select a provider for a solar field to be located at the landfill, and spoke in favor of the selected bidder, True Green of Westport, CT. Mr. Merola described the virtual net metered project’s exportation of power to the grid offering net metering credits back to the City. He said there is a sharing relationship between the solar developer and the City, providing a financial benefit to both.
Mr. Alan Benevides from Woodward and Curran said True Green has done 25 megawatts worth of projects throughout the Northeast and Torrington’s project will be about 1.3 megawatts. He listed his experience in this field and explained each of the three steps involved in the process including the 1) Concept Plan 2) Permit Level Plan and 3) Construction Level Plan. Mr. Benevides described the solar arrays and their installation.
Mr. Rollett said final negotiations should be completed this week with results presented at the next Council meeting. If the prices don’t work, he said, the project won’t go forward. Mr. Rollett explained that the project generates electricity through solar cells, and we will buy our electricity at a reduced rate with a guaranteed minimum savings.
PURCHASE VEHICLE - WPCA
Acting herein as the Water Pollution Control Authority, on a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to accept the recommendation of the WPC Administrator, Purchasing Agent, and Fleet Manager to waive technicalities and purchase a 2014 4x4 Jeep Patriot Latitude from Central Chrysler Jeep Dodge for the base price of $21,484.00 plus options A & B for $496.00 for a total price of $21,980.00.
PURCHASE VEHICLE - WPCA
Councilor Waldron asked what the technicalities were and Mr. Drew explained that they waived the requirement for the service manuals on a CD when it was realized that the Fleet Manager already has access to them.
THS TURF COMMITTEE PRESENTATION
Mr. Arum reported that they received an offer of a $27,000 bridge loan from Torrington Youth Soccer and an offer of a $20,000 scoreboard from the Kathleen Aeschliman Scholarship Fund. He said the chosen contractor offered value engineering worth $209,700. These three items would bring the cost to $2,545,000, leaving $113,015 which would be used as a 4.1% contingency if needed.
Mayor Carbone said that the City received a 2.7 million dollar grant to complete the THS Athletic Fields project. Mr. Arum added that of the four bidders, the low bid was $2,775,000. Mayor Carbone said that, in addition, there is the cost of the consulting services of $65,000, the $4,000 for boring tests, an $8,750 survey and a legal notice for $375 equaling $78,685. She said the total project cost to date without the value engineering is $2,852,750, and the Turf Committee is proposing value engineering to bring the project costs below the grant amount.
Mr. Mario Longobucco and Mr. Arum listed the value engineering items including different lights, lighting control reduction, track blacktop reclamation, and the elimination of fencing and sports netting.
Mayor Carbone asked if the other bidders were informed of the value engineering options, and Mr. Longobucco replied that the Committee members were told to refrain from contacting contractors unless the grant amount was higher than the bid amounts. He added that should a decision be made on this project tonight, the project could be 80% to 90% completed while school is out of session. Mr. Longobucco noted that the track is not functioning at all and, with sewer grates and manholes, is not fit for competition. He said if the project were rebid, Bidder #3 and #4 wouldn’t rebid because their price is out of whack and Bidder #2 doesn’t qualify. He said accepting this bid is the safest route to protect the City’s interest. Mr. Arum added that the project will bring the field and grandstand
into ADA compliance.
Atty. Rigat noted that the committee can either accept the low bid if that’s the best bid, or put it out to
rebid. He said he does not think asking individual bidders to change the project is the preferred method to solve the problem. Mr. Longobucco compared this to waiving technicalities on the purchase of a jeep. Atty. Rigat replied that the practices and procedures of the Purchasing Department need to be followed. He said these are not technicalities but rather significant changes to the original bid.
Mr. Arum said that in every specification, the City states that if there are budgetary problems because it is overbid, the City can negotiate and have a technicality. He said that specifications also state that we reserve the right to technicalities.
Atty. Rigat said the Turf Committee is not taking his opinion. He said the right way to do it is the way the Purchasing Agent wants it to be done, to send it out and rebid it.
Representative Cook said she requested an additional allocation of funds. She said this project was not supposed to be filled with opposition, but something to bring a great facility forward.
Mayor Carbone clarified that this presentation is a request for Council to approve the low bidder. She summarized the discussion saying that between the grant of 2.737 million, the gift from the
Aeschliman family, a letter from the State of CT, and a bridge loan from the Youth Soccer League there will be sufficient funds to meet that low bid plus the soft costs. Mayor Carbone said that even excluding
any discussion about the value engineering or whether or not it’s appropriate, based on the funding sources represented here and Mr. Arum finished her sentence saying we meet the requirements.
ADD TO AGENDA
On a motion by Councilor Cavagnero, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to add to the agenda.
THS TRACK & FIELD RENOVATION PROJECT
On a motion by Councilor Cavagnero, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to award bid #TFR-295-041614 to H.I. Stone & Son, Inc. of Southbury, CT in the amount of $2,775,000.
THS TURF COMMITTEE
On a motion by Councilor Cogswell, seconded by Councilor Anderson, the Council voted 3 to 1, with Councilor Cogswell opposed, to accept the Mayor’s appointment of Andrew Nargi as the Board of Education representative on the THS Turf Committee. Councilor Cogswell said he opposes this because the Board Chair or Vice Chair should still be serving on this committee and representing the Board.
PURCHASE ROADWAY WORK & MATERIALS
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cavagnero, the Council voted unanimously to waive the bid process and accept the State and Regional Bids for roadway work and materials for the fiscal year 2014-2015 based on the State and Regional Contracts listed in Mr. Rollett’s Memorandum regarding State/Regional Bids Acceptance dated May 13, 2014. Addendum 1
BUILDING DEPT. REPORT
On a motion by Councilor Cavagnero, seconded by Councilor Anderson, the Council voted unanimously to accept the Building Dept. Report for April, 2014.
BUSINESS BY DEPT. HEADS
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by Department Heads. No business was presented.
BUSINESS BY MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Anderson, the Council voted unanimously to consider business presented by the Mayor and members of the City Council.
Councilor Anderson offered his condolences to Councilor Waldron.
Councilor Waldron thanked everyone for their support.
Mayor Carbone added her condolences and expressed her deep appreciation to Councilor Waldron for showing up at Council meetings despite the family strife, saying it was remarkable by any standard. Mayor Carbone thanked Jen Plasky of Seasons of Growth, and all those who assisted, for planting the center islands on Main St. She reminded the Council of the parade on Monday and reported that she will be bringing proposed budget cuts back to the Council to meet the $308,000 budget cut made by the Board of Finance. Mayor Carbone announced an upcoming Energy Forum on Thursday evening.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Cogswell, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
Respectfully Submitted,
Carol L. Anderson, CMC
Asst. City Clerk
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