CORRECTED MINUTES
BOARD OF FINANCE
MARCH 20, 2012
A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Finance was held in the City Hall Auditorium on Tuesday, March 20, 2012.
Present were Mayor Ryan Bingham, Corporation Counsel Ernestine Yuille Weaver, Board of Finance members William Lamoin, Thomas Scoville, Laurene Pesce, Brian Paganini, Mark Bushka, Administrative Assistant to the Mayor Timothy Waldron, City Clerk Joseph Quartiero , Comptroller Alice Proulx, City Planner Martin Connor, Fleet Manager Emil Castro, Superintendent of Parks & Recreation Brett Simmons, Building Official Brett Zuraitis, and Gene Farley. Member Wendy Traub was absent.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
MINUTES
On a motion by Mrs. Pesce, seconded by Mr. Paganini, the Board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held February 21, 2012.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
On a motion by Mr. Scoville, seconded by Mr. Paganini, the Board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public. There was no one wishing to speak.
CITY OF TORRINGTON CODE OF ORDINANCES
On a motion by Mrs. Pesce, seconded by Mr. Scoville, the Board voted unanimously to support the proposed Conceptual Changes with respect in particular to the special assessment and refer to the City Council for further consideration. Building Official Brett Zuraitis explained that a Committee was formed to make revisions to the Blight Ordinance presently in place. A General Statute was amended in the previous year to allow for remediation and entry on to the property. The reason this is before the Board of Finance is part of the recommendation is financial. The cost of what it would take to enforce code on properties that are difficult or have taken years to come to some resolution. What the ordinance would do is to provide for the City to recoup money that is spent on code
enforcement. The person will have a number of times to correct the issues before this is put into place; will have plenty of due process to go before the boards, go before a hearing, and finally go before the City Council before this is enacted. The funds collected will be put into a separate account, account used to make corrections on blighted properties. Mayor Bingham said the money has been used in the past for a one-day cleanup or pay for a dumpster to have the property owner use. City Planner Martin Connor commented this is just another tool in the toolbox to try and get properties cleaned up. This is an extreme one; one that would only be used only after going through every other hurdle to try and get folks to cooperate.
PARKS & RECREATION 1997 C9700H HOLDER
On a motion by Mr. Paganini, seconded by Mr. Bushka, the Board voted unanimously 4/1 to approve the recommendation of Parks and Recreation Superintendent Brett Simmons intention to retain the 1997 C9700H Holder to continue to use for park operations. Mr. Lamoin was opposed. Mayor Bingham noted this is coming before the Board because it's a change in the Vehicle Replacement Plan. It was approved by the City Council for not only the retention of the current holder for life, as well as a new holder. Parks & Recreation Supervisor Brett Simmons noted that one of their biggest concerns is during the winter months, doing the sidewalks and having a backup unit if there are mechanical problems. To purchase two holders at the price that they sell at isn't feasible. With the
amount of area they have to cover throughout the City, the Holder is able to move relatively quickly from one spot to the other. Felt a great opportunity to retain the existing holder and purchase a new one at a lower price than had budgeted for. Even though the unit has high mileage, Fleet Manager Emil Castro stated that the unit they are proposing to retain has a new drive unit, the engine is solid, new tires, he feels he can get another 2 years of hard work out of it.
BUSINESS: MAYOR & BOARD MEMBERS
On a motion by Mr. Scoville, seconded by Mr. Bushka, the Board voted unanimously to consider business by the Mayor and the Board of Finance. Member Lamoin commented we need to apply common sense when it comes time to buy things, we have all this money now we can go spend it and it not affecting our day-to-day budget, because in the end it does.
Mr. Scoville asked if there was a change in the fund balance calculation.
Comptroller Alice Proulx said in the past when questions would come up for the fund balance we would refer to the Budgetary Fund Balance now everyone is using the Gap Fund Balance which includes all of the liabilities for the teacher summer payroll, for the early retirement, all of those other liabilities which bring your Fund Balance down in comparison to what your Budgetary Fund Balance was. Mayor Bingham informed the members that the City Council voted on Monday to switch insurance administrators from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to Cigna. He encouraged the board to go through the City Council Minutes. If there are any questions that he or Alice can't answer he can put you in touch with Joe Spurgeon from Lindberg & Ripple.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Mr. Bushka, seconded by Mr. Scoville, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn at 5:36 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
Respectfully Submitted,
Maurette M. Wall
Recording Secretary
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