Torrington Blue Ribbon Commission
Minutes of Meeting
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Torrington City Hall, 5 PM Office of the Mayor
Members Present: Mayor Bingham, Elinor Carbone, Ed Cook, Ken Traub, Lorel Purcell, Mike Clark; also present advisors: School Superintendent Chris Leone, Mayoral Aide Stephen Nocera, and Jim Potter
- The meeting was opened at 5 PM on a motion by Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Carbone.
- Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of 04.11.11 was made on a motion by Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Carbone and unanimously approved by the commission.
- Members updated their BRC assigned tasks and schedule concurrence:
Line Item #1120
Mr. Traub stated that investigation of 159 Field Street as a site for relocation of Board of Education Offices and possible establishment of an alternative school was on target and that the BOE was waiting results of environmental tests before determining their next steps.
Line Item #1090
Mayor Bingham stated that an announcement would be made within the next two weeks regarding consolidation of BOE and City IT functions. He stated that increased efficiency for both the City and BOE would result from a merger of IT resources.
Line Item #1010 No Change
Line Item #1040 No Change
Line Item # 1020
Ms. Purcell stated that she had scheduled a meeting with the BOE business manager, City purchasing agent and her assistant, BOE facilities manager and BRC task group members Mr. Traub and Mr. Clark for Thursday, May 5th.
Line Item #1080
Mayor Bingham stated that Jim Potter, a member of the Board of Safety, would be an advisor to the task group, and that Ms. Carbone would function as an additional task group member studying cooperative purchasing among the City paid and volunteer fire companies. Mayor Bingham stated that the Litchfield hills Council of Elected Officials was also interested in sharing purchasing of large expenditures with Torrington.
Line Item # 1190 No Change
Line Item #1160
Mr. Clark stated that a rough draft of a recommendation concerning landlord fees had been furnished to BRC members and some City department heads for their comments. He stated that a revised draft would be completed incorporating their responses, and would be resubmitted to the BRC and advisor’s for their further review. Mr. Clark stated that he and the task group would meet with interested landlords prior to submitting a final recommendation to the Mayor. Mr. Clark stated that there were complex issues involved with formulating a recommendation and that a final submission to the Mayor would not occur in less than four weeks.
Line Item #1200
The Mayor indicated that the City Hall Vehicle Use Recommendation was likely to be implemented in the near future with minor modifications. Ms. Purcell stated that she did not feel qualified to assess efficiency of heavy vehicle use; Mr. Traub volunteered to assist in that task due to his owning/operating similar equipment in his own business.
Line Item #1000 No Change
Line Item #1110 No Change
Line Item #1050 No Change
Line Item #1140 No Change
Line Item #1130
Mayor Bingham stated that Public Works and Engineering are continuing to research cost programming options; there should be an update at the next meeting.
- Mayor Bingham stated that the City was continuing to work for no mill rate increase and stated that it appeared promising that the goal would be met. He stated that the outcome of continued negotiations at the State level could greatly influence Torrington’s budget.
- There was no Other Business.
- The meeting was adjourned at 6:25 PM on a motion from Mr. Traub, seconded by Mr. Cook and unanimously approved by the commission.
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