Town of Willington
BOARD OF SELECTMEN ° 40 OLD FARMS ROAD ° WILLINGTON, CONNECTICUT 06279 ° (860) 487-3100 ° FAX (860) 487-3103
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
REGULAR MEETING JAN 22, 2002
TOWN OFFICE BUILDING 6:30 P. M.
First Selectman Patton called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. with the following in attendance: Selectmen Eldredge & Lewis, J. Blessington, D. Ennis, L. Hisey, R. Hisey, P. Latincsics, J. Philippi and reporter from the Chronicle.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
SELECTMAN LEWIS MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF 1/7/02.
Selectman Eldredge seconded the motion.
VOTE: 3 YES (PATTON, ELDREDGE & LEWIS) 0 NO
PRESENT TO SPEAK
D. Ennis commented that he would give First Selectman Patton the letter regarding the nuisance ordinance
in time for the next meeting.
CORRESPONDENCE
A list of correspondence was available at the meeting and in the Selectman’s office. First Selectman Patton commented that he received a letter from Windham Hospital requesting reimbursement for Para-medic services, $6.93 per capita, about $42,000 per year. Right now we pay $150 when we need the Para-medics. We use the service approximately 3 times a month. First Selectman Patton will ask our ambulance service about this.
RECREATION DEPARTMENT
First Selectman Patton commented that we never withdrew the old Recreation Commission Ordinance, if need be we can just appoint members. Glenn Smith asked if they were sure they wanted to do that because it does not work. Selectman Lewis commented that he has given a lot of thought to it, the problem is we must have a direct layer in between. The Recreation Commission would take care of that. G. Smith commented that the First Selectman is for that. Selectman Lewis commented that Mike is the director. Glenn commented that Mike said he would step down. Selectman Eldredge commented that you could appoint Glenn as the Director and him as the assistant. First Selectman Patton commented that there is the financial issue. Selectman Eldredge commented that he charges 8 hours
to Recreation a week, Glenn works 29 hours. He would suggest reducing his salary of $15.37 to Glenn’s $11.83, a difference of $3.54 an hour. Glenn commented that he is not asking for the difference. Selectman Eldredge commented that if you reduce his salary and give the $1.00 to Glenn, he would be below Glenn in pay, at the assistant’s rate. Glenn commented that it would not affect the money in the budget; he would rather lose $3.50 than have a Recreation Commission. First Selectman Patton commented that he is confused as to why a Recreation Commission would be a bad idea. G. Smith commented that they are looking out for themselves or their children; you will have a number of people interested in one item only.
REGULAR MEETING -2- JAN 22, 2002
Joe Philippi commented that he is cutting the townspeople short. G. Smith commented that we have a hard time getting people to the River Road Recreation Committee. Selectman Eldredge commented that he would not mind an advisory committee or a year from now having a Recreation Commission. G. Smith commented that he gets input from the townspeople, some things are good and some are impossible to do with the budget. R. Hise asked if the Board is trying to change the Recreation Department and Selectman Eldredge commented that no, they are trying to put a buffer between the First Selectman and me because of F.O.I. concerns. R. Hise commented that he does not believe that M. Eldredge or J. Patton should be voting on this issue, he believes that they both have conflicts as far as the Recreation
Dept. goes. Mr. Hise distributed a letter regarding this. P. Latincsics asked the Board if they are suggesting that there is a conflict of interest with Mike being the Director of Recreation. Selectman Lewis commented that it is a problem we are trying to straighten out so we are legal. Mike can’t be his own boss; we are trying to create a situation where it is no longer a conflict. First Selectman Patton commented that he is having a difficult time seeing how having a Recreation Commission and the input of the townspeople is a bad idea, it would not diminish what the Recreation Department does. Selectman Eldredge commented that then we would have to live within the budget to try to handle as much input as possible. The chain of command would be the Commission controls the Recreation Dept. activities. First Selectman Patton commented that the Commission would set policy and solve problems; they would give the department input on
programs and oversee the budget. This was brought up 2 years ago but nothing was done.
Selectman Eldredge commented that it would be the Commission, the Director and Assistant Director. The Director and Assistant would run the daily program and the Commission gathers information. First Selectman Patton commented that it is like the Superintendent and the Board of Education. The Board of Education is there to set policy, to oversee, to hear from the public, that is what the Recreation Commission would do. First Selectman Patton commented that he would like to see people from baseball; soccer, junior league, etc. get together with Recreation and help deal with issues. Selectman Eldredge asked if that would satisfy F.O.I. First Selectman Patton commented that yes, it would be cleaner; the Recreation Commission has more authority. D. Ennis asked if the ordinance is on
the books? First Selectman Patton said yes, we will look at it and discuss this again at the next meeting. It will not be a huge departure from what we have. Selectman Eldredge commented that he is concerned that we can live with the Commission and the budget. First Selectman Patton commented that it will not change the program; it is not going backwards, it will bring different facets of the Town together.
It is not a bad thing, I’m sorry it seems to be taken that way. It can solve a couple of problems and allow people to have input. G. Smith asked how many members would be on the Commission. First Selectman Patton commented that we have to check the ordinance. Selectman Eldredge commented that we will look for people.
SAFETY COMMITTEE
Selectman Lewis commented that he received the information from CIRMA; he will set up a meeting soon. He will get together with Wes Beebe and Ron Strong. Selectman Lewis talked to E. D’Agata, Chairman of the Board of Education, they may have their own committee. The committee must meet 4 times a year. We will need someone from the Town Office Building. Selectman Eldredge commented that Jeff Semmelrock is the safety officer for the union.
APPOINTMENTS
FIRST SELECTMAN PATTON MOVED TO RE-APPOINT VALERIE PELLETIER AS A REGULAR MEMBER OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION, TERM EFFECTIVE 1/01/02 TO 1/1/07.
Selectman Eldredge seconded the motion.
VOTE: 3 YES (PATTON, ELDREDGE & LEWIS) 0 NO
REGULAR MEETING -3- JAN 22, 2002
TAX REFUND
SELECTMAN LEWIS MOVED TO APPROVE A TAX REFUND OF $107.06 TO CHRYSLER FINANCIAL CO.
Selectman Eldredge seconded the motion.
VOTE: 3 YES (PATTON, ELDREDGE & LEWIS) 0 NO
PUBLIC WORKS
First Selectman Patton commented that we have been hit by storms every other day and the road crew is dealing with it. We have received many compliments on the snow removal. Selectman Eldredge commented that they are doing an excellent job. Selectman Lewis commented that they do a very good job, other towns are not as good. Selectman Eldredge asked if we are seriously considering extending Mirtl Road. First Selectman Patton commented that the gentleman signed a permission slip for a P.M. high school bus to turn around in his driveway. Selectman Eldredge commented that he would consider extending the road. First Selectman Patton commented that we need to talk to the people on the road and then have a public hearing but we need to know the status of the road. We can run into the
same issues as Hockla Farms Road. Selectman Eldredge asked if a road is not closed or abandoned is the Town responsible for it? First Selectman Patton commented that it depends, it is fact driven who is responsible for the road. We need to do an inventory of all roads and abandon some but that takes away the publics rights. If you do not do that you can be open to big liability. We will have to look at Mirtl Road, we need to have Karl Acimovic, the Town Engineer, do some surveying there. First Selectman Patton commented that an ongoing issue is speeding and speed bumps, he would like to form a committee to evaluate the need to put speed bumps in Town. We have a lot of requests for them. First Selectman Patton asked Selectman Eldredge to head up a committee to look at that and other forms of speed control like radar. Selectman Eldredge commented that he has heard good things about speed bumps. Selectman Lewis suggested
looking at stop signs also. First Selectman Patton commented that he would put together a charge for the next meeting.
275TH ANNIVERSARY
First Selectman Patton commented that the 275th anniversary of Willington is this year. We need to form a committee to get a celebration ready. Maybe on Willington Day or at the Flea Market. Anyone with names of people for the committee please let him know. He will try to have the committee by the next meeting.
SET DATE FOR PUBLIC HEARING
First Selectman Patton commented that the Public Hearing is concerning the lease/purchase of 2 fire trucks,
a replacement tanker for Willington Hill Fire Dept. and a replacement of the service truck for Willington Fire Dept. #1. They are in the CIP to be replaced, the tanker is approximately $235,000 and the service truck, is about $335,000 for a total of $570,000. One of the selling points of a lease is that it is not considered a debt, so you don’t have all the bond cost and legal cost. We want to go to Public Hearing to let people know what we are doing. Each department specked out the trucks. The annual payment would be about $72,000 a year; most of the payment would come out of the emergency services fund. It would be a $1.00 buy out.
FIRST SELECTMAN PATTON MOVED TO CALL A PUBLIC HEARING FOR FEBRUARY 6, 2002 AT 7:00 P.M. AT THE TOWN HALL FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISCUSSING THE LEASE/PURCHASE OF TWO FIRE TRUCKS FOR THE WILLINGTON FIRE DEPARTMENTS.
Selectman Lewis seconded the motion.
VOTE: 3 YES (PATTON, ELDREDGE & LEWIS) 0 NO
REGULAR MEETING -4- JAN 22, 2002
GOOD & WELFARE
Selectman Lewis commented that he was wondering why the Board of Selectmen’s meetings do not start with the Pledge of Allegiance, he recommends that we do that.
SELECTMAN LEWIS MOVED THAT WE ADD THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AS A STANDARD ITEM OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN’S MEETINGS
First Selectman Patton seconded the motion.
VOTE: 3 YES (PATTON, ELDREDGE & LEWIS) 0 NO
First Selectman Patton commented that he hopes everyone will attend the kickoff meeting of the Plan of Conservation and Development’s Study Circles. It is Thursday, Jan. 24th at 7:00 P.M. at the Willington Hill Fire Department.
SELECTMAN LEWIS MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 7:44 P.M.
Selectman Eldredge seconded the motion.
VOTE: 3 YES (PATTON, ELDREDGE & LEWIS) 0 NO
Respectfully submitted
Mary Bowen
Mary Bowen
Secretary
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