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Board of Selectmen Minutes 01/19/2010
Town of Willington
BOARD OF SELECTMEN • 40 OLD FARMS ROAD • WILLINGTON, CONNECTICUT 06279 • (860) 487-3100 • FAX (860) 487-3103

BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Meeting Minutes

Regular Meeting                                                                         January 19, 2010
Common Room upper level                                                         6:30 P.M.

First Selectman Mailhos called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. with the following in attendance:  Selectmen Millix & Blessington and residents.  First Selectman Mailhos led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Approval of Minutes:

Selectman Blessington motioned to approve the minutes of January 4, 2010 at 5:30 P.M. as written.
Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote:  3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington)    0  No.

First Selectman Mailhos requested an edit to the January 4, 6:30 P.M. minutes:
Under present to speak, 3rd line from bottom – the word ‘Council’ should be spelt Counsel.
Selectman Blessington added changes to the following typos:  under old business:
8th line down, the word ‘precedence’ – should be precedent; the word ‘Constitute’ should be constituents.  Selectman Blessington motioned to approve the minutes of January 4, 2010 as amended.
Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote:  3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington)    0  No.

Selectman Millix motioned to approve the minutes of January 12, 2010 at 1:30
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote:  3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington)   0 No.

Selectman Blessington motioned to approve the minutes of the joint meeting between the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and Board of Education from December 1, 2009.
Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote:  3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington)    0  No

Present to Speak:

John Patton addressed the FOIA case. This case was thrown out by the judge at the bench.  He said, “As a taxpayer, I question why, in court, the Town's Attorney says he was never representing the Town.
Why did we pay over $10,000 to a firm that says they were not representing us? As I said over two years ago, this is why Eldredge should have never been allowed to hire his personal Attorney; who also happens to be Selectman Blessington's personal Attorney as the Town Attorney. At the time, I was told I was “just causing trouble.”
This Board said to cease the legal action against the State of Connecticut, Mr. Blessington disagreed and lo and behold, the “Town” Attorney did not stop.~ Which master is Murtha Cullina serving?  This goes beyond conflict of interest and it is beginning to look very shady. This practice has cost the town a lot of money.~ Unfortunately, it will cause the town to spend additional funds that it didn't have to spend. Were the Town’s law firm representing the


individuals or the Town's interests – the Town Attorney was pretty sure in court but not clear when they were sending the bill to be paid.”

Correspondence:
A list of correspondence was available at the meeting and in the Selectman’s office.  Selectman Blessington asked to see the correspondence from Howd & Ludorf.  Robin Campbell will get him a copy of that.

First Selectman Status Report

First Selectman Mailhos went down the list of the report, and gave the status of the following:

The Facilities Feasibility Study is still in the works. Kaestle Boos is waiting for WHFD to submit their assessments for this project.

The River Road Recreation Complex – First Selectman Mailhos has been in contact with Attorney Harrington, who will be setting up a meeting with the Labor Board to discuss the prevailing wage questions for the project. The date is to be determined.

Low income home improvements grant is underway. A meeting was held last week with the consultant and we had all of the administrative details arranged.  Robin will be sending out letters with applications to those who have expressed interest.

Senator Tony Gugliemo had met with First Selectman Mailhos last Wednesday and has called OPM to see if we could expedite the Grant for Energy Efficiency.  We have been told that we should hear something by February.

Senior Housing Phase 3 – Senior Housing Cottages:  The Housing Authority will be on the agenda at the Board of Finance meeting on Thursday to request to transfer funds from one line item to another to cover the cost of the consultant, who will then be able to find more grant money to move forward with the projects.

Water system treatment part is on order for the Senior Center.  Once the part comes in, the problem should be fixed.  

Turnpike Road Extension – Lynn called to get an extension on the FEMA Grant.  The project should have been completed on March 30, 2010.  First Selectman Mailhos will also send a letter to formally request an extension.

A Board of Selectman’s Budget Workshop will be on January 25.

Probate court planning – There was a meeting last week between all Towns involved in Probate Court.  They will reconvene next week.  A decision will need to be made for budget planning reasons. Our courts are all merging as of next January.  This could save the Town some money in the long run.

Help Wanted:  The Public Works Secretary has been hired; the Treasurer has been appointed and the new Building Official will be officially appointed later on in the meeting.  As of right now, the Town has no other openings.

At the pump station, we are looking to get back some money from CL&P, who is now reviewing the claim as damage was caused by an electrical surge.  They (CL&P) are aware of it, and will get back to us on the status.

First Selectman Mailhos also added that she had met with Ken Schoppmann and representatives of both Fire Departments and went over their contracts. Ken has asked to run the contracts through the Town Attorney to make sure we are not missing anything.  The Attorney will send back some recommendations.

Public Works:

Lynn was excused from the meeting tonight, as she and her crew were plowing late.   Lynn reported that the snow budget is coming in OK, however we have not had that many storms as of yet, the ones we have had have happened during the weekends, which is a greater expense.

Old business

A. Report on outcome of FOIA Appeal

First Selectman Mailhos said at first she wasn’t sure if she should include this as an agenda item because the Town has removed itself from the legal proceedings, but she has had so many people ask about this case, she would like to have it on record.

She attended the proceedings to see for herself the outcome.   After the Board of Selectmen had approved the motion to cease any further legal action against the State of Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission; First Selectman Mailhos communicated the motion to the Town Attorney and also confirmed that the Town would not incur any further expense regarding the appeal.  She confirmed that the Town has not incurred any additional expenses, however the Town Attorney did continue with the appeal representing Mr. Eldredge and Mr. Palmer as individuals on a pro-bono basis.  The hearing was held on January 7th and the case was dismissed in part because the Judge did not feel that the Town Attorney could represent these former Selectmen as individuals since the appeal was filed by the Town and the Town is no longer an involved party.  There is no longer a case.  She has been told that the former Selectmen could try to appeal the decision as individuals, but she does not expect the Town to be involved any further.

Selectman Blessington presented the following prepared statement:
I understand that the ruling on the FOI complaint was dismissed on procedural grounds and was not heard on its merits.
Mister Patton must be greatly relieved.
I say this because if the case had been heard on merit, I think the Town would have won.  We had the best case.
For those who are wondering, the Murtha-Cullina attorneys heard the case pro-bono, so there was to be no cost to the Town.  Other than that this shows there are law firms that care about the proper use of the law, it meant we had an opportunity to settle the case once and for all.  For free.  And by going pro-bono, it shows they thought they had a slam-dunk case.
But we did not allow the case to be tried.  The FOI decision stands.  The Judge ruled that the attorneys could not represent the former Selectmen, Mister Eldredge and Mister Palmer, because the case was not against the individuals but against the Offices they held.  Hence, the merits of the case would not be heard.  Also, it follows that the ruling applies to the current and all future Selectmen.
As I read it, most communication outside of legally warned and conducted meetings between Selectmen is now illegal and subject to FOI sanctions.
Such as conversations between two Selectmen at the hearing.  I understand that they were seen talking together.  Since the findings of the FOI commission did not conclude that the previous two Selectmen had been shown to have discussed town business, the Commission ruled that in talking they could have been presumed to have done so.
So the many discussions between Ms Mailhos and Mister Millix can be presumed to have been illegal meetings.  I wonder if Mister Patton, so concerned about the law being followed to the letter, will file an FOI complaint against them.  
I myself will not.  I understand that, once someone casually mentioned this to Mister Millix, he scurried down to the Town Clerk’s Office and changed his voter registration to the A Sentinel Party.  Now they can say they are caucusing.  It is unclear whether this is legal anymore under the new laws that Mister Patton has formed through his ingenious use of the Freedom of Information Act.

Selectman Millix said that there had been a difference of opinion whether a he and First Selectman Mailhos could caucus.  He ran it by the Town Attorney and there were 2 schools of thought: 1)  He said he could change his affiliation or 2) put on file with the Town Clerk a notice signed by him and First Selectman Mailhos stating the 2 year term they could caucus because they ran with the same party.  Selectman Millix stated he does not “scurry” anywhere.  He wanted to be sure they acted correctly and within the confines of the regulations.  As far as the statement “being a slam dunk”, 50-50 is not a slam dunk to him. Selectman Blessington said that the fact they took the case pro-bono sounded like the Attorneys were sure they would prevail.   He also said he is very nervous about talking with the other two Selectmen, as he is not part of their caucus; they can caucus all they want.  First Selectman Mailhos said that she has gone out of her way to make sure that both Selectmen get the same information.     

New Business:

A.  Appointments

First Selectman Mailhos has appointed Bradford Freeman – Building Inspector – effective January 25, 2010 – expiring April 14, 2014.

When the Board appointed Marc Jeffreys as a regular member of the Historic District Commission at our last meeting, he should have been appointed as an alternate.
Selectman Millix motioned to appoint Marc Jeffreys as an alternate member for the Willington Historic District Commission – effective January 1, 2010 – expiring January 1, 2015.  *
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote:  3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington)    0  No

First Selectman Mailhos motioned to appoint Pam Wheeler – regular member – Energy Advisory Committee – effective immediately. No expiration date.
Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote:  3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington)    0  No

B.  Approve Selectmen goals for 2010

At the 2010 Goals Workshop meeting the Selectmen came up goals for this year. First Selectman Mailhos read the list:  

  • Projects: do not start new projects - Focus on finishing projects that are already started including:
  • River Road Recreation Complex,
  • Senior Cottages,
  • Water filtration at Senior Center,
  • Windows at the Town Office Building and
  • Center School Water
  • Administration
  • Review and update personnel and administrative policy;
  • Review contracts from oil to legal to look for cost savings and efficiency,
  • Put together a maintenance plan for the municipality buildings
  • Town Issues:
  • Tackle the perception of Willington being unfriendly to businesses  
We will review the list in six months to see where we are at.

Selectman Millix motioned to accept the Selectmen’s goals for 2010
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote:  3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington)    0  No.

C. Town Counsel Contract /RFP

A draft letter was presented to the Board. This letter will go out as a mail merge to the 8 firms on the list.  If we decide to choose another firm to represent the Town, Selectman Blessington said that he does not want the current Attorney to feel as if they are being punished.   First Selectman Mailhos said it is not her intention to punish them.  They will stay on the projects that they have been involved in.  

D.  Tax Refunds

First Selectman Mailhos motioned to refund $84.76 to GMAC c/0 Thomson Tax & Accounting; P.O. Box 198169, Nashville, TN.  Reason:  Vehicle sold.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote:  3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington)    0  No

First Selectman Mailhos motioned to refund $ 289.75 to SAAB Semperian, Inc; 1450 N 12th Ave; Greeley, CO  80631.  Reason:  Vehicle sold.
Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote:  3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington)    0  No

E.  Proclamation – National Wear Red Day
First Selectman Mailhos motioned to accept the following proclamation:

PROCLAMATION – NATIONAL WEAR RED DAY

WHEREAS, diseases of the heart are the nation’s leading cause of death and stroke is the third leading cause of death;

WHEREAS, cardiovascular disease claims the lives of nearly 460,000 American females each year; approximately one death per minute;

WHEREAS, each year, 53% of all deaths due to cardiovascular disease and 61% of stroke deaths occur in females;

WHEREAS, too many women die each year because they are unaware that heart disease is their No. 1 killer.

WHEREAS, in 2010, the direct and indirect cost of cardiovascular diseases in the U. S., including stroke, is estimated to be $503.2 billion;

WHEREAS, nearly as many women die of heart disease, stroke, and all other cardiovascular diseases than the next five leading causes of death combined, including all cancers;

WHEREAS, only 21% of women consider cardiovascular disease their greatest health risk;

WHEREAS, February is designated as American Heart Month;

WHEREAS, Go Red For Women is the American Heart Association’s national call to increase awareness about heart disease—the leading cause of death for women—and to inspire women to take charge of their heart health;

WHEREAS, all women should learn their own personal risk for heart disease, using tools such as the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women Heart CheckUp, Go Red for Women Better U and by talking to their healthcare provider;

WHEREAS, making the right choices relating to proper nutrition, physical activity, other healthy lifestyle choices are essential to living a heart healthy life;

WHEREAS, by choosing to Speak Up about heart disease we can save lives using the power of our very own voices.

NOW, THEREFORE, I Christina Beebe Mailhos, First Selectman of the Town of Willington, in recognition of the importance of the ongoing fight against heart disease and stroke, do hereby proclaim February 5, 2010, to be

NATIONAL WEAR RED DAY

in Willington, Connecticut and urge all citizens to show their support for women and the fight against heart disease by commemorating this day by the wearing of the color red.  By increasing awareness, speaking up about heart disease, and empowering women to reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease, we can save thousands of lives each year.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the Town of Willington, County of Tolland, State of CT this 13th day of February 2010.

Christina Beebe Mailhos
First Selectman

Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote:  3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington)    0  No.

F.  FOIA workshop
First Selectman Mailhos announced that Tom Hennick from FOI is going to come on March 2, 2010 at 6:30 PM to the Willington Public Library to conduct a FOI workshop.  All elected or appointed officials are welcome to attend. Robin will be sending out invitations.  

G.  Town of Willington Planning & Zoning violation

Discussion was held   We had an old gravel pit in the back of the bus lot.  Public Works has been storing some things there as well.  The Board has been made aware of the zoning violation. The question is where we can put what we have been storing.  Selectman Millix asked Matt Ellis, Chairman of Planning and Zoning when the first notice of violation was sent out.   Mr. Ellis said it was sent out in 2008.  The Board of Selectmen at that time had discussed what they were going to do with it, and then had come up with a tentative plan, but then changed their mind.  The violation got lost until the sand and gravel permit renewals came up.  Right now, we are storing some things there that aren’t supposed to be there. Planning and Zoning does not allow other business to store things outside.  It is also in a residential zone.  Selectman Millix asked if the bus lot is in a residential zone, and idling busses are allowed in a residential zone?  Mr. Ellis said that the busses are not allowed to idle.  First Selectman Mailhos said that Karl Acimovic and Lynn have been working on a new plan. Selectman Millix said that we should arrive with a permanent solution rather than pacify the situation.  

Good  & Welfare:

First Selectman Mailhos said that Ed Staveski is retiring as of January 25. He has worked for the town for many years. She wishes him well.

Selectman Millix responded to a fire on Mirtl Road.  The fire was quickly extinguished. They did have some damage, but the firefighters worked hard to save the sentimental items, and the homeowners were very  grateful of the outcome.  Willington FD#1, Willington Hill and Mansfield sent out a truck.   He had talked to Mrs. Jedrziewski on Sunday and talked to her daughter this morning.  They are in good shape.

Selectman Blessington motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:17 P.M.
Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote:  3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington)    0  No.

Respectfully submitted,

Robin H. Campbell
Robin H. Campbell
Administrative Assistant