BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Meeting Minutes
Regular Meeting February 7, 2011
Town Office Building – Lower Level Conference Room 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. Lynn Nicholls was absent. First Selectman Mailhos led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of Minutes:
Selectman Blessington motioned to approve the special meeting minutes of January 3, 2011 as written.
Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
Selectman Millix motioned to approve the minutes of January 3, 2011 (regular meeting) as written.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
Selectman Blessington motioned to approve the minutes of January 10, 2011 as written.
Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
Selectman Millix motioned to approve the minutes of February 3, 2011 as written.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
Present to Speak:
No one.
Correspondence:
A list of correspondence was available at the meeting and in the Selectman’s office.
First Selectman Status Report
First Selectman Mailhos said that there have not been a lot of changes in the past few weeks; and the weather has been the priority. She expects a lot to change in the next week, and suggested putting off a detailed status until the next meeting. Selectman Blessington asked the status of the EECBG grant. First Selectman Mailhos said it will be going out to bid on Wednesday.
Public Works:
First Selectman Mailhos said that Lynn had a death in the family. She will be back tonight to manage the crew tonight in the storm that is coming and will be attending the situation report meeting on Friday. We will hold those special meetings every Friday at 12:00 PM until the weather conditions improve.
Contractors have been out pushing back the snow on the roads today. They have gained between 3 to 6 feet on the roads that they are working on as well as clearing catch basins to drain the water from the melting snow. The widening of the roads continues to improve conditions of the roads. They are also working on improving conditions for the school busses to pass through, particularly in bus turn-arounds.
Old business
First Selectman Mailhos said the Conservation Commission went to Ashford to review the prototype proposed from Charter. The Conservation Commission then sent a letter to the Board of Selectmen that states they still found the dimmer light distracting and have asked the First Selectman Mailhos to draft another letter to request other options. Selectman Blessington said that he has seen the lights around Town and they don’t bother him. There are other things to worry about, and shouldn’t waste any more time on it. Selectman Millix concurred.
New Business:
- Large Scale Energy Conservation Consulting
Ed Taiman, Chairman of the Willington Energy Advisory Committee stated the EAC recommends for the Town to consider retaining an energy consultant. The consultants are structured to determine the needs of the buildings from the roof to the basement, and will make recommendations of energy improvements with estimated costs. The consultants also guarantee the savings that will be realized will more than pay for the cost of the improvements over time. The fees are based on a percentage of the projects total cost. The Energy Advisory Committee cannot move forward without a consultant and will need to draft an RFP to do so. Selectman Blessington said he is nervous about spending money. It is obvious the consultants will make money off of this. Selectman Millix said when the Town needs to replace equipment it
would be in the best interest to invest in getting the most efficiency when we do; the EAC has gone as far as they can go, and can not go any farther without a consultant. It is a good idea; an RFP should be drafted and we need to move forward. The EAC will bring a draft back to the Board of Selectmen to review.
First Selectman Mailhos moved to re-appoint Jim Poole as a regular member of the Willington Economic Development Commission, effective January 1, 2011, expiring January 1, 2016.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
First Selectman Mailhos moved to re-appoint Richard Claus, Sr. as the Willington Municipal Animal Control Officer effective January 1, 2011, expiring January 1, 2013.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
- Approve Board of Selectmen Budget
The Board reviewed draft #13 after firming up final numbers on the budget. The budget is at -2.3% or minus $61, 821.00.
Selectman Millix said that we also have some unknowns in here with the possibility of decreasing more. We still need to see what the Governor’s budget comes in at and the union meeting has not happened yet to possibly discuss concessions.
First Selectman Mailhos was concerned that the contractors have been cut from the Public Works snow removal budget and said that overtime should be factored in for our normal drivers as they will need to add extra miles to their routes, which will take them longer to accomplish. Selectman Blessington said we should not base the numbers on this winter. The budget was prepared in a normal year. He disagreed and said it should be left as is.
First Selectman Mailhos moved to increase the snow overtime budget by $4,000 to bring to a total of $30,000.
Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote: 2 Yes (Mailhos, Millix) 1 No (Blessington)
Motion passes.
The Chip seal route was then discussed. The line item has been cut in half from last year’s. First Selectman Mailhos said she wants to be sure we want to do this. Once it is out of the budget, we will not be able to put it back in. Selectman Millix said if we put it back to where it was; where else do we reduce $65,000? The only option would be to reduce labor. Selectman Blessington said when we began the budget process, we were cutting here and there; now we are having second thoughts on where the substantial cuts were made. Basically we are saying we can’t make any cuts. Selectman Millix suggests that we go before the Board of Finance with the number, and the understanding that it could fluctuate. If the number becomes more of a negative, then we can put the chip sealing back into
the budget. Or we can make a policy decision as a board that we are going to reduce our labor force. That is the only other option we have. Selectman Blessington said we did have one position that had any backing to eliminate and it is still in there (Public Works Secretary). First Selectman Mailhos said she disagrees; that position needs to be there to do the paperwork and handle the phone calls while Lynn is on the roads. Someone needs to be there. Plus, it is only an $8,000 expense and is the only position without benefits and associated costs. The Board of Finance will be asking how we are going to get to a negative seven number – that is something we just have to do.
Selectman Millix suggested cutting the asphalt line to coincide with the chip seal route decrease. He believes it was overlooked when the chip sealing line was reduced.
Selectman Millix moved to reduce the asphalt line #681 by $2,000
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
Selectman Millix said we can go over this thing and find something different every time. Anything less than we are proposing, will come from reducing the labor force. There is no labor statutory reason.
First Selectman Mailhos moved to approve the budget with the changes discussed. The bottom line decrease of -2.289%; from $2,614,970 (a total of $68,821.00 decrease)
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
First Selectman Mailhos said our Building Inspector has given his resignation. He has been offered a full time position in the Town of Mansfield, where he already works. She said we do have some options. WINCOG has discussed contracting out one building inspector for member Towns and pooling the hours. Another option would be to contract a larger Town’s building inspector. The last option would be to hire a consulting service and contract hours from there. The problem is that the above mentioned items will take time and if we contract someone who has benefits, it will cost more to pool the cost of the benefits. First Selectman Mailhos said she plans to contact the Managers in Mansfield and Tolland to see if they will be able to loan some of his hours until we find a solution. Mark Palmer
suggested contacting NECOG; they have a building inspector, and also checking with Ashford.
First Selectman Mailhos said she wanted to talk about sand at the Transfer Station. Yesterday everyone was in need of sand. She found out that some people were taking more than their five gallon bucket allowance. Residents were getting unruly with the Transfer Station operators, who were trying to manage the situation to make sure there was enough for everyone. At that point, people were then going down to Public Works to fill up their vehicles. She has had complaints from the residents saying they should be able to take as much sand as they want; but the problem is that we have a shortage right now. Selectman Millix said it is an extraordinary year and the problem is that it has never been enforced all of these years, you can’t say no to them now. Selectman Millix suggested the Board of
Selectmen send a public notice; respectfully request all residents to utilize in five gallon bucket increments.
First Selectman Mailhos distributed preliminary results from the Town Services Survey. 313 people completed the survey from the website; through the public notices, the Willington Word and tax mailings that went out in December; some people filled out copies from the office. One top line finding is that the majority does not want to pay higher taxes but they do want to maintain services. First Selectman Mailhos will work on coding the comments and tallies to discuss at the next BOS meeting.
Good & Welfare:
First Selectman Mailhos thanked everyone who came out to clean the roofs on the schools; custodial staff, public works members, teachers, Willington Hill Fire Dept. & Willington Fire Dept. #1 members as well as the Superintendent. J.J.Mottes loaned their boom truck and Willington F.D. #1 loaned the ladder truck. (Robin Campbell thanked First Selectman Mailhos for going up on the roof also). The Town of Tolland donated snow removal equipment. The older sections of each of the schools were tackled first. The other roof areas that could possibly pose as a problem under additional snowfall are also being cleared of snow as well as checking the drains. This will be an ongoing project and the roofs are being checked constantly for signs of problems. NBC 30 news was there to report on the
effort.
The Town Office Building Relay for Life Team (Circle of Friends) will be holding a Town wide tag sale fundraiser on May 14. People can rent table spaces here at the Town Offices, or pay $15 donation to have their home address added to a map that shows interested shoppers all of the tag sale locations in Town.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Robin Campbell
Robin H. Campbell
Administrative Assistant
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