BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Meeting Minutes
Regular Meeting May 16, 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, Lynn Nicholls and residents. First Selectman Mailhos led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of Minutes:
Selectman Blessington motioned to approve the minutes of May 2, 2011 as submitted.
Selectman Millix 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 she did not have a chance to update the report this week and there are not a lot of changes to report other than the following:
*EECBG Grant – we will get a recommendation for the award later in the meeting.
*Turnpike Road Extension – The Town Engineer is on vacation this week, and the two bids that were received were over budget. At this time, the project is on hold until we review with the Town Engineer.
*Request for Qualifications – has been typed up and just needs to be formatted. We will discuss at our next meeting.
Lynn asked the status of Polster Road Bridge. Robin Campbell said that the State had called to set up a meeting for May 10th or 12th, however they did not call us back to confirm a date, nor did they give us any contact information.
Public Works:
Lynn said the sweeper went down this morning. It will be worked on Wednesday and she believes the work should be covered under the warranty. In the meantime the crews are working on storm detail as well as cleaning catch basins and working with Parks and Recreation.
Old Business:
- Ambulance payroll discussion
Business Manager, Donna Latincsics presented her findings from researching the options of taking over the Ambulance payroll as recommended by the Board of Finance. Donna said the first thought was to process the payroll under the Town Tax ID, which would save the Fire Department from paying additional Federal unemployment tax. After further research it was found that the Fire Department pension must go through the Fire Department ID and since they are a private corporation it was recommended they maintain the payroll under their own Tax ID. Donna said the Finance Department is prepared to take over the payroll beginning July 1. The hope was to eliminate the unemployment tax as well as the processing fees, but going forward it will save $1,700 annually by eliminating the processing alone. First Selectman Mailhos
said she looks at this as a step forward.
First Selectman Mailhos moved to have the Town Finance Office process the payroll for Willington Fire Department #1 under the Willington Fire Department #1 tax ID number effective July 1, 2011.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
- STEAP Grant Application discussion
First Selectman Mailhos said she does not want to spend too much time researching what to apply for the STEAP funding, as it may be on the chopping block with the new proposed State budget. She said she is inclined to submit the application for improvements to Turnpike Road. She will contact the First Selectman in Ashford to see how they submitted their application last year.
- State of the Town Meeting
The State of the Town meeting will be held Wednesday night at 6:30 in the Community Room in the library. We have received some RSVP’s but it turns out that many people have other plans. Rep. Bryan Hurlburt will not be able to come, however Senator Guglielmo said if they are not in session, he will be there. First Selectman Mailhos said she would like to keep the meeting informal and have the various boards update on what they are working on. She will also touch on the budget, CIP and some things on the status report.
New Business:
A. EECBG Grant Discussion
Ralph Tulis presented documentation including history of the EECBG project. It was decided that we change the project to focus on the window replacement, with additional sub parts to see if we could get more out of the grant money. After reviewing the bids, the windows were then tested for lead, and asbestos, which both returned positive. Luckily, the lowest bidder bid low enough to allow the funding to cover the additional lead and asbestos abatement and our consultant is working on the change order. The Energy Advisory Committee has recommended that the contract go to Action Windows, omitting Bid Package #6B; (total $28,956 less $2,100 for #6B).
Mr. Tulis then said once the contractor gets started, the project should move quickly; however he cautioned that someone should be around to oversee the construction to ensure that the work is done properly and concisely. Discussion was held on finding someone who would oversee the construction. First Selectman Mailhos will talk to a few people and report back to the other Selectmen.
Selectman Millix moved to award the contract based on the recommendation of the Energy Advisory Committee for the EECBG grant to Action Windows & Siding, LLC; 220 South Street, West Hartford, CT 06110 to replace windows and install weather stripping air sealing and window glazing in the Town Office Building in the amount up to $39,356.00.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
First Selectman Mailhos moved to add item B on the agenda called Upcoming Tax Sale.
Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
B. Upcoming Tax Sales
Town of Willington Revenue Collector, Carol Larson said she will be preparing to hold a tax sale in the near future, but wanted to inform the Board of Selectmen before doing so. This will be the third tax sale that she has been involved in since she has been in the Revenue Department. The Ashford Board of Selectmen invited her to their last meeting as they discussed holding a tax sale on the Cadlerock property, which was proposed to include 15 acres of which is in Willington. (Ashford’s part is over 300 acres). She said the taxes are overdue (since 2002) and totals over $35,000.00. The property has been cleaned for the most part, and has been approved by the EPA, however, it is still considered Brownfield and has not been approved by the DEP.
Ms. Larson said in addition to Cadlerock, she has 4 other properties that will go up for tax sale: 165 River Road,
32 Navratil Road, property on Moosemeadow Road and 7 Village Street. The lawyer handles the entire process at no cost to the Town. Our current policy is $3,500 or 2 years (delinquent) to be eligible for tax sale. Discussion was held on the property located at 6 Village Street. Ms. Larson said she wanted to discuss that property with the BOS, in the event that it does not sell, what would they like to do with it. Selectman Blessington said he thinks if it was clean it probably would sell but he is hesitant to put it up for tax sale, he would be afraid the Town would be held liable to clean it up. Selectman Millix said if it doesn’t sell, it can stay “as is” the Town would not have to take it over. First Selectman Mailhos said that the Town ended up boarding up that
building at our expense. Ms. Larson said she can’t pick and choose which property will go up for sale, the criteria falls under State Statute. She would like to see it go up soon before the taxes get too high. She explained the process. The lawyer sends out the notices to anyone who has ties to the property and in 12 weeks the sale happens. The Town gets the money the day it sells, (anything over the overdue taxes goes to the State). The lawyer holds the deed for 6 months (which is the redemption period). First Selectman Mailhos will review with the Town Attorney to see if we are liable if it does not sell.
Good & Welfare:
First Selectman Mailhos reminded everyone of the Town Meeting tomorrow night at the Old Town Hall at 7PM.
Don’t forget to come to the State of the Town Meeting on Wednesday night in the Community Room at the Library.
First Selectman Mailhos presented 3 of the 4 winners of the poster contest. The theme is “what I love about Willington Day.” The three winning artists are: Amanda Fox, Steven King and Skylar Watson. Anna Panciera’s art is on the front page of the Willington website. She congratulated the artists on a job well done. We are expecting to have a lot of new things and more booths there this year.
Lastly, on a sad note, there was a fatality in Willington on Friday; where a motorcyclist hit a car on Route 32. First Selectman Mailhos cautioned that there are more motorcycles out on the roads now that the weather is nice and urged everyone to be careful. The Board of Selectmen extends their condolences to the family.
Lynn thanked Peter Thompson, who continues to work along Hancock Road daily, planting flowers.
Congratulations to Charlene Hipski who recently graduated from Maine Maritime Academy. She plans to become a Merchant Marine.
Selectman Blessington moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:35 P.M.
Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
Respectfully submitted,
Robin Campbell
Robin H. Campbell
Administrative Assistant
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