BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Meeting Minutes
Regular Meeting May 21, 2012
Town Office Building- Common 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 Littell & Blessington, Lynn Nicholls and residents. First Selectman Mailhos led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of Minutes:
Selectman Littell motioned to approve the minutes of May 7, 2012 as written.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion with the following edits:
Under the reapportionment update; where it states if it is not approved a second time the Secretary of State imposes; should read the State Board of Education imposes. The last sentence in that paragraph –which includes students and prisoners who do not have shareholder stake should read: are usually not stakeholders.
Lastly; under Good and Welfare, Maybell McCormick should be “Maybelle McCormick.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Littell & Blessington) 0 No.
Present to Speak:
Christine Psathas thanked the Public Works crews for the brush cutting and mowing along Jared Sparks Road this morning. She added that it looks better than ever.
Don Berg of the Housing Authority stated he was in attendance to see what the status of the Cottage project. First Selectman Mailhos stated she has sent everything over to the Attorney, but has not received it back yet; she will then send it over to Mr. Berto for his approval. Once everyone has approved, the project will be able to move forward beginning with a Town Meeting.
Correspondence:
A list of correspondence was available at the meeting and in the Selectman’s office.
First Selectman Status Report
First Selectman Mailhos went over the updated report:
*STEAP Grant – Water Connection – the Bid documents for the connection to the Willington Hill Fire Dept. are being created with the last bit of money. It is likely we will be returning a few thousand dollars; the Grant Administrator will then close out the account.
*Senior Housing Phase III – Senior Housing Cottages - We are waiting for input from the attorneys who are creating legal documents to go to Town Meeting with. A Town Meeting will be held soon.
*Performance Contracting – To be discussed later in this meeting; the BOS will adopt a resolution to authorize First Selectman Mailhos to sign a letter of intent.
*Old Town Hall Renovations – The Architect will be on site this Wednesday to begin the research phase. First Selectman Mailhos added that she has received some historical information from Elizabeth Robertson about the building. First Selectman Mailhos stated the most interesting thing she learned was that Selectman Blessington was the President of the Historical Society in the 1990’s. He was in charge of raising money to restore the building at that time.
*Turnpike Road – Phase I – The plans have been submitted to IWWC and P&Z for review. We will then go into the approval process, if the plans are acceptable. We have also received a STEAP grant for $400,000 to improve the drainage and resurfacing.
*Reapportionment Committee – Next meeting will be held on June 7th.
*Union Contract Negotiations – are still ongoing.
*Welcome to Willington Signs – The new members have been appointed and the first meeting will be held soon.
Public Works:
Lynn stated that the crews continue to sweep, however a hydraulic arm came undone on the sweeper and they are waiting for a part to come in. In the meantime they are grading and roadside mowing. The grounds for Willington Day, the 5K and Angel Ride routes are all set for the upcoming events.
Old Business:
- Street light request on Kechkes Road
Mrs. Hasapes, who owns Moose Meadow Camping Resort, was present. She stated the campground will be responsible for payment of the light bill and would like to have a 60 watt light fixture / bulb installed. They need authorization from the Town before moving forward. Lynn added that some of the residents who live near there do not have a problem with the light installation; they would welcome it. Selectman Blessington added that it is a safety issue.
Selectman Blessington moved to have the Board of Selectmen approve the installation of the street light at the intersection of Moose Meadow and Kechkes Road on the existing pole.
Selectman Littell seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Littell & Blessington) 0 No.
- CCM Performance Contracting
First Selectman Mailhos said the Public Hearing that was held on May 15th went well. In order to move forward, the letter of intent must be signed; however the Board will need to authorize the First Selectman as a signatory. She added that since each audit will be under the $5,000 threshold, there is no need to go to Town Meeting at this point. Once the audits have been done, moving to the next step will entail the Town Meeting approval.
Selectman Littell moved to authorize the First Selectman to sign the Letter of Intent authorizing the CCM Energy Team to proceed with performance of the Energy Audit, effective immediately.
First Selectman Mailhos seconded the motion.
Selectman Blessington said he is not in favor of this as he fails to understand how it works. He gave an example of replacing a boiler and we would be paying for it through the energy savings – he feels we would purchase the most energy efficient boiler on our own. He is going to vote against it, but doesn’t see it as a tragedy because an audit will be done and point us in the right direction; but he does not want to go any further than that. Selectman Littell stated he agrees with Selectman Blessington, however we should at least move forward to get the audit done to see what it finds. It could be valuable. First Selectman Mailhos added if the boiler (used as an example) breaks tomorrow; we would need to find $90,000 immediately. That amount of money is not planned for in our budget and it is
unlikely insurance would pay. If we were to finance it from the performance contracting, the budget would remain the same and the savings realized in energy cost would pay down the loan over time. Selectman Littell added that they also guarantee that we will see energy savings. They come up with a guaranteed rate and if we do not incur savings, they will cut us a check.
Vote: 2 Yes (Mailhos & Littell) 1 No (Blessington)
Motion passed.
New Business:
First Selectman Mailhos moved to appoint Richard Palmer as a regular member of the Willington Emergency Services Efficiency Committee.
Selectman Littell seconded the motion.
Vote 3 Yes (Mailhos, Littell & Blessington) 0 No.
- Re-subdivision application
The Planning and Zoning commission held a public hearing on April 17th and during the hearing the applicant asked to withdraw his application. The following day, a request was made to the commission to apply the paid application fees to a new application. Because fees are by Town Ordinance, the Board of Selectmen may decide to waive the fee. Robin Campbell stated that she asked the Zoning agent for more information but did not hear back from her. Selectman Blessington questioned if the application got rejected at the public hearing, and now they are reapplying? Robert Shabot stated that the drawings that were submitted were not addressed properly. He added as of last year, P&Z has changed their regulations on subdivisions over 15 acres. It seemed that the application was submitted
without any regard to the regulations or checking with the Land Use Department prior to submission. Selectman Blessington questioned if the Land Use Department would have told them that the application was going to fail. Mr. Shabot stated that it is pertinent to find out if the applicant had approached Land Use to find out what they needed to do.
Willington Zoning Agent, Susan Yorgensen was asked to come in to answer a few questions. She stated that the applicant never asked any questions, and just showed up to the public hearing with the submittal. She added that they could have submitted a pre application, which is encouraged, but in this case they opted not to and the applicant signed off on a form stating that they were familiar with the regulations. She also said that the fees cover many things: the public notices posted in the paper; the engineering review costs as well as inspections (if applicable). First
Selectman Mailhos stated that all of that work will need to be re-done, and someone will have to pay for that. This could have been avoided if they had opted to submit a pre-application. She noted that if a change were to be made to the ordinance, it would apply to all applications, so it would need to be reviewed thoroughly and cautiously.
Ms. Yorgensen said that in this case, the inspection fee would be something that could issue a credit for, as it was not done. Selectman Littell asked Ms. Yorgensen for a breakdown of what was paid for in this case and would like to table this until they get more information.
First Selectman Mailhos stated if the work was done for the application that was submitted, there is a value to that. Selectman Blessington stated he would hate to penalize the homeowners. Selectman Littell would like to make a second request for the Engineer to come in to answer some questions.
- Intertown Capital Equipment (ICE) Grant
- Conservation Commission
First Selectman Mailhos moved to read the call of the meeting:
TOWN OF WILLINGTON -NOTICE AND WARNING -SPECIAL TOWN MEETING
The electors of the Town of Willington and all persons who are entitled to vote in Town Meeting on the matters mentioned in the following warning are hereby warned and notified to meet in Town Meeting at the OLD TOWN HALL at 11 COMMON ROAD in Willington on Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at 7:00 P.M. for the following purposes:
ITEM I
To see if the townspeople, on the recommendation of the Board of Finance will authorize the appropriation of $12,480 from the General Fund 2012-2013 approved budget – 0311 Public Works to participate in the Intertown Capital Equipment Purchasing Incentive (ICE) Program referenced in Section 75 of Public Act 11-57.
ITEM II
To see if the townspeople, on the recommendation of the Board of Finance, will authorize the appropriation of $2,000 from the Park and Recreation Capital and Nonrecurring Fund for a Natural Resources Inventory and ten-year Forestry and Wildlife Habitat Management Plan for the town’s Royal Knowlton Preserve and Daniel W. Talmadge Conservation Tract.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Selectman Littell asked First Selectman Mailhos if we got clarification on article #9. First Selectman Mailhos stated that she did. WINCOG agreed that the wording sounded confusing. They revised it and it now says that any town that no longer wants to participate will need to put in writing in 60 days. At that point the claim of ownership would be rescinded. She forwarded the revised contract to the BOF. First Selectman Mailhos stated that the Board of Finance approved it with the stipulation that it will be taken out of the Public Works’ operating budget for next year.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Littell & Blessington) 0 No.
- STEAP Grant – Turnpike Road
First Selectman Mailhos stated we received a $400,000 grant for repairs on Turnpike Road. The letter came today. She read the letter that was received. (Attached to the minutes on file). Lynn asked when the money will be available. First selectman Mailhos stated that the other towns who were awarded in September are still waiting for their money; so it should be available soon.
Good & Welfare:
First Selectman Mailhos mentioned that she went to the P& Z meeting on May 1st and asked the status of the upcoming Warrior Dash event as she did not see it on the agenda. As far as she is aware, they have not submitted any permits to hold the event as of yet. The meeting that was supposed to be held on May 24th was cancelled. Kelly Trueb stated that they cannot bring people in to do emergency medical without notifying TN. She added that they have not approached any of the emergency departments yet. First Selectman Mailhos added that there are many other permits they would need to obtain; for example, food, alcohol, and live entertainment. Selectman Blessington would like to have it on record that the date it will be held is September 22, 2012; it is an adventure race /
festival. It is a 5K race that includes obstacles. The event is expected to take place at Wilderness Lake Campground and a residential property that abuts it. Selectman Littell clarified that when First Selectman Mailhos questioned it at P&Z, she was told that it would be Zoning Board of Appeals who would issue permits and grant permission and P&Z had nothing to do with enforcement. Selectman Blessington asked when the last time P&Z didn’t get involved in the minutia of everything that is going on? Selectman Littell said he has been looking for updates, but hasn’t seen anything. First Selectman Mailhos stated she heard that over 2,000 people have signed up already. Selectman Blessington said that this could turn into something good for the town, but he is concerned about the way it is being fed to Willington. Robert Shabot said that the event that is being held at Thompson Speedway would be
able to accommodate sanitary needs for that many people, but wonders if the area at Wilderness Lake will be able to handle that many people. First Selectman Mailhos added that we could be a great host town to this, with our business and non – profits; we all could benefit from it. She then said that we also need to inform the residents in that neighborhood of what is going on, but there is no plan from them. Selectman Blessington said under ordinary circumstances, P&Z would normally be on top of it, but are not. Kelly Trueb said that some of the money that is raised is going to go to St. Jude’s. Selectman Blessington said that he has heard that they will support local business’ in Town and he is in favor of that. Don Berg suggested reaching out to other Towns who have hosted the event in the past to get their feelings on that.
Willington Day will be held this Saturday, May 26th from 11AM – 3PM at the Center School field. A public notice will be sent out.
First Selectman Mailhos said there is an issue with the Willington Word. The Word used to get sent out though the Norwich bulletin and was taken over by the Chronicle. The Chronicle notified us that we need to take over the expense of the mailings, otherwise it would be sent out with the shopper packets. First Selectman Mailhos said that she wanted to keep the Word going to every household, as no other newspaper has news about Willington in it. The cost to send out the mailings will be $465 four times a year. She does not want to risk people not getting it any longer when it is the only information that they get. There is also money in the Selectmen’s budget to cover this expense for at least the remainder of the year.
The Girl Scouts held a talent show on May 11 at the Old Town Hall to raise money to help the seniors purchase a new van. They raised over $700! First Selectman Mailhos said it was a nice time. Wilbur Gangaway said anyone who missed it should be mad at themselves – they missed a great show. First Selectman Mailhos explained that the Girl Scouts did this as part of their Bronze Award Project. The process is for them to find a need in the community, plan an event and execute on the plan. She added that they exceeded their goals and did a great job.
Kelly Trueb said she is in the process of setting up a shelter management course with the Red Cross. The course will be free. She added that CERT Team members will attend but it is also open to the public and can accommodate up to 100 people. Information will be posted once the date has been firmed up. She is hoping it will be held in June to give ample time to prepare for the Statewide drill in July.
CERT will also have a booth at Willington Day.
Selectman Blessington motioned to go into Executive Session -Tax Sale/Cadlerock Property at 8:15 P.M.
Selectman Littell seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Littell & Blessington) 0 No
Selectman Blessington motioned to come out of Executive Session -Tax Sale/Cadlerock Property at 8:31 P.M.
Selectman Littell seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Littell & Blessington) 0 No
Selectman Blessington moved to authorize First Selectman Mailhos to sign the Memorandum of Agreement by and Among the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and The Towns of Ashford and Willington, Connecticut.
Selectman Littell seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Littell & Blessington) 0 No
Selectman Littell moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:31 P.M.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Littell & Blessington) 0 No.
Respectfully submitted,
Robin Campbell
Administrative Assistant
| 
