BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Meeting Minutes
Regular Meeting June 16, 2014
Lower Level Conference Room 6:30 P.M.
*Minutes are not official until approved at the next regular meeting
First Selectman Mailhos called the meeting to order at 6:34 P.M. with the following in attendance: Selectmen Kowalyshyn & Blessington and residents. First Selectman Mailhos led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of Minutes:
Selectman Blessington moved to approve the minutes of June 2, 2014 with the following edit:
Under Appointment of Laurie Masciandaro; should read: Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Selectman Kowalyshyn seconded the motion.
Vote 3 Yes (Mailhos Kowalyshyn & Blessington) 0 No.
Present to Speak:
Christine Psathas stated Senator Guglielmo had sent her a response regarding the Status of the bridge repair (on Route 74 over Interstate 84) from an inquiry back in May. She stated that she will forward the information to First Selectman Mailhos via email.
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:
- Old Town Hall Renovations – The Contractor is moving along with the various projects but has run into some issues, which will be discussed at this meeting.
Polster Road Bridge – The Town Engineer has submitted plans to Planning and Zoning as well as IWWC.
Turnpike Road, Phase 3 – The Town Engineer has begun the survey work for Phase 3.
- Personnel Policy Review – The final draft has been printed. Employees and the Selectmen are reviewing.
Public Works:
Derek reported that the crew has been working on the following tasks:
The crew has been working on the following tasks:
Sweeping which is now complete as of June 11th
- Roadside mowing
- Mowing of sight lines
- Vehicle maintenance
- pot hole patching
- Sign repair
- prep D.P.W. yard for paving of storm water project
- Excavate for handicap ramp at O.T.H.
- Replace wood decking on 20 ton equipment trailer and paint
- prep Halls Pond for opening weekend:
- Grade road
- Add sand to beach at Hall’s Pond
Paint tables,equipment box and bench
trim fence line of brush
New Business
- Award cleaning services bid
We received five bids total.
They were as follows:
Company |
Weekly Amount |
Monthly Amount |
Annual Amount |
Thompson’s Cleaning Services
|
$600 ($700 for first cleaning) |
$2,400 |
$29,500 |
Advance Building Services |
$503.25 |
$2013 |
$24,156
|
CW Resources
|
$624.99 |
$2,499.96 |
$29,999.52 |
Admiral Cleaning Maintenance
|
$247 |
$988 |
$11,856 |
SJ Services |
$237.94 |
$951.76 |
$11,421.12 |
Current contractor* Note: current contractor did not bid
|
$210 |
$840 |
$10,080 |
Robin Campbell and Brenda Weber opened and reviewed the bids at 1:00 today. The lowest bidders were Admiral Cleaning and SJ Services. It was recommended that the bid be awarded to SJ Services, which also includes cleaning supplies (with the exception of paper products). Note: the Town has a line item for cleaning products in addition to the cleaning services. First Selectman Mailhos cautioned that we need to be sure that we have enough to cover the cost between the cleaning services and supply line item.
Robin Campbell reviewed the budget; cleaning services was budgeted for: $11,180 and janitorial supplies was budgeted for: $1,500 (total: 12,680). Robin Campbell will ask for a transfer from the cleaning product line item to the cleaning services line item. The Town will continue to cover the cost of paper goods.
First Selectman Mailhos moved to award the cleaning contract to SJ Services as per their bid of $951.76 per month; effective July 1, 2014; expiring June 30, 2014.
Selectman Kowalyshyn seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Kowalyshyn & Blessington) 0 No.
- Town Office Building Needs Assessment
First Selectman Mailhos stated that she requested a needs assessment for the Town Office Building, which was approved in CIP for $20,000. She and Robin Campbell have prepared a RFP for the assessment (using the outline form used for the Old Town Hall renovations) and would like to have it go out in July. First Selectman Mailhos said she is hopeful to have a presentation of what needs to be done. She added that one of the biggest questions that always comes up is how much do we want to spend on this building and how long do we expect to be utilizing this building. Lastly, if we plan on staying here, we need to optimize the building the best we can.
Selectman Blessington stated many years ago, discussions were held between building a new library or a Town Office Building; and we ended up building a library when Ashford built a new Town Hall and they both ended up costing around the same amount. He then added that it might not be worth it to put any money into this building; noting it could run into the hundreds of thousands to fix or improve; we might need to start looking into either building something new or find an existing building somewhere. First Selectman Mailhos warned that in the meantime, as we continue on here, we still need to keep this building safe and usable; it will be helpful to know what needs to be done. Christine Psathas cautioned that we also should be looking at ADA requirements and make the building ADA accessible. First
Selectman Mailhos clarified that the building is currently ADA accessible, and if we were to make renovations, then we will need to follow the building code as well as the ADA compliance.
First Selectman Mailhos stated that she is hopeful to get the document out ASAP to get the information back before calling a Town Meeting in August. Selectmen Kowalyshyn and Blessington stated that they were OK with the document. The RFP will go out as soon as possible.
C. Discussion –Compensated Elected Officials Salary Study Committee
First Selectman Mailhos stated she would like to propose creating a committee to study the salaries and benefits for all compensated elected officials who receive stipends for their service to the town and many of them are handled differently. She added that a lot of the salaries are falling behind market rates and it at least deserves to be looked at. There are several elected officials who fall into this category:
-Board of Selectmen
-Registrar of Voters
-Board of Assessment Appeals members
-Town Clerk
-Treasurer
The charge of the committee will be to review the stipends and benefits for all elected positions and make recommendations to the BOS/BOF and ultimately to Town Meeting to vote on what was decided. Whatever is decided should be effective on the date of the next municipal election (November 2015) and should be budgeted for prior to that (in the FY15-16 budget).
Selectman Blessington asked where we are going to get people to serve on the Commission. He added he is not comfortable with the thought of someone who could benefit from this sit on the committee. He then suggested asking members who are not compensated, such as the Planning and Zoning Commission or perhaps the Inland Wetlands Commission. Selectman Kowalyshyn cautioned that those people are already volunteering, and they most likely won’t want to sit on another board. First Selectman Mailhos added that we will be under time constraints (to have answers before budget season begins). First Selectman Mailhos suggested having five people sit on the Committee; a Selectman, Board of Finance member, a non-BOS compensated elected official and a member at Large. The Business Manager has
already offered to fill a seat (from Finance). Selectman Blessington then suggested asking former Selectmen Millix or Littell and perhaps former Treasurer, AnneMarie Poole. First Selectman Mailhos stated that was a good idea and also suggested asking former First Selectmen Eldredge or Patton.
Town Treasurer Tish Ignatowicz added that there is an advantage of having someone on the board who knows the background as well as the job duties rather than having someone off of the street. Christine Psathas stated that it is going to take time to research the job duties, as no one really knows what the jobs entail. First Selectman Mailhos agreed and stated that might be something to put on the first meeting agenda; ask the compensated officials to the meeting and give an overview of their job responsibilities. Selectman Blessington stated that this is overdue and it is just a matter of how to go about it.
First Selectman Mailhos stated that she will send out emails and also a public notice and we will see if we can get members appointed at the next regular meeting.
Old Business
First Selectman Mailhos stated that she received feedback from the Town Attorney and the Treasurer has received answers to her questions. The Town Attorney stated that a wire transfer payment payments is acceptable, as long as it is done three days after the payment was made (to ensure the check clears). The other was clarification on the stipend the town receives for signing onto the program. Once the Town files it’s first lien, CEFIA will issue a check in the amount of $500. (it is $500 annually, not for each lien). They will cover the costs if the Town incurs any additional expenses over the $500.00.
First Selectman Mailhos stated that we already voted on this a few weeks ago; we were just waiting for the answers. She added that this is something the Town can offer our businesses. Selectman Kowalyshyn stated that she will contact Will McCaplin to move forward.
First Selectman Mailhos sent out the draft last week. It has been made available to the Town employees. First Selectman Mailhos thanked Amanda Palotti (Payroll/Personnel Coordinator) for her help. They cross referenced the entire document to make sure it matches up with the union contract. The Town Attorney has also reviewed it and gave us feedback.
The last thing to review was the table of contents.
Appendix B (Elected and Compensated officials) was updated to add the following (as per the Business Manager): so when it is approved it is with the following change:
Part of the legacy, the TC has been receiving term life.
And, to those eligible for term life, voluntary life is available as described in the insurance carriers policy- so that makes voluntary available to the TC.
TC is also receiving Flexible Spending.
Selectman Kowalyshyn said she reviewed the document and thought they did a wonderful job.
Appendix D (Acknowledgement Form) is also new; which now reads (at the bottom)
I have received and acknowledge that it is my responsibility to read the Towns Rules and Policies.
Selectman Blessington cautioned that the effective date should be clear on the document. First Selectman Mailhos stated that the effective date will be placed on the front page as well as throughout the entire document.
First Selectman Mailhos moved to adopt the Personnel Policy dated 6/19/14; with the changes on appendix B and Appendix D which will be effective July 1, 2014.
Selectman Kowalyshyn seconded the motion.
First Selectman Mailhos added that she plans to hold a staff meeting to present the new Personnel Policy. The meeting will be held prior to July 1st.
Vote; 3 Yes (Mailhos, Kowalyshyn & Blessington) 0 No.
- Discussion – Old Town Hall update
First Selectman Mailhos stated that the contractor has been moving along with the renovations but have come across a few issues along the way. She reminded the Board that the budget was tight to begin with and a change order was issued to cut back the original scope to fit the budget.
The contractors found that the footings that support the lolly columns (in the back section of the building) are only 3” piece of cement block, where they thought they were 3’ (which is a standard thickness); They ended up reinforcing them at no extra charge. They also found that the door jam is all rotted away when they removed the ramp. Another issue is that there was no heat in the bathrooms or in the back section where the Historical Society has access to. The Building Inspector also noted that the emergency lighting needed to be enhanced to match the building codes and other items that add up. Another suggestion was to install point of use heaters for the restrooms, which was scheduled to be installed in a future phase, but First Selectman Mailhos stated that it makes sense to put it in now and it will
end up saving us money in the long run because the heaters will only run when the hot water is turned on. She then clarified that adding heat to the restrooms and the back area is a necessity. Discussion was held on adding electric heat instead of installing ducts.
Selectman Blessington stated that his family has ties to the building; dating back to World War II; he is happy that we got a grant to repair the building, but he is not happy that part of the grant money went towards paying for consulting services (Architect and Engineer). He then added that the Architect and Engineer should know the codes and avoid spending extra money than anticipated. Selectman Kowalyshyn clarified that sometimes things are unforeseen, and you don’t know what you are going to find unless you take something apart; especially when no one is there on a daily basis. She agreed that someone dropped the ball.
Robert Shabot asked how much was set aside for contingency. First Selectman Mailhos stated that no money was set aside because bids came in higher than the budgeted amount of the grant. She added that they already eliminated some of the proposed work to bring the cost down. She then added that one of the proposed cuts will be eliminating the concrete floor in the basement; which is something she does not want to do. If we do not pour the concrete, the moisture will remain in the basement, and will travel up through the building.
First Selectman Mailhos noted that the Board of Finance is meeting later this week and she will bring this up at the meeting and she wanted to bring the Selectmen up to date with the project. Selectman Blessington suggested that we should question why we always have to take the most expensive way out each time.
Good & Welfare
First Selectman Mailhos stated that we received a letter from Heather Dionne, who is resigning from the Inland Wetlands Watercourse Commission. She added that the Commission is running low on members. They now have two open slots in the regular seats as well as two open in the alternate spots. She added that is a tough board because they need to have experience and knowledge to sit on that board. They also offer training for anyone who is appointed to the Commission.
Selectman Kowalyshyn stated that she received feedback from the Economic Development Commission and Planning and Zoning Commission about holding a joint meeting. She thinks everyone is on board. We will schedule a meeting during the summer months. First Selectman Mailhos stated it will be a good idea to meet as each of the Boards have new members.
Bob Wiecenski asked what happened to the Welcome to Willington Signs that were supposed to be disbursed around town. First Selectman Mailhos stated that we never got anyone to get the committee going. She added that the project is complex because it involves finding out where the signs need to go around town and then get the approvals and easements from the State. We also need to find donors to purchase the signs and lastly create a maintenance plan for the signs.
Mr. Wiecenski asked the status of the Fire Fighter abatement proposal. First Selectman Mailhos stated it was left off at the last meeting that the Fire Department members were going to go to the next BOF meeting to seek support and then report back to the BOS to see how much the Town can afford.
Selectman Kowalyshyn gave kudos to Amanda Palotti and First Selectman Mailhos for getting the Personnel Policy done.
Selectman Blessington stated that we have upcoming graduations at E.O. Smith as well as Hall Memorial School.
Robert Shabot announced that the Historical Society will be paining the Daniel Glazier Tavern soon. It will be painted white. He stated that in the 1700’s Taverns were usually painted mustard, burnt umber or blue and only the front of the building was painted. The rest of the building remained unpainted. In the 1820’s white became a normal color for all buildings. The CT Trust has asked the Historical Society if they wanted to have a paint analysis done, but they felt they could get the entire building painted around the same cost.
Executive Session – Possible Land Acquision
First Selectman Mailhos moved to go into Executive Session for a possible land acquisition at 8:15 P.M.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Kowalyshyn & Blessington) 0 No.
Selectman Kowalyshyn moved to come out of Executive Session at 8:34 P.M.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Kowalyshyn & Blessington) 0 No.
Selectman Kowalyshyn moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 P.M.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Kowalyshyn & Blessington) 0 No.
Respectfully submitted,
Robin Campbell
Administrative Assistant
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