BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Meeting Minutes May 4, 2015
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 6:30 P.M. with the following in attendance: Selectmen Kowalyshyn & Blessington and residents. First Selectman Mailhos led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of Minutes:
Selectman Kowalyshyn moved to approve the minutes of April 20, 2015 with the following edits:
Present to speak: Christine Psathas stated that the reference to the municipal guide came from what other towns (such as Tolland, Hartford and Vernon) offer to their residents and they liked the idea to hand out to our residents. (not what was written in the minutes)
Selectman Blessington stated that under Appointments: there is no reference to which Selectman seconded the motion. (was Selectman Kowalyshyn).
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Kowalyshyn & Blessington) 0 No.
Present to Speak:
No one was present to speak.
Correspondence:
A list of correspondence was available at the meeting and in the Selectman’s office.
First Selectman Status Report
First Selectman Mailhos stated that there is not much to update on the report right now. Derek is working on receiving bids for many of the projects on the list. We will then go before the BOF on May 21st to request them to add the items on their agenda to recommend a Town Meeting.
Public Works:
Derek reported that the crew has been busy with the following;
- Digging out drainage ditches
- Vehicle and equipment repair
- Clean off storm grates, check condition of basins
- Sweeping
- Grade gravel roads
- Cut over growth in drainage outfall at Village Hill Park
- Pothole repair at River Road Park
New Business
A.. Ordinance Discussion – Tax Exemption for personal property leased by the Town
Business Manager, Donna Latincsics was present. She handed the Selectmen a request to consider removing the copiers that are leased by the town from the tax roll as well as an ordinance recommendation with the background of the request.
Currently, the Town and BOE lease a fleet of copiers, which are owned by the leasing company. Donna stated that the request to exempt the leasing company from taxing the personal property makes sense from a business standpoint, because three of our departments are involved in the process, which takes up a lot of time. For example, the Assessor must add the property to the grand list; the Tax Office sends out the bill and the leasing company then sends the Finance Office a bill to reimburse the tax payment.
Selectman Blessington asked why this isn’t billed into their cost and why are they asking to not have to pay taxes on their property? Selectman Kowalyshyn clarified that it is a waste of our employees time and money to pay ourselves back. She then added that it is like leasing a car – the person who is leasing has to pay the taxes on it, but in our case, we should be tax exempt. Selectman Blessington disagreed and said he believes it is like they are do not want to pay taxes on their items.
Donna clarified that the request would be coming from the Town, and would go before the residents to see if they would like to ordain the exemption. First Selectman Mailhos asked if any other leased equipment falls under this category? Donna clarified that even though we lease some of our vehicles, they are not considered personal property.
Selectman Blessington asked what other towns do. He then asked to table this until he has had a chance to look into this a little further.
B. Memorial Day Ceremony Discussion
First Selectman Mailhos stated that we are working on the parade and ceremony, and have gotten the sense from the VFW that they no longer are able to organize the event. The other issue is the budget for the event; as we keep increasing the budget, but the expenses also keep going up, and the budget is not realistic. (we always go over, and are tracking to go over once again this year).
For example, the purchases; cemetery flags, wreaths for the cemetery and the wall of honor in front of the Old Town Hall; ice cream sandwiches, and flowers that go around is costly. The amount that we go over budget varies from year to year – some years the VFW chips in money, but they haven’t in the past few years. In addition to purchasing the flowers and flags, the Scouts have requested that we purchase some of the metal flag holders (that go in the ground to hold the flags) – and asked us to order as many as we can – the problem is that the holders are $15 each.
First Selectman Mailhos stated that she wanted to bring this up to the Selectmen to make sure they are ok with exceeding the budget this year.
Bob Wiecenski clarified that the VFW usually purchases 10 – 15 metal holders each year to replenish the ones that are rotted out. Apparently, they are not able to do this any longer.
Selectman Kowalyshyn asked if we can afford to continue with the parade? Robin Campbell asked if we could change the tradition to keep the cost down? Selectman Blessington stated that we need to keep the parade; it commemorates something important; and if it costs a little more, it costs more. It doesn’t lessen our gratitude for the service of our Vets.
First Selectman Mailhos added that planning the event has been turned over to the Selectmen’s office, but should be more of a community thing and suggested that we form a committee to take it over for next year. She noted that is the same thing with Willington Day – we ended up getting a committee together, and have a chairperson, and is working out great. Selectman Blessington agreed and thinks we should form a committee. Selectman Kowalyshyn suggested soliciting donations to help offset the costs and added that it should not be the Town’s responsibility.
C. Appointments
First Selectman Mailhos moved to appoint Patrick Lord as a regular member of the Inland Wetlands & Watercourse Commission, effective May 4, 2015; expiring May 16, 2016.
Selectman Kowalyshyn seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Kowalyshyn & Blessington) 0 No.
First Selectman Mailhos moved to appoint Chelsea Bellefleur as a regular member of the Parks & Recreation Commission; effective May 4, 2015; expiring December 1, 2015.
Selectman Blessington seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Kowalyshyn & Blessington) 0 No.
Good & Welfare
Selectman Kowalyshyn reminded everyone of the referendum tomorrow – get out and vote on the budget.
Last week the Economic Development Commission held their business networking meeting. The consultant that is going to perform the EDC study was there as well as the consultant that is working on the VCI grant.
Willington Day is coming up – the committee is trying to finish the book. We are still waiting for some ads to come in as well as some booth information.
A public hearing notice was sent out last week regarding the proposed firearm training facility. It is posted on the front of the Town webpage. The public hearing will be on Thursday, May 28th at the library.
First Selectman Mailhos noted that someone had left a stack of papers at the last Town meeting without a name or source. They were not “authorized”. We will need to make a disclaimer at future meetings so that the voters know where the information comes from.
The group of Girl Scouts who held the recycled craft event at the library sent a thank you letter to the TOB where their donations were collected. The Scouts received a lot of items for their earth-day event last Saturday. Over 20 children participated in the event. The Scouts had a lot of items left over, which were donated to the library to host future crafting events.
The other Girl Scouts that hosted the town wide clean up sent a thank you via pubic notice to the residents who participated in the town wide clean up. More than 25 people signed up to clean specific roads in town and just under 500 lbs of trash was collected. Lynn Nolan collected the most trash – 152 lbs from Cemetery/Lohse and a portion of Spak Road (included a flat-screen TV, random chunks of metal and a mangled bicycle). Selectman Kowalyshyn noted that there seem to be a lot of alcohol bottles found along the sides of the roads. First Selectman Mailhos thanked the Girl Scouts for hosting the event and also thanked the residents for participating and cleaning up the roads. There are still several roads that are in need of cleaning. Jack Lewis stated that he
and his wife clean a section of their road several times per year. Christine Psathas noted that the area around the Fed Ex facility and the TA truck stop is in serious need of cleaning. First Selectman Mailhos will send the property owners there a letter to ask them to address this.
The Tax Collector’s office has hit their target of a 99.03% collection rate for FY 14-15. Their target rate was 99%. One reason why our fund balance grows each year is because they always collect more than they anticipate. First Selectman Mailhos congratulated them on a job well done.
The local Drug Prevention Council and the WYFSS Department are sponsoring a speaking engagement at E.O. Smith High School on Friday, May 8th. The WYFSS department received a grant from NECASA (Northeast Communities Against Substance Abuse) and the LPC (Local Prevention Council) is using funds raised from fundraisers to cover the cost for the event. Chris Herren, former NBA player and motivational speaker, will talk about his substance abuse recovery.
Selectman Kowalyshyn moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:30 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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