MINUTES
REGU=
LAR
MEETING
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2007, 7:30 P.M.
PRESENT: = &nb= sp; Elaine Adams
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Antonio Guerrera
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Robert Kane
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Carl Mancini
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Joseph Pawlak, Chairman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Suzan Plowman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Raymond Primini
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Paul Rinaldi, Vice Chairman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Jack Walton
ABSENT: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; None
OTHERS PRESENT: Chuck Frigon, Town Manager
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Frank Jodaitis, Water & Sewer Superintendent
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Frank
Nardelli,
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Franklin Pilicy, Town Attorney
1.&nb= sp; Call Meeting To Order
Mr. = Pawlak, Chairman, Called the Meeting to Order at 7:30 p.m.
2.&nb= sp; Roll Call
Ms. LaForme, Board Clerk, executed the Roll Call.
&= nbsp; Mr. Pawlak, Chairman, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
&= nbsp; Mr. Pawlak, Chairman, asked for a moment of silence for all of our personnel in uniform, military, police and fire.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 2
4.&nb=
sp; Recognition Richard Fusco
=
; &n=
bsp; =
;
=
; Mr.
Pawlak: "Proclamation
Honoring Richard Fusco - WHEREAS Richard Fusco was appointed Building Offic=
ial
in May of 1996 and WHEREAS, Richard assisted citizens and tradesmen through=
a
new world of building code standards guiding them through some of the most
dramatic code changes in history including enhancements resulting from the
American With Disabilities Act, changes resulting from new technology wheth=
er a
natural disaster which have made Watertown's buildings safer and investments
sounder, and WHEREAS the Town of Watertown owes Richard Fusco a deep debt of
gratitude for his devotion and for his role as Building Official for the To=
wn
of Watertown, WHEREAS Richard retired from service from the Town of Wat4ert=
own
as of February 20, 2007, and NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that I, Joe Pawl=
ak,
Chairman of the Town Council, on behalf of the entire Town, wishes to expre=
ss
its profound gratitude to Richard Fusco and wishes him well on his
retirement. Dated
at
= ; Mr. Fusco: The only word I ca= n say in Italian, there's a word for this called "senzamizane".
5.&nb=
sp; Public
Participation
Mark Tedesco,
=
; Mr.
Fusco: I'd like to submit=
a
letter of intent and read it into the record regarding
"I
would like it to be known that I, Mark Tedesco, a principal member of Hard =
Rock
Development, hereby request that I have the opportunity to bid on the sale =
of
Mr. Pawlak, Chairman, Closed Public Participation at 7:40 p.m.
6.&nb=
sp; Minutes
&= nbsp; A. Regular Meeting Minutes – February 5, 2007
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Mr. Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to Approve the Regular Meeting Minutes dated February 5, 2007 as presented.
= ; &n= bsp; Discussion: None<= /p>
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 3
&=
nbsp; B. =
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Mr. Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to Approve the Special= Town Meeting Minutes dated January 16, 2007 as presented.
= ; &n= bsp; Discussion: None<= /p>
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
7.&nb= sp; Chairman’s Report
A. Correspondence
1. = Letter from Representative Vickie O. Nardello, dated February 8, 2007.
&= nbsp; Mr. Pawlak: Everyone has a copy I believe of the letter that states:
= &= quot;Dear Public Officials:
= T= his is from Representative Vickie O. Nardello, 89th Assembly District in regard= s to electricity costs, regulation versus deregulation."
=
It
states the obvious, that electric rates are rising and continue to rise.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 4
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Kane: I would also mentio= n that our Representative here, Sean Williams, is a member of the same committee, = if they wanted to contact him as well.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Rinaldi: Can you have the= Town Manager send a letter to both Sean Williams and Vickie Nardello expressing = our feelings on this?
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: We can have Chuck= do that and I would urge everybody to do that also individually, the more the better.
= A= lso in the packet, it's a little bit early, I can't wait for it to happen, it c= an't come soon enough, the Memorial Day Parade schedu= led this year again, going north starting from the parking lot. We are going uphill halfway up the circuit.
=
As
far as the Government Center Subcommittee, there is an item later on the Ag=
enda
and
= We will be adding this item to the Agenda today, as many people are aware, the Superintendent of the Watertown Fire District retired recently and Dave Min= nich and I had a very informal discussion going back several months ago regarding the Fire District and the Town of Watertown and it seems to me that now is = the time to revisit the possible consolidation of the Watertown Fire District i= nto the Town of Watertown and particularly Water & Sewer Authority and also= the Zoning activities, so we are going to add an item to the Agenda for discuss= ion and possible action. There are several avenues we can take, but it seems to me that now is the time to do it. We did the Oakville Fire District in 71 was it?
= = ; Ms. Adams: 61 or 71?
=
; &n=
bsp; =
; Mr.
Pawlak: 61. I think it's time to revisit it.
8. =
Town
Manager's Report
Credit/Debit Cards
The cred= it/debit cards were bid. We have recei= ved proposals. Frank Nardelli, Ca= rol Roman, and Sue Zappone have been going through those proposals. Expect to interview within the nex= t 2 weeks the better proposals and hopefully we'll have that service in place within the next month or so.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 5
As many =
of you
have read in the paper has been of some concern.
Electrical Services
We did b= id with Region 15 and it looks as though the bids, after analysis, will save us abo= ut $.02 per kilowatt hour on all of our Town power = so there is some savings there.
Town Hall
The OSHA citations have been remedied. The pigeon poop has been cleaned up and all of the records in the vaults have b= een cleaned and are ready to be moved. We don't have a permanent storage facility yet.
Mr. Pawlak: What about that company?
Mr. Frigon: Archives One is one of the alternatives we have. Both Carolyn and Ginny visited the facility on Friday and were very impressed with it.
Ms. Adams: Ginny Russo or Ginny Stewart?
Mr. Frigon: Ginny Russo. Archives One's fire protection sys= tem is not a wet system, it's a halon system, but the vault, it's not typical vault space so they're a little concerned with that. The State Librarian, which I have included in the packet, very clearly states they have no objection other th= an the cleanliness of the facility for not putting it on the State approved li= st, and that was back in 1998. Sh= e will revisit it then and both Ginny and Carolyn thought, at least in their opinion, that it had cleaned up considerably and were = quite impressed. We do have some ot= her opportunities and that's what we're looking into now.
Mr. Pawlak: Where are the records, are they in boxes, sealed?
Mr. Frigon: Each record is in a separate plast= ic bag, sealed, and they're still in the Town Hall, but we hope to get them out within the next week.
Building Official Vacated Position=
:
Richie o=
f course
retired today and his replacement does start next Monday.
Murtha Property Phase
I Environmental Update:
We are s= till look to a March 5th closing.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 6
D.O.T. Bus Facility
The only= new news there is that we have facilitated a meeting with the potential develop= ers of that area along with Water & Sewer and Joe Seacrist to make sure that the coordination of their water and sewer installation, the STEEP grant, Waterwork, and their proposed development all work well together, that they= are coordinated. We expect to hav= e that meeting in the next week or two, they're working= on scheduling that today.
Water Storage Tank Cleaning
Still unchanged.
Crosswalk Signs
Moving f= orward on our to do list as we get closer to Spring to make sure the permit proces= s is completed, it's complete, but we haven't heard back from them.
Still unchanged.
One of t= hem is on your Agenda this evening, the other we're putting together a contract wh= ich should go to Sprint in the next couple of weeks.
The rest is unchanged.
Budget
Budget is ongoing and Frank will probably have a preliminary report next week.
9.&nb=
sp; Subcommittee
Reports
&= nbsp; A. Public Works Subcommittee
= Mr. Rinaldi: No report.
&= nbsp; B. = Business Development Subcommittee
=
; Mr.
Guerrera: I was very impr=
essed
at the last meeting at the upbeat positive attitude. I think Mr. Seacrist, the Economic=
Coordinator, I think he has been a major impact in
helping. The Committee is now=
very
close to letting their web site which we think will be a major tool to mark=
et
and advertise our Town. Also =
Mr.
Seacrist has met with a number of business persons in the area that have sh=
own
interest in moving to our Town. I'm
not sure if I'm at liberty to discuss them, but for the first time I've hea=
rd a
lot of positive things and I think Mr. Seacrist has had a positive impact.<=
/p>
Regular Meeting February 20, 2007 Page 7 &=
nbsp; C. Finance
Subcommittee =
; Mr.
Mancini: No report. We'll start up in 2 weeks. &=
nbsp; D. Ordinance
Subcommittee =
; Ms.
Plowman: No report. E. =
=
; Mr.
Pawlak: The subcommittee =
participants
from the Town Council have been appointed.=
They include Elaine Adams, Tony Guerrera, and my=
self. Chuck will represent the Town, and=
Joe
Erardi on the Board of Ed side, Mary Dzioba on the Board of Ed, and I haven=
't
heard of any other appointments from the Board of Ed. =
; Mr.
Frigon: We're waiting on =
that
but have tentatively scheduled our first meeting for February 28th, after t=
he
next Board of Education meeting, at 5:30 p.m. at the Town Hall Annex. 10.&n=
bsp; Departmental
Report =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: This is the
Superintendent's report for the month of January, 2007 which we normally co=
ver
at the Water & Sewer Authority. Water
Breaks: None Sewer
Stoppages: None =
; Mr.
Pawlak: Did you say 05 is=
all
set, it's been reconciled? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Yes. Wattles
Brook Sewer Interceptor Contract Document Revision and Easements: The consultant, Roy Cavanaugh, and=
I went
up to the Army Corps in February and tried to resolve their permit questions
between the State D.E.P. and the E.P.A. and the Army Corps. We came back with what we believe =
they
need and it was sent in today to the Army Corps so hopefully they will be a=
ble
to review it before their March meeting when all the federal government
organizations get together like the Corps, the EPA, Fish & Wildlife,
whomever, and we hope to get our permits so that that sewer project can go
forward for the Heritage Woods Development. Regular Meeting February 20, 2007 Page 8 =
; Ms.
Adams: Have we bid that y=
et,
Frank? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: No, we're not b=
idding
it until we get the permit, and they're making us look at alternate routes =
and
prove to them that we're proposing the best way of doing the project,
environmental-wise and hopefully monetarily. There are 3 condemnations that hav=
e to
be done in order to do that sewer job and the last meeting the Authority
approved the D'Agostino and Foley easements and the Alves easement is due on
the present agenda. Water
Billing & Touch-Read Software:
We are installing radio read meters in the water system now, we boug=
ht
350 and now we have well over 100 installed. We're getting ready to convert our
software over to be able to accommodate, it’s a new software package =
because
our existing one goes back over 20 years.&=
nbsp;
It's a DOS based system and it's cumbersome to work with and we didn=
't
have any confidence in being able to have the automated reading system, rad=
io read
and touch read system work with that software so we hope to start convertin=
g it
in the next month or so. DPH
Recommendations: These go bac=
k to
the year 2000. The remaining =
things
with 2000 revolved around the storage tank. Straits Tank was cleaned out in De=
cember
and early in December we had the Scovill Tank cleaned by divers. The Straits Tank was completely dr=
ained
whereas the Scovill Tank was only, the sediment was cleaned out of it but t=
he
water was not totally changed. That
had some impact on what I'm going to talk about later on. Water
Maintenance: Basically any wa=
y you
change a hydrant and we bid the demolition of the small 200,000 gallon water
storage tank which has been off line since 1997. Tomorrow morning the demolition
contractor will take the tank down, so that should be gone by this time
tomorrow. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: What's the cost, =
Frank? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: It think
it was $8,900. The next lowest
bidder was more than twice that.
This company only takes down storage tanks; that's what they do. I've checked their references, eve=
rybody
at least from what they gave me speaks very highly of them, and they seem t=
o be
well organized so I assume they're going to come in here hopefully and do a
good job for us. Sewer
Maintenance: We didn't do any
scheduled sewer maintenance in January. Fern
Hill Sewage Pump Station: The
design for the Fern Hill sewage pump station, hopefully we'll be able to se=
e in
water pumping station. Renova=
tions
should be hopefully within a biddable form within a month. GIS
Project: It was approved by t=
he
Water & Sewer Authority. =
The
contract with Tighe & Bond has to be approved by the Town Council. =
; Mr.
Pawlak What is the timi=
ng on
that? We had a very impressive
presentation at the last meeting. Regular Meeting February 20, 2007 Page 9 =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Water & Sew=
er has
its own GIS system which we use the same base maps, we did that project when
the Town did the Assessor's maps.
There are gaps in the system and we want Tighe & Bond to put the
missing pipes and such into that model and set the model up so it will be
easier to use, plus we're going to have the new base maps with topographic
mapping and colored aerial photographs. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: No, my question t=
hough
was when will we see that in front of the Council for our review and approv=
al? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Probably at you=
r next
meeting. Westgate
Meter Pit: This project has b=
een
going on for quite awhile. We=
have
to buy a sump pump and a dehumidifier and a few other items and install them
ourselves in the pit and we'll be all set.=
That will be the last thing on the Dunrobin/Grandview project list.<=
/p>
=
; Mr.
Pawlak: You mentioned that
would be done in January or February; January we can cross off, is that goi=
ng
to be done this month? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: I'm not sure, it's not a high priority item. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: It's not in dange=
r of
failing? Mr. Jodaitis: No.
It's a pit that has meters in it.&n=
bsp;
It has a groundwater problem so the sump pump, plus we sample in the=
re
and we have to have a way of getting the water out of the pit and keeping
humidity out of the pipe. Plu=
s we have
lights and there are OSHA requirements for ventilation when people go into
confined spaces. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: So do you have a =
time
schedule on this? Something y=
ou can
nail to the wall? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Priority-wise I=
suppose
it's not a high priority but April. Lenard
Engineering Agreement: They h=
ave
designed a number of water mains for us and a sewer extension. There is one that is based on mone=
y from
a previous year. The current =
budget
has an 800 foot water main that would connect Shaw Farm to Regular Meeting February 20, 2007 Page 10 Mr. Rinaldi: Where is =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Happy Avenue is=
not
very long. It goes from =
; Mr.
Rinaldi: Is that on top of
Shaw's Hill? Mr. Jodaitis: No. Crystal
Rock: We're trying to resolve=
our sewer
issues and Atty. Pilicy has an agreement that he thinks will satisfy everyb=
ody
so that will go to the Water & Sewer Authority at this month's meeting.=
Stanley
Street Extension Sewer and Water Main project: This requires, I go from then prop=
osal
from one consultant, then another, and there were some questions by members=
of
the Board and therefore I was given until April to go back out and get new
proposals. Those
are the items are from the Superintendent's Report from January 2007. Regular Meeting February 20, 2007 Page 11 The
next item is a public notification for maximum contaminant levels the viola=
tion
for Total Haloacetic Acids. T=
his
violation is not the first violation we've had for Haloacetic Acids or for
Trihalomethlene. We received =
this
in September. And it was put =
in the
newspaper in October 13th. It=
is a
written notification component to that which should basically be done
simultaneously or within a week or 2 of actually putting the notice in the
newspaper. Due to a number of
different delays for many reasons, the mailing wasn't done until about 2 or=
3
weeks ago. We really can't do
anything to change that situation but we're in the process of working with =
Data
Processing and BTS, who is the printer that we use, to be able to print the
addresses of the customers using a laser printer rather than to print them =
on
adhesive labels and have staff members put them on 4,000 or better
letters. There was another
violation that was put in the newspaper recently which we will have to do t=
he
mailing on also. Mr. Mancini: How long will that mailing tak=
e? Mr. Jodaitis: Well if we can get it printed out =
and
get our check to the post office in a timely manner then it's only how long=
it
takes to get it printed and get the post office the right money. Also looked into having a ma=
iling house
do that for us, so if we can't get the thing straightened out with Data
Processing and we don't feel we can do it in a timely manner with Data Proc=
essing,
we can always do the contractual mail out option. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: What was the natu=
re of
the violation, Frank? Mr. Jodaitis: The latest one was a violation for
Trihalomethlene. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: And the fix is?
=
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Well one of the=
items
that's on your agenda later on is an agreement w=
ith
Tata & Howard to do a study which is basically go back to the
beginning. Because we're a cu=
stomer
of the City of =
; Mr.
Pawlak: You said 10,000
customers? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: 10,000 population. The
best we can estimate we serve a little bit more than 10,000 people, so that
puts us in a different ballpark.
The steps that we're shown here, it's flu=
shing
storage tanks, we did flush the storage tanks at Straits Turnpike and we ha=
ve a
lot of dead end areas or areas where there are large groups of people servi=
ced,
but the water once it goes into that neighborhood doesn't go anywhere until
someone opens up the tap. Regular Meeting February 20, 2007 Page 12 Shaw
Farm is one place, that portion of Town North Road, North Street, they're
blocked, there are no dead ends but part of the thing with the STEEP grant =
is
the water main will hopefully go down Sylvan Lake Road and tie in the end of
Falls Avenue which will give more circulation to the system, so we have more
than a few places that have that kind of a challenge if you want to call it
that, so one way we can try to correct that is to do flushing and we're
pursuing trying to find out what it costs to put in automatic flushers beca=
use
that way we would be able to set a schedule where the water mains would flu=
sh
automatically at night for a certain duration so the only place we've sampl=
e up
until December was off of Cobb Street, so all these violations with the
exception of last month's, the December quarter, were all based upon one
location because that's the way the State wanted us to do them. =
; Mr.
Kane: Obviously this will=
come
up later when we're on 11C, but we're just potentially approving the agreem=
ent,
the money would come out of the Water & Sewer? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Yes. The way I understand it, all of th=
ese
agreements we have with consulting firms have to be approved by the Town
Council. And the only one tha=
t can
sign the agreement is the Town Manager.&nb=
sp;
So the Water & Sewer Authority reviews them, if they feel
comfortable with them, they pass them on to the Town Manager who brings the=
m to
you if he feels comfortable with them.&nbs=
p;
So one of the major things here is the size of the distribution syst=
em,
is the storage tanks themselves, the way they're set up, the water goes into
them and inside it has a zone where there's a package of water if you want =
to
call that that comes and goes. If
there is a big demand or a fire or something then the water that has been t=
here
for a very long period of time goes into the distribution system and the lo=
nger
water stays around the more these haloaecitic acids and trihalomethlenes get
formed in that body of water. The
mixing systems are quite important because they put the fresh water on the =
top
of then tank, when the tank is filling and when the tank starts to empty the
water gets drawn off the bottom so you're constantly turning then tank over=
and
they're designed to stir the tank also.&nb=
sp;
And then you get away from that problem. We have a lot of storage because i=
n some
respects we need that storage if there's a problem in Waterbury, a real big
fire or if they have a water main break, so we're kind of caught with this
system between wanting to maintain as much water as I can in the tank in ca=
se
we lose a source of water and trying to keep the tanks moving. If you take a tank like Scovill, t=
he
tall one, the demand that used to come out of that tank from all the factor=
ies
where there were hundreds of people employed that are sitting there
vacant. Now we have big mains,
virtually no demand down the end of One
of the problems we have is that we don't control he chlorination; that's do=
ne
by the City of Waterbury and they do put a lot of chlorine in the water
comparatively speaking cause they have to carry it through their system so =
we
get most of the water that comes in is like 1.4 parts of free chlorine whic=
h compared
to a lot of
systems, particularly well systems, it's 2 or 3 times more.
=
; Mr.
Pawlak: Parts per million=
? Regular Meeting February 20, 2007 Page 13 =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Parts per milli=
on. =
; Mr.
Walton: This is something=
that
comes from chlorine that's originally put in the water from =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: There's good an=
d bad
news with chlorine. It disinf=
ects
the water and protects you from a lot of diseases and things of that nature,
but the longer it stays in the system, more reacts to things and if the sys=
tem
has rusty pipes or storage tanks that has a tendency to form more
trihalomethlenes. Interesting=
ly
enough it tends to retard the forming of haloaecetic acids but . . . . Mr. Walton: This is regenerative then? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Well when they =
filter
the water and cut, they chlorinate it and there is some that comes into the
system. I have a fair idea of=
what the
City of =
; Mr.
Walton: Is there a time c=
ycle
on that? Obviously it starts =
with =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: That's my
understanding of it. We sampl=
e at
least bacterial logically we sample the water coming into then system. We don't sample the water we buy f=
rom
the (inaudible) utility supply. =
; Mr.
Walton: So it degenerates=
over
time, just sitting there? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Yes, it's just =
part
of the way it goes. If it str=
ays
too long, these numbers go up and we're in violation. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: Any other
questions? Anything
else, Frank? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: No, I believe I=
've
answered the questions that were written here and one other thing. There is a newspaper article from
Saturday, February 10th. I ca=
n't agree
with this that there will be no more problems and that everything is solved=
. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: So that's an opti=
mistic
statement on the part of someone? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: I would assume =
so. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: That's what testi=
ng is
for? Regular Meeting February 20, 2007 Page 14 =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Yes. =
; Ms.
Adams: Just a suggestion,
Frank. A lot of the towns (in=
audible)
have access to the web site (inaudible) meeting notices and things like tha=
t so
is it possible to start putting it on our web site? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Well there has =
been
talk for quite awhile about getting us up and running and getting us some p=
lace
where it's a little more obvious to where we are. We're sort of appended to some oth=
er,
you have to rally kind of look for us, it's not =
easy
to find the Water & Sewer Authority. =
; Ms.
Adams: I found you, so I =
was
wondering if that would be possible? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: Well the agenda=
s are
made up and they can be put into the web site. Part of it is really just getting =
the
mechanics of the web site set up. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: Isn't the web sit=
e set
up for that? Can't we have th=
at
posted to the web site? =
; Mr.
Frigon: No, we can. It's very cumbersome and what we
discussed last week is a redesign of the web site which will make the posti=
ng
of agendas, minutes, and news far easier for the departments. We're working on resolving that.
=
; Mr.
Pawlak: Will that have to=
wait
until the web site is redesigned? =
; Mr.
Frigon: No, not
necessarily. You can start pu=
tting
information on there tomorrow and certainly we can help your staff understa=
nd
how to do that easily. =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: I don't see any
problems with the agendas. The
minutes are quite backlogged that have not bee approved as yet. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: But your concern,
Elaine, was to have the Agenda on there. =
; Ms.
Adams: Yea, basically to =
know
when the special meetings are being held and what's going on there. Back in the Fall Waterbury and =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: I really don't =
know
that you're going to get a refund.
I looked at the whole matter.
We have to paint the storage tanks.=
I looked at financing the storage tanks, I have a whole 5 page memo
written about all the different things we could or couldn't do with the mon=
ey
but I'm not really all that sure that the rates at this point in time are
totally adequate. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: Well the discuss =
on
what happens to that money I don't think is at this level, it's probably
something for the Water & Sewer Authority. Regular Meeting February 20, 2007 Page 15 =
; Ms.
Adams: No, but the questi=
on
what is the Authority doing about then surplus that they have? =
; Mr.
Pawlak: Have they discuss=
ed it
at all? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: As I said, ther=
e is, if
we paint the storage tanks, these tanks have been in service for 40 years .=
. .
. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: I understand the
discussion that you're having here, but the question is has the Water &
Sewer Authority discussed what their plans are with respect to the money th=
at's
sitting in the account? =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: It's been menti=
oned. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: But not in real
concrete . . . . =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: But there's nev=
er
really been anything on the Agenda or anything of that nature, but I would =
be
pretty surprised if that really was just a pot of gold that didn't have
something for it to be used. =
; Ms.
Adams: I take exception to
that. It is not a pot of gold=
. The fact of the matter is back in =
1989 I
sat at a meeting at Swift Junior High School with about 300 other people an
agreed that since we had the debate with Waterbury on what our rates should=
be,
that I would much rather overpay over time in anticipation if we lost the
lawsuit versus having to come up with probably several hundred dollars per
household, if not more, to pay back Waterbury. Now the lawsuit has been settled a=
nd I
feel the ratepayers made a promise back then, that at this point in time wh=
en
we settled that everything would be taken care of (inaudible). =
; Mr.
Pawlak: Was that somethin=
g that
. . . . =
; Ms.
Adams: He wasn't here for=
that. =
; Mr.
Pawlak: No, that was some=
thing
the Water & Sewer Authority decided so let them take care of it and we =
have
a member who is joining the Water & Sewer Authority so I' sure it's been
taken up. =
; Mr.
Jodaitis: There's been qu=
ite a
bit of inflation since 89. =
; Ms.
Adams: And there's $2,000=
,000
sitting there.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 16
11.&n=
bsp; New
Business
&=
nbsp; MOTION: (Mr.
Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to Add Agenda Item 11H,
Discussion and Possible Action concerning a proposal for the Town of
&= nbsp; Discussion: None<= /p>
&= nbsp; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&=
nbsp; MOTION: (Mr.
Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to Add Agenda Item 14F, Pending Litigation - Town=
of
&= nbsp; Discussion: None<= /p>
&= nbsp; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&=
nbsp; A. Consider
Appointments to Boards and Commissions
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 1. =
Consider
the nomination of David Demirs,
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; MOTION: (Mr.
Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to nominate David Demirs,
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'> &= nbsp; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: None<= /p>
<= o:p>
&= nbsp; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 2. =
Consider
the nomination of Sandra Jellinghaus, 52 Academy Hill,
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 17
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; MOTION: (Mr.
Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to nominate Sandra Jellinghaus, 52 Academy Hill, =
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:3'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Discussion: None<= /p>
<= o:p>
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 3. =
Consider
the nomination of Kathleen Williams,
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; MOTION: (Mr.
Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to nominate Kathleen Williams,
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:3'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Discussion: None<= /p>
<= o:p>
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
= ; Mr. Kane: Can we get an updat= ed list cause we haven't been provided one in awhil= e?
= ; Mr. Frigon: Sure.
&=
nbsp; B. =
Discussion
Regarding Health and Accident Insurance for Volunteer Firefighters
=
Mr. Frigon: On February 7th I received a letter=
from
Chief Larry Black requesting Town Council consideration in respect to provi=
ding
health insurance to the volunteers of the Watertown Fire Department. The Chief has researched it and
according to State Statute 7-164 Chapter 113 the Town may elect at our
discretion to provide insurance at the volunteer's cost to the volunteer.
= ; Mr. Pawlak: What is the natur= e of the coverage that would be available for this?
= Mr. Frigon: The coverage would be the same 3 ti= ered insurances that we presently have.
= Mr. Pawlak: And it would be for either themsel= ves and/or their families?
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Frigon: Yes.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 18
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: This is all total= ly their weight to carry?
= ; Mr. Frigon: Yes, they would p= ay 100% of the premium.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Nardelli: We are self fun= ded, so if someone gets sick and goes to the hospital and the hospital bill is $100,000, the Town pays $100,000. So if these people pay, and again if they pay the COBRA rate the premium, that may or may not cover the actual cost of the individuals. I spoke to Anthem today and I spok= e to Larry Black, Anthem would probably like to meet with the Fire Department and see what type of overages they're looking for and to show what type of plans they could provide them outside of the Town plan because there is no carve = out from the Town. We can't just = carve out a certain section for the volunteers because we are self funded. We say your premium is "x&quo= t; amount and your coverage is this because we are self funded. I talked to Larry about that and h= e was kind of receptive to having them come and talk to the volunteer firemen and discuss the different plans Anthem has to provide to them outside of the To= wn's purview.
= ; Mr. Pawlak: Is it possible th= at we could have make available through a third party, through a carrier, insuran= ce that does not fall under then Town's self funding action?
= ; Mr. Nardelli: Yes, that's wha= t I was just saying.
= ; Mr. Pawlak: And there is no i= dea what that cost would be?
=
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Nardelli: That's right.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Primini: Would that be su= bject to one of the policies that Anthem would have versus then similar 3 policie= s we have right now?
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Nardelli: Yes. It would be subject to the differe= nt policy anthem provides to individuals outside of the Town's purview, that's right, depending on the coverage, if they want HSA's, other types.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Kane: I'd wait until their discussion before we . . . .
= ; Mr. Primini: That would make = more sense.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 19
&= nbsp; C. Consider Authorizing the Town Manager to enter into and execute on behalf of the Watertown Town Council an Agreement with Tata & Howard, Inc. for a Water System Study
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION: (Mr. Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to enter into and execute on behalf of the Watert= own Town Council an agreement with Tata & Howard, Inc. for a Water System Study.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: = ; Mr. Pawlak: Just generally, w= hat are we going to get for this study?
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Frigon: Tata & Howard would come to
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Rinaldi: Is this going to include INI?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Frigon: No. This is just an evaluation of the current system.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Primini: What's the price?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Frigon: $10,000.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&=
nbsp; D. Consider
Authorizing the Town Manager to enter into and execute on behalf of the Tow=
n of
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; MOTION: (Mr. =
Mancini,
sec. Mr. Walton ) to authorize the Town Manager =
to
enter into and execute on behalf of the Town of
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: Mr. Pawlak: It looks like it's a 5 year lease.=
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Frigon: That's correct, w= ith 3 additional options. It's actu= ally broken out in 2 parts, the first part is an option where they come in, once this agreement is signed, they pay the $1,500 a = month until the option is exercised or when they actually start developing that p= iece of property. Once the propert= y is being developed, it then gives the Town $2,000 a month.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 20
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: $2,000 a month fo= r the first 12 months and (Tape #1, Side B ended - may have missed some).
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Frigon: It almost goes on into perpetuity = at that point.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: But if they hang additional transponders or whatever on the tower from some other provider, = we get additional income?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Frigon: We get additional income as well.<= /p>
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Primini: This is just to = give them the right of way right now, there's no construction at this time?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Frigon: Correct, it gives them the option.= They can start constructing at any= time, within the first 3 years of the agreement.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Primini: That would be an additional agreem= ent after that?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Frigon: No, same agreement.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Primini: Is there somethi= ng in there that says they would remove any equipment on their own once the agree= ment comes to an end?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Frigon: Yes.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&=
nbsp; E. =
Consider
the Extension of an Agreement for the Temporary Wage Adjustments for the
Assistant Town Clerk and the Secretary II in the Town Clerk's Office and hi=
ring
a temporary Secretary II for the Town Clerk's Office for a period not to ex=
ceed
six months
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION: (Mr. Mancini, sec. Mr. Rinaldi) to approve the Extension of an Agreement for the Temporary Wage Adjustments for the Assistant Town Clerk and the Secretary I= I in the Town Clerk's Office and hiring a temporary Secretary II for the Town Clerk's Office for a period not to exceed six months.
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: Ms. Adams: This is a continuation of the orig= inal agreement that we had in there that we could extend it twice or something?<= /p>
<= o:p>
<=
span
style=3D'mso-tab-count:4'> &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Frigon: Right. The original agreement provided us=
with
3 months. This is what the Wh=
ite
Collar was amenable to agreeing to at the time. Now they're agreeing to 6 months.<=
/p>
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 21
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Kane: What's going to hap= pen 6 months from now?
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:4'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Frigon: We'll be back again w= ith another agreement, if necessary.
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&=
nbsp; F. =
Consider
a Resolution authorizing the Town Manager to sign a personal service agreem=
ent
with the State of Connecticut for financial assistance to complete improvem=
ents
to the Town owned, operated and maintained educational/recreational resource
known as the Swift Middle School as described in the agreement
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION: (Mr. Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to authorize the Town Manager to sign a personal service agreement with the State of Connecticut for financial assistance to complete improvements to the Town owned, operated and maintained educational/recreational resource known as the Swift Middle School as descr= ibed in the agreement.
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: None<= /p>
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&=
nbsp; G. Consider
a Resolution authorizing a bid waiver for the purchase of a maintenance
contract for the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System for the Wa=
ter
and Sewer Authority to be provided by Bristol Babcock for an amount not to
exceed $5,208
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION: (Mr. Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to authorize a bid waiver for the purchase of a maintenance contract for the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System for the Water and Sewer Authority to be provided by Bristol Babcock for an amount not to exceed $5,208.
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: Mr. Rinaldi: What's the basis for the waiver?
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:4'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Frigon: This is a maintenance contract. We have the equipment in place, we purchased the equipment through a bid some years ago, but because the maintenance contract annually cost more than $4,000, we're bringing it to y= ou for your consideration.
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; In Favor: &= nbsp; Ms. Adams, Mr. Guerrera, Mr. Kane, Mr. Mancini, Ms. Plowman, Mr. Primini, Mr. Rinaldi, Mr. Walton
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Opposed: = None
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Abstained: Mr. Pawlak
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION CARRIED (8-0-1)
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 22
<= o:p>
&=
nbsp; H. Discussion
and Possible Action Concerning a proposal for the Town of Watertown and the=
Watertown
Fire District to Consolidate pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes Secti=
on
7-195 through 7-199
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: I just wanted to get this on the re= cord, as I indicated in my report section, just want to hear where the individual members of the Council are with respect to this possibility.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Ms. Adams: It's kind of h=
ard,
I think we've had just a little over an hour to give us any kind of
thought. I believe Fire Distr=
ict
Board Members are here in the audience.&nb=
sp;
This isn't a new idea, this idea has been
tossed around for probably for 45 or 50 years now about consolidation. It was tried once, it partially
worked. I don't really have a=
n opinion
at this time. I don't know if=
it's
a good or bad thing, I would think that we definitely need input from the
District Commissioners on what their thoughts are on this. It would definitely have to be mut=
ually beneficial
to both the District and the Town of
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Pawlak: We're not looking for possible acti=
on, it
should have just said discussion but I wanted to get this out into the open=
for
people to start thinking about it and talking about it and asking
questions. We've done it once=
with
the Oakville Fire District, we have that as a model, and if we can look bac=
k at
that and see if there were any problems, I'm sure there were, perhaps this =
time
around, if and in fact it is beneficial and advantageous to both parties, b=
oth
the Fire District and then Town, then we should be able to move forward.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Kane: How did this come about? How did we get it here tonight?
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 23
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: There were no meetings. Well I shouldn't say that. I had an in formal discussion with= Dave Minnich some time last year, it might have been = prior to a Council meeting. We were= just talking about something and the subject of a possible consolidation came up= an d I expressed my honest opinion. I was amenable to it, I thought it= was something that was worthy of discussion and them with then retirement of the Superintendent within the last month or so I believe, I've talked to Chuck about it and it just seemed like a good idea, and I think we ought to pursu= e it.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Rinaldi: I would be in favor of a consolidation. I've always sa= id that I'll always support a possible consolidation. I use the word possible because I = have to see the details of the agreement. It's a (inaudible) question right now, but if the agreement were amenable to both parties I can see moving forward. What's going to happen to then ass= ets, the liabilities, there's a lot of questions that have to be answered as we = go along. I want to know what's = going to happen to then (inaudible), I want to make sure jobs are safe, there are= a lot of things that we're going to have to discuss before I say yes, I support it. I support then concept, I think it's tim= e we move forward, I think it's long overdue.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Ms. Adams: So what's the next step? Chuck sends a letter asking then F= ire District to talk about this?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Atty. Pilicy: Essentially any proposed consolidat= ion is governed by a couple of sections of then General Statutes and specifically 7-195 through 7-199 and it's actually a fairly simple procedure. Either legislative body of either governmental entity can initiate the process by a majority vote and the pro= cess is initiated by either entity voting to propose consolidation to then other entity. For example if the To= wn Council voted to propose consolidation by a majority vote, that resolution would be forwarded to the Fire District and the Fire District would have 30= days to accept or reject. If the F= ire District Commission voted to propose consolidation to then Town, then that resolution would be forwarded to yourselves as Town Council members and you would have 30 days to accept or reject.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: When you say propose consolidation,= this is just to start the talking?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Atty. Pilicy: Correct.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: Not specific details.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 24
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Atty. Pilicy: No details, just to propose it.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Ms. Adams: Petition by the Fire District if i= t were approved.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Atty. Pilicy: Either electorate cold petition it.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Ms. Adams: Cause they do it by Town Meetings,= don't they?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Atty. Pilicy: You need 10% of the electorate of o= ne of the districts to petition to a special election but that may not be the bes= t way to go, but when you get to a vote it's a Town wide referendum vote by machi= ne and it must be approved at both district levels, both entities must approve it,= by a majority vote but that majority has to be at least 15% of the total elect= ors in each respective district.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Ms. Adams: 15?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Atty. Pilicy: 15.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: So the majority has to be at least = 15% of the voters in each district?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Atty. Pilicy: Yes.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Kane: Do they set up their own polling pl= aces or would we use the regular polling places?
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 25
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Atty. Pilicy: I haven't really thought it throug= h, but my initial reaction would be that everybody would use the same polling plac= e, but the registrars would have to give us a separate tally of the district r= esident's vote and the Town residents vote. Now I suppose can you vote twice if you live in the district, I haven't really thought about that.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Ms. Adams: You mean live in the Town of
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Atty. Pilicy: For example, if you live on
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Ms. Adams: Do we have that ordinance here?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Atty. Pilicy: The ordinance is printed in the Charter. It's not in the pape= rwork here. It's at the end of the Charter book and this is the ordinance that was produced by the Consolidati= on Commission Ordinance Committee back in 1973. Again all of the requirements and the statutes are repeated at the beginning f our existing ordinance so it would be pretty much following the same . . . . .
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Ms. Adams: So it doesn't need a state legisla= tive act anymore, like the last one did?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Atty. Pilicy: No, we can proceed under the consolidation ordinance. Thes= e are specific sections of the State Statutes for consolidating government entities. Pretty straightforward.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: Just be aware, Council members, that this, I'm going to ask that this be on the Agenda for the next meeting so g= ive it some serious thought for consideration. We can recommend or pass our des= ire on to the Fire District indicating we want to pursue this. Strictly all it means is it's an intent, it's not any specific action or a lot of de= tail, it's just a notification of our intent of our desire to consolidate.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 26
12.&n=
bsp; Old
Business
&=
nbsp; A. Consider
Planning and Zoning's Denial of C.G.S. 8-24 approval of the sale of Town ow=
ned
property located at Evelyn at
<=
span
style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; MOTION: (Mr.
Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to override Planning and Zoning's Denial of C.G.S.
8-24 approval of the sale of Town owned property located at Evelyn at
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: Ms. Adams: I believe we talked about this a f= ew weeks ago. I believe the vote= was no. I'm going to reiterate no= w what I said then. You have unanimo= us denial of the Planning and Zoning Commission regarding sale of this property. When the subdivisio= n was put together, instead of putting the open space on the interior of the subdivision, they allowed the developer to build on the interior and use th= ese outer parts for potentially a fire house or open space. I don't think that we as a Council should end up putting a couple of more houses there when I think as far as = the original development called for this to service the people of the area. It could potentially be used for a= park, it could potentially be used for a lot of thing but I just don't think it's right for us to sell it.
<= o:p>
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Primini: What was the potential sale of the = two lots?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: The estimated value I believe was $225,000.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Nardelli: (Inaudible.)
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Primini: I was just doing some math and I'd=
like
to restate what I said a couple of weeks ago, if we had 2 houses on that lot
with 2 kids per house that we typically average, and I understand the typic=
al
tuition right now is about $9,000 and I did some rough math, in 6 years we'd
lose the money we'd have on that, if we multiply that, just $9,000 without
taking inflation, after 6 years, it comes out to about $216,000 so if we to=
ok
some inflation I think we'd lose our money in 4 to 5 years and we talked ab=
out
this even before last year, I think it's a losing proposition like that.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Kane: I have to agree with Elaine and Ray= . My first question is that it did c= ome up at our last meeting, it was defeated, it was unanimously defeated by Planni= ng and Zoning, so why the full court press on this? Why are we acting on it again? I don't understand the need to sel= l this so rapidly, so badly.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 27
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Pawlak: The discussion to sell this proper=
ty was
viewed as the mechanism by which we could purchase the Murtha property on <=
st1:Street
w:st=3D"on">
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Frigon: $210,000.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: This was the vehicle by which we w= ere going to purchase that property, it was part of the discussion we had when = we talked about the Murtha property, it was the way we were going to finance t= he purchase of that property to put off any further potential lawsuits with respect to = that property and potential environmental condition or situation so problems that might evidence themselves in the future.&n= bsp; We decided to go forward with purchasing the Murtha property and use that as a buffer between any, I believe there's another development that's being proposed up there, that’s the background on the sale of this property.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Kane: I'm with you on the Murtha thing, b= ut I could be wrong, I don't remember having those financial discussions here in open session, I remember Murtha being in Executive Session, but I don't remember us talking in open session about how we were going to finance it.<= /p>
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: It was part of the discussion thou= gh.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Primini:
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Walton: The national average is about 1.6 children per house and that brings us to about 3, so in a 12 year school cy= cle, if we get something around 250, rather than 225, it will be a wash and the = money will buy the Murtha property.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Mancini: I'm going to vote for this because = I'm not going to say that I'm, it sounds to me like we're anti-children here th= at we're against building a house because there's kids in the house and it's g= oing to cost us money for education for the children. I'm not voting against children, s= o I'm voting for selling this property.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 28
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Ms. Adams: We're n not throwing children = out on the streets.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Kane: No one is anti-children. I don't think anyone in Town is anti-children, I think that's an embellishment at best. But what we're saying i= s that this is a property that we already own and we are taking a proactive approa= ch in putting houses on that property, which as we all know we ultimately lose= on, that's all. No one is anti-children. I don't think = that's a good comment.
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION: (Mr. Rinaldi, sec. Mr. Mancini) to Move the Question.
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: None<= /p>
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
<= o:p>
In Favo= r: &= nbsp; Mr. Guerrera, Mr. Mancini, Mr. Pawlak, Ms. Plowman, Mr. Rinaldi, Mr. Walton
\
Opposed= : = Ms. Adams, Mr. Kane, Mr. Primini
Abstain= ed: None
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION CARRIED (6-3-0)
13.&n=
bsp; Public
Participation
David Minnich,
= ; Mr. Minnich: I'm the Chairman= of the Planning and Zoning Commission. We had some discussion on the very issue that you just talked about which is now your decision that you've made and the land to which we are speaking about, our vision of that at the time, well before I was on there,= was different than residential homes. It is almost unfathomable for us to ever conceive that our predecessors on that Board would have accepted Town owned land of a development in that area for residential purposes. We inte= nded it for the purposes of the Town. And all I can say from my own personal perspective is that a lesson here is lea= rned and we feel very strongly about this, a lesson is learned for us that when = we do get land we will make it open space land which requires some other furth= er restrictions so that land for the purposes that you're talking about, but to take Town owned land and put residential homes on the land to which every s= tudy we have had, and you can do the math yourself, when the people who are goin= g to be in there are going to use the full services of the Town, that's the scho= ol and the Town, it is not a tax positive issue, it is a tax negative issue an= d I recall very clearly as my own view, not as the Planning and Zoning Commissi= on, now when we talked about this Murtha issue and I came up here to the podium= and one of my concerns was the financing of this and that it was going to be co= ming out of the general taxpayers money and so forth and here we're now using an asset, just as you did for Griffin School just as were now doing for that, = and putting it into these sorts of things which are just one time operational c= osts because you don't have the means of financing.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 29
Switching my hat to the Chairman of the Watertown Fire District, we certainly would welcome whatever discussion you would wish to have with us and we with you,= I'd only suggest that the conversation be an open discussion with regards to ou= r relationship between the Watertown Fire District and the Town of Watertown and the Water & Sewer Authority if you so desire for them to be involved in this. When you narrow the discussion to a specific issue of consolidation you obviously narrow that whole discussion.= I also in terms of a process if in= deed what Atty. Pilicy has presented to you, and I have every reason to believe = it is the process to go through, there obviously is a timeframe here in terms = of when a response is required and I think that before you decide to take your vote on this, you ought to have heard clearly with some preliminary discuss= ions and meetings with the Fire District. Lacking that you then force a decision on the part of the Fire Distr= ict within a very narrow timeframe which may be a different decision and if the= re was some more time to discuss this. So my comment listening pretty carefully to what was said is the int= ent to perhaps to bring this to you next meeting to begin that process, I would suggest if that is what you're desiring to do and we certainly desire also = to have a discussion on any topic but on more general topics as well that you = could not use that to begin the process formally but to just have a meeting with = the Fire District and then at some point later on make your decision as to what= to do. Knowing what we are curre= ntly going through in the Fire District with finding areas to which we need to s= hift responsibilities that our former Superintendent has, at the moment we are of the mindset and we will see how it works out that we're not intending to re= place a person in that position, a new person, but we may be moving some responsi= bilities and some people around and we're working with staff and with our own conversations within this within the Fire District Commission so knowing th= at discussion, knowing as you know very well with our process of doing the budget, our bud= get is a little earlier, we have it in May and knowing some other things which = are on the drawing board which I remind you again or ask that you be reminded again, we are very pleased that the lawsuit has been dropped by the Town of= Watertown that was filed against the Fire District but there were underlying issues t= hat you had that resulted in that and now obviously with the results there are underlying issues we have with that. (Tape #2, Side A ended - may have missed some). I also say on behalf o= f the Fire District we have asked a number of times that we receive on a monthly basis, when you send us a bill, that we receive = the gallons that that bill is for with regards to sewer. We have not received a bill and I emphasize that as part of the contract, the contract is based on a rate, we won't talk about how that gets done, but on a rate times the gallons. We have yet to receive in nearly 4= years a gallonagge and that's part of our concern that we want to begin this proc= ess of discussion of this issue, we're ready to do it tomorrow. We have a committee we formed, we'= re willing to do this in a small committee, not in a large group like we did before, but we want very much to resolve our underlying issues which to our former Superintendent's calculations and we need to review this ourselves, = but based on his calculations in addition to some processes that need to be in place in regards to seeing that this doesn't happen again, that when there = is a problem that it's addressed right away, not some years later but in additio= n to that there are $350,000 that we need to look to have addressed so I ask you again to do what you can in terms of your powers as the Town Council to persuade staff and to persuade whomever you are going to be negotiating with the Fire District, or discussing with the Fire District is a better way to proceed very quickly with us, we are prepared to resolve that.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 30
But once again in summary my comments very clearly is that if the process is th= at once you decide or ask that we have 30 days as a commission to make a decis= ion based on all that I've said to you, that is an unrealistic timeframe to giv= e a decision that would be anywhere near what you may want to have and I think = you can understand that, and so I suggest if you want to begin which we certain= ly are willing to have any discussions, that we have it on a formal basis and = not begin the formal process. Tha= nk you for your time.
Mr. Pawlak: Franklin, the 30 days period, = that is unless I misunderstood, that's nothing more than a time period to respon= d, is that correct, to enter into discussions?
Atty. Pilicy: That's correct.
= ; Mr. Pawlak: It's not a commit= ment, or is it?
Atty. Pilicy: It's a commitment to go to the next= step which is to establish your Consolidation Ordinance Commission, so in that s= ense it is a commitment, but if it were rejected, so to speak, it could be reviv= ed over and over again until you have a match. You don't go to the next step unti= l you have a match.
= ; Mr. Minnich: But just as a ve= ry practical standpoint, as you can well looking at it from our standpoint, I'= ve been familiar with this language for awhile, we've obviously had some discussions on this, this perhaps may be new to some of you but it certainl= y is a refresher to me. The makeup= of this Ordinance Committee as Franklin has said is based on population theref= ore by its very makeup the decision isn't going to be made by the Fire District when it gets to the next step so I emphasize again the informality of what = is going to be done is another reason that at least from my perspective and I = know from some of my commission members who I've talked to informally but if thi= s was to happen, we want to know all the t's are crossed, all the i's are dotted = before we're ready to proceed to a decision because once it gets to the next step = by the mere fact of how the votes would go, we don't have the majority anymore. Thank you.
= ; Ms. Adams: Perhaps if they we= re to come up with a list of questions or concerns?
= ; Mr. Minnich: Well I don't kno= w how you want to proceed. I think = that certainly having informal conversations, this has been going on for awhile,= and I go into the mindset and I know that others on the commission will with regards to when you have a very straightforward discussion without all the fanfare that has occurred in the past, but having said that, I guess it's i= mportant to understand as we have just heard what the process is but when you get be= yond the process of the 30 days, our 30 days, from the perspective of us it beco= mes unfair because we don't have the majority anymore, it's not like the 2 sides getting together and they each have 50% of the next step like you perhaps w= ould have when you would set up Charter Commission, you would very well would wa= nt to have a fairly even distribution.
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 31
Well it's not that way here, so from our perspective I would think we would want= to have, without having discussed with my commissioners but I'm sure they would feel the same way, as you can well imagine you probably would if you were in our shoes, we want to have things pretty well settled as far as how it's go= ing to go before we can go to the next step, and for that to occur once again with= in 30 days after you say formally that you want to start this, I don't find th= at a realistic process so I think the intent of what's been here, been said, I t= hink that's very good, we need to go forward and we need to have these discussio= ns but I think before you start the process, you need to think through what the outcome is going to be and I think I've stated my points.
Mr. Pawlak, Chairman, Closed Public Participation at 9:12 p.m.
= ; Mr. Frigon: I'd like to make a clarification, I misspoke on the Verizon Lease, the option that Verizon has= is $1,500 per year prior to construction and then they start paying $2,000 a m= onth once they start (inaudible) a month.
14. Executive Session
= ; A. Land Acquisition
= ; B. = Land Disposition
=
; C. Pending
Litigation - Stewart v. Town of
=
; D. Pending
Litigation -
=
;
=
; F. =
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION: (Mr. Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to Enter into Executive Session at 9:19 p.m. with= the Town Council members present, the Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager/Fina= nce Director, and Atty. Franklin Pilicy to discuss land acquisition, land disposition, pending litigation - Stewart versus Town of Watertown, pending litigation - Watertown v. Fletcher Thompson and Fusco Corporation, Watertow= n v. Ravikoff Associates, and Town of Watertown v. Paparazzo.
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: None<= /p>
<= o:p>
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007
Page 32
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Present During Executive Session:
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Elaine Adams
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Antonio Guerrera
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Robert Kane
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Carl Mancini
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Joseph Pawlak
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Suzan Plowman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Raymond Primini
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Paul Rinaldi
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Jack Walton
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Charles Frigon
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Frank Nardelli
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Franklin Pilicy
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak, Chairman, Reconvened the Regular Meeting at 9:55 p.m.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; No Motions Were Made; No Votes Were Taken.
15. Adjournment
= ; MOTION: (Mr. = Primini sec. Ms. Adams) to Adjourn the Regular Meeting at 9:55 p.m.
<=
/span>Discussion: None<=
/p>
<=
/span>MOTION
PASSED UNANIMOUSLY <=
/span>Regular
Meeting Adjourned at 9:55 p.m. Respectfully
submitted, Joseph
Pawlak, Chairman Approved: _______________________________ Lynn M. LaF=
orme,
Clerk