MINUTES

WATERTOWN TOWN COUNCIL

SPECIAL MEETING

&nb= sp;

WATERTOWN HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

WEDNESDA= Y, APRIL 27, 2005

Immediat= ely following Budget Public Hearing

PRESENT: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Elaine Adams

= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Raymond Hebert, Jr., Vice Chairman

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Karl Fisher

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Robert Kane, Chairman

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Kevin Killeen

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Paul Rinaldi

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Paul Valenti

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Richard Wick

ABSENT: &nb= sp; = Raymond Primini

OTHERS PRESENT: &= nbsp; Frank Nardelli, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Meredith Robson, Town Manager

1.&nb= sp; Convene Special Meeting

&n= bsp;

Mr. Kane, Chairman, Called the Special Meeting to Order at 8:12 p.m.

Watertown Town Council

Special Meeting

April 27, 2005

Page 2

&n= bsp;

2.&nb= sp; Consider Budgets for Fiscal Year 2005-2006

&= nbsp; MOTION: (Mr. Hebert, sec. Mr. Killeen) to approve the following budgets, to be sent to Referendum:

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Town General Fund &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; $19,9= 04,988

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; School General Fund &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; $30,182,431<= /o:p>

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; General Fund Total &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = $= 50,087,419

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Town Road A= id &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; $ 120,328

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Water Operations &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; $ 1,393,724

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Water Capital = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = $ 540,700

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Water Extension &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; $ 125,000

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Sewer Operations &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; $ 1,974,768

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Sewer Capital = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = $ 28,5= 00

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Sewer Extension &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; $ 213,769

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Water and Sewer Debt = ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; $ 137,350

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Crestbrook Golf Operations &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; $ 859,372

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Crestbrook Improvement Trust &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; $ 64,0= 00

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Local Capital Improvement = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; $ 161,331

&= nbsp; Discussion: Mr. Killeen: While this is being put= to a Motion, I would like to express my sentiments about the Public Hearing we j= ust had, and I share the sentiment of the people who spoke about their concerns about the Town and what kind of direction we're heading in. It's probably a case where we're g= oing to present, as a good a budget as we feel, as someone has already stated, t= hat can be successful, but there are things that we present with somewhat deep regret and we'd like to kind of limit cuts to our Town programs, cause it's just not the way to go, but we do live in difficult financial times, and we understand that people are out there and hurt as well financially for their family's sake and so forth, but again I'd just like to go on record as recognizing those people who spoke at the public part of the Hearing earlier on.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Fisher: In the past I've = talked about my disdain for the ideas of Pay for Play, my disappointment in the increasing of class sizes, and also my hatred of layoffs, certainly. Although this will not make me the= most popular Councilman in Town, I won't be able to support this budget unless t= he school budget is put back to the status quo that it is now, at the very lea= st.

Watertown Town Council

Special Meeting

April 27, 2005

Page 3

&n= bsp;

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Rinaldi: I'm going to mak= e just a couple of general comments. I want to start off by saying I listened to June Legge and I fully agree with what she said about 1988. It's probably about the time all of our budget woes started and it's been downhi= ll ever since. Both the Town and= the Board of Education budgets have suffered.&= nbsp; I think we just can't keep cutting services. I don't think that's the problem.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> I know our road programs have suff= ered, the senior bus has being reinstated, which is a good thing, and a lot of horrendous cuts have been made on the Board of Ed side and I think we have = to somehow remedy the cuts of these programs.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; On the other hand, we can't keep raising taxes either. I just don't think the residents i= n this Town are able to financially accept what we offer them all the time. Many residents have experienced a reduction in income, lost jobs, a lot of them to outsourcing. I know where I w= ork we suffer that to a great extent. The Cost of Living has gone up dramatically while income for a lot of people has dropped. Hours have been cut, co-pays and h= ealth insurances have gone up, gas and fuel, and taxes, just a couple of examples= .

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; What we need at this point is leadership. We need some Town employees who are willing to forego a pay raise or increase insurance co-pays. <= span class=3DGramE>We need people to step up and lead the way. We don't need more taxes. We need leadership by example. We need help. W need = it now.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Ms. Adams: A couple of things= that I would like to address in this budget.&nb= sp; One of the items I had spoken to with the Council under the Public W= orks Subcommittee report was the $45,000 that was added into crack seal. Considering what happened with Cherry Avenue, and we're in the process, we should have shortly a report that was funded in the current year's budget regarding the status of the rest of our bridges, that= we take that $45,000 out of crack seal and in turn put it into a bridge and culvert repair line item.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Nardelli: In the Town Road A= id Budget?

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Ms. Adams: Yea, from my understanding, you cut the crack seal out and took the additional money from Town Road Aid and put it into crack seal.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Nardelli: We took the $45= ,000 out of the General Fund for crack seal and moved it over to the Town Road A= id Fund, so I think what you want to do is reallocate the Town Road Aid Fund, = the $45,000 from crack seal, into your bridge line item.

Watertown Town Council

Special Meeting

April 27, 2005

Page 4

&n= bsp;

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Ms. Adams: Yes.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Kane: But that's not some= thing we have to do tonight.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Nardelli: You really shou= ld, because the way the budget is presented in Town Road Aid is all the money is sitting in crack seal. And I = think what Elaine wants to do is take that $45,000 out of crack seal and put it towards the bridges.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Adams: I'm not going to g= et into that we need that too, but I think the greater need is the bridges and culvert repair.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Hebert: We can do that at (inaudible).

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Nardelli: You would have = to do that, just do that tonight, just reallocate the funds.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Kane: We have to do that tonight?

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Nardelli: Well you should because . . . . .

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Kane: It's not on the Age= nda.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Nardelli: Well yea, you're considering the budgets.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Ms. Adams: Yea.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Hebert: So we can make ch= anges.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Nardelli: Yes.=

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Kane: Make changes to wha= t Ray has just read.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Nardelli: Yea, because yo= u're not changing the total dollar of that fund, you're just reallocating a line item.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Ms. Kane: Does anyone else ha= ve any discussion on Elaine's, well you would know best as the Public Works Chair,= but does anyone else want to weigh in on this.= No? Then Frank, If you would just put the number together for me then = and we can adjust the Motion later. = Did you have more comments?

Watertown Town Council

Special Meeting

April 27, 2005

Page 5

&n= bsp;

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Ms. Adams: This is the first time, I think as a Council, that we have discussed the budget in total. The Finance Subcommittee has worked very, very hard in putting the budget together. I'm just going to throw out here, = is with the comments based on tonight, I mean we had a couple of people I've never = seen before, and I give them a lot of credit for coming out, do we lose anything= by restoring the $582,000 to the Board of Ed or the additional monies to the L= ibrary, I just want to throw this out for discussion, the possibility of a gain in doing this? I'm very, very concerned with where the Board is at with their cuts now. We are talking about programs that = will basically, if those programs are cut, are going to alienate the Town to no = end and we will never get a budget passed, and with the Library and the support they have, is it possible to bring them up to what they requested? We're looking at maybe what - 4/10= of a mill?

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Kane: Let me just allow o= ther members to make comment and then I can respond to your question, cause I ha= ve some comments myself I'd like to make.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Wick: I'm sure it will co= me as no surprise to my colleagues on the Budget Subcommittee because I did vote = no when we considered this vote in subcommittee, I still feel the same way, an= d I cannot support the budget that's been presented this evening, and I'll repe= at some of the reasons. First of= all I do understand the motivation that supported the (inaudible) to come up with= a budget that will stand a better chance of passing the first time out of the gate. I do understand the reasoning to try to do that, I just don't agree w= ith it. I think it's our job, for= the first budget to be presented every fiscal year, to present a budget that represents what we think is needed in the Town, whether we think it will pa= ss or not, I think it's our responsibility to tell the people in Town what we believe is needed to keep the ship afloat.= Many items in the budget are analogous to a foundation on a building= , and if you let the foundation crumble, then pretty soon the building will fall = down too and then you get to do it all over at a much higher cost.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; There are items that weren't even considered this year. One in particular, a pet recommend= ation I've had for years, and that is the establishment of a property acquisition fund, it used to be referred to as the open space fund. Many years in the past there has b= een allocated in the first budget for the fund, and after the first budget has = been defeated generally it's eliminated.

Watertown Town Council

Special Meeting

April 27, 2005

Page 6

&n= bsp;

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; I think this is very short sighted, and I'll give you an example. Recently we had a referendum for s= ome property that could be used for ball fields for our kids. If we had started a property acqui= sition fund 10 years ago, and funded it at the relatively small amount of $50,000 = per year, we would have $500,000 in that fund already and that might have made a difference in terms of the outcome of the most recent referendum for buying land for property which failed Think about that and think = about the wisdom or the lack thereof of previous Councils in letting that opportu= nity slide. We're still trying to = do it, but it's a tough fight, I will admit.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; I also feel that the Library needs to be restored to whatever level is needed= to allow both the library and the branch to be open all the time, and for those reasons I think this budget is a prescription for disaster and I will vote against it.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Ms. Adams: Again, this is the= first time that we've spoken as a Council, if you could just list the items that = you would like to see restored. I= heard the Library and the kind of like, you faded away here, I couldn’t qui= te hear you.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Wick: My thought would be rather than try to cobble something together tonight, if there is unanimity= of opinion on the part of the Council to do something different from what's be= en presented so far, I would rather see us take the time to have another subcommittee meeting and bring another proposal back to the full Council. I'm not prepared to go specific li= ne by line right now because there's more to what I think needs to be done than j= ust the items I mentioned in my recent comments.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Hebert: This year was ext= remely difficult, as I've said before, due to the increased cost of fuel, healthca= re costs, and every other thing that we use.&= nbsp; The problem we have is history, history i= n this Town is cut. I think I've bee= n on the Finance Subcommittee for the last 4 years. The problems is we've brought out budgets that we think the Town needs, whether the Democrats were in control, even though I don't think I agree with their budget, but bring out budgets = that the Town needs, both Republicans and Democrats have done it, history is aga= inst us, because the rule of thumb around here is, that's the first budget, they= can cut. Part of the reasoning wi= th this budget is to try and get a budget out the first time. I don't believe that we can, I wou= ld love to bring out the budget that we had, that the Manager recommended, it would have solved a lot of problems. Realistically I don't think it wou= ld have passed because of the history in this Town, and I think history is goi= ng to rear up again if we go too high.

Watertown Town Council

Special Meeting

April 27, 2005

Page 7

&n= bsp;

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Unfortunately the people who are here, thank you for coming, we're preaching to the choir= . You guys came out to hear this. The people who need to hear the me= ssage that we're all telling, including the Board of Ed, aren't here, as has been= stated before. They're all sitting h= ome, writing their letters that will be in the local periodicals, this week, next week or even the week after, all the way up to budget time. It's now time for the voters to st= and up and say what they want. They = do it when they vote on the referendum; they need to do it before. I believe this is a fair budget th= at tries to solve some of the problems, it doesn't solve them all. Can we do better? Yea, we need to do better, we need some serious help in this Town.&nb= sp; But these are some of the discussions that went on during the Financ= e Subcommittee meetings, back and forth about different things. Everybody was passionate about wha= t they were thinking and various opinions. But I think this is a fair budget, it's not going to please everybod= y, but if we can get it passed the first time, it's a start, cause it hasn't happened in a very long time. I just wish we weren't fighting history, cause unfortunately we're fighting hist= ory and we can't keep fighting history because as my colleagues have stated the= re are a lot of problems that need to be fixed. I think everybody does a great job= . I don't want to see the School Boa= rd get cut, I don't want to see the Library get cut, I don’t want to see any= body get cut. Unfortunately I think we're fighting history and we can't keep fighting history.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Valenti: It's funny becau= se I've been on this Council now almost 6 years, and as Ray said, cause we've = been through these battles about the same length of time, and Dick as well, it's funny you know, obviously I'm probably one of the more partisan members, fr= om my party on this Council, but funny enough sometimes, we agree on more than= we disagree, but we don't maybe see it sometimes. It strikes me as funny, we all kno= w what we need to do here, but we struggle with how to get there, and I think one = of the ways to get there, we've talked about resolutions on binding arbitration reform and we can disagree with that, and I've had my own differences of opinion upon occasion, but at least it's an effort to try and help rectify = the problem we have at the local level and I think there are other things we can do.

Watertown Town Council

Special Meeting

April 27, 2005

Page 8

&n= bsp;

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; I think the fundamental problem, and I've, without naming names, I've even he= ard members from the majority echo these sentiments, is the way we finance operations in this Town and the way we do it on a broken property tax system. I've talked about thi= s for the 6 years I've been on the Council. I know there's nothing we can do about it, maybe we can act with oth= er towns and committees in lobbying for changes at the State level, but I mean, because as Paul Rinaldi said, yes, there are families that are hurting and people have lost their jobs to outsourcing, people are just scratching by, = and the way that we do taxation in this State is crazy, because we do it on ass= ets, not on people's ability to pay, and it seems to me it's punitive to those w= ho have worked hard just to accumulate some measly savings or one fixed asset,= mainly their home, and I just find it ironic that we have this conversation now and then next year we're talking about different views of the world in which we= think helps to create the system in which we live in now.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; So here's my summary, I shared with Chairman Kane some of the thoughts preliminarily about the cuts we needed to do, given the history, as Ray sai= d, but you know I went to school in this Town and without trying to be full of pride, I think they did a pretty good job in educating me, and I think we h= ave an obligation to give that same opportunity to those who have followed, and= who are following, and I don't think that this budget does it, so that's a pret= ty long winded and probably nonsensical way of saying that I don't think I can support this budget today.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Kane: First I do want to = thank the members of the Finance Committee. We do work very, very hard in the budget process, as well as all members, but especially on the Finance Committee. It is a lot of work, it is the full month of March that we continually meet. I also want to thank the members of= the public that came out tonight. I appreciate all of you speaking. It is very important that you take a role in your Town's, obviously budget, as well as municipal goings on and just the community. I'd like to echo the sentiments of= the woman who said well I drag my neighbors out and I bring them in the car, an= d I think you really have to do that. We do get caught up with our busy lives and maybe not take 5 minutes or so to vote, and it's so important, especially today, and of course in this Town.<= o:p>

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; A couple of things were mentioned by a couple of members regarding the Board = of Education and Pay For Play and the like, and of course we can't get into how the Board of Education spends their money, how they make their cuts, we can only give them a figure and rely upon them with their expertise to decide h= ow it gets distributed, so although we may have personal things that we agree with, as well as disagree with, we can't really get into that fray.

Watertown Town Council

Special Meeting

April 27, 2005

Page 9

&n= bsp;

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; As far as the Library goes, I think the Library does a great job. I myself am a contributor to the Association. And I think we h= ave a beautiful Oakville Library as well as a very well established Watertown Library. We don't want to see it get cut, however, the Manager's recommended budget for the Library is $712,000, so that's the real figure that we should be talking about. We, as the Finance Committee, want= ed to put out $695,000 so in reality the cut to the Library is only $17,000, so although I do appreciate what they do, I don't think the cut to the Library= was as drastic as maybe it might seem. It is $17,000, is the true cut to the Library.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; We have cut $10,000 from the Fire Department, $15,000 from :Public Buildings, 2 new police officers from the Police Department,= and we all know how important public safety is in this Town. Roy Cavanaugh is here, and he can probably tell me if I'm right or wrong, but I think about $170,000 from Pub= lic Works, that's the paving of the roads, the mechanic that will take care of the vehicles, snowplowing, I mean on and on and on. We talk about bridges and culverts= and the importance of our roads and public works, so we've cut $170,000 from Pu= blic Works, that's ten times what we cut from the Library, so although I would l= ove to see the Library, as well as many different departments get more money, i= t is very difficult, as Mr. Hebert said, with revenues decreasing and expenses increasing.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Rinaldi mentioned COLA, which is Cost of Living Increase, and you're right,= the cost of living has increased by3% a year typically over the last 10 years, = and this is where we came up with this budget.= We said the cost of living is at 3%, many letters as people talked a= bout mentioned the cost of living and how their own cost of living has increased= 3% or thereabouts, and we also figured that, if you look at historical numbers, that the Town budget ends up at 3% increase per annum over the last 10 year= s. Well if the Town budget increases by 3%, cost of living is 3%, then that is a = fair number. We don't want to incr= ease costs to our taxpayers greater than the cost of living, nor do we want to s= hort change the Town, which unfortunately sometimes we do because of the decreas= e in revenue from the State of Con= necticut, but 3% is a fair number, it's an equitable number. It's not something we threw darts = at a dartboard, it is a true statistical figure based on economics. So I do understand the sentiments = of many of the members and I agree that there's a heck of a lot more that we should= be doing as far as services for our residents, but I do support this budget, I= do support the members who worked on the budget, and I do support the fact tha= t we used historical figures to get to this number. If there is anyone who wanted to s= ay any more remarks, you may.

Watertown Town Council

Special Meeting

April 27, 2005

Page 10

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Wick: I'd just like to co= mment on some of the remarks Ray Hebert made about history. I think your summary of history is= quite accurate; I can't dispute it. The thoughts that went through my mind in ruminating about that idea are that historically we have gone out with a budget that we felt was closer to what= we thought the Town needed than this one is, and it's been defeated, at least = in the 6 years that we've been together on the Council, I think that's true ev= ery time, and then we come back and make cuts, and the point is that we respond= ed at those times to what the voters said then. What we're talking about right now= with respect to history requires us to assume that the purveyors of negativism t= hat have prevailed in the past during initial budgets will continue to prevail,= and I am very uncomfortable accepting that premise. I think that there is still a chan= ce that there will be enough people, if we would clone the folks who came here tonight we'd have enough to represent the counter veiling power needed to overcome the votes of the naysayers, and I'm not willing to start out this = process saying that everything that happened in the past is going to be repeated. I'm perhaps a bit optimistic to th= ink that things might be different this time and I think we should give the Tow= n a chance.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Ms. Adams: I think this Counc= il, right now, that this Motion isn't going to work out tonight. I'm going to suggest that this get thrown back to the Finance Subcommittee.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; MOTION: (Ms. = Adams, sec. Mr. Killeen) To Table.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Discussion: None<= o:p>

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Kane: Frank, Meredith, ho= w does this affect Items #3, #4, and #5?

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Mr. Nardelli: You're just goi= ng to have to Table those also.

= &nb= sp; Mr. Rinaldi: If we Table this tonight and it go= es back to the Finance Subcommittee, is there a timetable we have to follow?

&= nbsp; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Kane: That's what I just asked. I asked Frank and Mere= dith how that affects Items #3, #4, and #5, and it was just said that those shou= ld be Tabled as well.

&= nbsp; MOTION WAS NEVER VOTED ON (TABLED)

Watertown Town Council

Special Meeting

April 27, 2005

Page 11

&n= bsp;

3.&nb= sp; Consider Setting Date for Budget Town Meeting for Fi= scal Year 2005-2006 Budgets

4.&nb= sp; Consider Setting Date for Machine Vote on Fiscal Year 2005/2006 Budgets

5.&nb= sp; Consider Setting Ballot for Fiscal Year 2005/2006 Budgets

&= nbsp; MOTION: (Ms. = Adams, sec. Mr. Hebert) to Table Items #3, #4, and #5.

&= nbsp; Discussion: None<= o:p>

&= nbsp; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

6.&nb= sp; Adjournment=

MOTION: (Mr. = Hebert, sec. Mr. Wick) to Adjourn the Special Meeting at 8:40 p.m.

Discussion: None

MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

Special Meeting Adjourned at 8:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert J. Kane, Chairman

Watertown Town Co= uncil

&n= bsp;

Approve= d: _______________________________

&= nbsp; Lynn M. LaForme, Clerk