MINUTES
REGU=
LAR
MEETING
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2006, 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 (arrived at 7:36 p.m.)
&= 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: 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 7:33 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 our men and women in uniform.
4.&nb=
sp; Public
Participation
Steve Martino, 105 (Inaudible)
Mr. Martino: This letter was written by Joseph =
R.
Synkowicz, State Representative 30th district of Berlin and
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 2
To whom It May Concern:
I'm
writing this letter (inaudible)
Sincerely,
Joseph R. Synkowicz
State Representative
Former (inaudible) Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 3
On
the second page, basically the concept we' e been talking to you about for 3
months now, and it's the 3 equals 1 concept. It's a fact that 1 turf field take=
s the
place of 3 of our town fields. I
just want to push that out there and maybe clarify with anyone out there th=
at
doesn't agree with that I guess, and maybe explain how that happens in any
way. At this time I ask you i=
f you
feel that that makes sense, or it doesn't make sense or if I can answer any
questions on that 3 equals 1 I'd be happy to. Kind of the backup for that 3 equa=
ls 1
if there are no questions, this is the September printout of the Pomperaug
field which they're leasing it for the month of September. It's not totally filled in, but th=
is
would be a similar situation at
Mr. Rinaldi: I've heard all the pros and cons, I= 'm not arguing with you, I just need an answer, I know a lot of the fields, aren't they a different size, like a football field versus blah, blah? How would the artificial turf . . = . . ?
Mr. Martino: If you look at the picture, you see= the extended yellow lines, that's the soccer boundaries. On the football f= ield, the red is the end zones.
Mr. Rinaldi: So all of the fields are accommodat= ed for on the artificial turf.
Mr. Martino: Yes, any team could go out there and play.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 4
Bob Guerrera,
Mr. Guerrera: We come here tonight to ask yo=
u for
your help. You, like me, have=
a
great responsibility. Me being President of WaterOak Pop Warner and you being the T=
own
Council. I have the
responsibility of 210 kids we have in our program and you have the well bei=
ng
of the Town. Our Board makes
decisions based on all of the information we've received whether it's a dec=
ision
to buy new equipment or a new uniform, we listen=
to
all the options. We feel we h=
ave supplied
you with enough information on field turf for you to make the right
decision. To build a field we=
st of
the Mills Complex that has way too many hidden costs would be a mistake.
We are pushing for this turf t the Mills Complex because we feel for the money= it is the best for the Town. The= best complex money can buy, and the best part is it costs the town nothing. That grant will cost these taxpaye= rs nothing. To watch a football game, a soccer= game, or a lacrosse game or a field hockey game, a youth soccer game, or a water/= oak youth football game on a complex that the Town can be proud of. A place for people in the Town can gather and enjoy youth sports in this town. Please do not be fooled by the loo= k of the grass as you pull into the Mills Complex. As we asked you the last time, has anybody really went out and looked at the grass? My yard would be as beautiful too = if I kept the kids off it, but my yard just like this field is meant for kids to play on it, and you will see if we keep the grass there and we try to play a high school game and it starts raining, that field will be a mess, and if y= ou look at it now and walk the areas you see, even the poor guy who was cutting the grass there the other day, the lawn mower sunk in areas, it's muddy and= there's nothing we can do about it. E= very time we lose an athlete in this Town because we feel there's nothing drawin= g them here, we can't tell you how many kids or friends of that athlete go with hi= m, and not only do we lose that, not only are we losing the athlete and his friend, we're losing the parent's vote when it comes to you or the Board of Education passing a budget. A= ll we hear lately is that in the future, in the future we need the turf, in the future we're going to do this, well the future is now. How often can you bring = the figure to this Town for free? That's= the main thing, it's for free. So= let's do the right thing that makes the most sense for the Town, let's just turf = the complex and like we stated before, the extra money, you've got a tennis cou= rt right out the side there, that can be redone with the extra money so the ki= ds who play tennis don't have to go up to Taft or Crestbrook, they can walk ri= ght out the door and practice tennis. You get two projects and it doesn't cost the Town anything.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 5
The other thing we ask, if you decide to go with this project, do not put it out for bid. Put it out for propo= sal, this way you're in control. I= f you put it out for proposal you can call the other towns who did the turf, get = the 5 or 6 best contractors that they recommended, and then you can deal with t= hose contractors individually, you're not stuck on using the lowest number, caus= e in times the lowest number is not always the right number. So please listen to all the inform= ation we supplied to you and do what's best for the kids in this Town and the town. Thank you.
Sean Butterly,
Mr. Butterly: I was very active with the com=
mittee
that did the lights project 10 years ago and we as a group had done so much
work on the John Mills Field, which s almost scary in nature, that at one
point, Bobby Lavoie, who was our President, commandeered his own dump truck=
, he
was a contractor, and (inaudible) gave us gravel and we built the (inaudibl=
e)
by hand. Let me tell you some=
thing,
(inaudible) field (inaudible) we really wanted it to be better and every ra=
in
storm it got to be scary. And=
even
with the new field that's grass, teams like the Patriots have to re-sod by =
the
end of the season. I teach la=
w in
Hamden and already in this monsoon week we've had since last Monday night's
council meeting, Hamden can go play their sports, they don't have to let th=
ings
dry out, and they play field hockey and they play soccer and football and n=
one
of those 3 sports fight with each other, nor do they fight with Pop Warner,
cause they play Sundays and it's like playing gym on the basketball court at
9:00 and having the varsity game at 7:00 at night. There is no problem. And it's great to use and it's won=
derful
and I was talking to a couple of football players today who said they're mu=
ch
rather play on the turf than a grass field when they go to visit other
schools. I know you've heard =
a lot
on this, but we always thought they'd expand the line 10 years ago but we
always worried, how are soccer and field hockey playing? Look at the great sport of lacross=
e. We have hundreds of kids in
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 6
I urge you to, I beg you to consider the o-opportunity, we'll still own that bank, we can carve it out with our own bucket loader, slowly gradually, whe= ther the Board or the council controls it it's still Watertown land down that ba= nk, but this is, Sean Williams is sitting here with $600,000, we know that's la= id on the local taxpayers, we lay so much on them already, I urge you to vote = for this project, and I thank you again.
Chris Lafferty,
Mr. Lafferty: Tonight I came to talk to you about= the issue we have with how to spend the money on the fields. You've heard a lot of different id= eas and I just wanted to make sure we're all on the same page, and no solution = will solve everything. With that b= eing said, the Board has taken a lot of heat on this issue and we've gotten a lo= t of suggestions and ideas which is all great, and I think the most important th= ing and the thing that's most respected among the people who've come up is that we've been keeping an open mind. The ball with this issue has and always will be in your court, and I= was just hoping you guys would keep an open mind too. From Day 1 I came up and said don't forget about the Board of Education when thinking about the project and wha= t to do with this money. You guys = gave us plenty of time to do our homework and research and come up with differen= t (inaudible) and we've pushed for ideas and we've done a lot of homework on developing t= he land down there. I've done a = lot of weighing back and forth on the turf project and developing the land, and al= so I've spoken to the coaches who I feel are a valued opinion for my Athletic = Subcommittee. IN speaking with them and doing a = little searching myself, the consensus amongst them and= me is turf is the way to go. I know= it's a big change from what I was saying before but as time went on (inaudible) = issues. Just a few things as to why I changed. I looked at the time= lines for completion of the project. I look at it is say we did try to develop land down there, we have a lot of unanswered questions and for $600,000 we can only do so much and that's hop= ing there's no ledge, and that's hoping the soil is good. Well I spoke to someone in 2002 wh= en that issue about developing the land, he did a field study on a lot of different areas around Town and the land right down here was one of them an= d he said in a nutshell, the only thing going for it was location, High School w= as a great location for the field. Unfortunately the soil wasn't great for a field, it wouldn't hold up well and there was probably ledge down there too which would cost us way more than what we hav= e to try and build a field. Also, = it would be a good starting point, the $600,000 to develop the field. We can start developing the field,= but when can we finish? And that'= s the thing, it would be a great future investment, but how long? Say in 5 years, fingers crossed, we did get a field down there, by that time who knows what our need for fields would be and will we really have solved anything. I'm hoping that by putting a turf = field in there, we can all feel at the end of the day that it did hold true to wh= at the gentlemen have been saying from Water/Oak Football about it and hopeful= ly it comes through for us. I think= it would be great to see. I know when I was in high school a couple of years a= go I certainly would have loved to see a turf field over there. Some solutions I would like to, we= 've spent a lot of time and we've also had people do studies on different areas around town, other parcels of land. A suggestion I had which was brought up to me, and it would just be maybe call the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do a study up there, that's = more if you guys really want to consider going up and turfing the field.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 7
On a personal level I'd just like to say that I really would think that it wou= ld be great if we could have a great complex down at the bottom, the west side= of the Mills Complex, and t would be a tremendous wonders for how the community would view the campus over all, but right now I think we have to act, and I= don't think it would be rushing or foolish to go into considering turfing the fie= ld. I think we should go for it , it's something we'= ll need in the future and it's something we can get done right now. There's too many questions I still feel about developi= ng the land at the high school and I think the turf field would just put a lot of headaches to bed for awhile. = I hope when you come to it on the Agenda, or even if you don't vote on it tonight, just please rest on it and consider a turf field in the future. Thank you.
Peter Tomsheck,
Mr. Tomsheck: I come to you tonight in support o=
f the
turf field as well. We have a=
field
that is out there that's been sitting 2 years ago that's had 1 or 2 games
played on it. If you look at =
the
varsity schedule this year, they're scheduled to play 5 or 6 games out on t=
hat
field, I don't know how often the practice n it, but I heard numbers tonigh=
t of
300 games a year. That field =
might
do 300 games in its lifetime before it needs to be completely replaced the =
way
it is now. That is certainly
something to consider. A lifetime versus a year worth of use. I also represen=
t the
Watertown Lacrosse Organization, have been in fr5ont of the Board of Educat=
ion,
was recently turned down to put a program completely paid for by the Lacros=
se
Organization into the high school, and one of the objections I believe that
held back my organization was where are you going to practice, what fields =
are
you going to use, how are you going to get to those fields? Lacrosse being a spring sport, wou=
ld be
wonderful to walk out onto that field and hold practice and have home games=
and
have something available. I also coach tennis at the high school. Currently we have to share
Enrico Rinaldi,
Mr. Rinaldi: We talk about these fields, who is =
taking
care of these fields right now, the Town or a private concern? Nobody said anything about that?
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 8
Mr. Pawlak: The Mills Complex are taken care of by the Board of Education.&n= bsp; Deland Field is taken care of by an outside contractor, and Veteran's Field is taken care of by the Parks Department.
Mr. Rinaldi: The Board of Education, yes, now w= ho takes care of these fields (inaudible)?
Mr. Pawlak: No. Board of Education takes care of it, their own employees.
= ; Mr. Rinaldi: I go along with = that, I don't know how many people (inaudible).&= nbsp; Do you know how many years (inaudible) about 20 years and what is do= ne, I noticed, there's supposed to be pretty good sports, the last 20 years it seems like they're not going up, they're going down, and the question was t= he money, the budget. I know tha= t they jut got their raises, the people, 3% or 4%, whatever it is, but we have to = give the kids 2% to play sports, that's too much. Every time something goes wrong, t= hey take away from the kids in school. I don't know if I'm right or wrong. I have no kids going to school anymore, but say my kids want to go to school, they have to pay $100, maybe I can't afford that, what are these kids going to do? (Tape #1, Side A ended - may have missed some.) Are you going to turn these kids d= own if they're parents can't afford for them to play? (Inaudible), let's start the ball rolling now, let's not wait for the future. These things should have been done= , like I said I approached you before when they were doing the football field, abo= ut doing the turf, oh too much money, then what happened, they spent double and triple the money. Thank you v= ery much.
Mr. Pawlak, Chairman, Closed Public Participation at 8:05 p.m.
5.&nb=
sp; Minutes
&= nbsp; A. Regular Meeting Minutes – August 21, 2006
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Mr. = Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to Approve the Regular Meeting Minutes dated August 21, 2006 as presented.
=
; &n=
bsp; Discussion: Mr. Pawlak: ON page 14, subcommittee reports, =
Public
Works Subcommittee, there was a reference with the Town not being responsib=
le
for damage to Mrs. Witocki's property, against the people at Quassapaug. I
think that's supposed to be Viltrakis, and
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 9
&=
nbsp; B. =
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Mr. = Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to Approve the Special Town Mee= ting Minutes dated August 21, 2006 as presented.
= ; &n= bsp; Discussion: None<= /p>
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
6.&nb= sp; Chairman’s Report
&= nbsp; Mr. Pawlak: We are still look= ing at updating the job description for the Zoning Enforcement Officer, and I know= the Chairman of Planning and Zoning Commission is here, and I hope we can get t= hat, I think there was just some tweaking that we wanted to do, and I think you people wanted to do it on P & Z, so if you can get some attention taken= to that so = we can get that job description updated.
= Mr. Minnich: We have finished our part and it w= as given to the Town Manager.
&= nbsp; Mr. Pawlak: The other item we= have to work on is the job description for the Public Works Director, there is s= ome tweaking we have to do on that one, and the Water & Sewer as well.
= A= . Correspondence
= Mr. Pawlak: I have a letter from the D.E.P. regarding some projects or problems with respect t the Straits Turnpike wat= er tank and the leaning of that tank. I know that's been approved, and it's up to water & Sewer, are t= hey out for bid on that?
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Nardelli: I believe they're still putting the bid specs together.
= Mr. Pawlak: I know that Frank Jodaitis got a c= opy of this so I'm just going to pass this along to you.
7. =
&= nbsp; Mr. Nardelli: Last Thursday w= e interviewed applicants for the part time Economic Development Coordinator position and = a decision will be made shortly for that position.&nb= sp; The deadline for applying for the Planning and Zoning Enforcement Officer position closed on August 25th. We received 22 = application. The interview process will st= art shortly.
= In regards to Item 13C on the Agenda, this will be my last Acting Town Manager's Report,= I'd like to thank the department heads for all their help, and I'd especially l= ike to thank the Town Council for their help and cooperation and the profession= al manner in which you worked with me. So I'd like to thank you all for that.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 10
= Mr. Pawlak: Speaking personally I would just l= ike to send it right back to Frank, dealing with him for the last 4 months or so h= as been a real pleasure and a professional experience, and I appreciate his he= lp, his wisdom, his insight, and his direction, which I needed a lot of. Thanks again, Frank, you did a gre= at job.
8.&nb=
sp; Subcommittee
Reports
&= nbsp; A. Public Works Subcommittee
= Mr. Rinaldi: We haven't had a meeting, we will = next week.
&= nbsp; B. = Business Development Subcommittee
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Guerrera: We haven't had a meeting; next meeting is scheduled for the 21st.
&= nbsp; C. Finance Subcommittee
= ; Mr. Mancini: No report.
&= nbsp; D. Ordinance Subcommittee
= ; Ms. Plowman: We should have something by the next meeting, I'm just waiting = to get some information.
9.&nb=
sp; Unfinished
Business
None
10.&n=
bsp; New
Business
&=
nbsp; A. Consider
Appointments to Boards and Commissions
= ; &n= bsp; None
B. &nbs= p; Consider the Use of the State Grant Funding for either the purchase of Open Space for the development of Athletic Fields or utilize the Funds for the Upgrade of Existing Recreational Athletic Facilities
Mr. Pawlak: This is not an action item, this is just for additional discussion. We have received obviously some inf= ormation from the Board of Education, wherein they ceded to our request with respect= t6o the fields or the properties to the west of the Mills Complex. If we were to develop that area in= to a field or fields the Town would maintain control with respect to maintenance= and scheduling with the Board of Education always having first priority. So that having been said, we've he= ard the discussions and persuasive arguments for the Mills Complex being turfed over. Does the Council have a= ny comments?
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 11
Mr. Kane: All along I'll say I was an oppone= nt of the turf, if you will, and actually I'm beginning to change my mind into thinking that the turf is actually the right way to go. I too believe that this may be the quickest way or the most effective way to spend this money. I agree that I don't want to go ba= ck to the voters anymore about extra costs or additional things we may have to do= if we do that land along the side of the high school so I really have changed = my mind on this one and tend to be in agreement with the athletic teams and the coaches and the support of those people because I think they know best and I think we should move ahead with that. If there is more discussion or more information, maybe we should hav= e a public hearing, and let the entire town weigh in on it, but I seem to be changing my mind towards the turf.
Mr. Pawlak: With respect to a public hearing, w=
e have
been talking about this for 2 or 3 months or so, and It has been on the age=
nda
quite a few times, and we've had an awful lot of public opinion, I think mo=
st
of it in the pro, so I don't know that we have to do that, but I think peop=
le
are in their position right now where they've been given an awful lot of
information, allot of facts and figures, and I might add at this point that
this is not a town council decision, it is not, the only thing the Town Cou=
ncil
can do is make a recommendation and set a date for a town meeting or a
referendum to vote on the recommendation of the Town Council. Our 9 votes will not decide what h=
appens
with this $600,000 so it will always be in the hands of the voters of
Ms. Adams: At the last meeting I said the peo= ple were in favor of the turf, they deserve an answer either way, and we were n= ot really the ones who could give them the answer until the Board of Ed decided that this was something that they wanted, and I just read in the Town Times= , I wasn’t at the meeting, that they didn't get a formal request. What Id' like to see before we pur= sue anything father with the turf, is a formal request to the Board of Education if this= is something that they would be in favor of, then we could go from there with = more information and make our decision on what to proceed.
Mr. Mancini: I also was in favor of the new fiel= d down on the side, but I've been leaning more towards the turf also. My only question is is the football field the only field that's available that we should consider for turf? Are there other fields in town tha= t we might be better used that the school field? I'm not saying I know, I'm just as= king if there was another area that would be better served with turf?
Mr. Pawlak: I understand I believe the benefits= and the advantages of turf. The p= roblem I'm having is the $850,000 or $860,000 we have already put into the mills C= omplex, and one of the thoughts that came to mind is perhaps the option of taking o= ne of the Veteran's Fields and putting turf in there. They're already cleared the only t= hing they don't have is lights. We= did have some conversation with the Recreation Director, Lisa Carew, this afternoon, and there are some problems quite frankly I had not considered a= nd they are concerns, not just problems, but they are concerns, one of which is security because that is much more isolated.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 12
The additional costs would also be expended for I believe she said fencing, and= the last other item that I remember specifically was the lighting, and I'm not = sure if we have any real hard numbers, I heard a number floating around of about $200,000 for lighting, but it's an idea that I had, I'm not sure that I'm totally in favor of that, but as I said I understand the advantages of turf versus grass and the length of time that would be taken from the first blad= eful from a bulldozer being pushed aside to the time when a team can take the fi= eld and utilize it so that's obviously something that this Council has to consi= der during our deliberations over the next couple of weeks. This will be on the Agenda for act= ion by the Town Council at the next Council meeting with a recommendation.
Mr. Kane: Personally I disagree with Elaine, I don't think we should send it back to the Bo= ard of Education again. We keep goin= g back and forth, bth and forth, back and forth, I mean these people are looking f= or an answer. Representative Wil= liams said there really is no deadline on this thing, but come on, let's get goin= g, we've had $600,000 for awhile, why can't we just= put it out to a Town meeting. I don’t know how much more we want to delay.
Ms. Adams: It's not a matter of delaying, Rob,= it's a matter of we do not control the field, it is up to the Board of Ed whethe= r or not they would allow this. We= can't Shove it down their throats, they need to okay it before we can proceed.
Mr. Pawlak: I think furthermore with respect to timing, I believe, if I remember correctly, from the time that the go ahead= is given, until the field would be relatively, would be ready was a relatively short time. Bob, was it 30 or= 60 days?
Mr. Guerrera: It was like 90 days. They started Wolcott in the middle= of June and they were done in August. The only thing I want to say, the reason their 567 works here is bec= ause that concrete drain on the inside of the track has drain pipes going away f= rom it. That's why the 567 works, otherwise it's $7.00 to $8.00 a square foot to t= ake a regular field and turn it into a turf field. Our advantage is that drain that's running underneath the track that's already in place, so now you're pushing= the price from 567 well over $600,000 to $700,000.
Mr. Pawlak: With respect to timing, I don't bel= ieve that timing quite frankly is an issue.&nbs= p; I see Sean is here, and there is another question I wanted to ask hi= m, because if we make a decision at a town meeting or a referendum, preferably= a town meeting at the end of October, we probably would not be able to do anything one way or another before next year sometime depending on weather, March April, whatever the case may be.&nbs= p; That having been said, as long a decision has been made, that takes = us off the hook with the State Bonding Commission.
Mr. Williams: I would agree with that.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 13
Mr. Pawlak: And the last question I have is dur= ing our last discussion I raised the concern, mild though it may have been, with respect to the possibility of any strings being attached for the use of the State funds for putting the turf in and the use by outside organizations of= the facility and the charging of gate if you will for other than town use, Boar= d of Education, etc. Were you able= to find out anything on that?
Mr. Williams: Yea, I'm not in a position to give= a legal opinion, I know you have Franklin here tonight, but my sense of the history of those types of situations is that that would apply, that you wou= ld have to have the availability to outside organizations on a town owned fiel= d, a Recreation Department run field, let's say, but not on a school board field, because it's already maintained by the school board, so you'd have to ask an attorney for an official legal opinion, and I'm certainly not an attorney, = but that's my understanding of it having done some research into past history w= ith for example, the Greenwich situation with the beaches, everybody has seen t= hat in the news, so that would be my sense, but I would ask you to check with an attorney on that.
Mr. Pawlak: Makes sense dollar size, but I gues= s it would be dollars well spent.
Mr. Guerrera: from the very beginning I was sort= of in favor of the additional 2 more fields over there but my biggest fear was the $600,000 being enough to cover the expenses, and looking at the study we had done, we're looking at about $600,000 for possibly one field, that does not include wetland concerns, rock or ledge that we found over there, irrigation system, access road, parking lo9t, lights, including equipment, like goal posts, etc. I don't think we = have much of a choice to where we would put the astro turf, so I strongly favor redoing our field over here.
Mr. Nardelli: Is this going to be sent to the Boa= rd of Ed for formal request as to the turf? How do you want to handle that?
Mr. Pawlak: I'm not quite sure.
Ms. Adams: We need their permission if we were going to do it, we need their okay.
Mr. Nardelli: Do you want me to send them a letter requesting that, that they put (inaudible)?
Mr. Pawlak: It seems like we have . . . . . I g= uess it can't hurt, let's do that. That way we have one more option. I do know we have quite frankly (inaudible) th= is thing to death and (inaudible) 4 individual quotes if I'm not mistaken. We have one from Public Works for $600,000 for one (inaudible) turf. K.B.A. was $600,000 maybe for one, and there was a Roming Architectu= ral firm that gave the Board of Ed a quote of about $600,000 s o we do have 4 a= nd they very optimistically said that we have more than enough money for 2 fie= lds.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 14
&=
nbsp; C. Consider
an Appropriation from the General Fund in the amount of $11,000 for Aggrega=
te
Material Crushing for the Highway Division
MOTION: &nbs=
p; (Mr.
Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to approve an appropriation from the General Fund=
in
the amount of $11,000 for aggregate material crushing for the highway divis=
ion. =
; &n=
bsp; Discussion: =
; Mr.
Pawlak: Is Mr. Nardelli: No. Mr. Pawlak: I'm assuming that the . . . . Mr. Nardelli: This money was budgeted in the 05/=
06
fiscal year. Mr. Pawlak: In the body of the text that accomp=
anied
this, it says $5.00 to crush and screen. I assume that's $5.00 a ton? Mr. Nardelli: Yes. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY &=
nbsp; D. Consider
Authorizing the Approval of an Agreement between the To9wn of MOTION: &nbs=
p; (Mr.
Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to approve the proposed agreement between the Tow=
n of
Discussion: None<=
/p>
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY &=
nbsp; E. =
Consider
Setting Special Town Meeting date, time, and place to consider an Appropria=
tion
in the amount of $378,000 for the Straits Turnpike Sanitary Sewer Project f=
rom
Intersection of SR 63 & 73 to the vicinity of House #135 Straits Turnpi=
ke &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; MOTION: (Mr.
Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to set a Special Town Meeting to be held on Septe=
mber
18, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at the Watertown High School Technology Room to consi=
der
an appropriation in the amount of $216,000 from the Water & Sewer Debt =
Fund,
$32,000 from the Sewer Extension Fund, and $90,000 from the General Fund for
the total amount of $378,000 for the Straits Turnpike Sanitary Sewer Project
form the Intersection of SR 63 & 73 to the vicinity of House #135 Strai=
ts
Turnpike. Regular Meeting September 5, 2006 Page 15 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Discussion: Mr. Rinaldi: I'm only speaking for myself. The numbers have been scrambled a =
little
bit, but they're basically the same as last time when we denied this. I have a real problem because these
projects should all be general benefit projects. Rate payers
money should not be used on these projects and I'll tell you why. I'm a rate payer and there's proba=
bly a
few more here. What you're do=
ing
folks on your extension funs, you're paying your water and sewer money that=
you
pay in your bill is going into that $72,000 and you're also paid general ta=
xes
to this town, which means you're paying twice for a project and you shouldn=
't
be, they should all be general benefits offset by assessments. I went to Frank Nardelli and we
researched the last 3 projects we did, which was &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Kane: Maybe Paul you can elaborate on th=
is a little
bit more. What you're saying =
is
unless a project benefits the entire Town, we shouldn't do it, or shouldn't=
use
these funds? Unless a project=
has a
general benefit that the entire tow n derives from it shouldn't be done, or=
it
shouldn't use general benefit funds is what you're saying? =
; &n=
bsp; =
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Rinaldi: No, what I'm say=
ing is
any expansion outside the old &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; =
; Mr.
Kane: I'm sorry, say that
again? Any extension beyond t=
he Old
Oakville Fire District should be done with what? =
; &n=
bsp; =
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Rinaldi: General benefit.=
You offset by special benefit whic=
h is
the benefit derived from the properties assessed, so if you can assess $100=
0,000 you can knock $100,000 off? &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Kane: Right, so isn't that what this is =
doing? &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Rinaldi: No.
You have extension fund money. Regular Meeting September 5, 2006 Page 16 =
; &n=
bsp; =
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Pawlak: There's $72,000 w=
orth
of sewer extension fund money incorporated in this $378,000 and what Paul is
saying, and we've checked this several times, this particular sewer project=
is
outside of the Old Oakville Water District and therefore according to the
consolidation act should not get sewer extension funds commingled in there.=
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Kane: So why is it in there then? &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Pawlak: Well that's a good question. &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Rinaldi: It shouldn't be. =
; &n=
bsp; =
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Kane: Because of the wate=
r and
sewer department? &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Pawlak: Probably. &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Rinaldi: (Inaudible) coming out of Public W=
orks
money, it's up to us to decide. =
; &n=
bsp; =
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Kane: I understand that, =
but
Paul over the years you've always said don't ste=
p on
the toes of the water and sewer or any other potential board, but now you're
saying . . . . &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; =
; Mr.
Rinaldi: I'm not stepping=
on
their toes, they're the ones who determine the need, the priority of the
project, any aspects of the project, we don̵=
7;t decide
that here. The only thing we =
decide
here is if the funding is correct and move forwa=
rd
with it. That's all we do.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Kane: Correct, but the Wa= ter & Sewer Authority approved this project as is, correct?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Rinaldi: Yea, they're wrong. I handed it to you last time, it's right here.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Kane: I remember that.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Rinaldi: Black and white,= every project is listed, and everyone, water and sewer money, zero, zero, zero, i= t's all right here, all the bond ordinances right here, I handed them out to anybody.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 17
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Kane: It's supposed to be= zero and this one is saying $72,000?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: That's correct.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Rinaldi: Sewer extension = fund of $72,000 should be a general benefit, so the general benefit should be $162,000.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; = ; Mr. Pawlak: So the funding is incorrect, you're not arguing the merits of the project?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Rinaldi: No.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Kane: So how do we correc= t the funding of the project?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Rinaldi: I'll be going to= the next Water & Sewer meeting, if this project came in that the general benefit was $162,000, water and sew4er debt assessments is $216,000, fine, we'll go forward with it.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Ms. Adams: Well then we'd have to decide if it would go to referendum or if we could take it out of the general fund.
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:4'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Kane: I make a M= otion to Table this then.
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:4'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: Yea, I would be in favor of that b= ecause I think the funding is incorrect.
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:3'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &= nbsp; Mr. Kane: I make a motion to Table.
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:4'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Mancini: I second that only because of the uncertainty of the funds.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Ms. LaForme: There's a Motion= to Table, there shouldn't be any discussion.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: Do we have to wit= hdraw the motion?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Kane: No, the motion was = tabled and seconded.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Nardelli: There was a mot= ion to set a special town meeting, that was seconded.
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:4'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Rinaldi: I wouldn't table this, I would= vote on it. We either accept it or= send it back to water and sewer.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 18
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:3'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; = ; Mr. Nardelli: Yea, the motion= was to set a special town meeting, you can deny that and send it back to water & Sewer.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: Fine.
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:3'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; = ; Mr. Kane: So we don't have to= table it, I withdraw my motion to table.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: This will be to a= ccept as is with a yes vote or reject and send back to water & sewer with a no vote.
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; In Favor: &= nbsp; Mr. Guerrera
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Opposed: = Ms. Adams, Mr. Kane, Mr. Mancini, Mr. Pawlak, Ms. Plowman, Mr. Primini, Mr. Rinaldi, Mr. Walton
<= o:p>
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Abstained: None
<= o:p>
MOTION FAILED (1-8-0)
&= nbsp; F. = Consider Authorizing the Acting Town Manager, to sign an agreement for the Fiscal Ye= ar 2008 Update Agreement between Vision A0ppraisal Technology and the Town of Watertown, CT
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; MOTION: (Mr. =
Mancini,
sec. Mr. Walton) to Authorize the Acting Town Manager to sign an agr=
eement
for the fiscal year 2008 Update Agreement between Vision Appraisal Technolo=
gy
and the Town of
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: Mr. Nardelli: The assessor is here, Carolyn Nade= au, if you have any questions. We di= d go out to bid for this and this was the low bidder. This would be for the 10/1/08 Grand List, yet it's not a full revaluation where they actually go into the homes= and what not.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: This is similar t= o the revaluation, it’s a sampling, it's not a complete revaluation of every property in Town that was done in 2003. So this is again being done, it ha= s to be done, I think it has to be completed and the Grand List will be affected= by 10/1/08. Carolyn, how many in= the sample?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Ms. Nadeau: We do the entire town. We just don't knock on every door = (inaudible).
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; = ; Mr. Pawlak: Is there some goi= ng into houses, or is it just a drive by of every house?
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 19
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Ms. Nadeau: There will be a d= rive by of every house and an interior inspection of all the properties that have sold within one year. This is= all done by State mandates (inaudible) we're going to do it this way or that wa= y, it's the way the State says we have to do it.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; = ; Ms. Adams: Unfunded mandate.<= /p>
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Kane: There was some change in the sched= uling of this, though, Frank?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; = ; Mr. Nardelli: That's right, t= he next full physical one will be done in 2013, cause they went to a 5 year format, so we did 2003, 2008, 2013.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: With a complete inspection every . . . .
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; = ; Mr. Nardelli: That's right.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Ms. Adams: And if I'm not mis= taken in 2003 the State Legislature changed the law after we spent how many hundr= eds of thousands of dollars.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Walton: Carolyn, you said= one year sold?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Ms. Nadeau: The properties th= at have sold within one year (inaudible).
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Walton: Why wouldn't it go back to the last appraisal?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Ms. Nadeau: It's a state regulation, just one year, not the 4 in between. We're looking to verify the value,= and the value 4 years ago doesn't really have any bearing on the value (inaudib= le) one year cycle.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; = ; Mr. Pawlak: (Tape #1, Side B = ended - may have missed some.)
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&=
nbsp; G. Consider
an Amendment to the Independent Contractor Agreement with Kenneth Gemmell f=
or
Golf Pro Services at
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION: (Mr. = Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to amend the Independent Contractor Agreement with Kenneth Gemmell for Golf Pro Services at Crest brook Park Golf Course to include a = 3% increase each year of the contract to be paid on March 1st, beginning retroactively to March 1, 2006.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 20
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: Mr. Nardelli: In the original contract the increa= se for the golf pro was based on whatever the department heads received. We found that very cumbersome beca= use sometimes we don't get our raises until halfway through the year. This went to Parks and Recreation = and they're in agreement with changing this language. This is the way it was in the prev= ious contract, where as of March 1st each year he gets a 3% raise, it's in the contract, so he doesn't have to wait to see what the department heads get or don't get. This clarifies the language and makes it a lot easier to administer the contract.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&= nbsp; H. Consider Resolution Authorizing Tax Refunds
R E S O L U T I O N
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; WHEREAS, Taxpayers have made application for the Property Tax Refunds in accordance = with Section 12-129, Refund of Excess Payment; and
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; WHEREAS, the Tax Collector recommends that the Refunds be made in accordance with the provisions of Section 12-129;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Council approves the following Tax Refunds:
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2147 Longo Electric &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $31.24
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Duplicate Payment=
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2148 Archer, Donna L or Raym= ond L. &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $91.06
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 311 Cornerstone Court &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor; Acc= ount Deleted
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2149 Bardelli, Edith W. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $17.81
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2150 Barnosky, Peter T. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $14.65
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 665 French Street = &nb= sp; = Type: M<= /p>
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Deleted
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 21
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2151 Bisson, Mary D. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $43.96
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 53 Beach Avenue &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2155 Brown, Frederick B. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $20.97
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 450 Linkfield Road = ; &n= bsp; = ; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2156 Buckley, Hylda M. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $4.48
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2159 Cambigue, Mark W. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $13.15
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 152 Morro Street &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Type: M<= /p>
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 2160 Carnahan, Carolyne C.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2161 Charbonneau, Christine = A. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $6.32
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2162 Crane, Jerome P Jr. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $173.44
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2163 Crystal Rock LLC &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $43.65
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; ATTN: Lee Dayton = &nb= sp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2164 Crystal Rock LLC &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $27.72
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; ATTN: Lee Dayton = &nb= sp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 22
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2165 Crystal Rock LLC &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $14.54
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; ATTN: Lee Dayton = &nb= sp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2166 Crystal Rock LLC &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $157.86
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; ATTN: Lee Dayton = &nb= sp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2167 Daddona, David J. D/B/A= &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $20.24
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Daddona Electric Services &n= bsp; = ; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2168 Derouin, Richard H. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $3.59
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2169 Destan, Saboet &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $112.33
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2170 Drapatin, Edward K. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; = Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $55.16
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2171 Ercoli, Louis T. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $40.01
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 39 Colony Road &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Deleted
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2172 Ercoli, Louis T. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $52.89
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 39 Colony Road &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Deleted
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 23
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2173 Flynn, John J. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Am= ount of Refund: &nb= sp; $8.25
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2179 Gorman, Russell F. Sr.<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $17.99
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 319 Thomaston Road, Apt. 61 &n= bsp; = ; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 2185 Kazakaitis, Marija A.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 2186
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2187 LaFrance, Denise &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $15.36
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 84 Brushwood Lane = ; &n= bsp; = ; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2188 Landquist, Waldo &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $142.27
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 2191 Lecuyer,
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2193 Magel, Gerard F. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $4.00
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 26 Radnor Lane &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2196 McIntyre, Brian A. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $11.04
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 119 Woolson Street = ; &n= bsp; = ; Type: M<= /p>
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 24
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2198 Morgan, Reese or Cheryl= A. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $68.16
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 34 Mystic Lane &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Typ= e: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2199 O'Malley, Sheila M. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $10.25
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 170 Scott Avenue &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 2200
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 34 Sunnyside Avenue &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2201 Palombo, Robert C. Jr. = or Lea M. = ; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $30.81
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 28 Birch Meadow Drive &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2202 Peterson D L Trust &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $23.58
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Personal Property Tax &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 2206
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 60 Aldorisio Street &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; Type: M<= /p>
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2207 Smart, Dennis C. or Sus= an A. &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $52.26
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 38 Orchard Lane &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2208 Sojka, Allen J. or Pame= la H. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $99.90
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2209 Stanley, Samantha &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $20.13
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 25
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 2211 Viltrakis, Thomas A.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 359 Linkfield Road = ; &n= bsp; = ; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2212 Vo, Binh T. = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $134.89
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 222 Parkman Street = ; &n= bsp; = ; Type: M<= /p>
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2213 VW Credit Leasing Ltd.<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Amount of Refund: &nb= sp; $70.05
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Per Assessor, Acc= ount Prorated
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 2214 Weihrauch, Justin B.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 360 Straits Turnpike &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Duplicate Payment=
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; 2215 Weihrauch, Justin B.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 360 Straits Turnpike &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; Type: M
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Reason for Refund: Duplicate Payment=
=
; &n=
bsp; TOTAL
FOR ALL REFUNDS &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; $1,773.72
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Dated at
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p;
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Joseph Pawlak, Chairman
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p;
<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION: (Mr. = Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to approve the Resolution authorizing Tax Refunds.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: Mr. Pawlak: The total is about $1,774.00. I had one question, Frank, Account Deleted, what does that mean?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Nardelli: That's an "M", so it's a Motor Vehicle which means to me that it should not have been on the Grand List and it was deleted off, the person probably sold the vehicle.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: And what about the Account Prorated?
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 26
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Nardelli: They purchased = the vehicle within the, between Grand List dates, so there's a pro-ration on the amount.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
12.&n=
bsp; Public
Participation
David Minnich,
= ; Mr. Minnich: (Inaudible) and I bring your attention to the discussion regarding water and sewer. The issue of general benefit and including also (inaudible), I'm also Chairman of the Watertown Fire Distric= t. Speaking from that perspective, not everything is as simple as we'd like it to be and it's not up to this Commission to make the ultimate determination as to what is a general benef= it, nor is it to the Water & Sewer Authority. The issue of general special benef= it has been litigated, and has been determined through that litigation as to what = can be a general benefit. (Inaudi= ble) Mr. Rinaldi and would certainly welcome this to be the policy of the Council although (inaudible) that any area outside of the Oakville Fire District wo= uld be general benefit, so if that were the case, I would love from my perspect= ive for a portion of what we do in the Fire District to be paid and borne by all the taxpayers in Town. I know= that is not the case, within the Fire District our extension of our (inaudible) water and sewer is paid totally and only by us, so you have established an extension fund and I think you need to review what that sewer extension fun= d is for. I will be watching this carefully because it already is defined (inaudible) what is a general benef= it and how it should be (inaudible_) and I was hoping you would seek legal cou= nsel before you proceed with your action on this (inaudible) general benefit (in= audible).
=
; Mr.
Rinaldi: The Watertown Fi=
re
District is a separate taxing district.&nb=
sp;
They never consolidated with the Town, so there's no general benefit
with the Watertown Fire District.
There's none. If you e=
xpand,
you're not part of the of the Town of
= ; Mr. Minnich: I don't want to = debate with you, I don't know all the specifics, I'm ju= st hearing this for the first time.
=
; Mr.
Rinaldi: It's in the
consolidation act, it's spelled out clearly.
= ; Mr. Minnich: My very first fl= ush here, hearing what you're saying, is that you're (inaudible) that part of t= his is going to be assessment, part through general benefit and the sewer exten= sion fund will not be used. My understanding of hearing that very first flush, I would only suggest that y= ou seek legal counsel (inaudible) and the issue in the end is not what you determine it to be, it is what has already been resolved in court back in 1= 980 on this whole issue. Thank yo= u.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 27
=
; Mr.
Rinaldi: Well again, if you remember back in the 80's, the Watertown Fi=
re
District sued the Water & Sewer Authority over the, and we won, so the
point is, it is a general benefit, and you people in that district, had to
cough up so much because it is a general benefit, for the reserve water up =
in
the water plant up in Thomaston it's a general benefit to the Town of
Watertown. When I pay my wate=
r and
sewer bill, I pay for water and sewer, I don't to expand pipes any place.
=
; Mr.
Minnich: I will just say =
that
times have changed. I was wor=
king
for the Town at that time, I was in court, testified for the Town at that t=
ime,
so I am familiar with the issue and I'm not as certain about the applicatio=
n of
this particular issue for this particular sewer, but my first thought is th=
at I
think you should seek legal counsel (inaudible).
= ; Mr. Pawlak: We'll make sure t= hat whatever we do is correct.
Tom Lambert,
Mr. Lambert: Paul, you probably have the mot longe= vity, the original track, do you remember what it cost?
Mr. Rinaldi: No, I don't. I don't even want to venture a gue= ss, Frank do you know?
= ; Mr. Nardelli: about $853,000.=
Mr. Rinaldi: The original?
= ; Mr. Nardelli: Oh, the origina= l.
Mr. Pawlak: The complex, I've heard the number bantered around of about $850,000 or $860,000 but that was everything.
= ; Mr. Rinaldi: That's the last one. We're talking about the = first track.
Ms. Adams: When we decided to put a track ther= e . . .
= ; Mr. Lambert: And we now have = the second track, so between the two of them, $1,000,000?
Ms. Adams: I'm sure that could be researched.<=
/p>
Regular Meeting September 5, 2006 Page 28 =
; Mr.
Lambert: I just want ever=
ybody
to really think about this. I=
'm not
favoring one way or the other right now, but you're not going to rip that t=
urf
up with a Tonka toy, you're going to rip that turf up with probably a
bulldozer. You're not going t=
o lay
plywood on that track and drive a bulldozer over it to get to the center of=
track. Anything you do you've go to get t=
o the
center of that track and I've heard pros and cons about drainage. I'm pretty sure there's going to b=
e a curbing
going around the inside of that track.&nbs=
p;
Curbing isn't 6 inches deep, curbing is 2=
feet
deep maybe. There are a lot of
things to think about. We all=
have
a very important job to protect the townspeople and promote things for the =
good
of the Town. I don't want any=
thing
touching that track. When som=
ething
goes over that track, I don't want anything touching that track. I don't want to dig next to that t=
rack
and have compacted soils degrade and fall away and now we don't have anythi=
ng
under that track on the edges. What
do you think that's going to do, when we run across that track on the
edges? The edges are going to=
fall
in. Do you realize what happe=
ns
when we okay a turf field and then all of a sudden the track degrades, the =
track
falls apart the second year of warranty on that track is no longer valid?
Richard Mazzamauro, 1055 Guernseyt=
own
Toad,
= ; Mr. Mazzamauro: First I want = to start by saying if I were to start a company tod= ay, I'd probably want to have Bob, Steve, and Sean sell for me. They've done a phenomenal job (ina= udible) and answering questions. I fo= r one was a proponent of building a field west of the Mills Complex, that was my first choice, and the more information I got, I've sat at 2 Town Council meetings= now and hear the presentation, they came to a Board of Education meeting last M= onday and answered even more questions, I tend to be leaning more towards the tur= f at this point myself. My concern= is that after the engineering studies were done, did not include removal of le= dge. We all know what this school is bu= ilt on, a huge rock so I think the grant would be well spent on that and having= to go back to the taxpayers to ask for more money to put access roads in and parking would just be (inaudible) I think the turf would be the best option= right now. Thank you.
Mark Fusco, 133 Straits Turnpike, =
= ; Mr. Fusco: I'm here about the Straits Turnpike sewer extension. I can tell you that at this point in time I am extremely frustrated with memb= ers of this Council, the Town of Watertown Sewer & Water Authority. I've been before you at least a ha= lf dozen times to speak to you on this matter, and we've had meeting after mee= ting after meeting and hearing after hearing.&n= bsp; These numbers were out front long before Mr. Rinaldi started to ques= tion them. Why now is he questioni= ng these numbers? That's my first question and I'd like a response please.
Mr. Rinaldi: I answered this before, you and I h= ave discussed this right here. I = never saw these numbers until they came here, I understand you went to Water & Sewer but no one ever talked to me about numbers.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 29
= ; Mr. Fusco: Well I beg to differ. Bear with me, I make = more than my allotted 5 minutes, I ask that you give me whatever time I need to = make my point. On March 21, 2006 F= rank Jodaitis (inaudible) and he spoke and I'm going to quote you from an article that was in the Waterbury Republican American. He states "that the construct= ion costs for a modified line and what he means by that is we talk about shorte= ning the project to the state that it's in now, he states $262,000 in user fees would be applied to the project. Assessments would total $99,766, leaving $25,234 to be charged to taxpayers as a general benefit. You never mentioned anything about that $262,000 then.
Mr. Rinaldi: Would you read that again, one more= time, the $262,000?
= ; Mr. Fusco: I can actually rea= d the Minutes of the meeting if you doubt the newspaper article.
Mr. Rinaldi: I don't doubt it, I just asked you = to read it again.
=
; Mr.
Fusco: I think Elaine's (=
inaudible). Bear with me,<=
/span> I
have quite a bit of information here. Let's take a step back here, can some=
one
tell me,
Mr. Rinaldi: I believe so, yes.
= ; Mr. Fusco: Can somebody tell = me for sure?
Mr. Rinaldi: Where is it and I'll tell you?
=
; Mr.
Fusco:
Mr. Rinaldi: Yes, it says Old Fire District, yes= .
= ; Mr. Fusco: So when the Counci= l, on November 15, 2004 voted unanimously without any discussion to appropriate $= 10,000 from the Sewer and Water Extension Fund balance to the Stanley Avenue Exten= sion Project, there was no problem with that, and that's because it was in the o= ld Oakville Fire District?
Mr. Rinaldi: Right.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 30
=
; Mr.
Fusco: November 21, 2005,=
Town Council
Meeting, which was actually at that time being held at the John Trumbull
School, Frank Jodaitis goes on to explain and they were talking about the
Timken Grant at the time, and no one knew how much money was available, he sta=
tes on
the handout the top one is Straits Turnpike sanitary sewer and it was broug=
ht
up during the comment section. He
goes on to say the total price was $1,053,000, t=
his is
when it went from Carvel al the way down to 330 Straits Turnpike. The project's total price was $
Mr. Rinaldi: Shame on me.
= ; Mr. Fusco: He stated at the J= une 19th hearing, $262,000 comes form the water and sewer authority extension f= und, that was in the budget so he states, so you're telling me that all this time that we've been talking about this, and he's been mentioning these figures, that no one caught this?
Mr. Rinaldi: Shame on me. I didn't hear him. It probably went by, I didn't get a handle on it until after the fact. By the way, just so you k= now, Mark, I know there's a fee for every new house in Town.
= ; Mr. Fusco: $400 and $200 since 1987.
Mr. Rinaldi: In my opinion, that money should be= held aside for any new projects that come up in Town, it should be used as seed money, for engineering or design or whatever else has to be done to get the project off the ground, because you can't finance a project until you have = all the paperwork done, so in that sense, yea, I go along with that.
= ; Mr. Fusco: What exactly is the $262,000 or what exactly is the Sewer Extension Fund meant for, if it's not meant to extend sewers?
Mr. Rinaldi: When the Oakville Fire District was= in place, my grandfather, anybody that went back through the creation of the W= ater and Sewer District, used to pay a tax, just like the Watertown Fire District does, that money used to go into a fund, and when the projects came, that's= the only way you could build on the system was for everybody to kick into this fund. We used to have the old= 1/3, 1/3, 1/3, you must have heard someone talk about that, the left side of the street paid 1/3 of the project, the right side of the street paid 1/3 of the project and the other 1/3 came out of the Water Extension Funds, which is a= ll the money that all the people kicked in for years and years into this fund, and= you waited your turn. My father p= aid for 50 years into that fund until the pipes got to my street, and then he g= ot his. So what they did was it = went into water operations, and as these projects came up, they sifted the money form water operations over to the extension fund, that was the vehicle that= got the money out to support the project.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 31
Once
the Oakville Fire District consolidated and became part of the Town of Wate=
rtown,
a fiduciary of the Town of Watertown, everything became general benefit,
because you no longer pay a tax, everyone in this town doesn't pay a tax to=
the
Water & Sewer district so to finance the project they're done by general
benefit, but in their wisdom when they consolidated it, they still made
provisions for the old Oakville fire district to button it up. This way there won't be any more
(Inaudible) there won't be anymore anything, it =
will
all be general benefit. When =
I was
on the authority, don't remember the exact numbers, somewhere around $462,0=
00
was left in the extension fund to button up
=
; Mr.
Fusco: This is my point, there is money in the budget for this project.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> I'd like to share this with you I =
only
have one copy, I really didn't think we were going to be talking about any =
of
this to be honest with you, I thought we were going to be here, set a speci=
al
meeting and that would be the end of it, so I'm glad I came prepared. I'm looking at line items, this is=
a copy
of the Sewer Extension Fund expenditures, it's t=
itled
Description and Classification. Top
of the list,
Mr. Rinaldi: It's wrong, shame on me.
= ; Mr. Fusco: Not just you, it's= all of you, and I don't mean to sound curt, and I appreciate al that you people= do here, you come out and you spend hours and hours of your time, and it's not= an easy job, you get a lot of flack, I've been to a lot of meeting sand sat he= re late at night, so please don't take this personal, but I just find it appal= ling that all of this discussion, all of this time, all of this documentation, all of these numbers, all of = these approvals and finances are out there and then at the last minute somebody questions it and the whole thing falls by the wayside now for months to come and now we're going to have to get legal opinions and put things off, it boggles my mind, it really does.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 32
Mr. Rinaldi: I think it's important for everybod= y here and for the record, I want this on the record, back around the late 80's th= ere was a meeting held at Swift Junior High School for all the water users, 3,9= 00, district, the users haven't grown that much, there was about 3,900 people, = the Water & Sewer Authority then asked us to trust them, they said trust us, were going t double your water bill, and you can check, Franklin Pilicy is sitting right behind you, he'll verify this, they doubled our water bill wi= th the promise, there was an outstanding lawsuit with the Watertown Fire Distr= ict over reserve okay, there was outstanding problems with Waterbury, there sti= ll is, potentially millions of dollars were in dispute, so the Water & Sew= er Authority said let us double your bill, this way when the time comes and the Water contract is settled with Waterbury and the lawsuit is settled with the Fire District, if we lose we won't have to touch your water bills cause we'll already accumulate enough to pay for all of this. If we win, we'll give you the money back, that's what we did, 10 years ago we had on= e big rebate. What happened next, a= nd they tried this before, and anybody sitting here remembers the water and se= wer rebate and the wars that that caused, will know what I'm talking about. They took this money that they pro= mised was going to be used for these things, and since they won the case with the Fire District, and were potentially waiting for an answer from Waterbury, t= hey started taking this money and using it for projects because (inaudible) and someday when you're in the system, I hope it's pretty quick, you'll find out exactly what I'm talking about. You're going to pay your water bill, but pay your water bill and maintain the system.&n= bsp; You're not going to pay for God knows what. Now when you w= ere promised. If I said to= you Mark, promise me, if I double your bill I'm going to use that money well, t= o defend the Authority, defend the users and then we won't have any problems raising your water bills, and then 10 years later I turn around and say I'm going to use that money some place else. It got by me, it got by all of us, it's an issue now.
= ; Mr. Fusco: Why now with this project? That's my biggest, I= mean why now? All of a sudden ever= yone's eyes are open to this?
Mr. Rinaldi: From where I'm sitting, if I let th= is go, if I say okay we'll let this go, we open the door to Hell. We're going to have 9,000,000 peop= le coming here with projects and they're going to want the users in this Town, a small group of people to pay for all the projects, and then what happens to the l= ast guy who lives at the end of Litchfield Road, when he hooks up he's Scot fre= e, he never had to pay a nickel.
= ; Mr. Fusco: This money is alre= ady in the budget, it's there, so I don’t understand. You're saying you're not going to s= pend the money now, you're going to give it back to all the rate payers, is that what you're proposing? Is tha= t what you're telling me? I just wan= t to make sure I'm clear on this.
Mr. Rinaldi: Yea.
= ; Mr. Fusco: You're telling me = that this money that was allocated for this project and past budgets, and passed= by, remind you, passed by the taxpayers of this town, it's not like you decided= it or the Council decided it, the taxpayers saw the budget and they voted on it and they said okay, we're okay with this, and now you're going to undo what they've already said yes to? = Is that what you're telling me?
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 33
Mr. Rinaldi: I had to testify in court not too l= ong ago.
= ; Mr. Fusco: Answer my question, is that what you're telling me?
Mr. Rinaldi: I'm answering your question.
= ; Mr. Fusco: Are you telling me= that the money that has already been allocated by the Townspeople in the budget year= s . . . . .
Mr. Pawlak: One person at a time, please.
Mr. Rinaldi: I'm answering your question. I had to go to court. Someone form this Town sued the To=
wn and
the whole court case down in
= ; Mr. Fusco: Is that an answer?= I didn't hear an answer in that.
Mr. Rinaldi: That's your answer.
= ; Mr. Fusco: Are you telling me= that you're going to go against what the taxpayers have already approved in this budget (inaudible)?
Mr. Rinaldi: No.
= ; Mr. Fusco: So you're not goin= g to go against the money that's been allocated for this project in the budget .= . . .
Mr. Rinaldi: I'm saying the project is financed = wrong, incorrectly.
= ; Mr. Fusco: Yes or mo, are you= going to undo what was approved by the taxpayers of this Town in past years?
Mr. Rinaldi: Through the Chair, can we get a leg= al opinion on this?
= ; Mr. Pawlak: Certainly, I don'= t have a problem. We said that we wo= uld do that and make sure it was absolutely legal when Dave Minnich addressed the Council.
= ; Mr. Fusco: Any timeframe on this? Are we talking months, = years? It was 3 years in the making since= I started this with Water & Sewer, and they've had this project on the bo= oks since before I came along.
Mr. Pawlak: No.
I would hazard to guess and say 2 weeks to a month at the outside.
Regular Meeting September 5, 2006 Page 34 =
; Mr.
Fusco: It will be an Agen=
da
item? Mr. Pawlak: Yes it will. =
; Mr.
Fusco: One last question,=
this
is all based around the premise that this is a general benefit, correct?
Mr. Rinaldi: Because as the system grows, they'r= e all general benefit projects. Eve= ry piece of pipe that goes into this town from now on everybody is going to pay for it, everybody in this town is going to chip in to have this system grow= n, not just a handful of people are going to bear the brunt of it. You're going to pay as a user, you= 're going to pay as a general taxpayer, you're going= to pay twice.
= ; Mr. Fusco: So let me just mak= e sure I understand your point, so it's not the fact that the project benefits the general population, what makes it a general benefit is that everyone pays f= or that project?
Mr. Rinaldi: Yes. The Town.
= ; Mr. Fusco: I find that hard to believe. Now this is all base= d upon the consolidation ordinance, this is what you're justifying all of this on?=
Mr. Rinaldi: I know you have a different interpretation, you read it.
= ; Mr. Fusco: Is that the case?<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> You're basing all of this around t= he consolidation act?
Mr. Rinaldi: (Inaudible) this is the way it's al= ways been done. (Inaudible), that'= s a different story.
= ; Mr. Fusco: Can you show me in= the Consolidation Ordinance where it says?
Mr. Rinaldi: Yea, I came to Water & Sewer.
=
; Mr.
Fusco: That wasn't a matt=
er of
public record, that was on (inaudible) Agenda and that was their record, I =
want
to make sure that you can state, and point to me in writing, where it says =
that
the Water & Sewer Extension Fund cannot be used for (inaudible). Mr. Rinaldi: It doesn't say that. =
; Mr.
Fusco: It doesn't say tha=
t? Mr. Rinaldi: No. Regular Meeting September 5, 2006 Page 35 =
; Mr.
Fusco: Thank you, thank
you. So it does not say in the
Consolidation Ordinance that water and sewer extension money cannot be used=
. .
. Mr. Rinaldi: No, it says all projects will be bo=
rne by
all the residents of =
; Mr.
Fusco: If it's a general
benefit. Mr. Rinaldi: Of course (inaudible). =
; Mr.
Fusco: I'm not going to b=
elabor
this anymore. There are other
people who would like to speak.
Does anyone have any questions for me? Mr. Mancini: I told you from the beginning I was=
not
against your project and as a Town Council member, not as an individual, I =
do
take some offense towards your insinuations towards the Town Council, but w=
ith
new information like I was saying before with the turf, I was all in favor =
of
the field down below, I was against the turf, the more information I got ab=
out
turf, I was starting to lean turf, I didn't say I was leaning towards the
football field being turf, but maybe there is some place else that should be
turfed. Maybe the turf is bet=
ter
than some place else that's better than the field down below here. Now all we're saying is I voted th=
e way
I did tonight because there is new information to me., Paul brought something up, I said =
maybe
Paul is right, I'm not sure whether he is or not. If Paul is wrong I may vote a diff=
erent
way. I just want clarificatio=
n, I
think as the other do also, but we shouldn't be getting these insinuations =
from
you like that, I'm sorry. =
; Mr.
Fusco: I'm totally in fav=
or of
doing this the right way. I j=
ust
feel that with all the research and information I've gathered, and I've loo=
ked
into when Paul brought this up several town council meetings ago, I feel th=
at
he's incorrect and he's wrong, and it sounds like Dave is also of that same
feeling so I ask that you look at this very precisely, keep in mind the time
and effort and amount of people that have come forward both for and against
this project, and hopeful we can get some resolution sooner than later. Mr. Walton: Are you blaming this hold up this w=
hole
thing on Paul's interpretation of the financing? =
; Mr.
Fusco: It seems like ther=
e was
several times that this could have been brought up at a much sooner junctur=
e,
and that's where my frustration is coming from. If at the first meeting he brought=
this
up, I would have no problem with that, or the second meeting, or at the pub=
lic
hearing, but these figures have been mentioned time and time again, and it =
was
only at the very last minute when you simply wanted to get a new appraisal =
because
the dollar amount that the Town was going to have to kick in was (Tape #2, =
Side
A ended - may have missed some) then this became a problem, so that's where=
my
frustration comes from. Regular Meeting September 5, 2006 Page 36 Mr. Walton: Wasn't the original block, the amou=
nt of
people in this project did not want it, and that's what went on for months,=
not
this? This is just something =
you've
heard within the last month or so? <=
/span>This
has not been holding up this project, your people were that were in that
original plan, they're the ones that held it up. =
; Mr.
Fusco: That contributed t=
o the
delay, however, if the figures that were presented back then were of disput=
e,
we would have never gone to a public hearing on February 21st until that was
resolved. All of that comment=
, all
of those people that came out to vote for or against could have stayed
home. All the time you've spe=
nt
talking about this, it would have been resolved long ago, and that's where =
my
frustration is, that this wasn't brought up front when the figures were fir=
st
given. Mr. Walton: I feel this is a very small extensi=
on of
your problem. Your problem
originally and the length of your problem was due mostly to the people in t=
he
district who do not want the project and it's been reduced in size. And since it's been reduced in siz=
e,
this is just a small part of it. =
; Mr.
Fusco: The figures were t=
here
and that was never questioned until the very end. If that was questioned up front we=
could
have avoided a lot of these meetings and a lot of this discussion. Bob Guerrera, Mr. Guerrera: I was asked to come back by one of =
my
board members, just to clarify something.&=
nbsp;
When we were explained, we have a beautiful track there, people were=
concerned
(inaudible) it was explained to us through 2 field turf companies how they =
go
about, they actually build a bridge over the track, they do not lay plywood=
on
it, they actually build a bridge, it actually costs them $12,000 to build t=
he bridge
to get the heavy equipment over and inside, and there have been times when =
they
actually had to get a crane and lift it over and put it in the middle so the
track will not be damaged. If=
you
want to take it a step further, you could actually call Wolcott, cause their track was there, existing, they had a grass
field, it was an existing tack, and it's as brand new as it was before they
started the project. Also I w=
ant to
thank you guys for keeping an open mind on this the whole time we've been
discussing this for the last 4 months.&nbs=
p;
Thank you very much. David Minnich, =
; Mr.
Minnich: I would just sug=
gest
that with this conversation there seems to be a significant change in what =
has
been here in this Town for a long time for the means of financing water and
sewer. You were part of this
process every year, (inaudible) capital for sewer there's money for extensi=
on
and there's money for the general operation for both water and sewer. By Charter there are funds in
there. If you follow the logi=
c that
is presented by Councilman Rinaldi, the extension fund has no purpose. I think you've heard that also ton=
ight. There is a purpose for that in the=
Charter,
one that traditionally has been there. Regular Meeting September 5, 2006 Page 37 The
Water & Sewer Authority recommends to you and you approve every year mo=
ney
going into the Extension Fund and that Extension Fund is approved at the
voters, so there is a function for that, so if you're going to proceed with
this, I think it needs to have a look at this whole means of financing, cau=
se
some of this is already in the Charter. Mr.
Pawlak, Chairman, Closed Public Participation at 9:13 p.m. 12. &n=
bsp; Executive
Session A. Disposition
of Town Owned Land &=
nbsp; B. =
Land
Acquisition &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; MOTION: (Mr. =
Mancini,
sec. Mr. Guerrera) to enter into Executive Session at 9:13 p.m. with the 9
members of the Town Council, Frank Nardelli and Franklin Pilicy to discuss
Disposition of Town Owned Land and Land Acquisition. &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Discussion: None<=
/p>
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; MOTION
PASSED UNANIMOUSLY &=
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; Frank
Nardelli &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Franklin
Pilicy &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr.
Pawlak, Chairman, Reconvened the Regular Meeting at 9:30 p.m. &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; No
Motions Were Made; No Votes Were Taken. Regular Meeting September 5, 2006 Page 38 13.&n=
bsp; New
Business (Continued) &=
nbsp; A. Consider
Setting a MOTION: &nbs=
p; (Ms.
Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to set a special town meeting for October 16, 200=
6 at
7:00 p.m. at the Watertown High School Technology Room to consider an
appropriation in the amount of $210,000 from the General Fund for the purch=
ase
of 14.01 acres on Discussion: =
None MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY &=
nbsp; B. =
Consider
authorizing the MOTION: &nbs=
p; (Mr.
Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to authorize the Acting Town Manager to enter int=
o an
Agreement and Execute real estate documents for the purchase of 14.01 acres=
on
Old Baird Road, Watertown CT, presently owned by Harold Murtha, subject to
approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission pursuant to Connecticut Gene=
ral
Statutes Section 8-24. Discussion: =
None MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY C. &nb=
sp; Consider
Appointment of Town Manager MOTION: &nbs=
p; (Mr.
Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to appoint Charles A. Frigon as Town Manager,
effective September 6, 2006, per Watertown Town Manager Employment Agreemen=
t,
as amended. Discussion: Mr. P=
awlak: We have one item to discuss that i=
s the
only one that is in question with respect to the agreement, and that is the
motor vehicle reimbursement. =
The
Town Manager will not have a motor vehicle however he has requested as part=
of
his agreement a reimbursement on the order of $50.00 per week for mileage.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 39
= ; &n= bsp; If you look at the mileage with respect to what those monies will buy you at $2,600 depending on your average miles per gallon, you're looking at somewh= ere between 13,000 and 17,000 miles per year or anywhere from about 55 to 75 mi= les per day. At $1,200 a year it = works out to somewhere between 6,000 and 8,000 per year, 26 to 35 miles per day.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> It is my recommendation that we of= fer Mr. Frigon motor vehicle reimbursement at the rate of $100 per month.
&nb= sp; Ms. Adams: I don't know, I lo= ok at this and I think it's not only, you know it is mileage yes, but it's also c= ar insurance, if there's a car payment, repairs, maintenance on a vehicle. I understand what you're saying as= far as taking the IRS rate .445 (inaudible) but then I've got to look back and I think this is really getting the Town off really, really, I hate to use that word but . . . .
= ; = ; Mr. Pawlak: Inexpensively?
=
; &n=
bsp; Ms. Adams: thank you. It just seems to me that the Manag=
er is
going to need to get around, not only in Town but outside of Town to meetin=
gs
and stuff and I just don't think that $50 a week is unreasonable at all.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Mancini: The agreement that was presented t= o all the applicant's for Town Manager, didn't it say $.= 45 a mile?
= ; = ; Mr. Pawlak: I'm not sure if t= here was an exact amount in there, I think it was, we referenced the IRS accepta= ble rate as published I believe.
&nb= sp; Mr. Nardelli: I (inaudible).<= /p>
= ; = ; Mr. Mancini: And do not all t= he applicants know this at the time?
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: Yes.
&nb= sp; Mr. Mancini: So either we just stick with the agreement as we presented or . . . .
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 40
&nb= sp; Mr. Pawlak: Well he did reque= st some additional changes and one of them was with respect to the vacation ion the bank, I believe he is carrying 2 weeks and has for awhile, so we had originally stipulated that there would be one week in the bank, and never to exceed one week, so we changed that and that is included in here at the rat= e of I guess it's 2 in the bank. A= nd there was some other language, I think also, Frank, with respect to the participation in the MERF pension?
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Nardelli: Yes, he is currently in the (inaud= ible).
&nb= sp; Mr. Pawlak: We had inadverten= tly said his service would be frozen; that was incorrect.
= ; = ; Mr. Nardelli: As far as his l= ength of time in the pension plan, that's incorrect, right, he continues to accrue his time.
= ; = ; Mr. Pawlak: So that's been corrected if I'm not mistaken.
&nb= sp; Ms. Adams: I think part of it= is too that there is a difference between somebody who comes in from the outside a= nd there's a difference of things, looking at things and their years of service being on the inside, there is a difference that you wouldn't expect him to = lose any of that coming in, whatever, just one other thing that I looked at and = saw was the 1 week vacation to be taken consecutively, yea, and to add on unless the Town Council approves it. Can I make that in the form of an amendment, motion as well as an amendment? That was on Page 2.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: Yea, I had contingent upon accepta= nce by (inaudible). Item C, except w= ith approval of Town Council, that is the vacation e= ach shall not be taken consecutively.
= ; = ; Ms. Adams: Unless approved by= the Town Council.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Mancini: Say something like will not be unreasonably withheld, on the vacation?
&nb= sp; Mr. Pawlak: No, I think we ou= ght to be very specific, it's probably a formality but I'd prefer to have the appr= oval of the Town Council.
&nb= sp; Ms. Adams: And it may never b= e an issue.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Kane: I don't have a problem with the vacation, that's fine. I would agree with you on the mileage, though.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 41
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Primini: On the mileage, I have no problem = with the $100 a month but can there be something in t= here that it can be reviewed regularly? I'm just, we all know that our IRS rate is going to be going up, and= I agree with your comparison, what you used, but I think something should be = in there effective that it would be reviewed on a regular basis.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: We can review that on a yearly bas= is.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Primini: Sure.
= ; = ; Mr. Pawlak: I mean the Manage= r will be reviewed by the Town Council on an annual basis and we can review it at = that point.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. Adams: I don't know, I just look at what = we spent on former town managers, and I don’t even know if Chuck will be= the highest paid Town employee either. Frank, do you have any idea?
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: No, he's not, that would be Joe Er= ardi.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. Adams: No, I mean for the Town's peop= le.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Nardelli: I believe the Police Chief, wh= en you include the deferred comp, makes more, when you include the deferred comp.<= /p>
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. Adams: Than he would be making, so like t= he extra . . . .
&nb= sp; Mr. Primini: We'll have to cu= t that then too.
&nb= sp; Ms. Adams: It just seems, if it was $2,600, would that be enough to put him ab= ove the chief. I think I have a p= roblem with the Chief making more than the Town Manager. And I'm probably going to get pull= ed over on the way home.
&nb= sp; Mr. Pawlak: Well you didn't s= uggest a reduction in pay, so don't worry about that.
=
; &n=
bsp; Ms. Adams: No, I didn't, no you're right,
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Nardelli: Approximately $2,400 more than wha= t is proposed in this contract, the Chief makes $2,400 more.
Regular Meeting
September 5, 2006
Page 42
=
; &n=
bsp; Mr. Pawlak: Any other comments? Okay, so what we are proposing the=
n is
the contract with the stipulation that the Town Manager with the approval of
the Council may
take more than one week of vacation at a time, and that the vehicle
reimbursement will be at the rate of $100 per month. Does everybody understand that?
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
14. Adjournment
= ; MOTION: (Ms. = Adams, sec. Mr. Mancini) to Adjourn the Regular Meeting at 9:40 p.m.
<=
/span>Discussion: None<=
/p>
<=
/span>MOTION
PASSED UNANIMOUSLY <=
/span>Regular
Meeting Adjourned at 9:40 p.m. Respectfully
submitted, Joseph
Pawlak, Chairman Approved: _______________________________ Lynn M. LaF=
orme,
Clerk