JOHN TRUMBULL PRIMARY SCHOOL

MEDIA CENTER

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2004, 7:30 P.M.

PRESENT: = &nb= sp; Elaine Adams

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

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Raymond Hebert, Jr., Vice Chairman (arrived at 7:35 p.m.)

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

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Raymond Primini

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

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

ABSENT: &nb= sp; = Lee Archer

= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Paul Valenti

OTHERS PRESENT: Michael Abdalla, Interim Superintendent of Schools

= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Roy Cavanaugh, Director of Public Works

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Frank Nardelli, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director

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

1.&nb= sp;        Call Meeting To Order

Mr. = Kane, Chairman, Called the Meeting to Order at 7:30 p.m.

2.&nb= sp;        Roll Call

Ms. LaForme, Board Clerk, executed the Roll Call.

3.         Pledge of Allegi= ance

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Kane, Chairman, led the Pledge of Allegiance.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Kane: I'd like to ask for a M= oment of Silence in remembrance of Charles Gordon, who passed away recently. Mr. Gordon was the Vice Chairman o= f the Board of Education, and he spent time on this Council as well as many other boards and commissions throughout Town and was a great volunteer and just a good guy.

        &= nbsp;   Ms. Adams: He never had a bad thing to say about anybody. He was well li= ked, judging by the wake yesterday, Republicans, Democrats, everyone alike, he g= ot along well with everyone. He's definitely going to be missed.

Watertown Town Council

Regular Meeting

November 1, 2004

Page 2

4.&nb= sp;        Public Participation

        &= nbsp;   Robert LeBlanc, 78 Highland Avenu= e, Watertown, CT 06795=

        &= nbsp;   Mr. LeBlanc: Charlie Gordon w= as a great guy. I worked with him = on the Council. Although he was a Republican, I respected him.

        &= nbsp;   I inquired today about 2 motor vehicle accidents with Town vehicles in the la= st two weeks and I was told (inaudible) worry about it. There's a $1,000 deductible. When I asked for the accident repo= rt or amount of damages, I was told, Mr. Chuck Frigon was unsure whether he could give it to me or not, and I said thank you, and I'm requesting it from the = Town Council. I'd like to know if I can have an accident report and/or the amoun= t of damages to the vehicles?

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Kane: Are you familiar with the acci= dents that he's talking about? Yea?=

        &= nbsp;   Mr. LeBlanc: Secondly, motor vehicle inventory = - I was given a motor vehicle inventory as I requested, it's very nice, but the mileage was not corrected since last May.&= nbsp; So I started inquiring why. It just so happens that the computer that they set up, that I insist= ed that they set up about 2 or 3 years ago does not track the mileage. It will take a wire from the gas p= ump to the computer to track the mileage, and I would like to have that tracked so= we can know what's going on rather than having this mileage line incorrect.

        &= nbsp;   Now, there's a salt pile down on Bairds Road. Now for the last 4 or 5 years I've been trying to get the rafters th= at they have piled in the corner put up so the salt and sand does not run into= our wetlands that's over in the corner. For 4 or 5 years, back when Mr. Deleppo was here, I addressed that problem and I was told at that time as soon as we get time. Well 4 or 5 years is enough time; I think we should have that done.

        &= nbsp;   Okay now the parking lot. How much= time do I have?

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Kane: Go ahead.

= ;           Mr. LeBlanc: We were discussi= ng last week the possibility of giving away 9 spaces and I've done some resear= ch and the definite sentence is the deed is given on the condition that said Town = of Watertown will use= the aforesaid parcel of land for a school and community playground and recreati= onal purposes only. In the event t= hat the said land shall be ceased to be used for said purposes this instrument = is null and void. And it reverts= back to Mr. Fabiani. I object to giving away any parcel of land that has the possibility of being used for future ball fields. The question I have about that is = who is going to have the insurance on the parking spaces? Will the Townspeople going to ball= games be able to use these parking spaces for watching the ballgames, and I'd lik= e to know about the insurance on it naturally?&= nbsp; Why can't this company buy the old shoe repair shop which is in disrepair, well they're fixing it, I guess, and use that for parking spaces, rather than give away our precious land?&n= bsp; We need our land for our sports.

Watertown Town Council

Regular Meeting

November 1, 2004

Page 3

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Kane: Can I respond to that?

        &= nbsp;   Mr. LeBlanc: Yes, on your time?

= ;           Mr. Kane: Yea, I won't take a= way from your time. And maybe this isn't the proper time right now to be debating this, but I'm sure it's goin= g to come up, so we may as well talk about it.&= nbsp; #1, the shoe repair building may not be available for sale. I don't know who owns that propert= y, of course we could look it up at Town Hall and find out who owns it, but it may not be available. #2, the developers of the Griffin= School property are willing to re-stripe, re-pave, and relandscape a parking lot that currently= has none of that, so personally I see it as a benefit to the Town. There's no organization the way it= is currently, where as now I think we're looking at possibly 90 some odd parki= ng spaces there so I think it's a gain, if anything, and you and I can debate = that on and on, but I think it ultimately will be a gain for the Town, as well a= s a building that has never been on the tax rolls would then be on the tax rolls which is, of course, revenue for our Town.= No one is giving away anything.&nbs= p; It's just allowing use of a particular amount of parking spaces.

        &= nbsp;   Ms. Robson: Not all of that property is de= ed restricted, according to our Town Attorney.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. LeBlanc: As a prior 14 year President of Li= ttle League and also a coach for 5 years, we never had a problem with cars parki= ng on one another or this kind of stuff that you're talking about. We always seemed to manage.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Kane: Of course you did.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. LeBlanc: The only problem we had was balls = coming over the field and hitting the cars. Secondly if that's the case, this Coun= cil goes that way, I'm looking at a piece of property that's adjacent to Town property and is this going to be able to stand true if I buy that property = will I be able to use the parking spaces at night? It's just something that I'm think= ing about too.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Kane: You're just looking down the r= oad, right?

= ;           Mr. LeBlanc: So am I. Now tonight you have a bid waiver = of $5,000 or something to have the compacting tested up at the High School. Is that what that bid waiver is fo= r?

= ;           Ms. Robson: It's for a number= of development projects.

= ;           Mr. LeBlanc: Okay, does that include the high school, the track?

= ;           Ms. Robson: No.

= ;           Mr. LeBlanc: Then I stand corrected, cause I was saying if we have to test what Cocchiola did up ther= e, up at the high school, I think that he should have to pay for it, if in fac= t it was not compacted enough.

Watertown Town Council

Regular Meeting

November 1, 2004

Page 4

= ;           Ms. Robson: No, these are development projects.

= ;           Mr. LeBlanc: On the schools, = page 22 of your minutes tonight, on the bottom of the page Atty. Yamin said "the Town owns it subject to a provision they cannot resell it".<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> They cannot resell it in the first place. Secondly I would like = to know where that information came from.&nbs= p; On the next page Atty. McHugh says there was three separate deeds, a= nd one deed didn't have those restrictive covenants. I would like to know where I can f= ind that information. I'm not requesting it, but I'd like to know where I can find it so I can look it up, cause I went through the deeds, and I'm having difficulty, of course I'm no= t an attorney, I try to be, but I'm not yet.&nb= sp; I thank you for your consideration and I will call the Town Manager; maybe she can answer me that question, with your permission.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Kane: Sure.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Rinaldi: The first issue you addressed, the= Town vehicles and the damage or whatever, am I doing this correctly?

        &= nbsp;   Mr. LeBlanc: Yes.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Rinaldi: Was this a specific incident or ju= st in general?

= ;           Mr. LeBlanc: Two different accidents in the last two weeks, Town vehicles.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Kane: So they're specific incidents.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. LeBlanc: Right, and I would like to know just what's going on with my Town cars, cause the insurance rate might go up. You have enough of these accidents= , and this $1,000 deductible, our insurance rates will skyrocket.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Kane, Chairman, Closed Public Participation at 7:40 p.m.

5.&nb= sp;        Minutes=

        &= nbsp;   A.        Regular Meeting Minutes – October 18, 2004

      = ;            &n= bsp;     MOTION:       (Mr. = Wick, sec. Mr. Hebert) to Accept the Regular Meeting Minutes dated October 18, 20= 04 as presented.

      = ;            &n= bsp;     Discussion:       None<= /p>

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

Watertown Town Council

Regular Meeting

November 1, 2004

Page 5

6.&nb= sp;        Sub-Committee Reports

A.     &nbs= p; Public Works Subcommittee

     &nb= sp;      Ms. Adams: Middlebury Road has been repaved. There's a little bit of correction= that has to go down on the bottom by Route 6, it just doesn't look quite right so that will be taken care of.

      =       Cherry Avenue - as you know we received $100,000 from the State towards that bridge project. We'll be doing all o= f that in-house. Friday we started digging. All the easements ar= e in place. Yankee Gas has probably completed today, they wanted to redo their piping underneath the culvert th= ere and the box culverts are ready to be delivered so they're all set there. Tonight we're going to have to sch= edule a Town Meeting to appropriate the funding to continue purchasing, or pay for it.

      =       Turkey Brook is proceeding.

      =       Our next meeting is a week from tomorrow, 7:00 at the Annex.

      =       At 6:00 the same night at the Senior Center there is goi= ng to be a meeting between the N= orth Street residents and the architect, similar to what we did with Turkey Brook just so the residents there can give their in= put, ask questions of the architects to be able to have an open forum.

7.&nb= sp;        Chairman’s Report

      = ;      A.        Correspondence

      = ;            &n= bsp;     1.         = Resignation from Larry Black from the Scholarship Committee

      = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;     Mr. Kane read aloud a resignation letter from Larry Black to the Scholarship Committee as follows:

      = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;     "Meredith Robson

      = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;     Town Manager

      = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;     Town of Watertown

      = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;     I'm writing this note to resign as a member of the Watertown Scholarship Fund Committee. I have not had the= time to attend the meetings recently and do not see myself having the time to as= sist the committee in the future. = I will continue to support the fund and appreciate the opportunity I've had to be involved with the committee. = Thank you.

      = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;     Larry Black"

Watertown Town Council

Regular Meeting

November 1, 2004

Page 6

      = ;      B.         = Introduction of Interim Superintendent Michael Abdalla

      = ;            &n= bsp;     Mr. Kane: Michael Abdullah is with us, Interim Superintendent for the Town of Watertown. Do you want to introduced yourself= ?

      = ;            &n= bsp;     Michael Abdalla, Interim Superinte= ndent of Schools

      = ;            &n= bsp;     Mr. Abdalla: I'm Mike Abdalla. I'm from Beacon Falls. And up until a few weeks ago I was= a retired educator. I had been = 40 years the profession and I found out that Dr. Ramos was moving on to Hartford and I app= lied for the position of Interim Superintendent of Schools and of course was fortuna= te enough to get it. I'm looking forward to working with you folks. I suspect we'll get to know each other very well. One of my strengths as the Superintendent in the Town of = Oxford was the budgetary process, so I hope I can make some contributions here in = Town to help both the school system as well as the taxpayers and you folks. Thank you.

      = ;      = ;           Mr. Kane: Does anyone have any questions for Mr. Abdalla? No= ? I appreciate you coming out tonigh= t, thank you very much and good luck to you, we wish you well, and I'm sure we= 'll be working together.

8.&nb= sp;        Action Items

      = ;      A.        Consider Appointments to Boards and Commissions

      = ;            &n= bsp;     None

      = ;      B.         = Consider Tax Refunds

R E S O L U T I O N

&n= bsp;

WHEREAS, Taxpayers have made application for the property tax refunds in accordance = with Section 12-129 Refund of Excess Payment; and

WHEREAS, the Tax Collector recommends that the Refunds be made in accordance with the provisions of Section 12-129;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Council approves the following tax refunds:

1,743   Industry Partners Title Inc.<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'>        &= nbsp;           Am= ount of Refund:     &nb= sp; $825.37

        &= nbsp;   Attn: Rachel Giland            =             &nb= sp;     Type:    R

        &= nbsp;   21 Congress Street

        &= nbsp;   Saratoga Springs, NY 12866= -0000

        &= nbsp;   Reason for Refund:     &n= bsp; Duplicate Payment

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Regular Meeting

November 1, 2004

Page 7

1744    Seymour, Robert        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;             = Amount of Refund:     &nb= sp; $ 35.62

        &= nbsp;   1430 Northfield Road        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;      Type:    P

        &= nbsp;   Watertown, CT 06795= -0000

        &= nbsp;   Reason for Refund:     &n= bsp; Per Assessor, Assessed Value Decreased

1745    Seymour, Robert        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;             = Amount of Refund:     &nb= sp; $ 37.05

        &= nbsp;   1430 Northfield Road        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;      Type:    Y

        &= nbsp;   Watertown, CT 06795= -0000

        &= nbsp;   Reason for Refund:     &n= bsp; Per Assessor, Assessed Value Decreased

TOTAL FOR ALL REFUNDS:    &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;    $898.04

        &= nbsp;   Dated at Watertown, CT this 25th day of October, 2004.

&n= bsp;

_________________________

Robert Kane, Chairman

Watertown Town Cou= ncil

&n= bsp;

      = ;            &n= bsp;     MOTION:       (Mr. Hebert, sec. Ms. Adams) to Approve the Resolution authorizing Tax Refunds as presented.

      = ;            &n= bsp;     Discussion:       None<= /p>

      = ;            &n= bsp;     MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

9.     &nb= sp;   Discussion And Possible Action Items

            A.        Discussion and Possible Action on Setting = a Special Town Meeting Date, Time, and Place for the Cherry Avenue Bridge Project

      = ;            &n= bsp;     MOTION:       (Mr. Hebert, sec. Ms. Adams) to set a Special Town Meeting for Monday, November = 15, 2004 at 7:15 p.m. at the John Trumbull Primary School Media Center, 779 Buckingham Street, Oakville, CT to consider authorizing spending $60,000 fr= om the General Fund for the purchase of materials, easements, equipment rentals and other project related project expenses for the Cherry Avenue Bridge Project, which $34,700 was previously appropriated leaving a balance of $25= ,300 to be appropriated for the project. The total amount expended is expected to be reimbursed through a Sta= te Grant at 100%.

      = ;            &n= bsp;     Discussion:       None<= /p>

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

Watertown Town Council

Regular Meeting

November 1, 2004

Page 8

            B.         = Discussion and Possible Action on a Thirty= (30) Day Extension to the Sale Agreement for Griffin School

      = ;            &n= bsp;     MOTION:       (Mr. Hebert, sec. Mr. Wick) to approve a 30 day extension to the sale agreement = for Griffin School per Atty. Yamin's request.<= /p>

      = ;            &n= bsp;     Discussion:       Mr. Rinaldi: They need these 30 days to resolve = some Planning and Zoning issues, correct?

      = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;     = ;           Mr. Kane: Right, they have to= get on the calendar.

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

            C.        Consider Bid Waiver for Independent Inspection for In-place Compaction Testing and Analyses of Pavement for Various Road Projects

R E S O = L U T I O N

            =             W= HEREAS, Town Council approval is required for waiving the bid process and awarding a contract to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder.

            =             W= HEREAS, Town Council authorization is required for any purchase exceeding $4,000 th= at has not been independently bid by the Town's Purchasing Agent.

            =             W= HEREAS, over the last few months there has been a cumulative amount of on-call test= ing for quality assurance for testing and analysis of materials and bituminous concrete pavement for four active subdivisions under construction.

            =             W= HEREAS, Impendent Inspection LLC has been completing this work and is requested to = be authorized to continue to do so.

            =             N= OW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Watertown Town Council hereby approves a= bid waiver of on-call testing for quality assurance for testing and analysis of materials and bituminous concrete pavement by Independent Inspection LLC fo= r a total fee amount not to exceed $5,360.

            =             D= ated at Watertown, Connecticut this 1st day of November, 2004.

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =                  &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =          Robert J. Kane, Chairman

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =          Watertown Town Co= uncil

Watertown Town Council

Regular Meeting

November 1, 2004

Page 9

      = ;            &n= bsp;     MOTION:       (Mr. Hebert, sec. Ms. Adams) to approve the Resolution authorizing the bid waiver for Independent Inspection LLC to conduct in place compaction testing and analyses of pavement for various road projects.

      = ;            &n= bsp;     Discussion:       Ms. Adams: This is something that's reimbursed through the developers, who pay into a fund for impact fees, inspections fees. The purpose of this is = to make sure, that they're supposed to be putting down 6 inches of bituminous compacted. If you don't put d= own a good compaction, the roads are eaten up in 2 years and the Town will be responsible for something the developer didn't do right.

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

10.     &n= bsp; Public Participation

Robert LeBlanc, 78 Highland Avenue, Waterto= wn, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&nb= sp;

Mr. LeBlanc: I have a question concerning this compacting. I got confused by what I read in the newspaper. It talked about it having to be compacted 95% or 92%. What is= the standard?

&nb= sp;

Roy Cavanaugh, Director of Public = Works

Mr. Cavanaugh: The standard for compaction typica= lly is 95% (inaudible) materials underneath the roadway, the basin and base materi= al and we like to get 95%. The b= inder of course is asphalt and the top course is two standards are 92% or 95% compaction, and when I say compaction, this is relative compaction, it's no= t an absolute number because (inaudible) material has a specific amount of road ratio and you're looking for the optimal compaction number so the way, the specs are pretty much in line with what the Connecticut D.O.T. requires whi= ch is slightly different I believe than the new (inaudible) on the track (inaudib= le).

&nb= sp;

Mr. Kane, Chairman, Closed Public Participation at 7:49 p.m.

11.&n= bsp;      Anticipated Executive Session

      &= nbsp;     MOTION:       (Mr. Hebert, sec. Ms. Adams) to enter into Executive Session at 7:50 p.m. for the purpose of discussing land acquisition with the 7 members of the Town Counc= il, the Town Manager, and the Assistant Town Manager.

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

      &= nbsp;     MOTION PASSED UANNIMOUSLY

Watertown Town Council

Regular Meeting

November 1, 2004

Page 10

      &= nbsp;     Present During Executive Session:

      &= nbsp;     Elaine Adams

      &= nbsp;     Karl Fisher

      &= nbsp;     Raymond Hebert

      &= nbsp;     Robert Kane

      &= nbsp;     Raymond Primini

      &= nbsp;     Paul Rinaldi

      &= nbsp;     Richard Wick

      &= nbsp;     Frank Nardelli

      &= nbsp;     Meredith Robson

      &= nbsp;     Mr. Kane, Chairman, Reconvened the Regular Meeting at 8:00 p.m.

      &= nbsp;     No Motions Were Made; No Votes Were Taken.

12.&n= bsp;      Adjournment

      = ;      MOTION:       (Ms. = Adams, sec. Mr. Hebert) to Adjourn the Regular Meeting at 8:00 p.m.

            <= /span>Discussion:       None<= /p>

            <= /span>MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

            <= /span>Regular Meeting Adjourned at 8:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert Kane, Chairman

Watertown Town Cou= ncil

Approved: _______________________________

      Lynn M. LaF= orme, Clerk