MINUTES
WATERTOWN TOWN COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2003, 8:00 P.M.
PRESENT: = &nb= sp; Elaine Adams
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Lee Archer, Chairman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Raymond Hebert, Jr., Vice Chairman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Robert Kane
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Jean King
&= 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: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Paul Valenti
OTHERS PRESENT: &=
nbsp; Roy
Cavanaugh, Interim Public Works Director
=
; &n=
bsp; =
; &n=
bsp; Frank Nardelli, Assistant Town
Manager/Finance Director
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Robert
Porter, Chairman, Public Buildings Committee
=
; &n=
bsp; =
; &n=
bsp; Meredith Robson, Town Manager
1.&nb= sp; Call Meeting To Order
Mr. = Archer, Chairman, Called the Meeting to Order at 8:06 p.m.
2.&nb= sp; Roll Call
Ms. LaForme, Board Clerk, executed the Roll Call.
&= nbsp; Mr. Archer, Chairman, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
&= nbsp; Mr. Archer, Chairman, called a Recess at 8:08 p.m.
&= nbsp; Mr. Archer, Chairman, Reconvened the Regular Meeting at 8:17 p.m.
&= nbsp; Mr. Archer: Thanks for waitin= g, we were having some technical difficulties with the tape. We are still having them so you= 217;ll have to bear with us if we have to stop a couple of times.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 2
4.&nb=
sp; Public
Participation
&=
nbsp; Al
Mickel, 173 DiNunzio Road, Oakville, CT&nb=
sp;
06779
&= nbsp; Mr. Mickel: In the Public Hea= ring on the Ordinance, Mr. Wick kept saying the corrected Minutes, the corrected notification, the corrected meeting notification. Was this because at the last Town Council meeting voted a 7:00 p.m. start time?
&= nbsp; Mr. Wick: And the location.
&=
nbsp; Anthony
Membrino, 328 Bassett Road, Watertown, CT&=
nbsp;
06795
&= nbsp; Mr. Membrino: I had a problem= with Mary Green Barton. For 3 years she’s been ignoring me. I’ve been down that office, she ignores me, walks out the door, won’t even talk to me. = This has been going on for 3 years. I asked her 3 years ago to do something about my neighbor next door to me, bu= ilt up his property higher than mine, diverted the water into my property, I ha= d to get rid of my garden, get rid of my shrubs, it killed everything and they’re not doing nothing about it.&= nbsp; I’ve got pictures and everything right here about it and I’ve got a letter from my lawyer stating it looks like the Town is not going to do nothing. I’= d like to know why.
&= nbsp; Mr. Archer: This is the first= time it’s being brought to my attention at least, and I believe pretty much everyone up here, so Meredith can we look into this and find out what the s= tory is?
&= nbsp; Ms. Robson: Sure.
&= nbsp; Mr. Membrino: I have pictures= here if you want to see them.
&= nbsp; Mr. Archer: Yes. Is it something we can keep as par= t of the record?
&=
nbsp; Mr.
Membrino: These are befor=
e and after
pictures. You’ll see why
I’m upset about this, this has been going on for 3 years and she has
ignored me. I went into that =
office
2 weeks ago and I said I need 5 minutes of your time; I can’t stop, I
have to go to the drug store and she walked out. There’s no reason for it.
&= nbsp; Mr. Archer: Well we will defi= nitely look into this and see if we can get you an answer. Absolutely. Are these things we can keep as pa= rt of the record?
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 3
&= nbsp; Mr. Membrino: No, they have t= o go back to the lawyer.
&= nbsp; Mr. Archer: All right, weR= 17;ll continue to pass them around. Thanks.
&=
nbsp; Robert
LeBlanc, 78 Highland Avenue, Watertown, CT=
06795
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: Is it possible t= o get a list that was taken at the first final walk through for John Trumbull Sch= ool and at that particular walk through there was Jean King, Franklin Pilicy, M= r. O’Connor, Charlie Beliveau, and I can’t remember who else, but there were notes taken, and I was asked as a citizen to walk these people through and tell them what was wrong, and I would like to have a copy of th= at punch list that was developed at that time. I went down to the Town Hall today= to find it, but I can’t seem to find it. Mr. Pilicy has a copy, Fusco Corpo= ration has a copy, Fletcher Thompson has a copy, and I would like to have a copy of that because I’m being asked now to update my list to hand in.
&= nbsp; Mr. Archer: By whom?
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: There is a lette= r here to Charles Beliveau from John Ramos, Superintendent.
&= nbsp; Mr. Archer: Okay, you donR= 17;t have to read it.
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: All of a sudden = it says Mr. LeBlanc also has a list and he would like to get it, and that̵= 7;s the only list I don’t have. Could somebody say how I could get that?
&= nbsp; Ms. Robson: What date was it,= Bob?
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: I would have to = get a hold of Mr. Pilicy, I can’t remember when. I wasn’t on the Council then= , I was just a civilian.
&= nbsp; Ms. King: I think around May,= 2002 sounds (inaudible).
&= nbsp; Ms. Robson: I think it was Ma= y 18th.
&= nbsp; Ms. King: It was before the so called June deadline.
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: Right, it was ab= out 11 days before.
&= nbsp; Ms. King: I didn’t reme= mber that Mr. Beliveau was there, I’m just trying to remember who else was= there.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 4
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: Mr. O’Conn= or, Franklin Pilicy as the Town Attorney was there.
&= nbsp; Ms. King: Was Mr. Frigon there also?
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: No, Mr. Frigon wasn’t there.
&= nbsp; Mr. Kane: Charlie was gone in December of 2001.
&= nbsp; Ms. King: So it was the year before. It was the first year before the school opened, May or June of whatever September the school open= ed.
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: Well a list was = given to Mr. O’Connor so there is a list somewhere in the Town. I’d like to know if I could possibly have a copy of it.
&= nbsp; Mr. Archer: Noted.
&= nbsp; Mr. Archer, Chairman, Closed Public Participation at 8:24 p.m.
5.&nb=
sp; Minutes
&= nbsp; A. Regular Meeting Minutes - August 4, 2003
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Ms. = Adams, sec. Mr. Kane) to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes dated August 4, 2003 = as presented.
= ; &n= bsp; Discussion: None<= /p>
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&= nbsp; B. = Special Meeting Minutes - August 28, 2003
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Ms. = Adams, sec. Mr. Kane) to approve the Special Meeting Minutes dated August 28, 2003= as presented.
= ; &n= bsp; Discussion: None<= /p>
= ; &n= bsp; In Favor: &= nbsp; Ms. Adams, Mr. Archer, Mr. Kane, Ms. King, Mr. Primini, Mr. Rinaldi, Mr. Wick
= ; &n= bsp; Opposed: = None
= ; &n= bsp; Abstained: Mr. Hebert (due to absence)
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION CARRIED (7-0-1)
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 5
6.&nb=
sp; Sub-Committee
Reports
A. &nbs= p; Public Works Subcommittee
Ms. = Adams: There are two items in the packet,= the Turkey Brook bids have come in along with the Sunnyside Avenue, setting a possible Town Meeting to appropriate the funds for that. We’ll talk about more when w= e get there. One of the things of interest is the increased sidewalk project. The Engineering Department survey = is complete and the design work is underway so hopefully within the next month= or so we’ll start putting in the sidewalks on Main Street and we’ll need an appropriation from the Council to take our part of this out of the sidewalk fund but we’re moving right along. We have no budget so there’s= not a lot to talk about.
Ms. = King: So they’re designing the sid= ewalks and they think they can still be built this Fall?
Ms. = Adams: Yes.
Mr. = Archer: We don’t expect that they= 217;ll do all of them this Fall?
Ms. = Adams: No, just start.
B. &nbs= p; Ordinance Subcommittee
&nb= sp; Mr. Wick: At 7:30 this evenin= g we held a Public Hearing on the proposed Code of Ethics Ordinance and because = of the time element we had to recess it and we’ll be scheduling another = time later on. On the other projec= t for the review of the E.D.C. ordinance pertaining to the number of members for = that commission, I did attend the last E.D.C. meeting and spoke with the group t= here about the idea of changing the number from what was on the original ordinan= ce from 9, and we discussed the pros and cons of changing that and they’= re going to review it again at their next meeting and get back to us so that project is essentially on hold until we get some input from them. There has been no action since our= last meeting on the other projects we have.
C. &nbs= p; Business Development Subcommittee
= Mr. Archer: That report was g= oing to consist of announcing when the next meeting was going to be, but I don’t think we’ve been able to set a time and place for that ye= t.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 6
D. &nbs= p; Finance Subcommittee
=
Mr.
Kane: The Budget Referend=
um
will be on the 16th; we hope everybody will come out and vote.
7.&nb= sp; Chairman’s Report
= ; A. Correspondence
= ; &n= bsp; None
= ; B. = Facts and Fallacies
= ; &n= bsp; None
= ; C. Other
= ; &= nbsp; Mr. Archer: On the topic of t= he budget, an awful lot is being written about the budget and the people invol= ved in the budgeting process, most of it not particularly nice. All those folks have worked pretty= hard on it and the simple fact of the matter is that the State is giving us roug= hly $1,000,000 less than they did the year before and so we have to make up $1,000,000 to the budget. We’ve come in with a $200,000 increase on the Town’s sid= e so we’re actually going roughly $800,000 backwards. The net gain in the budget is nega= tive $800,000 and it’s taken a lot of hard work, a lot of thought, a lot of time on the part of everyone who is involved in that, so I just wanted to recognize the hard work of everyone on that budget we’re taking to referendum.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. Adams: If Meredith could = check this out, in this morning’s Brass Tacks there was part of an article = that the Board of Ed is not issuing any permits to groups in town, Girl Scouts, etc. Could you find out what&= #8217;s going on with that, because I know their activities start and I’m sure we’ll have a lot of very upset people in Town if they’re allowe= d to . . . .
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. Robson: Actually I can te= ll you, the issue is because they had to cut back on the custodians, they have concerns about how they’ll manage to get the work done with the exist= ing use of the buildings. We have= a meeting tomorrow with the schools to see what we can work out to make sure = that everyone still has the buildings available to them, but yet their concerns = about the custodians are addressed.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 7
= ; &= nbsp; Ms. Adams: My understanding w= as apparently when the custodians are in the building, no overtime is paid, and the custodians work around whatever groups happen to be in the schools. In order to be more citizen friend= ly the Board may want to take a good, hard look at that, because I don’t thi= nk that at this point in time you want to be denying groups the use of the sch= ool with the budget referendum just around the corner.
= ; &= nbsp; Ms. Robson: The only reason t= hat was put into place was just in order to give us time to get the meeting set up. We had varying schedules = for getting the meeting established so it was just an interim step before we co= uld get the meeting established to discuss the issues. At this point it’s not neces= sarily a position the school will have, it’s just let’s hold off until= we get a chance to talk about it and then we’ll decide what to do.
= ; &= nbsp; Ms. Adams: So it’s also= the Recreation Department (inaudible) they’ve received no permits either along with any of the civic type groups.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. Robson: Right, and Lisa C= arew will be involved in the meeting tomorrow.
8.&nb=
sp; Action
Items
= ; A. Consider Appointments to Boards and Commissions
&n=
bsp; =
; The
terms of various Boards and Commissions have expired or are expiring. Appointments must be made to fill =
these
vacancies.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. King: Still hoping you= 217;re going to appoint someone to the Historic District Commission.
Mr. = Archer: We are too.
=
; B. =
Consider
Transfers for Fiscal Year 2003/2004
&n=
bsp; =
; Town
Council authorization is required for the transfer of departmental funding
between line items to close out fiscal year.
RESOLUTION
&n= bsp; WHEREAS, expenses in the 2003-04 Fiscal Year require the Transfer of Funds:
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 8
&n= bsp; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by vote of the Watertown Town Council, that the following actions are taken relative to the Transfer of Funds:
&n= bsp; GENERAL FUND
&n=
bsp; AMOUNT:
&n= bsp; FROM: &= nbsp; 010-50326-014-0000 – Public Buildings, Telephone
&n= bsp; TO: &= nbsp; 010-50324-004-= 0000 – Public Buildings, Utilities/Water
&n=
bsp; REASON:
&n= bsp; Dated at Watertown, Connecticut this 2nd day of September, 2003.
&n=
bsp; =
; &n=
bsp; =
; &n=
bsp; =
; &n=
bsp; =
; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p;
&n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; Lee Archer, Chairman
&n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; Watertown Town Council
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Mr. Hebert, sec. Mr. Kane) to approve the Resolution authorizing the transfer of departmental funding between line items to close out the fiscal year.
= ; &n= bsp; Discussion: N= one
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
= ; C. Consider Approval of Labor Agreement Between the Town of Watertown and Watertown Pol= ice Union Local #541, Council #15, AFSCME, AFL-CIO
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Mr. Hebert, sec. Ms. Adams) to approve the labor agreement between the Town of Watertown and the Watertown Police Union, Local #541, Council #15, AFSCME, AFL-CIO.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Discussion: Ms. Adams: The way this was presented was great. You understand the old, the new, a=
nd it
was very easy and logical. I =
have
no problem with it.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; MOTION
PASSEDUNANIMOUSLY
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 9
=
; D. Consider
Charge to Public Buildings Committee to Finalize Facility Issues –
Re: John Trumbull Primary Sch=
ool
Project
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Mr. Hebert, sec. Mr. Kane) to approve the charge to the Public Buildings Commit= tee to finalize all facility issues relating to the John Trumbull Primary School Project.
= ; &n= bsp; Discussion: Ms. King: What does this mean= ?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Ms. Robson: This is really ju= st clarification of what I believe happened, although not perhaps as formally = as I’d like it to happen. = Just so it’s clear, I forget the date now, but at some previous point in t= ime the Council had had a good deal of discussion about having the P.B.C. take = over the facility issues themselves with Trumbull versus some of the other purchasing issues and the supplies and that type of thing. I think it was discussed and it so= unded to me from the Minutes and from talking to different people that the intent= was to have the P.B.C. take that role on, but in my opinion it was never formalized. So in order to cl= arify and try and get these Trumbull issues resolved, I wanted to have you decide= on whether or not the P.B.C. formally, or whether or not the P.B.C. should tak= e on that role. Again it’s j= ust the building facility issues themselves relating to Trumbull.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &= nbsp; Ms. King: I don’t have = any problem with that and I’m very happy that the Public Buildings Commit= tee is involved, but how does this relate to the Executive Building Committee f= or the school which still exists?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Ms. Robson: The Executive Bui= lding Committee would still have responsibilities in terms of any outstanding purchase order or issues with the State regarding reimbursements, those typ= es of things, but the P.B.C. would now take on the role of trying to resolve t= he actual facility issues and that would then no longer be in the E.B.C.'s pur= view, although certainly there would be reports back in a timely basis to the E.B= .C.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Ms. King: And is the architec= tural firm that, there was an architect that the Board of Ed hired to look at iss= ues, is that group still working with the P.B.C.?
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 10
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Ms. Robson: I think maybe you= mean the roofing consultant?
Ms. = King: Yea, I guess it was a roofing issu= e, they hired someone specifically to look at the problem.
Ms. = Robson: Yea, and the P.B.C. has looked at = the report. Those issues are stil= l open and in negotiation with the architect.&nbs= p; Those are some of the things we’re trying to get resolved. In response to Mr. LeBlanc’s question before, what we’re trying to do, cause there are apparently a variety of open lists, whether they are technically punch lists or not, the= re may be some debate on that, but there have been a variety of open lists on what’s “wrong” with the building. In order for us to resolve the iss= ues we have to agree on what it is we think the issues are, so we’re trying = to get everyone who has had input and we’re looking through the Minutes = to get one final list so we know exactly what it is we want to see resolved.
Mr. = Archer: The original intent in turning ove= r the facility issues to P.B.C. is that they have more expertise in that area and (inaudible) most of the members the . . . .
Ms. = King: I don’t disagree with that.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> This business with the lists there= was a list that was given to Fusco a long time ago, as I understand it. I’m not quite sure why it= 217;s so . . . .
Ms. Robson: There are several= lists sort of out there so we’re trying to . . . .
Ms. = King: I guess the one that we used and t= hat the Town’s Attorney has been using I would assume, maybe I’m wr= ong, maybe they aren’t even in that order yet?
Ms. = Robson: The Town Attorney has been involve= d, but it’s not clear to me, and I think to a variety of other individuals w= hat we’re actually dealing with in terms of finalizing the project. So that’s what we’re t= rying to get at. We’re using = that list, or those lists that are out there.
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 11
9. =
Discussion
Items
A. &nbs= p; Discussion and Possible Action on Watertown High School Track Renovation Financ= ing
=
Robert
Porter, Chairman, Public Buildings Committee
= Mr. Porter: We’ve been = asked to come here tonight to make a presentation regarding the background on the High School Track. There were= 3 bidders; we interviewed 2, we being the P.B.C and the Facilities Committee = of the Board of Ed. We chose the firm of M.R. Roming in West Hartford. There were 4 design options presen= ted for consideration. All 3 incl= uded the following, and I think this is where your questions are. It was to:
1. = Demolish and remove existing running track pavement and field events.
The sec= ond part of it is in 3 parts, and that’s where the pricing issues comes:
2. = Provide a new 6 Lane Running Track with 8-lane straight-away.
3. = Standard 8 lane running track.
4. = Install new drainage system along the inside edge of the track.
5. &nbs= p; Regrade the entire interior playfield and install new irrigation system. Field to be graded directly to new trench drains. Allow for maxi= mum usage of an interior field with that drainage system.
6. &nbs= p; Relocate field events outside the track, except for high jump and discus.
&n= bsp; 7. = Install new perimeter chain link fencing.
= ; &n= bsp; There was a 4th design option and that would be for artificial turn; t= hat item alone was $750,000 so Option #4 was taken off the table.
= ; &n= bsp; Option #1 which was a straight 6 lane was $675,000.
= ; &n= bsp; Option #2 was $695,000.
= ; &n= bsp; Option #3 was $725,000 and that’s the option that was chosen, from the Board= of Ed's Facilities Committee. Th= ey felt that was the best choice of the 4 items. There was a total cost estimate:
= ; &n= bsp; $ 50,000 Architect’= ;s Fee
= ; &n= bsp; $ 5,000 Test Borings (thought to be needed)
= ; &n= bsp; $ 6,000 Topo Study to a Class T2 (inaudible) which is a 1 foot contours
= ; &n= bsp; $725,000 = Option #3
= ; &n= bsp; $786,000 = Total
= ; &n= bsp; $500,000 = STEEP Grant #2003-22 from the State of Connecticut
= ; &n= bsp; $286,000 = Shortfall
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 12
= ; &n= bsp; The Board of Education Athletic Department is here so they can address items to= do with the track, field events, etc.
= ; &= nbsp; Ms. Robson: Bob, did you ment= ion the contingency?
= ; &= nbsp; Mr. Porter: The contingency w= as factored into the $725,000. E= ach one of the options they gave us included a 10% contingency in that, and that was confirmed by M. L. Roming, the architectural firm. Does the Council have questions as= to how we reached the dollars?
= ; &= nbsp; Mr. Archer: And Option #3 is a complete 8 lane track?
&n= bsp; = ; Mr. Porter: I’ll read w= hat they’re saying:
= ; &n= bsp; “Provide a new standard 8 lane running track with resilient urethane surface on a new bituminous concrete base and processed sub-base.”
= ; &n= bsp; What is existing is a 6 lane.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. King: I’d like to k= now what is there now that we’ve been using, regardless of what condition it’s in.
= ; &= nbsp; Mr. Porte: A 6 lane track.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. King: And I’d like = to know, maybe it’s from the Athletic Department, why we need an 8 lane track.
=
Dane
Street, Watertown High School Track Coach
Mr. Street: The benefit of an= 8 lane track versus a 6 lane track is in the current state of affairs in the N.V.L., anybody who possesses an 8 land track is in good shape to host the N.V.L. meet, which not only gives our student athletes to run one of the top events of their season or their career at their home track, it also provide= s an opportunity for some income, not necessarily from charging admission at a t= rack meet, because usually the attendance isn’t quite as high as a football game or something like that, but if we were able to host the N.V.L. meet you’ve got schools from all over the N.V.L., you’re talking abo= ut a lot more people coming to watch the meet and the proceeds from concessions = are substantial. I don’t ha= ve numbers with me, but I can tell you that Seymour High School has basically = by default hosted the meet the past couple of seasons because they’re the only ones that have an 8 lane track all the way around and they’ve enjoyed all the benefits of that as well.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 13
&nb= sp; Ms. King: There’s one of these meets every year?
= Mr. Street: The N.V.L. Champi= onship meet, yea there’s one of those.
= Ms. King: Can you tell me if = there is any other reason why we would need 8 lanes?
= Mr. Street: Sure, throughout = the course of the season every time you run a track meet, our scheduling has be= en primarily for 3 teams to run at a time.&nb= sp; If you only have 6 lanes then that means that only 2 people from each school can run at the same time and it causes meets to be very long. Last year I’d say our meet t= ime average, if they were to start around 3:00 after school, and by the time the other school shows up, we would finish somewhere around 6:30, 7:00. 8 lanes allows us to put more peop= le in each heat, cut down on the number of heats that have to be run throughout t= he course of the entire day, and substantially eliminates time constraints whi= ch is a benefit to myself as a coach, our athletes, because they have more time for their school work, as well as parents who want to watch. No one wants to sit around for 4 h= ours and watch their student run in the final race. If they can come in, be there for 2 hours instead, that’s a benefit.
&nb= sp; Ms. King: How many kids each participate in Track?
= Mr. Street: Thankfully since = I took over as Head Coach last year we had an increase over the past 3 seasons; our numbers have actually gone up for the Boys. In the Spring of 2000 was my first= year there as an Assistant, that year we had 32 on the track team. In the Spring of 2001 we had 36 I believe, and the Spring f 2002 we were up to around 40 and then this past y= ear we had 52. That’s just = boys.
&nb= sp; Ms. King: Do we have girls do= ing this too?
= Mr. Street: Yes. Between the guys and girls team we= had well over 100 students participating.
= Ms. Adams: It talks about a n= ew perimeter fence. How did that= come about? There is a fence now, = so do we need to spread out because of the 8 lanes and we won’t have enough= ?
&nb= sp; Mr. Porter: The scope of work included a new perimeter fence.
= Ms. Adams: It wasn’t a separate item.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 14
= Mr. Porter: It is, each one o= f the 6 items I discussed was a separate item.&n= bsp; We can choose not to put a fence in, do only a portion, and the price would reflect accordingly. I don’t have a breakdown for the approximate figure for that. With each one of the options they = gave us a bottom line figure which included a 10% contingency. And all the 3 options included all= 6 items; the variance was the 6 lane, a fat track, or a full 8 lane, thatR= 17;s where the price differential comes in.
= Ms. Adams: So we don’t = know the thought behind the fence, or maybe Ms. Legge has some input.
=
June
Legge, Watertown High School Athletic Director
Ms. Legge: Now if they move t= he field, if they moved to the 8 track they’re going to have to move the bleachers and going to have to move the size of the field. It will be larger, it will accommo= date more sports. Right now it only accommodates football and we have played field hockey on it, but we hope to play boys and girls soccer on it as well.&= nbsp; So the fence will be moved.
You ask= ed a little bit about the track that’s there now, and one of the problems = now is underneath there is ledge, and there’s been ledge, and that’s why when they first put the track in, the ledge caused the problems in the track and they had to come back and do it over again. What’s there has to be taken= out and a new track will be put in.
= Ms. King: But there is still = going to be ledge under it.
= Ms. Legge: Well that’s = what they have to take out, that’s what they’re doing the excavating= for to find out. Also we need some drainage. We have no drainage= at this point. All we have is a = ditch where the football team dug to drain off some water off the field. There will be a drainage there, th= at eliminates the (inaudible).
&nb= sp; Mr. Porter: The full inner fi= eld will be regraded and trench drains will be put along the edge of the track = and the field, that’s where some of the work is coming from. The question about the bleachers, = the bleachers on the east side will be slid back to expand the track. Test borings will be done because = we know from previous history that there is ledge in the end of the track. How far that extends around, we don’t know.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 15
= Ms. King: Does the contingency include dealing with that ledge if you find it? My idea of ledge is very amateur, = which is big blocks of rock that is taken out by blasting, and there is probably a middle ground to what I’m thinking.
= Mr. Porter: That’s what= we feel too. There is an allowan= ce in there for test borings, wherever this track is going to be expanded there w= ill be a test boring to check for ledge.
= Ms. King: Ms. Legge said ther= e is already ledge under some things.
= Mr. Porter: In the far corner= .
= Ms. King: And we’re goi= ng to take that out?
= Mr. Porter: We don’t kn= ow if we’re going to have to or not. That’s what the test borings are going to show. Originally when the track was done= to begin with, they sent the Town backhoe up and did some test pits and it didn’t reveal the ledge. We’re not going to go through that again, that’s what the test borings are for. But the whole, right down to the base of the track, all that is coming out (Tape #1, Side A ended – may have missed some.) and they’re telling us ab= out a 7 year life cycle.
= Ms. King: Will the field last forever? The things that you’re doing to the field, what does that mean?
= Mr. Porter: It’s regard= ing a new irrigation system and proper drainage.
= Ms. King: So that should make= the field hold up for. . . .
= Mr. Porter: Yes.
= Mr. Wick: On the test borings= yet to be made, what is your estimate of worst case in case they find ledge everywhere? In terms of the e= xpense of dealing with it?
= Mr. Porter: I don’t hav= e an answer for that.
= Mr. Wick: Ball park?
= Mr. Porter: I can’t tel= l you right now.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 16
= Mr. Wick: So if we approve something now we’re doing it hoping that there won’t be any unpleasant surprises with respect to the amount of ledge that needs to be removed?
&nb= sp; Mr. Porter: Well the test bor= ings should be done and then we would know exactly.
&nb= sp; Mr. Wick: They would be done = first?
= Mr. Porter: Yes.
&nb= sp; Mr. Rinaldi: Which options was closest to the amount of the grant?
= Mr. Porter: They were all ove= r.
= Mr. Rinaldi: Yea, but which o= ne . . . .
= Mr. Porter: Option #1 which w= as to replace the existing 6 lane track, regrade the field, drainage.
= Mr. Rinaldi: How much over wa= s that one?
= Mr. Porter: $670,000, so there’s a $55,000 differential between the 6 lane track and the 8 lane track.
= Mr. Rinaldi: How much was the= 8 lane track?
= Mr. Porter: $725,000. There is no contract signed with t= he architect, that’s why we’re here tonight, to discuss this with = the Council. It is contingent upon approval of the monies, and the Council approving it to go to referendum for the Townspeople.
= Mr. Rinaldi: My concern is if= it fails at referendum we have no track, the job doesn’t get done.
= Mr. Porter: We can’t do= it for $500,000.
= Mr. Rinaldi: But if it fails = at referendum you can’t do it for anything, you can’t do it period= .
= Mr. Archer: What would be the action we’d be taking here?
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 17
= Ms. Robson: At the last Counc= il meeting you already authorized me to get the bonding documents done for referendum, but you had a number of questions regarding the project, so that’s why they were asked to attend tonight. Unless you choose to take some typ= e of action, we’re in the works trying to get the bonding (inaudible) documents done.
&nb= sp; Ms. King: So we’re potentially including this bonding, this additional money that would be nee= ded, rather than just going to the voters for a referendum and ask to spend the money?
= Ms. Robson: No, this would be= for referendum to spend the money.
= Mr. Hebert: Part of the bondi= ng funding we approved at the August 4th meeting.
= Ms. King: I know, but w= e can just go to referendum and ask the voters to allow us to use the fund balance for $200,000.
= Mr. Nardelli: You wouldn̵= 7;t have to go to referendum for that, you could have a Special Town Meeting.
= Ms. King: All right, so the r= eason we’re talking about going to referendum is for . . .
= Mr. Nardelli: Bonding.
= Ms. Robson: Yes.
= Ms. King: Are we going to dec= ide which proposal we’re going to put forth?
&nb= sp; Ms. Adams: I thought we alrea= dy did, we took their recommendation.
= Mr. Archer: I think we have t= o go with the recommendation of the people who know the most about it.
= Ms. King: I said this before, it’s not that I don’t want us to have really good athletic facilities, I am just really struck by the fact that we’re talking ab= out spending this amount of money, the extra amount of money rather, when we pu= t in for the STEEP Grant there was $500,000, we thought oh maybe we would have $100,000 more from the Town. I’m not totally convinced that we need to have, and I don̵= 7;t want to use the phrase Cadillac cause that’s not fair, this is not a Cadillac proposal, but I’m not sure we need an 8 lane track at the co= st of money that we desperately need for other things in this Town, even if it= is bonding money. We’ve la= id off 10 teachers and now we want to spend almost $300,000, its $286,000. I have a really hard time supporti= ng the most expensive of the 3 proposals.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 18
&nb=
sp; Mr.
Kane: I will disagree.
&nb= sp; Mr. Archer: There is an old s= aying about if you don’t have the time or money to do it right the first it= em, when are you going to find to do it again?= I think we tend to do that, we tend to do this band-aid approach to things because we’re afraid that things aren’t going to pass at referendum, or if we make it a little more palatable it will pass. I don’t think the difference between one or the other is the difference between passing or failing (inaudible) referendum on this. I just, it’s not a huge delta between the two and I just don’t see that it’s going to make the difference one way or the other. And I understand what you’re saying about us laying off teachers, but that was to some extent the teacher’s union’s choice to do that, they did put us in that position, and unfortunately we can’t bond for teacher’s salarie= s.
&nb= sp; Ms. King: The point I’m trying to make is that we make choices here all the time. Through the budget process we have= made a lot of choices and we’ve cut a lot of things that we’d like to have better back to other levels. All of the sudden it seems like I’m not quite sure why we have= to have the biggest or the best or whatever.&= nbsp; I’m not convinced that anything that anyone has said here that= the lower cost ones are not good facilities, that we’re not dealing with = the real issue that we need to which is the drainage in that field and having a decent track. That’s all. I understand the differe= nce between bonding and budget finance, but on the other hand I think we still = have to be careful with people’s money in this Town. I don’t think Watertown looks cheap by just saying we’ve carefully looked at it and we only need a 6 lane track and not an 8 lane track.
= Mr. Hebert: The project isn&#= 8217;t what I would consider a Cadillac project, but it does serve a couple of options. That track has been = fixed at least twice that I know of and they’re still having problems. The track is gone and needs to be fixed. Putting in an 8 lane t= rack, the difference in the monies isn’t all that much, considering that you’re getting another field that's multi-use, soccer, football, lacrosse, field hockey, and if they play all these events under the lights, which they tend to do on a Friday or Saturday night, it generates money for= the teams, which helps us out. I = agree with Rob that we always sell ourselves short. We started with Deland and look wh= at Deland is now. Deland is fina= lly coming to completion with re-doing the parking lot and that project looks great, everybody loves it. We= ll we’ve got another facility, we’re starting somewhere. If this goes forward and comes to fruition, it will be very nice and be multi-use, more people can use it.
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Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 19
&nb= sp; Ms. King: It was my understan= ding that making the field larger so that you can use it is not related to the 8 lane track. It is?
= Ms. Legge: Then you have to m= ove the field, the old track has to come up.
&nb= sp; Ms. King: But the old track h= as to come up anyway.
&nb= sp; Ms. Legge: Yes, I know, but w= hen it comes up it means that we can move the field then, make it larger, and the seating bleachers will move back and enlarge the field.
&nb= sp; Ms. King: Then why can’= t that work with a 6 lane track?
&nb= sp; Ms. Legge: You can't. The track would remain where it is= . You can’t make it larger, you can’t make a 6 lane larger, that’s why you would go to 8 lanes.=
&nb= sp; Mr. Primini: One thing I haven’t heard yet here is this is a general benefit to every taxpayer= in the Town, not just to students in the school. It’s something that every ta= xpayer has the right to use. I think= it should go to referendum and let the taxpayer’s decide.
&nb= sp; Ms. King: But we have not, th= is Council voted on what we are sending to referendum.
= Mr. Kane: Yes, we did.
&nb= sp; Ms. King: No, we didn’t= .
&nb= sp; Mr. Hebert: The last meeting.=
&nb= sp; Mr. Kane: We voted on the pac= kages that we wanted to put out for referendum.
=
Ms.
King: We did not vote on =
the
amounts in the packages, that’s why we’re talking about this
today. We said we wanted the =
kind
of (inaudible) but we didn’t say we are voting for this, yes or no.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 20
= ; MOTION: (Ms. = Adams, sec. Mr. Kane) to approve Option #3 for the high school track to forward at= the earliest convenience, as soon as we can, along with the others, we’re looking for October.
= ; Discussion: None<= /p>
= ; In Favor: &= nbsp; Ms. Adams, Mr. Archer, Mr. Hebert, Mr. Kane, Mr. Primini, Mr. Wick
= ; Opposed: = Ms. King, Mr. Rinaldi
= ; Abstained: None
= ; MOTION CARRIED (6-2-0)
B. &nbs= p; Discussion and Possible Action on Request from Engineering Sintering and Plasti= cs for False Alarm Fees Appeal
= Mr. Archer: This regards a re= quest from Engineering Sintering and Plastics for a waiver of false alarm fees, f= alse fire alarm fees, and it actually does not require approval of the Council.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The ordinance regarding that says = it is at the Manager’s discretion, but I think it’s on here because M= eredith was looking for some direction.
= Ms. Adams: I had a long talk = with the President of Engineering Sintering and Plastics, and I think he raises = some valid points as far as working with us.&nb= sp; The reason we have an ordinance in effect regarding the false alarms= had to do with our private school in Town and kids basically yanking the fire a= larm and then you have police responding and everything else. That was the impetus for the ordin= ance, I think it was in the mid 90’s. In cases like this I think we should probably be a little bit more understanding with a business, that this is not done in any way, shape, or = form to bring out the Police or Fire, it’s just a matter of incidents happening and I’m a little disturbed that this was sent to collections and not call him and ask him what he was going to do. I don’t have a problem with waiving the fees.
&nb= sp; Ms. King: It looks like maybe= there is some more information, but this has gone on for awhile. It isn’t as if this went to collection without our asking someone to pay the fees. I believe someone refused to pay t= he fees and then it went to collection.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 21
= Mr. Nardelli: Some of these a= re very old, some go back to 1993. We send out monthly reminders to people regarding these outstanding bills that they owe. We also turned them= over to the Town Attorney about 2 or 3 years ago and he tried to collect on these and got no response. The ones= in question are some newer ones, and again we send a letter to everybody befor= e we turn them over to collections saying this is the bill you owe, and you shou= ld pay it. If you have a question please call us, if not it’s going to the collection agency. Unfortunately we usually don’= ;t get any responses until it actually hits the collection agency and then people start calling. But we send out monthly statements, we just don’t turn anybody over to a collection agency without first contacting them. We do not do that.
&nb= sp; Mr. Rinaldi: The reason we initiated this system back some time in the 90’s, I think the fee was nominal at the time. And then= more and more factories, including the one I work in, we were one of the worst violators, we had 3 shifts, and whether it was carelessness or whatever the Police spent more time down my shop than they did chasing crooks around Town because the alarm was going off constantly. So we decided as a Council back th= en to substantially increase the fine and try to curb this so the Police don̵= 7;t spend half their day running around chasing after alarms that were going on= all over Town. I know in our plac= e, when the fees went up, there was notices by every door that you better start watching what you do because what is it, $200.00?
= Ms. Robson: It’s $100.0= 0.
= Mr. Rinaldi: I think it used = to be $50.00 and then raised it to $100.00, and there was a method to what we were doing, we were trying to make these people a little more responsible, and on the other hand give our Policeman a break so they didn’t have to chase these things all over Town all day.
= Ms. Robson: We have something= like 40 something odd entities, agencies that we’re collecting on and those are only the ones that have been turned over to the collection agency so . = . . .
= Mr. Rinaldi: Are these just f= or alarms?
&nb= sp; Ms. Robson: Yes.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 22
= Mr. Primini: Being a former P= olice Officer and a Fireman right now, I believe these ordinances are written for= not just (inaudible) but even residential where they have faulty alarms and they just don’t take care of it at all.&n= bsp; From talking to Mr. Alves there was some serious money spent to upgr= ade the system to alleviate the problem, so I think that’s one of the thi= ngs that was the intent and that was done.&nbs= p; If you ever noticed this doesn’t involve the Fire Department because our attitude is we would rather respond to a false alarm instead of somebody monkeying around with the alarm system. A lot of calls we get right now is= food is on the stove, dinner is ready, whatever like that but the alarm system is working properly, so my question is what is the definition of a false alarm? It gets a little hinky= like that sometimes. If somebody is pulling it like it was mentioned before, that’s outright neglect.
= Mr. Rinaldi: That’s not= this Council’s problem or the Town’s problem.
= Mr. Primini: Talking to Mr. A= lves some serious money was spent updating this alarm system and I think that’s what the original intent is that if you had a problem with your alarm system, I used to work for an alarm company so I know a little bit mo= re about it, but the problem to me was taken care of and from what I understan= d we haven’t had any problems in quite awhile right now.
&nb= sp; Mr. Rinaldi: Like Frank said,= some of these go back to the mid 90’s.
&nb= sp; Mr. Primini: But usually you = have in place where you allow so many a year.
&nb= sp; Ms. Adams: Two.
&nb= sp; Mr. Rinaldi: I think we’= ;re laying a dangerous precedent by making an exception for anybody, because on= ce you make an exception for Mr. Alves, like Meredith said, you have 48 other = . . . .
&nb= sp; Ms. Robson: About 40 right no= w.
= Mr. Rinaldi: You better get s= et to do it for everybody else.
&nb= sp; Ms. Robson: These are just th= e ones in collection.
&nb= sp; Mr. Rinaldi: So I mean you= 217;re just (inaudible) place. I don’t think we’re here, that we should be deciding who gets off= the hook and who doesn’t, that’s the bottom line.
&nb= sp; Mr. Alves: I’d like to = have a moment to address the Council.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 23
&nb= sp; Mr. Archer: You actually need= to ask first.
&nb= sp; Mr. Alves: Can I have permiss= ion to speak because I want to clarity something?= These were not fire alarms.
&nb= sp; Mr. Archer: Briefly please.
&nb= sp; Mr. Alves: These were burglar alarms. There was only one fi= re.
= Mr. Archer: Briefly please, go ahead.
&nb= sp; Mr. Alves: I am being brief sir. After 50 years in Town in business I think I should have a right.
&nb= sp; Mr. Archer: All I’m say= ing is if you’re going to address us please just get to the point.
&nb= sp; Mr. Alves: I have no argument= with the Council, I understand your situation sir, but sometimes when you run a plant with 3 shifts, not everybody is as good as others and we have upgraded the system and I included 4 alarms in here that were not even included by t= he Town so I’m not a dishonest businessman at all, and I’m not loo= king for an exception. I only wrot= e this letter because I was told I had to write a letter to the Town Council. That’s all I have to say, th= ank you.
&nb= sp; Mr. Rinaldi: Not to mislead y= ou, Mr. Alves, but when I referred to my place of employment they were all burg= lar alarms; they weren’t fire alarms.
&nb= sp; Mr. Alves: Well there was one= that may be fire, but most of them were burglar. It was an old system that has now = been upgraded. I think we’ve= had maybe one incident, unfortunately I think this past weekend maybe, but that’s all I wanted to say. Thank you.
&nb= sp; Mr. Kane: Has an effort been = made to come to some type of agreement between the (inaudible) and the Town? Has there been conversations?
= Ms. Robson: I did have a meet= ing with Mr. Alves to discuss the issue. He brought it to my attention. I wanted to get some sense from you, you would have to change the ordinance, in my opinion, if you don’t think it’s a rightful ordinance, but as it stands right now we’ve been dealing with everybo= dy in the same manner, and as I said we have about 40 on the list in collection only, that’s not the ones that have not yet gotten there. I think Mr. Rinaldi is right, we h= ave to be careful about being consistent. So we met once, I wanted to get your sense of what your thoughts were. I don’t know who = of your were involved in the ordinance in the first place.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 24
= Mr. Kane; And what came of the meeting?
= Ms. Robson: It was really he = was just telling me what the issues were and I agreed to look into it and at th= at point I got more information from Frank.
&nb= sp; Mr. Kane: How many occurrence= s are we talking about? $1,000, doe= s that mean there were 10?
= Ms. Robson: Well I think in t= otal it’s almost $5,000.
= Mr. Nardelli: This is current= , but there are other older ones.
&nb= sp; Ms. Robson: There is almost $= 5,000 that we’re talking about in total is that correct, in older fees?
&nb= sp; Mr. Nardelli: In older ones, = right.
=
Ms.
King: These (inaudible) l=
ike
the others you have, things that go back a long time, Rob, because I rememb=
er
having this discussion somewhat with a previous Town Manager over the issue,
and I think Paul raised (inaudible) particularly of being fair to people.
&nb= sp; Mr. Kane: Well that’s my question, I’m just wondering if how to promote some good will out of = this because we did create the Business Development Committee which is to retain= as well as recruit business, so I’m looking to be friendly to business, = so is there something we can do to come to an agreement possibly to avoid these kind of situations? We shouldn’t have to take a business to collections, we should be able to work it out.
&nb= sp; Ms. King: These aren’t = all businesses; these are personal alarms on peoples homes too.
&nb= sp; Mr. Kane: That amount to this= kind of money?
= Ms. King: Yes. Am I correct?
&nb= sp; Mr. Nardelli: This is a combi= nation of personal and businesses.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 25
&nb= sp; Ms. King: There are a number = of people who have personal burglar alarms that relate, with the Police going out. I think if the Police Chief was here he could give us a list of how many times they go out. We had a lot of discussion about this at one point, that there has to be some way to discou= rage people from just saying (inaudible) which is why the ordinance had built in= to it two freebies, basically.
&nb= sp; Mr. Hebert: The ordnance was = put into affect for a reason - officers responding to false alarms on a needless basis. God forbid what if som= ething happened like the false alarm in Waterbury a few years back. Look what happened with that. We’re talking burglar alarms= only. It was put in for a reason and as = long as everyone is being treated fairly under the ordinance the only thing I can say is prevent the problem, prevent the false alarms.
&nb= sp; Mr. Kane: I just hope there c= ould possibly be some further discussions with the people involved so we donR= 17;t have to go to collections with these kinds of things. Maybe a conversation can be opened= .
C. &nbs= p; Discussion and Possible Action on Sale of Town Owned Property – Artillery Road, Parcel D
= Ms. Robson: There was an erro= r in the last meeting when you voted on this unfortunately, so you voted on the wrong description of the property. It’s still basically the same thing, but the size is different, the parcel description is different.
= Ms. Adams: There are two diff= erent maps.
&nb= sp; Mr. Archer: Here’s Moti= on #1.
= Ms. Robson: We didn’t h= ave a (inaudible) map.
&nb= sp; Mr. Archer: We can’t (inaudible).
&nb= sp; Mr. Hebert: No there are two motions required. One is the description and . . . . .
= Mr. Archer: That’s righ= t.
= Ms. Robson: You have to recon= sider the first one.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 26
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; MOTION: (Mr. Hebert, sec. Ms. A=
dams) Whereas on August 4, 2003 the Town Coun=
cil
approved the sale to Donald L. Fournier and Joanne P. Fournier of property
located immediately to the south of the current layout of Artillery Road,
totaling 20,344 square feet in area;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; and
Whereas said legal description and area were incorrect and the correct
dimensions of the area owned by the Town of Watertown to be sold to the
Fournier’s contains 14,729 square feet and is depicted as Parcel D on=
a
map entitled Plan of Land and Conveyance prepared for Donald L. Fournier,
Artillery Road, Watertown, Connecticut dated June 14, 2001, the legal
description of which has been provided by the Town Attorney;
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Now
Therefore I hereby move that the Town Council reconsider its previous decis=
ion
to sell the 20,344 square foot area to Donald L. Fournier and Joanne P.
Fournier due to the above reference clerical error.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Discussion:=
Ms. King: We should thus vote against this m=
otion
now and then you’re going to give me a new motion?
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; =
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Kane: That’s the corrected motion.=
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Ms. King: No, it isn’t, ca=
use it
says reconsider the previous motion (inaudible) $20,000.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Ms. Robson: You should vote to
reconsider your previous motion and then you should also vote on whether or=
not
to accept the . . . .
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Ms. King: In reconsideration, the
recommendation of the attorney is we turn it down because it has the wrong
description, and now you’re going to give us one with a new descripti=
on?
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; =
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Archer:: No, we’re voting to reconsid=
er our
previous decision. We have to=
vote
to reconsider it in order to vote on it again.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; =
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Hebert: See you’ve been given what i=
t was,
and what it was listed as, and what it really is.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 27
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Ms. Robson: Assuming a motion to
reconsider is granted, a new motion will need to be made with the correct
property description incorporated therein.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Archer: So we’re basical=
ly
opening the issue up again.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; MOTION
PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; MOTION: (Mr. Hebert, sec. Mr. K=
ane)
to Approve the Sale of Parcel D to Donald L. Fournier and Joanne P. Fournier
for the amount of $1,200.00.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Discussion:=
None
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; MOTION
PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Ms. Robson: I want to take a minut=
e to
publicly apologize to the Fourniers for the length of time that it has take=
n to
handle this issue. I know
it’s been a long time in the making and I hope you’ll bear with=
us
should you work with us again.
D. &nbs= p; Discussion Regarding Turkey Brook Bid Results
= Mr. Cavanaugh: As you know we opened up the bids for Turkey Brook on August 27th and I'm pleas= ed to report that the bid was within 2% of the engineer’s estimate which= was previously supplied. The low 3 bidders were within 7% of each other, which in engineering terms means they were basically looking at the same project and it seemed like everybody had= the same feel for (inaudible) possibly because it was out to bid before, but st= ill the news is good that our engineering estimate did hold so we are still loo= king at a project shortfall between the current available funding and the funding that is required to complete the project including construction costs, engineering inspection, and administration fees, and the right of way acquisition that are required. At this time it appears that Guerrera Construction is the low bidder for the construction at $3,444,198 for the Turkey Brook Drainage Improvement Project. Any questions?
= Ms. Adams: Roy, how many prop= erty owners are outstanding, not wanting to (inaudible)?
= Mr. Cavanaugh: I believe thei= r are 4 at this time.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 28
&nb= sp; Mr. Archer: 4 of how many ove= rall who are affected?
= Mr. Cavanaugh: I think their = are about 16 in place, something like that.
= Ms. Adams: Those are the peop= le that we need a piece pf their property from to make the project work. There are more people affected as = far as flooding, etc.
= Mr. Cavanaugh: Right, these a= re actual acquisitions, (inaudible).
&nb= sp; Mr. Archer: So when you asked= the question and you answered 4, you are talking about people who have not expressed a willingness to give up part of their property.
&nb= sp; Ms. Adams: That’s right, vehemently opposed; it would take Council action.
= Mr. Cavanaugh: Right, so ther= e are a number of properties that we still have to lose on through adverse means probably.
&nb= sp; Mr. Archer: How long are the = bids good for?
&nb= sp; Mr. Cavanaugh: Good for 90 da= ys so you have a few months. You ha= ve to make a decision or request an extension from the apparent low bidder someti= me in early December. That means= that realistically we’re not looking at doing anything this construction season. (Tape #1, Side B ended – may have missed some.)
= Mr. Archer: And that happens = prior to early December, because the bid is still locked in until next Spring when you can actually start Construction?
&nb= sp; Mr. Cavanaugh: Well once we s= ettle with a contractor he has typically 10 days to start the project. This is (inaudible) so it’s = going to be longer lead time of office work required by the contractor rather than just going out there and start digging right away. I don’t know if I answered y= our question. We do have the opti= on once you do award the contract, requesting (inaudible) permission not to is= sue (inaudible) notice to proceed. We’ll have the contract in place and we’ll ask him if he’s willing to hold this bid.
= Ms. King: Congratulations to = the 2% closeness in the engineering estimate.
= Mr. Cavanaugh: Now the other = thing it does is it gives the Town a lot of leverage with a low bidder. If he’s not willing to hold = the price, then you go to the second guy and he was so close, he didn’t l= eave a lot of money on the table so there isn’t a lot of room to move, whi= ch again is good for the Town.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 29
E. &nbs= p; Consider Authorizing Town Manager to Sign the Agreement Entitled: “Third Supplemental Agreemen= t to the Original Agreement dated March 2, 1993 between the State of Connecticut= and the Town of Watertown for Design, Construction, and Inspection Activities f= or utilizing federal funds under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficie= ncy Act for Academy Hill Road at Route 63 Safety Improvements”.
RESOLUTION
= BE IT RESOLVED that: Meredith S. Robson, Town Manager be, and hereby is authorized to sign the agreement entitled:
= “Third Supplemental Agreement to the Original Agreement dated March 2, 1993 between the State of Connecticut and the Town of Watertown for Design, Construction, and Inspection Activities for utilizing federal funds under the Intermodal = Surface Transportation Efficiency Act for Academy Hill Road at Route 63 Safety Improvements”.
= Dated at Watertown, Connecticut this 2nd day of September, 2003.
=
&nb=
sp; =
&nb=
sp; =
&nb=
sp; =
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp;
= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Lee Archer, Chairman
= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Watertown Town Council
= ; MOTION: (Mr. Hebert, sec. Mr. Kane) to authorize the Town Manager, Meredith S. Robson, to Sign the Agreement Entitled: “Third Supplemental Agreement to the Original Agreement dated March 2, 1993 between the State of Connecticut and the Town of Watertown for Design, Construction, and Inspection Activities for utilizing federal funds under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act for Academy Hill Road at Route 63 Safety Improvements”.
= ; Discussion: Ms. Robson: This is just beca= use we got an additional $228.00.
= ; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 30
F. &nbs= p; Discussion and Possible Action on Creation of an MEO II Position in the Departm= ent of Public Works
&= nbsp; MOTION: (Mr. Hebert, sec. Ms. Adams) to approve the creation of an MEO II/Mason position= in the Department of Public Works.
= ; Discussion: Mr. Cavanaugh: Right now the (inaudible) Public Works Department has what they call an MEO I/Mason position. The MEO I/Mason pos= ition, Mechanical Equipment Operator, is basically capable of repairing (inaudible) construction catch basins and that’s about it. The intent of the MEO II/Mason pos= ition (inaudible) mason position is so the department will have the capability, t= hey’ll have a job description (inaudible) advancement within the existing workers (inaudible) Mason positions and do all the finish work required by the Town, that is set the blocks, do the form work, do the reinforcement, so lock box= es in the Town Hall for instance for the Tax Collector, so the mason work insi= de the Police Department building, put up basketball hoops, that sort of thing, al= l of the finish work, the form work, and the other work associated with mason requirements (inaudible) Town contracting it out.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. King: So we’re crea= ting the position but we’re not funding it, would that be correct?
= ; &n= bsp; &= nbsp; Ms. Robson: Well we would hav= e to get the work done one way or the other so if we had to privately contract f= or it we would have to fill that void somehow. This is not budgeted today, but it= will save us . . .
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. King: We talked a lot abo= ut how many new positions or non new positions in the budget so . . . .
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. Robson: This isn’t actually an additional position. It’s an additional title which then gives us the opportunity to use the staff more effectively.
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 31
G. &nbs= p; Consider Authorizing Town Manager to request Bond Counsel to prepare Bonding Documen= ts for a Referendum for the Swift Project – Renovate as New With the Expansion
= ; MOTION: (Mr. Hebert, sec. Mr. Kane) to authorize the Town Manager to request bond counse= l to prepare bonding documents for a referendum for the Swift project – renovate as new with the expansion.
= ; Discussion: Ms. King: Are we going to hav= e that group meeting with them sometime? Wasn’t there going to be a meeting with the architects from Sw= ift that was scheduled and then cancelled?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Mr. Hebert: Yes.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. King: So will there be an= other one of those at some point so we can hear more about what they’re goi= ng to do?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. Robson: I’ll have to follow up with Dr. Ramos on that.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. King: It’s not a re= ason not to do this, but I just remembered that we had a meeting scheduled and t= hen we didn’t have it.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Mr. Hebert: They’re ask= ing us to move forward with this, contrary at our last meeting we had this long discussion about. Now are we = going to put this on the same bonding package as the rest of them?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Mr. Archer: I don’t kno= w what we’re sending to ask to have bonding documents (inaudible). The Board of Ed has never presented anything to us. I think I rem= ember that meeting, it was during the Summer, but there was sort of a joint meeti= ng of the Board of Ed and the Co= uncil.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. King: There was one meeti= ng but then there was supposed to be another one.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 32
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Mr. Archer: That was a couple= of months ago.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. Adams: Early Spring I thi= nk.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Mr. Hebert: It got cancelled.=
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. Adams: The most recent on= e did.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Mr. Archer: Again, like the t= rack, we’ll defer to what they’ve decided, but I just don’t know what that is.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. Robson: Would you like me= to have them come in at the next meeting?
= ; &n= bsp; &= nbsp; Mr. Archer: That would be gre= at.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. Adams: Can we Table this = then cause there are a couple of burning issues here, the whole question of the field, whether or not it could be used, and we never got an answer on that. People were adamant tha= t that field was entailed and could not be used and a bunch of other things that t= he questions are still out there.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; MOTION: (Ms. = Adams, sec. Mr. Kane) to Table.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Discussion: None<= /p>
= ; &n= bsp; = ; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
= ; ORIGINAL MOTION WAS NEVER VOTED ON (TABLED).
H. &nb= sp; Discussion and Possible Action on Griffin School
= Ms. Robson: We did go out to = bid for the sale and release of the Griffin School. Unfortunately we had no responses.= We had some interest, but we had no formal responses except for a letter that said if the price were lower, we’re definitely interested in doing a project there but the price is= too high, so if the price were lower they might be able to make the project wor= k, and that was in relation to senior housing. That was the only formal response = we had gotten for the request for proposals that we sent out.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 33
= ; Mr. Archer: We got one?
&n= bsp; Ms. Robson: Just the letter.<= /p>
= Mr. Archer: And was that base= d on what they thought the value of the building was?
= Ms. Robson: My impression of = the discussions when we did the walk through with those that were interested was the interest there was really for senior housing. I can’t say for sure on the = part of everyone there, but it sure in the discussions sounded like that was whe= re their interest was. The probl= em is in order to make it financially viable for that type of project the cost of purchasing their facility would have to be less. Now we had no takers on buying the building and putting in some kind of business in there, or tearing it down = or something like that, so the discussion really at that walk through were more centered on senior housing, and that’s a very difficult type of proje= ct to do given all the constraints and the requirements that you have, so it sounded to me like the interest was to do that kind of a project, but the c= ost was too much for the building itself.
= ; Mr. Archer: Meaning the build= ing requires too much work?
= Ms. Robson: No, their purchase price. In order to make the p= roject work you have to purchase the building and you have to pay for the renovati= ons, so if the purchase price were less, then including all those other costs it would be a more viable project.
= Ms. King: In that case one of= the things, the idea of having more senior housing at some kind of subsidized levels, I think is what they were talking about, is a benefit to this Town,= and if we got less money for the building but we ended up with more senior hous= ing so that people in this Town could afford to live in, we could factor that i= nto our considerations in making a decision about this. I don’t know how we go forwa= rd with this or let someone know that or say that again, because I think that’s a different issue. If someone is saying in order to make the subsidies work the Town has to basic= ally contribute and what we’re doing is contributing by charging a lower p= rice for the building, we still end up with something that we really want to have there as opposed to (inaudible) Dunkin Donut.
&nb=
sp; Ms.
Robson: I did want to hav=
e a
related conversation with you regarding negotiations in Executive Session.<=
/p>
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 34
I. &nb= sp; Consider Request for Approval of Employment Past Mandatory Retirement Age
= ; MOTION: (Mr. Hebert, sec. Mr. Kane) to approve the employment of Ruth Fischer past the mandatory retirement age, as specified in the Personnel Rules and Regulatio= ns for the Town of Watertown employees.
= ; Discussion: None<= /p>
= ; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
J. &nb= sp; Discussion and Possible Action on Proposed Code of Ethics Ordinance
= ; MOTION: (Ms. = Adams, sec. Mr. Wick) to Table.
Discussion: = None
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
K. &nbs= p; Discussion and Possible Action on Setting Special Town Meeting Date, Time and P= lace for an Appropriation for the Hamilton Avenue Safety Improvement Project=
= ; MOTION: (Mt. Hebert, sec. Ms. Adams) to set a Special Town Meeting for September 15, 200= 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the John Trumbull Media Center for an appropriation in the amo= unt of $47,600 for the Hamilton Avenue Safety Improvements Project of which 90%= is excepted to be reimbursed by the State.
= ; Discussion: Ms. A= dams: This is the project that was budget= ed last year but we weren’t able to get all the bids back and everything= , so the money that was there went to the General Fund so we’re just looki= ng to take it back out and use it in this budget year.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. King: But the budget amou= nt was $74,000 last year and the bid came in at $48,000? Last year’s budget contains $74,000 it says here.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 35
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Mr. Nardelli: That’s co= rrect.
&nb= sp; = &nb= sp; Mr. Cavanaugh: Let me make a correction. (Inaudible) we didn’t get the bids back in time (inaudible) advertising time to do it last year.
= ; &n= bsp; &= nbsp; Ms. King: But it’s stil= l less than we thought it would cost.
&n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Cavanaugh: Right. The original budgeted amount which= was set a couple of years ago and (inaudible) $74,000, $75,000 included (inaudi= ble) which was in fact turned out not to be required for the project. The construction costs itself to b= id them out is actually this is (inaudible) construction cost estimate, (inaudible) did an excellent job managing the construction budget for these projects, so this is the construction cost estimate that was budgeted (inaudible) as recommended by the State, but we don’t have to (inaudi= ble) acquisitions or (inaudible) costs, that’s why the amount is significa= ntly lower.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Ms. Adams: Lower is better.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Mr. Archer: Can you just refr= esh us on what this entails?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; Mr. Cavanaugh: As you come do= wn Hamilton Avenue the approximate location would be where the sharp curve the= re and the site line distance at the intersection of Artillery Road. This is to improve the site line distance and turn it into a, install a traffic stop s= ign to make a 4 way stop, (inaudible) but to make an (inaudible) intersection d= ue to site line restrictions.
= ; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
10. &n=
bsp; Public
Participation
&=
nbsp; Al
Mickel. 173 DiNunzio Road, Oakville, CT&nb=
sp;
06779
&=
nbsp; Mr.
Mickel: There has been a =
lot of
talk about ordinances tonight and it brought back to mind the ordinances th=
at
were sent away several years ago to some place in Florida to be codified.
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 36
&= nbsp; Ms. Robson: They’re don= e. That will be on the plate for the Ordinance Subcommittee as well to take a = look at that and make sure they’re okay.
&= nbsp; Mr. Mickel: Then I would offe= r a suggestion – put them on line.
&= nbsp; Ms Robson: They will be.
Mr. Archer, Chairman= , Closed Public Participation at 9:35 p.m.
Mr. Hebert:
Ms. Robson:
11.&n=
bsp; Executive
Session
= ; A. Legal Matters
= ; B. = Pending Litigation
= ; C. Personnel
= ; D. Property Acquisition/Negotiation
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Mr. Hebert, sec. Ms. Adams) to enter into Executive Session at 9:35 p.m. to dis= cuss legal matters, pending litigation, personnel, and property acquisition/negotiation with the 8 Town Council Members, Ms. Robson, and Mr. Nardelli.
= ; &n= bsp; Discussion: None<= /p>
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; The
following people were present during Executive Session:
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Elaine
Adams
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Lee
Archer
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Raymond
Hebert
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Robert
Kane
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Jean
King
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Raymond
Primini
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Paul
Rinaldi
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Richard
Wick
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Frank
Nardelli
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Meredith
Robson
Watertown Town Council
Regular Meeting
September 2, 2003
Page 37
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr.
Archer, Chairman, Reconvened the Regular Meeting at 10:19.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; No
Motions Were Made; No Votes Were Taken.
12.&n=
bsp; Adjournment
= ; MOTION: (Ms. = Adams, sec. Mr. Hebert) to Adjourn the Regular Meeting at 10:20 p.m.
<=
/span>Discussion: None<=
/p>
<=
/span>MOTION
PASSED UNANIMOUSLY <=
/span>Regular
Meeting Adjourned at 10:20 p.m. Respectfully
submitted, Lee
Archer, Chairman Watertown
Town Council Approved: _______________________________ Lynn M. LaF=
orme,
Clerk