Minutes Coventry Town Council Meeting March 5, 2018 Town Hall Annex

Transcription

1 Minutes Coventry Town Council Meeting March 5, 2018 Town Hall Annex 1. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM. Present: Julie Blanchard, Mike Sobol, Joan Lewis, Lisa Conant, Carolyn Arabolos, Jonathan Hand, Matthew O Brien Also present: Amanda Backhaus, Finance Director 2. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Audience of Citizens: Matt O Brien, 3400 Main Street, is Vice Chair of the Republican Town Committee. He expressed concerns regarding school safety, noting that towns around the country are debating their school safety and what should be done to reinforce their buildings and staff. He said we do not have to wait for instructions from the government. We can take action now. He believes that until we change mental health reporting we should equip our schools by hiring armed officers who can respond to threats. He is not in favor of arming teachers. He thinks they should focus on the jobs they were hired to do. He urged the Town Council to work with the Board of Education and PTO to form a bi-partisan committee to protect our students. When he sends his son or daughter off to school he wants to know we ve done everything we can to protect their lives. He understands the budget process is difficult and tax dollars are being stretched but this should be a priority. Joan Lewis announced that the School Superintendent will be updating the community on school safety at a forum on March 14 th at 7:30 PM in the high school lecture hall. The meeting is open to the public and she encouraged citizens to attend. Chief Palmer has been working with the schools on safety issues. Joan Lewis read a proclamation declaring March 12, 2018 as Girl Scout Day in Coventry. 4. Consent Agenda: Motion #17/18-191: Carolyn Arabolos moved to accept the Consent Agenda. Jonathan Hand seconded the motion. Matthew O Brien requested to remove item 6.F.2, the flagpole project update. The motion to accept the Consent Agenda with the removal of item 6.F.2 carried on unanimous vote. 5. Acceptance of Minutes: Motion #17/18-192: Matthew O Brien moved to accept the minutes of the Town Council meeting on February 20, Jonathan Hand seconded the motion. The following corrections were requested: Page 4, item C.c.: change recognized the typo in to said there will be a correction made to the totals in that column Page 5, 4 th paragraph, 5 th line: add in the proposed bonding issue to the end of the first sentence. Page 5, 7 th paragraph, 6 th line: add and the billing company after Vintech. The motion to accept the minutes as corrected carried on unanimous vote. 6. Reports: A. Council Chairwoman Joan Lewis: 1

2 Joan and the Town Manager went to the capitol last Monday to testify on a bill that is in the Education Committee which asks to eliminate mid-term holdbacks. We testified in favor of the bill. We certainly know that these mid-year holdbacks affect us negatively and hopefully we won t be faced with them in coming years. Joan went to the Senior Center today to talk about lunch programs and kitchen facilities. Jeff Polhemus from the Heath District gave an overview on equipment options for kitchen improvements. Courtney Chan, Brenda Bennett and 15 seniors were present. It was a good conversation. The seniors would also like to work on new programs and the type of lunches they want to have. This will probably be coming to the Finance Committee for further discussion. Matthew O Brien said he had a conversation with a local caterer who could bring in meals. He asked to look at that option instead of capital expenses. Joan replied we have been discussing providing meals with the school food service program. The seniors would like to have at least one lunch a week. Cost is the primary consideration. There are options to get donations for a kitchen but there are other issues about upkeep and sanitation. We will be discussing it further. Jeff Polhemus did a very good job of explaining the various options. Joan also noted there has been a discussion on social media about a problem with scheduling a bridge club meeting that comes to Coventry on Friday afternoons about once a month. We are discussing that and it may not be a problem at all. We might be aligning the Senior Center hours to match the Town Hall. It appears there was some misinterpretation about a rental charge and we are hoping to get that issue resolved. Joan reminded the Council that there will be a tour of school facilities for the Town Council with Supt. Petrone on March 8 th at 5:15 PM. Joan reminded the community that the Manager s budget hearing will take place on March 8 th at 7 PM in the CHS lecture hall. A presentation of the Town and school budgets will be given and she encouraged Coventry residents to attend. Joan has appointed Jonathan Hand as the Council representative to the CHS Walls Building Committee. Council Members: no reports. 8. New Business: A. 17/18-39: FY Budget: Police Department: Police Chief Mark Palmer was present to discuss the Police Department budget. He gave a slide presentation outlining capital and operating budget requests and items recommended by the Town Manager. The capital budget includes such items as one marked patrol vehicle, a new in-car video system and Taser replacements. Chief Palmer noted that the video recording system was deferred from last year. Most of the Tasers we use are 10 years old and the industry has transitioned to a new model. Our model won t be supported. The current video system is 14 years old and can t be repaired. The new system wirelessly downloads when an officer pulls into the parking lot. The operating budget request will be changed due to another retirement which we were just notified of. Amanda Backhaus noted that the chart was written when we only had once vacancy. With two retirees and one officer on medical leave we would like to bring two officers in during July. This would increase the operations salary by $300 but we would save in longevity. We believe it is important to act now because the Police Academy takes six months. Chief Palmer 2

3 said we used to have 4 sergeants but one retired so we made some changes to the table of organization. The average time in the agency is just over 10 years. Four employees are eligible to retire. Coventry has 1.29 officers per 1,000 residents. Other budget items include decreases in testing, travel and training, animal control, marine patrol and support services, based on the Town Manager s direction to get as close to a zero budget as possible. We will tighten our belts. Marine patrol hours will be cut back to concentrate on weekends and holidays. Building costs are up. Carolyn Arabolos asked for details about the telephone system costs. Amanda Backhaus replied that the upgrade to VOIP has increased our cost significantly. There was a rate increase we had no control over. Chief Palmer concluded by providing a comparison from this year to next year s budget. The department is presenting a frugal budget with an increase of approximately $9,000. He noted that in eleven years we have never gone over our allotted budget. Only once has the Chief asked the Council for money and that s when the boat engine blew. The department is frugal with our funds and expend only when needed. The Council thanked Chief Palmer for his presentation. Booth & Dimock Memorial Library: Kristi Sadowski, Director was present to discuss the Library budget. She introduced Board of Trustee members Kathy Willett and Libby Parda. She began her presentation by providing copies of the slide presentation and the Library s current newsletter. The presentation included an overview of the Library s mission, measurements for success, materials and resources and the capital improvement plan. Kristi indicated that the Library s biggest resource is our staff. The budget has no cost of living increase for staff. They are paid below State averages. Kristi provided an overview of new programs and goals. Circulation is down but traffic and computer use is up. We see the need to be open on Mondays and would like to do that down the road. There has been a big increase in internet use. Utility costs are up. The State grant continues to decrease and is half of what it once was. We rely on the Town for 98% of our funding in the form of a grant. The Board of Trustees covers the rest. We are making cuts to the computer replacement plan and a few other areas like mileage and professional development. We have come in at negative.03% budget. It is going to be difficult and we don t know if it will be sustainable. Carolyn Arabolos requested to receive statistics for libraries that are closer to town, such as Bolton. She said it would be good to remind people about corporate matches for fundraising. Matthew O Brien asked how the goal to increase adult program is going. Kristi replied it is going very well. Program attendance varies from a few people to up to people. Lisa Conant asked if there has been staff turnover as a result of the lower salaries. Kristi replied yes, that the two people we lost were due to salary. Chris Carney did the one-on-one technical assistance and the community is missing him. The position we are advertising now is $16,000 below State professional recommendations. The Council thanked Kristi and the Library representatives for their presentation. 3

4 6. Reports, Cont. C. Steering Committee Jonathan Hand: Jonathan reported that we still have openings on Boards and Commissions and we are actively seeking people to serve. A. Reappointments: 1. Motion #17/18-193: Jonathan Hand moved to reappoint M. Deborah Walsh to the Eastern Highlands Health District, term to expire 6/8/2020. The motion was seconded by Matthew O Brien and carried on unanimous vote. 2. Motion #17/18-194: Jonathan Hand moved to reappoint John Chipman, III as Special Constable for a two-year term to expire 3/16/2020. The Motion was seconded by Julie Blanchard and carried on unanimous vote. B. Appointments: 1. Motion #17/18-195: Jonathan Hand moved to appoint John Marvin to the Cemetery Commission, term to expire 10/17/2019. The motion was seconded by Mike Sobol and carried on unanimous vote. 2. Motion #17/18-196: Jonathan Hand moved to appoint Patricia Laramee as an alternate on the Inland Wetlands Agency, term to expire 9/15/2019. The motion was seconded by Matthew O Brien and carried on unanimous vote. F2. Update - Flagpole Area Improvements: Jonathan Hand reported that the Steering Committee discussed the flagpole assembly area improvements and volunteer memorial site and would like to move forward with design options. At Steering it was noted that option C was the engineer s first choice. The Committee agreed. We would like to proceed with the curbing work while DPW staff can help before spring work begins. The pavers could be engraved to recognize volunteers. The criteria for recognizing volunteers require more discussion but the curbing work can proceed. Diagrams and cost options were reviewed. Council consensus was to exclude option D, which appears to be a different size, and proceed with the retaining wall with final design decisions on the pavers to be made later. 7. Unfinished Business: A. 17/18-35: Consideration/Possible Action: Library Building Expansion Project: Response to Letter of Intent to Turn Building and Land Over to Town at Completion of Project: Amanda Backhaus reported that we have reached out to our attorney to begin the development of a draft agreement. Not ready for action. 4

5 8. Adjournment: Motion #17/18-197: Carolyn Arabolos moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:04 PM. The motion was seconded by Julie Blanchard and carried on unanimous vote. Respectfully submitted, Laura Stone Town Council Clerk Note: These minutes are not official until acted on by the Town Council at its next regular meeting. Those meeting minutes will reflect approval or changes to these minutes. 5