Minutes

Mayor Hogan called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.

1. ROLL CALL - PRESENT- Mayor Hogan, Deputy Mayor Curtis (arrived at 7:06 PM), Council member Graff (arrived at 7:08 PM), Council member Haverstock (arrived at 7:07 PM), Council member Lydecker, Council member Ploszaj (left at 8:55 PM), Council member Ristas and Council member Trinks

2. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS AND PETITIONS

Bob Gange, 21 Bayberry Circle, representing the Windsor Youth Commission, discussed improving the youth’s facilities and asked for funding of $25,000 for a skateboard park.

Matt Proulx, 101 Grove Street, asked the Council to fund a skate park, noting that it would keep kids from skating where they’re not supposed to.

Mark Cashman, 451 Prospect Hill Road, president of Concerned Taxpayers of Windsor, felt taxes are too high.

Bradshaw Smith, 23 Ludlow Road, discussed the proposed addition of a position - assistant town manager - and asked the Council to keep in mind that there are already two assistants to the town manager. He felt the position is unnecessary.

Josh August, said he been kicked out of every place possible while skating. He asked for a place for youth to go for recreation without drugs, violence, police or mad business owners.

Jessica Sanady, 288 Rood Avenue, said the Windsor Police Department and Youth Department are in favor of a skate park and asked the Council to approve funding for a park.

2. COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS

Council member Graff - discussed the poor condition of Capen Street and Maple Avenue, noting that MDC did not fix the road after they did work on Maple Avenue.

Mayor Hogan - discussed procedures of handling budget sessions, i.e. preliminary votes during budget sessions, and in the last session final votes will be taken.

She thanked the skaters for attending the meeting and noted an upcoming meeting regarding the recreation master plan.

Council member Lydecker - thanked all the skaters for speaking to the Council.

Council member Ristas - as follow up to a resident’s question - he learned the practice of sweeping the streets early in the morning is a routine matter, noting that it does not require over time, as individual’s time vary.

3. REVENUES

Kelly Barrett gave a short overview of revenues. She discussed general property tax and state school aid which together make up 90% of revenues.

Donald Cunningham said each month for the past two years he has passed out to the Council a summary of revenues collected. He said the FY00 estimates are realistic.

Council member Ristas asked if school side surplus was included in the year-end analysis; Donald Cunningham stated that it is not but he expects the school budget to be 100% spent.

Council member Graff questioned rent received from the Milo Peck Child Development Center which has been the same for the last 4 years, noting that a capital project at Milo Peck is proposed. Donald Cunningham said he feels the property is in the appropriate per-square-foot rent cost and may have been slightly high in the early 90’s. Council member Graff asked about special education - tuition from other towns and recreation fees.

Council member Ristas asked what interest rate on investments are projected on the upcoming year and how the revenue for that item of interest actually compared with the budget amount compared for this fiscal year. Kelly Barrett said they are at about 5.1% presently and they have taken it to a slightly more conservative level next year.

Mayor Hogan asked why building permits were going down. Donald Cunningham said that figure is provided to them by the building inspector. She also asked why parking fines went way down; Donald Cunningham said most parking tickets are issued during winter storms between 11/15 and 4/15, there were less storms this year and people are finally obeying the parking laws.

Town Manager Churchill said revenue estimates are by nature conservative.

4. SAFETY SERVICES

Dale Smith and Bill Hutchins gave the overview. Last year they responded to 1,016 calls, including fires, accidents, water rescues, down wires, etc. Last year Poquonock Station was expanded. The budget is projected to come in as planned this year at $528,910. The proposed FY00 is $530,360 with the biggest change in personnel services which is increased by 3%. The MDC hydrant inspection fee has gone up, the maintenance budget has been increased and money was transferred out of this service unit into building maintenance service unit.

Council member Ristas said a lot of expression was made in the past about seeing line items.

Council member Ristas said about $4,000 was taken out of the capital outlay budget and will be used for maintenance and repair which was acceptable if it was done in a manner that was well planned and discussed.

Council member Graff said the primary concern by the Finance Committee was the transfer of money in and out / between the police department and fire department, not within the individual budgets. Council member Graff thanked all the volunteers in town -ambulance, fire department, recreation, etc. He asked how the number of 1,016 compares with recent years; Dale Smith said it is pretty flat, noting that a year with a lot of storms will have increases. Last year 85 calls were made for CO detectors - about half were legitimate, the other half are batteries or improper placement of the detectors. Council member Graff said an area of ongoing concern is recruitment and retention. Dale Smith said they would like more daytime fire fighters, most of their success comes from word-of-mouth. Junior fire fighters have been helpful.

For the Windsor Volunteer Ambulance, Mr. Cormier, Mr. Frederick, and Mr. Moynihan gave an overview. They provide service 24 hours a day service. A problem has occurred in that ambulance services used to be able to restock their supplies from the hospital they bring a patient to, however, that is now not allowed in the State of Connecticut. The hospitals could bill the insurance companies or the patient, therefore, only one itemized bill would be issued which came from the hospital.

They get their calls from the police department and about 2,700 calls were made last year.

If the WVA is not adequately staffed AMR covers the town, however, this does not occur often.

Council member Lydecker asked if insurance companies could be billed; Mr. Cormier said a company is subcontracted by WVA to bill insurance companies, which operates on commission.

Town Manager Churchill said the appropriation shown the budget equates to the indigent care or uncorrectable amount.

Deputy Mayor Curtis asked about the defibrillators that were demonstrated recently. Mr. Cormier said those are being purchased by contributions, not by budget funding, noting each defibrillator costs about $3,000.

Dr. Petrillo discussed civil preparedness, the proposed budget is $2,500. The unit consists of about 20 volunteers. A fairly quiet year was had this year, the emergency shelter was not used. The Y2K problem will be addressed, i.e. making plans to be able to open shelters are needed, etc.

Chief Searles, Tim Triggs and Peter McDermott gave an overview of the Police Department.

Chief Searles discussed the proposed FY00 of $5,186,490 which is about a 3.17% increase from FY99. He noted all serious crimes are down.

Council member Lydecker asked if the police department is still using bicycle patrol; Chief Searles said they will be doing bike patrol during the summer, probably 2-3 days a week. Council member Lydecker asked if the officer-friendly program is still in effect. Chief Searles said it has not been done in a few years but noted Partnership performs some of those services.

Council member Haverstock asked if funds or grants that were made originally for the hiring of officers have been diverted to the regional dispatch system. Chief Searles said those funds consist of two different kinds - narcotics seizure accounts which is restricted in its use, and accumulated funds from the State to reimburse the municipality for participating in the Regional Narcotics Task Force, this year that amount is about $19,000. Council member Haverstock asked if Chief Searles felt the personnel level is satisfactory. Chief Searles said he feels the community is safe, however, he would like to see more youth programs, foot patrols, etc. Council member Haverstock asked why the burglaries have gone down so steadily; Chief Searles said the it is in part due to good police work and noted the tougher sentences burglars get in Court.

Council member Haverstock inquired as to WPD’s position on a skate park which was discussed in public comment. Chief Searles said the more structured recreational time, places and opportunities provided to the youth the better off Windsor is, he is in favor of a structured place of recreation for the children. Tim Triggs said he is very much in favor of the proposal. He sees it as a place where the police can have positive interaction with kids.

Council member Graff asked how many of the 48 burglaries were solved; Chief Searles said about 18%. Council member Graff noted the 5 vacant positions that they are not planning to fill. Chief Searles said there is not enough funding for those 5 positions; there are 6 vacancies and 1 person out on long-term medical leave. Council member Graff said his concern is that the Council has approved more positions for a reason, and noted he does not feel bike and foot patrols should be considered as ‘extras’, that the citizens reactive very positively to them.

Council member Lydecker said he feels the bike and officer-friendly programs are important, however, the town is adequately covered. He said the police department does a great job.

Council member Trinks discussed the federal grants.

Deputy Mayor Curtis questioned the status of PAL. Pete McDermott said PAL is still very active at Roger Wolcott and is another example of structured recreation working for the youth.

5. FAMILY SERVICES

Enita Jubrey gave an overview of the proposed budget in the amount of $1,317,040.

She said summertime family activities will be held every night every night for a six week period.

Council member Graff said a pet peeve of his is the recreation master plan which is not shown in the proposal.

The senior and adult services will come in within budget for FY99. The FY00 Senior and adult services proposed budget is $521,810. A new group which is of concern are people in their 60’s, 70’s+ who have custody of their grandchildren.

The International Year of the Older Persons was discussed.

There is a 2.2% decrease in the facilities management portion of the budget.

Council member Graff inquired about the new installation of HVAC at Milo Peck and asked what kind of unit is proposed; the proposal is for central air conditioning.

The repairs on Goslee Pool are expected to be completed within a week.

Mayor Hogan asked that maintenance be tracked.

10. ADJOURNMENT

Council member Graff made a motion, seconded by Council member Trinks, to table the remaining items to Wednesday, 4/14/99, and to adjourn the meeting at 9:32 PM.

The Motion Passed 7-0-0.

Respectfully submitted,

Abigale LaViolette

cc: Town Clerk, Main Library, Wilson Branch