2026-09-01 - Town Council Special Meeting

00:57You hear that?

00:59>> You're going crazy.

01:24I'm Ed Gandulki, chair of the town

01:26council, and I'll call this special

01:28meeting to order. Um, roll call

01:31purposes. I don't know uh Dave

01:34Griffith's I don't have any comment. Or

01:36Jonathan Sicilini, they're absent. Um on

01:40vacation.

01:42>> Oh, Dave's okay. All right. Dave's on

01:44vacation. All right. Thank you.

01:47Um item three, presentations,

01:50proclamations, and declarations.

01:53Presentation of plaques honoring

01:55Economic Development Commission member

01:56Dave Dearis and Mark Tillinghouse.

01:59Tammy, I will pass it to you. So, the

02:03Economic Development Commission um

02:05wanted to recognize these two gentlemen

02:07um for their over 29 years of service to

02:11the town. So, tonight we recognize two

02:14members of our community and their

02:15remarkable commitment to the town of

02:18Killy and to its economic future. For

02:20more than 29 years, Dale Dearis and Mark

02:23Tillingast have served on the Kinley

02:25Economic Development Commission,

02:27bringing their experti, their

02:29experiences, business knowledge, vision,

02:31and unwavering commitment to the

02:33community. Their service has helped

02:35shape the economic landscape of

02:37Killingly. Among their many

02:39contributions, they have spent countless

02:41hours contributing to the development of

02:44two and soon to be three plans of

02:47conservation development, helping that

02:49help to establish a vision for Kan's

02:52future. Played an important role in the

02:54redevelopment of the former Anka glass

02:56property into the Kanley Commons, which

02:59is transforming transformed a former

03:01industrial site into a significant

03:04commercial center. supported the

03:06adoption and implementation of the I395

03:09enterprise zone, which helped position

03:11Killingly to compete for investment and

03:13economic opportunities. And most

03:16importantly, through their leadership as

03:18local businessmen and community

03:20volunteers, they helped create careers

03:22and opportunities for the residents of

03:24Kley. For nearly 30 year decade or for

03:27nearly three decades, they have

03:29demonstrated that economic development

03:31is about more than build buildings,

03:33businesses, and investment. It's about

03:36creating opportunity, strengthening our

03:38community, and building a better future

03:41for the people who call Kanley home. We

03:43are grateful for their extraordinary

03:45dedication, the years of service, and

03:47vibrancy they have helped create. Thank

03:50you for 29 years and counting. you're

03:53not going anywhere is of commitment to

03:56Killingly and to its economic future.

03:58Thank you. [applause]

04:22>> Did you Want to grab a picture?

04:26[laughter]

04:35[laughter]

04:36>> Jill's got it. Jill's

04:49>> tonight just before this meeting. and we

04:52were asked to pass on the message that

04:53we went through our plan of conservation

04:55and development uh goals and 18 out of

05:0020

05:01we cannot do until we get our sewer

05:03plant up and running. So please please

05:05please

05:07get that going. Thank you.

05:11[applause]

05:16If anyone else would like to make a

05:17comment,

05:26>> uh, I'll I'll just say, you know, uh,

05:29thank you to um well, thank you to both

05:31of you and uh and thank you to Dale. I

05:33know you uh held down the fort at Adawan

05:36baseball there for a while. I know

05:38that's not economic development, but you

05:39know, we had some good teams. No thanks

05:41to me, but your your sons were both uh

05:44were both good players there. But we

05:45that we had a lot of fun and uh I

05:48appreciate your volunteering back then

05:49along with everything you guys have done

05:51here and thank you Mark as well.

05:55[applause]

06:01>> Okay

06:04mic

06:19We'll go the other route. Uh

06:22item four, uh interviews of boards and

06:24commission applicants. George Slow Jr.

06:28move from regular member I move from

06:31move to a regular member on a permanent

06:33building commission. Uh George, would

06:35you like to come up

06:39[clears throat]

06:40here?

06:41>> Yes.

06:49the green button.

06:52>> I've been in this meeting room quite a

06:54bit.

06:54>> Okay. [laughter]

06:58>> No, we appreciate your service uh as an

07:01alternate member and I'm glad you're

07:02moving forward. There's an opening and

07:04I'm glad you're coming forward. Do you

07:05have any

07:06>> comments that you would like to make and

07:08>> No, I just try to continue to do what

07:10I'm doing. I mean, for anybody who's

07:12here, I owned a roofing company for 50

07:14years. I did commercial and residential,

07:16all kinds of roofing. So, that's part of

07:17my expertise I'm bringing to the

07:19committee. Um, I do know some about

07:21construction, whatnot. So, I thought I'd

07:24bring that in because I'm tired of

07:25seeing towns get cheated by contractors.

07:28So, anyway,

07:30>> and I think you've been very a good

07:33resource. It was good. We had some

07:36problems down I'm no expert, but at

07:38least I'll put my

07:39>> But you jumped in and that's the thing.

07:41So, and you made your experience known,

07:44and I think that that's a good thing.

07:46>> That's why I'm here.

07:48>> Any other comments from council members?

07:50Go ahead, Kevin. Yeah.

07:52>> George has been very helpful with the

07:54roof project over there at uh Westfield

07:56Avenue. And with him coming on as a as a

07:59regular member, every member of that

08:00board is involved in a trade of some

08:02sort, whether it's heating, air

08:04conditioning, that everyone on that is a

08:07is a member of a trade. So that's what

08:09helps.

08:10>> Well, it didn't help so much keeping the

08:12running smoothly this time, but it has

08:14it's helped. Without that experience, it

08:17would have probably been more help with

08:18this contractor.

08:19>> Yeah. So,

08:23>> any other comments from the council

08:25members?

08:28Well, we appreciate you coming forward

08:30as you are and we'll u discuss it at our

08:34meeting next week.

08:35>> Okay, great. Thank you very much.

08:37>> You're welcome to come next week or the

08:38town manager will give you an update.

08:41>> All right. Well, I'm sure I'll hear

08:42whether I've been accepted or not.

08:44>> Sure.

08:45>> Hopefully, you'll see me through. So,

08:46okay. Thank you very much.

08:47>> Thank you.

08:52Russell Daniels appointment to planning

08:55and zoning commission.

08:57I don't see him here.

09:00Okay,

09:02moving on. Um

09:07Jeffrey

09:09Songo, appointment to the conservation

09:11commission.

09:19>> Thank you for coming forward. Um, what

09:22brought you What got you interested in

09:25the conservation scenario?

09:29>> 25 years ago.

09:31>> Oh, turn them. Yeah.

09:34>> Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Yeah.

09:35>> There we go. Can you hear me? All right.

09:38Yeah. I moved in the area about 25 years

09:40ago and retired last year and friend Bob

09:45Mullen who's on the commission got to

09:47talking and this is something that I

09:49would like to be interested in and get

09:51involved with.

09:53Have you been to many meetings or

09:55>> one last their last meeting in August

09:59and met the people there and it's

10:01something I would like to get involved

10:02with particularly since I'm an

10:04outdoorsman and

10:07keep involved with that because I'm

10:10liazison to the conservation but lately

10:12I've been busy with other things so I

10:15haven't made the last couple of meetings

10:16so I [clears throat] don't know who the

10:17people that were you know coming on

10:19board or what they were attending Um any

10:23comments from council members?

10:30>> So um as to wanting to be on the

10:32conservation um commission, what is your

10:34vision for killing me? [sighs]

10:36>> I hike a lot of the areas that are in

10:40that little brochure that you had there.

10:43Um,

10:45being an outdoorsman, I think we would

10:47like to see those areas accessed in a

10:51clean and orderly fashion, so to speak.

10:55Uh, I was talking to some of the members

10:57there and they were mentioning that uh

10:59some of the things that they were doing

11:01and I think that would be uh quite

11:03beneficial overall. Um,

11:07not only that, but I just have a I like

11:10the area. I've stayed here for a quarter

11:12century. I'm from Norwich originally.

11:14So,

11:19>> any other comments from council members?

11:24>> Well, we appreciate you coming forward.

11:26I mean, we're always looking for people

11:28on boards and commission. Oh. Oh, go

11:29ahead. [clears throat]

11:31>> I I do see that you have uh previous uh

11:33town commission experience. Uh would you

11:36be able to explain that?

11:38>> Okay. Well, I when I like I said when I

11:40moved out of the area in late '7s and

11:45actually got exposed to this area in the

11:48late 70s uh I was uh

11:53college that I went to I went to college

11:54in the south. It was a military college

11:56and of course during the Jimmy Carter

11:58years basically postvietnam

12:00uh actually got exposed to this area and

12:02worked with the area up in Putnham.

12:04There was a there was a combat engineer

12:06unit up there that I was assigned to on

12:09a temporary duty assignment. And

12:13actually when I moved back to the area

12:14back uh back in 2001,

12:19uh that's when I decided to pick up. But

12:20in the in between um I had worked for

12:23the Department of Public Safety up in

12:25Maine after I finished my um active duty

12:29obligation

12:30and from there I went from to the city

12:34of Auburn, Maine in the engineering

12:37division there. That's kind of where I

12:39was exposed to like a fill permits

12:41excavation u wetlands and such. uh I was

12:46commissioned in the core of engineers

12:48and as built by the core of engineers

12:50there were dual role their combat and

12:52combat support in the combat support

12:55arena which I served in uh bridging uh

12:58vertical horizontal construction that's

13:00where I got involved with the super fund

13:02back then um far as industrial cleanup

13:07and such mostly the allocation of funds

13:11and where you had to allocate those

13:12funds to certain cleanup projects

13:15and EPA, working completely with the

13:17EPA. Um, and then from there, that's

13:20when I decided to get into finance,

13:22which I've been doing. But, uh, I kind

13:24of like like to get back into,

13:26[laughter]

13:27uh, something of more of a nature role.

13:30[clears throat]

13:31>> Very helpful experience. Thank you.

13:33>> Pleasure.

13:35>> Any other comments from Commissioner?

13:38>> I mean, go ahead,

13:39>> Tammy. I Good thing you retired because

13:41that's one of our busier commissions. So

13:45if if

13:46>> to see I met some of the people there

13:48and highly motivated and I'm kind of

13:50excited get on that good

13:53>> assuming I get a thumbs up but yeah I

13:55would like to hit the ground running.

13:59>> This is a great place to go hiking in

14:01the woods. So

14:02>> absolutely. Yeah, they sponsor, you

14:04know, a number of walks, the Walktober

14:06event, big event, but also other walks

14:08during the year at the various places

14:11and, you know, a little bit of workshop

14:14cleaning up some of the trails and

14:16whatnot. But, um, you know, we're,

14:18>> if I may ask a question, what's the

14:19general attitude about that fracking,

14:22uh, plant that was supposedly going up,

14:24uh, behind, uh, out on the end of the

14:27lake road there? There was like I don't

14:30know what they call it.

14:32O I guess it was uh

14:34>> fracking.

14:35>> Fracking oil fracking. Energy.

14:38>> There was a data there was a data center

14:41and then there was a battery storage

14:44facility.

14:45>> Is that what they were calling it? Okay.

14:47I think there was a little bit of a

14:48protest on it. It looks like it's not

14:50going to go in, but I don't know. I

14:53don't know.

14:54>> The data center agreement expired.

14:56>> Okay.

14:59that's a dead

15:04>> cuz

15:05yeah I mean it was like a quarter mile

15:07from where I live and it's like do you

15:10really need this and but like I said I

15:14don't want to be slaughtering anybody's

15:16sacred cow that's why if okay

15:21there's a there's a public auction in

15:23the town tomorrow uh with a plot of land

15:26out in that area I would just pay

15:28attention to that.

15:28>> I see. Okay,

15:31tomorrow it's my birthday. Okay, this

15:33should be interesting.

15:38>> My pleasure. Would I do it all over

15:40again or again? Hell yeah.

15:44>> Are there any other comments?

15:48Well, we discuss your application next

15:51week and we'll be in touch.

15:53>> Very good. Okay.

15:54>> Thank you.

15:54>> My pleasure.

16:02Russ, step up. [laughter]

16:06>> Have a seat.

16:20would you like to make a a little

16:22statement?

16:24>> Yeah. Um

16:26>> Oh, push the green the to get the green

16:28button on.

16:30>> Oh, shut if you could shut the other one

16:32off, we'd have a Yeah, we Yeah. Okay.

16:38All right.

16:40>> That world's getting so complicated.

16:45>> Yeah. Um I've lived here. I bought my

16:47house here 20 21 years ago and Kilme is

16:50a great town. I love living here. Um

16:53what's happened with the um Amazon

16:55warehouse is why what really alarms me.

16:58we got broadsided on this deal and um

17:02one of the main reasons I decided to do

17:04this is um to keep an eye out and

17:08hopefully uh never allow this to happen

17:09again

17:13to have a get broadsided like we've this

17:16Amazon uh warehouse as all you people

17:18know is a lovely mess. Well, you've been

17:22active. You've been at the podium quite

17:23a few times at the P&Z meeting. So, you

17:25you've been engaged at this point, so

17:28you're taking it the next step.

17:30>> Yep.

17:32>> Which is good. Um,

17:38of course, you live right next to the

17:40Primill scenario, so [laughter]

17:44you've been over my house.

17:46>> Fig I'd just throw that out a little

17:48bit. That That's a That's a lot to deal

17:50with. Yeah.

17:51>> To have to look at every single day. Um

17:55any comments from council members?

18:03>> So, as a member of the um planning and

18:05zoning commission, would you listen to

18:07what the majority of the people want for

18:09this town at their vision?

18:11>> Well, of course, you have to go by what

18:13the rules are, but absolutely. Um, one

18:16thing I'm not that familiar with, you

18:19you have a bo you have a sheet of boxes

18:21you got to check off when you have

18:24approve or reject um any kind of

18:26project. Correct. And I'm wondering how

18:29much state control um is over these uh

18:33these little checkbox shoots because I I

18:36believe in local control. Local control

18:38is the best control because we're the

18:39ones who knows what's going on.

18:43So currently it's the planning and

18:44zoning commission that um makes the

18:47regula regulations and there should be

18:49some um workshops to um update the

18:54uh regulations for warehouses and

18:57distribution centers because of the

18:59moratorum.

18:59>> Yeah, I I have my own ideas regarding

19:01that. Um I'm glad you said that.

19:06But if as a member of the of the

19:08commission, even as an alternate member,

19:10if you're sitting at the table and

19:11whatnot, you can propose changes that

19:14you might like to see. And you know,

19:16it's it's

19:17>> it's be hard to do it where you're

19:19sitting now, but if you're sitting at

19:21the table,

19:22>> yeah,

19:22>> the door is there. Like, excuse me, Mr.

19:26Chairman, I' I'd like to discuss

19:27something. So that that's a a a

19:30situation that

19:32>> Well, I I have an idea right off the top

19:34of my head regarding um planning and

19:36zoning if you like to hear it.

19:38>> Well, we'll let them. It's I think we

19:41have to put that let the the planning

19:43and zoning commission deal with that.

19:44But we're looking at

19:48your enthusiasm to be on the commission.

19:51That's that's what you know we're

19:52looking at right now.

19:55any other Jiren

19:58>> uh to your your goal uh to be aware of

20:01projects detrimental to Killingly. I

20:03just want to touch on and I know that

20:05they both just mentioned Could you hear

20:08your mic?

20:10>> Uh that's going to require proactivity

20:13rather than reactivity. So like like she

20:16mentioned workshopping um changes to uh

20:20to zoning. So you're going to need to

20:21look into the regs that are currently

20:23there. uh and take a proactive approach

20:25to changing them rather than uh being

20:28reactive to the projects as they come

20:29in. So we don't

20:30>> that's that's largely what's happened

20:31with Amazon.

20:39>> Somebody's going to have a question for

20:40me.

20:42>> Any other comments from council members?

20:47just that do you have the time to put

20:49into the planning and zoning because it

20:50is a large learning curve and it's one

20:52of the most important commissions that

20:54we have.

20:54>> I'm retired so

20:57thank god.

20:59>> Do you have any relevant construction

21:01experience?

21:02>> Yeah, I was a CNC machinist for 354

21:05years. I helped build propellers United

21:08States Navy Ali Burke destroyers. Um,

21:11I've also machined uh surgical

21:14instruments and aerospace bots for uh

21:18terrible fans for Pratt Whitney.

21:25>> Any other comments from council members?

21:32>> We'll discuss you after your appointment

21:35next week.

21:36>> [clears throat]

21:37>> Can I I I do just want to note too that

21:39uh he is willing to take uh an inland

21:42wetlands and waterway commission uh seat

21:46if one is not available on planning and

21:48zoning.

21:50>> Okay. Is that Yes. You mentioned that in

21:52your application you were saying the

21:54inland wetlands would also be another

21:56>> that's that's a very important

21:58commission. I' I'd love actually love to

21:59be on that commission.

22:02>> I don't know if you can be on two

22:03commissions. That's a lot. No, you can

22:05only be on one,

22:06>> right?

22:07>> I mean, we're looking for people for

22:08both. Um,

22:11and if you have uh if you would prefer

22:14that, I mean, that's another um Well,

22:19>> well, I I put in for planning and

22:20zoning. Let's Let's stop there.

22:22>> Okay.

22:22>> I think I think planning and zoning has

22:24a greater need. They don't have any

22:26alternates currently. So, um

22:29>> yeah, we need alternates on planning and

22:30zoning. I think there was one on

22:32wetlands right now. So I mean we want to

22:35give you an option. I mean I I don't

22:37want to pigeon hole you to a specific

22:39>> planning and zoning.

22:40>> Okay.

22:42So if there any other comments so we'll

22:46discuss

22:48your application next week and we'll be

22:50in touch.

22:51>> Okay.

22:51>> Okay.

22:52>> Thank you.

22:52>> Thank you.

23:02And Tammy, you're looking as an

23:05appointment alternate member of the NDDH

23:08board of health.

23:11>> Um, I had um, oh gosh, when I first got

23:14on the council back in 2009,

23:17um, I think Bob Young had appointed me

23:20as a just as a um, an alternate because

23:24I I think Kling didn't have any at the

23:27time. We didn't have any representatives

23:29to NDH. So I got appointed then. Um I

23:33served I think about 10 years on there.

23:37Um stepped away. Um it was getting out

23:41the amount I ended up being chair for

23:43the board. Um it was a lot of work. Um

23:46and alternate nice. Um right now um I

23:50know Dave and Patty both um go to their

23:54meetings, so it's just having a backup

23:56in case one of them can't make it. Um

24:00it's a great it's killing Kilan is very

24:03fortunate. I was talking on e economic

24:06development before this meeting. Um

24:09Killey has a lot of representation on

24:11NDH. Um most of the towns have one

24:14representative. Kinley not and

24:17Planefield both have two but also has

24:20the burrow. Y

24:22>> so we technically have three voices for

24:25Killingly on the board. So um It's it's

24:29you know being an alternate I you know

24:31healthc care is and my other bachelor is

24:34actually is in community health. So um

24:37the health department if I would have

24:39pursued a masters I could have actually

24:41run the health department. Um but I

24:44didn't pursue a masters in public

24:46health. So um I just just a lowly nurse

24:50and I kind of like that little role and

24:53it works for me. But I I have I know I

24:57understand where they're coming from and

24:59and the need for good public health

25:01because kind of ranks up there with good

25:03public safety.

25:04>> Well, it's nice to have your background.

25:06So, you know, if you appoint someone

25:08brand new, there's no experience. You've

25:10been engaged with them for quite a

25:11while. So,

25:11>> I was I was engaged for a while. Um the

25:14new I haven't worked with Luigi yet. Um

25:16I have had different interactions with

25:19them. Um, I've heard good things through

25:21all the employees that that are up

25:23there. Um, it's a whole new whole new

25:26vibe when he came in. He he really

25:29consolidated the um the department and

25:32they're really starting to move forward

25:35as fast as the state of Connecticut will

25:37allow them to will move move forward. I

25:40know they they had a lot of employees

25:42that wanted to expand and take on

25:44different roles, but they needed

25:45training that was only allowed through

25:47the state and the state limited when

25:50they could take it and places that they

25:52could take it and yeah. So, it's kind of

25:55kind of hard sometimes to build your

25:58staff and the states got their thumb on

26:03it and you can't do anything about it.

26:07But they they're it's it's starting to

26:09make it. It was a little rough over

26:11there, but it's starting to come around.

26:14So,

26:15>> I'd be more than happy to be a backup.

26:20So,

26:22>> any council members have any other

26:24questions for Tammy?

26:28>> Well, thank you for

26:30coming forward again.

26:32Thank you for considering letting me do

26:35it. So,

26:35>> okay. So, we'll we'll discuss your

26:38appointment next week.

26:40>> Um,

26:42so much for interviews.

26:46>> I think you skipped

26:48>> item 4 D.

26:49>> Is Tristan Dermador here?

26:58>> Okay.

27:01and

27:03>> Brandon Gutrod,

27:05>> he withdrew.

27:07[clears throat]

27:12Okay, moving on.

27:16Citizen statements and petitions.

27:19Um the only subject you can talk about

27:21tonight is items on the agenda and that

27:25is the uh the plaques for the economic

27:28development personnel [clears throat]

27:30and the interviews of the board and

27:32commission folks. So if there's any

27:36public comment, you're welcome

27:40to the podium.

27:44And I don't think we got any public

27:46comment, any emails.

27:50Okay. [clears throat]

27:52Old business, none. New business, none.

27:57Executive session, none. And I'll make a

28:01I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn.

28:03>> I'll make a motion to adjurnn. Second.

28:06>> All in favor? I

28:08>> opposed.

28:10Motion carries. We have adjourned.

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