2026-08-10 - Town Council

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04:45So,

04:45>> okay.

04:49>> Good evening. Today is Monday, August

04:5110th, 2026 at 7 p.m. This is the town

04:54council meeting. Um, madame clerk, would

04:57you please call the role?

04:58>> David Zony,

04:59>> here. Jennifer Clark,

05:03>> Michael Del Santo,

05:06>> Kristen Ga

05:07>> present,

05:08>> James Morelli

05:09>> here,

05:10>> Tony Morrison

05:11>> here.

05:11>> Christopher Paul Marai

05:12>> here.

05:13>> Joshua Saraphino

05:15>> here.

05:15>> Paul Chaplinsky

05:17>> here. We have seven. We have a quorum. I

05:18did hear from the vice chair clock. Uh

05:20she's traveling right now and is unable

05:22to attend. And Mr. Delanto as well. So

05:25if everybody can please stand for the

05:27prayer and flag salute.

05:33Lord, may you continue to bless and keep

05:35southern her people. May you direct and

05:37lead this council in all her endeavors

05:39as we seek to do what is right and just

05:41for all people. Amen.

05:43>> Amen.

05:44>> And Evelyn is going to start us with the

05:46pledge of allegiance. You want to go to

05:48the uh microphone? Sure.

05:51>> Whenever you're ready, Evelyn.

05:56>> Are you ready?

05:57>> We're ready. I pledge of allegiance to

05:59the flag of the United States of America

06:02and to the republic for which it stands,

06:05one nation under God, indivisible, with

06:09liberty and justice for all.

06:11>> You can stay right there, Evelyn. Okay,

06:14>> we're going to do one one item before we

06:17uh go forward. We're going to look I'm

06:19looking for item number two, a motion uh

06:21to approve the July 13, 2026 town

06:24council meeting minutes.

06:25>> So moved.

06:26>> Second. Motion from Chris and a second

06:28from Tony. Is there any discussion on

06:29the minutes? Any discussion? Hearing

06:32none. All in favor?

06:34>> I

06:34>> I. Any opposed?

06:37Hearing none. The motion passes

06:39unanimously. We are going on to item

06:41three, council person communications.

06:43And now we have a special guest. Uh

06:46Evelyn's going to talk to us again

06:48because uh she's been doing this now for

06:50a few years. She's going to talk to us

06:52about back flips for backpacks.

06:54come on up and uh take your time. Tell

06:57us about your initiative and uh how we

06:59can help you.

07:00>> Am I supposed to say that

07:04all read all your

07:06>> Hi, my name is Evelyn Holly. I live at

07:09115 Johanna Circle in Sington. This

07:12Sunday at August 16th from 12 to 3, I

07:17will be doing my back flips or backpacks

07:20for the fourth year in a row on the

07:23Southernington Town Green. For every

07:25backpack donated, I will do a back flip.

07:29All of the items will be donated to

07:31Southernington Community Services. The

07:34items needed this year are backpacks,

07:36headphones, Sharpies, pencil pouches,

07:39index cards, binders, multicolor

07:42pencils, colored pencils,

07:48oops, multicolored pens, dry erase

07:51markers, and pocket folders.

07:55If you cannot make it, it but we would

07:58like to donate, we can arrange a pickup

08:01time. Thank you and I hope you can make

08:03it.

08:05>> Thank you Evelyn. Does anybody here have

08:07questions for Evelyn? It's Sunday right

08:09Evelyn? This Sunday August 16th from 12

08:12to 3 on the town green. Is there anybody

08:14uh on the dis that has any questions?

08:16>> I just want not a question just a

08:18comment. I just want to say that's

08:19awesome. Keep up the good work and we're

08:21so proud of you that you're out here

08:22supporting the community and students

08:24who need school supplies.

08:26>> Thank you.

08:28>> One quick question, Evelyn. How many

08:29years have you done this now?

08:30>> Four. four years. Fantastic. Great job.

08:34>> I would like to know, Evelyn, what is

08:36your record so far? How many back flips

08:38have you done in a row? What have you

08:40counted them?

08:41>> How many do you think you could do?

08:42>> How many did Uncle Jack make you do last

08:44year in a row?

08:46>> 25.

08:46>> 25.

08:47>> 25. That's amazing. Good job. Thank you

08:50for coming out. [applause]

08:58>> Okay.

09:00Thanks again, Evelyn. Okay, we are still

09:02in council person communications. Um,

09:05the floor is open. Does anybody have

09:07anything that they would like to share?

09:14>> Chris, I've got a couple things. Um,

09:16[clears throat]

09:17first of all, I'd like to announce um

09:19the fourth annual harvest towown at

09:22Leaf. Um, if you're not familiar with

09:24Leaf, um it's a um three generational

09:28farm. um in in Southernington that we're

09:31very fortunate to have. And uh each year

09:34they do a fundraiser. Um the harvest

09:37hoown this year will be August 28th from

09:395 to 8:00 p.m. Um a local band, Matt

09:45Rossi, also the Mammoth Jack Band, will

09:47be performing this year as part of that

09:49um celebration. Um if you're interested,

09:52tickets can be purchased on the LEAF

09:54website, which is leafct.com.

09:58Uh, a couple other items. On Tuesday,

10:01August 4th, I had the pleasure of

10:03attending um with the town manager um a

10:05thank you celebration for our students

10:07in the Yeti program. Uh these are high

10:10school students that work throughout the

10:12summer to do community service

10:14opportunities within our town. Um, and

10:17I'd like to acknowledge Dave Miller

10:19who's the he's a teacher at the high

10:21school, but he oversees this program um

10:23and works with our youth to to do these

10:25charitable projects throughout the town.

10:28So, I uh like to thank and acknowledge

10:31um the all the students that are part of

10:33that Yeti program.

10:35Um on Friday, July 31st, um I had the

10:39pleasure of attending again with the

10:41town manager. Um the uh ceremony um it

10:46was supposed to be held in the green,

10:47but the weather didn't really cooperate

10:49that day, so we moved into the American

10:50Legion. Um, and the governor, Governor

10:53Lamont, um, and Representative Pulis um,

10:57had this ceremony um, basically to

11:00recognize um, $50,000 in state funding

11:04that we received for the restoration of

11:06our Veterans Memorial um, and uh,

11:11legislation related to the Heroes Act.

11:13So, I know Rachel Locky's here in the

11:15audience. She was there that day as well

11:17representing the veterans committee

11:18along with um Joe Delaporta. Um but I

11:22especially just want to thank um Chris

11:25Pulis senior um he is was a lieutenant

11:29colonel in the army during the Vietnam

11:31era um and served 27 years afterwards in

11:34the Army Reserve Force and really he was

11:37a driving force um behind and and

11:41brought to life the veterans need for

11:43dental care. um as a veteran himself. Um

11:46he also serves as a chair of the dental

11:48subcommittee. Um and he fought to to

11:53bring this recognition um to our

11:55veterans in town as part of the

11:57Connecticut Hero Act. So um again, just

12:00like to acknowledge and thank um Chris

12:04Pulis, Senior for his work in chairing

12:06that committee within our veterans

12:08committee.

12:09Um, finally, uh, I ju I I I just want to

12:14bring something, um, to light that,

12:16honestly, I'm a little upset about. Um,

12:20we know, um, within the last month,

12:23there were some upsetting incidents that

12:25happened in our town. um one being the

12:28incident at the Cadillac Ranch and the

12:30other being the incident with um kids on

12:32their ebikes and and a um stabbing

12:36unfortunately that occurred throughout

12:38that. Um and what I'm talking about in

12:41particular is the Southernington

12:42Outsider did a story. Um the majority of

12:45the story is still um live although a

12:49portion of it was taken down. Um I was

12:51quoted in this um my quote I I feel I

12:55can read it but I feel it's about unity

12:57bringing the community together um

13:00showing support and appreciation um and

13:03thanks to our police department for

13:04their swift response dur during this and

13:07again about bringing our community

13:08together.

13:11I'm I'm a little upset that one of the

13:12quotes and it has since been taken down

13:14because I'm not the only one that that

13:17felt a little upset about this um was

13:20about how um Democrats on the board of

13:23finance and Democrat town council votes

13:26to reduce police department resources.

13:28So again, to me, I think that should be

13:32more about bringing our community

13:33together and um uniting and showing that

13:37we stand together as a community and not

13:40divisive um political statements like

13:43that that

13:45I don't want to speak for the two of

13:46you, but I certainly feel very strongly

13:48that I support public safety, both the

13:50police and fire department especially.

13:51So

13:52>> absolutely

13:52>> that that's that was just um something

13:55>> Can you read the quote though?

13:57Um uh my quote or the other quote?

14:01>> The other quote.

14:02>> Okay.

14:05These ebikes and juveniles and young

14:07adults who find pleasure in harassing

14:10drivers and pedestrians and even

14:12attacking people in Southernington have

14:13no place in our community. We continue

14:14to invest in public safety, including

14:17police and fire to prevent these types

14:18of issues and keep our community safe.

14:20Actions such as last month's recent

14:22Democrat Board of Finance and Democrat

14:24Town Council votes to reduce police

14:26department resources, such as our animal

14:28control officers, shift these additional

14:30burdens onto the rest of the department

14:32and pulls away resources from policing

14:34activities and preventing heinous crimes

14:36like that on Main Street yesterday.

14:38um the reference to the animal control

14:41officer, I think all three of us

14:42actually spoke to the police chief

14:44himself who recommended um those

14:48reductions within the department budget

14:49so that the resource was shifted

14:51elsewhere. So after speaking to the

14:53police chief, we voted in in a manner

14:56that we felt was appropriate for public

14:58safety. And I know u the fire chief is

15:01here. We certainly voted to support the

15:03fire department um with with a vote with

15:06the safer grant among others up here. Um

15:08so I just I just felt that was an unfair

15:11statement to make um in a time when we

15:13should be coming together.

15:15>> Thank you, Chris. Anybody else?

15:21>> Anybody? Dave,

15:23>> I'd just like to take take the

15:24opportunity to um say that I love the

15:28event, the taste of Southernington that

15:29happened last Wednesday night. Uh the

15:32folks that are staff our Barnes Museum

15:34did a wonderful job setting it up and a

15:37beautiful community band played and I

15:39hope next year a lot of folks will come

15:41out. Also, I'd like to thank the people

15:44members of our staff, town staff who

15:46helped come and uh set set it up and

15:48break it down. It's a lot of work to to

15:51get a little festival like that off the

15:53ground in one day. So, I just want to

15:55thank them for that.

15:57>> Thank you.

15:58>> Sounds good. Thanks, Dave. I echo your

16:00uh I echo your thanks.

16:03>> Certainly, the uh the staff did great

16:04and uh the town manager, you know, sent

16:07out an all points bulletin to anybody

16:08who was willing to raise their hand and

16:10volunteer their time. And it's nice to

16:12see uh a number of folks who were able

16:13to do that. I think Tony, you were there

16:15as well. Yeah. Who helped with the

16:17volunteer work. So, thank you.

16:18>> Yeah. But I keep quite a bit. [laughter]

16:21>> Okay. Does anybody else have anything

16:22they want to share?

16:25>> All right. Hearing none, let's move on

16:27to item four, reports of special

16:29committees.

16:30A open space. Vice Chair Clock is not

16:34here. Chris, did you want to say a

16:35couple words or did you want me?

16:37>> Sure. The majority of the meeting, which

16:38was really exciting, we spent really

16:40talking about the Pleasant Street

16:42parcel. So, if you haven't seen it

16:44already, the barn up there, which is

16:46going to be um used by our a science

16:48program at Sundon High School, has

16:50really come a long way. There's been a

16:51lot of construction. Um so, we talked

16:53about with with so much of the property

16:55being used for board of education

16:56purposes, how how do we shift um who's

17:00responsible for for a portion of the

17:02property? So, that that was the majority

17:04of the meeting. Um Alex, you were there

17:07as well. Am I missing anything else of

17:09substance?

17:10>> That was almost the whole meeting,

17:11>> right? Okay.

17:14>> Uh if if it's okay, I'd like to also add

17:16that, you know, partial maintenance is

17:18something that's a that's a topic that

17:20um I know that we've been uh working on

17:22putting together a master list and also

17:25which departments are going to help uh

17:26when, how often uh because not every

17:29parcel needs maintenance in every area

17:32every single year or more than once per

17:34year. Uh and so we're going to try to

17:36keep get this master list going. And we

17:38often get a lot of people who come to uh

17:41the meetings and ask for volunteer work.

17:43They come out and they say, "Hey, we

17:44want to help clear a parcel. Which one

17:46can we do?" And um if we put this on the

17:49master schedule and we post this um you

17:52know, we'll we'll manage to it

17:54internally, but also it'll be available

17:56for anybody who wants to raise their

17:58hand and say they would like to help.

17:59there's an opportunity to uh identify

18:01and be part of uh you know a great thing

18:03in our community which is our open

18:05space, one of our most cherished things.

18:06But we definitely don't want that to go

18:08um you know our our parcels to go goow

18:12as well. We got to make sure we're

18:13keeping up with them. So that's really

18:14important. Looking forward to hearing

18:16the report out on that hopefully at the

18:18next meeting. Uh and then we are going

18:21to schedule a Pleasant Street barn

18:22ribbon cutting ceremony um hopefully

18:26this fall, early fall time. And so I'm

18:28asking the town manager if he'll please

18:30ensure that he touches base with the

18:32board of ed and uh schedules that so

18:34that we can have a uh a co- board ribbon

18:36cutting ceremony and um same parcel. I

18:40know Chris and I have talked about this

18:42uh a few times. The driveway, the main

18:44driveway uh is something that um I also

18:46spoke to the town manager about. We have

18:49to find a way um either in the current

18:51grant or with maintenance funds uh open

18:54space maintenance funds with farm

18:55heritage and open space. Um the driveway

18:58that we have people come in for the

19:00vegetable stand and now with the new

19:01barn with programs and things that will

19:03be there and we have the community

19:04garden is insufficient for regular

19:08pedestrian use. It's it's not safe. It

19:10has a lot of um uh holes, potholes,

19:14undulations. We've patched it a bunch of

19:16times. probably can be torn out and we

19:19could probably put in something a little

19:20more environmentally friendly. You know,

19:22some sort of a material on the ground

19:24that's not too costly, but allows people

19:26to drive in and park and and also um

19:29attend a few of the things on that site.

19:33>> That sounds good.

19:34>> I spoke with Mr. Romano of the board of

19:36education um just a few hours ago. He

19:39spoke with Mr. Manancy earlier today and

19:41there's a little bit of money left in

19:43the grant. uh they're be happy to um

19:47expand the parking with process stone.

19:49We had a conversation about drainage and

19:52environmentalism and we we both agreed

19:54that the best thing to do would be put

19:55process down there, not to put asphalt

19:57and increase the runoff. So, they're

19:59happy to to work with us on that that

20:01additional parking.

20:02>> That's great. You know, and I I think if

20:04we're going to do it, um it would I

20:06mean, obviously getting it done sooner

20:08than later is great. We should put some

20:10plans in place to ensure that if we're

20:11going to have uh you know some um

20:14surfaces that allow drainage through

20:16them instead of an imperous surface that

20:19we do it the right way. Um you know

20:21maybe put some uh material around blocks

20:23or something around the outside to hold

20:25the material so that it it doesn't get

20:27away from us over time and become uh you

20:29know a something that we're constantly

20:31chasing to clean up and fix. And um so

20:34if we can do that that would be be

20:35great. And Paul to your point just

20:37thanks to the um town highway department

20:40because they they have come out and done

20:41some of that repair especially the

20:43potholes. So that's right. Thanks to

20:45them.

20:45>> Y Okay. Anything else on open space that

20:49anybody has for questions? Okay. Chris,

20:53I think you're up for SHs roof.

20:55>> Yep. Very quick. Uh we had a meeting on

20:57Friday, July 31st. Um a couple of things

21:02of note. We're

21:05the chair Pete Romano brought up that

21:07the town um there's there's really tax

21:11consulting proposal from the town CPA

21:13firm. Um we had one proposal for that

21:16which is for $30,000.

21:18Um, we decided to table that just to get

21:22three other bids because, you know, we

21:24wanted to follow the town procedures and

21:25make sure that, not we have no idea that

21:28may be the cheapest, but we want to make

21:30sure and do do our due diligence to make

21:32sure there's other firms. Um, aside from

21:34that, um, we approved invoices for

21:3713,500

21:39and $344,157.

21:42All these are in line. We're still

21:44significantly under budget for this

21:46project. Okay, questions on SHS roof.

21:50Uh, item C, Chris, Trifecta. Yes,

21:53elementary school roof. I think Josh

21:55wasn't around. So,

21:56>> correct. That also meant July 31st. Very

21:59brief meeting. Um, as of July 31st, the

22:02project was 88% complete. This is the

22:04roof at Hatton Elementary School. Um,

22:07and we were assured that this will be

22:08completed completely before students

22:11arrive. So, they have approximately two

22:12weeks left um to do that work. And

22:15again, a couple weeks a week ago, we

22:17were at 88% of completion. Um, also we

22:20received a change order. Um, just like

22:23to share those out. Um, mortar mortar

22:27and masonry maintenance was needed for

22:30approximately 1,600 square ft of the

22:32project. Um, so again, well within

22:35budget. So we voted to approve that at

22:37$3885,000.

22:42And oh, one more thing. There was a And

22:44then we approved an invoice for gold

22:45seal roofing. Um and that was for

22:48$461,985.

22:52>> Did you say goldplated roofing?

22:54>> Gold [snorts] seal roofing. Okay.

22:56>> That's the company.

22:57>> Yes.

22:58>> All right. Very good.

22:59>> Not gold seal.

23:00>> That's the company name.

23:01>> Exactly. [laughter]

23:03>> Okay. Any questions on the elementary

23:04school roof subcommittee?

23:07>> Okay. Hearing none. Thanks everybody.

23:09We're going to move on to item uh five,

23:11town manager report and communications a

23:14report of the board of finance fiscal

23:16year 2025 year end closeout update and

23:19other financial updates. Mr. Town

23:22Manager.

23:22>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The board of

23:24finance met July 29th, 2026.

23:27It was the last meeting of the fiscal

23:29year, so it was quite the agenda. I'll

23:32hit some of the highlights. Uh most not

23:34most notably um they they dealt with the

23:37$834,000 issue that's been quite in the

23:39news lately in social media and here and

23:41the board of finance. They moved it from

23:43the general fund as was discussed um

23:45here and the board of finance uh was

23:48unanimous vote um and there was a little

23:51bit of discussion. If you want a little

23:52bit more insight on it, I'd welcome you

23:54to to watch the the video. It was done

23:57here due to scheduling issues. So the

23:59video was livereamed and also in very

24:02good quality.

24:03Um,

24:05second big point, the 20ou fiscal year

24:092025 audit was closed out. Our uh public

24:12accounting firm CLA gave a presentation

24:16about the audit. It was a quote unquote

24:18a clean audit.

24:20They talked about a lot of the progress

24:21that's been made uh within the town,

24:23especially the finance department over

24:24the last year, how it's a lot easier for

24:27them to do the work and much more

24:29efficient. Um, good news. They ended the

24:33year with a uh 2.4

24:38budget surplus. That was a combination

24:40of expenses coming in a little bit lower

24:42than expected and revenues also coming a

24:44little bit lower. But so good news that

24:46rolls into the undesated fund balance.

24:50Uh, and the last really great news that

24:53came out of that meeting was they closed

24:56out the Depollo Middle School

24:58renovations from over 10 years ago. Um,

25:01that grant that grant from the state of

25:03Connecticut has been sitting in in file

25:05cabinets for over 10 years. Uh,

25:08initially when we put in for the grant,

25:10they the state was looking for over a

25:12six figure reimbursement back to the

25:13town from ineligible costs. So they sent

25:16us a preliminary bill for well over

25:18$100,000.

25:20We dug in, got more information,

25:23pulled meeting minutes, dug up boxes,

25:26and happy to report at the end of the

25:29day from going from over owing the state

25:31over $100,000. The state will be sending

25:33us a check for $2.6 million

25:36um from the Depollo renovation. That's a

25:38preliminary number, but we're just

25:40waiting on the attorney general and

25:41everybody to sign off on it. So, a lot

25:43of good news from that meeting. Any

25:45questions?

25:46>> Can I ask a question?

25:47>> Of course.

25:47>> Um, so when we voted on the budget, we

25:52discussed receiving the money from the

25:54state, the 833,000.

25:56And when we discussed that, um, the

26:00motion was made to reduce the budget by

26:03833 because we were taking the money

26:05from the state and plugging it there. I

26:07don't understand why the funds come from

26:08the general fund to then further fill

26:11that gap. So I'm not clear where all

26:14that is coming from.

26:16>> So So the what was said before the vote

26:18was they originally were going to wait

26:20until the 834 one a little over a

26:23million but 834 designated for the board

26:25of ed was coming from the state to

26:27transfer the money over. Um but they

26:30said the state's money the IOU was good

26:32enough for them. So they were going to

26:33give the state the money and just wait

26:35for reimbursement back. Give the board

26:37of education the money and then wait for

26:38the reimbursement back from the state to

26:39put it back.

26:42grants that come into the town of

26:44Southernington all come in through the

26:45general fund. So, um I believe when we

26:49[snorts] when we get these all the ECS

26:51funding that is comes in and then it

26:53gets dispersed out. So, this additional

26:55money uh normally it gets budgeted in

26:58you know you know we know what it is in

27:00this case we didn't know what it was

27:02it's additional money on top so that

27:04money flows in through the general fund

27:06and then needs to be appropriated over

27:08to the board of ed. I think your

27:09question was why it can't come into the

27:11general fund, right?

27:11>> But then but then why aren't we calling

27:13it what it is, not from the state

27:14[clears throat] instead of money coming

27:16from the general fund if it's

27:20>> what do you mean calling it where?

27:22>> Because it's grant money that's coming

27:23to Well, it's funding coming from the

27:25state. So why wouldn't we call it money

27:28from the state instead of taking it from

27:29the general fund? Well, for example,

27:31when we did the uh when we did the uh

27:34the budget, the bud the discussion was

27:37that the budget was that it was going to

27:38come into the general fund as a grant

27:40and then it would be transferred over

27:42the sheet. The budget sheet that was

27:44given to the board of finance shows the

27:46revenue from the state uh in the general

27:50fund uh sorry in the board of ed fund

27:52shows the revenue in the board of ed

27:54fund but it shows it as a grant coming

27:56over. So it was labeled as as additional

27:59revenues from the state.

28:01>> Mr. Chair, if I may.

28:02>> Yeah.

28:02>> All revenue goes to the general fund. So

28:05for instance, if you look at the board

28:07of finance minutes, often you'll see

28:08money to animal control or money to the

28:12police um donation account,

28:13[clears throat]

28:14that money comes into the general fund

28:16and then gets the board of finance moves

28:18it into different appropriates it to

28:20different buckets. So this money will

28:22come into the general fund and it it was

28:24moved over to the board of education.

28:26pending pending the minutes approval uh

28:29at this with this body

28:31>> and in this case it had to go to the

28:32board of education because the state u

28:35at the time that they uh at the time

28:38that CCM and um the folks from the the

28:43legislative offices they were telling us

28:45just before the budget cycle was that

28:46this money needed to go to the board of

28:48education. So it was destined for the

28:51board of education one way or another.

28:52It couldn't be used for anything else

28:53other than board of ed. mechanism. The

28:56mechanism though is that it comes in

28:58through the general fund.

29:01>> I have a question.

29:02>> I'm not sure why that is. I don't know

29:03if that's a state law or what.

29:04>> Is that true [clears throat] about ECS

29:06funding, PAR funding, funding um

29:09>> everything

29:10>> everything low funding the whole

29:12>> you'll see it you'll see it uh in the in

29:14the government budget. You'll see it

29:16there um

29:19originally.

29:24So, if you look on the board of finance

29:26minutes,

29:29um

29:33you'll see under number eight,

29:35department transfers and then

29:37appropriations. The next page, uh

29:39there's there's literally dozens of

29:42general fund to BOE to different

29:45accounts because that's how

29:48the accounting for the government uh for

29:49the town side works. All the money comes

29:50to the general fund. the board of

29:52finance goes line by line, moves the

29:54money, and you'll literally see over 73

29:56of them um were done. So, it wasn't just

29:58the 87 834, it was dozens and dozens of

30:03of movements from the general fund to

30:04the fire department, to the police

30:06department, um to the animal control.

30:13>> Chris, um a couple things. Hopefully um

30:17with uh the completion of the Apollo the

30:20middle school project um coming to a

30:23close hopefully we should see Kennedy

30:25shortly behind because those were done

30:28jointly. Those were I served on that

30:30building committee and and they were it

30:31was one project you know and two

30:33separate buildings but it was the

30:34Kennedy and Depalo building committee.

30:36So hopefully and maybe we'll see similar

30:39savings at Kennedy that we saw at

30:41Depalo. Hopefully

30:42>> we hope so. It's been a some of the

30:44files are very old, so it they have to

30:47dig through them to to get a lot of that

30:49backup, but we were we're very

30:51optimistic.

30:51>> The other good good thing about that, I

30:53don't know if residents remember that

30:55project actually we had to go out to

30:57referendum a second time. It was a very

30:58unique situation. Um once we started the

31:01project itself, there were more there

31:03was more remediation needed for that uh

31:05PCBs. Um we had to deal with a vapor

31:08barrier. Um there was a lot of

31:10remediation that we didn't anticipate

31:13before the project began. So we did go

31:15out for a second referendum. So I don't

31:17know if that factors at all into how we

31:19allocate the funds that are returned

31:21from the state. But just want to point

31:23that out too. Um, the other thing I just

31:26want to touch base on because I did

31:27watch the board of finance meeting and

31:29the majority of the meeting, well, at

31:30least the beginning was about um the

31:33again $833,934.

31:38Um,

31:40Chairman Liry at least pointed out I I I

31:43mentioned it at the last council meeting

31:45a little bit. He referred to it as an

31:47oddity. I I don't know if I'd refer to

31:49it as an oddity, but um there was a

31:51discrepancy in the budgeting um that we

31:54talked about here. Again, I'm just using

31:55his term oddity. Um and as a result of

32:00that, I know we talked a little bit

32:02about and I think Kristen or Dave, you

32:04kind of alluded to it a little bit. Um

32:07the concern too is when we enter into

32:09next fiscal year year budget really the

32:12amount for the board of education is um

32:17125,78

32:19125,78,343

32:22not 126542278

32:26because that includes the 833. So,

32:30in some sense, it's almost starting next

32:32year's fiscal budget at negative

32:34$834,000

32:37because of that discrepancy. So, um I

32:39did reach out through the chair of the

32:41board of education to Jen Mellet just to

32:44confirm my understanding was correct

32:46with that. Um so, I can enter this into

32:48the record just so we have it for next

32:50budget season that again that that

32:53amount is not in the calculation for the

32:56budget. So I can pass that down. Um I

32:59also again

33:00>> Chris just just before you go on with

33:01that topic, it's important to note that

33:03with any funds that come in from the

33:06state that you know there's a risk that

33:09it won't be renewed any funds. There's

33:11no promises for the future for any

33:13money. Um and that was discussed. you

33:16know, when when there's a when we pass a

33:18budget, the departments that get money

33:21from the state need to determine whether

33:23they're getting reoccurring money, if

33:25they think the reoccurring will be fully

33:26reoccurring or less or more or if it's

33:29going to be one time. In the case of

33:30this money, um we're told that it's

33:33one-time funds, right? Uh that's what

33:35we're we're told, but we're told that

33:36the legislature is going to fight to

33:38enact it as permanent funds in the

33:40future, but that's for the board of

33:42education to manage. they're going to

33:43have to manage to the budget that they

33:45were given to. So, you're right. Right

33:47now, it's one-time funds. Um, and you

33:50know, they should they should ensure

33:54that they're using it in an appropriate

33:55way.

33:56>> So, I guess that brings me to my next

33:58point, which is what I brought up here

34:00at [clears throat] the council level and

34:01I and again, I know it's been discussed

34:03at the board of finance

34:05extensively as well. Um

34:08the concern I guess my concern remains

34:11consistent that

34:13we are receiving financial advice from

34:18whether it be the business manager for

34:20the board of education or our finance

34:22director whose job is to ensure the

34:26finances are properly accounted for in

34:28the budgeting. It's not her job to set

34:30policy. That's our role. But once she's

34:34made aware of what the decision is, her

34:37job is to advise on what the best way to

34:40appropriate the funds are. So I'm going

34:42back to the again the 830 almost

34:45$834,000

34:48and the fact that it was accounted for

34:51again I'll use John's term an oddity in

34:54the budgeting process despite the

34:56recommendation from the finance director

34:59to not do it that way. She is our

35:01financial expert and she advised not to

35:05do it that way. And then Paul, I mean I

35:08ju just to just to be transparent, you

35:11you then asked, which frankly I think is

35:13good advice to confirm with another um

35:16other finance directors to confirm, you

35:18know, with our auditors. And she did.

35:22and she and they both confirmed, the

35:24auditor and another finance director,

35:27that Chrissy was correct in the way she

35:29recommended the money be allocated as

35:32part of the budget and that was

35:34disregarded and it was done the way it

35:36was done. So I again I'm concerned that

35:39we have our financial experts. I'm not a

35:42financial expert. I don't think any of

35:44us are up here and she's advising us on

35:47how to do things and we're and her

35:50advice was disregarded. So I I think

35:52moving forward, we need to listen to the

35:55advice of our experts when it comes to

35:58our finance director. Again, I'm not

36:00talking about her setting the policy.

36:02Decisions can be made however money is

36:04going to be allocated one way or the

36:05other. But once that decision is made, I

36:08think we need to defer to her expertise

36:10for how it's allocated. And again, you

36:13know, I can pass [snorts] this into the

36:14record, too. This was a a timeline um

36:18from the finance director to the town

36:20manager outlining that and the fact that

36:23there was in fact followup at your

36:25request.

36:26>> So I'll I'll we're three months past the

36:29budget, Chris, and you still don't

36:30understand the budget process. So I'm

36:32going to tell you what the discussion

36:33was so that you understand the

36:34difference between what was discussed

36:37with the finance director and what

36:38you're saying. what the finance director

36:41her question to me was in my discussion

36:43with her was how to budget the 833.

36:47>> Okay.

36:48This caucus and quite frankly you you

36:52only asked to restore $250,000 of the

36:55board of education of the 834 that was

36:58cut. So, your caucus put forward a

37:00motion. Your caucus put forward a motion

37:03to restore 250,000 of the 834 that was

37:08budgeted for a cut by this council.

37:10Okay. Secondly, the board of the the the

37:13finance director was uh was I was

37:15telling the finance director that we

37:17wanted calculations about the reduction

37:20of the board of education budget of 834

37:23from the budget which was done.

37:27The finance director was asking me

37:29whether I was sure I wanted to have the

37:31834 cut from the board of education

37:33budget. I confirmed with my caucus that

37:35that was the proposal that we wanted to

37:37put forward. So I stand by my I stand by

37:39my motion. The finance director may not

37:42agree with that but that's our job. Now

37:45let me finish. So what the finina what I

37:48went back to the finance director was

37:50afterwards after talking with my caucus.

37:53The finance director showed the

37:54calculation as a double reduction in the

37:57mill rate. I'm the one I'm the one that

38:00brought it to the attention of the

38:01finance director and said the bo that

38:04the chair of the of the of the board of

38:06finance is wants to wants to look at

38:09this. I spoke to him. He doesn't think

38:11you should do a double mill rate

38:12calculation. Okay. But after that, I

38:15leave it with with the board of finance.

38:18>> Did you vote on a mill rate, Chris, on

38:19this on this town council?

38:20>> No,

38:21>> we didn't finance.

38:22>> That was my discussion. That was my

38:24discussion with her. The discussion at

38:26the board of at the council is about the

38:28budget, the 834 cut.

38:31>> What the what the what the board what

38:33the finance director was talking about

38:35was the 834 cut, not the mill rate. She

38:38was talking about the 834 and whether we

38:41wanted the cut to come to to to be an

38:44additional cut of the board of education

38:46that was presented here in public.

38:48There's nothing uh there's nothing to

38:50hide there. This this caucus wanted the

38:53the 834 cut. After that, the board of

38:57finance, we have members here, the board

39:00of finance didn't look at their

39:02spreadsheets until after the after they

39:04voted on it. We have members sitting

39:06here from the board of finance who got

39:08the sheet that night, Chris. They got

39:11the mill rate calculation that night.

39:13They voted on the mill rate calculation

39:15that night and then a week later they

39:17complained that they didn't know that

39:19the mill rate calculation was double

39:21calculated. That's your job. That's not

39:23our job. Okay? So don't try to cast

39:27dispersions on me, Chris. I know exactly

39:29how the I know exactly how the budget is

39:32calculated and I know what our

39:34responsibility is here as town council

39:36members. Our responsibility is is to

39:38pass a budget and we did that. The board

39:40of finance is the one who who who has a

39:43question about the way they calculated

39:46the mill rate. Okay. So Chris, I I don't

39:49want to go back and forth with you on

39:50it. That's how the discussion went. And

39:52what I will do is I will ask if you're

39:54going to pass in a timeline, I will pass

39:56in my timeline. I gave a timeline to the

39:59town manager as to what happened. I will

40:01ask the town clerk to please put my

40:03timeline into the record along with

40:05Chris's, which clarifies what really

40:08happened. Thank you, Chris.

40:10>> So,

40:11>> and we're not on, by the way, we're

40:12we're on town manager updates for board

40:14of finance in the in the in the uh the

40:17year-end closeout update of financials.

40:19We're not on the budget.

40:20>> No, we're on the board of finance

40:21report.

40:22>> Okay. And that's what I'm commenting on.

40:24The board of finance meeting which we

40:26have to approve these minutes spent the

40:28majority of the meeting at least the

40:29first 45 minutes talking about the 834.

40:32Yes.

40:32>> So I think it's more than appropriate to

40:34discuss it again here.

40:35>> Two two points. First of all just to be

40:37clear of the 834 we know it may not be

40:42recurring. So what we said is let's

40:44allocate a portion of it $250,000

40:49for educational funds because the intent

40:53was for two purposes. One property tax

40:55relief and the second purpose was for

40:57education relief. [snorts]

40:59So that's why we proposed giving portion

41:02of that back to educational funding not

41:05cutting the whole amount. So just to be

41:06clear that's what we were I thought we

41:09were very clear at that meeting what our

41:11intent was. We did not want to give the

41:13whole thing. We we were trying to be

41:15fiscally responsible and give a portion

41:17of it. Um the second thing is I st

41:20started by saying I'm not saying it's

41:22the finance director's or anyone in the

41:24finance department's decision to set

41:26policy and decide how much money will be

41:29allocated here or there. That's our role

41:31completely.

41:32>> But what I'm saying is once that

41:33decision is made, I'll say by the

41:35majority because we didn't know before

41:37the meeting. The decision was made by

41:39the majority and then you reach out to

41:41say how can we do this within the

41:44budgeting process to do get to the end

41:46result which is what you want. You were

41:48advised not to do it the way it was

41:50done. You asked for other opinions.

41:55Other opinions were received.

41:56>> I did not you're misstating the facts,

41:59Chris, because again you don't

42:00understand the discussion. I'm going to

42:02explain it again.

42:03>> I did not ask about the budget process.

42:06The question to the finance director was

42:08on calculation of the mill rate. Chris,

42:10I passed a message along from the board

42:12of finance, the board of finance

42:14chairman to the finance director and

42:17said the finance director talked about

42:19the mill rate calculation. That's what I

42:21asked the board the finance director to

42:23look into was calculating the mill rate.

42:25Not how the no other finance director

42:27Chris is going to give advice from

42:29another town on how we do our budgets.

42:32What was what was requested and what

42:34came back was the calculation of the

42:36mill rate which is outside of this

42:38board. Chris, listen. We're not going to

42:41go on about this. Chris,

42:42>> that's not what we were talking about.

42:43>> Chris, we're done going on on this.

42:45You've been you've had two chances to

42:46talk about this. Chris,

42:47>> you have every right to discuss what I

42:49want to discuss as a council member.

42:51>> You've been acknowledged twice, Chris.

42:53Now,

42:53>> I understand to talk about it.

42:55>> Chris, we're going to ask other people.

42:56You've been acknowledged twice and now

42:58we're going to ask others.

42:59>> Would anyone else like to join in?

43:02to the discussion or something else.

43:04>> I watched the meeting also the finance

43:06uh meeting. It it was clear that

43:09something wasn't exactly right. It it

43:12was referred to as an oddity. I mean it

43:15seems like there's a lot of oddities

43:16floating around now. I hope they they

43:18cease at some point cuz the people

43:20deserve better than that. But it was it

43:23was well known, I think, that

43:27once the mill rate was set, the board of

43:29finance re looked at what they did and

43:31how things were posted, how it was given

43:34to them, and they realized it wasn't

43:36right. And there's reasons why the

43:40finance director would say what she said

43:43because there's GAP, there's Gatsby,

43:46these are people that there are other

43:47finance directors. We have our own

43:49auditors that we pay money to. and she

43:52asked them, "How should we account for

43:54this?" They told her she conveyed that

43:56information.

43:58>> It wasn't it wasn't acknowledged. She

44:00just got dismissed. And it's

44:02unfortunate. It caused an error in the

44:04mill rate. Now, it [clears throat] may

44:05have been a favorable error, but an

44:07error is an error nonetheless.

44:10>> Just how you see I see it,

44:12>> Tony.

44:12>> Yeah. Dave, are you happy with the way

44:16the board of finance had their meeting

44:19and came to the conclusions that they

44:20did? Were you happy with that?

44:25>> Well, I mean, I was happy that they

44:27realized it was there was a mistake.

44:29They called it an oddity, but a

44:31mistake's a mistake. Whether you call it

44:32an oddity or a mistake,

44:34>> whatever. I'm just That wasn't my

44:36question. My question is, are you happy

44:38with the result? Is it what this council

44:42wanted to do? learn a lesson from it.

44:44>> Perhaps that's some happiness there.

44:46Maybe it won't happen again.

44:48>> Okay, we we've had this discussion the

44:50last council meeting and now this

44:52council meeting. Okay, I'm just saying

44:54are we happy with what transpired and

44:57how it was resolved if my my opinion is

45:01of course we are. Are we going to have

45:03this discussion at the next council

45:05meeting? I mean, when's it going to

45:07stop?

45:07>> Probably not.

45:08>> Okay. Thank you.

45:10>> Discussing it pretty pretty thoroughly

45:11here.

45:12>> All right. Thanks. If this if this is

45:14over, I'd got a couple of things. Um

45:16>> Yes, Tony. Go ahead.

45:17>> on on that aren't to do with what we

45:20just talked about. Um the first thing is

45:23uh the audit report which was

45:27um which was actually uh a few months

45:29late although we'd asked for it uh for

45:32that extension and the reason being is

45:34that uh finance department faced some

45:37challenges last year with um we had as

45:40we all know because we discussed this uh

45:43last summer that we had a lot of

45:45resignations from the town due to MS um

45:48you know uh due to the pension issue and

45:51also due to some people um thought it

45:54was a good time to retire because they

45:55didn't want to work with some of the new

45:57processes and the new technology that we

45:59were implementing which is which is fair

46:01enough. So that did impact the the

46:04finance department and yet they finished

46:06the audit in the time they said. Um they

46:10also uh managed to squeeze in the time

46:13to look at something that had been uh

46:15out there for 10 years which was as um

46:18town manager said what one of the school

46:21construction projects which has given us

46:232.5 million. So, um, but this is to me

46:27this is, uh, oh, and by the way, we also

46:31have 2.5 million, uh, from that audit,

46:34which we didn't realize we were going to

46:36have. And that's because the accounting

46:38wasn't done, um, to do with the fact

46:40that these resignations had happened. uh

46:44and you know we the we were able um to

46:49do the work that was necessary and more

46:53with the people we had and gradually to

46:54bring more people in. Um and there was

46:58an obvious uh savings on that because we

47:00weren't paying people's salaries. Okay,

47:02that's that that's a wonderful thing for

47:04our finance department. Um it's a

47:06wonderful uh tribute to them and I

47:08wanted to bring it out. Okay, um in in

47:11public. Um secondly, uh a minor thing um

47:17I think it's good that we have um uh Rob

47:20Britain on the uh board of finance uh

47:24because um when I talked to him about

47:26that position um I talked to him about

47:29the fact that he has a portfolio of

47:31Connecticut municipalities. He's very

47:34well aware of how um our operations work

47:37uh as as aware as most of us are on this

47:40DAS for instance. um he's a senior vice

47:42president of a bank and he has that

47:44portfolio. So he pointed out that only

47:4870 towns did their 2025 audit because he

47:52knows through his his uh experience. So

47:55um um I'm glad he's on it. It brought

47:59out a context uh to the discussion that

48:02I I was glad to see.

48:05That's it.

48:06>> Thank you. Anybody else? And we're on

48:08the town manager report. Anybody

48:12else?

48:12>> My last comment in response.

48:13>> As long as you're not going to go back,

48:14Chris, to the thing. I've already

48:15called. We're I'm not gonna Chris. I

48:17have every I'm gonna answer Tony's

48:19question. Chris answer.

48:20>> The question wasn't directed to you,

48:22Chris. I'm sorry.

48:23>> It doesn't matter. I have every right to

48:25talk about what I want to talk about on

48:28the board of finance report.

48:29>> Chris, you've been called twice. I'm

48:31calling order. We're not going to go on

48:33about this every single meeting at

48:35Nauseium when you feel like doing this.

48:37Chris closure to it. So to answer Tony's

48:40question, I will

48:41>> The question wasn't directed to you,

48:42Chris. I will be

48:45>> Chris the decision. If

48:47>> if we learn from the mistake, do not

48:50make You're out of order, Chris. Moving

48:51forward, Chris,

48:52>> the question wasn't to you, Chris. Thank

48:53you. Thank you for continuing, Chris.

48:56Mr. Town Manager.

49:00>> Um, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Item B is

49:02the town share of the hazard mitigation

49:04assistance program, federal grant. I'm

49:06going to call that the Plantsville flood

49:08study. Um, this is something that was

49:10applied for in 2024. Third time's a

49:14charm. This is the third time the town

49:15has applied for this. Um, a little bit

49:18of background. So, Plantsville has

49:20flooded historically.

49:22Um, and it it goes all the way to to

49:25South Center Street and all the way to

49:27to Art Rich on Hart Street. Um so that

49:31the town has looked at at studying that

49:33what is going on what can we do and

49:36studies are very expensive uh very very

49:39expensive. So the town was happy that it

49:42was able to to get a uh a federal grant

49:45uh from the administration

49:47u for about $300,000.

49:50The only thing with the grant is uh it's

49:53not a 100% grant. It's a cost share. So

49:55the the the federal government would

49:57like some skin in the game. So, it

49:59requires a about a $100,000 match.

50:03The engineering department has

50:05additional funds left over from the

50:07plans for I'll call it the safety

50:08project where we budgeted in capital.

50:11It's a capital project. Um, and we have

50:13some money left over that hasn't been

50:15transferred out yet. We haven't closed

50:16it out officially. We have a couple

50:18loose ends there, but there is money in

50:20that account. So, um, the board of

50:23finance is going to have to look at

50:24this, but looking for guidance to the

50:26town council, the town council, because

50:28the town council is the authority on

50:29grants and in 2024, the beginning of the

50:32beginning beginning of 2024 when this

50:34came, it wasn't this wasn't brought to

50:35the council. So, I want to make sure

50:36that the council is on board with this

50:39um, and to give some direction to the

50:40board of finance as well. They're happy

50:42with the transfer that's been proposed

50:44by the engineering department.

50:47>> So, just to be clear, this is one that's

50:49been advertised. Um, we we did receive

50:51information from Representative Pulis

50:53that he received the grant, but this is

50:54not a grant that came before the

50:56council. The council didn't seek this

50:58grant. We weren't aware of the grant.

51:00Uh, but it's going to cost the council

51:01about $100,000. It's going to cost the

51:03town about $100,000 in order to

51:05participate in the grant. So, uh, this

51:09will be brought up later on in the

51:10agenda under old business B, and we'll

51:13be looking at that point to, uh, refer

51:15this to the board of finance to see if,

51:18um, they can find funding. One potential

51:21solution is as a town manager, uh,

51:23recommended, um, by using some leftover

51:26funds, but there's obviously some other

51:27ways to do that as well. So, we would

51:29like to send that to we're going to be

51:31looking for a motion to send that to the

51:32board of finance to determine if we have

51:34the funds and if we do then it'll come

51:36back to us to accept the grant if uh if

51:38it's recommended.

51:40>> I just have one question. How how did it

51:42get to this point? Because it's, shall

51:45we say, it's unusual to say the least.

51:47If you don't uh look at a grant,

51:49especially one that I didn't realize

51:51until, you know, it was it was it was

51:53bought up, that it it has us essentially

51:57committing to spend $100,000, which we

51:59hadn't allowed for in our budget

52:01process.

52:02>> Well, to be totally fair, town staff has

52:05applied for this three times. I I don't

52:08know if it went This is before my time.

52:11I'm not sure if the first two times went

52:12before the council for approval,

52:15>> but this was an a very early 2024 grant

52:17application that the engineering

52:19department submitted. Um,

52:21>> okay.

52:21>> But it has not been in front of the

52:23council. No.

52:25>> Okay. Any other questions on this? Okay.

52:28Item C, painting of town property.

52:31>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, this is here

52:33forformational purposes for the council.

52:36Also, I've spoken with the parks and

52:38recck department who are phenomenal.

52:41Recently, we had same some sports

52:43leagues in town paint their their logos

52:47on town property. Um, so for the public,

52:52all the parks in town are owned by the

52:53town of Sullington, the general

52:54government. The town has agreements in

52:57some informal, some formal with every

53:00youth sports league that comes into

53:02town. So the the the um softball up at

53:05Panthorn Park, the soccer at Wreck Park,

53:09um the baseball, all three baseball

53:11leagues, Southern, Northern, and

53:12Western. Um the there's agreements in

53:15place who takes care of the grounds, who

53:18takes care of who pays the water bills,

53:19who mows, who takes care of the

53:21concession stands. Um but at the end of

53:24the end of the day, the town owns and

53:26controls all of the buildings, all of

53:28the property. Um there was some an

53:30instance where one of the clubs painted

53:32their logo and I'll say for back lack of

53:35a better term painted a mural and

53:37covered entire side of the building. Um

53:39there's another club that also shares

53:41the facilities. Um so I I we asked them

53:45to paint back over with generic Town of

53:48Sington colors that we have. We actually

53:50have all the the same colors in all the

53:52parks now. It's all standardized. It

53:53looks really speed spiffy. Um,

53:56and if there's anything that they want

53:58they want to do in the future that's

54:00minor in nature, uh, I'll look at it

54:02with the recreation director. But if a

54:04club or a league or team wants to do

54:06more of an intricate or any group, um, a

54:10youth group who wants to put on a mural

54:11wants to do something more significant

54:13or more specific, we'll bring it to the

54:15parks and recck board first and then

54:18we'll bring to the council for a just a

54:19consensus or if the council wants, they

54:21can make a formal vote. We want to make

54:23sure the town council is aware of

54:25everything that's being

54:28marked up in the parks.

54:32>> And if I can add on, not just marked up,

54:33but we have had recent in the last few

54:35years field namings uh and things that

54:37have occurred without this council uh

54:39approval. So, um, when we talking about

54:42public property that's taxpayer funded,

54:44um, it's town of Southernington owned,

54:47the council should be approving any

54:49change to structures, pictures, uh,

54:52namings of fields. Um, so I would this

54:56may be something that I we might want to

54:58look at an ordinance or at the very

55:00least a written town policy that uh that

55:03ensures that it gets reviewed first by

55:05anything in the parks by the parks board

55:07and then any anything to do with public

55:10property uh any change to public

55:12property should be reviewed by town

55:14council.

55:16>> I know town manager has a question for

55:18you. Um is this an ordinance or a

55:22policy?

55:24Right now it's a policy that I'm

55:26implementing. Um but if you'd like to we

55:28can you can you can obviously do more if

55:31you'd like to.

55:31>> I think it should be left as a policy.

55:33[laughter] I

55:33>> agree.

55:34>> Okay.

55:38>> Okay.

55:38>> Yep.

55:38>> Item D, dispatchers contract agreement.

55:42>> So I I just want to start off by

55:43thanking the uh Sington Police

55:45Department dispatchers. We had a uh this

55:48has been one of the longer contract

55:50negotiations. They've been without a

55:51contract since July 1st, 2025. The

55:54town's been out without a contract and

55:55they've been without a contract. Uh we

55:57were on the verge of of going to the

56:00state. Um but at the last minute, I'll

56:02give the finance director and the police

56:04chief all the credit. They did a great

56:06job pulling the parties back in for a

56:08final time, sitting down with their

56:09leadership and coming to an agreement

56:11that that I'm happy to recommend. The

56:13police chief is happy to recommend.

56:16There's a a document I put together

56:19that's in your packet that outlines the

56:22the big ticket items that are in the

56:24contract for the public. I think it's

56:26important to know that the town is is

56:28very um appreciative and and cautious of

56:31their of their taxpayer funds. Um the

56:33agreement is a it's a four-year term

56:35that's proposed to the town council. Um

56:38the wage increase is 0% in the first

56:40year and then it's 2.5% in the

56:42additional years. The other big change

56:46on this contract is the team uh the

56:48dispatchers in the town have

56:50preliminarily agreed for them to leave

56:52the self- insurance pool. So there'll be

56:5512 people plus their family members

56:57would be going to the teamsters plan.

57:00It's a several hundred,000 savings for

57:03the town over the course of the contract

57:04as well. Um so the towns uh and and I'm

57:08not going to say I'm thrilled with this

57:09contract. I can tell you that the

57:11teamsters are not thrilled with the

57:12contract. Uh, but what I think when

57:14nobody's thrilled and everybody's okay

57:16with it, that's probably when you land

57:17it in a good spot. Happy to answer any

57:20questions. [clears throat] And again,

57:21thanks to the police chief and the

57:22finance director.

57:23>> Any questions on item D, dispatchers

57:26contract agreement?

57:28>> Oh, just a question about the self

57:29insurance portion. If they've paid into

57:32that self- insurance and now they're

57:34leaving the plan, what [snorts] what

57:35happens to the funds they've paid into

57:37it? Does it end with the the fiscal year

57:39or how does that transition work?

57:41>> It's a premium based. So, their their

57:42premiums will they'll stop when they

57:44transition. Um, we're going to let our

57:46our plan administrator and their plan

57:48administer figure out how to best

57:51transition them from the end of one

57:52month to the the beginning of the next

57:54month.

57:54>> Okay. Thank you.

57:56>> You're welcome. And it's uh and the and

57:59the self- insurance uh as a whole is

58:03good. Even beyond uh even beyond that

58:06action item, they're still running a

58:08very positive variance. So, it's good to

58:09hear that self insurance is running

58:10smoothly. It is

58:14>> item E, payroll update.

58:17>> This is just a what I'll call a

58:18quarterly update. I know there are a lot

58:21of questions and folks in the dis asked

58:23me questions last fall, last summer and

58:25early spring about payroll and some

58:27employees had some payroll concerns.

58:30Just wanted to give an update on what's

58:32been going on so far. So um we have

58:34fully transitioned from paychecks to

58:36ADP. All the employees are on board on

58:39boarded totally. the police, the fire

58:41have worked very well with our our

58:44finance department. Kudos to the police

58:45chief, fire chief and and their deputies

58:47for working to to take their systems.

58:50They have these very very complex

58:52systems and they it converts into the

58:54ADP file which then sends folks money.

58:57Um just this is how well it's actually

59:00working. Our payroll coordinator has

59:02been out on two extended leaves of

59:04absence. uh and payroll has been

59:07processed with almost zero glitches on

59:10time. Two two payroll cycles now um not

59:13connected. So a credit to the again to

59:17the finance department. They've really

59:18in the human resources department who's

59:20our backup payroll team now. They've

59:22done a great job in ensuring that

59:25everybody is getting paid on time and

59:27accurately and very little friction for

59:29the employees and the teams who process

59:32it.

59:36Any questions on payroll?

59:40>> Okay. Item F, Southernington Fire

59:42Department shared operations support

59:44update.

59:44>> Um, thank you, Mr. Chair. The chief, the

59:46fire chief's here. I'm happy to report

59:48because I I know that the council's

59:49asking for several reports and for

59:51follow-ups um how the town different

59:54departments can help the police

59:55department, I'm sorry, the fire

59:57department manage uh more effectively

59:59and easier with some lack of staffing

1:00:02there. We've had several follow-ups.

1:00:05Right now, the finance department's

1:00:06working with the the fire leadership to

1:00:09help process invoices faster. Poss

1:00:13the fire chief only has to do what I do

1:00:15is basically press a couple buttons and

1:00:17to pay an invoice. He doesn't have to do

1:00:19all of the the manual looking up the POS

1:00:21and putting the information and and

1:00:23additional. So, it should make life a

1:00:25little bit easier. Um, I did submit a

1:00:28memo from HR, giving an HR update uh for

1:00:30what HR has been doing over the last few

1:00:33months and we are setting up another

1:00:36meeting again in a few weeks to go over

1:00:39what we can do more with the the police

1:00:41department as well. Um, police

1:00:42department, uh, they've been offering

1:00:45help wherever they can. Um, but again,

1:00:48thanks to all three departments who are

1:00:49helping out the fire department.

1:00:53>> Any questions on that item?

1:00:57Just I want to just give kudos. That's

1:00:58the last uh departmental update on

1:01:00payroll and and finance and now um the

1:01:03sharing of support. You know, we sat

1:01:05here in this disk at election time last

1:01:07year and there were departments that

1:01:09were uh under scrutiny from some people

1:01:12uh elected on various boards and it

1:01:15created a lot of anxiety. Um, and I'm

1:01:17glad that we've given an opportunity for

1:01:20our town staff to show what they can do

1:01:23and to show that um, you know, this

1:01:26group of of members who have been

1:01:29brought in over the last couple years

1:01:32um, can really take us to the next level

1:01:34and take our uh, our town into the

1:01:37future. And so I want to say thank you

1:01:38to uh to the town staff, payroll,

1:01:41finance, IT, um, you know, police and

1:01:44fire, everybody's been doing a great

1:01:45job. We appreciate all that you've been

1:01:47doing and um I look forward to more

1:01:49updates in the future as we put some

1:01:51more of these on the on the agenda.

1:01:54Item G, SHs parking and changes to on

1:01:57street parking.

1:01:58>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a a

1:02:00memorandum that just came out from the

1:02:02police department. As you know, the town

1:02:03[clears throat] council, the board of

1:02:04finance and the board of education work

1:02:06collaboratively to redo the the tennis

1:02:09courts and and a lot of additional

1:02:11parking, over 100 more spots um on the

1:02:15souththeast side of the the high school.

1:02:19And with that, the police department is

1:02:20planning right now to uh increase some

1:02:24restrictions on a lot of those streets.

1:02:27I graduated over 20 years ago and those

1:02:29streets were jam-packed over 20 years

1:02:31ago and I'm sure they're they're morally

1:02:33jam-packed today. So, there's some

1:02:35additional um restrictions that will be

1:02:38in place when the parking is completed.

1:02:41Mandel Drive, February Drive, Pleasant

1:02:43Street, Anelise, and Darling all will

1:02:46have additional restrictions to help

1:02:48alleviate some of the residents

1:02:50concerns. Also, safety issues where

1:02:52people sometimes the students are

1:02:54driving fairly fast after or before

1:02:56school. you don't want those people

1:02:58crossing the streets as well. So, um

1:03:01some sort of payoffs are coming from the

1:03:03parking lot. So, it's a little more good

1:03:04news.

1:03:06Any questions?

1:03:09>> Okay. Thanks, uh for the police

1:03:12department working hard to try to um you

1:03:16know, bring the vision to to life. We

1:03:18know that there's been a lot of safety

1:03:19issues. you saw an accident there

1:03:21earlier this year with a car getting

1:03:23turned over on Pleasant Street and um

1:03:26some of the sight lines are pretty bad

1:03:27when when [snorts] it's uh crazy times

1:03:30there with events and things like that.

1:03:31So, we appreciate uh them looking at

1:03:33that. Okay, item six, town attorneys

1:03:36report a status of section 208 of the

1:03:39charter.

1:03:40>> Mr. Town attorney.

1:03:41>> Um so, I understand there's been a lot

1:03:43of questions and uncertainty regarding

1:03:45208 uh and the town council's

1:03:48appointment of Mr. Britain at the last

1:03:49town council meeting. Uh I want to make

1:03:52clear as I did in my opinion which I

1:03:53think has been shared with a lot of

1:03:55people that I do believe the town

1:03:57council had the authority at the time.

1:03:59Um there's a lot of documents that have

1:04:02been uncovered. There's a lot of

1:04:03research that Kathy's done in

1:04:05conjunction with me, Paul, Alex that

1:04:08have revealed a number of different

1:04:10circumstances that led us to this point.

1:04:11And I'll be the first to acknowledge

1:04:13there is some confusion regarding it.

1:04:15Um, and I'm more than happy to go in

1:04:17detail about the confusion. I sent out a

1:04:19packet. I apologize. It was late last

1:04:21night. I think it was at yesterday

1:04:24evening. I hope everyone got a chance to

1:04:26review it. I know it was long. I know it

1:04:27had a lot of materials in it, but I

1:04:29think those materials are helpful in

1:04:31getting us to the point where we

1:04:33understand what happened here. Um, so

1:04:35throwing it all the way back to 1994,

1:04:38that's when the charter revision

1:04:40commission specifically discussed

1:04:42section 208 and it was the proposed

1:04:45language was quote, "Vacencies in the

1:04:47library board and the board of finance

1:04:48shall be filled by the council for the

1:04:50unexpired portion of the term," unquote.

1:04:53This went to the town council accepted

1:04:54the charter recommendation and it went

1:04:57to a referendum and the voters approved

1:04:59it on November 8th, 1994. um nothing

1:05:04really happened between 1994 and 2000.

1:05:07In 2000, I think is where the

1:05:10uncertainty or questions began and that

1:05:12was in the 2000 charter or 2000 changes

1:05:16were made to the charter where we

1:05:17eliminated the library board. It used to

1:05:19be an elected board in 2000 it was

1:05:21changed to appointed and because of that

1:05:24some of the language in our charter

1:05:26likely became obsolete. Um so in 2008 in

1:05:302000 the

1:05:33referendum does not identify any changes

1:05:36to section 208. So 1994 to 2000 the same

1:05:41language still applies. Um in 2009 the

1:05:45town council

1:05:47decided to appoint board of finance

1:05:50members. There was a vacancy in 2009. I

1:05:51think Chris was involved in that vote.

1:05:55Um, and there were no issues. In 2010,

1:05:58it happened again. Mr. PCO was actually

1:06:00himself involved in that vote.

1:06:02In 2010, which I think is probably one

1:06:05of the most important circumstances

1:06:07leading up to this, there was a question

1:06:09on the referendum and the voters were

1:06:11asked whether section 208, whether the

1:06:14boards or commission should fill their

1:06:15own vacancies and the voters voted

1:06:17against it. Um, I can tell you the

1:06:19result was 8,96

1:06:22no to 5,897

1:06:25yes. And that was specifically to decide

1:06:27whether boards and commissions should

1:06:29fill their own vacancies. So, the

1:06:31voters's intent is clear. The history of

1:06:34the town count or history of the council

1:06:35appointing these members to the board of

1:06:38finance is clear. Um, this is where

1:06:40things get a little weward. So, as late

1:06:43as 2015, the published charter had the

1:06:46same language that vacancies in the

1:06:48library board and the board of finance

1:06:49shall be filled by the council for the

1:06:51unexpired portion of the term. What

1:06:53happened afterward and and Kathy is

1:06:55going to talk about it too as well

1:06:57appears to be an effort to kind of clean

1:06:59up the obsolete library board language.

1:07:01There was no reason to have library

1:07:04board language in the charter if we

1:07:07didn't have a library board that was

1:07:08elected. it's appointed. The 2000

1:07:11referendum [clears throat] established

1:07:12that. So sometime between 2016 and 2018,

1:07:16that language, the quoted language I

1:07:19gave that gave the council the ability

1:07:21to finish or fill out the board of

1:07:23finance vacancies changed. And I Kathy's

1:07:27going to talk about what happened to

1:07:29that point, but I think the intent of

1:07:30what Kathy did was to clean up the

1:07:33charter. I think the bigger issue that

1:07:35has obviously arisen now is Kathy likely

1:07:37didn't have the authorization to do that

1:07:39and as a result I think the language

1:07:41that was in the 2015 charter giving the

1:07:43town council the authority to fill these

1:07:45vacancies still applies and it'd

1:07:48probably be my recommendation that this

1:07:50language get corrected in the charter

1:07:52otherwise we're still in the same

1:07:53position where there's question as to

1:07:55who fills the vacancy. Um, so I'm happy

1:07:58to answer any questions anyone may have,

1:08:00but I think it's clear from the intent

1:08:03of the 94 revision

1:08:06what was meant to happen here and that's

1:08:08the town council supposed to fill these

1:08:10vacancies. If that wasn't clear, the

1:08:12town council filled them twice in the

1:08:14past and this exact question was asked

1:08:16to voters in 2010. So all of that

1:08:19evidence in conjunction leads me to

1:08:20believe that the town council did and

1:08:22always has had that authority to fill

1:08:24any vacancies. And Kathy, I'm more than

1:08:27happy to to hear your

1:08:28>> Kathy, why don't you

1:08:29>> go ahead Kathy, tell us maybe a little

1:08:31bit about, you know, what changed, how

1:08:33it changed, how it brought got brought

1:08:34to you, and some time frames.

1:08:38[clears throat]

1:08:39>> Well, it was a discussion um it was

1:08:42clear that there was language in there

1:08:45that shouldn't have been there with the

1:08:47library board. It was a discussion

1:08:49between the town manager and myself that

1:08:51that uh needed to be cleaned up.

1:08:55Um unfortunately

1:08:57with the example that is in all the um

1:09:01the exhibits, the entire line was

1:09:05bracketed for removal rather than just

1:09:08vacancies in the library board. That was

1:09:12what was supposed to be removed.

1:09:14Um

1:09:17this was I believe 2018 or 19.

1:09:21And when the next update with other

1:09:23changes that were um sent in for

1:09:26ordinance changes, um this was also sent

1:09:30and uh

1:09:32and then just recently discovered that

1:09:37the entire line was taken out. Uh when I

1:09:40started researching, I didn't recall

1:09:42this, but as I started going through all

1:09:45my records, um this was part of my file.

1:09:49and uh then realizing that this was a

1:09:53discussion between the town manager and

1:09:55myself

1:09:56and that's how it uh became to what it

1:10:00is right now.

1:10:02>> So just you can you believe that the

1:10:04change in at the least in the online

1:10:06version occurred roughly around when

1:10:11>> 2018 I believe.

1:10:13>> Okay.

1:10:13>> Yeah. And I can add to that. You know,

1:10:15Kathy and I have been on emails with the

1:10:18general code who maintains our charter

1:10:20and you know, we've tried to ask them

1:10:22for as much information as we can and

1:10:23there's this period between 2016 and

1:10:252018 where they don't have any

1:10:26information. We know for sure that the

1:10:28there was some request made with regard

1:10:30[snorts] to this language that is the of

1:10:33today. But um between 2016 and 2018, the

1:10:37code didn't have much for us in terms of

1:10:39answers. Um the code itself actually

1:10:43provided that they don't have any

1:10:44records acknowledging any amendments to

1:10:46section 208 as well. So again taking all

1:10:49of this in conjunction I know the word

1:10:52oddity was thrown around almost you know

1:10:54as a mistake. This this wasn't a

1:10:56mistake. You know this is an

1:10:57overcorrection on behalf of the town

1:10:59clerk. Uh which I acknowledge what it

1:11:02says in the online charter but it's

1:11:04clearly a mistake and I think that Mr.

1:11:07Britain's appointment was proper. And

1:11:09again, I'm happy to answer any questions

1:11:10anyone may have. I know that I threw a

1:11:12lot of material out in that packet, but

1:11:14I thought all of those documents were

1:11:16helpful in trying to understand the

1:11:17entire history of this and what led us

1:11:19up to this point.

1:11:20>> And for those who might be watching, um

1:11:22the the comments about the

1:11:25um the removal of the library board from

1:11:28this because it became appointed and not

1:11:30elected. the the um the title of this

1:11:34section of our charter is actually

1:11:36vacancies in elected positions. So um so

1:11:42when the library board became appointed

1:11:46that's the reason somewhere along the

1:11:47line somebody realized oh the library

1:11:50board is appointed you know maybe they

1:11:51made changes to other sections uh

1:11:53regarding the library board but this

1:11:55section here is one that um still had

1:11:58library board as being referenced as an

1:12:01elected position when clearly it wasn't

1:12:04after the uh the 2000 uh 2000

1:12:07>> 2000 yeah

1:12:08>> 2000 when it was changed from elected uh

1:12:11>> it took some some years of uh and in

1:12:13fact two appointments occurred 2009 and

1:12:1610 we don't know if anybody uh knew at

1:12:18those times that there was the error in

1:12:19this but um everybody always assumed

1:12:21that it was the 1994 language was the

1:12:24proper language which it is

1:12:25>> and I think even [clears throat] if we

1:12:27didn't have all of this evidence 2010

1:12:30when the voters voted on this made it

1:12:32abundantly clear um as to what it should

1:12:34be

1:12:36>> and to restate what the town attorney

1:12:37said was In 2010,

1:12:41there was a referendum question that

1:12:42went to the electorate that said, "Shall

1:12:45all all uh elected vacancies be

1:12:48appointed by their own boards?" And that

1:12:51went to referendum and the voters voted

1:12:52on that and resoundingly said no.

1:12:54Correct.

1:12:55>> It should stay with uh the current

1:12:57language. So, that's that's kind of

1:12:58where we are.

1:12:59>> Questions? Chris,

1:13:01>> just a comment. I I really don't want to

1:13:02get into a lot of comment on this

1:13:04because it is an ongoing legal matter.

1:13:06As we all are aware, this is being

1:13:08reviewed [clears throat] right now, but

1:13:09I have in my hands a copy that was given

1:13:11to an attorney that is the certified

1:13:14[snorts and clears throat] copy, signed

1:13:15certified copy from the town clerk's

1:13:17office. And it reads section 208,

1:13:20vacancies and elective offices. And

1:13:23again, this was received since the last

1:13:25council meeting. Vacancies and elective

1:13:27offices except in the board of

1:13:29education, the planning. think that is a

1:13:32true and accurate copy of what the

1:13:34charter should say.

1:13:38>> Chris, is there a second part to that?

1:13:41>> Yeah, it goes on to what we

1:13:43>> Can you read the second part?

1:13:44>> Sure. Sure.

1:13:45>> Um, okay. Vacancies in elective offices

1:13:49except in the board of education, the

1:13:51planning and zoning commission, and the

1:13:52board of finance from whatever cause

1:13:54arises shall be filled by the council

1:13:56for a period until the next town

1:13:57election. Vacancies in the planning and

1:13:59zoning commission shall be filled by the

1:14:01planning and zoning commission for the

1:14:02period until the next town election. In

1:14:04filling any vacancy, the council board

1:14:06of education or the planning and zoning

1:14:08commission shall select a person of the

1:14:10same political party um of the former

1:14:12incumbent unless the um incumbent was

1:14:15not an enrolled member of a political

1:14:17party in which case his successor shall

1:14:21um not be an enrolled member of a

1:14:23political party. a member elected um at

1:14:26a town election to fill a vacancy shall

1:14:28serve for the remaining unexpired

1:14:31portion of the term of the former

1:14:33incumbent. And again, I don't think the

1:14:34rest of that is.

1:14:35>> And what you're reading as a certified

1:14:37copy is what's actually on the website.

1:14:39Correct.

1:14:40>> I believe so. Okay. But this is

1:14:42>> Yep.

1:14:42>> Are you passing that in?

1:14:43>> I can.

1:14:44>> I'm going to pass this in. So this is uh

1:14:48I was made aware that there were um that

1:14:50we did have some certification. People

1:14:52come in and request certified copies of

1:14:54the uh of the charter. And just to be

1:14:57clear about what certification means.

1:14:59The certification does not mean that

1:15:01what is there is true and proper. Um I'm

1:15:04going to read what the certification

1:15:05says. It says when somebody comes into

1:15:08the town clerk's office to get a

1:15:10certified copy of something. It says

1:15:12this is to certify that this is a true

1:15:15copy of a record on file in the town

1:15:19clerk's office, town of Southernington,

1:15:21Southernington, Connecticut. So, it

1:15:22doesn't say that it is an accurate copy,

1:15:25that it is the proper legal document.

1:15:29So, I'm just going to pass this in

1:15:30because it says that it's a it's a copy

1:15:32that's online. And I will state that um

1:15:36state legislation requires that any

1:15:40any town charter change be voted on by

1:15:44the town citizens. And just because

1:15:46somebody changes something online

1:15:48doesn't mean that that is a binding

1:15:50copy. I mean Tony Morrison could break

1:15:54into the town clerk's office and go on

1:15:55her computer and send a request to make

1:15:57a change. Puts a change in. nobody

1:15:59notices it for a month. Just because

1:16:01Tony Morrison went in there and made the

1:16:03change on the town clerk's uh laptop

1:16:06does not mean that that's an actual copy

1:16:08of our town that that is an actual uh

1:16:11certified um document that is certified

1:16:14by the electorate. So what the town

1:16:15clerk certified to was that she was

1:16:18giving a copy of something that was in

1:16:19her possession. And what state law says

1:16:24is that to certify a charter change, the

1:16:28voters must vote on that change. So I'm

1:16:31I'm leaving that certification with you,

1:16:33Josh.

1:16:34>> So we voted on this 90, correct? Um, and

1:16:40your party leadership is now

1:16:44saying threatening to sue for this, but

1:16:47it was a Republican seat, correct?

1:16:51Right. Um and it was filled by I think a

1:16:54pretty qualified Republican. Right. I

1:16:56certainly don't want to serve on the

1:16:58board of finance. Um numbers are not my

1:17:00thing.

1:17:02I'm just a two-part question here. Uh

1:17:05wondering what the end goal of this is

1:17:06from I guess your party or your party's

1:17:09leadership.

1:17:11I can't speak to that. I'm not the party

1:17:13leadership, but I will tell you the town

1:17:18attorney pointed out that I voted on

1:17:21previous appointments. I I think I voted

1:17:23on both of them, but I wasn't aware. Now

1:17:25that I'm aware and I see and something

1:17:27is brought to my attention if there's a

1:17:29discrepancy and it's a legal matter, I'm

1:17:32not going to continue down a path that

1:17:33may or may not be legal. So, but it's a

1:17:36that's what

1:17:36>> clerical error. That's what this sounds

1:17:38like.

1:17:38>> No, I just read

1:17:39>> because he just I I understand. I read

1:17:41it, too. We've all I think a lot of

1:17:43people [clears throat] have read this

1:17:44now.

1:17:44>> I know. I'm trying to answer your

1:17:45question, Josh. And now

1:17:46>> you said that it's incorrect,

1:17:49>> right? And it's what the voters voted

1:17:50on.

1:17:51>> That's his opinion and there's other

1:17:54opinions. So again, I'm not going to

1:17:56comment on a legal matter. Had I been

1:17:59aware of it back when I voted for Mr.

1:18:03PCO and um Mr. Bose.

1:18:06>> If I was if that was brought to my

1:18:09attention back then, what what I know

1:18:10now, I would have questioned it the same

1:18:12way. I didn't know. Now, now

1:18:16>> we we learned though that the change

1:18:17didn't occur. The the charter language

1:18:19was proper in 2009 and 10. So, what you

1:18:21referred to in 2009 and 10 was the the

1:18:241994 language that actually stood. Not

1:18:28only did it stand in 2009 and 10 when

1:18:32you voted on it, Chris, but you as a

1:18:34town counselor in 2010 voted to send a

1:18:37referendum to change that policy and to

1:18:40ask the voters to allow the board of

1:18:42finance to vote on their own appointment

1:18:45for vacancies and the voters said no.

1:18:47So, of all people, you should know that

1:18:49you sent a referendum question that

1:18:52actually allowed boards to appoint their

1:18:54own and the voters said no. And and

1:18:56Chris, while we're talking about it, it

1:18:59was 2018 when you were town council

1:19:02chairperson that this error occurred.

1:19:05Paul, I said before, I didn't know what

1:19:08was brought to my attention now. Had I

1:19:10known, I would have addressed it. I

1:19:12didn't know. So, we're addressing it

1:19:14now. And the second thing is, as I said,

1:19:16it's a legal matter. I'm not going to

1:19:18discuss it on the diets. We we know we

1:19:20have legal matters like the Sinpro

1:19:22matter. We don't discuss that publicly.

1:19:23I'm not going to discuss this publicly.

1:19:26Who is the legal matter?

1:19:27>> I'm not getting into it, Paul. It's a

1:19:28legal matter and I'm not getting into it

1:19:30publicly.

1:19:30>> No, but I'm saying who is who is the who

1:19:32is the what is the party that's bringing

1:19:34the legal matter to the town because

1:19:36there's nothing been filed with the

1:19:37town.

1:19:39I

1:19:39>> I'm not going to continue to comment on

1:19:41it. It is an ongoing legal matter and

1:19:43we're all aware of that. But the ongoing

1:19:46legal legal matter is that the

1:19:47Southernington Democratic Town Committee

1:19:50sent the town a letter through an

1:19:52attorney challenging the the the Town

1:19:55Council decision that we all made.

1:19:57Correct.

1:19:59>> So, and you So, not only that, but you

1:20:01are also a member of the Southernington

1:20:03Democratic Town Committee. Is that

1:20:04correct?

1:20:05>> I'm not. And you're also a member of the

1:20:06Southernington Democratic Town Committee

1:20:08who is providing evidence up here into

1:20:10the record to to benefit the

1:20:12Southernington Democratic Town

1:20:13Committee's case that you're saying is

1:20:15is before us. Is that correct?

1:20:17>> I'm trying to point out what was given

1:20:19from our town clerk's office. It's a

1:20:21certified copy from the town clerk. It's

1:20:23not something that we produced

1:20:25ourselves.

1:20:26>> Chris, where did you get that from?

1:20:27>> From the town clerk's office.

1:20:29>> Who did who gave it to you?

1:20:31>> From a local attorney that received it

1:20:33from the town clerk's office. Thank you.

1:20:37>> My my second question was the town

1:20:40attorney is going forward, how do we fix

1:20:43what is online and uh the language

1:20:47discrepancy?

1:20:48>> I think the town clerk's unauthorized

1:20:50revision should be reversed.

1:20:52>> Okay. So, how do we how do we do that?

1:20:54>> That would be done through e-code uh

1:20:56through the general code. Um I think

1:20:58it's just a simple email. the town

1:21:01clerk,

1:21:03>> I'm assuming she's that she's got the

1:21:04authority to do.

1:21:05>> Yeah, the town clerk is in

1:21:06correspondence with general code. We've

1:21:08reached out to them multiple times about

1:21:09this. So, they're aware of the issue and

1:21:11understand and actually I think told us

1:21:13that the change was not authorized.

1:21:16>> Okay,

1:21:16>> I can tell you the exact language that

1:21:18Ecode used.

1:21:20>> Quote, based on the information

1:21:22available to me, it does not appear that

1:21:23section 208 of the charter was amended,

1:21:25in which case the original wording of

1:21:27these sections is still in effect.

1:21:30That was from the general code.

1:21:31>> Can we get a copy of that for the

1:21:33record?

1:21:34>> I believe that is included in the

1:21:36materials um included.

1:21:39>> It's exhibit 8 [clears throat] if I

1:21:40remember correctly.

1:21:42>> The e-code uh correspondence.

1:21:43>> Yeah, exhibit 8 should be the e-code

1:21:45correspondence.

1:21:46>> And if it's not, then the request from

1:21:49Councilman Saraphino is to include the

1:21:51E-code correspondence to you, Kathy,

1:21:55>> or the minutes. Correct.

1:21:56>> Mr. Morrison.

1:21:57>> Yeah. Just uh I have a comment on this.

1:21:58I accept uh Chris's point that um it's

1:22:03potentially a legal matter. Um and we

1:22:06shouldn't really talk about the cases uh

1:22:09the case itself. However, um just just

1:22:13want to point out one thing as as

1:22:15comment if there is a case against this.

1:22:19I mean obviously it's going to be

1:22:20changed uh language in the charge is

1:22:22going to be changed but say because of

1:22:24the time frame in which this happened

1:22:26that there is a case and it were to be

1:22:30adjudicated against um uh against the

1:22:34the town and the appointment was

1:22:38avoided.

1:22:40say that's that that happens a

1:22:41hypothetical. Um okay so what would

1:22:45happen? Well uh uh Rob Britain's uh

1:22:49appointment would be rescended and the

1:22:52board of finance would then go and

1:22:55appoint somebody into that position

1:22:59um to fill that vacancy because they'd

1:23:01have the authority then even though you

1:23:04know obviously the the charter would

1:23:06would be changed. So um who what would

1:23:09they do? Well, they have to appoint a

1:23:11Republican. Okay, number one. Number

1:23:13two, they would have to, I would assume,

1:23:17uh, do their best judgment, do

1:23:19essentially what, uh, what what some of

1:23:21us did, which is to find the best

1:23:23Republican for the job who was willing,

1:23:26um, you know, to perform. And

1:23:30you are not going to find anybody better

1:23:34than Mr. Britain as a Republican who is

1:23:37willing to serve. So in other words, we

1:23:40be exactly in the same position that we

1:23:43are now. Okay? And this that's just the

1:23:46way it is. But the reason I make this

1:23:48comment is because this is this is just

1:23:52sound and fury signifying nothing. Okay?

1:23:56And it does upset me because it's a

1:23:58waste of time. That's it.

1:24:02Anybody else?

1:24:06>> Dave, please go ahead.

1:24:07Uh, is the town of Southernington

1:24:09required to send our charter uh to the

1:24:11state of Connecticut to be put on file?

1:24:14>> No, I don't know the answer to that to

1:24:16be honest. I believe the judicial state

1:24:19of Connecticut judicial branch uh keeps

1:24:22a

1:24:25database of charters [clears throat] and

1:24:27to my knowledge because I looked I think

1:24:28the state of Connecticut judicial

1:24:30database which I think you're referring

1:24:32to.

1:24:32>> I'm not sure.

1:24:34>> Yeah. is just linked to our e-code 360

1:24:37online charter. So, I don't know if it's

1:24:40two separate charters that are out

1:24:42there. I know that when I looked on the

1:24:44state of Connecticut judicial branch and

1:24:45I went to Southernington and you know

1:24:47looked at the charter, it's [snorts] the

1:24:48exact same link that when you search

1:24:51charter into Google.

1:24:53>> So therefore, the state thinks 208 is

1:24:56what you see what's on our website,

1:24:59what's on our certified

1:25:01copy.

1:25:02>> I don't know what the state thinks.

1:25:03Well, they it's if it's on if you can

1:25:05reach it from their website,

1:25:08they believe it to be what it is. So,

1:25:11we're dealing with

1:25:13that language.

1:25:14>> Yeah. I I I'm not trying to be

1:25:16difficult, but I don't know what the

1:25:16state thinks. I think that the same

1:25:19[clears throat] database or same web

1:25:21hosting is on the judicial branch as it

1:25:24is on the general code website.

1:25:27>> Can I ask Kathy that question?

1:25:29>> Sure. Go ahead.

1:25:33when there's changes

1:25:35when there's voted changes there

1:25:38>> whatever the state has on file now is

1:25:42if a resident state of Connecticut were

1:25:44to look they would find that

1:25:46>> find what

1:25:47>> they would find

1:25:48>> I'm asking Kathy what would they find

1:25:51what what does the state of Connecticut

1:25:52have on file

1:25:54>> well when there's a vote to change the

1:25:57charter then that's submitted to the

1:25:59state how a house it store. I don't know

1:26:04um where it's located on the website,

1:26:08what website,

1:26:10but when there's a charter change, it's

1:26:12there's uh submitted to the Secretary of

1:26:14State.

1:26:15>> And is that the is is that the letter

1:26:17that we've seen already you've given to

1:26:19us in some of these correspondents,

1:26:20which is a certified letter from the

1:26:22town clerk with the referendum results

1:26:24and it shows the votes and things like

1:26:25that. Is that what you're talking about?

1:26:28>> Yes. And then um separately

1:26:32the change itself the wording

1:26:37is um sent to the secretary of state.

1:26:40>> Okay. Yeah. From the referendum vote.

1:26:43>> Yep.

1:26:46>> The e-code 360 the digital system that

1:26:48we all see online. Do they keep

1:26:50versioning? Do they have versions of

1:26:52that? Can you see changes? Can you see

1:26:54historical changes to the digital

1:26:56website

1:26:57>> on the e-code or whatever?

1:26:59>> Yes.

1:27:00>> Okay. And have you looked at that?

1:27:01>> There's archives.

1:27:04>> So, there's archives of that.

1:27:05>> There's archives on that.

1:27:07>> So, you can go back and

1:27:09see when there's changes.

1:27:11>> Okay.

1:27:11>> You can compare version to version.

1:27:13>> Okay. And did you do that for this?

1:27:15>> Uh, yes.

1:27:18>> And what did you notice?

1:27:19>> As well as I think

1:27:22town attorney. Yeah.

1:27:24>> Okay,

1:27:26good. Any other questions for the town

1:27:28attorney or the town clerk?

1:27:35>> Okay, moving on to item seven question.

1:27:38>> Not related to this.

1:27:39>> I I actually just caught something. I

1:27:41don't know if you're if you want that I

1:27:44just realized if you want we could add

1:27:47I'll make a motion to add to the agenda.

1:27:49Um the last meeting I tabled one of our

1:27:51two cable advisory positions. I've since

1:27:53confirmed so I don't know if you want to

1:27:55add it otherwise you don't need to but

1:27:58um and then the second thing I noticed

1:27:59in looking at the minutes I know it was

1:28:00the transcribed minutes um it is Mr. D

1:28:03um Dowski and it reports it as Mr. D

1:28:07Augustino I don't know who Mr. Augustino

1:28:09is I'm in the minutes. So, um earlier in

1:28:12the early in the meeting, I made a

1:28:13motion to approve the minutes. So, if

1:28:15possible, I'd like to modify my motion

1:28:18to correct.

1:28:19>> Which minutes? Are you talking the town

1:28:21council meeting?

1:28:21>> Last town council. Yeah. If that's I

1:28:25don't know if that's okay. I'd like to

1:28:26correct uh make a modification.

1:28:29>> So, we're going to go back to item two,

1:28:31approval of town council meeting minutes

1:28:33July 13, 2026. And we're going to have

1:28:36an amended motion. Yes. So, it's under

1:28:38appointments which is um towards the end

1:28:41of the right before item 11 adjournment.

1:28:44And I want to correct that. It I again I

1:28:47think it's just a transcribe error. It's

1:28:48Mr. Dernowski, not Mr. D. Augustino.

1:28:52>> Okay.

1:28:52>> Um that that we reappointed to the um

1:28:55cable advisory

1:28:55>> to the cable advisory committee.

1:28:57>> Yeah, if that's okay. Like

1:28:58>> so that's a motion uh a motion to make

1:29:00an amended motion to the uh to the July

1:29:0313, 2026 town council meeting minutes

1:29:05under the appointments.

1:29:06>> Yeah. Mr. Darinowski, not D. Augustino,

1:29:09>> and a re second from Tony Kathy. And

1:29:11then any other discussion on that before

1:29:13we any discussion?

1:29:16>> Okay, hearing none. All in favor on the

1:29:18amended town council meeting minutes?

1:29:20>> I

1:29:21>> I

1:29:21>> sorry I didn't catch it earlier.

1:29:22>> It's okay. Any uh anybody opposed?

1:29:26Okay. The motion for the amended minutes

1:29:28passes unanimously. Thanks for catching

1:29:30that, Chris.

1:29:31>> Of course. And if you if you'd like, I

1:29:32I'll make a motion to add under old

1:29:35business item B the remaining

1:29:36appointment for the cable advisory

1:29:38committee.

1:29:38>> Is it Mr. Dagustinina?

1:29:40>> No,

1:29:44>> under B old business, Chris.

1:29:46>> B.

1:29:47>> Uh,

1:29:49>> it's actually So, why don't we do it?

1:29:50Uh, old business C. Uh, it's 8C.

1:29:55>> Okay.

1:29:55>> Cable advisory committee.

1:29:56>> Okay.

1:29:57>> And do we have a second to add that

1:30:00agenda item? Second.

1:30:02>> Any discussion on that?

1:30:04Okay. All in favor to add the agenda

1:30:06item?

1:30:07>> I

1:30:07>> I. Any opposed?

1:30:09>> Motion passes.

1:30:10>> Apologies for missing. [clears throat]

1:30:11No sweat.

1:30:12>> No worries. Okay. Item seven, public

1:30:15communications.

1:30:20>> Public communications. Please come on

1:30:21up, Rachel.

1:30:27>> Good evening. It's freezing in here.

1:30:30[laughter]

1:30:30>> Good thing you brought your sweatshirt.

1:30:33>> Wow. My name is Rachel Walke and I

1:30:37reside at 138 Long Crest Drive in

1:30:40Southernington and I'm currently the

1:30:44chairwoman of the town of Southernington

1:30:46Veterans Committee and I have been

1:30:49serving in that um position for the past

1:30:53five years. So, I come here before you

1:30:57this evening because I wanted to share a

1:30:59brief report of what our veterans

1:31:02committee has been doing. Some of it you

1:31:05may already know and Chris mentioned a

1:31:08few things that I wanted to mention as

1:31:11well. First, I'd like to thank all of

1:31:14the veterans committee. They're all

1:31:17volunteers and they do a phenomenal job.

1:31:21um a lot of time and effort is taken on

1:31:25this committee and it's very appreciated

1:31:28also for the volunteers that um

1:31:32volunteer at our monthly coffee hours.

1:31:36So currently we have 10 monthly coffee

1:31:40hours. They're held at the calendar

1:31:43house here in town and um we have

1:31:47programs of interest to our veterans and

1:31:51their families. We have great speakers,

1:31:54programs,

1:31:56uh different events and of course social

1:32:00time uh and refreshments as well. The

1:32:03attendance uh stands pretty much at 50

1:32:07to 60 veterans every month. So, um it's

1:32:11very well attended.

1:32:14We also have outreach in the veteran

1:32:17community here in Southernington. Um we

1:32:20visit all five nursing facilities during

1:32:23the year and um visit our veterans and

1:32:28uh take information to them and from

1:32:32them.

1:32:34Um we're also present in the community

1:32:37all year long. uh in places like the

1:32:41apple harvest festival,

1:32:44um the Halloween in the village,

1:32:46Christmas in the village, Easter on the

1:32:49town green. Um

1:32:54let's see, we work with uh Valentine the

1:32:57Clown at Christmas time. We do food uh

1:33:02food drive for uh community service. We

1:33:05also work very close with Janet Melon at

1:33:09community services and um currently on a

1:33:13homeless committee on the uh veteran

1:33:17sector of that. We also work with uh

1:33:21Connecticut kids, American Legion

1:33:24Auxiliary and STEPS to mention a few of

1:33:28the nonprofits in town. We also work

1:33:32with the Connecticut Army National Guard

1:33:34very closely on several events and

1:33:37activities during the year. Of course,

1:33:40you realize that there were 50 troops

1:33:42that were deployed last October to the

1:33:45Middle East and we've been supporting

1:33:48them uh with packages with a sendoff

1:33:52breakfast. And I understand they will be

1:33:55returning

1:33:56uh to Connecticut shortly. And so we do

1:34:00plan on having a welcome home uh lunchon

1:34:03for them. We also um um work with the uh

1:34:10military kids with their um summer camp.

1:34:14Um we work on the parent child dinner

1:34:17dance, Christmas family party, a lot of

1:34:21different things that we do with them.

1:34:23>> [clears throat]

1:34:24>> Um, we're pretty much working and

1:34:27available 24/7

1:34:29to our veterans and their families. And

1:34:32we get a lot of phone calls, a lot of

1:34:35things that these veterans need. And we

1:34:39try to fill all those needs that that's

1:34:43possible that we can. And I have a

1:34:46feeling that this fall and winter it

1:34:48will even amp up more with the way

1:34:51things are.

1:34:53So then of course we have some other

1:34:56exceptional things that we do and uh

1:34:59Councilman uh Palm Mary mentioned that

1:35:02and one of them was um Chris um Chris

1:35:08Pulis senior approached me with wanting

1:35:12to do um uh have a subcommittee and talk

1:35:17about dental care for veterans. He had

1:35:19heard about it in Florida. So I said

1:35:23sure let's go with it and through that

1:35:26the um state passed the law and it will

1:35:31become due on January 1 27

1:35:36that uh veterans that are eligible will

1:35:40be able to get uh some free dental care.

1:35:43So kudos to um

1:35:47to Chris. great job with this committee

1:35:51and it's a winwin for all of our

1:35:53veterans here in Connecticut. The other

1:35:57thing I want to mention is about you're

1:35:59aware about the monument, how we're

1:36:02trying to restore that monument and it's

1:36:05been going on for years now with the

1:36:08veterans committee. So, we're getting

1:36:10closer for sure. and um Joe Lozen, Joe

1:36:15Delaport, uh myself, we've been working

1:36:18on this for quite a while and I want to

1:36:21thank them very much for all their time.

1:36:24And then out of that,

1:36:27Chris Pulis,

1:36:29um our state representative went to

1:36:32Hartford and he was able, as you know,

1:36:35to get us $50,000 grant to help with the

1:36:39restoration of that monument. So through

1:36:43his efforts and all his hard work, um

1:36:47kudos to him. He he's been great to our

1:36:50community and he's been great for our

1:36:53veterans. So in closing, I I don't want

1:36:56to forget about the biggest event that

1:36:59we had with our uh MIA

1:37:03uh veteran, Donald Dorman. Uh it was

1:37:07amazing. this veteran missing in action

1:37:11for over 80 years finally returned to

1:37:14his hometown and to be buried with his

1:37:17family. And um our town did a a a

1:37:22wonderful thing here that will be

1:37:25remembered for many years to come with

1:37:28the four events uh that took place. um

1:37:32with all the honor and respect uh and

1:37:35all of the community. Um I especially

1:37:38want to thank Lauren Dedzik at

1:37:41Plantsville Memorial Funeral Home, the

1:37:44First Congregational Church with Pastor

1:37:47Laura, and of course um the

1:37:52[clears throat] Joe and K Calvin

1:37:54Foundation and the Aquaturf.

1:37:57um when I say it takes a village and

1:37:59it's my favorite saying, but it's true.

1:38:02It takes a village and we pulled this

1:38:05off. So finally, I would like to give a

1:38:09shout out to our local Zion church here

1:38:14for the to appreciate what they do,

1:38:18their continued generosity to our

1:38:21veterans and our veterans committee, to

1:38:24our donation line item, and through

1:38:28them, we're able to do so much to help

1:38:31our veterans. So, thank you and God

1:38:34bless them. Lastly, thank you to the

1:38:38council for all your support these past

1:38:41five years and we hope to continue with

1:38:45our current uh programs and of course we

1:38:48would like to uh add additional programs

1:38:52as well in the coming months. So, thank

1:38:55you very much for your time.

1:38:59>> Thank you, Rachel. And thank you for

1:39:01your service as well and your passion

1:39:02and your love for the veterans in our

1:39:04community. Thank you.

1:39:08>> Anybody else would like to speak during

1:39:10uh public communications?

1:39:17[clears throat]

1:39:20>> All right, sir. Good evening.

1:39:22>> Good evening, members of the

1:39:24Southernington Town Council. My name is

1:39:26Peter Pansky and I live at 62 Eden

1:39:30Avenue here in Southernington. and I've

1:39:32lived on Eden Avenue for 67 years, my

1:39:36entire life. I'm coming before you today

1:39:40to speak to you about public road safety

1:39:43on Eden Avenue and Liberty Street.

1:39:46Over the years, I have watched the Eden

1:39:48Avenue and Liberty Street neighborhoods

1:39:50change. Some change for the better, some

1:39:53change for the worst. With that said, I

1:39:55know change is inevitable.

1:39:57The town has done a great job in

1:39:59providing the residents of

1:40:00Southernington, especially the Eden

1:40:03Avenue and Liberty Street residents with

1:40:05reputable businesses and housing, as

1:40:08well as keeping the street safe and

1:40:10clean. However, traffic on Needen Avenue

1:40:14and Liberty Street has become a concern

1:40:16not only to myself, but to many other

1:40:18residents who live there.

1:40:21There has been a recent increase of

1:40:23housing complexes in the neighborhood

1:40:25such as Eden and Maine which to the best

1:40:28of my knowledge has 41 apartments and 23

1:40:31condominiums.

1:40:33Furthermore, there is Liberty Station

1:40:35Complex at 76 Liberty Street with 30

1:40:38units, the Center Point Crossing at 136

1:40:42Liberty Street with 28 units, and the

1:40:45Renaissance Commons Complex at the

1:40:47corner of Liberty Street and Columbus

1:40:50Avenue with 20 condominium units. That's

1:40:53a total of 142 new living spaces. If you

1:40:57multiply that by two, which is [snorts]

1:41:00an average estimated amount of vehicles

1:41:03per household, it equals around 284

1:41:06vehicles added to the daily traffic in

1:41:08this neighborhood.

1:41:10In addition, many people familiar with

1:41:13this area avoid a section of Route 10 by

1:41:16speeding down Eden Avenue, then crossing

1:41:19over to Liberty Street, North Liberty

1:41:22Street, and finally to High Street to

1:41:24skip all the traffic lights and

1:41:26congestion surrounding the town green.

1:41:30To myself and other residents in the

1:41:32neighborhood, the most serious road

1:41:35safety issue concerning Eden Avenue is

1:41:37the lack of public awareness of the two

1:41:40schools that border Eden Avenue.

1:41:43Darrenowski Elementary School and St.

1:41:46Luke Catholic School. Both schools have

1:41:49entrances on Eden Avenue. There are no

1:41:52crosswalks on Eden Avenue, nor are there

1:41:55any signs to indicate that you're

1:41:58driving through a school zone. Not one

1:42:00sign. Several residents on Needen

1:42:03Avenue, myself included, have had to

1:42:06stop traffic on their way to had to stop

1:42:09traffic in order to let children and

1:42:11families safely cross the street on

1:42:14their way to and from school. The only

1:42:17two traffic signs on Eden Avenue are

1:42:19signs that state that the speed limit is

1:42:2125 miles hour, which many people ignore.

1:42:25Again, [clears throat]

1:42:26there is not one sign indicating that

1:42:28you're traveling through a school zone

1:42:30on Eden Avenue. In years past, many

1:42:33residents on Eden Avenue have asked to

1:42:36have a three-way stop sign installed at

1:42:38the intersection of Eden Avenue and

1:42:40Liberty Street, but were met with

1:42:42resistance or lack of concern from the

1:42:45town. This is an issue because car speed

1:42:48on Eden Avenue on a daily basis and

1:42:51parking is permitted on both sides of

1:42:54Eden Avenue and Liberty Street, which

1:42:56makes it difficult to enter Eden Avenue

1:42:59from Liberty Street. I'm here to ask the

1:43:02town council to implement a three-way

1:43:05stop sign at the intersection of Eden

1:43:07Avenue and Liberty Street. There are

1:43:09already four-way stop signs at the

1:43:11intersection of Liberty Street and

1:43:13Columbus Avenue, as well as the

1:43:16intersection of Liberty Street and

1:43:17Center Street. I believe that an

1:43:20additional three-way stop sign at the

1:43:22intersection of Eden Avenue and Liberty

1:43:24Street is necessary not only to reduce

1:43:27the out of control speeding that is

1:43:29occurring on Eden Avenue on a daily

1:43:31basis, but also to prevent more

1:43:33accidents from occurring or people

1:43:36getting injured by crossing the street.

1:43:38I'm also asking the town council to post

1:43:41school zone signs or create crosswalks

1:43:43on Eden Avenue to further improve public

1:43:46safety on the street. Moreover, the town

1:43:49might also consider using additional

1:43:51enforcement measures such as traffic or

1:43:53speed cameras and increase police

1:43:56surveillance. This would further improve

1:43:58safety and could potentially increase

1:44:00[snorts] revenue for the town from

1:44:02speeding tickets. I'd like to end by

1:44:05thanking the members of the town members

1:44:07of the town council for taking their

1:44:09time and their attention to this matter

1:44:11and I look forward to seeing the

1:44:13improvements that I anticipate if these

1:44:16suggested measures are taken. Thank you.

1:44:19>> Thank you, Mr. Pansky.

1:44:21Would it please the comm the town

1:44:24council if we ask the town manager to

1:44:25look into this with the police

1:44:26department?

1:44:27>> Yeah, absolutely.

1:44:28>> Mr. Town Manager.

1:44:30>> Thank you. I appreciate

1:44:31>> Thanks for bringing it up and thanks for

1:44:32bringing some suggestions. Those are

1:44:33good suggestions.

1:44:34>> Well, it's it's this is all true. And

1:44:36and the other residents who came before

1:44:38I don't know if they came before you or

1:44:40where they they were basically says,

1:44:42"Oh, we have to do a traffic study. We

1:44:43have to do you know well I did a study

1:44:46of my own just real quick a real study a

1:44:48study on my own." And I contacted the

1:44:50Southernington Police Department and I

1:44:52have statistics here of reported

1:44:54accidents on Eden Avenue and Liberty

1:44:56Street. I also contacted the Yukon,

1:44:59Connecticut crash data repository and I

1:45:02got uh statistics from reported

1:45:05accidents and the best one was the

1:45:08Capital Region Council of Government for

1:45:10the state of Connecticut. There I got

1:45:12some really good statistics but again

1:45:14they're all reported accidents and let

1:45:17me tell you not every accident is

1:45:19reported. I've witnessed accidents

1:45:21people get out of their cars and say oh

1:45:23what I don't want my insurance to go up

1:45:25please let's not do it. saw another

1:45:27accident where somebody says, "Please, I

1:45:29don't have insurance. I don't want to

1:45:30get arrested." So, statistics are great,

1:45:34but the reality is

1:45:37personally I think if somebody wants to

1:45:39do a study, why doesn't somebody go up

1:45:41and down Eden Avenue in Liberty Street

1:45:43and ask the people what's going on

1:45:45there? Because I'm telling you, you guys

1:45:48probably every myself included, I void

1:45:52this section of Tington. I go down High

1:45:54Street. I go down Liberty Street and I

1:45:55live. We've all done it.

1:45:57>> We've all done it. That's what I'm

1:45:58saying. That's right. And and that's why

1:46:00it's getting really kind of out of

1:46:02control right now.

1:46:03>> If you have some of those statistics

1:46:04that you would like to pass in for the

1:46:05record, you can give them to the clerk.

1:46:07We'll put them into the

1:46:08>> meeting. These are just reported.

1:46:09>> Okay.

1:46:10>> And you know, and I'm saying to myself,

1:46:12this isn't real, you know. But the one

1:46:14good thing is the um from the um I just

1:46:17want to just show you this real quick.

1:46:18the capital region of council of

1:46:20government for the state of Connecticut.

1:46:22They have the map of Southernington of

1:46:23where you know if anybody's seen this.

1:46:25Yes. It's Yeah. I love it because it's

1:46:28Queen Street the most, West Street the

1:46:30next. And then right here in the circle,

1:46:32guess whose neighborhood that is? Okay.

1:46:35So,

1:46:36>> pass that one in. Pass that one in.

1:46:37>> You know, so there you go.

1:46:39>> Thank you, Mr. Pollinsky. We'll we'll

1:46:41look into it. Crosswalks uh crosswalks

1:46:44and uh and school zone signs. I mean,

1:46:46those seem like, you know, no-brainers.

1:46:47has got to do it. Um, obviously we have

1:46:49to work it through our chief uh traffic

1:46:52officer, the chief. So, be good to uh

1:46:54and maybe we can have that reported out

1:46:56in a meeting or two.

1:46:57>> Absolutely.

1:46:58>> Thank you.

1:46:58>> I would appreciate it. Thank you. And

1:47:00that stop sign, I'm telling you, it's if

1:47:04you only knew the amount of people that

1:47:07zoom zoom zoom zoom, you know, because

1:47:09it's a it's a it's like a racetrack. And

1:47:12I've had somebody tell me who lives on

1:47:14Vermont Avenue that, "Oh yeah, Eden

1:47:16Avenue is a real great place. It's

1:47:18double wide. Not like Eden, not like

1:47:20Vermont." And you could just zoom down

1:47:21there.

1:47:22>> Thank you.

1:47:22>> So

1:47:23>> appreciate you coming out. Good talking

1:47:25with you.

1:47:29>> That's great. Okay. Is there anybody

1:47:30else who would like to speak during

1:47:32public communications?

1:47:37>> Mr. Chairman, Tim Wilk.

1:47:40>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good evening

1:47:42everybody. I promise to keep this very

1:47:43brief. [snorts] Tim Wilk, resident at

1:47:46144 Scenic Drive and as a candidate for

1:47:5081st um House District in

1:47:53Southernington, is it Mr. Pansky? Did I

1:47:55pronounce it? Did I pronounce that

1:47:57correctly?

1:47:59>> Polansky. Thank you. I will say having

1:48:01been out campaigning that's not the

1:48:03first time I've heard same or similar

1:48:05complaint about that area there. So it'

1:48:07be nice if we could all work together,

1:48:08maybe accomplish something there. But um

1:48:12the other reason I want wanted to come

1:48:13to come before you was uh as a super

1:48:16numerary officer here in town. I just

1:48:17wanted to share with you folks that

1:48:19having worked a number of those um

1:48:21milling and paving jobs. I will say

1:48:23overwhelmingly the the residents have

1:48:25been quite pleased with the work for the

1:48:27select few who have expressed

1:48:29inconvenience by the projects. I will

1:48:32say that I've advocated for the council

1:48:35advocated for the town and said, you

1:48:37know, sometimes things need to get worse

1:48:38before they get better. But in the end,

1:48:40you'll have a nice uh freshly paved

1:48:42road. So, also as a resident, I

1:48:44appreciate uh the interest in the in the

1:48:47in infrastructure.

1:48:49Lastly, uh as chair of the board of fire

1:48:51commissioners, I'd like to thank you,

1:48:52Mr. Chairman, and um Councilman

1:48:55Saraphino, for your recent attendance at

1:48:57the fire commission meeting. Um I'm sure

1:49:01I speak on behalf of the rest of the

1:49:02fire department, too, when I say that we

1:49:04appreciate your um sacrifice and your

1:49:07time and your continued interest. So,

1:49:09That's all I have.

1:49:10>> Thank you.

1:49:11>> Thank you.

1:49:16>> Is there anybody else who would like to

1:49:18speak tonight?

1:49:24Anybody else? Okay, we will close public

1:49:28communications and move on to item

1:49:30eight, old business. Um action on

1:49:33dispatchers contract agreement.

1:49:38Looking for a motion. Anybody?

1:49:39>> Motion to approve.

1:49:40>> Tony makes a motion to approve.

1:49:42>> Second.

1:49:43>> Second from Mr. Zony. Any discussion on

1:49:45the dispatcher's contract?

1:49:48>> Uh just quick question, Mr. Town

1:49:50Manager.

1:49:50>> Um so what are the aspects that you

1:49:54didn't like about the contract?

1:49:59>> You mentioned that neither

1:50:00[clears throat] side liked it, which

1:50:01>> contract negotiations.

1:50:03>> I with all due respect, Mr. remorse and

1:50:06I I'd like to to not share that

1:50:08publicly.

1:50:09>> Okay. Understood. Understood.

1:50:11>> All right.

1:50:14Okay. Any other questions on that?

1:50:17>> Well, I will just say thank you to uh

1:50:19all parties involved. I know it's never

1:50:21an easy thing. Um but it sounds like you

1:50:23guys worked through some ups and downs

1:50:26and allarounds and uh you've come to a

1:50:28spot that um everybody agrees on and

1:50:30that's an important thing. So, thanks to

1:50:32all the parties involved. Um, madam

1:50:34cler, could you call the role, please?

1:50:36>> Zone,

1:50:37>> yes.

1:50:40>> Ga,

1:50:41>> yes.

1:50:41>> Morelli,

1:50:42>> yes.

1:50:43>> Morrison,

1:50:43>> yes.

1:50:44>> Pomera,

1:50:45>> yes.

1:50:45>> Saraphino,

1:50:46>> yes.

1:50:47>> Jlinsky,

1:50:48>> yes. Motion passes seven to zero. B.

1:50:51Town share of hazard mitigation

1:50:52assistance program, federal grant,

1:50:54Plantsville flood study. We're looking

1:50:55for a referral to the board of finance

1:50:57on this.

1:50:57>> I'll make a motion to refer this to the

1:50:59board of finance.

1:51:01>> We have a motion. Second.

1:51:03>> Second for Mr. Zoey. Any discussion on

1:51:06the referral?

1:51:08>> All in favor?

1:51:09>> I. Any opposed? Okay. Motion passes

1:51:12unanimously. Item C, cable advisory uh

1:51:16committee appointment.

1:51:17>> Since the last meeting, I have confirmed

1:51:18with Sandy Bernoli that she is willing

1:51:21to be reappointed to the commission. I

1:51:23just wanted to confirm that. So, it's my

1:51:24pleasure to recommend the name Sandy

1:51:26Bernoli for the vacancy on the cable

1:51:27advisory committee.

1:51:28>> Okay. We have a motion for Sandy.

1:51:30>> I'll second. Second from Mrs. Ga. Any

1:51:33comments on that? Any discussion?

1:51:36Hearing none. All in favor?

1:51:38>> I

1:51:38>> I. Any opposed?

1:51:40>> Okay. The motion passes unanimously. Uh

1:51:42we're now going to move into executive

1:51:44session on personnel matters and real

1:51:46estate contractual matters northwest

1:51:48part of town. So, we have a few items.

1:51:50Uh, I'm going to ask for a motion to

1:51:52move into exe executive session, barring

1:51:54the public and the press, but including

1:51:56the town manager, town attorney, and for

1:51:58the first agenda item, the fire chief uh

1:52:02and then uh the fire commission

1:52:04chairman. And we will um then excuse the

1:52:08two of them and have the rest of the

1:52:09executive session. Uh we will have

1:52:12action on the report of board of finance

1:52:14following um the executive session.

1:52:18So, do we have a motion for that? Motion

1:52:20to move into executive session.

1:52:22>> Second

1:52:22>> motion and a second. Any discussion?

1:52:25Okay. All in favor?

1:52:26>> I.

1:52:27>> Any opposed? Okay. A motion passes

1:52:30unanimously.