2026-09-28 - Town Council

00:50Heat.

01:07Heat.

07:16Okay, good evening everybody.

07:20We are uh at the town council meetings

07:22Monday, September 28th, 2026, 7 p.m.

07:25Before we begin our regular meeting, we

07:27are going to go into a public hearing.

07:29One blight ordinance. Uh what I'd like

07:32to do is turn it over to the town

07:34attorney to give us an overview of the

07:36blight ordinance.

07:37>> Skipping skipping the ordinance, chair,

07:38but that's okay. Um, so we spent uh,

07:41yeah, the blight ordinance was revi I'm

07:44sorry guys.

07:48>> So blight ordinance was revised um,

07:50probably about a year and a half ago and

07:52uh, you know, in talking to Matt and

07:54talking to the some other town

07:55officials, there were some issues with

07:56enforcement. So for the last three or

07:58four months, we've been trying to take a

08:00crack at it and try to simplify it. um

08:02you know it was very well written uh a

08:05year and a half ago but it just created

08:07a lot more work uh than we thought was

08:09necessary to get it to a point where it

08:10was workable. So we did our best to

08:12streamline it in conjunction with Matt

08:15with Brandon who's here somewhere um to

08:19make it to the point where the town is

08:21you know comfortable. We also impose

08:22some deadlines uh because we know that

08:23we had some complaints in the past that

08:25there were investigations made and there

08:27was no action taken or people didn't

08:28hear back which is obviously

08:30unacceptable. So, we put some hard

08:32deadlines in there and tried to

08:33streamline the process to, you know,

08:35fight blight in this town.

08:36>> Okay. Thank you to the ordinance

08:38committee chair Tony.

08:39>> Yes.

08:40>> Yeah. I'll echo what Lou says.

08:44Uh anyway, um if anybody wants to come

08:47up and speak to it, now is the time to

08:49do so.

08:51>> Excellent. So, we're now the public

08:52hearing is open. Um we're hearing uh

08:56anybody who wants to speak on the

08:57proposed blight ordinance.

09:02help.

09:03>> Sure.

09:04>> We got a crown. Uh, anybody who would

09:07like to speed on the on the blight

09:08ordinance needs to be a resident of

09:10Southernington or employed by the town

09:12of Southernington. You may please state

09:14your name and address for the record.

09:16>> Uh, Charles Chapman. I live on Lower

09:18Curtis Street. Some of you guys folks

09:22are probably aware of what that street

09:25might that that portion of that street

09:27looks like. Um, I filed a bite complaint

09:30years ago. I was told that's not blight.

09:34And

09:36I I I know blight when I see it. I'm not

09:39talking about an overturned a garbage

09:40can or somebody that didn't cut their

09:42lawn for a couple weeks. You know,

09:44there's two properties specifically

09:47um that are just a mess. They've been a

09:49mess. Abandoned cars, trees growing up

09:52through and around the cars. So, I'm

09:55going to guess they're unregistered.

09:57And you know, when I filed a complaint,

10:01I made a phone call here maybe a month

10:03and a half ago and I said, "Can't you

10:05guys just drive by and look?" You know,

10:09town employees say, "Hey, this looks

10:10pretty bad." And I was told, "Well,

10:13we're not vigilantes, so file a

10:15complaint and then go from there." So, I

10:17did. And I'm just hoping that, you know,

10:20something can happen, you know,

10:23something like that can be addressed.

10:24You know, my property, all of our taxes

10:27went up, you know, quite a bit, mine by

10:30over 30%.

10:32And my house hasn't changed, but my

10:35neighbors houses have changed to the

10:37worst. And that affects my property

10:39values, which is going to affect what

10:42taxes I have to pay to the town. If my

10:45house is worth less, then I'm going to

10:48owe you all less. So, I just hope, you

10:51know, I know you guys do all a good job.

10:53I'm grateful for your service. I just

10:54hope those kinds of issues can be

10:56addressed

10:58more quickly or more efficiently and

11:03people have filed a complaint, maybe

11:04they they could be advised, okay, here's

11:06the action that we've taken. you know, I

11:10was told, well, if you want to know what

11:11the progress is, come on back and uh you

11:14know, maybe we can tell you. So, anyway,

11:17that's my uh complaint.

11:19>> Yeah. And my my only response to that is

11:21uh motor vehicles are listed on the list

11:24of blighted conditions and the updated

11:27uh amendment has a response to the

11:30complaint in within 10 days. So, you

11:33know, you should hear back.

11:34>> So, that's something new then.

11:36>> That is something new.

11:37>> Okay. All right. Like I said, I don't

11:38want to be a bad neighbor. My neighbors,

11:40I'm sure they're nice people, but you

11:42know, it's just a mess down there. And

11:44that's not withstanding Don Stevens Tire

11:46across the street, which been a horrible

11:48issue for decades that I had to go end

11:51up going to the state because they said

11:54that you guys, somebody here said that's

11:56a state issue, not a town issue. So,

11:59that got partially resolved for maybe a

12:02few years and now it's getting right

12:04back to where it was before. Well, thank

12:06you for your time.

12:07>> Thank you, Mr. Chapman. And just to give

12:09a little context for the folks who are

12:10here, uh the this town council last year

12:13did provide an update to our blight

12:15ordinance. Um you know, hearing the

12:18public's feedback, trying to make it a

12:20little bit easier to report and a little

12:22bit easier for the town to enforce.

12:24We're learning as we're going and we're

12:26adapting as we're going here with this

12:27updated regulation as well. and we may

12:30find that we have to do it again. But

12:31we're stepping through and trying to uh

12:33to be um

12:36consequent about our decisions but also

12:38thoughtful and that we're not uh you

12:40know going too far and uh you know going

12:42too far into invasion of privacy and

12:45individual property rights etc. So um

12:48we'll continue to have the public

12:49hearing here. Ma'am, please come on up.

12:55>> Good evening everyone. My name is Mary

12:57Peterman. 71 Wilbur Street Plantsville.

12:59I was here last year and spoke on the

13:01the changes in the blight um ordinance

13:03last year and I'm speaking tonight in

13:05support of any and all changes that

13:08bring resolution to blight complaints.

13:10After repeated filings that go back 10

13:12years, um the reports that I'm having

13:15from the property impacting my

13:17neighborhood, um it still remains in

13:19full blight. Um there's numerous

13:20unregistered vehicles, including a boat

13:22that hasn't been touched in 20 years.

13:24There's spil, decay, garbage inside and

13:26out. Shingles are falling off still. The

13:28porches do not have windows, so you can

13:30see all their garbage and debris as you

13:31drive by. There was one visit from

13:34zoning this summer. And after that

13:36visit, all they did was cut their lawn.

13:38I don't mean grass. I mean huge bunches

13:40of weeds that spread onto the street.

13:43That's it. That's all that was done.

13:45That also includes a report to the

13:47health department by myself as well. We

13:49now, after 27 years of living there, had

13:51to contract pest control companies

13:53because we've been invaded by their

13:54rodents. There's a garage they haven't

13:56opened in 27 years. Their backyard ends

14:00with a fence that goes into property

14:03that is the back of my yard and it's a

14:06dilapidated fence and they used to cut

14:08that lawn. They haven't done that in

14:10over 10 years. So now it's just a mini

14:12forest of overgrowth.

14:14My questions are I believe that

14:16according to the section 203.7 of the

14:19existing ordinance that the owner lees

14:22or occupants are all jointly responsible

14:24to adhere to the ordinance which is

14:26different than what I was being told. I

14:28was told there was difficulty with this

14:30property because the owner lives out of

14:32state.

14:34Um her family members are some of the

14:36occupants there. I interpret this to

14:38mean that the occupants that are there

14:39now are liable to be held this to the be

14:42to the specific sets forth in the

14:44ordinance. I'm hoping that's correct.

14:48I guess I can answer later. Um my other

14:52question is will this new procedure of a

14:5410-day investigation include properties

14:56that are already under review? Because

14:58if it does not, I will be filing a new

15:00Blake complaint tonight already filled

15:03out and ready to go. So, please help me

15:06to resolve this matter. If you think

15:08about it, what would you do if this

15:09property bordered yours? I think you

15:11would vote for fast and complete

15:12resolutions for all. I never heard back

15:15from a zoning enforcement. I never heard

15:17back from the health department. I thank

15:19you for your consideration and I fully

15:21support the changes.

15:22>> Thank you, Miss Peterson. We'll ask the

15:24town attorney to make a couple comments

15:26at the end uh for some of those unless

15:27you want to.

15:28>> No, it does include occupants. Um and in

15:32response to Mr. Chapman's comments, you

15:33should be hearing from the town. So, if

15:35you do make a complaint, you know, the

15:36the new ordinance requires that you're

15:37going to be heard from within 10 days

15:39just to give you an update. So,

15:40>> okay, I'd appreciate that very much.

15:42Thank you.

15:42>> And the last one is does the current com

15:44does the if there's current complaints

15:46on file once this takes effect, if it

15:48does take effect, I think it's 15 days

15:50after it's passed, Alex,

15:52>> after publication,

15:53>> 15 days after it's public uh public uh

15:55after publication, so roughly 20 days if

15:58it passes tonight. Um,

16:01do the existing complaints now have to

16:03abide by the new standard or do they

16:05need new complaints?

16:07>> I would imagine new complaints. Um, you

16:09know, I'll certainly talk to Matt and

16:11Brandon and everyone in that office to

16:13determine,

16:14>> you know, a lot we didn't change the

16:15categories of blight. Um, so if there

16:17was a blighted condition

16:19>> pre amendment and the same blighted

16:22condition post amendment, uh, you know,

16:24blight is blight. We didn't change any

16:25of the 16 or 17 qualifications that we

16:27had. So,

16:28>> so those will may be okay to move

16:29forward with

16:30>> under, but I wouldn't be able to say

16:31definitively.

16:32>> Okay.

16:33>> So, basically file another complaint 20

16:35days from now to make sure that goes

16:36with the 10day

16:38>> to be sure.

16:39>> Yeah, if you're inclined.

16:40>> Oh, I am inclined. It's been over 10

16:42years.

16:43>> Thank you, Mrs. Peterson.

16:46Okay.

16:55>> Good evening.

16:56Good evening.

17:00My name is Carolyn Stimson.

17:03I live at 95 Germaine Street in

17:05Southernington.

17:08I've resided there for 47 years and have

17:11owned my home there for 38 of them.

17:14I'm here to just

17:17let you know how this situ

17:22has not worked for us.

17:26I'm here tonight tonight not to pursue a

17:28personal vendetta,

17:30but to share a cautionary story of how

17:33minor code violations

17:35can escalate into a public safety issue

17:39when the ordin ordinance lacks the teeth

17:42to resolve them early. Excuse me, I am

17:45shaking inside.

17:51I have navigated our town's blight

17:54process regarding 7577 Germaine Street

17:58for decades.

18:00Decades ago, working with then zoning

18:02enforcement officer Frank Vincy, I don't

18:05know if any of you remember him, yielded

18:08only temporary results.

18:12Over the years, because of the current

18:14current organ ordinance lacks strong

18:18enough mechanism to compel compliance,

18:21the property has continuously

18:24deteriorated into a fullfledged

18:27junkyard.

18:30My daughter and I had planned to attend

18:33your September 3rd meeting.

18:38To advocate for a stronger blight

18:40ordinance

18:42to prepare, my daughter took photos from

18:45our property

18:48to document how the unresolved code

18:51violations have accumulated over time.

18:56Unfortunately,

18:59we never made it to the meeting.

19:02A confrontation occurred on my property

19:06regarding those photos,

19:09resulting in a physical altercation and

19:13arrest.

19:16I'm sharing this specific detail for one

19:19critical reason

19:22to illustrate how unadressed blight

19:26directly damages the fabric of the

19:28neighborhood.

19:31We proper

19:33when property standards are left

19:36unmitigated year after year.

19:39Tensions inevitably rise.

19:43Neighbors become afraid to speak up as

19:46mine have.

19:53>> Take your time.

20:00>> They won't sign petitions or engage in

20:03the town out of fear of friction and

20:05retaliation.

20:08When a blight ordinance is not taken

20:10seriously, it is difficult to enforce,

20:14it opens the door for situations to

20:16escalate far beyond property lines.

20:19After 47 years of peace,

20:24I now had to install security cameras

20:32and I I I worry when they go off at

20:35night about my safety now.

20:39The goal of reforming the ordinance

20:41should be prevention.

20:44We need a strength and clearly

20:46enforcable blight ordinance that

20:48encourages early compliance

20:51long before a situation is allowed to

20:54accumulate,

20:56simmer, and escalate into something

20:58worse.

21:00I invite each member of this council,

21:05each of you,

21:08to visit my home

21:11and neighborhood,

21:13and see why proactive enforcement

21:17matters. And I urge you to strengthen

21:19this ordinance for the safety and peace

21:22of Southernington residents.

21:24I thank you for your time.

21:26>> Thank you.

21:40Good evening.

21:41>> Good evening. I'm Mario Simeone own 7577

21:45Germania. And this has been escalating

21:48since my neighbor's tree went through my

21:49roof in my garage. I pulled the stuff

21:52out of the garage to try to clean up so

21:54the contractor can fix my garage. She's

21:56unwilling to submit to the insurance and

21:59give me the insurance information to

22:01repair my roof. I have vehicles I

22:04acquired because I lost my parents, my

22:06grandparents, and my uncle in the last

22:08couple years waiting for probate to get

22:10rid of these vehicles.

22:13My kids also working on a car. I own two

22:16race cars. I've got a monster truck.

22:19I've got several other vehicles in the

22:20yard. I'm trying to get rid of them.

22:23I've sold a 62 Chevy Impala, a Trans Am,

22:26a Corvette V, and multiple other

22:29vehicles. Now, I guess she's turning

22:32over the house to her daughter, and she

22:34wants it prim and proper, but you can

22:37only do so much with what you got. And

22:40as it is over the last couple years, the

22:43neighbor across the street, Panella's

22:45own Southernington Insurance Agency, the

22:48niece, somebody graffitied their house.

22:50My kids got blamed for it. The husband

22:53backs out of the driveway, hits my

22:54Mercedes, hit and run. Now, he's also a

22:57Southernington police officer.

22:59I still haven't gotten paid for the car.

23:01The car is sitting there smashed,

23:04so I'm waiting for them to reopen the

23:06case and get a warrant for his arrest.

23:09Uh, we've got other issues on the

23:11street. We've had perverts. One guy was

23:14uh couple doors down molested my two

23:17boys. They police didn't do a thing to

23:19them. The boys work on their own cars.

23:23So, at least they're staying out of

23:24trouble. The day in question, the

23:27daughter

23:29went into my neighbor's backyard,

23:30trespassed, threw a rock, broke a car

23:32window, then took a picture of it saying

23:34it was blight because now the car has

23:36got a broken window. The neighbor calls

23:38up and says, "This blonde lady was in

23:40the backyard, smashed the window."

23:42>> Sir, ju just if we can just focus. I

23:45know that this is a very uh personal and

23:47and hot topic.

23:48>> This is going on to this assault.

23:49>> I know, but if you can focus just on the

23:52blight ordinance because we're here to

23:53we're not here to talk about the dispute

23:55between the parties. If you can just

23:56focus on the proposed blight ordinance

23:57and how it might pertain to

23:59>> I'm totally against it. It violates

24:01constitutional rights. It violates civil

24:03rights.

24:05It it under um covenant boundaries.

24:08There's no nobody has authority to a to

24:12photograph or videotape the property.

24:14They don't have any authorization

24:17whatsoever or authority.

24:20Okay. Prior years prior I had problems

24:24with Mr. Weissell. I had an auto body

24:26shop on Darling Street.

24:29I had forced to shut down the shop and

24:31have the equipment at my house. He was

24:33saying I was running out of business and

24:35my uncle Mr. Vincy wanted his have palms

24:38greased all the time and that was

24:40another reason why the auto body shop

24:42got shut down.

24:42>> Again, just let's focus on the ordinance

24:45uh please.

24:48>> But I don't believe the they should uh

24:52the ordinance

24:55should should stand at all. It violates

24:57people's rights.

24:58>> Okay. Thank you.

25:06Okay. Is there anybody else who would

25:08like to speak on the blight ordinance?

25:14Anybody who would like to speak during

25:16the public hearing on the blight

25:17ordinance?

25:19Last call. Okay. The public hearing is

25:23closed. We are going to move into our

25:25regular meeting and we're going to take

25:27up the blight ordinance after public

25:29communication under old business and

25:31decide where to go uh as a council from

25:33there.

25:34>> Okay. Madame clerk, would you please

25:36call the role for the regular meeting?

25:38>> Jennifer Clark

25:40>> here.

25:40>> Michael Delanto

25:41>> present.

25:42>> Kristen Ga

25:43>> here.

25:44>> James Morelli

25:45>> here.

25:45>> Tony Morrison

25:46>> here.

25:47>> Christopher Paul

25:48>> here.

25:49>> Joshua Saraphino

25:50>> here.

25:51>> David Zony

25:52>> here. Paul Chaplinsky

25:54>> here. Can we all please stand for the

25:55prayer and the flag salute.

26:01>> Heavenly Father, give us grace tonight

26:03to understand that the impact we make

26:04upon this community is not just for

26:06today, but for generations who will

26:08follow us.

26:10Help us do what is right and if need be

26:12courageous. We commit ourselves, our

26:14decisions, and the Thomas of

26:15Southernington under your care. Amen.

26:20I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

26:23United States of America and to the

26:25republic for which it stands. One nation

26:28under God, indivisible, with liberty and

26:31justice for all.

26:37>> Okay. Thank you everybody.

26:39Looking for a motion to approve the

26:42minutes from the September 14th town

26:44council meeting.

26:45>> Motion to approve.

26:46>> Yes. We have a motion from Chris and a

26:49second. Was that Dave? And a second from

26:51Dave. Any discussion on the minutes.

26:54Okay. All in favor?

26:55>> I.

26:56>> Any opposed?

26:58>> Okay. Hearing none. Motion passes

27:00unanimously.

27:02Um

27:04we're going to go on to council person

27:06communications. I'd like to first open

27:09the council person communications uh up

27:11with our fire commission chairman, Mr.

27:15Tim Wilk. if he'll come on up. He has

27:18some uh updated information that he

27:20would like to give to us.

27:29Chairman Wilk,

27:32Mr. Chair, thank you. Good evening,

27:34everybody. Please, pardon my appearance.

27:36I was out door knocking and this was

27:38entirely a last minute thing, so please

27:40forgive me.

27:41>> Hot off the press.

27:42>> Hot off the press. Nonetheless, by know

27:45by now you're all aware that the uh

27:46grant was approved. So, um there's

27:49certainly an electricity running through

27:50the fire department. My phone's been

27:52blowing up all night as you can probably

27:53imagine. All very excited. At the same

27:57time, we do understand this is just a

27:59although it's a monumental first step,

28:00it is just a first step. There's much

28:02more to deliberate on, much more to

28:04discuss, and much more to debate. I

28:06remember being here whatever it was a

28:08few months ago and remembering that

28:09process quite well. Um,

28:13uh, Councilman, uh, Palmary, I think

28:15that you had a direct hand in contacting

28:17our, uh, Congress men and, uh, senators.

28:22So, obviously, we we really appreciate

28:24that was obviously a very important step

28:26towards, uh, towards this achievement.

28:29And, we can certainly all agree it's

28:31it's something that the the town is um

28:34is all going to benefit from. Uh like I

28:37mentioned right at the start, the fire

28:38department is quite excited about it. We

28:41understand it is just a first step, but

28:43um my recollection was that we all

28:46collaborated. We shared our thoughts. Um

28:49we came to what we thought was a

28:50reasonable conclusion. So now we have

28:52this um even greater decision before us.

28:55I I don't envy you for having to make

28:56those decisions. But nonetheless, we are

28:59looking forward to uh continued

29:00collaboration, continued support and um

29:04we'll be quite pleased to uh to see this

29:06thing through. So, thank you all again

29:08very much and um looking forward to

29:10working with you all.

29:12>> Thanks for letting us know about the

29:13safer grant. We appreciate it.

29:16Okay, council person communications,

29:18anybody who would like to share?

29:26Okay, Tony.

29:27>> Sure. Um, yeah, I met with uh part of

29:31the U Harford Healthcare executive team

29:34as covering Sington um for breakfast uh

29:38early uh last week. Um

29:42they they said uh I said essentially two

29:45things to them. The first was uh what

29:49they've done over the last several years

29:50has been has been great. I mean, uh, you

29:54know, uh, the hospital, uh, the

29:56buildings they put up and some of the,

29:59uh, capabilities they put into place.

30:02Um, but I did have one thing that I

30:04think, uh, this town is is really,

30:07really missing. And maybe it's just

30:09modern medicine is partly to blame, but

30:12it's the fact that there aren't any

30:15primary care is a problem in this town.

30:17There aren't enough general

30:18practitioners. I mean, I don't have one.

30:21Uh but um

30:24so these the specialty care is is pretty

30:28good, but the ability to navigate that,

30:30which usually is what your general

30:32practitioner does, your family doctor,

30:34if you want to put another word on it,

30:36um helps you do that. That is uh that

30:40doesn't that that's a problem. And they

30:42admitted it was. They're trying to work

30:44with Quinnipiac Medical uh to sort of

30:47groom some of these people. But that

30:50that that's a problem and I think um I

30:52think we need to be aware of that and I

30:54think we need to uh push Harford

30:56Healthcare to solve that problem. It's

30:58not just Sington, it's elsewhere. Okay.

31:02Like I said, it's modern medicine. You

31:04can make more money doing certain

31:05things, specialty things than you can in

31:08being um you know, a family doctor. That

31:11that's just a fact of life. But it

31:13doesn't mean that those things shouldn't

31:14exist in town. And they also uh I picked

31:18up one thing uh which was interesting.

31:21Their business model um assumes that the

31:25town population is is essentially

31:28maturing

31:30um you know to 65 and older. But their

31:33business, you know, that's I think we'd

31:34all agree with that. But their business

31:36model assumes it's going to be gradually

31:38towards 85 and older. In other words,

31:41you know, people are going to get older

31:43and older and as you get, you know, a

31:45certain age, then you then uh you know,

31:48your needs uh your health needs in

31:50particular grow. And that's something

31:52also the town needs to be prepared uh

31:55for as well. That's it, Mr. Chair.

31:59>> Thank you, Tony. Anybody else?

32:04>> Chris?

32:05>> Yeah, I I have a couple items. Um

32:10first is I I I just want to make um a

32:14statement um in regards to our last

32:16meeting. I was kind of taken aback um

32:19specifically with the appointment of um

32:21the board of ethics. Um so I wanted to I

32:25wrote down my thoughts and wanted to

32:26share them. Um tonight

32:29uh I recognize that our charter

32:31establishes maximum party representation

32:33and does not require every board and

32:36commission to be evenly divided. My

32:38concern is not about whether we can make

32:41those appointments under the charter.

32:43Technically you can. My concern is

32:45whether we are honoring the principle

32:47behind minority representation.

32:50The charter specifically contains

32:52minority representation provision. That

32:55provision ensures that one political

32:57party cannot occupy every available seat

32:59on most boards and commissions.

33:02Again, my concern is whether we are

33:03honoring the broader principle of

33:05meaningful representation in how we make

33:08appointments.

33:09The numbers over the years demonstrate a

33:11significant change. In October 2019,

33:15under Democratic controlled council,

33:17Democrats certainly held majorities on a

33:19number of boards, but Republicans

33:21continued to have a meaningful

33:23representation on those boards. In fact,

33:26several boards had Republican chairs

33:28even while Democrats control the

33:30council, including the Commission for

33:32Persons with Disabilities, Library

33:34Board, Recreation Commission, Parking

33:37Authority, and Regional Health District.

33:40According to a document I I've shared

33:42this in the past and I updated it based

33:45on our last meeting that I'll share with

33:47everyone. Uh there are no boards

33:50currently with Democratic chairs

33:52currently again compared to the five I

33:55just mentioned under a Democratic

33:57control council. Even more concerning,

34:00currently three boards have no Democrats

34:02on them at all.

34:05Using the 15 boards, comparing from 2019

34:09to 2026, excluding the Fair Rent

34:11Commission because it didn't exist back

34:13in 2019, and looking at only Democrat

34:16Republican membership,

34:18I counted 47 Democrats and 30

34:20Republicans in 2019

34:23compared with 18 Democrats and 15 57

34:28Republicans today. That comparison does

34:30not provide improper appointments by

34:33itself because terms, vacancies, and

34:36unaffiliated members matter, but it

34:38illustrates the magnitude of the shift.

34:42I am also concerned when the majority

34:43effectively chooses who will occupy a

34:46Democratic seat, especially like we saw

34:48at our last meeting with the board of

34:50ethics appointment. If Democratic

34:52council members put forward Democratic

34:54candidates, but the Republican majority

34:56rejects those candidates and instead

34:58selects a Democrat of its own choosing,

35:01the seat may technically be occupied by

35:03a Democrat, but that raises a legitimate

35:06question about whether minority

35:07representation is meaningful or merely

35:10numerical.

35:12At our last meeting, Dave Kristen and I

35:14came prepared with two Democratic

35:15candidates for the Board of Ethics. We

35:18ultimately only named one because we

35:20hope that at least one would get that

35:22appointment. The board of ethics

35:24ordinance specifically limits party

35:26composition by stating that no party may

35:28have more than two regular members. So I

35:31agree that the current composition of

35:32two Republicans, one Democrat, and one

35:35affiliated voter does comply with the

35:36ordinance. However, legal compliance

35:39does not resolve the separate question

35:41of whether the appointment process

35:43appropriately respects minority party

35:46participation.

35:49This should not be about Republicans or

35:50Democrats. It should be about

35:52establishing a fair standard that we

35:55would all be comfortable living under

35:57regardless of which party controls the

35:59council. The majority has the right to

36:01govern, but I believe good government

36:03also requires a meaningful voice for the

36:06minority. When one party controls the

36:08council, it should not use that control

36:11to marginalize the other party on

36:13appointed boards and commissions, that

36:15standard should apply regardless of

36:17which party has the majority. So, I have

36:19I don't have enough for everyone, but

36:21I'll pass this out and I'll give one to

36:23the clerk. Um, again, just to see over

36:26the years how boards and commissions um

36:29I this information was all compiled um

36:32through the clerk's office. Kathy, thank

36:34you for your updated boards and

36:36commissions um listing on the website.

36:39It it makes things very easy to follow.

36:42Um so again, I'd like to submit this to

36:44the record and and just share my

36:46concern.

36:51Um I have two other quick good news

36:54items. Um just a reminder to to the

36:57residents, October 14th is our annual

36:59soup night for Bread for Life. That's at

37:00Southernington High School. Um it's a

37:02very popular event. Tickets are now

37:04available. So, um if you visit, um Bread

37:07for Life, their website, you can find

37:09information about that. But, but again,

37:11um I'd like to encourage members of the

37:12community to get involved with the soup

37:14night at Bread for Life. It's a pretty

37:16major fundraiser for them.

37:19Also, some good news. Coming up on

37:20December 8th, um Southernington High

37:23School Wall of Honor will be celebrating

37:25its 20th year of inducting graduates

37:29from Southernington High School into the

37:30Wall of Honor. Um this year uh there are

37:33five um nominees that are going to be

37:36recognized. Uh James Ben who's an author

37:39that published 21 books with a new one

37:41coming out currently. Um he writes

37:43fiction about World War II era. Uh

37:45Joseph Delaporta is a distinguished

37:47veteran himself and active in our

37:49veterans groups in town and connecting

37:51them with our schools. Donald Dorman we

37:54all know very well who was shot down

37:56over Poland in World War II but not

37:59identified until recently. So, we were

38:01honoring him. Austin Florian, we're also

38:04very familiar. He came before the

38:06council as well, recent Olympian. Um,

38:09but also a wonderful motivational

38:10speaker. Um, some of us were in

38:12attendance at the high school graduation

38:13and heard him speak there. And again, he

38:16also came um before our town council.

38:19And finally, another um person that's

38:22not a stranger to any of us, Mark

38:23Ramsey, a a longtime local farmer runs

38:27Lewis Farm uh head of LEAF program who

38:31does agricultural work on our schools

38:32and who donates so much um all school

38:35gardens um schools and local

38:38organizations as well as to the town

38:40itself. Um so again, that will be

38:43December 8th this year at the Aquaturf

38:45because of the special 20-year

38:46anniversary. And if it's okay, I'd also

38:49like to submit to the uh minutes um a

38:53letter requesting donors. Uh we want to

38:55try to make it a little special event.

38:56Normally this event is occurs at Sington

38:58High School itself, but because it's a

39:00turf this year, we're looking for some

39:02additional funds. So if I can submit

39:04that to the clerk as well. Um if

39:06anyone's interested, please refer back

39:08to our minutes and you'll find

39:09information about how you can donate.

39:18Anybody else like to speak during

39:20council matter communications?

39:23Anybody?

39:25Okay, hearing none. I just have uh two

39:28items. Uh sent an email to the council

39:30regarding operation stay warm with Janet

39:33Melon. She's looking for us to help uh

39:35staff the um the activity for the

39:39opening day there. It's a I think it's a

39:41Saturday morning. So, if everybody can

39:43please look at their calendars, that's

39:44coming up very quickly. If you can

39:46please respond to that uh email and let

39:48us know if you can do that. I think

39:50we're looking for four or five um folks

39:54to out to to to be there for a few hours

39:57in the morning. So, have a look at the

39:59details there. We would appreciate if

40:01you'd do that. Um, and then Chris, maybe

40:04for you, I I've gotten an email a couple

40:06times about a sponsor for the uh apple

40:11harvest that's looking to make a

40:13donation of a tree to the town

40:15>> uh due to a longtime sponsorship. I'm

40:17not so sure how appropriate it is to

40:20accept a donation. Um, so I'm going to

40:23send that over your way.

40:24>> Great. And I'll have Melissa I don't

40:26know if they've been in touch with

40:26Melissa, who's our sponsorship

40:28coordinator, but we can start there.

40:29>> Yeah, great. If you can take take a look

40:31at that, I'll send you the info on that.

40:32Great.

40:33>> Again, I'm just not sure, Alex,

40:34accepting I mean, if we accept the

40:36donation of a tree from a uh you know,

40:38somebody who's paying to to be in the um

40:42uh the apple harvester to sponsor that,

40:44it kind of opens a precedent that I

40:45think is not a good idea. While it's

40:48noble and I think very um it's

40:50appreciated that they would even

40:51consider doing that, I personally don't

40:53think that that's uh a good thing to do.

40:56But um defer also to the town manager.

40:58also a town vendor.

41:00>> Okay.

41:00>> Which we typically don't like to accept

41:02>> Yeah.

41:03>> anything from.

41:04>> Yeah. So, there may be a communication

41:07uh they want to connect with you and the

41:08Apple Harvest Committee. I'll send it

41:09your way

41:10>> and and if it's okay with you, too, I'll

41:11confer with the town attorney as well.

41:13Once I get all the information, we can

41:14connect and

41:15>> Okay, sounds good. Thanks.

41:17>> Thank you.

41:17>> You're welcome.

41:18>> Okay.

41:21Moving on to item four, reports of

41:23special committees. Item A, technology.

41:26Jen.

41:27>> Yes. Uh we met last week um with uh the

41:32technology committee and of course uh

41:34Mitch Googlotti and things are as usual

41:38a buzz with technology making

41:40improvements one department at a time.

41:43We talked about um we touched base on

41:46the community feedback form. So they

41:49this is in use and working staff is

41:52continuing to develop a streamlined

41:54workflow behind the scenes. Um we talked

41:57about how this was a great uh free

42:00solution that gets the community in

42:02touch with appropriate staff. Um so

42:05they're going to continue to work to

42:07improve that as well. We also talked

42:09about audiovisisual technology. So if

42:12anyone's been to the town hall or board

42:14of finance meeting, you've noticed

42:16definite improvements. Um it's been

42:18completely revamped thanks to uh town IT

42:21staff to provide clearer audio and

42:24visual capabilities. um here at the

42:26municipal center it's a different animal

42:30if you will um a little more challenging

42:33but they they're continuing to make

42:35improvements and possib and getting some

42:37quotes to see um where we can go from

42:40here because there are some challenges

42:41with that system we also talked about AI

42:45obviously AI is everywhere and it's also

42:48in our town and um our town staff is

42:51responsibly uh leveraging AI that we

42:53have through Gemini And one example is

42:57um with our AP accounts payable um

43:00taking it basically take what it's

43:02intended to do is you know take

43:04repeatable processes and automate them

43:06so people can reallocate their time to

43:09more meaningful things and um through

43:11the town manager and IT staff they they

43:13have done that and made some

43:14improvements there and so I think that

43:15will continue. Um so it was a great

43:18discussion. Um did I forget anything

43:20Josh?

43:23Okay, any questions on the technology

43:25subcommittee?

43:26Making great strides from uh two or

43:29three years ago when we started it. So,

43:31congrats.

43:33Item B, EMS committee.

43:36>> The EMS committee met on September 17th.

43:40Overall EMS call volume remains

43:42relatively stable with 4,088

43:45calls through July of this year compared

43:48with 45,055

43:50during the same period last year.

43:53Overall ambulance overloads were

43:55slightly lower. However, the fire

43:57department responses to overload

43:58situations increased from approximately

44:0188 last year to 110 this year or an

44:05increase of about 25%.

44:08chiefly explained that the fire

44:10department may respond to priority one

44:11calls, overload situations, or other

44:14incidents where additional assistance is

44:16needed, providing patient care and

44:19stabilization until an ambulance

44:21arrives. He also added that the fire

44:23department does not respond to every

44:24medical call. We are continuing to

44:27monitor priority one response times,

44:30which fell below the 90% standard during

44:32the previous two months. AMR reported

44:35some summer staffing challenges.

44:37Although staffing is beginning to

44:39improve, the committee will continue

44:41reviewing the response time and overload

44:43data closely. We are continuing our

44:46review of the AMR agreement with the

44:48goal of bringing the contract to draft

44:50status and then forwarding it to the

44:52town manager for review followed by the

44:54town attorney. The ultimate goal is to

44:57present a final agreement to the town

44:58council for approval. The contract will

45:01remain at no cost to the town.

45:04>> Thank you. Any questions on EMS?

45:09>> Okay. Um

45:11my only I would like to ask just one

45:13thing is and I'm not sure exactly who to

45:15direct it to if it's a town manager or

45:16somebody. I know we've had some

45:18discussions in years past about the uh

45:21contacting our state representatives and

45:25state legislators about the EMS

45:30um policy that the state has regarding

45:34who owns what geographies.

45:36uh because geographies are owned by

45:40companies and service uh organizations

45:42who provide ambulance services to uh

45:45those areas. So for ours for example,

45:48it's AMR. Um but there are others who

45:51would like to compete

45:54to have those services at potentially

45:58lower costs. And um we've been down this

46:00road before. Um, I feel as though we got

46:04a pretty bad deal by the state uh when

46:08it came when it came to uh our appeal. I

46:11thought it was pretty locked down that

46:12we were going to save millions of

46:13dollars, millions of taxpayer dollars

46:16over a few years of the contract and the

46:18state wouldn't allow us to do that

46:20because of um you know these type of

46:22contracts. And I would like to ask our

46:24EMS team to start to frame out what

46:29would it take to get our um state

46:33delegation to work on our behalf and

46:36make some proposed changes to our laws

46:39that allows municipalities like

46:40Southernington to go out to bid and seek

46:43lower cost alternatives that provide

46:46lower cost and better services um at the

46:51discretion of the municipality. and

46:53those who are elected to represent the

46:55people of our community. And so if you

46:57can carry that please, Alex, to the

46:59committee. And Kristen, I think I think

47:01it would be worth that committee taking

47:04that up and working hard to uh to maybe

47:06propose some legislation and ask our

47:08delegation who's willing to support us

47:10on it.

47:14Okay. Thank you. Item C, ordinance Tony,

47:18we have uh sewer and then ebikes.

47:20>> Sure. Yes. Thanks, Mr. Uh I'll just

47:23start with a quick one. Um this uh year

47:26we've had about six or seven ordinance

47:30committee meetings and this is opposed

47:32to about the the two or so a year we

47:35used to have the last few years. So um

47:38it's to do with the amount of business

47:40we're looking at. Um so what we did on

47:43the last meeting as the first item of

47:45business was to turn uh what's usually a

47:47special meeting. when we we just have a

47:49meeting, we schedule it based on a

47:51particular issue and we change that to a

47:53regularly scheduled monthly meeting so

47:56we can handle um uh a lot of stuff

47:58that's coming our way. That's the first

48:00change. Uh second change is second sorry

48:03item. Uh we have two uh ordinances

48:08proposed this evening. Um the first one

48:10is uh an ordinance to do with the sewer

48:14which is essentially a collection of

48:16additional monies from uh developers

48:20uh if they impact um uh the sewer uh the

48:26sewers uh the sewer flows uh more than

48:28they are right now. It's called a sewer

48:30capacity fee. And that's that's one

48:33item. The the second item is a set of

48:36individual sewer fees uh such as um uh

48:40I'll read a couple

48:47sorry such as uh

48:55sorry I don't have it in front of me but

48:56there various uh items um that we

48:59haven't charged for in the past and yet

49:02we use engineering fees these um

49:04engineering time uh for people who who

49:07use them. Oh, you got them. Thanks.

49:09Appreciate it.

49:11Thank you very much.

49:17Uh they aren't on that. Oh, here we are.

49:23So, pipelining, draining, repair of

49:25existing sewer mains, lateral lines.

49:28That's used to be $15. It's gone up to

49:29$50.

49:31uh feasibility design award of capacity,

49:33we're starting to charge for that. Final

49:35design review of residential, that's 250

49:38bucks. We're starting to charge for

49:40that, though we never used to before.

49:41But there's a set of fees like that in

49:43order to uh defay the cost of our

49:46engineering time.

49:48Okay. that uh ordinance though um uh we

49:52we passed it at the

49:54>> just pass it down. What's that? Pass it

49:56down to the clerk.

49:58>> That there's

50:00>> sure.

50:00>> Yes. Sorry. That um that ordinance was

50:05voted on by the committee to be passed

50:07to the town council for review. Uh but

50:09it was based on the fact that the town

50:11engineer still had to uh review uh

50:14various aspects to that and the town

50:17engineer is just uh hasn't had time uh

50:20to do that and he begged us for a couple

50:22of days to review it. So uh when we get

50:25to that in old business, I I'll ask for

50:28that motion to be tabled um to uh

50:31approve the ordinance which will then go

50:32to a public meeting. So we'll wait until

50:35the town engineers had had his say. But

50:38the second item,

50:39>> can we take questions on sewer?

50:40>> Oh, sure. If you want to. Yeah.

50:41>> Anybody have questions on the sewer?

50:43Everybody has the first read in your

50:44email from the town attorney. So, um, we

50:47won't have action on that tonight.

50:49>> Any questions on it, though?

50:51>> Okay. Thanks, Tony.

50:52>> Okay. Um, the second one, uh, the ebikes

50:56ordinance, which after several meetings,

50:59uh, we've now come to, uh, an ordinance

51:02that that we're happy with that we're

51:03passing on to the town council.

51:06Um we've we developed it in the last

51:09three meetings of the committee August

51:1120th, September 3rd, September 24th. Um

51:15we began work on this issue back in

51:17March actually. Uh state legislation

51:20clarified the definition and

51:22classification of ebikes but table we

51:24tabled it to see our experience with

51:26ebikes uh over the summer. uh in

51:30addition to the state legislation and

51:32our own experience with ebikes

51:34uh going to these meetings, we use

51:37research from two other sources to help

51:39in the crafting of the ordinance and

51:41these were uh Southernington Police

51:43Department's data from this year's ebike

51:45incidents. Uh already existing

51:48ordinances on the subject from eight

51:50Connecticut towns. Uh obviously we want

51:53to review what others are doing that's

51:54successful. uh we don't want to start

51:56from scratch, you know, reinvent the

51:58wheel. And testimony from Southernington

52:01residents at two of those ordinance

52:03meetings. In fact, the bulk of the

52:05meeting um August 20th and September 3rd

52:09was based on Southernington resident uh

52:12testimony.

52:13Okay. Uh the overall goal was to create

52:16a simple, easy to understand,

52:18immediately understandable ordinance

52:20that would control the problems we've

52:21experienced already in Sington or

52:24believe we will in the future.

52:26And the ordinance uh is is is actually

52:29it's it's only two pages

52:32uh and it's composed of five sections.

52:36Uh the first defines what we mean by

52:38ebikes as defined by Connecticut

52:41legislation, but we also included

52:43bicycles and motorcycles uh in that uh

52:47definition based on testimony from

52:49residents that people traveling fast on

52:51bicycles and motorcycles were equally uh

52:54a problem as well. Um the second defines

52:58the behavior we are trying to eliminate

53:00which um we call reckless or

53:03uncontrolled operation.

53:06And I'll um I'll just read what those

53:08are because they're very short. The

53:11section says, "No person shall operate a

53:13regulated vehicle a without due regard

53:17for the safety and rights of ped

53:18pedestrians and drivers and occupants of

53:21other vehicles or in such a manner as to

53:23endanger the life, limb, or property of

53:26any person while in the lawful use of

53:28any street, sidewalk, or other public or

53:31private property. B. without ex

53:35exercising reasonable and ordinary

53:37control over such regulated vehicle or C

53:41by trick riding or in a weaving or

53:43zigzag course unless such irregular

53:46course is necessary for safe operation

53:49in compliance with law and that uh

53:51dovetales with essentially how the

53:54police uh in town view this as well as

53:57uh several other ordinances we looked at

53:59have very very similar language.

54:03Okay, the third section outlines um the

54:07role of parents or guardians of minors

54:09using ebikes

54:11uh because you know they have a role

54:13too. The fourth explains the penalties

54:16for violating the ordinance uh engaging

54:19in reckless or uncontrolled operation of

54:22a particular vehicle. Uh be punished by

54:26fines based on an infraction.

54:28Infractions are issued by the Sington

54:30Police Department and the fine schedule

54:33is $250 for the first offense and $750

54:37for a subsequent offense. Violating the

54:40parental responsibility

54:43uh i.e. this is the parents not the

54:44person operating the vehicle. Uh that

54:46would be subject to the same fine

54:48schedule as well.

54:50The fifth section outlines the fact that

54:53a police officer may at his her

54:55discretion order a vehicle to be towed

54:58and impounded by a towing company

55:00authorized by the town. The owner will

55:03then be responsible for towing, storage,

55:05and other charges associated with the

55:07towing. And the last section just

55:10outlines the governing of state

55:11legislation over this ordinance. So, I'd

55:14like to thank all those on the committee

55:16for helping develop the ordinance. uh we

55:18have a large committee with a variety of

55:20views and the discussion is is therefore

55:23you know very important as it represents

55:25the community and also we were lucky to

55:27have a number of concerned residents

55:29present their views and we had the

55:32advice and counsel of Captain Armach

55:34from Southernington Police Department

55:35and attorney Matachio who are both

55:38exeicio members. It's only two pages,

55:41but sometimes a lot of work goes into

55:43simplicity and we'll discuss it later on

55:47this evening unless anybody's got any

55:48questions now.

55:50>> Okay, we are going to take this up under

55:51old business and that's going to be

55:53after public communications. So, if

55:55there's any member of the public before

55:57I open it up here for discussion, if

55:59there's any member of the public who

56:00would like to comment on um these two

56:04items, either sewer or the ebikes,

56:07you'll have an opportunity to do that

56:08tonight during public communications.

56:10And if uh we move this forward tonight

56:12or at a future time, we will also have a

56:15public hearing as well where we will

56:16invite the public uh we will publish the

56:18draft and invite the public at the next

56:20meeting or the meeting after or

56:22subsequent meeting to do that. but

56:23certainly welcome to also come tonight

56:25and discuss at the um at the podium here

56:28during public communications. Okay. Any

56:31initial comments on that or can we hold

56:33till uh

56:35when we get to this uh before we send it

56:36out, we'll also entertain any small

56:38changes to this that we want to uh

56:40consider. Um we got a recommendation

56:42from the ordinance committee. Now it's

56:44up to the council to finalize this and

56:46decide what they want to do going

56:47forward.

56:51Okay, everybody's good for now.

56:53All right, let's move on to item five,

56:56town manager report and communications a

56:59report of the board of finance. Mr. Town

57:01Manager.

57:02>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And before I

57:03start, I just want to echo Mr. Morrison,

57:05you'll see uh the Harford Healthcare the

57:08the demographics in town. If you notice,

57:10we actually the town's actually changing

57:12its budget recently. Uh we added a a a

57:15part-time senior social worker uh to

57:18town staff for the first time ever. and

57:20that that's in line with the the

57:22demographic changes. So, um, point well

57:24taken. Thank you. Um, the board of

57:26finance met on September 16th. The big

57:30news out of the board of finance was the

57:32town council two meetings ago sent a

57:35request for the board of finance to make

57:37a recommendation to fund or not fund the

57:40matching flood state grant in

57:42Plantsville. Bless you. Um, they did

57:45make a recommendation. They they adopted

57:47and recommend town staff's

57:49recommendation to move $100,000 out of

57:52the excess leftover plantsville um

57:56safety project to fund that grant. So

58:00that was in those minutes. So if you

58:02approve the minutes tonight, that action

58:04will be completed tomorrow. Um couple

58:08things to note also. Building permit

58:10fees are down a little bit under budget.

58:13So, it's it's not a large amount, but we

58:17are trending a little bit lower than we

58:18have been in the past. Not sure if

58:20that's a sign of anything, but it's just

58:22something that we're tracking um as far

58:24as staffing and is also as is as permit

58:26fees are coming in.

58:29Um

58:33if there's any questions, the board of

58:34finance.

58:35>> Any questions on the board of finance?

58:38>> Okay. Item B, seed tax abatement.

58:42This again is a enterprise zone tax

58:45abatement. So it's as of right. So

58:46there's really no um decision-making on

58:49it, but is for a two approximately 2.2

58:52million investment and it's for some

58:55flex space. It's approximately six

58:58businesses could operate out of this

59:00location. Um it's a really nice

59:02location. We don't have enough flex

59:05space. People are looking for this all

59:06over town. So it's a great addition to

59:08the community. Again, it's as of right

59:11$2.2 million investment into the

59:13community.

59:14>> Can you please state the address for the

59:16record?

59:16>> It is

59:25170

59:27>> 628 Spring Street.

59:29>> Are you sure?

59:30>> A 170 Spring Street. I'm sorry.

59:32>> 170 Spring Street.

59:33>> 170 Spring Street.

59:34>> Thank you.

59:34>> You're welcome.

59:36>> Okay. Okay. Any question on 170 spring

59:38and the seed tax abatement?

59:41>> And it's a it's a standard tax abatement

59:44100% for the first two years, then 50 40

59:4730 20 10. So it's not a full tax

59:49abatement u for the seven years, but it

59:51it it tapers off.

59:52>> And just for the record, this is part of

59:54our enterprise zone, which is a state um

59:56requirement and statemandated uh um tax

1:00:01abatement

1:00:02>> and funded.

1:00:02>> And funded. Exactly. Okay. Okay. So,

1:00:05we'll take that up under old business.

1:00:07Item C, recreck park mural and logo

1:00:09recommendation.

1:00:10>> So, there's a proposal at Recreation

1:00:13Park for the Sington Soccer Club to um

1:00:18paint a mural on the concession stand

1:00:20building on the the rear of the

1:00:21concession stand building. I originally

1:00:24sent this uh referral to the parks and

1:00:26ward because I thought they'd be best to

1:00:28give a recommendation, review it since

1:00:29they're they oversee our all of our

1:00:31parks. um they sent it back to me and

1:00:35said, "We're in favor of it, but we want

1:00:36the town council to review it and and

1:00:38make the final decision on it." In your

1:00:40packet, which were included in the parks

1:00:43and recck minutes, you will see a blank

1:00:46canvas of what is currently on the

1:00:49concession stand, and then you'll see a

1:00:51mockup. The mockup is not there. This is

1:00:53what is being proposed. Uh I believe

1:00:55they used AI to to create the mockup.

1:00:58The one condition that the parks and

1:01:01recck board put in the recommendation to

1:01:03the council was that there's no logos

1:01:06whatsoever for any specific uh league or

1:01:08team. The only thing that they allowed

1:01:10was an S for sellington. So the S logo,

1:01:14that's the only thing that they would

1:01:15want on the mural. Um if there's any

1:01:18questions, happy to take them.

1:01:21>> Any questions on

1:01:23>> There's other sports teams though that

1:01:26play over there besides soccer.

1:01:28There's like I think football plays over

1:01:30there, right?

1:01:32>> So, this is the in the back by the uh

1:01:35the sewer plant. This is the soccer

1:01:37field. It's it's a soccer concession

1:01:39stands.

1:01:40>> This isn't that front.

1:01:41>> It's between the uh it's between the

1:01:43soccer field and the baseball field.

1:01:45Correct. The large

1:01:46>> all the way at the back.

1:01:47>> The major baseball field.

1:01:48>> Oh, gotcha. Okay.

1:01:49>> And they have the soccer clubhouse that

1:01:51the the two soccer leagues share on top

1:01:53and then they share the concession stand

1:01:55on the bottom.

1:01:56I don't know if other sports are played

1:01:58there though too. Council,

1:01:59>> two soccer leagues have to agree to what

1:02:04the mural would look like.

1:02:06>> This is the proposed what's in the

1:02:08packet. Um, not saying it's exact, but

1:02:11it's a rendering of what they what they

1:02:13wanted to. And the only stipulation is

1:02:16there's no logos. They they work out

1:02:20themselves.

1:02:27questions.

1:02:28>> How about uh did you say did you state

1:02:31whether there's any wording? Can they

1:02:32put Southernington Soccer Club on it?

1:02:35>> No, they cannot put Southernington

1:02:36Soccer Club. They can't put Sington

1:02:38Youth Soccer League or Southernington

1:02:39Soccer Club. Only just the S. The only

1:02:41thing they can put up is an S for

1:02:42Southernington.

1:02:43>> Okay.

1:02:44>> Well, that's what the parks and rec

1:02:45board has sent over as a recommendation.

1:02:48>> Paul, yes. Just to follow up.

1:02:49>> Please go ahead, Chris. So, in the in

1:02:51the picture it does say at

1:02:52Southernington Soccer. Is that part of

1:02:55the mural or is that just a stamp for

1:02:57the

1:03:00for the AI rendering?

1:03:01>> So, that's that's part of the proposed

1:03:03mural, but this is what was given to

1:03:04Parks and Wreck. And so, Parks and Rec

1:03:06said no to that.

1:03:09>> This is a proposed mural that went to

1:03:11parks and wreck and parks and rec said

1:03:12no to the the language. Okay,

1:03:18>> Dave, this wall you're talking about is

1:03:21is currently not blank. It does have a

1:03:24mural on it as we speak.

1:03:27>> That has a logo on it.

1:03:28>> The front of it has a logo. This is the

1:03:31back. So, if you There's a This is a

1:03:33what it currently looks like. If you're

1:03:36on the fields,

1:03:38>> it's blank. So, the front of it, the

1:03:39opposite side of this building has a

1:03:41logo. Uh, and for the record, I'm

1:03:43pointing to the back of the concession

1:03:45stand, clubhouse of Lenon Soccer.

1:03:47>> It's actually the side of the house

1:03:49concession stand.

1:03:49>> That's the That's the side. That's the

1:03:51back. They want to do it back here.

1:03:53>> Yeah, that's the side.

1:03:54>> That's the side. Yeah.

1:03:55>> If you look across the street, that's

1:03:56the

1:03:57>> the major field.

1:03:58>> The bullpen.

1:03:58>> The back is where your left hand is,

1:04:00Alex.

1:04:00>> Okay.

1:04:00>> Yeah. Okay.

1:04:04>> Yeah. So, it's like the north side.

1:04:06Yep.

1:04:08Well, on the south side there's already

1:04:10a mural and it does have a logo. So, I

1:04:14are they planning on painting over that?

1:04:16>> That's pre-existing.

1:04:18If

1:04:20>> pre-existing recently, it

1:04:22>> recently pre-existing. Yes. Yes. If you

1:04:25know, if we're going to take action on

1:04:27this uh after old during old business,

1:04:30if it pleases the council, we can table

1:04:32it and uh give everybody the opportunity

1:04:34to go look and take a ride out there in

1:04:36the next couple weeks. And

1:04:38>> if you're not comfortable with it right

1:04:39now, we can take a couple weeks to mull

1:04:41it over and see what's there.

1:04:44>> Okay.

1:04:46>> All right.

1:04:47>> Um

1:04:47>> or not or go forward with it, whatever

1:04:49you want later on.

1:04:50>> In the packet, there is the uh the the

1:04:52mural that Mr. zone he's referring to.

1:04:54It is in there the front

1:04:56>> that does say soccer dogs.

1:04:59>> I've already seen

1:05:01>> All right.

1:05:02>> Mr. Town Manager, item D, Federal

1:05:04American Rescue Plan Act funding for

1:05:06Margaret Griffin Child Development

1:05:09Center.

1:05:09>> A little bit of more good news. So, the

1:05:12state is looking to, I presume, burn the

1:05:15rest of their ARPA money, which has to

1:05:16be spent by the end of this year by

1:05:18federal law. So, they went around and um

1:05:21are distributing money to all the early

1:05:23start state funded preschools and and

1:05:26daycare facilities. I got a email last

1:05:29week from the state saying they are

1:05:31offering Margaret Griffin, which is a

1:05:34nonprofit um school that's run out of

1:05:36Darinowski's first floor uh for $15,000

1:05:40supplemental last minute grant. So, um I

1:05:44spoke with them. My my kids go there.

1:05:45So, I spoke with I said, "Listen, I've

1:05:46got to bring it to the town council

1:05:48before you can formally get it." So,

1:05:50that's on you do have to accept that on

1:05:51their behalf.

1:05:52>> Is there any commitment on the town

1:05:54side?

1:05:54>> No commitment at all.

1:05:55>> Okay. Any questions on that? Item E,

1:05:59emergency sewer repair contract

1:06:01recommendation.

1:06:03>> Um, this was it the sewer committee. And

1:06:06again, this is something that we go out

1:06:08to bid for every sever couple years. And

1:06:10this is for like it says emergency sewer

1:06:12repair. So if something goes wrong, a

1:06:14pipe collapses, it needs to be done

1:06:16right away. We don't have time to go out

1:06:18to bid in the middle of the night or on

1:06:19Christmas Eve. We just need somebody

1:06:20who's prevetted, who already bided the

1:06:22emergency work and they will come do it.

1:06:25As in the past, we are asking that the

1:06:30town council accept all of the bids and

1:06:33then allow us to use them in order of of

1:06:36cost. So we'll start with the lowest

1:06:38cost. if they can't do it, we go up. Or

1:06:40if we the capacity is so great, we need

1:06:42more than one or two vendors, we will

1:06:44call them in just like we do for the

1:06:45snow plows. So, um the lowest bid was

1:06:48Aztec Landscaping and the highest was

1:06:50Merrick Brothers. Um so, we're asking

1:06:52that you accept all of them and we use

1:06:54them in order of cost to the town.

1:06:57>> Any questions on that sewer repair

1:07:00contract

1:07:00>> for um biders?

1:07:02>> Okay.

1:07:04Uh item F, apple harvest festival

1:07:06update.

1:07:07>> Uh Mr. Sheriff, if I may, I'd like to um

1:07:09hand the floor over to Mr. Paul Mayer. I

1:07:11I spoke with him late last week and he

1:07:13asked that just give a quick update on

1:07:14the harvest.

1:07:15>> Go ahead, Chris.

1:07:16>> Um hopefully, as everyone knows, the

1:07:18festival opens up this Friday. Um first

1:07:20and foremost, I want to invite um the

1:07:22full members of the town council.

1:07:24Opening ceremonies are this Friday on

1:07:26the on the main stage at 5:30. So,

1:07:30please, if you're available, um members

1:07:32of the public are are welcome to to come

1:07:34out for that as well. But Friday 5:30 on

1:07:37the main stage is opening ceremonies.

1:07:39Um, as we prepare and put the final

1:07:41touches on this year's festival,

1:07:43hopefully Mother Nature is going to

1:07:45cooperate. I'm glad it wasn't this past

1:07:46weekend, but hopefully it will be um,

1:07:49uh, fruitful and successful for all our

1:07:53nonprofits, community groups that are

1:07:54part of this both from a financial

1:07:56perspective and just community building

1:07:58perspective. So again, hopefully we'll

1:08:00do that. But because of that, I just

1:08:02like to acknowledge and thank many

1:08:04people that led up to the work um to to

1:08:07prepare for this coming weekend. Um

1:08:09first and foremost, our festival

1:08:11coordinator um he's new this year, AJ

1:08:13Kowwick. Um spent a lot of hours just

1:08:16paying attention to details to make sure

1:08:18everything is just right for the

1:08:19festival. So, thank you to AJ. Um we

1:08:21have a new festival assistant as well,

1:08:23Cat Fisk. Um she's done a great job

1:08:26working collaboratively with AJ. Again,

1:08:28just trying to make sure all the details

1:08:29are ready for our community event um

1:08:32starting on Friday. And as I mentioned

1:08:34earlier, Melissa Kakosa is our

1:08:35sponsorship coordinator. Um she's done a

1:08:38great job rec recruiting sponsors that

1:08:41contribute financially to make the

1:08:42festival as successful it is as it is

1:08:44for our community. Next, I'd like to

1:08:47acknowledge our advisory committee. Um

1:08:49the members of the advisory committee um

1:08:51Tom Lombardi, Jim Champagne, uh David

1:08:54Norse, Mike Rickio, Jerry Trio, and DJ

1:08:58Voicing. Um Dave Lra also has helped out

1:09:01in the event that um DJ isn't able to to

1:09:05attend. And Connor Oaks fills in for

1:09:07Dave Norris from the engineering

1:09:08perspective when he's not able to. And

1:09:10also our two exeicial members, um Chief

1:09:14Lee and Chief Daly from the Fire and

1:09:17Police Department. So, thank you to

1:09:19them. Um, I mentioned our ambassadors at

1:09:22the last meeting, so hopefully you'll

1:09:25have a chance to see them. They will be

1:09:26in our information booth at the festival

1:09:28sharing uh all information related to

1:09:30the festival, including maps, brochures.

1:09:33Um, if you need information, please stop

1:09:35by and visit them. our committee heads

1:09:37this year. Um, in charge of the arts and

1:09:39craft show, um, AJ Kwick is chairing

1:09:42that and we have Cat Fisk, Brandon

1:09:43Berlin, and Abby Kelly uh, working out

1:09:46the logistics for the Arts and Craft

1:09:48Show, which by the way, we have

1:09:49approximately 39 vendors for the Arts

1:09:52and Craft Show. There's still room. If

1:09:54you're interested, that is not till the

1:09:55second weekend. So, if anyone is

1:09:57watching or listening and they are still

1:09:59interested in being a vendor at the Arts

1:10:00and Craft Fair, please reach out um, to

1:10:03anyone on the festival committee. can

1:10:05try to get you in that as long as

1:10:07there's still room. Uh, in charge of

1:10:09beverage sales and distribution, Carl

1:10:11Carlo and Abby Kelly are co-chairing

1:10:13that and Brandon Berlin is also

1:10:14assisting with that committee. Um,

1:10:17entertainment, thank you to AJ Kowwick,

1:10:19Jerry Liur, and Joe Marano. Um, festival

1:10:22operations, uh, Brandon Berlin is

1:10:25chairing that along with AJ Kowwick, Jim

1:10:28Champagne, and Paul Champagne. Our

1:10:31festival photographer this year is Cat

1:10:33Fisk. in charge of financing and

1:10:35accounting which is a huge component to

1:10:37the festival. Huge thanks to Tom

1:10:39Lombardi. He is the chair of that

1:10:40committee. Um and he has recruited quite

1:10:43a team for him. So his finance and

1:10:46accounting team this year is Dennis

1:10:47Bougie. Um Denise Johnson, um Jim

1:10:51Morelli, Donna Solless, Pam Stanforth,

1:10:54and Kathy Sweetman. Um in charge of our

1:10:57parade, new new parade organizers this

1:11:00year, Steve and Kelly Palin. So thank

1:11:03you to them. And that's quite an

1:11:04undertaking and again hopefully we'll

1:11:06have a successful

1:11:08parade and we won't be dealing with

1:11:10raining on our parade like the past

1:11:12three Sundays. Uh volunteer recruitment

1:11:14AJ Kowick and then website and social

1:11:16media is um Catfisk as well.

1:11:20Um huge thanks um our sponsors Melissa

1:11:23Kakosa has done a great job. We have

1:11:26approximately $70,000 in sponsorships

1:11:28this year. So I just like to acknowledge

1:11:30them all. are first and foremost our

1:11:33platinum sponsors this year. Lake

1:11:35Compounds and AMR. Lake Compounds is

1:11:38also our fireworks sponsor and AMR is

1:11:41our parade sponsor. So those are both

1:11:43our platinum sponsors. Huge thanks to

1:11:44them. Our gold sponsors this year are

1:11:47Liberty Bank, Price Chopper, Vinnie

1:11:49Anido, Rya Clinic, and Harford

1:11:52Healthcare. Those are all gold sponsors.

1:11:55Silver sponsors this year, Earth Light

1:11:57Tech, Total Bath, Comprehensive

1:12:00Orthopedics, LA Roofing, Sun Roof, Life

1:12:05Family Chiropractic, Elite Remodeling

1:12:07Services,

1:12:09AEFCU

1:12:10and Wonder, uh, GLG Law, um, Dave

1:12:16Learner Associates, Fishbine Oral

1:12:18Surgery, Fivestar Bath, Nesco,

1:12:23Goose Town, Advette,

1:12:25And those are all our silver sponsors.

1:12:28And finally, our bronze sponsors this

1:12:30year are Richard Chevrolet, Tilcon,

1:12:34Valvalene, BL Companies, Circular

1:12:37Services, Superior, and Ion Bank. Huge

1:12:42thanks to them. I'd also like to

1:12:45acknowledge this year's Granny Apple,

1:12:48which is Bonnie. Her name is Bonnie Zer.

1:12:52Um, and her grandson who wrote the

1:12:54award-winning essay is uh, Kellen

1:12:57Verrett. So, he will also be honored at

1:13:00opening ceremonies on Friday.

1:13:03I'd also be extremely remiss if I didn't

1:13:06thank town departments, our town

1:13:08managers office, the town attorney's

1:13:10office, police, fire, our town clerk,

1:13:14health, technology, finance, board of

1:13:17ed, parks and wreck. It really takes a

1:13:20village truly to put this festival

1:13:21together. So, huge thanks to all of

1:13:24them. Um, and finally, for any

1:13:26information, we do have a website right

1:13:28on southernington.org. You can click the

1:13:29Apple Harvest link. Um, and all

1:13:33hopefully not, but if there's any

1:13:35closings or cancellations or changes in

1:13:37our schedule, we'll have everything

1:13:38posted there and also on social media as

1:13:40well. So, again, hope to see you all

1:13:42down at the festival over the next two

1:13:44weekends.

1:13:45>> Thanks, Chris. Anybody have questions on

1:13:47apple harvest? Are we going to have a

1:13:49fritter cam?

1:13:51>> I think we will, but that's really not

1:13:52the festival committee's purview. But

1:13:55>> sounds good. All right. Thanks, Chris,

1:13:57for the good update on that. Looking

1:14:00forward to uh hopefully some good

1:14:01weather. Okay. Uh, Mr. Town Manager. All

1:14:04set,

1:14:06>> Mr. Chair. That concludes my report.

1:14:08>> Excellent. We'll move on to item six,

1:14:09the town attorney's report.

1:14:11>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have no report.

1:14:12Um, just like to shout out Tony and the

1:14:14ordinance committee for everything

1:14:15they've done. You know, like Tony said,

1:14:18it was not a uh ordinance committee

1:14:20typically doesn't meet uh as much

1:14:22historically, but we've certainly been

1:14:24busy and hopefully bring about the

1:14:26change we need. So,

1:14:29>> thank you for your efforts.

1:14:30>> Any questions for the town attorney?

1:14:33Okay. Item seven, public communications.

1:14:35If there's any member of the public um

1:14:37who lives in Southernington who would

1:14:38like to come on up, please come on up to

1:14:42the mic, state your name and address for

1:14:43the record.

1:14:46might missed it earlier, but uh it was

1:14:48on the ebike situation.

1:14:50>> Sure.

1:14:51>> I can't a couple of pictures.

1:15:02>> If you just do me a favor, just hang on,

1:15:04sir.

1:15:05>> Sir,

1:15:07sir, if you could Yeah, we just need you

1:15:09to talk into the microphone uh because

1:15:12we're recording. And if you could please

1:15:13state your name and address for the

1:15:14record.

1:15:14>> Yes. My name is Louisis Shassler, 24

1:15:16Verdendale Court. Uh I use the Rails to

1:15:19Trails extensively the last three years,

1:15:21but it's just my wife's neurological

1:15:23disease. We've logged over a,000 miles

1:15:25each season on the trail. We're 30 miles

1:15:28short this year. We're going to hit that

1:15:29this Wednesday. As the thing I passed

1:15:32around is from uh Westport,

1:15:34Massachusetts, which is part of the West

1:15:36Mass Greenway. As you see, they have

1:15:39signs posted on what can and can be used

1:15:42on ebikes on their trail and uh which

1:15:46would be helpful in this area. Uh I had

1:15:49run this year has been very dangerous on

1:15:51the trail. Uh it wasn't in

1:15:53Southernington, but in Simsbury. Me and

1:15:55my wife were on the trail and we were

1:15:58going through an intersection and

1:16:00there's bolards on each side so vehicles

1:16:02can't get on. Uh, an ebike shot between

1:16:05us, forced me into the bullard. I

1:16:08smashed into the bullard, went airborne,

1:16:11came down, smashed my head. Thank god I

1:16:13had a helmet and I was incapacitated for

1:16:16three weeks with bruised ribs. And I've

1:16:19had many instances in Southernington

1:16:21where I've come close. I've watched

1:16:24ebikes dodge mothers with strollers,

1:16:28families with little kids. It's

1:16:30extremely dangerous out there on the

1:16:31trails. And I've noticed that I don't

1:16:35know if the town is enforcing it, but

1:16:37the state of Connecticut requires all

1:16:39ebike riders depending on class or age

1:16:43to wear helmets. And I seen in town less

1:16:46than 50% of Bike riders wear helmets. I

1:16:50don't see any enforcement at all on that

1:16:53law. Why don't we have like a DUI

1:16:57checkpoint on busy crosswalks in this

1:17:01town? stopping people, letting them know

1:17:03this is a law. This is a $9 fine for not

1:17:06wearing a helmet riding an ebike.

1:17:09There's what is going on with that? I

1:17:11know we spend money on bicycles and um

1:17:15Segways. Why aren't we patrolling the

1:17:18our section of the trail, at least on

1:17:21weekends, to make sure there isn't a lot

1:17:24of crazy stuff happening, which is the

1:17:26worst part is the weekends it gets very

1:17:28crazy.

1:17:30to let people know, hey, you're not

1:17:32wearing helmets. It is very dangerous

1:17:35and these bikes are extremely heavy. And

1:17:37when you hit your Thank God I had a

1:17:39helmet and I was only on a bike going

1:17:41maybe four miles an hour, you got a 50

1:17:43lb uh ebike going down or hitting into

1:17:46you, a lot of people are going to get

1:17:48hurt. So, I just want to bring that up

1:17:51to the town. maybe better signage

1:17:53posting that you must wear a helmet in

1:17:55the state riding an ebike or there will

1:17:58be a fine. Maybe that might just be

1:18:01people more aware of what's going on out

1:18:03there and maybe if the police do stop

1:18:05them and just the presence might calm

1:18:08down on the trail at least because roads

1:18:10I know are one instance but the trail is

1:18:13supposed to be a a community place for

1:18:16families,

1:18:17kids to to enjoy without worrying about

1:18:20getting run over because they barely

1:18:23I've yet to see one any ebike rider st

1:18:26coming by. You're supposed to have by

1:18:28law either a bell or say I'm passing on

1:18:32your left and they come so fast you

1:18:35don't even hear them come just like just

1:18:37hit a wind whooing by you. And I've done

1:18:39many times. I'm always use my mirror

1:18:41because with my wife I have to be very

1:18:43careful with her and I can look in my

1:18:45mirror not see anybody and literally

1:18:47three minutes later there's an ebike

1:18:49flying past me and I was like where'd

1:18:51that come from? You know the speeds are

1:18:53just crazy. And some of these bikes, uh,

1:18:56most bicycle helmets are only rated for

1:18:59up to 17 miles an hour of a collision.

1:19:02These ebikes can go 20 miles more. There

1:19:05should be wearing helmets that are

1:19:07exceeding bicycle helmets, which they're

1:19:09not even doing either. So, not only

1:19:11that, there's going to be a lot of

1:19:12residents can be hurt because they don't

1:19:13know about the law about helmets. And I

1:19:16just turned 65, so I can't say I'm

1:19:18against seniors, but rarely do I see

1:19:22seniors are the biggest population that

1:19:24you black riders and they don't wear

1:19:26helmets. And you can fall and break an

1:19:29arm. You fall, you break your head,

1:19:31you're going to be laying in a bed with

1:19:32drool running down your mouth the rest

1:19:34of your life. That doesn't come back to

1:19:36life. So, I just want to give a little

1:19:38safety on what's going on on the trail

1:19:40since like I said, I occupy them a lot

1:19:41with my wife. And I like to stay safe

1:19:44and protect her. And I cringe seeing

1:19:47families and little mothers pushing, you

1:19:49know, their babies in strollers and

1:19:51watching these not just kids, but adults

1:19:54are abusing these bikes, too, which is

1:19:55crazy. It's just scary seeing someone

1:19:57going to get hurt.

1:19:58>> Thank you, Mr. Sheler.

1:20:01>> Mr. Chair.

1:20:02>> Yes.

1:20:03>> Real quick, I defer to the town manager.

1:20:04Am I right in saying no motorized

1:20:06vehicles are allowed on the trail?

1:20:08>> You are right. And we also do do a

1:20:10helmet enforcement. If you you'll see

1:20:12downtown, the police officers will

1:20:13typically stop groups of kids and try to

1:20:16counsel them.

1:20:19>> Thank you.

1:20:21>> Good evening. My name is Richard Cooper,

1:20:2379 Barbara Lane. So, I noticed there are

1:20:26some appointments coming up later

1:20:27tonight. So, I just wanted to make some

1:20:28statements. A position of public trust

1:20:31is not just a title. It carries

1:20:32authority, influence, and an obligation

1:20:34to exercise that that authority with

1:20:36restraint, fairness, and respect. That

1:20:39is why I have concerns regarding police

1:20:41commissioner Steve Kolkowski. My

1:20:43concerns include how I have perceived

1:20:44police authority being used in my own

1:20:46circumstances, particularly particularly

1:20:48in the context of my having been vocal

1:20:50about issues affecting this community.

1:20:53They also include the documented the

1:20:54documented record of Mr. Kokowski.

1:20:57Commissioner Kokowski signing a consent

1:20:59order with the state elections

1:21:00enforcement commission and agreeing to a

1:21:03$1,000 civil penalty for campaign

1:21:06finance violations involving a political

1:21:07matter mailer. Sorry. I'm focusing on

1:21:10Commissioner Kolkowski right now, but I

1:21:12could also mention the troubles the

1:21:14troublesome appointments of people like

1:21:16former police commissioner James

1:21:17Sinclair. I could also mention former

1:21:20housing authority member Steve Solerno

1:21:22who straight up lied about a meeting

1:21:23taking place just to keep me out in

1:21:252003.

1:21:27I could go on, but I do I do digress.

1:21:29This is old business and I wish to move

1:21:31on with other things going forward. I

1:21:34believe these circumstances are re

1:21:35relevant for this council to consider

1:21:37when determining whom it entrusts with

1:21:39public authority. I yield my time.

1:21:43>> Thank you, Mr. Cooper.

1:21:47Is there anybody else who would like to

1:21:48speak during public communications?

1:21:56>> Good evening.

1:22:00>> I just, you know, we're talking about

1:22:01the ebikes. Is this um again, Charles

1:22:05Chapman,

1:22:07can the town do more to make people

1:22:09aware of what is required of them? You

1:22:12know, I know the kids are responsible,

1:22:14the parents are responsible, but are we

1:22:17doing enough to say, "Hey, here's the

1:22:18rules. Here's the regulations. Here's

1:22:21what is required of you guys,

1:22:25you know, if you're going to operate

1:22:26these things. Can we, you know, are we

1:22:28doing enough? I know it's not your

1:22:30responsibility but you know can we make

1:22:32like public statements public you know

1:22:34something in the newspapers or even in

1:22:37our social media about hey this is the

1:22:40this these are the issues and this this

1:22:42is your resp these are your

1:22:44responsibilities

1:22:46and here's the repercussions if you

1:22:48don't follow them maybe there needs to

1:22:50be more public awareness of what's

1:22:52required

1:22:55>> thank you it's a good idea once we uh

1:22:56figure this out and I will say Our

1:22:58police department just had a ebike

1:23:01safety um forum for folks. So,

1:23:03>> yeah, I saw that.

1:23:04>> We're trying, but we can always do

1:23:05better.

1:23:06>> We'll do more.

1:23:06>> Thank you.

1:23:07>> Thank you,

1:23:10>> sir.

1:23:12>> Please state your name and address for

1:23:13the record.

1:23:14>> Hi, my name is Evan I live at 615

1:23:17Meridan Waterberry Turnpike.

1:23:23I this is my first time here and I don't

1:23:26want to beat a dead horse, but are a lot

1:23:28of people talking about block cameras

1:23:32because I have things to say about that.

1:23:39I had printer issues before I got here,

1:23:42so I had to bring my computer.

1:23:45Okay. Thank you for giving me a chance

1:23:47to speak today on what I believe is the

1:23:49most pressing issue of our community.

1:23:51Flock cameras and ALPRs,

1:23:55a unconstitutional network of cameras

1:23:58linked together and powered by AI

1:24:01and uh leading us towards an Orwellian

1:24:05nightmare. These devices are rightfully

1:24:08controversial as they represent the

1:24:10greatest loss of civil liberties we've

1:24:12seen in our lifetime.

1:24:14While these cameras are advertised as

1:24:15license plate readers, what they

1:24:17represent and what their capacity is is

1:24:19much greater. Every month, 20 billion

1:24:22images are created in the Flock network.

1:24:24They track nearly every possible piece

1:24:26of information that passes them, make

1:24:28model ding and dents, every bumper

1:24:30sticker

1:24:32uh and the AI in Flock's own words

1:24:36assemble a pattern of life for the

1:24:38millions of vehicles they track in a

1:24:40massive drag nest style search.

1:24:45So, uh, in my own immediate circle of

1:24:48family and friends, I've had one

1:24:50person's father ticketed with an

1:24:52infraction from New York State, where

1:24:53they never traveled. Their car was

1:24:56simply the closest match to the car that

1:24:58violated the law. Another friend of mine

1:25:01was pulled over for just using the same

1:25:03vehicle that a family member with a DUI

1:25:06had been using. They were told they were

1:25:07flagged by West Hartford spot cameras

1:25:10and pulled over without violating any

1:25:11laws.

1:25:12Uh with ALPRs, you are guilty before

1:25:15proven innocent. Every single citizen is

1:25:18treated as a criminal. Uh no due

1:25:21process, no reasonable suspicion, no

1:25:24articulable suspicion.

1:25:27Outside of my immediate circle, national

1:25:29news headlines can barely go a single

1:25:31day without involving a story of the

1:25:33countless misuses and errors of this

1:25:35technology.

1:25:39This is a long list.

1:25:42Uh,

1:25:44is it normal for you guys not to Can I

1:25:47get a head nod? Have you guys heard of

1:25:49like all of the people?

1:25:51>> We're here to listen to you.

1:25:52>> Okay. Just to listen. That's okay. Yeah.

1:25:54Yeah. Okay. First time.

1:25:55>> Okay. Angela Lips, Tennessee. Arrested

1:25:57for facial mismatch. Spent six months in

1:26:00jail for a crime committed by someone in

1:26:02North Dakota. Arrested at gunpoint while

1:26:05watching four of her neighbors children.

1:26:09Uh Steven Melvin of York County, South

1:26:12Carolina, pulled over, held at gunpoint

1:26:14for five minutes, misread one digit of a

1:26:17plate, confusing him with a car that was

1:26:19stolen in the area. Brandon Upurch of

1:26:22Ohio. A flot camera mismatches plates as

1:26:25stolen. Officers drew weapons and

1:26:28deployed a canine unit that repeatedly

1:26:30bit his arm before discovering the plate

1:26:33didn't match.

1:26:34Lindsy Brooke Isaac spent 13 days in

1:26:37jail after authorities used block data

1:26:39to mistakenly tie her to a fatal hit and

1:26:42crash run.

1:26:44Charges were dropped after phone records

1:26:45and video proof she was elsewhere.

1:26:49This is just the list of civilians

1:26:52affected, but there's also an extensive

1:26:54list of law enforcement that has abused

1:26:56this power. I'm not going to read that

1:26:58long list because of how readily

1:27:00available it is with a Google search,

1:27:02but it's bad.

1:27:05And this is just the abuse on state

1:27:06level. We don't even have proof from a

1:27:10thirdparty audit that this information

1:27:13isn't being stored indefinitely in a

1:27:16data center somewhere for the federal

1:27:18government to use years later.

1:27:22I would like to positively highlight

1:27:24that the Southernington Police

1:27:25Department has not made any news

1:27:26headlines regarding the use of ALPRs.

1:27:29Good job.

1:27:33Um, so I've had a chance to read over

1:27:35the document highlighting how

1:27:36Southernington police have been using

1:27:38flock cameras. I want to say thank you

1:27:39for making that attempt to save face

1:27:42with the public and remain transparent.

1:27:46However, this report is not enough to

1:27:48validate the footholds that have have

1:27:51given the security hazard of corporation

1:27:54in our town doesn't validate the

1:27:56foothold or justify the countless

1:27:58breaking of the fourth amendment.

1:28:01So, in that document, the Southernington

1:28:04police say they chose the Flock system

1:28:07because they do not sell license plate

1:28:08data collected by the camera. However,

1:28:11these cameras are known for their

1:28:12vulnerability.

1:28:14May I continue?

1:28:16>> Uh, you're going to have to wrap it up

1:28:18in the next 10 or 15 seconds.

1:28:20>> Got it. Okay, I'm going to skip to the

1:28:22end here.

1:28:24Um, so what I do is I have a call to

1:28:26action. My printer failed on my way over

1:28:28here. here. I have a handout for all you

1:28:30guys. I'd love to email it and I can

1:28:32come here next week. So, my apologies

1:28:34for not having that. My call to action

1:28:36includes um a quest to pause the use of

1:28:39block cameras as well as some key

1:28:40questions that will not only offer

1:28:42insight to how Southernington can plan

1:28:44on handling ALPRs, but improve

1:28:46communication and transparency with the

1:28:47public. I kindly ask for answers

1:28:49regarding my concerns. Um and the yeah,

1:28:52redundancy. Uh, please pause the the

1:28:55camera program until this is better

1:28:58assessed with more clarity. My questions

1:29:00are, what are the current forecasts for

1:29:02flot cameras and ALPRS in the town of

1:29:04Southernington and what cont?

1:29:05>> Thank you, Mr.

1:29:07>> Thank you.

1:29:14>> Okay. Is there anybody else who would

1:29:16like to speak during public

1:29:17communications?

1:29:21Anybody else?

1:29:23Okay, hearing none. We're going to close

1:29:25public communications and move on to old

1:29:26business. Item A, action on blight

1:29:30ordinance.

1:29:34>> Mr. Chair,

1:29:35>> yes.

1:29:36>> I would like to make a motion to pass

1:29:39the blight ordinance.

1:29:40>> Second.

1:29:42>> Okay. We have a motion from the vice

1:29:43chair to pass as proposed and a second

1:29:46from Mr. Delanto. Uh the floor is open

1:29:48for discussion.

1:29:52any Tony

1:29:53>> I just have a quick comment um and it's

1:29:56probably on the ebikes as well um that

1:30:00the comment we heard tonight and we've

1:30:02heard uh other places as well is there

1:30:05is a separation between an ordinance

1:30:08which is what the town believes uh

1:30:11should not happen essentially and how we

1:30:13have restrictions on it and the actual

1:30:15enforcement of that they're obviously

1:30:18very much linked but they are separate

1:30:20things and we're talking about the

1:30:21ordinance

1:30:22itself tonight and obviously discussion

1:30:25you know people talk about the whole

1:30:27umbrella thing but there is a

1:30:28distinction between them what we're

1:30:30voting on is the ordinance itself okay

1:30:34>> okay thank you any other discussions on

1:30:36the blight ordinance that we had the

1:30:38public hearing on Chris

1:30:39>> just one other comment and and to the

1:30:41residents that spoke

1:30:44we talked extensively quite a bit about

1:30:47um getting some type of communication

1:30:49back when you report someone is in

1:30:52violation of the blight ordinance. So,

1:30:55one of the changes that I think is

1:30:56really critical is that we did put in

1:30:58there the fact that there will be the

1:31:00town attorney mentioned it earlier,

1:31:02there will be communication from the

1:31:04town official so that one way or

1:31:06another, you know, I'm not saying you

1:31:08may agree or disagree with with the

1:31:10decision made, but at least one way or

1:31:12another moving forward, you'll have that

1:31:14right to hear from the bu the official

1:31:16that went out and investigated the

1:31:18blight. So, I think that's a good

1:31:19change. Any

1:31:24other discussions about the blight

1:31:25ordinance?

1:31:27Okay. Um, I'll just make a statement

1:31:30that I really appreciate the work that

1:31:32the ordinance committee has done on this

1:31:34and and the others in the town attorney.

1:31:36I realize these are really difficult

1:31:38situations. Um, we've had a number of of

1:31:41blight issues that are really difficult

1:31:43to enforce as folks have come here and

1:31:46attested to. uh even during enforcement

1:31:49it can take years. It can legitimately

1:31:53take years and oftentimes um you know a

1:31:57little bit of work allows a reset of the

1:31:59clock and we start all over again. And

1:32:01so it's a careful balance between

1:32:04respecting uh the the personal property

1:32:06rights of individuals but also providing

1:32:09a safe environment for the uh the

1:32:11individuals um who might be adjacent

1:32:14neighbors as well. And I recognize this

1:32:16is a very very difficult and a very

1:32:18sensitive topic. We've heard some

1:32:20passionate folks come out here and I'll

1:32:22just um I'll just say, you know, I

1:32:24realize that this is very difficult and

1:32:26I hope that by doing this we not only

1:32:28put um you know, some additional

1:32:31measures in place, but hopefully we

1:32:33encourage um folks to talk to each other

1:32:36more and um you know, work together as

1:32:38well to uh be good neighbors, hear each

1:32:42other out um because it's never, you

1:32:45know, black and white. um there's always

1:32:47some gray in between and um I ask that

1:32:50everybody consider that as well uh on

1:32:53both sides and uh and try to help each

1:32:55other out to uh to try to coexist in a

1:32:58in a peaceful way. So I hope the uh the

1:33:00blight ordinance helps move us forward.

1:33:02Madame clerk if you just sorry one more

1:33:04quick thing based on what you and Chris

1:33:06said. Um you know if usually you put an

1:33:11ordinance into place it's an ordinance

1:33:12and it stays there. Um what we're going

1:33:15to do in some of these things um that's

1:33:17why we move into a monthly meeting is to

1:33:20actually review how effective the

1:33:22ordinance is and I think you'll see that

1:33:25with the blight ordinance already spoken

1:33:27to um a new a new town planner about

1:33:30that and you'll also see with the ebikes

1:33:32ordinance in fact last meeting we talked

1:33:34about reviewing the efficacy of that

1:33:37ordinance uh you know um next year when

1:33:40when the actual season starts again so

1:33:43you will see that review process. In

1:33:45fact, the name of the committee is

1:33:46ordinance review committee. It won't

1:33:48just be we put something in place and

1:33:50and that's it. We will revisit it to

1:33:52make sure it's effective.

1:33:54>> Okay. Thanks.

1:33:54>> Thank you, Tony. Madam Cler, call the

1:33:56role.

1:33:57>> Clark,

1:33:58>> yes.

1:33:58>> Delanto,

1:33:59>> yes.

1:34:00>> Ga,

1:34:01>> yes.

1:34:01>> Morelli,

1:34:02>> yes.

1:34:03>> Morrison,

1:34:03>> yes.

1:34:05>> Yes.

1:34:06>> Saraphino,

1:34:07>> yes.

1:34:07>> Zony,

1:34:08>> yes.

1:34:08>> Japlinsky,

1:34:09>> yes. The motion passes as presented for

1:34:12the new blight ordinance. Uh this will

1:34:14be effective 15 effective 15 days after

1:34:16publication which we would expect one

1:34:19day this week. Kathy publication.

1:34:22>> Okay. Okay. Thank you. Uh item B, action

1:34:26on report of board of finance. Um, just

1:34:28as a note, this also includes the

1:34:30$100,000 transfer uh that the board of

1:34:33finance has suggested uh and approved

1:34:36from the Plantsville uh the town of

1:34:39Plantsville uh or the Plantsville safety

1:34:41study to be transferred from that study

1:34:43to the um uh to the study for the

1:34:46flooding that we got the grant for.

1:34:49>> Motion.

1:34:51>> We have a motion to approve the board of

1:34:53finance report meeting minutes.

1:34:54>> Second

1:34:55>> and a second from Councilwoman Ga. Any

1:34:57discussion on that? Okay, hearing none.

1:35:00Uh, madam clerk, can you call the role

1:35:01on this one, please?

1:35:02>> Clark,

1:35:03>> yes.

1:35:03>> Do Santo,

1:35:04>> yes.

1:35:05>> GA,

1:35:05>> yes.

1:35:06>> Morelli,

1:35:07>> yes.

1:35:08>> Morrison,

1:35:09>> yes.

1:35:09>> Pomera,

1:35:10>> yes.

1:35:11>> Saraphino,

1:35:12>> yes.

1:35:12>> Zone,

1:35:13>> yes.

1:35:14>> Chaplinsky,

1:35:14>> yes. Motion passes unanimously. Thanks

1:35:16everybody. Item C, action on seed tax

1:35:19abatement.

1:35:20>> Motion to approve.

1:35:21>> Second.

1:35:23We have a motion to approve the

1:35:24enterprise zone uh tax abatement the

1:35:27from the seed committee which is uh 170

1:35:30spring street. Is that correct?

1:35:31>> That's correct.

1:35:33>> Uh we have we have a motion in a second.

1:35:34Right. Any discussion on that?

1:35:37>> Okay. Uh why don't we call the role on

1:35:38that again please?

1:35:39>> Who was the second please?

1:35:40>> Uh was it Josh?

1:35:41>> Josh.

1:35:44>> And if you'll call the role, Madam

1:35:45Clerk, since it's a

1:35:47>> Yes.

1:35:47>> Del Santo.

1:35:48>> Yes.

1:35:49>> Ga.

1:35:49>> Yes.

1:35:50>> Morelli.

1:35:51>> Yes. Morrison,

1:35:52>> yes.

1:35:52>> Pomera,

1:35:53>> yes.

1:35:54>> Saraphino,

1:35:55>> yes.

1:35:55>> Zony,

1:35:56>> yes.

1:35:56>> Japlinsky,

1:35:57>> yes. Motion passes unanimously on that.

1:35:59Item D, action on WC park mural and logo

1:36:02recommendation from the parks and rec

1:36:04board.

1:36:05>> Motion to approve.

1:36:07>> Second.

1:36:07>> We have a motion to approve and a second

1:36:09uh from Mike and Tony. Any discussion?

1:36:12Madam vice chair,

1:36:13>> I would like to add a stipulation if

1:36:14we're going to uh approve it that the

1:36:19uh group we're approving this for

1:36:22maintains it. Um

1:36:25I I've noticed in another part that

1:36:28there sometimes the murals while good

1:36:31intent, you know, good intentions, they

1:36:34aren't that well maintained and then it

1:36:36ends up having the opposite effect. Um,

1:36:38and so if we could put a stipulation in

1:36:41that they do have to maintain it, um, I

1:36:44think that would be helpful.

1:36:46>> Okay, we have a Do you

1:36:49>> I'll amend my motion to add that. Uh,

1:36:51and you know, I think the town the parks

1:36:54department or the parks committee has to

1:36:56have a say in it. And I get what Miss

1:36:58Clark is saying. If it starts chipping

1:37:00and it's 10 years from now and the thing

1:37:01is falling apart looks like crap, I

1:37:04mean, they either have to repair it or

1:37:05the town's going to go in and paint it.

1:37:07That's the exact wrote of they said the

1:37:08town will paint over. It doesn't it's

1:37:10not held up.

1:37:11>> Yeah. I'll amend my motion for that.

1:37:13>> I'll amend my second.

1:37:15>> Can I ask a question? Would it be would

1:37:17there be a time limit that would be put

1:37:19on it too? Because what happens if that

1:37:20organization is no longer in place

1:37:23anymore and someone else wants

1:37:25>> it's a nice fresh coat of white paint

1:37:26>> come along and do something different.

1:37:29Well, I also want to point out that uh

1:37:31yeah, I mean that organization

1:37:34the I think the agreement is that there

1:37:36is no logos or mentions of or specific

1:37:38organizations in this. Correct. So, um

1:37:42yeah, I guess if it's if the

1:37:44organization is no no longer around and

1:37:46it's not maintained, then I guess

1:37:48highway is going to go in there and

1:37:49paint over it.

1:37:53Any further discussion?

1:38:00Okay. Hearing none. Any madam clerk,

1:38:03call the role.

1:38:04>> Clark,

1:38:05>> yes.

1:38:06>> Dels Santo,

1:38:06>> yes.

1:38:07>> GA,

1:38:08>> yes.

1:38:08>> Morelli,

1:38:09>> yes.

1:38:10>> Morrison,

1:38:10>> yes.

1:38:11>> Pomera,

1:38:12>> yes.

1:38:12>> Saraphino,

1:38:13>> yes.

1:38:13>> Zone,

1:38:14>> yes.

1:38:15>> Chaplinsky,

1:38:16>> yes. Motion passes unanimously with the

1:38:18stipulations.

1:38:21And item E, action to accept Federal

1:38:24American Rescue Plan Act funding for

1:38:27Margaret Griffin Child Development

1:38:29Center, which is in the amount of

1:38:30$15,000 of supplemental grant funding.

1:38:33>> Motion to approve.

1:38:34>> Second.

1:38:36>> We have a motion from Mike and a second

1:38:38from Dave. Any discussion on that?

1:38:41>> Good stuff.

1:38:42>> Yep. We appreciate that. Um, Madame

1:38:44Clerk, since it's a grant, we'll call

1:38:46the role.

1:38:47>> Clark,

1:38:48>> yes.

1:38:48>> Del Santo,

1:38:49>> yes. Gaida,

1:38:50>> yes.

1:38:51>> Morelli,

1:38:52>> yes.

1:38:52>> Morrison,

1:38:53>> yes.

1:38:54>> Pomera,

1:38:55>> yes.

1:38:55>> Saraphino,

1:38:56>> yes.

1:38:57>> Zone,

1:38:57>> yes.

1:38:58>> Japlinsky,

1:38:59>> yes. Motion passes unanimously. Uh, item

1:39:03F, action on emergency sewer repair

1:39:06contract recommendation. The town

1:39:08manager has asked us to accept all bids,

1:39:10which are four of them, uh, with the

1:39:12stipulation that they start with the

1:39:14lowest bid when implementing.

1:39:16>> Motion to approve.

1:39:17>> I'll second. We have a motion to approve

1:39:20as presented.

1:39:21>> Is that Y? Okay. Yes. And Okay. Motion

1:39:24to approve as presented by the town

1:39:25manager. Any discussion,

1:39:27>> Dave? I

1:39:29>> I just want to ensure that all the

1:39:30vendors that you're you're putting on

1:39:32the list have been vetted by the

1:39:34engineering department that they're

1:39:36capable of doing this work and they're

1:39:38and do it well

1:39:39>> and they're licensed

1:39:40>> and licensed of course.

1:39:42>> Absolutely. including licensed and

1:39:45insured. And part of the if you go

1:39:47through the memo, part of the the one

1:39:49through four in order is if one of them

1:39:51can't if one of the lower ones doesn't

1:39:53have the ability to to do a particular

1:39:54job well or they're not happy with the

1:39:56staff town staff's not happy with the

1:39:58performance, they can go to the next

1:39:59one.

1:40:00>> Okay, very good. Thank you. I got a

1:40:01wrench at home

1:40:04call me come down.

1:40:06>> Okay, so we have the motion and second

1:40:09um

1:40:10>> as presented. Any discussion on that?

1:40:13Madame clerk, call the role, please.

1:40:15>> Clark,

1:40:16>> yes.

1:40:16>> Dels Santo,

1:40:17>> yes.

1:40:18>> GA,

1:40:18>> yes.

1:40:19>> Morelli,

1:40:20>> yes.

1:40:20>> Morrison,

1:40:21>> yes.

1:40:22>> Palm,

1:40:22>> yes.

1:40:23>> Saraphino,

1:40:24>> yes.

1:40:24>> Zony,

1:40:25>> yes.

1:40:26>> Chaplinsky,

1:40:27>> yes. The motion passes unanimously. Item

1:40:30G, we're looking for a motion to table

1:40:32action on sewer ordinance.

1:40:35>> Uh, the action on the sewer ordinance.

1:40:37We have a table from Mr. Delanto and a

1:40:39second from the vice chair. Uh all in

1:40:42favor?

1:40:42>> I. Any opposed? Okay. Motion to table

1:40:46passes. Action on ebike ordinance. We're

1:40:49looking for um a motion to schedule the

1:40:52public hearing for Tuesday, October 13,

1:40:542026.

1:40:56And a second and then we can have some

1:40:57discussion.

1:40:59>> I'll make that motion to schedule the

1:41:00public hearing.

1:41:01>> Second.

1:41:02>> Okay. We have a motion to schedule the

1:41:04public hearing Tuesday, October 13,

1:41:062026. reminder that um Monday the 12th

1:41:09is Columbus Day and so uh you know we

1:41:12will not be having a town council

1:41:13meeting that day. So it'll be October

1:41:1513. So we have a motion in a second.

1:41:18Yes.

1:41:18>> I just have a question or maybe a couple

1:41:20of additions. Um

1:41:22>> under 390-22

1:41:25reckless or uncontrolled operation. No

1:41:28person shall operate a regulated

1:41:30vehicle. I'd like to add D on municipal

1:41:33property when a town event, town

1:41:36sponsored event or town approved event

1:41:38is being held such as the drive-in,

1:41:41parks, apple harvest festival or similar

1:41:44location and event where postings

1:41:47indicate such restrictions.

1:41:50>> Okay. And uh in addition to that 390-24

1:41:54under penalties

1:41:56um replace the word shall with the word

1:41:59may and then um adding after and then

1:42:03the next sentence adding all fines shall

1:42:06be in accordance with the fine schedule.

1:42:08>> Did you pass those two?

1:42:09>> Then 37-2 and I can give a copy to

1:42:12>> I sent it down.

1:42:12>> Okay, great.

1:42:13>> Chris, if you can share those two with

1:42:14your caucus there.

1:42:16>> 37-2

1:42:17uh of this code. um getting rid of a

1:42:21ticket shall and replacing it with if a

1:42:24ticket is to be issued, it shall be

1:42:28issued by the Southernington Police

1:42:29Department at the time of the violation

1:42:31or within 24 hours thereafter.

1:42:34>> That's all I had for additions,

1:42:36>> but I do want to make one comment when

1:42:39>> Sure. Uh if can we just uh so on the

1:42:42additions I just passed these down. Um

1:42:44you'll see in bracketed uh D is the

1:42:47addition. So that's a it's an addition

1:42:49to what was what was suggested. Uh and

1:42:52then the underlines of the words are the

1:42:55the proposed changes

1:42:56>> there's they say plus. So um you could

1:42:59see the

1:43:00>> in relation to the first one that Mike

1:43:02brought up. I actually brought up that

1:43:04very topic you did at the Paul. You were

1:43:07there too and I think the town attorney

1:43:09said we're already covered because

1:43:11>> our ordinance already covers any type of

1:43:13bike, scooter, anything. So, if you

1:43:17remember, that was the exact question I

1:43:18posed and I thought you had said we're

1:43:20already covered.

1:43:21>> Could this be like a belt suspenders

1:43:22type thing? You know what I mean? Just

1:43:24additional verbiage to make sure we're

1:43:26>> protected. Yeah, I don't necessarily

1:43:28have an issue with that, but section

1:43:29>> signage

1:43:30>> 390 hyphen 20 um does talk about closed

1:43:34events. Uh that's deemed by the chief of

1:43:36police and it does ban, you know, bike,

1:43:38scooters, and a whole litany of things.

1:43:41So, I I have no issue with being

1:43:43verbose, but it is something that we

1:43:45discussed at ordinance and it could

1:43:46potentially be covered, but

1:43:48>> I think by putting it in the ordinance

1:43:49here, it also allows it to be explicitly

1:43:52um uh enforced with the fine fee

1:43:55structure.

1:43:56>> Yeah. And that may require taking a look

1:43:58at what that section says because there

1:44:00could be an enforcement issue in the

1:44:02sense that do we find them liable under

1:44:04the ebike ordinance or do we find them

1:44:06liable under 39020 because those are two

1:44:08totally separate penalties. Yep.

1:44:14>> So, just to follow up on that, I guess

1:44:15we just need direction because Mike, I

1:44:17share the exact concern, which is why I

1:44:19brought it up

1:44:20>> and and actually we kind of joke that we

1:44:23were ahead of our time because we I

1:44:25didn't think scooters were in there

1:44:26because there weren't really e scooters

1:44:27when we passed the ordinance, but they

1:44:29areual.

1:44:30>> So, it is in that language already. And

1:44:32and that was the concern is are we

1:44:35contradicting each ourselves with

1:44:37>> and I can read it so everyone knows what

1:44:38it says. It says no, this is 39020

1:44:41um subsection B. No person or person

1:44:44shall utilize a skateboard, inline

1:44:46skates, bicycle, rollerblade, scooter,

1:44:47whether gas, battery or manual powered

1:44:49or any other motor vehicle device,

1:44:52including but not limited to many

1:44:53motorcycles, mopeds, etc. on any town

1:44:56road or adjacent sidewalk or any roadway

1:44:58which has been closed to registered

1:44:59motor vehicle traffic by the chief of

1:45:01police or his designate for a special

1:45:03event. Um, so using the apple harvest

1:45:06for example, I believe that is, you

1:45:08know, what the police invoke when they

1:45:11do close these roads down and try to

1:45:13>> Can you Can you double check? Does it

1:45:15say uh does it cover like the drive-in

1:45:17any town property?

1:45:18>> No, it says it any roadway which has

1:45:20been closed for registered motor vehicle

1:45:22traffic by the chief of police or

1:45:23designate for a special event.

1:45:25>> So that's roadway only. What you're

1:45:27referring to?

1:45:28>> Yeah, it's Yeah. So this this here says

1:45:30on municipal property

1:45:33>> and specifically states the apple har I

1:45:35mean this weekend last thing we want is

1:45:38>> knuckleheads zipping through.

1:45:40>> That's right.

1:45:41>> Yeah. Like I said I don't have an issue

1:45:43with it. It may require just reworking

1:45:4539020 just to make clear that you know

1:45:48the penalties could be in addition to or

1:45:50concurrently with

1:45:52>> this ordinance. Do you want us to

1:45:54reference 39020 in here when it comes to

1:45:57enforcement? So that um also where it

1:46:00says so 37-2

1:46:02if a ticket has been issued it shall be

1:46:04issued uh nope sorry uh 390-24 penalties

1:46:08any person violating any provision of

1:46:10this article or three

1:46:13uh 390-20. Is it the intention to raise

1:46:16the penalty for a violation of 390-20 to

1:46:19also include the 250 with parental

1:46:22liability and the other teeth that come

1:46:24with it?

1:46:25>> You think you have to?

1:46:26>> I think so, too. I mean, if you're

1:46:27talking about on roadways, right?

1:46:30>> Yeah,

1:46:30>> I think it has to.

1:46:31>> Yeah, I I don't have an issue with it. I

1:46:33just want to make sure that everyone's

1:46:34intent is clear.

1:46:36>> Chris, what do you guys

1:46:39>> do we cross reference them on the on the

1:46:41penalty section? And we could talk about

1:46:43whether the penalties are appropriate or

1:46:44not

1:46:45>> legally. You know, I I think it's up to

1:46:47Lou. I But my point is we totally agree

1:46:50and and again that was Oh, you were

1:46:52there. Like I said, Tony obviously was

1:46:53there and Josh

1:46:54>> that that concern was brought up. So, is

1:46:57it covered sufficiently or do you want

1:46:59the extra language? I mean,

1:47:00>> Right. Right. Does does the extra

1:47:03language hurt?

1:47:04>> I don't think it would hurt. I would

1:47:06just want to clear up the confusion

1:47:07between a violation of both because

1:47:08technically if someone if we write it as

1:47:12is and we include uh your revisions the

1:47:15officer could find them liable under

1:47:1739020 as well as this new proposed

1:47:20section. So I just don't want to

1:47:22>> create a enforcement confusion. So which

1:47:25one is it? I mean, if the penalty is the

1:47:27same, I don't necessarily have the the

1:47:29same level of concern,

1:47:30>> but I just want to make sure that we're

1:47:32not duplicative to the point where now

1:47:33we're confusing the police because

1:47:35obviously we designed this to be as

1:47:37simple but as rigid as necessary to, you

1:47:40know, promote enforcement and not

1:47:41necessarily have confusion among

1:47:44>> I want to draw your attention though.

1:47:46This this proposal here does say that

1:47:48this requires um where postings indicate

1:47:51the restrictions. So, it's supposed to

1:47:52be like for an event. It's supposed to

1:47:55be for town property, so like the

1:47:56drive-in, like the apple harvest. So,

1:47:58we'd have to get some signage on the

1:47:59perimeters that says,

1:48:01>> "Well, I'm thinking as Lou is talking,

1:48:04what if we kind of merge the two and add

1:48:07language to the original ordinance to

1:48:09include what you have here so that

1:48:11rather than having two separate

1:48:14>> the language will still be there. I

1:48:15mean, again, the intent is the same.

1:48:17It's just

1:48:18>> agree. Y

1:48:18>> enforcement. So, is that all right?

1:48:20>> Sure. I don't

1:48:20>> so have it here and in 390

1:48:24>> or one or the other. I'm thinking

1:48:25>> just double up on 290 the 29020.

1:48:28>> Let's

1:48:29>> add this add this language to the 29020

1:48:32including

1:48:34>> Lou. I think if we if we add this

1:48:36language in here as proposed and go to

1:48:38the public hearing I think it's easy to

1:48:41take the language out after the public

1:48:42hearing. You can't make it more

1:48:43restrictive but you can make it less

1:48:45restrictive. So, if we include it in the

1:48:47language and we find out that between

1:48:49now and the public hearing's ending that

1:48:51you have a recommendation to loosen it

1:48:54or shift it, we can do that without

1:48:56necessarily having to go back to a

1:48:58public hearing.

1:48:58>> Yeah. I mean, that's fine with me. I I

1:49:00can, you know, put my

1:49:01>> It's better I guess what I'm saying is

1:49:02it's better to include it now for the

1:49:04public hearing and if we need to strike

1:49:06it, we can strike it later on.

1:49:08>> Yeah. And that's fine. And I'll I'll

1:49:09certainly talk to um Captain Armach as

1:49:12well just to check in with them and see

1:49:15>> if they've even enforced under 39020

1:49:18because if it's not been enforced or we

1:49:21haven't issued tickets underneath it,

1:49:22you know, maybe it's makes sense to look

1:49:24at it completely.

1:49:26>> Okay, totally.

1:49:28>> What is the current enforcement for the

1:49:30apple harvest language? What is the

1:49:32enforcement uh for that?

1:49:34>> I don't know the answer to that.

1:49:36>> Okay. Okay. I'm sure there's data um

1:49:40with tickets or that.

1:49:41>> Yeah, I understand that.

1:49:43>> I think we heard $90 was the highest

1:49:45infraction.

1:49:47>> $95 in fraction. Yeah.

1:49:49>> So, this is quite a bit above it. Yeah.

1:49:52>> Okay.

1:49:53Uh and then um just pay just pointing to

1:49:57390-24

1:49:59where shall turn to may

1:50:02and then uh the the next sentence is

1:50:04just restructured to be proper. All fine

1:50:07shall be in accordance with the fine

1:50:08schedule, which basically says that, you

1:50:10know, if a fine's given out, follow the

1:50:12schedule.

1:50:15>> Okay. What other

1:50:17>> just want to thank Mike for that, you

1:50:20know, the change, too. We talked about

1:50:21that. you know, you don't know how much

1:50:24a word matters and we talked extensively

1:50:26about the difference between shall and

1:50:28may and specifically how with c to

1:50:32captain armac's opinion that word is

1:50:34critical for the officers on site. So I

1:50:37think that's a good change to change

1:50:40May uh shall to May.

1:50:42>> Thanks.

1:50:43Okay, other discussion points. Dave,

1:50:46>> just a quick question on 39025 the

1:50:50towing and empowerment thing.

1:50:53>> I'm happy.

1:50:54>> Please talk into your mic. Dave,

1:50:55>> excuse me.

1:50:56>> We got we got instructions today on how

1:50:58to talk and I'm going to show you. It's

1:51:00like this or it's like this.

1:51:02>> I did print them out. I just haven't

1:51:04read I haven't read them. Um the

1:51:06empoundment thing I it seems like where

1:51:10where whoever impounds it could set

1:51:12their own fees and they could be

1:51:14different everywhere. I mean you call

1:51:16one company you're impound it then that

1:51:19person pays one fee and then another

1:51:21company could charge another fee. I I

1:51:24don't know if that's fair.

1:51:26>> So don't do it. I

1:51:27>> I would say we're gonna let Josh because

1:51:29Josh raised his hand,

1:51:30>> but we can't control uh what third

1:51:32parties do. Josh, go ahead. So, this was

1:51:34asked at ordinance um Captain Armac.

1:51:37>> They will use their tow rotation

1:51:39schedule.

1:51:40>> Yeah.

1:51:41>> Um and there's a a maximum set by the

1:51:44state.

1:51:44>> So, they can't go over a certain amount.

1:51:46I don't know what that number is.

1:51:48>> I think it was 250.

1:51:50>> That sounds correct.

1:51:51>> I think

1:51:51>> um it was.

1:51:52>> So, it could certainly be below that,

1:51:54but that's the maximum they can charge.

1:51:57>> All right. So, it's not open-ended.

1:51:59That's all I care about. Thank you.

1:52:00>> Sounds good. Chris,

1:52:01>> the other thing that I think is critical

1:52:02that we also talked about in relation to

1:52:04towing, the towing piece levels the

1:52:07playing field. So, because it's an

1:52:09ordinance, a Southernington resident

1:52:12inherently is probably going to suffer a

1:52:14little bit greater to an extent than

1:52:17someone from out of town if they get a

1:52:18fine for this because there really isn't

1:52:21much to do. I don't want to paraphrase

1:52:24you, Lou, but you know, they could say,

1:52:26"I'm not going back to Southernington

1:52:27anymore and not pay the fine." Whereas a

1:52:29Southernington resident, there could be

1:52:30lean. You know, there's there's

1:52:32ramifications for a Southernington

1:52:34resident. However, the towing levels the

1:52:36playing field for for all violators.

1:52:39Whether you're from Cheshure,

1:52:40Southernington, Planeville, it doesn't

1:52:42matter. So again, it just levels the

1:52:44playing field.

1:52:45>> Okay, other discussions, good topics.

1:52:51>> I just have a Go ahead, Mike, please.

1:52:52We're done talking for reminding me.

1:52:54Yeah,

1:52:55>> it's okay. Um, and I completely

1:52:57appreciate and understand if it's

1:52:58someone's first time coming to a

1:53:00meeting, but it was said earlier that,

1:53:02you know, are you guys doing anything?

1:53:04We've been talking about ebikes now for

1:53:06two years. It's been, it happens at our

1:53:08public works meetings. We have the chief

1:53:10there. The chief has made it very clear

1:53:13about six months ago. The chief told us

1:53:14a story where, you know, they didn't

1:53:17give a ticket. They didn't arrest the

1:53:19person. They brought him to the parents

1:53:20house and the parents yelled at the

1:53:21police officer. You know, let him be a

1:53:23kid. you know, as they're knocking

1:53:25people down off the trail. Um, there are

1:53:28no motorized vehicles allowed on the

1:53:30trail. So, obviously, if you see it, you

1:53:32can call the police and you can have it

1:53:34investigated. Um, and to say that the

1:53:37police aren't aren't really uh doing

1:53:39their job surveying this is is a fallacy

1:53:42because it's been on our agenda for a

1:53:45long time like the flock cameras for a

1:53:48long time and we've had many many

1:53:50discussions about flock cameras. Um and

1:53:52so as I said, I appreciate sometimes

1:53:55it's folks first time here. Even the

1:53:57gentleman earlier tonight said it's my

1:53:59first time coming to this meeting. But

1:54:01um these things are on our radar. We

1:54:03discuss it. We talk about it. Uh

1:54:05subcommittee meetings talk about it. The

1:54:07chief of police is on it. They are the

1:54:09ultimate authority um for these laws. Um

1:54:12so we defer to the police chief for

1:54:15these items.

1:54:16>> Thank you, Mr. Chair.

1:54:17>> Absolutely.

1:54:19>> Chris, sorry. One more point.

1:54:20>> Please. No.

1:54:22to to move this forward. I I will

1:54:23support moving this forward for a public

1:54:25hearing, but at the ordinance committee

1:54:26meeting, we talked about getting facts

1:54:29from the communities that have um

1:54:33started enforcing their ordinances.

1:54:35>> So, we mentioned there's none really in

1:54:37Harford County, so these towns are not

1:54:40really in close proximity to central

1:54:42Connecticut. Um,

1:54:44>> and yet we didn't have that. So, that

1:54:46was my concern with moving it forward.

1:54:48But I'm hoping by the public hearing we

1:54:50have some data that can be shared from

1:54:53these other communities about

1:54:54enforcement and compliance and what has

1:54:57it done to compliance to violators if if

1:55:00that's possible by the public hearing.

1:55:01>> Yeah.

1:55:03>> Kristen,

1:55:04>> so if we're moving this forward to the

1:55:06public hearing after, you know, we take

1:55:08a vote on it, how does that impact the

1:55:11apple harvest? Because it's not yet an

1:55:13ordinance.

1:55:14>> It's not going to impact this year.

1:55:15Yeah. So, we can't put language on there

1:55:18that says strongly disc because I

1:55:21remember with um one organization we did

1:55:23something with like smoking down there.

1:55:25We had signs on on the on the town green

1:55:28that said no smoking, no vapes, that

1:55:30sort of thing. There's no way to put

1:55:32signs up that says no ebikes.

1:55:33>> I think the Apple Harvest Festival

1:55:35already has some policies and rules for

1:55:38for riding bikes. Like if you bring your

1:55:41bike down there, you can walk your bike,

1:55:42of course, you can't ride it in the

1:55:44middle of the event. I think they

1:55:45already have a policy.

1:55:46>> That's exactly what I was talking about

1:55:47earlier. It's already in place. It's in

1:55:49our brochure. As a matter of fact, that

1:55:50existing ordinance and it does also

1:55:53identify scooters. So once you get to

1:55:55where the festival begins, you get off

1:55:56and you walk the scooter, the bike,

1:55:59whatever, and all those.

1:56:01>> So there is yeah, there is enforcement

1:56:02teeth for those incidents, you know, and

1:56:05obviously we hope we get this

1:56:06implemented quickly, but there is

1:56:08something um that will give, you know,

1:56:11something to police department to

1:56:12enforce. uh the fines aren't as high as

1:56:15what we're proposing, but there's

1:56:16>> no impounding.

1:56:17>> There's no impounding, right? I don't

1:56:18think

1:56:19>> so. So, it's it's limited right now, but

1:56:21there's but there is uh enforcement that

1:56:24can happen.

1:56:24>> Mhm.

1:56:27>> Dave, please. Go ahead.

1:56:28>> Obviously, I I don't sit on the

1:56:30ordinance committee, but when you talk

1:56:32about other municipalities, have we

1:56:34reached out to CCM to get some info from

1:56:38them, what their members are doing and

1:56:41addressing this issue? because it's it's

1:56:43happening everywhere and we we do pay a

1:56:46substantial dues to CCM to be a member.

1:56:49I I would hope they maybe help us with

1:56:52some data collection if if possible.

1:56:54>> So, I'm on calls with CCM and Crag every

1:56:57single week. I can tell you the

1:56:59consensus is we're waiting for the state

1:57:02of Connecticut to pass legislation.

1:57:04Passing this ordinance is is I'd say

1:57:07cutting edge. most folks are just

1:57:09waiting for the state to do a blanket

1:57:12policy or or statute.

1:57:16>> I think you're going to find that some

1:57:17of the data that Chris was was saying if

1:57:20I go if I can recall and I don't have

1:57:21this for sure, but I think most of these

1:57:23ordinance have been passed in the last

1:57:25year, maybe even the last six months or

1:57:28three months. So, the data may be

1:57:29limited. Um, and I will say I think we

1:57:32have to we also have to put it into

1:57:34perspective. Um, we're talking about

1:57:36people who are on uh in in uh on two-

1:57:40wheeled vehicles, often bikes. Sometimes

1:57:43it's hard to to corral them and uh

1:57:47you're talking about um you know, say

1:57:50children, but you're talking about teens

1:57:52oftent times children. Um so you you

1:57:55know there's some care that has to be

1:57:57taken as well. You're not you're not

1:57:58going to have police officers uh you

1:58:00know flying down the street 70 m an hour

1:58:04with their lights on chasing kids on

1:58:05these bikes every single day. It's going

1:58:06to be a delicate enforcement tactic that

1:58:10are um trained police officers are

1:58:13trained to handle. Uh and I I just think

1:58:15we have to temper our expectations as

1:58:17well. You know, I don't think anybody's

1:58:18putting ropes up around all the roads

1:58:20and, you know, coring all these things.

1:58:21It's it's not easy. It's not easy. We've

1:58:24I we looked at the call report uh for an

1:58:26incident that occurred um you know a

1:58:28month ago and it were there was you know

1:58:31it was going north then it was going

1:58:33west then it was going in a park then it

1:58:34was coming down Queen Street then it was

1:58:36going up this road and you know they

1:58:38have maximum agility on these things.

1:58:41So, it's uh it's not easy for for um

1:58:43it's not easy, but there are techniques,

1:58:45there are tools, there's new tools um

1:58:48that that the that the police department

1:58:50has in their belt and um hopefully those

1:58:53will help with the enforcement.

1:58:54>> I got an old school tool,

1:58:56>> some discussion at the dinner table.

1:58:58Moms and dads got to talk to their their

1:59:01teenagers and their adolescence. That's

1:59:02right. It's just

1:59:04>> they're a nuisance,

1:59:06>> my kid.

1:59:07>> Once maybe.

1:59:08>> Amen to that.

1:59:09>> Twice.

1:59:10Okay. So, Mr. Chairman.

1:59:12>> Yes, please. Tony.

1:59:13>> Um, a couple of things in in terms of

1:59:16I'll just add to Mike's thing, by the

1:59:18way, just came up about parental

1:59:20responsibility, which is in the

1:59:22ordinance, which is the parental

1:59:23guardian of any minor shall not

1:59:24authorize or knowingly permit such minor

1:59:27to violate any provision of this

1:59:28article. If they do, they they get

1:59:31fined. So, there is some kind of, you

1:59:33know, um, hammer on that. But in terms

1:59:35of data, um obviously we looked at the

1:59:38police data uh for the last year because

1:59:42the the years before that they didn't

1:59:45really have a code. Um it's only this

1:59:47year they started to track it and uh

1:59:49there were um there were enough

1:59:51incidents for us to be worried and they

1:59:53were sort of in certain areas like

1:59:55Center Street, you might imagine down

1:59:57the green here and we took that into

1:59:59account. But also in terms of other

2:00:03towns, we did look at uh eight

2:00:06ordinances from other towns. Um

2:00:09Greenwich, Guilford, Milford, New

2:00:10London, Stratford, Trumbull, West Haven,

2:00:12and Winchester. And to be perfectly

2:00:14honest, we stole some of their stuff uh

2:00:17for various reasons. Um but uh the the

2:00:21funny thing about those was um they

2:00:23varied um you know uh across the

2:00:27paradigm, right? Some were, you know,

2:00:30light on the enforcement. Some were very

2:00:32very strict on the enforcement and and

2:00:33and what they um looked at and what they

2:00:36were looking at varied uh quite a lot

2:00:39between surprisingly a lot because you

2:00:41it's the same problem. But it's not

2:00:42really because it's how it manifests

2:00:44itself in these in these towns. Um so

2:00:49we certainly looked at that. It was very

2:00:51very valuable to be perfectly honest

2:00:53because it did give us a a working uh

2:00:55set of data. Um I'll add I'll end with

2:00:58what I said earlier about the review

2:01:00process. Uh as you know Josh and Chris

2:01:03and I were all there um obviously on the

2:01:05committee and we did say that we will

2:01:07look at this you know six months down

2:01:09the road um because the data may change

2:01:13you know it's just a fastmoving thing.

2:01:15So I honestly think we're we're covered

2:01:17by having that approach.

2:01:19>> Thanks Tony. Okay so we have a motion in

2:01:22a second. Um, I passed to the town clerk

2:01:25the uh the proposed revisions uh that

2:01:28Mr. Delanto had proposed

2:01:31and we will collect the additional data

2:01:34that Chris had recommended and the town

2:01:37attorney is going to continue to look at

2:01:38the duplication or not and if we need to

2:01:41make any adaptations. Yep.

2:01:42>> Okay. So, we have a motion and a second.

2:01:45Any other discussion before we call the

2:01:46role? Okay. So, the motion uh is the the

2:01:50revised ordinance language from Mr. Del

2:01:52Santo. It's got some red lettering. Town

2:01:55clerk has it. It'll be in the minutes.

2:01:56And it's to schedule a public hearing

2:01:58for Tuesday, October 13th, 2026 at 7

2:02:01p.m.

2:02:02>> Madame Clerk, call the role.

2:02:04>> Clark,

2:02:05>> yes.

2:02:06>> Do Santo,

2:02:07>> yes.

2:02:07>> Ga,

2:02:08>> yes.

2:02:09>> Morelli,

2:02:10>> yes.

2:02:10>> Morrison,

2:02:11>> yes.

2:02:12>> Paul,

2:02:13>> yes.

2:02:13>> Saraphino,

2:02:14>> yes.

2:02:15>> Zone,

2:02:16>> yes.

2:02:16>> Chaplinsky,

2:02:17>> yes. Great dialogue. Thanks everybody.

2:02:18Appreciate the uh the hard work. Uh

2:02:20we'll move that on to the next step at

2:02:22the next meeting. Item number nine, new

2:02:24business, a tax refunds.

2:02:28>> I'd like to make a motion to approve the

2:02:30tax refunds as presented in our packets.

2:02:32>> Second.

2:02:33>> We have a motion from Councilwoman Ga

2:02:36and a second from Councilman Dels Santo.

2:02:38Any discussion on the tax refunds? All

2:02:40in favor?

2:02:41>> I. Any opposed? Okay. Motion passes

2:02:44unanimously. Item B under new business,

2:02:47appointments. One, board of assessment

2:02:49appeals, one member, four-year term,

2:02:52expires October 20, 2030. This is a town

2:02:55council uh appointment. So, I'm looking

2:02:58for a motion on this.

2:03:04Anybody want to make a motion?

2:03:06>> Yeah.

2:03:06>> Oh, Chris, I'm sorry. I'll make a motion

2:03:08to nominate John Barry, former town

2:03:10council member and former town council

2:03:12chair um to serve on the board of

2:03:15assessment appeals.

2:03:16>> Okay, we have a motion for John Barry.

2:03:18>> I'll second.

2:03:19>> Second for John Barry. Any discussion

2:03:22about Mr. John Barry?

2:03:27Any discussion? Hearing none. All in

2:03:30favor?

2:03:31>> I

2:03:31>> I Any opposed? Motion passes

2:03:34unanimously. Congratulations to Mr.

2:03:36Barry. Item number two, housing

2:03:38authority. One member, 5-year term

2:03:41expires October 2031. This is a town

2:03:43manager appointment. Mr. Town Manager,

2:03:45>> Mr. Chairman, I've been given the name

2:03:47of Maryanne Stanley. She is hereby

2:03:49reappointed.

2:03:50>> Okay. Number three, parks and recck

2:03:53board, two members, four-year term,

2:03:55expires 20 October 2030. Uh, yep. Please

2:03:59go ahead, Mr. Chair. We have two

2:04:00appointments.

2:04:01>> I'm very happy to uh ask that Mr. Mark

2:04:04Andrew me to be he placed on the uh

2:04:07parks commission. He resides at 22

2:04:09Working Street. He's a young uh bright

2:04:11young man. Uh he's employed as a

2:04:13software engineer. Uh he came up through

2:04:15the town of Southernington, born and

2:04:17raised and um lifelong resident and he's

2:04:20a legacy. His grandfather is Mr. Andy

2:04:22Meade who served the town for over 50

2:04:25years in many different capacities.

2:04:27>> So

2:04:28>> amazing.

2:04:29>> Yes.

2:04:29>> So great. We have a motion for uh Mark

2:04:32Andrew me.

2:04:34>> Second.

2:04:34>> We have a second from the vice chair.

2:04:38>> Any discussion?

2:04:40>> Dave,

2:04:40>> I also have an appointment a proposal.

2:04:44Um because of what happened at our last

2:04:46meeting, we still have a person that

2:04:49wants to participate in our government,

2:04:51wants to help out in the spirit of her

2:04:54grandfather, her father, who spent

2:04:57decades working for the town of

2:04:59Southernington, and that's Erica PCO.

2:05:02We'd like to uh put up the name of Erica

2:05:04PCO for

2:05:05>> Okay, we have a motion for Erica PCO. Is

2:05:07there a second for that?

2:05:08>> I'll second.

2:05:09>> Thank you, Dave and Kristen. Any

2:05:12discussion on that? Any

2:05:15other nominations? Okay. Uh, so I'm

2:05:18looking for uh the town clerk to call

2:05:20the role. We're looking for the town

2:05:22council to vote for Mark Andrew me or

2:05:27Erica PCO

2:05:32>> clock.

2:05:33>> There's two.

2:05:34>> We have two appointments.

2:05:35>> Yeah, we're we're doing one at a time.

2:05:37Yeah.

2:05:40Me

2:05:42dos Santo

2:05:43>> me.

2:05:44GA

2:05:45>> PCO

2:05:47Morelli

2:05:48>> me

2:05:50>> Morrison

2:05:51>> me

2:05:53>> Pomera

2:05:53>> abstain

2:05:56>> Saraphino

2:05:58>> me

2:05:59>> zone

2:06:00>> pcock

2:06:02>> Jlinsky

2:06:04>> Mark Andrew me congratulation the motion

2:06:07passes six uh two with one abstension

2:06:11okay for the uh second item for parks

2:06:13and recck board

2:06:13>> Mr. chair. I have a name I am happy to

2:06:16put forward a qualified candidate. Brian

2:06:19Pella of 52 Vicki Lane, 44year

2:06:22Southernington resident, Maris College

2:06:24graduate, owner of Pella Realy, and most

2:06:28importantly, avid volunteer for local

2:06:31PTO YMCA coach um and recently outgoing

2:06:35president of Western Little League. So,

2:06:37I'm really excited to present this uh

2:06:40name because I think that his work um

2:06:42across boards and our parks and uh with

2:06:47uh so much familiarity with our with our

2:06:50uh youth uh makes him a great fit.

2:06:53>> Second.

2:06:54>> Okay, we have a motion for Brian Pella

2:06:57from the vice chair and a second from

2:06:59Mr. Delanto. Any other nominations?

2:07:02Dave, I see you're raising your hand

2:07:03again.

2:07:03>> I have another nomination.

2:07:04>> All right, go for I would like to

2:07:06nominate Sean Grindle uh for the

2:07:08position on the U parks board. Uh he is

2:07:11a teacher in our community at Flanders

2:07:15School. Uh he's familiar with the town.

2:07:17He's u anxious to participate in our

2:07:20government and bring uh you know good

2:07:23things to our town. So I'm going to uh

2:07:26stick with Sean Gindle.

2:07:28>> Thank you, Dave.

2:07:28>> I'll second.

2:07:29>> Okay. Okay, we have a motion from

2:07:31Councilman Zone and a second from

2:07:33Councilwoman Gaida.

2:07:36Any discussion on the two candidates?

2:07:39So, Madame Clerk, we're going to call

2:07:41the role for Brian Pella or Shawn

2:07:44Grindle.

2:07:46>> Clock Pela.

2:07:49>> Do Santo

2:07:50>> Pella

2:07:51>> Ga

2:07:52>> Gindle

2:07:54>> Morelli

2:07:56>> abstain.

2:07:58>> Morrison. Carella

2:08:01>> Pome

2:08:02>> abstain

2:08:04>> Saraphino

2:08:05>> Pella

2:08:07>> Zone

2:08:08>> Grindle

2:08:09>> Japlinsky

2:08:11>> Brian Pillola. The motion passes five to

2:08:14two with two abstensions.

2:08:17Congratulations to Mr. Pella. Um quite

2:08:19the resume and really looking forward to

2:08:21uh the contributions on the parks and

2:08:24recck board.

2:08:26Okay, we are now going to entertain a

2:08:28motion um for executive session for

2:08:30personal matters uh CGS1-2006A

2:08:35town manager feedback and contract

2:08:38negotiations. The executive session is

2:08:40going to bar the public and the press

2:08:43and it is going to include the town

2:08:45manager and the town attorney for the

2:08:48first item.

2:08:50>> Correct.

2:08:50>> Um it's going to include the labor

2:08:52council shipment and goodw

2:08:53>> and is a town attorney too? Uh,

2:08:56>> no.

2:08:56>> No. Okay. So, we're going to let the

2:08:58town attorney go. Shipman and Goodman

2:09:00will come in if you want to get the

2:09:01phone ready for him.

2:09:02>> So, moved, Mr. Chair. Make that motion.

2:09:04>> Second. We have a motion in a second.

2:09:06There will be no action at the end of um

2:09:09executive session when we're done. Uh,

2:09:12all in favor of going to executive

2:09:13session.

2:09:14>> I. Any opposed? Thanks everybody.