Board of Selectmen Meeting December 12, 2016

Board of Selectmen Meeting December 12, 2016

I would like to urge the Board of Selectmen to start the process for searching for a professional Town Manager. Having Tom Cooke, Director of Administrative Services to First Selectman Lisa Heavner removing himself from the position, he has become a excellent resource to move the process forward in the selection process. There are many Town Managers who would be interested in this position and would be willing to relocate to Simsbury with an excellent school system and strong fiscal policy. This person should be able to guide Simsbury with an increased population, need for more services and maintenance of all town assets under the cloud of reduced revenues from the State, while maintaining the quality of life in Simsbury. A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. It is time to get the process started so we could have a Town Manager in place on the December 2017 deadline.

I recently attended a Police Commission meeting on November 14, 2016 where the Commission members asked for a section of the minutes to be changed from “a recent retirement,” to “left the Department,” The background for this change in wording is due to a Police Officer taking early retirement that was granted by the Town. The October 31, 2016 minutes state, “PFC Elizabeth Maher RETIRED on October 5th and the Department has begun the process to replace her.” “Early retirement is not,” left the department.” as stated in the minutes of the meeting. Retirement is reflected in the distribution of the pension. The Police Commission has denied a grievance pertaining to pension distribution. Changing minutes to reflect hypothetical nuances is not appropriate and should be eliminated to reflect what was said at the meeting, not hypothetical’s. Since the Police Commission is appointed by the Board of Selectmen, I would suggest that the Board of Selectmen ask Mike Long, Chairman of the Police Commission to defend his position on the wording of the minutes of these aforementioned meetings. Mike Long has been in the political area for decades and should know that minutes state the facts.

I would once again reiterate my position on moving SCTV to the Library basement to reduce costs on the renovation of Eno Hall for a Senior Center and increasing useable space. There is presently a grant for $204,000 for design of Senior Center/Community Center that is being extended to December 31, 2018. This money could be used for design for the additional space when SCTV moves to the Library. Moving SCTV to the Junior High or any school would require a separate entrance and exit for security. This is costly and would not be easily accessible to the students. This selection will not be timely since there is no architectural design for the process. The Library has an architectural design produced January 18, 2010. SCTV could become a media center for the community through a collaborative effort from all parties. It is time that the town asks all the affected individuals in this process to arbitrate a negotiated settlement to eliminate all the negativity and move the process forward to place SCTV in the Library basement. . The Library has the infrastructure in place for SCTV, which would reduce costs.

Now is the time to start the process to give the Senior Center additional space and give the community a media center in the Library.

The taxpayers voted for an appropriation of $540,000 in the 2013/2014 budget for a Streetscape using brick pavers along Hopmeadow Street. Presently, there is construction of the brick pavers that require costly maintenance schedules for safety. There are many unintended consequences and costs associated with sidewalks made out of bricks. At the last meeting I showed my documentation of damaged bricks throughout the Hopmeadow Street sidewalks. I am pleased that the 2017/2018 budget will reflect a $1.2 million appropriation for 65% of sidewalk replacement. According to the CROG town sidewalk policy Avon, Farmington and Bloomfield require the abutters to be responsible for long term up keep of sidewalks. The taxpayers should not be responsible for abutter’s costs. I would also recommend that the Public Works be responsible for mapping and implementing a Sidewalk improvement program with costs associated for this plan.

At the last Board of Selectmen meeting for the second time we heard a presentation from CNG asking for an appropriation of $428,700 for constructing a gas line to the Tariffville School and the Fire Department in Tariffville. This project is not in the taxpayer’s interest and should have been denied before ir came before the public. Our elected officials should “just say no” to self-serving projects that enhance a private company at the expense of the taxpayers.