Board of Selectmen Meeting January 9, 2017

Board of Selectmen Meeting January 9, 2017

Now that the Town has voted for a Town Manager, it is imperative that the personnel sub-committee convene immediately to establish the timeline for a Town Manager to be in place on December 2017.

The only focus should be a job description and establishing the search and interview process for hiring a professional Town Manager. The Town Manager should be a resident in the town with a 6 month time for relocation. The selection process should be the only focus. According to an article in the Hartford Courant, “Town Manager Search Begins” for a Town Manager in West Hartford states: “The job description and application process has been posted on the town’s website, internally and sent to different agencies, like the International City/Country Management Association, “ They are also considering advertising in Massachussetts.

These organizations should be considered for our search as are other organizations with Town Managers as members.

Now that the town has decided that Eno Hall will continue to service the seniors after spending thousands of dollars allocated to many failed explorations, I would like to have the town explore relocating SCTV to the basement of the library.

SCTV is presently using 1,600 sq.ft. of space in Eno Hall. The basement of the library has 2,900 sq. ft. of space. Relocating SCTV to the basement of the library makes additional space for programs in Eno Hall.

Attaching SCTV to the renovation of the Junior High is not viable because the $22 million cost for the project is unsustainable in the present environment. The Board of Education is relying on $5 million grants from the State that may be reduced to stabilize their deficits. This would add additional costs to the Board of Education’s operating budget and the taxpayers would have to assume the costs. With a reduction of students and reduced revenue from the State, this project may fail, leaving SCTV in Eno Hall which is not sustainable.

The building on the HJMS property must be separate from the building due to security restrictions. This separate building for SCTV will have additional construction costs and additional operating costs, escalating costs that will not be supported by the taxpayers. This proposed project should be eliminated from discussion.

In 2010 the town allocated money for Architect Shoenhart to develop a plan for the relocation of SCTV in the basement of the library. This plan is appropriate for today.

Relocating SCTV in the basement of the library will reduce costs, be a timely move, and increase the collaboration with the library as a Community Center. SCTV would become a community media center with outreach to the community. Most of the infrastructure is in place in the library and on Hopmeadow Street, once again reducing costs. It is time for the Library Board, Friends of the Library, the Library Administration and the Town to arbitrate a solution to doing what is best for the community, relocating SCTV to the library basement. This is a win win solution.

During winter break I went with my grandchildren and my daughter to the International Skating Center in Simsbury for open skating. It appeared to me that ISCC is not as vibrant as it was in the past.

With that in mind, I asked to the town to provide me with the contract the town has with the ISCC now that Bob Crawford is the sole owner/manager of the facility. Bob Crawford has a mortgage of $3,750,000 with TD Bank.

The Ground Lease with the town was signed in April 1994. Culbro donated 17 acres of land to the Town.

After reading the Ground Lease, it appears to me that the Town has not not required Bob Crawford to submit certain requirements of the lease.

• submit copies of Insurance Policies
• Deliver to the Town a copy of their financials
• Maintain an escrow account
• A well on the property should be monitored. According to Aquarion Water they supply water to the ISCC. However, do they use the well for other purposes? Is the well water contaminated?

It is incumbent upon the town to review all contracts on a yearly basis for compliance.

There appears to be some substantive issues that should be resolved before approvals are made on the PAC contract. Why the reduction of rent from $10,000 to $2,500 with assets totaling $73,028? I was told by staff that the Performing Arts are billed directly for electricity, internet and telephone bills.. Why the change?

Why the reduction of insurance liability when they promote concerts that encourage marijuana use and tailgating with excessive drinking. BYOB is also a liability.

It should be the Performing Arts responsibility to be the gatekeeper for appropriate concerts, not the police during the gathering permit approval process.

All of my comments will be posted on Simsbury Patch, Twitter@joancoe, News Feed on Facebook and Simsbury forum/ topix.