Board of Selectmen Meeting November 14, 2016

Board of Selectmen Meeting November 14, 2016

I would like to thank all the 6,358 voters that participated in the historic vote to have a professional Town Manager as the CEO of Simsbury. I would also like to thank the 7 Charter Revision Commissioners for standing their ground under much pressure to vote for a precedent setting Charter with a Town Manager. Past First Selectmen Peggy Shanks, Anita Mielert and Mary Glassman all publicly supported a Town Manager. Thanks also go to the 4 members of the Board of Selectmen who voted to forward the Charter for a Referendum vote. Thanks goes to SCTV who televised the Charter Revision Commission meetings and discussion on the Referendum questions to educate the public. I would also like to thank the 100 residents who voted for me when I ran for First Selectman with a platform for a Town Manager.

Now that we have the Charter with a Town Manager, the selection of the right person for a Town Manager is paramount to the process. The town should look to the Town Manager’s Organization ( ICMA) for qualified candidates to fill the position. We should have a selection committee including the Town Managers of Avon and Bloomfield. The Town Manager form of Government for Simsbury has finally evolved into a positive vote after over 30 years. It is imperative that the selection process be devoid of political persuasion in favor of the most qualified and experienced person for the position.

At the last Board of Selectmen meeting there was discussion about renovating Eno Hall for additional services in the Senior Center. Now that this decision has been made, it is time to move SCTV from Eno Hall to the Library basement. This move could create a community media center. This is a no brainer. It is available immediately. The entire infrastructure is in place and it will be an extension of the services offered in the Library that has morphed into a Community Center. SCTV now occupies 1600 sq.ft. and the Library has 2900 sq. ft. that could be shared space. While the town is moving forward on the renovation of Eno Hall it would be cost effective if all the changes were done at the same time. I would suggest that the Board of Selectmen charge the Public Building Committee to formulate a plan for this proposal.

Although we were told that the Police Department did not have any grievances which were one of the talking points to give the Chief and Captain a 5% increase in salary, recently a grievance was filed by the Police Union. The issue was the computed amount received in the pension when a Police Officer retires. The Police Commission denied the grievance and now the Police Union will once again go to arbitration to argue over the retiree’s pension calculation. Absent wording for the exact computation, rightfully, the previous contract should take precedence. Why is there a need for arbitration at great cost to the town and the Police Union?

I am very concerned about the reasoning behind the resignation of Bruce Elliott as an elected alternate to the Zoning Commission. It appears that Jamie Rabbitt, Town Planner has told the elected alternates that they can no longer participate in any discussions brought before the Zoning Commission. Why did we elect these people when they have no right to participate? Past practice has always been the elected alternates can participate in the discussion but could not vote. Why the change? Why dilute the process?

It appears that over the years the elected and appointed officials on the land use commissions have been given less authority leading one to believe that the fast track is broken. The Design Review Committee, with expert contributors was assigned to a lesser position with many contributors resigning. If we expect professional people to volunteer for our land use boards and commissions we should give them the authority to make decisions in the best interest of the town. With all this building in town that will lead to a bubble and bust, we should have more people reviewing our applications, not fewer. I would suggest that this letter of resignation be reviewed and policy changes be implemented.

I would like to report that Simsbury Farms once again has an “A” Paddle Team. We practice on Tuesday mornings and play matches on Thursday morning. We could use more players, if anyone is interested. I would like to report that I am undefeated, winning my matches against Farmington Field Club and Hop Meadow Country Club.

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