Chair Report: November 22nd Meeting Preview

Good Morning, and a happy pre-Thanksgiving Friday neighbors! From the Council Chair, providing a preview of the Tuesday, November 22nd regular meeting.

The Town Council will start with four public hearings. The first hearing is a resolution appropriating $500,000 in STEAP Grant funds for the Tennis Court Renovation and Replacement Project. This hearing was required under the Tolland Town Charter section 9-14 in order for the Town Manager to sign documents pertaining to the grant.

The second public hearing item is the creation of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund. After multiple joint meetings with the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC), language has been developed to establish a trust fund to receive monies in the event a developer does not wish to build a sufficient number of affordable housing units. The PZC currently has language that will take effect requiring multifamily developments over 10 units to have at least 5% affordable housing if the fund is not established or if a developer opts not to deposit monies into this fund.

The third public hearing item before the Town Council is a resolution amending Section A173-9 of the Tolland Town Code, which pertains to PZC Application Permit Fees. The proposed changes will place Tolland’s permitting fees in line with neighboring communities and encourage developers to consider Tolland for multi-family and other non-residential developments.

The fourth and final public hearing is a consideration of a resolution appropriating $1,500,000 for HVAC system improvements for Tolland Middle School (TMS) and Tolland Intermediate School (TIS), and authorizing the issuance of up to $900,000 in bonds. The Board of Education provided this Capital Improvement Plan project in advance due to an opportunity for the town to apply for a grant that would reimburse 49.64% of the costs through a state law that took effect over the summer. The application for this grant is due on December 1, 2022 and funding must be in place for a commitment for funding by January 2023.

Following these public hearings, there are five new business items for action. The first two items are resolutions to establish building committees for the two HVAC improvement projects for TMS and TIS as mentioned in the fourth public hearing. These committees would be comprised of town and school staff to oversee the project and grant funding applied to the project.

The third new business item before Town Council is a resolution for a supplemental appropriation for three bridge improvement projects to be funded 100% by state and federal funds and setting the public hearing for these projects on December 13th. The town applied for four bridge project and thus far have been awarded funds for three at the amount requested. This hearing is required as a part of the Town Charter section 9-14 due to supplemental appropriations exceeding the maximum allowable for the fiscal year.

The fourth item of business is a resolution declaring Public Safety's 1987 Engine Tank 540 as surplus property within the town. If approved, it is recommended for sale in as is condition, or to be disposed of in accordance with town policies.

The fifth and final new business item is an appointment to the Commission on People with Disabilities.

Thank you for taking the time to review this report and the subsequent minutes and packet below:

November 22nd meeting agenda - https://ecode360.com/TO1208/document/693923426.pdf

November 22nd meeting packet - https://www.tollandct.gov/site...

If you would like to submit any questions or comments to the Town Council, please email us at towncouncil@tollandct.gov. Have a great weekend!