Chair Report: November 22nd Meeting Review

Good Morning, and a happy final Friday of November neighbors! I hope you all had a pleasant Thanksgiving holiday with family, friends and loved ones. From the Council Chair, providing a review of our Tuesday, November 22nd regular meeting.

The Town Council first conducted four public hearings. The first hearing unanimously approved a resolution appropriating $500,000 in STEAP Grant funds for the Tennis Court Renovation and Replacement Project. This allows Town Manager Foley authority to execute the funds.

The second public hearing item was the creation of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund. After multiple joint meetings with the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC), this trust fund will receive monies managed by an Affordable Housing Committee in the event a developer does not wish to build a sufficient number of affordable housing units. This ordinance was also unanimously approved.

The third public hearing item before the Town Council was an unanimously approved 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 was 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 (BoE) 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. This final public hearing was unanimously approved as well. If the grant is not awarded, the council can reconsider the timing of this capital project in conversation with the BoE.

Following these public hearings, there were five new business items. The first two items were unanimously approved amended resolutions establishing building committees for the two HVAC improvement projects for TMS and TIS. These committees would be comprised of town and school staff to oversee the project and grant funding applied to the project. They were amended to include our new grants and project manager.

The third new business item before Town Council was 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 funding for three at the amount requested. This hearing is required as a part of the Town Charter section 9-14. This was unanimously approved as well.

The fourth item of business is a resolution declaring Engine Tank 540 as surplus property within the town. The council unanimously approved the sale in "as is" condition, or to be disposed of in accordance with town policies and any profits from the sale deposited into the town’s Ambulance Reserve Fund.

The fifth and final new business item is an appointment to the Commission on People with Disabilities, which was unanimously approved.

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

November 22nd meeting minutes - https://ecode360.com/TO1208/document/695199590.pdf

November 22nd meeting packet - https://www.tollandct.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif3921/f/uploads/2022-11-22_regular_meeting_packet_0.pdf

If you would like to submit any questions or comments to the Town Council, please email us at towncouncil@tollandct.gov. Be sure to make time this weekend to support small business across town and attend the Festival of Lights Parade on the Tolland Green on Saturday!