Chairperson's Report: September 12th Special & Regular Meeting Preview

Good afternoon neighbors, and happy Friday to you! I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend and a successful first week of classes for those back in school. Please see below the chairperson’s report for the September 12th special and regular meeting next week.

First, the Town Council will meet for an executive session for a personnel matter.

Following the executive session, the Town Council will reconvene for our regular meeting to conduct several items of business. The Town Council will first make final approval for a proclamation honoring Jeff Gallagher at the end of September. After receiving feedback from fellow council members from the last council meeting, revisions were made to the proposed proclamation.

The council will then consider a resolution approving funds to ratify a collective bargaining extension with our firefighter’s union to cover July 1, 2023 through June 30th, 2024. This extension was a request by the union in lieu of negotiating a multi-year contract for this year. The only change to their contract would include a 3% wage increase for the fiscal year, which was ratified by the union on 8/16.

Following this resolution is a review and possible approval by the Town Council of a proposed ADA sidewalk project on the Tolland Green. This action is following a public hearing held by the Town Council to receive feedback from the community at large. It was also reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC), who had requested feedback from the Design Advisory Board (DAB) regarding the materials being used for the project.

Due to the DAB being unable to convene to provide their input to the PZC, the PZC provided a disapproval opinion that included a statement of unanimous support for accessibility on the green in concept, but requested other alternative options for the material be considered. This disapproval will require a 2/3 vote, or 5 of 7 members if all are present, to vote in favor of the project to move this forward per state statute.

The town council’s final new item of business is a re-appointment of a resident to the Water Pollution Control Authority. Any residents interested in filling existing vacancies can contact vacancies@tollandct.gov.

The one old item of business for the Town Council to review is a Department of Public Works Study that was initiated by the Town Manager, Brian Foley. This discussion was postponed at the last Council meeting.

To review the meeting agendas, packet and Town Manager’s Report, please visit:

September 12th Special Meeting Agenda - https://ecode360.com/TO1208/document/748525285.pdf

September 12th Regular Meeting Agenda - https://ecode360.com/TO1208/document/748525702.pdf

September 12th Regular Meeting Packet - https://www.tollandct.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif3921/f/uploads/2023-09-12_regular_meeting_packet.pdf

September Town Manager Report – (Pending)

Thank you for taking the time to review this report. If you would like to submit any questions or comments to the Town Council regarding town-related topics, please email us at towncouncil@tollandct.gov.