Waterford Selectmen To Consider Community Center Blinds, Road Salt Contract And Landfill Equipment

WATERFORD, CT — The Board of Selectmen will consider funding replacement blinds at the Community Center, awarding a winter road salt contract and purchasing equipment for the town landfill when it meets Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The regular meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the auditorium at Waterford Town Hall, 15 Rope Ferry Road.

Selectmen will consider a $26,700 additional appropriation for a new capital project to replace blinds at the Community Center. If approved by the selectmen, the request would be forwarded to the Board of Finance.

Documents included with the agenda say the existing blinds were installed around 2004 and cite two reasons for replacement: safety concerns involving older beaded or corded blinds and suspected mold or mold-like growth on several blinds. Photographs included in the meeting packet show damaged, missing and stained blinds. The supporting material also includes information from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on hazards associated with older corded window coverings and three vendor proposals.

The board is also scheduled to consider awarding Morton Salt Inc. a contract for treated road salt at $191.96 per ton through the Capitol Region Purchasing Council cooperative purchasing program. The supporting bid documents in the agenda packet cover treated and untreated road salt for winter road maintenance.

Another Public Works item calls for selectmen to consider a recommendation from Purchasing Agent Shea Davy, on behalf of Public Works Director Gary Schneider, to award a bid to BCI Inc., doing business as Butler Co., for a seasonal mowing and trimming machine for the Waterford Landfill. The proposed amount is $55,050, with funding available in the landfill capital maintenance account.

The agenda also calls for the board to consider declaring a Police Department 2019 Noptic thermal imaging camera surplus because it has outlived its usefulness to the town. Another agenda item concerns the surplus of an attached list of town assets that have similarly outlived their usefulness.

On the financial side, selectmen will consider an $89,636 fiscal 2026 out-of-series transfer requested by Finance Director Kim Allen to cover payroll overages and unexpected increases in electricity costs. The request would be forwarded to the Board of Finance if approved.

The board has a lengthy list of appointments and reappointments on its agenda. First Selectman Rob Brule has appointed Steve Besade, an unaffiliated voter, as an alternate on the Economic Development Commission for the remainder of a term ending Aug. 31, 2027.

Selectmen are also scheduled to consider the reappointment of Joe DiBuono, a Republican, to the Planning and Zoning Commission; Lawrence Tytla, a Democrat, to the Waterford-East Lyme Shellfish Commission; David DeNoia, a Republican, to the Conservation Commission as an alternate; and Keith Kriet, a Democrat, to the Conservation Commission as a member.

The agenda lists the resignation of Megan Sheehan, a Democrat, from the Recreation and Parks Commission and calls for consideration of several appointments to that commission, including Melissa Chiappone, Walter Whitesides and Tim Burrows.

Selectmen will also consider reappointing Chris Muckle, a Republican, to the Youth and Family Services Board as a parent representative; Michael Cristofaro, an unaffiliated voter, and Joanna Bennett, a Democrat, as community representatives; and appointing John Worobey, a Republican, as a parent representative.

The packet also contains a request from the Youth and Family Services Advisory Board to fill a community representative vacancy with Daniel Pickett. The supporting memorandum says the vacancy resulted from Michael Buscetto II's resignation in April.

The consent agenda includes a tax refund and approval of the Board of Selectmen's Aug. 18 regular meeting minutes. Because the Oct. 6 document is an agenda rather than minutes, no vote results are available for the matters scheduled for consideration.