Council Honors Fallen Officer; Establishes Newly-Defined DPW Positions

Town Council President Gary Cote began the first Council meeting of 2012 by recognizing who passed away in a tragic off-duty accident on Jan. 30.

"The most important thing that I can say about him is that he was one of the good ones," said Cote. "We're going to miss him. I'm not going to say that it will be hard to replace him, because in my eyes, he is irreplaceable. Our Police Department will move on but I want to commend Bryan Volpe and his, our, men and women for handling themselves phenomenally throughout this entire thing and carrying themselves with their heads held high."

The Council then declared a 30-day mourning period from Dec. 30 to Jan. 31 in Coventry in recognition of French's passing. The lowering of all flags to half-staff during the mourning period was ordered as part of the declaration.
 
DPW Positions

• The reestablishment and new pay grade of Director of Public Works was approved to fill the position of long-time Superintendent Dennis Smith who retired at the end of December. (Chuck Smith of the DPW has been named Acting Superintendent for the time being.) The position will eventually be filled with an existing member of the Local 3484 union group.

The position and pay grade of Working General Foreman within the DPW were also approved based on the recommendation of Town Manager Thomas Hoover.  The two newly-defined positions will only yield a balance of $1,887.03 that will be absorbed within the Public Works department.

Resolutions

• The Council approved the Budget Calendar for submission of the 2012/2013 fiscal year budget subject to recommended adjustments if needed.

• The purchase of 11 new Taser x-2 models for the Coventry Police Department at a total cost of $13,984.22 was approved by Council members. Police Chief Bryan Volpe explained that tasers are the the "most current and cutting edge technology out there" and will replace the older models that have been in use for almost 10 years and will be traded in and sold for parts.

"This new technology lets us move into an area of less-lethal response and gives us an excellent opportunity to mitigate a situation without getting hurt and without the people we are protecting getting hurt," said Volpe.

• Hoover explained that when the Town received three proposals on Nov. 3 for a Wind Power Development Project, questions arose that warranted the rejection of submitted bids. The Council approved the rebidding of the project again, now that the issues have been addressed.

• The Council approved the installation of sewer connections at 1208 Main St. as recommended by the Sewer Subcommittee.

Licenses

• The Renewal of Firearms licenses was awarded to Midstate Gun (15 Sandy Bottom Rd.) and Hawkins Machine (374 Hopkins Hill Rd.)

• Council members approved the transfer of a Class B liquor license with new victualing license from West Coventry Pizza, Inc. (2260 Flat River Rd.) to Michael Manish, Patriot Bar & Pizza.