Friday, January 15, 2010

BOARD OF SELECTMEN
JANUARY 11, 2010
Page 1 of 2

Attendance: First Selectwoman Derrylyn Gorski, Selectman Donald Shea, Selectman Steven Thornquist
Visitors: Attorney Kevin McSherry, Brian Laubstein, Kenneth Martin, Linda Francois
First Selectwoman Gorski called the meeting of the Board of Selectmen to order a 7:40 p.m. The meeting was held in the Conference Room of the Bethany Town Hall. The first order of business was check signing. First Selectwoman Gorski asked all to rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
First Selectwoman Gorski called for approval of the minutes of the meeting of November 23, 2009. The motion of approval was moved by Selectman Shea and seconded by Selectwoman Gorski. The vote was called. The vote taken was unanimous.

First Selectwoman Gorski called for approval of the minutes of the meeting of December 14, 2009. The motion of approval was moved by Selectman Shea and seconded by Selectwoman Gorski. The vote was called. The vote taken was unanimous.

PAVILION UPDATE
First Selectwoman Gorski reported that the construction of the Veterans Memorial Park Pavilion has been canceled until spring due to difficulty in working at this site through the winter.

TAX REFUNDS
Selectman Shea moved to refund to Litton Loan the sum of $1,001.72, to Leopold Pospisil the sum of $1,699.92, to Millicent Bowen the sum of $240.00, to Walter Longo the sum of $9.11, to Andrew Taylor the sum of $12.15, Cab East LLC the sum of $579.41, to Evelyn Anderson the sum of $42.39, to Gail Spahn the sum of$2.20, to GMAC the sum of $754.03 and to Toyota Motor Credit the sum of $58.89 all for overpayment of taxes. The motion was seconded by First Selectwoman Gorski. The vote taken was unanimous.

POLICE ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT
First Selectwoman Gorski reported on the meeting she had attended in Hartford regarding overtime charges, and practices for hiring off duty troopers at an overtime rate. The Attorney General and ruled that the State cannot charge more than the present contract indicates for a Resident Trooper. The memo sent by the State indicated that an overtime trooper would be billed at $82.64 per hour and could only be assigned from the Central Office. This practice would send off duty troopers to our town from other troops. The troopers would be unfamiliar with the residents and the roads in our town. First Selectwoman Gorski is awaiting a final decision from the State. In the meantime First Selectwoman Gorski is presently working on a Mutual Aid Agreement with the towns of Prospect and Beacon Falls to share constables for special events and traffic duty.




TOWN AUDIT
The Town Audit is complete. First Selectwoman Gorski distributed copies of the audit to the Selectmen. The Town ended the fiscal year with a surplus. Including the surplus the Fund Balance at the end of fiscal year 2008-09 is $2,601,844 or 12% of Expenditures.

VISITORS
Brian Laubstein asked the Board of Selectmen if they would support local business when giving out Town contracts and work.

EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS CONTRACTS, PERSONNEL ISSUES, OR LAND ACQUISITION
At 8:05 p.m. Selectman Thornquist moved to go into executive session to discuss contracts, personnel issues and land acquisition and to invite Attorney McSherry, Linda Francois and Kenneth Martin to stay for the executive session. Selectman Shea seconded the motion. The vote taken was unanimous. At 8:28 p.m. Selectman Thornquist moved to exit the executive session. Selectman Shea seconded the motion. The vote taken was unanimous. There were no motions moved during this session.

ADJOURNMENT
Adjournment was called at 8:32 p.m. after a motion was moved by Selectman Shea and seconded by Selectman Thornquist. The vote taken was unanimous.

Respectfully submitted,

June G. Riley
Clerk, Board of Finance