BOARD
OF SELECTMEN
MAY
5, 2020
Page
1 of 3
DRAFT MINUTES
Via Zoom
Attendance: First Selectman Paula Cofrancesco and Selectman
Donald Shea.
Absent
was: Selectman Derrylyn Gorski
Also
in attendance: Town Attorney Vincent
Marino, Finance Director Sheila Lane, Hiram Peck, Planning Consultant
Visitors: Jamie Stirling, Sharon Huxley, Fred Niven of
the Bethany News, Susan Hurlburt, Clark Hurlburt
1. First Selectman
Paula Cofrancesco called the meeting of the Board of Selectmen to order via Zoom
at 7:03
p.m.
2.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
First
Selectman Cofrancesco called for a motion of approval for the minutes of the regular
meeting of April 21, 2020. The motion of approval was moved by
Selectman Shea and seconded by First Selectman Cofrancesco. There were no changes to the minutes. Voting for:
Cofrancesco, Shea. Unanimous approval.
3. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION – TAX REFUNDS
First Selectman Cofrancesco stated that there are no
tax refunds at this time.
4. DISCUSSION & POSSIBLE ACTION – SMALL
CITIES GRANT – MORTGAGE RELEASE
First Selectman Cofrancesco stated that the Town received
payment for a mortgage release from Mary Murphy for $24,000.00 and that the
Board of Selectmen needed to authorize the First Selectmen to sign a release
for the Land Records that the property owner paid the amount owed to the Town.
It was moved by Selectman Shea and seconded by First
Selectman Cofrancesco to authorize the First Selectmen to sign a release for
the Land Records that the property owner, Mary Murphy, paid $24,000.00 to the
Town.
Voting
for: Cofrancesco, Shea.
Unanimous
approval.
BOARD
OF SELECTMEN
MAY
5, 2020
Page
2 of 3
5.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION – AFFORDABLE HOUSING PLANNING GRANT – RESOLUTION
FOR APPROVAL
Hiram Peck, Planning Consultant, noted the
following:
·
This is an
attempt to get a $15,000.00 grant from the Department of Housing for an
Affordable Housing Grant.
·
The resolution
is one aspect of the paperwork that needs to go to the Department of Housing to
do the Affordable Housing Study.
·
The Affordable
Housing Study will look at the current status of the Town, such as current
amount of units and will look at the affordable housing needs and how to
address these needs for the Town’s people.
·
The Town has
about 1 to 2 % of housing that is classified as affordable and the State
Statute 8-30g states that 10% of the Town housing should be affordable.
Town Attorney Marino stated that State Statute 8-30j
states that every five years that each Town should adopt an Affordable Housing
Plan and this Affordable Housing Study would fall into that.
It was moved by Selectman Shea and seconded by First
Selectman Cofrancesco to make a motion to approve the resolution on the moving
forward by Hiram Peck, Planning Consultant, for the Affordable Housing Planning
Grant.
Voting
for: Cofrancesco, Shea.
Unanimous
approval.
6.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION – ROAD WORK – MOVING FORWARD – UPDATE
First Selectman Cofrancesco stated that the road
work is moving along and that she took a ride with Acting Director of Public
Works Tony Ciarleglio and they are doing an amazing job and Tilcon hopes to be
done well before July 1, 2020.
Selectmen Shea reported on the following:
·
Tilcon will be
pulling out of Town for a week and this will give us more time to catch up on
catch basin work.
·
We will be
opening bids for chip sealing on Friday, May, 15, 2020.
BOARD
OF SELECTMEN
MAY
5, 2020
Page
3 of 3
7. DISCUSSION & POSSIBLE ACTION – STATUS OF
AIRPORT HANGAR – UPDATE
Town Attorney Marino noted the following:
·
Town needs to
decide what action to take.
·
Insurance will
pay to put structure back to pre-tornado condition but then Town needs to
decide if it wants to sue the manufacturing company or contractor due to
unusable leaky building.
·
Need to talk to
Building Official to get information regarding the bond before making a
decision.
Tabled.
8. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION – SIMPSON
PROPERTY – ON HOLD (IN PROBATE)
First Selectman Cofrancesco stated this is on hold
and in probate court. Tabled.
9.
DISCUSSION & POSSIBLE ACTION – CEMETERY COMMISSION BYLAWS – ON HOLD
First Selectman Cofrancesco stated she just received
an up-to-date copy of the draft Cemetery Commission Bylaws from Kris Sullivan,
which she will forward to Selectman Shea and Selectman Gorski for review before
the next meeting. Tabled.
10. DISCUSSION & POSSIBLE ACTION – SIMPLE
RECYCLING (SOFT RECYCLABLES) – ON HOLD
First Selectman Cofrancesco noted that this item
will stay on hold until pandemic is over.
Tabled.
11.
OTHER MATTERS PROPER TO COME BEFORE THE MEETING
·
The Board of
Selectmen discussed that they had previously approved the Board of Finance to
finalize the Budget and the Special Board of Finance Meeting will be May 18,
2020.
12.
ADJOURNMENT
At
7:31 p.m., it was moved by Selectman Shea and seconded by First Selectman Cofrancesco
to adjourn the regular meeting. Unanimous approval.
Respectfully
submitted,
Antonia
R. Marek
Meeting
Clerk
