BOARD OF SELECTMEN

FEBRUARY 27, 2017

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DRAFT

Attendance:  First Selectwoman Derrylyn Gorski, Selectman Clark Hurlburt, Selectman Donald Shea

Visitors:  Fran Doba, Attorney Kevin McSherry

First Selectwoman Gorski called the meeting of the Board of Selectmen to order at 7:30 p.m.  The meeting was held in the Selectmen’s Conference Room of the Bethany Town Hall.  The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

First Selectwoman Gorski called for a motion of approval for the minutes of the meeting of February 27, 2017.  The motion of approval was moved by Selectman Shea and seconded by Selectman Hurlburt.  First Selectwoman Gorski corrected the minutes regarding Appoint of Committee for Annex.  The amended minutes were then approved on a unanimous vote.

APPOINT ANNEX COMMITTEE

Selectman Hurlburt moved to appoint Namita Wijesekera, Todd Bussert and Nick Poulmas to the newly created Annex Committee.  Selectman Shea seconded the motion.  The vote taken was unanimous.

STATE OF CONNECTICUT BUDGET

First Selectwoman Gorski reports that she has been up to the State Capital to give testimony regarding budget cuts in the Governor’s budget that would affect Bethany.  First Selectwoman Gorski plans to attend the Education Committee meeting on Wednesday regarding cuts to the ESC Grant.  The Board discussed timing for the Annual Town Meeting if the Governor’s budget has not been finalized.  Attorney McSherry informed the Board of the procedure that could be taken.  The Annual Town Meeting would be held according to ordinance the third Monday of May.  If the budget had not been finalized then the meeting would adjourn and a new date set for a new Town Meeting when the budget was complete.

OTHER  MATTERS PROPER TO COME BEFORE THE MEETING                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Selectman Shea asked at what distance can a gun be shot for target practice on private property?  Attorney McSherry indicated that this information was available under Connecticut State Statute not local ordinance. 

ADJOURNMENT

Adjournment was called at 7:55 p.m. after a motion was moved by Selectman Hurlburt and seconded by Selectman Shea.  The vote taken was unanimous.

 

                                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,  

 

                                                                                                                June G. Riley

                                                                                                                Secretary, Board of Selectmen

MINUTES OF THE BETHANY INLAND WETLANDS COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING OF MONDA

The regular meeting of the Inland Wetlands Commission was called to order at 7:35 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room of the Bethany Town Hall, 40 Peck Road, Bethany, Connecticut.

 

The following members of the Commission were present:

         Kristine Sullivan, Vice-Chair, Acting as Chair

         Brian Smith, Member

         Nancy Scanlon, Member

 

The following members of the Commission were absent:

          Alexandra Breslin, Chair

          Roger Hathaway, Member

 

 

NEW BUSINESS  

 

1. 90 Pole Hill Road (Bethany Community Garden), Application #1278 submitted by Town of Bethany for an IW Permit to locate a second 7’ by 7’ shed on wood base –
    

Present for this application was MaryEllen Unger of the Bethany Community Garden Committee.

 

In discussion, Mrs. Unger noted:

• This shed will be exactly the same as shed there now.
• Will be storing garden tools, lawn mower and watering cans.

 

Commission has no concerns.

 

Further discussion and appropriate action on the application was deferred until the Commission’s next regular meeting adjourned to Monday, March 27, 2017.  Tabled.

 

 

1. 94 Schaffer Road, Application #1279 submitted by Virginia Guiliano for an IW Permit to erect an above-ground pool –

 

Application withdrawn.

 

 

OLD BUSINESS

 

1. 39 Porter Hill Road, Application #1273 submitted by David Christensen for an IW Permit to repair and maintenance of pond –

 

Present for this application was John Connolly of Christensen Landscape Services, LLC of Northford, Connecticut, representing the property owners.  Mr. Connolly submitted new plans dated February 27, 2017, and reviewed the changes with the Commission. 

 

 

 

 

In discussion, some items noted by the Commission were:

• Would prefer hay bales where storing materials to stabilize.
• Would like machine not to go into pond and dredge from the sides.
• Move bag so can dewater closer to stream for less erosion to occur and gives machine more ability to get around pond.
• The Commission will prepare a list of items discussed and email to the applicant.  Applicant can email a pdf of revised plan based on comments.

 

Applicant submitted a letter of Consent to Extension of Time of 35 days to act on said application.

 

Further discussion and appropriate action on the application was deferred until the Commission’s next regular meeting adjourned to Monday, March 27, 2017.  Tabled.

 

 

1. 74 MUNSON ROAD, Harold, Thomas and Dina Durley, Show Cause Hearing Regarding Cease and Desist Order issued December 7, 2016.

 

No one was present for this discussion. 

 

Isabel Kearns, IWEO, stated she spoke with owner of record and Mr. Durley stated they are not riding quads and will install hay bales before they start riding in the spring.  Tabled.

 

 

1. Discussion regarding Raccio Drive – Proposal from Diversified Technology Consultants – Tabled.
    

 

1. Continue Show Cause Hearing regarding Cease and Desist Order, dated       October 21, 2014, to Mrs. Bitina Patel of 10 Northrop Road, extension of patio, stonewall along the pond, waterfall and clear cutting of trees within the 150-foot upland review area without permit –

 

Present representing the property owner was John Paul Garcia, P.E./L.S.   Mr. Garcia submitted a letter dated January 30, 2017, Re:  Sequence of Construction and Work for       10 Northrup Road.  Mr. Garcia would like to make this part of the permit and file on the Land Records.   

 

Commission members reviewed and noted:

• Change in Item #1 of the letter dated January 30, 2017, the word “work” to “disturbance”.
• Make title of plan to be filed on the land records “Remediation Plan and Conservation Easement.

 

Mr. Garcia will make changes and submit and then the Commission will act on for the next regular meeting on March 27, 2017.  Tabled.

 

 

 

 

 

1. Discussion regarding Bethany West clearing.  (Letter from Roman Mrozinski of the
   Southwest Conservation District) – Tabled.
    
    
2. 185 Beacon Road, Discussion with Daniel Cusano regarding non-permitted barn –

Tabled.

 

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

 

1. It was moved by Scanlon and seconded by Smith to approve, as submitted, the minutes of the January 23, 2017, Regular Meeting.
   Voting for:  Sullivan, Smith, Scanlon.
   Unanimous approval.

 

 

BILLS

 

1. It was moved by Scanlon and seconded by Smith to approve the payment of $399.12 to Diversified Technology Consultants for professional services to review application for  39 Porter Hill Road.
   Voting for:  Sullivan, Smith, Scanlon.
   Unanimous approval.
    

 

CORRESPONDENCE

 

1. Letter from Aquarion Water Company, dated January 30, 2017, Re:  2017 Aquarion Environmental Champion Awards program.  The Commission will review with Chair Breslin at next regular meeting on March 27, 2017.

 

 

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Commission, it was moved by Scanlon

and seconded by Smith to adjourn the regular meeting at 8:21 p.m.

Unanimous approval.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Antonia R. Marek, Clerk

For Inland Wetlands Commission

 

Y, FEBRUARY 27, 2017                                            

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BOARD OF SELECTMEN

FEBRUARY 13, 2017

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APPROVED

Attendance:  First Selectwoman Derrylyn Gorski, Selectman Clark Hurlburt, Selectman Donald Shea

Visitors:  Attorney Kevin McSherry, Fran Doba, Jim Rawson, William Brinton, Paul Bongiovanni

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

First Selectwoman Gorski called for a motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of January 23, 2017.  The motion of approval was moved by Selectman Hurlburt and seconded by Selectman Shea.  The minutes were approved on a unanimous vote without change.

TAX REFUNDS

Selectman Shea moved to refund to Allan & Margaret Holbrook the sum of $313.32, to Amity Road LLC the sum of $14.21, to Vincent Ciarleglio the sum of $4,290.18, to Arthur and Jamie Calabrese the sum of $4,168.24, to Katherine O’Shea the sum of $30.00, to Robert Smolensky the sum of $2,077.82, to Bradford Buchta the sum of $13.28 and to Danielle Castro the sum of $7.38 all for overpayment of taxes.  Selectman Hurlburt seconded the motion.  The vote taken was unanimous. 

ADDITION TO AGENDA

Selectman Hurlburt moved to add ScanOptics to the agenda of this meeting.  The motion was seconded by Selectman Shea.  The vote taken was unanimous.   

SCANOPTICS

Paul Bongiovanni, Director of Business at ScanOptics was present to give the Board of Selectmen an introduction to ScanOptics and to explain how their product could save valuable space at Town Hall by scanning records and important Building Department maps and files.  Not only would it save space but the information would be available much more efficiently and easy to retrieve if it were on the computer.   The estimated start- up cost would be between $9,000 to $12,000.  The scanning would start with the present records and work back.  Depending on how far back the Town would want to go would determine the total cost.  The total implementation could be done over a period of time depending on available funding.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

COMMITTEE FOR ANNEX

The Board of Education has decided that the lower Annex is no longer needed for school use.  The Selectmen will need to appoint a committee to look at other uses for this building.  Park and Recreation is looking for space to expand their programs.  The Selectmen will need to appoint a committee to evaluate and determine the best use of this building. 

STATE OF CONNECTICUT GOVERNOR’S BUDGET

The Selectmen discussed the $1,300,000 being cut from Municipal and Education Grants in the Governor’s budget for the Town of Bethany.   Some of the cuts discussed were passing the cost of teacher retirement to the towns to fund, the cost of the Resident Trooper would increase from 85% to 100 %, plus an extra charge of $750 for each constable and a $3,000 fee for cost of administration for the constables, all to be sent to the State of Connecticut.

Another pending issue which would increase our budget is the issue of regionalizing health  districts.  If this happens the cost could be ten times what we now pay with QVHD. 

ANY OTHER MATTER PROPER TO COME BEFORE THE MEETING

A memo was received from Jeanne DelVecchio regarding a rider on the Senior bus, purchasing alcoholic beverages and bringing them on to the bus.  The Selectmen discussed the matter and determined that if they did not open the container and the contents were left it in the bag from the store than it was acceptable.

ADJOURNMENT

Adjournment was called at 8:45 p.m. after a motion was moved by Selectman Hurlburt and seconded by Selectman Shea.

 

                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

 

                                                                                                June G. Riley

                                                                                                Secretary, Board of Selectmen   

BOARD OF FINANCE

FEBRUARY 14, 2017

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APPROVED

Attendance:  Chairman John Grabowski, Sharon Huxley, John Ford IV, Robert Brinton Jr., Melissa Spear joined the meeting at 7:20 p.m., Sally Huyser joined the meeting at 7:55 p.m.

Visitors:  Charles Dumais, Amity Superintendent, Terry Loomis, Scott Cleary, Jamie Stirling, Fran Doba, Thomas Broesler

Chairman Grabowski called the meeting of the Board of Finance to order at 7:10 p.m.  The meeting was held in the Selectmen’s Conference Room of the Bethany Town Hall. 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Chairman Grabowski call for a motion of approval for the minutes of the meeting of February 7, 2017.  The motion of approval was moved by Sharon Huxley and seconded by Robert Brinton Jr.  There were no changes to the minutes.  The minutes were accepted on a vote of four yes votes.  Melissa and Sally were not present for approval of minutes.

CHANGE IN ORDER ON AGENDA

Chairman Grabowski asked the Board of Finance if they minded moving the Amity Regional School budget presentation up on the agenda.  There were no objections.

AMITY REGIONAL SCHOOL BUDGET PRESENTATION

Charles Dumais, Superintendent of the Amity School District #5, gave a budget presentation.  Charles reported that Amity is one of the top ten schools in the nation.  He explained all the honors and accreditations the system has received in the fields of sports, theater as well as academics.  This budget presentation has an increase of 1.95% overall from last year.  Due to decreasing enrollment in Bethany the difference to Bethany over last year will be a decrease of .86% in Bethany’s allocation. 

When the presentation was complete, Board of Finance members asked questions.  Robert Brinton Jr. commented that the budget seemed hostile about returning a surplus to the towns, since it listed planned uses of any surplus, including capital reserve fund, OPEB fund, and health insurance reserve fund, but not returning surplus money to the towns.  Sharon Huxley commented we would like the money back rather than Amity spending it on projects.  The Towns always have projects that would be nice to do also.

The Board of Finance discussed briefly reducing Amity budget in proportion to where all would share the burden of the State reduction. 

WOODBRIDGE YOUTH BUDGET ALLOCATION FISCAL YEAR 2016-17

There was an error in the appropriation for Woodbridge Youth in the budget of 2016-17 of $489.  Woodbridge Youth is requesting that this amount be corrected as they will be short for some of the programs they are planning.   No action was requested at this time.

 

 

DR. PLUMMER FUND

Discussion about the Dr. Plummer Fund was tabled as a resolution is needed to complete the transaction of withdrawal to reimburse the General Fund.

 

ADJOURNMENT

Adjournment was called at 9:20 p.m. after a motion was moved by Sharon Huxley and seconded by John Ford IV.  The vote taken was unanimous.

 

                                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

 

                                                                                                                June G. Riley

                                                                                                                Clerk, Board of Finance

 

 

BOARD OF FINANCE

SPECIAL MEETING

FEBRUARY 21, 2017

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APPROVED

Attendance:  Chairman John Grabowski, Sharon Huxley, Robert Brinton Jr., Sally Huyser, Melissa Spear, John Ford IV

Visitors:  Colleen Murray, Superintendent of Bethany Elementary School, Susan Carpenter, Olga Simoes, Christopher Pittenger, Thomas Broesler, Robert McSherry, Tim Sharon, Robert Davis and 14 parents of students at the Elementary School.

Chairman Grabowski called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m.  The meeting was held in the Selectmen’s Conference Room in the Bethany Town Hall. 

BOARD OF EDUCATION BUDGET – ELEMERNTARY SCHOOL
Superintendent Colleen Murray and Christopher Pittenger gave a presentation on the Elementary School budget.  They explained the special programs and how they were able to keep expenditures down without cutting too deep into quality of education.  Most increases are due to contractual obligations. The total request for the 2017-18 fiscal year budget is $6,654,933 or $124,395 more than last year, for a 1.9% increase.  This budget was approved by the Board of Education before the Governor’s budget had been published with a $1,500,000 decrease in educational grants to the Town of Bethany from the State of Connecticut.  The Board of Finance is requesting that the Board of Education provide enrollment numbers and cost per student to them for the new budget. 

Melissa Spear had just attended a presentation in Hartford regarding the Governor’s budget where suggestions were made to reduce costs in school districts, i.e using one superintendent for more than one town.  

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Chairman Grabowski reported that the Amity Finance Committee will hold a special meeting on Thursday to address the Governor’s budget cuts.

BETHANY VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT

Chief Robert McSherry presented the Fire Department budget.  The only increase over last year is a $6,000 request for an administrative assistant to work in the office to complete clerical work.  No Capital Expenditures were requested for next fiscal year.   No plan was submitted for future years however he did indicate that perhaps there would be a request for a new fire truck in the 2018-19 budget. 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Chairman Grabowski called for approval of the minutes of the meeting of February 14, 2017.  A motion of approval was made by Robert Brinton Jr and seconded by John Ford IV.  Robert and Sharon opened discussion regarding amending of the minutes.  It was determined that approval would be tabled until the next meeting.  Robert agreed to get modification to the secretary for amending the minutes for the next meeting. 

 

 

BUDGET 2017-18

The Board discussed briefly where they thought budget cuts could be made.  The Board requested updated budget draft from Tom Broesler for the next meeting.  The Public Works and Library will present their budget at the next meeting.

ADJOURNMENT

Adjournment was called at 8:50 p.m. after a motion was moved by Sally Huyser and seconded by Robert Brinton Jr.  The vote taken was unanimous.

 

                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                               

                                                                                                June G. Riley, Secretary