Post by Wethersfield.com on Jun 10, 2005 16:02:52 GMT -5
TO: The Honorable Mayor and Town Council Members
FROM: Bonnie L. Therrien, Town Manager
DATE: June 10, 2005
A. COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS:
1. Manager:
2. Upcoming Events:
• The ribbon cutting for the Moeller Home/Nature Center will be Saturday, June 11th, at 10 am with an open house to follow for the public until 4 pm.
• The swearing-in ceremony for Fire Chief Charles Flynn will be on Sunday, June 12th at 2 pm at Company #1. Please join us on that day to welcome our new Fire Chief.
• Social and Youth Services is hosting the fourth annual David C. Shinn Spirit of Service Awards on June 13, 2005 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM at the Solomon Welles House. Ms. Ericka Kriedel and Mr. Alex Finch will be honored.
• NEW Sovereign Bank is hosting the Chamber of Commerce’s “Business After Hours on June 14 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. See attached flyer. RSVP to Jeanne, 513-4024, ext 215.
• CRCOG will hold their annual dinner on June 21 at Manchester Country Club. A flyer is attached on this event.
• Graduation is scheduled for June 21st at Cove Park at 6 pm.
• NEW The Central Regional Tourism District and The Greater Hartford Convention and Visitors Bureau are holding their Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 23 at the Connecticut Convention Center from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, see attached flyer. RSVP to Elena O’Halloran at 860-728-6789 by Monday, June 20.
• The first annual Roaring Thunder Motorcycle Ride to benefit Special Olympics in Wethersfield will be held on Saturday July 23, 2005.
• Inter-Community Mental Health Group, which serves Wethersfield’s mentally ill, will be hosting its second annual 5K run/walk through Old Wethersfield on Sunday, August 21st, starting at 8:00 a.m. from Cove Park co-sponsored by the Wethersfield Tourism Commission.
3. Council and Board/Committee Dates:
• Fireside Chat with Board of Education – Monday, June 13th – 5:30 pm – Stillman Building
• Monday, June 13 – Housing Authority; WCCA
• Tuesday, June 14 – Board of Education; Historic District Commission; Solomon Welles House
• Wednesday, June 15 – Inland Wetlands Commission; WACPD
• Thursday, June 16 – Insurance Committee; Senior Citizen Advisory Committee; Health Board
4. Department/Division News:
• Assessor – We received a very positive customer service survey from a resident about Tax Assessor Jan Neumuth; it reads “Jan Neumuth is highly professional, very pleasant and friendly and forthcoming. Always come back with a pleasant feeling that I will be taken care of in the nicest way possible. Thank you Jan.” I couldn’t agree more. Congratulations Jan for this nice acknowledgement of how well you do your job!
• Library – Director Laurel Goodgion received the following note:
"Library staff: Gee wiz guys-you’re great. A few weeks ago I was browsing the DVD's and couldn't find anything. One of your nice people suggested I make a Patron Request for an item. Guess I never knew one could do that. Anyway I received a lovely letter informing me my requested item had been purchased & would be in, in a few weeks!! I'm so impressed!! I had to say thank you very much & please accept the enclosed check to help you in your endeavors!" (A check for $25 was enclosed.)
I am attaching a report that shows us the trends in borrowing from other Towns by Wethersfield residents and from Wethersfield by non-residents. You will note that over the years the trend has been reversing itself in that more people are using our library.
• Social and Youth Services - Tom McLoughlin of the Social and Youth Services Dept. will be leaving us in late July to become a teacher at Silas Deane Jr. High in Wethersfield. We are thrilled for Tom’s new opportunity and even happier that he will be right next door to us, so he can continue to share his invaluable expertise with us. We thank him for all he has done for the youth of our Town.
• Parks and Recreation – We received a letter from a resident thanking us for inviting Weaver High School Band to participate in the Memorial Day Parade and for reaching out to greater Hartford.
• Fire Department – I met today with the representative of the NU Energy Conservation Program. They have evaluated the Fire Houses to redo their lights but the buildings are not eligible as replacing the lights would not give enough savings under this NU program. I did ask him whether he knew of any programs that might help us replace the windows at the Fire Houses. He thought there was something through the State. I will have Rae Ann check on this program. I have also asked Rae Ann to contact our Small Cities consultant on whether we could apply for a Small Cities loan to upgrade the buildings for ADA compliance.
5. Board/Commission News:
• At Tuesday night’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, a motion was passed to direct Peter Gillespie, Town Planner, to research the athletic field lighting issue with specific attention to the zoning regulations in place in other Towns. They expect a written report by no later than July 21. At that time they will discuss how to proceed with a regulation. There was some discussion about a hearing on the regulation in early September although no date was set. It appears at this point that they may want to regulate by Special Permit and have detailed requirements in the regulations.
• I am appointing Gene Grayson to fill Peter Gardow’s slot on the Conservation Commission and reappointing Rebecca Zaliznock to the same Commission.
• I am reappointing Betty Rosania, Ralph Kelleher and Joe Cornelio, Jr. (alternate) to EDIC.
6. Council Questions/Answers:
• If you have any written comments or questions on the draft strategic plan, please contact Rae Ann or myself.
• Due to the move of the Nature Center to Moeller Home and to one of our mowers being down for repair, mowing in the interior courtyards of the High School and Emerson Williams had been delayed. They will both be taken care of this week.
• Our Town crews worked with the State DOT on June 5 to clean the intersection of Jordan and Wolcott streets, around the Jordan Street Bridge. Sey and Carol Adil will be putting together a landscape plan to beautify this area that will take minimal maintenance. Our thanks to Senator Fonfara for his efforts in getting the State to help us clean these areas.
• In response to a previous citizen question about how much money had been spent on Attorney costs for the referendum, we recently received a bill from the Attorney that included charges of $1871.50 for the referendum. These are the only charges that I have received to date.
• The State will begin working on mowing the curb sides of the major state roads this week.
• The sidewalk repair budget original request from the Engineering Department was for $70,000 and then was reduced to $50,000. The bid solicitation included an estimated budget of $70,000, as it was not known how much maintenance money would be approved by the Town Council, which is why the bid results appear high. The actual bid prices did not change substantially from last year. We finish sidewalk maintenance in the amount of whatever is given to us in the budget.
• The difference between the estimated budget and the actual cost to complete the Charles Wright parking lot is a result of the substantial increase in asphalt costs (from $45 per ton to $65 per ton) since the bid specifications were put together and because the scope of work for the Charles Wright parking lot increased from the original plan of just repaving the area to addressing safety and traffic flow concerns which changed the scope of the work.
• Innovative Mosquito Management and the Health Director inspected Cloverdale Pond along with a citizen. The IMM representative stated that a small amount of breeding may occur at this site but it is not a heavy breeding area. The pond is relatively small with fairly good inflow/outflow, which limits breeding. IMM will inspect the pond in dry weather, when the flow may be low, and treat if needed.
7. CRCOG: Nothing this week.
8. COST: Nothing this week.
9. ICMA: Nothing this week.
10. CCM: Nothing this week.
11. METROHARTFORD: I have attached a meeting announcement for the next Rising Star Breakfast on Tuesday, June 14. The featured speaker is Congressman John Larsen. The breakfast will be held at the Connecticut Convention Center from 7:30 to 9:00 AM. The cost, including breakfast, is $15.00.
12. Miscellaneous:
• I received notification that the City of Hartford will be paying the Town a $73,850.39 payment in lieu of taxes for the Goodwin Golf Course. I have been told that we will get the payment right after July 1. This amount is $5,850 more revenue than we budgeted. We budgeted $68,000.
• I have received notification of a hearing from the CT Department of Labor regarding the Library’s Full Time Employee’s petition to unionize with the CT. Independent Labor Union. The hearing is Thursday, June 23 at 9:30 AM at Town Hall with the State Labor Board. We will be meeting with those affected employees next week.
• Tax Assessor Neumuth has informed me that two law suits were filed after the Board of Assessment Appeals decisions. The suits were filed for two commercial properties, 691 Silas Deane Highway (shopping strip) and 341 Jordan Lane (convalescent home).
• The Connecticut Siting Council met on Wednesday, June 8. The meeting agenda included a review of the Nextel request to approve tower sharing at Kelleher Court. I will forward the results when I receive notification from the Siting Council.
• I have attached a flyer that is an example of one that will be sent to Wethersfield households regarding how to stop sewer back ups. The MDC will be mailing this out to all residents within the next few months.
• The State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection has informed the Town of their preliminary determination to approve the City of Hartford’s request to clear trees and woody vegetation from the entire Hartford Dike and along both the landward and riverward embankment slopes and construct a permanent gravel access road along the riverward slope, etc. See the attached letter and map from the DEP. This does have an impact on Wethersfield.
• In the recent Historical Society newsletter were several items of note:
The Robert Allan Keeney Trust at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving has approved several grants in support of programming at the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center, including the Keeney Cultural Series, the Keeney Koolers concerts, the Keeney Family History Day, the Keeney Kids summer programs and repayment of the loan to repair the slate roof.
The Village Garden Club was awarded the Lucille Schavior Bowl for its work in 2004. Presented by the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut, Inc., the award is presented to a garden club that performs outstanding work during the year. The Village Garden Club tends the historic gardens at the Hurlbut-Dunham House. Congratulations!!!
The Historical Society’s newsletter, the Almanac, received first place in a recent publication contest sponsored by the New England Museum Association. The contest covered 211 entries from 78 museums in 19 different categories. The Almanac won in the Newsletters: One or Two Color, Budget under $750,000 category. Congratulations!!!
B. PROJECT UPDATES:
• Silas Deane Middle School – I met with Bob Bauer from Parks Maintenance, Charlie Viani from the SDMS Building Committee, Asst. Director Jim McDonald from Physical Services and Tree Warden John Lepper regarding the condition of the landscaping beds in front of the school. When the landscaper put this together for the Building Committee, no one consulted our staff as to maintenance and whether we would be able to take care of the grounds. We do not have the staff to handle this elaborate design. We are going to hire part time staff to come in and weed the entire area for now. In the fall we are going to move the flower beds to the back or plant small islands and grass over the remaining area so that our staff can maintain it in a reasonable and efficient manner.
• Library Project – If you drive by the front of the library, you will note that the chimney has been repaired and looks very good.
• Cottone Field – The trees for the field have been delivered and work will begin next week to plant them.
C. ATTACHMENTS:
• Regional Tourism Annual Meeting Flyer
• Business After Hours Flyer
• Connecticard Loan Comparisons
• MetroHartford Alliance Rising Star Breakfast
• Water Environment Federation Flyer
• DEP Letter
FROM: Bonnie L. Therrien, Town Manager
DATE: June 10, 2005
A. COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS:
1. Manager:
2. Upcoming Events:
• The ribbon cutting for the Moeller Home/Nature Center will be Saturday, June 11th, at 10 am with an open house to follow for the public until 4 pm.
• The swearing-in ceremony for Fire Chief Charles Flynn will be on Sunday, June 12th at 2 pm at Company #1. Please join us on that day to welcome our new Fire Chief.
• Social and Youth Services is hosting the fourth annual David C. Shinn Spirit of Service Awards on June 13, 2005 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM at the Solomon Welles House. Ms. Ericka Kriedel and Mr. Alex Finch will be honored.
• NEW Sovereign Bank is hosting the Chamber of Commerce’s “Business After Hours on June 14 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. See attached flyer. RSVP to Jeanne, 513-4024, ext 215.
• CRCOG will hold their annual dinner on June 21 at Manchester Country Club. A flyer is attached on this event.
• Graduation is scheduled for June 21st at Cove Park at 6 pm.
• NEW The Central Regional Tourism District and The Greater Hartford Convention and Visitors Bureau are holding their Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 23 at the Connecticut Convention Center from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, see attached flyer. RSVP to Elena O’Halloran at 860-728-6789 by Monday, June 20.
• The first annual Roaring Thunder Motorcycle Ride to benefit Special Olympics in Wethersfield will be held on Saturday July 23, 2005.
• Inter-Community Mental Health Group, which serves Wethersfield’s mentally ill, will be hosting its second annual 5K run/walk through Old Wethersfield on Sunday, August 21st, starting at 8:00 a.m. from Cove Park co-sponsored by the Wethersfield Tourism Commission.
3. Council and Board/Committee Dates:
• Fireside Chat with Board of Education – Monday, June 13th – 5:30 pm – Stillman Building
• Monday, June 13 – Housing Authority; WCCA
• Tuesday, June 14 – Board of Education; Historic District Commission; Solomon Welles House
• Wednesday, June 15 – Inland Wetlands Commission; WACPD
• Thursday, June 16 – Insurance Committee; Senior Citizen Advisory Committee; Health Board
4. Department/Division News:
• Assessor – We received a very positive customer service survey from a resident about Tax Assessor Jan Neumuth; it reads “Jan Neumuth is highly professional, very pleasant and friendly and forthcoming. Always come back with a pleasant feeling that I will be taken care of in the nicest way possible. Thank you Jan.” I couldn’t agree more. Congratulations Jan for this nice acknowledgement of how well you do your job!
• Library – Director Laurel Goodgion received the following note:
"Library staff: Gee wiz guys-you’re great. A few weeks ago I was browsing the DVD's and couldn't find anything. One of your nice people suggested I make a Patron Request for an item. Guess I never knew one could do that. Anyway I received a lovely letter informing me my requested item had been purchased & would be in, in a few weeks!! I'm so impressed!! I had to say thank you very much & please accept the enclosed check to help you in your endeavors!" (A check for $25 was enclosed.)
I am attaching a report that shows us the trends in borrowing from other Towns by Wethersfield residents and from Wethersfield by non-residents. You will note that over the years the trend has been reversing itself in that more people are using our library.
• Social and Youth Services - Tom McLoughlin of the Social and Youth Services Dept. will be leaving us in late July to become a teacher at Silas Deane Jr. High in Wethersfield. We are thrilled for Tom’s new opportunity and even happier that he will be right next door to us, so he can continue to share his invaluable expertise with us. We thank him for all he has done for the youth of our Town.
• Parks and Recreation – We received a letter from a resident thanking us for inviting Weaver High School Band to participate in the Memorial Day Parade and for reaching out to greater Hartford.
• Fire Department – I met today with the representative of the NU Energy Conservation Program. They have evaluated the Fire Houses to redo their lights but the buildings are not eligible as replacing the lights would not give enough savings under this NU program. I did ask him whether he knew of any programs that might help us replace the windows at the Fire Houses. He thought there was something through the State. I will have Rae Ann check on this program. I have also asked Rae Ann to contact our Small Cities consultant on whether we could apply for a Small Cities loan to upgrade the buildings for ADA compliance.
5. Board/Commission News:
• At Tuesday night’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, a motion was passed to direct Peter Gillespie, Town Planner, to research the athletic field lighting issue with specific attention to the zoning regulations in place in other Towns. They expect a written report by no later than July 21. At that time they will discuss how to proceed with a regulation. There was some discussion about a hearing on the regulation in early September although no date was set. It appears at this point that they may want to regulate by Special Permit and have detailed requirements in the regulations.
• I am appointing Gene Grayson to fill Peter Gardow’s slot on the Conservation Commission and reappointing Rebecca Zaliznock to the same Commission.
• I am reappointing Betty Rosania, Ralph Kelleher and Joe Cornelio, Jr. (alternate) to EDIC.
6. Council Questions/Answers:
• If you have any written comments or questions on the draft strategic plan, please contact Rae Ann or myself.
• Due to the move of the Nature Center to Moeller Home and to one of our mowers being down for repair, mowing in the interior courtyards of the High School and Emerson Williams had been delayed. They will both be taken care of this week.
• Our Town crews worked with the State DOT on June 5 to clean the intersection of Jordan and Wolcott streets, around the Jordan Street Bridge. Sey and Carol Adil will be putting together a landscape plan to beautify this area that will take minimal maintenance. Our thanks to Senator Fonfara for his efforts in getting the State to help us clean these areas.
• In response to a previous citizen question about how much money had been spent on Attorney costs for the referendum, we recently received a bill from the Attorney that included charges of $1871.50 for the referendum. These are the only charges that I have received to date.
• The State will begin working on mowing the curb sides of the major state roads this week.
• The sidewalk repair budget original request from the Engineering Department was for $70,000 and then was reduced to $50,000. The bid solicitation included an estimated budget of $70,000, as it was not known how much maintenance money would be approved by the Town Council, which is why the bid results appear high. The actual bid prices did not change substantially from last year. We finish sidewalk maintenance in the amount of whatever is given to us in the budget.
• The difference between the estimated budget and the actual cost to complete the Charles Wright parking lot is a result of the substantial increase in asphalt costs (from $45 per ton to $65 per ton) since the bid specifications were put together and because the scope of work for the Charles Wright parking lot increased from the original plan of just repaving the area to addressing safety and traffic flow concerns which changed the scope of the work.
• Innovative Mosquito Management and the Health Director inspected Cloverdale Pond along with a citizen. The IMM representative stated that a small amount of breeding may occur at this site but it is not a heavy breeding area. The pond is relatively small with fairly good inflow/outflow, which limits breeding. IMM will inspect the pond in dry weather, when the flow may be low, and treat if needed.
7. CRCOG: Nothing this week.
8. COST: Nothing this week.
9. ICMA: Nothing this week.
10. CCM: Nothing this week.
11. METROHARTFORD: I have attached a meeting announcement for the next Rising Star Breakfast on Tuesday, June 14. The featured speaker is Congressman John Larsen. The breakfast will be held at the Connecticut Convention Center from 7:30 to 9:00 AM. The cost, including breakfast, is $15.00.
12. Miscellaneous:
• I received notification that the City of Hartford will be paying the Town a $73,850.39 payment in lieu of taxes for the Goodwin Golf Course. I have been told that we will get the payment right after July 1. This amount is $5,850 more revenue than we budgeted. We budgeted $68,000.
• I have received notification of a hearing from the CT Department of Labor regarding the Library’s Full Time Employee’s petition to unionize with the CT. Independent Labor Union. The hearing is Thursday, June 23 at 9:30 AM at Town Hall with the State Labor Board. We will be meeting with those affected employees next week.
• Tax Assessor Neumuth has informed me that two law suits were filed after the Board of Assessment Appeals decisions. The suits were filed for two commercial properties, 691 Silas Deane Highway (shopping strip) and 341 Jordan Lane (convalescent home).
• The Connecticut Siting Council met on Wednesday, June 8. The meeting agenda included a review of the Nextel request to approve tower sharing at Kelleher Court. I will forward the results when I receive notification from the Siting Council.
• I have attached a flyer that is an example of one that will be sent to Wethersfield households regarding how to stop sewer back ups. The MDC will be mailing this out to all residents within the next few months.
• The State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection has informed the Town of their preliminary determination to approve the City of Hartford’s request to clear trees and woody vegetation from the entire Hartford Dike and along both the landward and riverward embankment slopes and construct a permanent gravel access road along the riverward slope, etc. See the attached letter and map from the DEP. This does have an impact on Wethersfield.
• In the recent Historical Society newsletter were several items of note:
The Robert Allan Keeney Trust at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving has approved several grants in support of programming at the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center, including the Keeney Cultural Series, the Keeney Koolers concerts, the Keeney Family History Day, the Keeney Kids summer programs and repayment of the loan to repair the slate roof.
The Village Garden Club was awarded the Lucille Schavior Bowl for its work in 2004. Presented by the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut, Inc., the award is presented to a garden club that performs outstanding work during the year. The Village Garden Club tends the historic gardens at the Hurlbut-Dunham House. Congratulations!!!
The Historical Society’s newsletter, the Almanac, received first place in a recent publication contest sponsored by the New England Museum Association. The contest covered 211 entries from 78 museums in 19 different categories. The Almanac won in the Newsletters: One or Two Color, Budget under $750,000 category. Congratulations!!!
B. PROJECT UPDATES:
• Silas Deane Middle School – I met with Bob Bauer from Parks Maintenance, Charlie Viani from the SDMS Building Committee, Asst. Director Jim McDonald from Physical Services and Tree Warden John Lepper regarding the condition of the landscaping beds in front of the school. When the landscaper put this together for the Building Committee, no one consulted our staff as to maintenance and whether we would be able to take care of the grounds. We do not have the staff to handle this elaborate design. We are going to hire part time staff to come in and weed the entire area for now. In the fall we are going to move the flower beds to the back or plant small islands and grass over the remaining area so that our staff can maintain it in a reasonable and efficient manner.
• Library Project – If you drive by the front of the library, you will note that the chimney has been repaired and looks very good.
• Cottone Field – The trees for the field have been delivered and work will begin next week to plant them.
C. ATTACHMENTS:
• Regional Tourism Annual Meeting Flyer
• Business After Hours Flyer
• Connecticard Loan Comparisons
• MetroHartford Alliance Rising Star Breakfast
• Water Environment Federation Flyer
• DEP Letter