TOWN COUNCIL AGENDA June 22, 2004

[Wethersfield.com]

EXECUTIVE SESSION – UNION NEGOTIATIONS, PERSONNEL MATTERS – TOWN CLERK, ASSISTANT TO THE TOWN MANAGER/GRANTS POSITIONS

TOWN COUNCIL AGENDA
Wethersfield Town Council
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
7:00 P.M.
Council Chambers

Pledge of Allegiance

Recording of Attendance by Town Clerk

A. PUBLIC COMMENTS

The Chairman may indicate those matters of unfinished business to be considered.

1. Hearings:

i. Bond Referendum for Municipal Infrastructure

2. General Comments

General Comments are limited to five minutes.

a. Public
b. Council

3. COUNCIL ACTION

a. Ordinances, Resolutions and Appointments for Action

i. Acceptance of Resignations from Boards and Commissions
ii. Appointments to Boards and Commissions
iii. Bond Referendum for Municipal Infrastructure

b. Unfinished Business

i. Pyquag Village Open Space
ii. *Acceptance of Jacob Drive

*Recommend taking these items off of the table



c. Other Business

i. Aetna Ambulance Contract
ii. Delay Costs – Nott Street Blasting


d. Bids

i. Award of Design – Highcrest Roof Replacement
ii. Award of State Bid – Mower
iii. Award of State Bid – Wood Chipper
iv. Award of State Bid – Dump Trucks


e. Ordinances, Resolutions and Appointments for Introduction

i. Blasting Ordinance
ii. Tourism Commission Changes

4. Minutes:

i. June 7, 2004
ii. June 16, 2004


B. Adjournment

[oldetowne]

Bond referendum for municipal infrastructure improvements??!! Now THAT'S something I am glad to see.

[LouS]

Good comments and good thinking by the council...low rates now will make them look even better when rates are up and improvements are done.

[standish]

It's not what you think... this "referendum" is simply to accept the grants that make up the difference from the error in regard to Town Hall improvements, previously approved and funded in the bond for the Middle School, et al.

[oldetowne]

No, I know about that one. This is different - it's on the agenda for a hearing and from what somebody told me proposes to bond for roads, sidewalks, roofs (sp?), etc.

[TheFreshman]

Everything but the kitchen sink is in this proposal. The road work & sidewalk work is good but much of the rest wouldn't pass muster with the rating agencies. They don't like to see things like roof work on bonding as this is better in the capital projects part of the budget (like Highcrest roof/Charles Wright's parking lot). Also, this work totals like $10 million... I think less is more in this area... PS this is sponsored by the Republicans who spent pratically nothing on these areas in the two years they were in control...Do you think they believe that this has a chance of passing given this amount and the rating agencies reaction

[oldetowne]

Everything but the kitchen sink needs fixing in this town. True, the Republicans didn't do it in their two years but neither did the Democrats in the fifteen or twenty years before that. This is no time for partisan finger pointing and name calling and bickering. And I will take your word for it that the rating agencies would rather see day to day stuff taken care of through general appropriations. But after the 18% increase this year and more next year when Webb and Stillman come on line (in addition to the wage and benefit increases that are already contractual commitments), the odds of having a massive infrastructure component to the budget (in a town election year) is zero. If the Council doesn't do SOMETHING - even if it's not everything in that package - the situation will only get worse and then we will all pay more. Lots more.

[TheFreshman]

I agree that lots of things need fixing and they will get done asap. It isn't helpful though to overburden the taxpayers by doing it all at once. I'm sorry but this sounds a lot like the time before when the the R's were in the minority and they put forth a referendum to fix all the schools at once for like $60 million! We need to look at these items and prioritize them. PS I disagee that the Dems did nothing in the past. In the eight years prior to the last Council, they did over the tennis courts at Mill Woods, fixed the pool at Willard and pump house at Mill Woods, did a few million in drainage projects, put an average of $750K to $1 mill a year in road work, etc. I wouldn't say this was nothing. Also, they got the ball rolling on redoing the schools....

[oldetowne]

Like I said, finger pointing and political rhetoric isn't going to pave the streets or keep the roof from leaking. It just seems that the "priorities" that you talk about are a moving target = all of these things were in the capital budget for several years and they didn't get done. Other projects moved to the front of the line and maybe that's fine. Also, I don't know if the money that is bonded for all needs to be spent in one year, much less one day, so that it doesn't "overburden the taxpayers" (glad that's suddenly a concern). The money only bears interest after it is drawn down and that usually can be over some number of years as long as that is what the bond resolution says. I just would rather know that something like this is in the works than wait and see what the next election brings.

[TheFreshman]

Oldtowne- You profess to be "above the fray" but you are such the apologist for Czernicki & Co that I have sincere doubts as to your credibility.

[oldetowne]

I will plead guilty to having voted for a couple of people who didn't get elected to the Council last fall, rather than prolong this exchange of unpleasantries. That being said, I contend that I am not blindly loyal to any one position and believe that there is some merit to what I have said in this discussion string, despite the fact that the proposal was introduced by the "evil empire".

[TheFreshman]

Anyway Oldtowne, I guess we can agree that we are on opposite sides of the political spectrum...

[oldetowne]

That's true. But I honestly think the "discussion" aspect of our disagreements are still a good exercise.