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ENFIELD PRISON/TOWN LIAISON COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING
December 14, 2005
CALL TO ORDER
A Regular Meeting of the Enfield Prison/Town Liaison Committee was held at the Carl Robinson Conference Center, Enfield, Connecticut on Wednesday, December 14, 2005. Chairman Nowak called the meeting to order at 7:02.
ROLL CALL
Committee members present were: Chairman Tophie Nowak and Kenneth Edgar
Liaisons present were: Councilman Cynthia Mangini and Anjo Timmerman.
Present from the Department of Corrections were: Remi Acosta, North District Administrator; Bruce Cuscovitch, Warden, Willard Cybulski; Christine Whidden, Warden, Carl Robinson; Neal Kearney, Enfield CI.
Guests present were: Bill Zaczynski, Enfield Police Department.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes from the September 14, 2005 meeting were handed out and reviewed. Cynthia Mangini requested that the roll call be broken down to list committee members, liaisons and DOC representatives. The motion was passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS
Report of Population Counts
Bruce Cuscovitch WCCI 1,096
Christine Whidden RCI 1,222
Neal Kearney ECI 722
Report of Chairman
Chairman Nowak handed out the annual report and commented that it was a quiet year and there was not much to report other than the Michael Ross situation. Remi Acosta also agreed that it had been quiet, but he will check his reports to see if anything else should be added. The motion was passed unanimously.
Chairman Nowak has notified the residents in the area to attend a neighborhood meeting, but no one has shown up. She mentioned that there are new homes on Taylor Road and would like to notify these new residents about how to get on the neighborhood committee. Remi Acosta gave the phone number of 763-0351 to call.
Update of Notification System
Chairman Nowak has not received the practice run in awhile, and questioned why. Kenneth Edgar replied that there was one 2 or 3 weeks ago.
Review of Significant Incidents or Policy Changes
RCI – Christine Whidden mentioned that Carl Robinson had its 25th anniversary and they had a celebration in October with family and retirees. They had a ten-minute video of the Shaker history and of incidents that occurred in 1990 at Carl Robinson. It also depicted the staff.
On September 6 Lifestar landed in the parking lot for a test run; it went smoothly. Hazardville and Shaker Pines Fire Departments helped with the coordination of the landing.
Carl Robinson has been involved with fund raising events, both with the employees and the inmates. The community detail group has gone to St. Adalbert’s to clean up the cemetery. The inmates have also made donations to nonprofit organizations. One thousand dollars has been raised for the Children’s Home in East Windsor. Five hundred dollars and twelve gingerbread houses were donated to the Network Against Domestic Abuse. The photo program makes a profit and donations have been sent to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The inmates also make monetary and food donations and send personal items to Fishes and Loaves/Food Shelf.
Chairman Nowak mentioned that she would like to contact Tim Jensen of the Enfield Press and see if he would like to do a story on how the inmates give back to the community.
The community detail group also works at the Fourth of July Celebration, the Buick Opening. Many requests come in to have this group help on different projects.
The facility is quiet and the population is stable.
Enfield – Neal Kearney. Quiet. Donations have been made through the photo program to the Red Cross. The staff adopted children from the Children’s Place and from the care place in Manchester.
Willard – Bruce Cuscovitch. This facility also has been making donations as Carl Robinson. The donations have been made to the Red Cross for the Katrina Relief Victims. The staff has adopted 50 children from various foster homes. They took on the challenge of filling wish lists. One hundred and fifty thousand dollars has been donated to the United Way.
Remi Acosta commented that the staff always comes through; they are great and the inmate population always donates.
NEW BUSINESS
Remi Acosta announced that he is retiring and this will be his last meeting. Chairman Nowak thanked him on behalf of the community and commented that he is a very good asset to the community.
Councilman Mangini mentioned that she performed wedding ceremonies at the correction centers. On one of these occasions she had a difficult time finding the correct facility due to the confusion of sign posting. She suggested that the posting and labeling of the signs be placed differently. Bruce Cuscovitch will put in the suggestion of placing the signs differently.
Councilman Mangini mentioned that there is one vacancy on the committee.
Kenneth Edgar requested snow fencing to be placed on Shaker Road.
Chairman Nowak questioned the use of the building at Taylor, Shaker and Bilton Roads. It was a detention center for teenagers. Christine Whidden responded that it is now a Carl Robinson facility which houses76 where they have their meals and recreation there. It is the community detail residents.
Anjo Timmerman informed the committee that the intervention will now be with EMS, Town run. There are no police. An officer will respond if necessary. If it is on State property Enfield can respond.
Chairman Nowak ended the meeting with happy holidays to all and best wishes to Remi Acosta.
OPEN FORUM AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Chairman Nowak stated the next meeting is scheduled for March 8, 2005 at the Enfield Town Hall, Enfield Room.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting stood adjourned at 7:48 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mariann Tucker
Recording Secretary
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