ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2008
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairman Kaupin in the Enfield Room of the Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Monday, February 4, 2008. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m.
ROLL-CALL – Present were Councilmen Bosco, Dumont, Edgar, Kaupin, Kiner, Mangini, Nelson and Ragno. Councilman Lee entered at 5:45 p.m., Councilman Crowley entered at 6:17 p.m. Councilman Jones was absent. Also present were Town Manager, Matthew Coppler; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Clerk, Suzanne Olechnicki; Town Attorney, Kevin Deneen; Director of Finance, Lynn Nenni.
Present were Representatives Kathy Tallarita and Karen Jarmoc and Senator John Kissel.
Chairman Kaupin requested an update on the pending session, i.e., what is being worked on and what might effect the Town of Enfield.
Rep. Tallarita spoke about the state monies for the remediation work at Fermi High School. She noted she spoke to the speaker and majority leader about this money, and she learned they kept the money in the bond agenda. She pointed out they asked for $1.8 million and it ended up being $3.2 million. She stated $3.2 million dollars isn’t going to happen at this time. She noted her majority leader said they’d be willing to talk about half that amount if they could talk about doing the other half with the Governor.
Senator Kissel explained there are funds given out to legislative leadership. He noted he also added his input for that money as well. He went on to note a few weeks ago he spoke with Secretary Genuario about this issue and was told if the Speaker or someone else was going to utilize part of their flexible funding for this, he would have received a letter, however, he did not receive a letter. He pointed out that does not mean that all or part couldn’t be funded. He noted Secretary Genuario was interested in trying to help Enfield through some type of DEP funding or other pool that’s not necessarily just for bonding. He explained possibly they could supplement bond money with super fund money or toxic waste clean-up funding.
Senator Kissel stated he could setup a meeting between himself, Reps. Tallarita and Jarmoc and Secretary Genuario to discuss this matter.
Chairman Kaupin questioned whether they’ve started the process for applying for education reimbursements. Mr. Coppler stated they don’t have the final close-out of the project, and they couldn’t do that until everything is certified.
Councilman Kiner questioned why the bond commission isn’t releasing the money. Senator Kissel stated the Governor has sole authority over the bonding. He noted Secretary Genuario stated this is a huge amount of money for ballfields in comparison to any other projects in the State, and it wasn’t on their radar. It was Secretary Genuario’s impression that this was something whereby the leadership would have to step in and make a priority. He noted as opposed to going the traditional route of trying to push to get the Governor to put it on the agenda, which it’s believed she would probably be disinclined to do, Secretary Genuario planned to look at other funding sources as well. He suggested everyone work together as a big delegation and pursue every avenue.
Councilman Mangini stated her impression that last fall the Town was almost guaranteed Enfield would have this money. Senator Kissel stated he did not hear anything about guarantees. Rep. Tallarita stated the whole process with bonds has changed. She explained they need to talk to party leaders to let them know this is a priority and to learn how to get this done.
Senator Kissel stated a good starting point would be to learn what the Secretary says. He noted Secretary Genuario is a good and fair person, and if there’s anything available, he will try to maximize the ability to get it.
Chairman Kaupin raised the topic of PILOT for Public Housing.
Rep. Tallarita stated there will be a public hearing on February 19th at 1:00 p.m. She noted they’re trying to restore the $4 million dollars that was cut at the last session.
Councilman Mangini stated she plans to attend that Hearing. She requested the Council be supplied with any available literature on this topic.
Councilman Lee noted he will be attending and questioned if there’s an idea or plan that they should speak in favor of, and Rep. Jarmoc stated speakers could indicate how this cut impacts the community. She noted the effect on Enfield would be incredible. Rep. Tallarita stated this hurts the poor of the communities through rent increases. She noted the Enfield Housing Authority already had to increase their rents in December.
Councilman Lee questioned if the monies are restored, how will that effect Enfield. Rep. Tallarita stated her belief the Enfield Housing Authority might lower rents if the monies come through.
As concerns the Department of Corrections and expansions, Rep. Jarmoc stated she spoke to Lena Ferguson today and learned there currently are no plans for further expansion. She stated the third quad should be complete in March and inmates will be placed in that quad. She noted they are maintaining that the fourth quad will still be for offices and programs. She voiced her concern that it’s all set up to easily transition for housing if necessary.
Councilman Nelson stated he heard a rumor that DOC is planning to develop a water treatment facility across the street. Rep. Tallarita stated it’s claimed that’s not what DOC is doing, and it has nothing to do with what’s happening in Enfield, but rather this has to do with their own water purification.
Mr. Coppler stated it would appear that the changes that are being made today are going to necessitate more capacity tomorrow in terms of sentencing. He questioned if there is any planning process going on right now to address those changes and the expected increase in prisoner population over the next five to ten years.
Senator Kissel stated they really try to strike a balance. He explained while there’s a substantial portion of the legislation in the past regarding “get tough on crime”, there’s also a substantial amount of effort in reintegrating individuals into their communities, i.e., supporting outside services, transitional beds, etc. He noted the notion is that they could try to break the cycle of recidivism with non-violent offenders, while at the same time maintaining capacity for the violent offenders. He noted the State knows Enfield’s representatives are watching this issue very closely all the time.
Rep. Tallarita agreed with Senator Kissel in that they are all watching this situation very closely.
Chairman Kaupin stated his understanding there’s a proposal to change the formula to match a host prison community to a host casino community. Rep. Tallarita stated she introduced this bill, however, she has no high hopes for funding because this will be a lean year. She noted no one seems to know the answer to the question as to whether or not housing prisons in a community places an additional burden on services. She suggested they can get the communities talking about this to learn if they can figure out what the burden is, if any.
Chairman Kaupin questioned if this is an opportunity to get full PILOT funding. Rep. Tallarita stated the Town is supposed to be getting full PILOT funding, however, she would like this to be separate because PILOT is money in lieu of taxes.
Councilman Ragno stated his understanding inmates are attending college at no charge. He pointed out veterans have to go through a lot of paperwork to attend college. He stated he does not see why they’re funding advanced education for prisoners who commit crimes against society. Senator Kissel stated he was at a hearing where he heard people complaining that this benefit was pulled out, and the Commissioner said she didn’t have any money in her budget to continue with the college benefit, however, there’s high school education.
Councilman Ragno stated he has no problem with a GED program, however, he wants to be sure college isn’t included. He requested verification that college isn’t being provided by DOC.
Rep. Jarmoc stated possibly they can provide incarcerated individuals with some form of education or a job skill so they’re more able to be productive citizens when they leave prison. She noted she’s not advocating for college courses in prison, but she feels there’s value in providing inmates with certain tools that they might need so they’re more able to obtain a job when they leave prison.
Councilman Ragno suggested inmates serve their country rather than providing programs at the taxpayers’ expense. He stated his belief they need to shift more emphasis on the people who are contributing to society and not detracting from society.
Rep. Jarmoc questioned if someone who has been incarcerated can serve in the military. Councilman Ragno stated his belief they’ve lessened some of the requirements and he stated his belief it depends on the level of the crime. He suggested perhaps this is something the judiciary could look at.
Mr. Coppler spoke about the Refarming Radio System issue. He noted the current frequency that the town is on is going to be sold out and they will be going to a different frequency. He noted this involves police, fire, EMS and DPW.
Senator Kissel stated there was recently a presentation regarding Homeland Security, and they’re in the process of getting all the communities on a specific wavelength. He questioned if it might be helpful to have someone from Homeland Security come in and discuss this issue with the Council. Mr. Coppler responded yes and suggested possibly the Town could partner with them.
Councilman Ragno pointed out this effort will take a lot of time, effort and money and this should be stressed at the State level. He stated his belief at least some of the funding should come from Homeland Security or the State.
Councilman Mangini stated she would also like to see some federal monies for this effort.
Chairman Kaupin raised the topic of the bridge at High Street and Route 5. Rep. Tallarita stated she asked DOT why this area wasn’t looked at when work was done on the pond. She noted when she hears more, she will get back to the Council.
Councilman Edgar stated another problem is that the State doesn’t cleanout the brook in that area. Senator Kissel noted he will look into this.
Mr. Vindigni stated it may be that the bridge at that point is stable, but the drainage is an issue.
Chairman Kaupin questioned the possibility of putting the walkway on the Enfield/Suffield bridge on the south side instead of the north side. He noted this would accomplish two things – access to the dam and people would not have to cross Route 190 to get to the other side, which is a potential public safety disaster. He stated this would also hook up better with the Windsor Locks bikeway.
Rep. Tallarita noted the response she received claims this change would be too expensive and it would be very disruptive to traffic and it’s supposed to go out to bid this month with work starting in April.
Councilman Crowley stated another access to the dam would be through South River Street. He noted this would also incorporate part of the Thompsonville Revitalization effort. He stated that would help any small businesses along this route, i.e., the bait and tackle shop.
Mr. Coppler agreed that is a good idea and he will talk to the Public Works Director.
Discussion then followed about the Empowerment Zone.
Mr. Coppler stated over the last two years, this region lost 1,900 jobs, and 1,700 jobs are from the Town of Enfield. He noted this is a bad situation for the town. He pointed out Enfield is getting impacted by job losses more severely than surrounding communities because Enfield doesn’t have a lot of land to develop. He explained the empowerment zone provides for income tax, job training, etc. He noted Enfield has to be looked at differently than other non-urban towns in Connecticut because Enfield is a small city and has a lot of the negative impacts that come with being a small city. He stated they are looking at Enfield as an entitlement community so that they’re not in competition for CDBG funding and they could use that money a little differently so they can address local issues such as development issues.
Senator Kissel questioned whether they’re focusing on a particular part of town. Mr. Coppler responded empowerment zones are usually issues within Enfield, i.e., Thompsonville and some industrial areas. He noted they’re looking at some land near the Metro-North property area, which involves about 160 acres with a lot of wetlands. He stated perhaps monies could be better used for economic development.
Rep. Jarmoc stated when Ray Warren is ready, they could meet with the ECDC. She added her belief it would be beneficial to bring in the Chamber of Commerce to support this effort.
Councilman Nelson stated another disadvantage for Enfield is the new aquifer protection act. He pointed out Enfield has lots of wetlands, and the town will be crushed when this act is enforced and limits what can and can’t be done on a property. He noted this might be another avenue to approach.
Councilman Bosco spoke about a truck stop and welcome center and stated his belief the best location would be at Depot Hill Road where it crosses Route 91. He pointed out the State already owns the land for the ramps, and they could locate it right where the CL&P building is. He noted this shouldn’t bother the town at all since there’s hardly any residential area in that location. He stated when the State puts in the ramps, they can come right up Depot Hill Road and access all that industrial land. He noted that would also enable Enfield to access all the industrial land on that end of town.
Councilman Ragno stated his belief the ideal spot for the welcome center would be closer to town. He noted this center could be a “Purple Heart Welcome Center of Enfield” right off Exit 47 on the Purple Heart land. He stated the State could build the center. He noted this would integrate nicely with the Revitalization of Thompsonville and that whole area. He suggested this opportunity be presented to the State. He noted this would result in two separate locations for the truck stop and the welcome center.
Rep. Tallarita stated she will take this idea to the State. She noted I-95 is the State’s number one priority with Route 84 and Route 91 following. Councilman Ragno stated he would like to be pro-active and present these ideas to the State.
Senator Kissel stated it might be worthwhile meeting with the State to discuss this idea. He noted he will set up this meeting. Chairman Kaupin suggested the Council set up a subcommittee of three people to meet with the State.
Councilman Ragno commended Rep. Jarmoc for doing a nice job in hosting a meeting with DEP. He noted rather than adding another access point on Route 190, he would prefer seeing an expansion/enhancement of the existing access points to the Scantic River State Park.
Councilman Lee pointed out there was a “Super Bowl” hike at the Scantic River State Park, and there were over 50 cars needing parking spaces, and it was a zoo. He noted while the small, existing lots are nice, he would like some attention paid to the larger parking area immediately adjacent to the park. He pointed out there’s a historic barn in this area, and they’ll have a nice sidewalk over the new bridge.
MOTION #9654 by Councilman Mangini, seconded by Councilman Lee to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #9654 adopted 10-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 7:00 p.m.