ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
SEPTEMBER 5, 2000
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was held in the Enfield Room of the Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Tuesday, September 5, 2000. The meeting was called to order by Chairwoman Strom at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL-CALL Present were Councilmen Egan, Falk, Fiore, Hall, Kaupin, Mangini, Strom, and Vayda. Councilmen Dodd and McGuire were absent. Also present were Town Manager, Scott A. Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Clerk, Suzanne F. Olechnicki; Director of Finance, Gregory Simmons; Assistant Director of Public Works, Geoffrey McAlmond; Recreation Supervisor, Mary Keller.
It was decided to hold the Executive Session.
MOTION #4801 by Councilman Kaupin, seconded by Councilman Falk to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation, and Real Estate Negotiations.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #4801 adopted 8-0-0, and the meeting stood recessed at 6:01 p.m.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Executive Session of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairwoman Strom at 6:02 p.m.
ROLL-CALL Present were Councilmen Egan, Falk, Fiore, Hall, Kaupin, Mangini, Strom, and Vayda. Also present were Town Manager, Scott A. Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel T. Vindigni and Town Clerk, Suzanne F. Olechnicki.
Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation and Real Estate Negotiations were discussed with no action or votes being taken.
Chairwoman Strom adjourned the Executive Session at 7:14 p.m.
Chairwoman Strom reconvened the Special Meeting at 7:15 p.m. and stated that during Executive Session they discussed Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation and Real Estate Negotiations with no action or votes being taken.
DISCUSSION RE: RECREATION FEES
Ms. Keller stated she looked at the swim team from this past winter and summer and made note of the following items:
· what was spent in salaries and expenses
· what was taken in for revenue
· a breakdown of cost per participant
· how much the Town subsidized the program
· a projection of next winter and summer program with a full staff
Ms. Keller stated the cost per participant figure does not include custodial cost. She pointed out the custodial cost per participant for one season is another $37.00.
Mr. Shanley explained they include monies in the Parks & Recreation budget for custodial service from the School Department.
Ms. Keller stated besides the Dolphin Swim Team, there is the U.S. Swim Team. She noted the U.S. Swim Team consists of a smaller group of participants. She noted she compared the figures for the U.S. Swim Team to basketball and noted the subsidy per participant for basketball is $2.40 vs the U.S. Swim Team, which is almost $37.00 based on last years figures. She raised the question of how much the Town wishes to subsidize per participant for these activities. She pointed out one program has a family plan, and the other program doesnt.
Ms. Keller stated they also have a travel basketball team, which is in addition to the regular recreational league, and the U.S. Swim Team would be considered in that. She noted there are issues theyre looking into, i.e., liability for them to travel and the custodial overtime which they budget about $42,000 per year.
Councilman Mangini questioned the coaching for each program, and Ms. Keller stated coaching for basketball is all volunteer, however, the coaching for the swim team is paid. Councilman Mangini questioned the reason for that, and Ms. Keller stated theyre having a difficult time finding someone to coach the swim team for a salary. She noted coaching for the swim team takes about 25 hours per week.
After reviewing the subsidy figures, Councilman Fiore stated his belief the subsidy figures are very high for the swim teams, and he feels this is a very large subsidy to be asking taxpayers to adhere to for a swim program. He stated there are out-of-towners in these swim programs. He pointed out there are other towns that actually do enforce an out-of-town policy.
Councilman Fiore stated in order to effect a swim program for next summer, would there be enough time to make any changes if this were reviewed during spring budget discussions. Mr. Shanley stated his preference this be discussed in a follow-up meeting to this evenings meeting.
Mr. Shanley suggested a subcommittee of the Town Council and Board of Education to discuss the utilization of gymnasiums, especially in advance of being built, as well as custodial fees and how those are managed.
Councilman Falk suggested perhaps out-of-town participants could be charged more money for Town of Enfield programs.
Councilman Mangini suggested the Council have an indoor recreation workshop at some point in time. Mr. Shanley pointed out that would be part of the joint subcommittee since they wouldnt be able to discuss that topic without the School Board present because all of the indoor recreation takes place in school facilities.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #4802 by Councilman Kaupin, seconded by Councilman Falk to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #4802 adopted 8-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 7:33 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannette Lamontagne
Secretary to the Council
By Suzanne F. Olechnicki
Suzanne F. Olechnicki
Town Clerk
Clerk of the Council