ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
JUNE 14, 2000
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairwoman Strom in the Conference Room of the North Thompsonville Fire Department, Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Wednesday, June 14, 2000 at 7:09 p.m.
ROLL-CALL Present were Councilors Egan, Dodd, Falk, Hall, Mangini, and Strom. Councilor Fiore entered at 7:29 p.m. Councilors Kaupin, McGuire, Surapine, and Vayda were absent. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Clerk, Suzanne F. Olechnicki; Director of Information Systems, Charlene Bond; Director of Public Works, John Kazmarski; Recreation Supervisor, Mary Keller; Building Official, James Taylor; Network Administrator, Gregg Fielding; Systems Analyst, Cynthia Murphy; Technical Project Coordinator, Scott Radcliffe.
UPDATE CAMP, DRESSER & MCKEE STUDY/RECREATION ITEMS
Mr. Kazmarski and Ms. Keller provided the update.
Ms. Keller distributed the Enfield Recreation Department brochure, "Summer Events".
She then spoke about the Enfield Youth Center and highlighted the following:
o 228 members this year
o trips already taken
o upcoming trips
o full time coordinator hired in April, 1999
o restructuring of programming so that supervisors are responsible for daily activities
o activities include sports, games, arts & crafts, cooking projects, monthly themes
o rules and regulations were revised
o new equipment was purchased and items have been donated
o a Youth Advisory Board was established
o the Recreation Division works cooperatively with Youth Services on Youth Center operations, hiring of staff, reviewing discipline of staff and participants, programming, and support services for children in need
o average of 30 children per day
Ms. Keller stated their whole purpose for the Youth Center is to provide a safe place for children to visit.
Councilor Egan questioned if bus transportation is provided from other areas of Enfield. Ms. Keller stated her belief children can take the bus from the junior high school.
Councilor Egan questioned whether activities are provided on a Saturday night which would encompass a larger group of youth. Ms. Keller stated they try to schedule the trips on a Friday or Saturday to draw more youth.
Mr. Kazmarski spoke about some renovations in Recreation Department offices.
Chairwoman Strom questioned the idea of a dance, and Ms. Keller noted they would have to schedule that in advance, and they would need the gym to accommodate the numbers.
Councilor Hall questioned whether Enfield is offering a summer day camp. Ms. Keller stated this was discussed, however, the biggest obstacle is finding a facility to accommodate such a program. Councilor Hall questioned the possibility of using the schools, and Ms. Keller stated its nice to keep the children outdoors, and have accessibility to a pool. Mr. Kazmarski stated if the Council feels this is something they should be pursuing, they could do a preliminary analysis to learn what the staffing and training needs would be, along with possible locations for housing such a program. He noted they could put together a package for later in the year for possible consideration during the budget process.
Councilor Falk questioned the possibility of this organization working with mall representatives to create some sort of program for the youth. Ms. Keller stated they had one meeting with mall representatives, and five towns were represented. She stated her understanding from that meeting is that it really comes down to a security issue. She noted the mall representatives were given some ideas, and they were going to develop a letter that was going to be sent out to the governing boards of the five towns to let them know what their concerns are and to see how each town would like to handle being involved in that.
Chairwoman Strom questioned if there have been any requests or inquiries regarding a skateboard park. Ms. Keller responded no. Chairwoman Strom stated some surrounding towns have groups that raised funds for such a park.
Mr. Kazmarski stated Camp, Dresser & McKee could look into this.
Mr. Kazmarski distributed the Camp, Dresser & McKee Recreational Study Update which provides a chronological sequence of whats happened thus far.
Councilor Hall stated at the first presentation by Camp, Dresser & McKee, they stated they would have preliminary recommendations by June. Mr. Kazmarski stated the whole time table slid a little due to review of contractual documents by the Town Attorneys staff.
Councilor Fiore questioned when Camp, Dresser & McKee might come out with their final recommendation. Mr. Kazmarski stated theyre looking at the end of September.
Councilor Falk questioned if Wallop School Park is included in the study, and Ms. Keller stated all the parks are included.
There was some discussion regarding park areas and open space areas.
Mr. Kazmarski spoke about the VFW space and suggested perhaps they could have benches, trees, and grass. Chairwoman Strom stated they should look into whether a park would be the best use of that site. She pointed out nearby residents are finding it a big convenience to use that space as a parking area. Mr. Kazmarski noted this could be looked at.
Mr. Kazmarski distributed a "Non-Residency Policy". He stated they procured sample policies from other towns. He explained perhaps this policy should be considered by the Council in the near future. He noted there are a lot of out-of-town people making use of Enfields recreational activities or facilities. He pointed out many non-residents use the SPLASH Program. He stated Enfield is in fact subsidizing this activity for half a dozen surrounding towns.
Councilor Mangini suggested perhaps they could put non-residents on a waiting list, whereby if Town residents dont fill up a program, non-residents would then be considered.
Councilor Egan suggested picking the most suitable plan from the other towns and come back with a recommendation.
Councilor Dodd questioned how they would handle those instances where a grandchild is visiting with grandparents in Enfield, and Mr. Kazmarski responded there will always be exceptions.
Mr. Kazmarski stated they recently had registrations for the summer program, and he has heard many positive comments about this registration period. He noted on Saturday alone, they took in $13,000 in fees.
DISCUSSION RE: JOINT TECHNOLOGY
Mr. Shanley stated a Joint Technology Committee has been meeting for several months and discussing a wide variety of items. He noted they will soon have a formal report
from the consultant. He stated at the last meeting of the Joint Technology Committee, a presentation was given by the Board of Education regarding their proposal for splitting the system.
Mr. Shanley stated Ms. Bond and her staff have prepared some details for Council consideration.
Ms. Bond provided handouts to the Council. She noted as it stands now, there is one Wide Area Network for the Town of Enfield and Enfield Public Schools (EPS). She noted theres actually only specific equipment that both agencies are using.
Ms. Bond referred to the proposed Town of Enfield network. She referred to a color-coded illustration:
o green purchased by the Town of Enfield
o gray purchased by EPS
o blue town network as they propose splitting it from EPS
o white- the school network
o orange new items the town would need
Mr. Shanley stated this proposal would create two different systems and create a single portal to communicate through, and that portal can be squeezed off quickly, rather than having multiple connections where its all tied in.
Councilor Hall questioned why they need an opening for e-mail. Ms. Bond responded because EPS uses the towns applications.
Mr. Shanley stated the consultant recommended developing specific agreements for the service level between the town and school systems.
Ms. Bond stated their proposal at this time would be to buy the pieces of equipment they need and to go about doing it.
Councilor Fiore stated if EPS decided they prefer the town to manage their network, could they go to a charge back system. Mr. Shanley noted they would enter into a Service Level Agreement (SLA), and it would be a policy decision on the Town Councils part as to how they would charge back the costs.
Councilor Mangini questioned if at this point, is this something that the Town and School Departments are somewhat in agreement with. Mr. Shanley stated his belief there is agreement that there needs to be two networks.
Councilor Mangini questioned what Ms. Bonds comfort level is with all of this. Ms. Bond stated theres another level, and that is the time period to do this. She noted in EPSs presentation, they proposed this transition take two to three years. She stated shes not at all in agreement with two to three years. She stated her belief they need to have this happen as soon as possible. She noted in the beginning they can just split the network, and she feels that can be done over the summer. She stated its important for the IT Department not to have to worry about the security of the network. She stated her belief the first step would be to split the network, and there will have to be standards and SLAs that are developed along with that.
Councilor Falk questioned whether theyll be splitting the financial and payroll system, and Ms. Bond stated her belief EPS will be determining whether or not they want to avail of those services from the Town.
Councilor Falk questioned whether EPS will pay for these services from the Town, and Chairwoman Strom stated thats an option. She added they could address this with a SLA with no cost. Ms. Bond stated one point made at one of the Joint Technology Committee meetings by the Gartner Group was that as it is now, because EPS has not been charged for anything, theres no value of this to them. She noted these would be good questions to address to Gartner Group to hear their ideas.
Ms. Bond referred to a handout entitled, "TOE/EPS Current Network Equipment Inventory" and explained the color-coding:
o green has been paid for by the TOE, or the maintenance is currently being paid for by the TOE
She noted this inventory has been broken down by location, in that everything at every location on the network is outlined.
Ms. Bond then referred to the last page of the handout and explained the color-coding:
o first block of orange what the TOE would need in order to make this split ($53,740)
o second block of orange what the TOE would need to relocate to accomplish the first proposal of splitting the network but keeping all of the equipment in the wiring closet at the Town Hall
o pink block what would need to be relocated for Proposal 2
She noted the pie charts on this page represent the network equipment maintenance costs and percentages.
Councilor Hall stated shes disappointed the Board of Education didnt go along with Gartner Groups recommendation. She feels its disappointing fiscally because its going to cost the Town in the long run. She stated shed like to see the Town move ahead with this immediately.
Councilor Egan stated Gartner Group recommended if there were to be a split, it should be done promptly.
Chairwoman Strom pointed out this split would not cut off any services, but is requiring certain securities by EPS in order to access the same services that they currently have. She stated it seems more prudent to move ahead with this so that they have the summer to work things out before school starts.
Councilor Mangini questioned where the $53,740 for this split would come from. Mr. Shanley noted the Council did put aside funds in the contingency account to deal with whatever situations arose as a result of this.
Councilor Falk questioned whether EPS has to spend any money to implement this change. Mr. Shanley responded not in Phase I (the physical separation of the two networks).
Councilor Fiore questioned whether the maintenance cost for the ISP is estimated, and Ms. Bond responded that is actually the cost. She noted this is disturbing because the Town would be paying more per month for a 256K connection than EPS is paying for a T1 because of an educational discount. She noted this is a price from SNET, but they will see what else is available.
Councilor Falk stated from a taxpayers standpoint, he feels they should be saving tax dollars.
Councilor Dodd stated the Town is still leaving the situation open in that if EPS decides they wish to come back, they can do that, however, this move is going to safeguard the Towns system. Mr. Shanley noted a critical second component to this has to do with Service Level Agreements.
Mr. Shanley commended the IT Department for their work on this.
MOTION #4683 by Councilor Fiore, seconded by Councilor Dodd to recess the meeting for five minutes.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #4683 adopted 7-0-0, and the meeting stood recessed at 9:20 p.m.
Chairwoman Strom reconvened the meeting at 9:33 p.m.
EXECUTIVE SESSION