|
ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A PUBLIC HEARING
JUNE 5, 2000
A Public Hearing was held in the Council Chambers of the Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Monday, June 5, 2000. Chairwoman Strom called the hearing to order at 7:15 p.m.
ROLL-CALL - Present were Councilors Dodd, Egan, Falk, Fiore, Hall, Kaupin, Mangini, McGuire, and Strom. Councilors Surapine and Vayda were absent. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; and Town Clerk, Suzanne F. Olechnicki
Chairwoman Strom read the following Notice of Public Hearing which was published in the Journal Inquirer on May 27, 2000:
TOWN OF ENFIELD
LEGAL NOTICE
PUBLIC HEARING
MONDAY, JUNE 5, 2000
"Notice is hereby given that the Enfield Town Council will hold a Public Hearing in the Enfield Town Hall, Council Chambers, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Monday, June 5, 2000 at 7:15 p.m. to allow interested citizens an opportunity to express their opinions regarding the 2000 Neighborhood Assistance Act Proposals. Please direct any questions to Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni (860) 253-6351."
Chairwoman Strom then announced the ground rules for the Public Hearing.
Mr. Vindigni stated Council members have his May 30th memorandum to the Manager. He noted this memo serves as a summary of this years Neighborhood Assistance Act applications that were received. He noted a total of 36 agencies were sent copies of the application. He stated they also sent out a press release.
He explained this program exists to provide non-profit organizations with an extra incentive to go out and solicit donations from businesses in their fund-raising efforts. He noted two agencies submitted proposals this year. One agency is The Literacy Volunteers of Northern Connecticut, and theyre requesting a $20,000 credit that would be used toward a tutoring program to increase employability skills of Thompsonville residents in order for them to gain meaningful employment. He noted the second proposal is from Save Our Strand, which consists of five separate programs, ranging from handicap accessibility for the theater, operating budget assistance at the Strand, community arts program sponsorships, which is to find underwriters for the artistic programs, sponsorship of Studio Strand activities, and also scholarships for low-income students attending classes at Studio Strand.
Present from The Literacy Volunteers of Northern Connecticut was Michelle Boyd. She explained the funding will be used in their literacy center on Church Street in Thompsonville. She stated a job readiness center was developed to provide tutoring to increase employability skills which are necessary to gain meaningful employment or for current job retention. She noted tutoring sessions are tailored to the needs of the client. She pointed out the Thompsonville area has become home to an increasing number of non-English speaking people, and they need help with English skills that can be accessed close to home in walking distance and with hours flexible to their schedule. She noted the goal of this program to enable employees to better communicate, both written and verbally, with their employers and to give the clients the increased self confidence and skills needed to obtain new jobs and to advance in current positions. She pointed out the success of this new approach is tremendous, so much so that theyre now concerned the client base will soon exceed their volunteer base.
Ms. Boyd stated the $6,000 in the application for education software is for a computerized system of teaching English as a second language. She went on to note shes currently seeking the donation of several computer systems to run this software.
Present from Save Our Strand were Chairman, Gerald Fitzsimmons and Vice-Chairman, Bill Landry.
Mr. Fitzsimmons stated all five of the proposals are aimed at advancing either the building project or the program development for the Strand Performing Arts Center projects. He noted this is a community program, and theyre working to continually expand the community involvement. He stated one of their goals has been to be a source of economic and cultural arts development in Enfield, and specifically in the Thompsonville neighborhood where theyre located. He noted the scholarship piece is looking to bring in low-income students. He stated the five projects are based on building, operating assistance and program development funds.
As no others wished to speak, Chairwoman Strom closed the Public Hearing at 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannette Lamontagne
Secretary to the Council
By Suzanne F. Olechnicki
Suzanne F. Olechnicki
Town Clerk
Clerk of the Council
|