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ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
FEBRUARY 7, 2000
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairwoman Strom in the Enfield Room of the Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Monday, February 7, 2000 at 6:35 p.m.
ROLL-CALL - Present were Councilors Dodd, Egan, Falk, Fiore, Hall, Kaupin, Mangini, McGuire, Strom, Surapine. Councilor Vayda was absent. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Director of Finance, Gregory Simmons; Revenues Collector, Suzanne R. Longo; Delinquent Tax Collector, Kimberly Bechard, Assistant Director of Public Works, Carlo P. Bonavita; Town Clerk, Suzanne F. Olechnicki.
MOTION #4414 by Councilor Falk, seconded by Councilor Mangini to suspend the rules to address Item #4 on the agenda.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #4414 adopted 10-0-0.
DISCUSSION RE: PURPLE HEART GRANT
Mr. Shanley reported he had an initial meeting with state representatives from DECD to discuss the grant. He noted the Town is the recipient of the grant, and as the recipient, the Town has certain responsibilities. He explained according to the contract, the Town in turn grants the money to the Purple Heart Committee. He stated they discussed conceptually what it would take to get the money rolling back from the state again. He noted the question was what is it the Town will be looking to accomplish, what internal controls will the Town be looking for regarding the Purple Heart Museum, and does the Town have any requirements in that area prior to allowing the funds to move forward. He stated he needs direction from the Council as to what direction they would like to go so that he can report back to DECD.
Councilor Fiore stated his agreement with Items 1, 2, 4, and 5; however, he has a problem with Item #3 and questioned the Town Managers input on this particular item. Mr. Shanley responded the appropriate fiduciary responsibility of any board, whether its a town a private business or a non-profit, is to establish internal controls both for finances and the personnel side. He noted one of the appropriate internal controls on the personnel side is to establish a job description and list of qualifications for an Executive Director, and some form of process and written contract in the engagement of that person. He suggested the Council can approve the qualifications rather than the Town Manager, or perhaps the Council would rather the Purple Heart Board of Directors do this.
Councilor Fiore stated he supports this project, however, he wants to be sure all the options for the Town are still there. He stated his preference this remain a private project, rather than a Town project.
Councilor Egan agreed safeguards should be put in place and that a qualified Executive Director should be sought.
Councilor Falk stated he would like to hear what the Purple Heart Committee Board of Directors has to say about this. Councilor Kaupin agreed that he would like to hear what the Board has to say about the five recommendations. He questioned the enforceability of the five recommendations, and what guarantees are in place, or is this a gentlemens agreement between the Town and Purple Heart Committee. Referring to the 1998 grant, Mr. Shanley explained he and the Director of Finance structured a detailed process that they would go through to request funds and release funds. He noted this would be driven by the grant, and should the grant not be in place, there would be no enforceability.
Mr. Shanley stated the State has told him that they want to see a business plan once they have the audits.
Chairwoman Strom stated since shes a member of the Board of Directors, she will be sure that all this information gets to the Board, and the Board can get back to the Town Manager or Town Council as to what is already in place.
Councilor Hall questioned the status on the money that the Town allocated to the Purple Heart Committee. Mr. Shanley responded the Town released those monies to the Committee, however, the Committee has not yet released the monies. He noted the Committee is working with the auditor to see if they can come to a successful conclusion between cost and product.
Chairwoman Strom encouraged Councilors with questions to contact the Acting Director of the Purple Heart Museum or attend a Purple Heart meeting, and they can get answers.
Councilor Hall questioned the status of the audits, and Mr. Shanley indicated he could check into this.
Mr. Shanley stated his understanding the Council wishes to have the Purple Hearts Directors comment on their thoughts on the internal controls and report back to the Council, and the Council will direct the Town Manager as to how they wish this to be represented to the state.
MOTION #4415 by Councilor Mangini, seconded by Councilor Kaupin 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 #4415 adopted 10-0-0, and the meeting stood recessed at 6:58 p.m.
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EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Executive Session of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairwoman Strom at 7:42 p.m.
ROLL-CALL - Present were Councilors Dodd, Egan, Falk, Fiore, Hall, Kaupin, Mangini, McGuire, Strom, Surapine. Councilor Vayda was absent. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Director of Finance, Gregory R. Simmons; Revenues Collector, Suzanne R. Longo; Delinquent Tax Collector, Kimberly Bechard; 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 7:42 p.m.
Chairwoman Strom reconvened the Special Meeting at 7:43 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: SUSAN CIRCLE
Mr. Shanley stated they need to discuss whether or not and how they would fund the two-thirds of the cost, which is the local share vs the one-third that the State indicated they would cover if the Bond Commission approves the project. He noted he does not yet know the cost of the project, however, he estimates between $300,000 and $500,000, and two-thirds of that would be the local share. He stated the Town Attorney reported to the Council about how other communities have had the ability to assess properties that directly benefit from improvement, however, very few communities have done that. He noted he needs direction from the Council concerning whether they wish to set up an assessment process, and if not, then they need to identify funds to cover two-thirds of the cost of the project.
Councilor Mangini questioned whether the Town might be setting a precedent if the Town addresses the Susan Circle issue and not the other areas in Enfield that have similar issues. Chairwoman Strom stated other areas of Town were not subjected to the same court order that Buckhorn Estates was, and because the Town had no right to go in and do any type of inspections whatsoever, this is therefore a unique situation. She stated her belief because of that uniqueness, it would not be setting a precedent. Councilor Mangini stated she would like a legal opinion from the Town Attorney regarding this.
Mr. Shanley added his belief they may not be setting a legal precedent, however, they will set an expectation precedent.
Chairwoman Strom stated her understanding they would only be looking for money to do strictly the engineering. Mr. Shanley indicated that would be possible if the State would permit the Town to commit only to the engineering. Chairwoman Strom noted she would like to know that before moving forward.
Councilor Hall questioned what would happen if the cost was more than expected, and Chairwoman Strom indicated if that were the case, it might be more cost effective to purchase the property, rather than trying to remedy the problem, however, this wont be known until the engineering study is accomplished.
It was agreed the Town Manager can prepare a resolution for consideration by the Council at its next regular meeting regarding funding for engineering.
Councilor Fiore questioned how many homes might be effected by this erosion problem, and Mr. Shanley estimated three properties.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #4416 by Councilor Kaupin, seconded by Councilor Dodd to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #4416 adopted 10-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannette Lamontagne
Secretary to the Council
By Suzanne F. Olechnicki
Suzanne F. Olechnicki
Town Clerk
Clerk of the Council
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