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ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
JANUARY 11, 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, January 11, 2000. The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m.
Chairwoman Strom stated for this evenings meeting only she will turn the meeting over to Deputy Mayor Peter Falk. She noted this is an informational meeting for the Town Council, especially since there are new members on board who havent been part of any of the past history of the Purple Heart Committee. She noted she is a member of the Board for the Purple Heart, and she will take her place with them as questions are asked and answered. She stated her belief she wont have any conflict at all in any discussions or decisions that might be made at a future date. She noted the Ethics Ordinance basically says that if someone stands to gain or lose personally, theres a conflict. She pointed out certainly neither herself nor anyone who is a member of the Committee would stand to gain or lose anything personally from whatever happens in going forward with this project. She then turned the meeting over to Peter Falk.
ROLL-CALL - Present were Councilors Dodd, Egan, Falk, Fiore, Hall, Mangini, McGuire, and Vayda. Councilors Kaupin and Surapine were absent. Chairwoman Strom excused herself. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Town Clerk, Suzanne F. Olechnicki; Town Attorney, Christopher W. Bromson; Assistant Town Attorney, Maria Stavropoulos; Director of Finance, Gregory Simmons; Director of Economic Development, Raymond Warren.
DISCUSSION RE: PURPLE HEART MUSEUM
Councilors Falk and Egan announced they are lifetime members of the Purple Heart Committee.
Mr. Shanley stated the reason for this meeting is to give the Town Council an opportunity to be briefed by Town staff and representatives of the Purple Heart Museum with respect to the report issued by the Attorney Generals Office. He noted everyone should have a copy of that report. He noted he would like to discuss the Towns role and responsibilities, have a briefing by the Purple Heart Board, and end the meeting with an idea from the Council as to a set of criteria for the staff on what would be needed in order to have a renewed confidence in the Board to be able to once again have funding from the state to move forward, or not.
Mr. Shanley spoke about the relationship between the Town and the National Purple Heart Museum. He pointed out the Town of Enfield does not support the Museum financially - there are no Town funds associated with the Museum in its annual process. He explained the Towns responsibility has been to apply for and receive a grant in 1997, which wasnt actually on line until last May, and the responsibility is to be sure that the expenditures comply with the grant application. He noted to this extent they have significant details of all of the grant funds expended since June of last year.
Mr. Shanley indicated its the Towns fiscal responsibility to manage the grant funds so that they meet the criteria of the grant, however, its not the Towns responsibility to manage the Purple Heart Museum. He stated hes confident that the grant money the Town received last year has been very well documented and spent on those items that the grant indicated it could be spent for.
Mr. Shanley stated since the grant was received, there was a process of requiring Board action on a month to month basis on approved invoices by the Board that were then forwarded to the Town and either approved or disapproved by the Town, and then forwarded to the State, and the State would either approve them or disapprove them, therefore, it was a very tight and cumbersome process that theyve been following since the grant was received last June. He noted that process stopped back in October - there were some expenses that were submitted in advance by the Board, which he was uncomfortable with because of some of the allegations that had been made, and he froze those and did not release those. He noted he spoke to the State at about the same time, and the State determined they would also freeze the other funds. He pointed out that as of October of last year, the grant funding stopped, until such time as the Attorney Generals report was completed, and they had required the completed financial audit.
Mr. Shanley stated he had a meeting with the auditor of the Purple Heart Museum, along with a member of the Board and the Executive Director, and theyre unable to deliver the audit report because theyre unable to be paid. He stated from the perspective of the auditors in order to maintain their integrity as an auditing firm, they need to be sure its very clear that its a professional relationship with the Museum. He noted one of the things he will discuss later with the Council is whether or not the Council would be interested in coming up with the financing in order to pay for the audit reports.
Present for the Purple Heart Board of Directors were Frederick Gelsi, Steven Kopecki, Charles Albano, and Mary Lou Strom.
Mr. Gelsi stated in his opinion there has not been "any money stolen" from either taxpayers dollars or private dollars that they can find at this point. Mr. Gelsi stated any donation that comes into the Museum is photographed before being deposited, and checks cant be written without Board approval. He noted the bookkeeper writes the checks and keeps the records, and two signatures are required on all checks. He stated his belief a procedure is in place to prevent this situation from ever occurring again.
He stated they have $500,000 in the bank from the State for construction, and that has to be matched before it can be released. He noted they did draw downs on the $500,000 designated for running the operation and fund raising, and the records are clear, and that is about $138,000.
Mr. Gelsi referred to some documentation that he felt shouldnt have been part of the Attorney Generals report. He noted the Attorney General did go back to 1986 and 1992 when they received a $250,000 grant. He indicated it states all that can be shown is $30,000 from that grant. He pointed out that grant was much different than the one theyre presently working under. He explained the grant was released at $125,000 blocks, and the bank where it was deposited recommended that they put it into a money market account so that it would make more interest, and this was done. He noted $246,926.64 has all been identified and accounted for, and they have the receipts.
Mr. Gelsi stated their total cash is $19,007, and their restricted cash is $17,021.28, which is for the brick account. He noted theres one other account which is a donation, and thats restricted. He noted the unrestricted cash available to them is about $2,700.
He stated a couple weeks ago they received an indication of another donation, and its hoped this is still going to go forward.
Acting Chairman Falk requested Mr. Gelsi give a brief history. Mr. Gelsi stated one of the biggest problems theyve had is having the money at the right time. He noted the first $150,000 helped them get their plans, drawings, and that which they could use for visuals to show people. He noted a million-dollar grant was awarded in 1997, however, the monies were not released until this past May or June.
He noted the Town Council was kind enough to grant loans so they could do payrolls, however, it did not allow them to go out and do major fund raising. He stated they are prepared right now to do a mailing to 125,000 citizens in the U.S. who are either Purple Heart recipients, or their families. He noted they are and have been ready to bring corporate people onto the Board of Directors in the hopes they can open the right doors. He acknowledged they could use some financial people on their Board, and he believes that will happen.
Councilor Mangini questioned how they would bring on financial people to the Board, and Mr. Gelsi stated he has been talking to corporations, and theres been some indication that some personnel from such corporations might be able to volunteer some time.
Councilor McGuire questioned if Mr. Gelsi feels there should be more accountability or reporting back to the Town Council. Mr. Gelsi stated his assumption the reports that they would make would go to the Finance Director, and they would then be made available to the Town Manager. Mr. Shanley stated once the last grant was received, they set up some very tight controls. He explained they do not approve any expenditure of the grant funds to the Purple Heart Museum unless that request has been approved by the Board. He noted the Board cuts their own paychecks for their people, and the Town only approves that as a legitimate expense under the grant. Mr. Gelsi added theyd be making a monthly report which will be going to the Finance Director, and the Finance Director would have to answer to the Town Manager.
Councilor McGuire questioned if theres another way to get corporate sponsorship, and Mr. Gelsi stated once you get one sponsor on the Board, its easier for others to follow. He added he has a hope of getting one corporate sponsor soon.
Councilor Egan questioned whether there are any regional veterans groups interested in getting involved, and Mr. Gelsi stated they have to find some way to bring the veterans groups together. He added they will be going to the major veterans organizations and inviting them to be part of this Board.
Councilor Egan questioned whether theyve tried advertising in magazines, and Mr. Alfano stated they do have an ad to place, however, monies are frozen.
Acting Chairman Falk questioned what it will take to get the monies released from the State, and Mr. Gelsi noted the State is still "shaking out" the Attorney Generals report. He stated he will make some calls tomorrow and should know more later this week.
There was a short discussion regarding media sensationalism about this issue.
Mr. Shanley stated his belief the audit is an absolute base line to begin going forward. Discussion followed as to how the audit might be paid for and Ms. Strom suggested there are two ways to approach this - a loan to be paid back when the Purple Heart is able to do so, or as a donation.
Councilor Hall questioned if there was a change in the Board of Directors, and if so, when did this change take place. Mr. Kopecki stated there was a change in 1997 when they went to a membership type corporation, and this opened up the Board to voting through the membership. He explained 70% of the Board was replaced with new people, and then each June they have another election, and the Board changes.
Mr. Shanley stated his belief its very important that the Executive Director for the Purple Heart Committee have the requisite qualifications and an understanding of how to work with the Board and an understanding of the fiduciary responsibility, and an understanding of the responsibility of the Executive Director to insure that they protect the Board to the greatest degree that they can. He stated his belief the Board was not very well served in the recent past as a result of that, and he believes in going forward that has to be taken well into consideration.
Acting Chairman Falk stated his confidence that this organization is much stronger today than it was six months ago and that the Committee will work harder than ever to make the Museum a reality.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #4370 by Councilor Fiore, seconded by Councilor Vayda to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #4370 adopted 8-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 8:12 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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