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ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
JANUARY 25, 2001
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairwoman Strom in the Bigelow Commons Community Room at Bigelow Commons, Main Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Thursday, January 25, 2001 at 7:04 p.m.
ROLL-CALL Present were Councilmen Falk, Fiore, Giddings, Hall, Mangini, Strom and Vayda. Councilman Kaupin arrived at 7:20 p.m. Councilman Egan arrived at 7:50 p.m. Councilmen Dodd and McGuire were absent. Also present were Town Manager, Scott A. Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni, Town Clerk, Suzanne F. Olechnicki; Senior Assistant Town Attorney, Maria Stavropoulos; Director of Community Development, Laura Watson
MOTION #5063 by Councilman Falk, seconded by Councilman Mangini to take Item 3. Executive Session out of order and 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 #5063 adopted 7-0-0, and the meeting stood recessed at 7:06 p.m.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Executive Session of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Acting Chairwoman Strom at 7:07 p.m.
ROLL-CALL Present were Councilmen Falk, Fiore, Giddings, Hall, Mangini, Strom, and Vayda. Councilor Kaupin arrived at 7:20 p.m. Also present were Town Manager, Scott A. Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel T. Vindigni; Assistant Senior Town Attorney, Maria Stavropoulos; Director of Community Development, Laura Watson; 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 7:35 p.m.
Chairwoman Strom reconvened the Special Meeting at 7:36 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.
MOTION #5064 by Councilman Falk, seconded by Councilman Mangini to suspend the rules to address Item 2b on the agenda.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #5064 adopted 7-0-0.
ENFIELD REVITALIZATION COMMITTEE CHARGE
Present from the Enfield Revitalization Committee were Gerald Fitzsimons, Debra Giddings, William Lee, Connie Provencher, Jeanne Smith, Joan Smith, Joanne Williams, and Karen LaPlante.
Mr. Shanley spoke about three governmental structures:
Universalist which works from the top-down
Pluralist typically interest groups that seek to influence the Town Council, Town Managers Office, or department head offices
Participatory Democracy which works from the bottom up
He noted each government process needs a structure to make it operate effectively.
He pointed out its the Councils desire and intent to get the maximum input from people and give people the ability to determine what it is they want to accomplish. He explained the problem, from a Town Managers perspective, is that this is not how the Charter is written, and that is not the kind of structure that the Town has, is staffed for, or that theyre organized for. He pointed out they currently have a combination of a universalist and pluralist structure. He explained when they superimpose a participatory democracy process where the intent is to bring things up from individuals to get things done, the two structures collide since the Charter says things have to be done a certain way. He noted this causes friction.
Mr. Shanley distributed a draft of a proposal for the Enfield Revitalization Committee to consider. He explained in order to make things work well structurally, the empowerment
structure needs to be moved down, so that the structure and the decision-making structure matches what theyre trying to accomplish. He pointed out the Towns decision-making structure and budgeting structure, by Charter, is top-down, whereby the Council sets the goals and appropriates the money, and the Town Manager only does that which the Council approves. He noted some Council Members feel that runs counter to what theyd like to see with the Revitalization Committee and that is to make decisions to get things going. He suggested if they would like to structure things in that manner, they should move the empowerment and decision-making in that direction. He suggested the Town Council might look at appropriating a few hundred thousands dollars to the Enfield Revitalization Committee and within parameters laid out, allow the Committee to make the decisions about what its going to spend on what, and then give the staff the ability to follow that direction and go with it within the parameters laid out.
Councilman Giddings questioned if liaisons are counted as 20 members of the Committee. Mr. Shanley stated it was intended to be 20 members, plus liaisons.
Councilman Giddings questioned the reappointment process for the Committee. Councilman Fiore stated a proposal was made that the Revitalization Committee be made a permanent Committee, and that there be 25 members, not including liaisons with a maximum of eight per voting district. He stated a proposal was also made that one-third be appointed for three-year terms; one-third be appointed for two-years terms; one third be appointed for one-year terms and then on re-appointment three-year terms. He noted it was also recommended that there be a Planning & Zoning liaison. He stated as concerns subcommittees, the following wording was suggested: "at its discretion, it may set up subcommittees that shall consist of at least three sitting appointed members of the Enfield Revitalization Committee who would be by default the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Secretary of every subcommittee.
Councilman Giddings questioned if this means they could add non-committee members on the subcommittee. Councilman Fiore stated that was the original proposal.
Councilman Falk stated his impression the whole process and concept seems very complicated. He questioned from a conceptual standpoint whether this is something they want to do, or would they rather have a smaller organization thats more focused on unique goals, or goals that may come along in the future. He stated his preference they create a simple organization thats easy to maintain, as opposed to a complicated one.
Councilman Vayda stated his belief they needed to first deal with underlying issues before they started talking about the number of members for the Committee. He stated his belief there needs to be funding as well.
Councilman Mangini agreed they need to set some parameters and perhaps they could combine the Universalist process with the Participatory Democracy process. She stated she does not like the idea of allocating a certain amount of funding to the Committee. She noted once they start giving to one group, theyll be expected to give a certain amount of funding to other groups that might come forward. She stated her belief the Council has always been willing to listen and support goals and objectives of the ideas and organized plans of the Revitalization Committee. She feels they need to overcome some of the stress and concerns that theyre seeing at this time. She agreed they need to be free with this group, but yet set parameters.
Councilman Kaupin questioned if the Town Managers draft proposal would bring the current projects to fruition and funding would be set aside. Mr. Shanley explained theyd take the current projects out of the mix because theyre already Council priorities, and theoretically the Town is already going to fund them. Councilman Kaupin questioned whether the funding for these projects would be taken out of the funding mix so that the few hundred thousand dollars for the Committee would be for the generation of new ideas. Mr. Shanley responded within some kind of planned structure that the Council would define. He pointed out more than $10,000 cannot be spent without Council approval, unless its within the context of an existing plan.
Councilman Kaupin stated he likes the idea that they would put some cash spending authority into this Committee. He noted theyre trying to come up with a way to allow the funding mechanism to keep pace with the ideas generated. He noted so far the ideas keep coming up, but the money hasnt followed.
Chairwoman Strom stated if this is to be a 25 member committee, they need 25 active and committed people. She noted theyre looking for people with energy and ideas.
Councilman Kaupin questioned how they keep the internal workings of the Committee from becoming territorial. Chairwoman Strom stated her belief if people have the desire and the ability because of the funding to get things done, the group will come up with ideas for all sections of Enfield.
Councilman Egan stated her belief they need to get people involved according to what their interests are. She questioned if they are talking about putting $350,000 into the upcoming budget, along with monies for Hazardville, Northgate, and Thompsonville. Chairwoman Strom stated thats a hypothetical figure.
Councilman Egan questioned if allocated funding could only be used for new projects. Chairwoman Strom stated this still needs to be discussed.
Referring to his proposal for membership, Councilman Fiore noted there was never any mention of how many members from each district. He pointed out the only proposal was that a voting district have a maximum. He noted a particular area would only be able to have one-third controlling interest of the Committee. He stated that he is hearing from his end of town that people want political balance in this Committee. He stated his belief his proposal is totally politically correct.
Councilman Fiore stated his impression this would probably be the only board in Enfield, other than the Building Committee, where the Council would actually allocate money to spend within parameters. Chairwoman Strom noted the Cultural Arts Commission has a budget.
Ms. Williams stated the Revitalization Committee tries to focus on all of Enfield. She noted they listened to the wants for the Thompsonville area, and the Committee approved the Freshwater clean-up, the VFW park, the Thompsonville clean-up, Northgate, and the façade for the new CVS. She noted when it was determined other areas of town needed to be covered, the Chairman suggested going to subcommittees. She noted the subcommittees were to learn whats going on in other sections of Enfield, and that is when they learned Thompsonville was dropped off. She pointed out thats the reason why Hazardville took attention. She stated her belief they have to find people who are interested in Enfield, as a whole, and then subcommittees could present ideas.
Chairwoman Strom stated although the Thompsonville projects have been approved, nothing has been done yet, and theres a frustration in the fact that no one sees anything accomplished.
Joan Smith stated her belief the Committee has to agree on what they are going to submit as projects on a yearly basis so that theyre not slighting any area of town.
Mr. Lee stated his belief a program that provides a certain allocation on an annual or three-year basis, which would coincide with the membership of the organization, is a good idea. He noted hes very encouraged by this proposal. He added his belief they need to keep in mind the definition of revitalization because he does not want to see this Committee become a capital improvements machine. He feels they need to be very sure the goals or parameters are being held up to a template by the Council to be sure they do address the concerns of one particular neighborhood or another.
Ms. Watson raised the question of how closely linked the group will be to whats actually happening at the staff level. She noted there should be a partnership between what the Town is doing and what the community likes.
Mr. Fitzsimons stated his belief its important that they dont get the Committee defined with just brick and mortar projects, i.e., sidewalks, street improvements. He noted they should also look at things such as creating a village zone and a cultural and economic entity, as well as look at ways in which to get people involved in doing those things.
Ms. LaPlante questioned whether the Committee would be expected to do contract negotiations, create plans, and work in conjunction with staff. Mr. Shanley stated in his proposal, the Committee would give the final approval for a plan because the Committee would have been granted the authority by the Council to make those decisions.
Ms. Watson stated her belief its critical to the group to be working very closely with staff.
Ms. LaPlante stated she likes the idea of having the membership balanced. She added she also likes the idea there will be staff they can work with and get input from. She noted she approves of the idea of having Committee members leading the subcommittees and then bringing information to the Revitalization Committee as a whole.
Mr. Fitzsimmons questioned if significant importance would be placed on participation and attendance. He noted if theres to be a three-year term, will there be a mechanism to address members who are not participating. He suggested perhaps there could be an annual evaluation or reporting to the Council that includes a look at how people are functioning and attending. He noted if a member is not participating, perhaps there could be a way to ask them to resign. He pointed out for a significant period of time, attendance has been a major issue.
As concerns subcommittees, Mr. Fitzsimmons stated the Committee needs to look at who is interested in what subcommittee. He noted he would avoid not having subcommittee members from other areas of town since they would lose the element of an "Enfield" Revitalization Committee.
Jeanne Smith stated a lot of committees overlap in that there are several things that one committee will be doing that another committee is also trying to accomplish. She raised the idea of having a couple of people serving on the Hazardville subcommittee attend some Northgate or Thompsonville subcommittee meetings so that everything will be kept in perspective as to the whole Town of Enfield.
Chairwoman Strom stated her understanding the Hazardville subcommittee is the only subcommittee that has Community Development staff and has separate meetings scheduled. Ms. Smith suggested when other subcommittees are set up, perhaps members could rotate between subcommittees.
Councilman Kaupin stated all the information should be coming back to the whole Revitalization Committee once all the subcommittees are in place.
Chairwoman Strom stated her perception Enfield Revitalization means addressing those things that help Enfield, particularly economically. She noted they should also be looking at what else can be done to revitalize an area to make it economically viable.
Councilman Falk stated perhaps the make-up of the Committee should reflect the three main projects, i.e., the Hazardville Streetscape, Northgate and the Thompsonville area, as opposed to districts.
Mr. Lee questioned if Planning & Zoning is in tune with this new proposal.
Councilman Fiore stated in November he heard Planning & Zoning was interested in a liaison position for the Revitalization Committee.
Chairwoman Strom requested Mr. Lee expand on criteria for members. Mr. Lee stated if there were interested members of the business community or a liaison from the Chamber of Commerce, it would be important to have business representation when dealing with pure revitalization issues.
Mr. Vindigni pointed out when the Committee was created, they did call for representatives from different professions within their composition so that theyd get a cross band of different perspectives.
Chairwoman Strom suggested they might want to consider 20 members with five liaisons. She noted if Revitalization Committee members have anything they wish to submit in writing, they may pass that through the Town Managers Office so that it can be included in the Councils packet.
RESOLUTION #5065 by Councilman Falk, seconded by Councilman Vayda.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Council of the Town of Enfield hereby authorizes the Town Manager to execute the agreements and documents necessary to purchase 50 Cottage Green, Enfield, Connecticut from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Councilman Vayda stated his belief the Council needs additional information in order to evaluate this properly. Chairwoman Strom agreed.
Councilman Falk questioned if this can be tabled. Chairwoman Strom noted this cant be tabled.
Mr. Shanley stated the addendum that they added to the agreement with HUD stated "contingent upon approval of the Town Council and the Planning & Zoning Commission. He noted the approval by both parties is necessary to make the agreement valid. He pointed out theyre working within the short window that HUD has given them. He noted the Council can back out of this up until Planning & Zoning votes on this.
Chairwoman Strom questioned if the Council votes on this tonight, how will this go to Planning and Zoning. Mr. Shanley stated he already requested Planning & Zoning include this on their next agenda. Chairwoman Strom noted this gives the Council a week to get more information and determine whether they wish this item to be kept on the Planning & Zoning agenda.
Chairwoman Strom questioned if HUD would have a problem with this being on Planning & Zonings next agenda. Mr. Shanley noted he can check into this.
Councilman Hall stated if the Town owns property and passes it on to a non-profit, what is the Town liable for regarding that property.
Chairwoman Strom stated her belief the Council would like as much information as possible from the Town Manager, Town Attorney and Community Development Department for Mondays nights meeting so that the Council can decide whether or not they wish Planning & Zoning to include this on their agenda.
Upon a ROLL-CALL vote being taken, the Chair declared RESOLUTION #5065
adopted 8-1-0, with Councilman Hall voting against.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #5066 by Councilman Kaupin, seconded by Councilman Vayda to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #5066 adopted 9-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 9:25 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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