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ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
OCTOBER 3, 2005
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairman Tallarita in the Enfield Room of the Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Monday, October 3, 2005. The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m.
ROLL-CALL – Present were Councilmen Dodd, Edgar, Egan, Fiore, Kaupin, Mangini and Tallarita. Councilman Crowley arrived at 6:16 p.m. and Councilman Peruta at 6:20 p.m. Councilmen Reveruzzi and Tait were absent. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Clerk, Suzanne Olechnicki and Town Attorney, Christopher Bromson.
MOTION #8028 by Councilman Fiore, seconded by Councilman Mangini to go into Executive Session to discuss Real Estate Negotiations and Pending Litigation.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #8028 adopted 7-0-0, and the meeting stood recessed at 6:07 p.m.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Executive session of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairman Tallarita at 6:09 p.m.
ROLL-CALL – Present were Councilmen Dodd, Edgar, Egan, Fiore, Kaupin, Mangini and Tallarita. Councilman Crowley arrived at 6:16 p.m. and Councilman Peruta at 6:20 p.m. Councilmen Reveruzzi and Tait were absent. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Clerk, Suzanne Olechnicki and Town Attorney, Christopher Bromson.
Real Estate Negotiations and Pending Litigation were discussed with no action or votes being taken.
Chairman Tallarita adjourned the Executive Session at 6:49 p.m. He reconvened the Special Meeting at 6:50 p.m. and stated that during Executive Session Real Estate Negotiations and Pending Litigation were discussed with no action or votes being taken.
LIBRARY LONG RANGE PLANNING COMMITTEE REPORT
Present from the Library Long Range Planning Committee were Chairman Peter Falk, Deborah Fiore, Robert Gibson, Amalita Grimes, Jane Kozlowski and William Vayda. Also present were staff liaisons Henry Dutcher, Library Director and Mary Palomba, Assistant Library Director
Chairman Falk highlighted some of the activities that this Committee has been involved with over the past six months.
Chairman Falk stated the mission of the Enfield Public Library is to support the public, schools, and businesses with services that will enable them to better serve their customers. He noted circulation over the last four years has increased more than 55%, attendance has risen by over 20% and in that same time span people are turned away from programs on a regular basis due to a lack of space. He pointed out the current facility on Middle Road is over 40 years old and is bursting with computers, additional collections and current audio/visual media.
Chairman Falk stated this Committee is composed of a diverse group of community members, and they represent many groups and organizations within Enfield. He noted they looked at space issues, programming, and collection issues. He pointed out this report outlines potential improvements to the library. He reviewed some activities the Committee was involved in:
- They visited libraries in Agawam, Wallingford, Manchester, Stafford Springs, South Windsor, Palmer and Chicopee.
- They developed survey questions which were placed in various locations, i.e., the Enfield Square, the Enfield Senior Center, Enfield Library and Enfield schools.
- They developed a community vision.
- They did a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).
- Community needs were developed.
- There was a presentation from the library regarding their activities and programs.
- Evaluated needs in relation to services currently being provided.
- Community forums were held.
- Staff comments were reviewed.
- Development of goals and objectives.
Ms. Fiore stated the Committee conducted public forums to ascertain ideas for improved service from town residents. She noted some suggestions were as follows:
- Provide more space for quiet study areas, group meeting rooms and popular children’s programs.
- Increase the use of information technology and provide additional user opportunities for training in information access and retrieval.
- Expand hours of service to include Sunday hours.
- Increase collections including materials for young adults, periodical subscriptions, bestseller copies and audio books.
- Expand services and programs offered to children, young adults and their parents as well as the growing senior population.
Ms. Fiore then reviewed the results of a Touch Screen Survey which zeroed in on the services that the community members value most:
- 78% of residents feel right at home and/or find the library warm and welcoming.
- 81% use the library to borrow books, 62% to do research and 61% to borrow movies and music.
- 93% feel they have benefited by using the library.
- 81% consider the library family oriented and 21% think of it as a “cool place to hang out”, and only 5% felt it was out of step with what they need.
- Overwhelming majorities found library services very good or excellent in all categories.
- New services most desired are a café, quiet areas, study rooms and delivery to the homebound.
Mr. Vayda stated the long range plan can be used as a road map by staff to further their ability to better accomplish their mission. He briefly summarized some of the goals.
Chairman Falk stated this plan was based on three basic assumptions:
- Excellence must be defined locally.
- Excellence is possible for both small and large libraries.
- Excellence is a moving target.
Chairman Falk stated the goals and objectives detailed in the long-term plan were developed based on input from within Enfield. He noted throughout the planning process, there was expressed commitment to develop realistic and achievable goals and to implement and review this document on a regular basis.
Chairman Falk stated in order to help the Library Director and his staff to move forward, the Committee is requesting the Town Council to take a vote of support for this plan. He clarified this is not a commitment to spend money, but rather they’d like to see the library working in a certain direction and following this plan.
Chairman Tallarita stated his impression much of this document is associated with allocation of funds as it moves forward. He stated that while it’s important this Council gives their opinion and suggestions, he noted they are limited in the time they have remaining as a Council. He noted the future Council needs to be in a position to endorse and support this plan. He stated his opinion that rather than this Council giving their stamp of approval on this plan, they instead raise questions and pass on their opinions and comments to the new Council. He stated his feeling it’s important the next Council be the one to actually approve this in its final format because there will be commitments that go along with it.
Councilman Dodd requested clarification regarding homebound services. Mr. Dutcher stated this is a service provided in the past, and it was run by a volunteer. He noted that volunteer moved out of town, and that service ended. He stated it is hoped to get this program up and running again through the Hartford Foundation or the LSTA, which is the Library Services and Technology grants.
Referring to Page 5 of the document, Councilman Dodd questioned whether the library has sufficient cabling at this time. Mr. Dutcher responded no, they only have a drop and they only get extended basic cable. He added they are looking for the ability to deliver information to the community in ways that they’re presently not doing.
Councilman Fiore stated his belief this is a fine plan. He agreed with Chairman Tallarita regarding the next Council endorsing this plan. He noted this plan has monetary ties for the future. He suggested the Committee also bring this plan before the new Town Council.
Councilman Fiore raised the issue of recreational activities at the library, and Mr. Dutcher clarified this is literacy based recreation.
Councilman Fiore pointed out that over the last ten years, there has been a lot of investment in the library department, i.e., increased staffing and they’re spending $1.2 million dollars per year for the Enfield Public Library and this doesn’t include the Library Board control funds. He pointed out this Council and many Councils from the past have supported the Enfield Library. He stated there’s a lot of reference in the document regarding a possible referendum question by year three or four of this plan. He noted he’s unsure how the community will respond to that.
Mr. Dutcher stated this document was brought to this Council, because it was this Council that formed this Committee.
Councilman Kaupin stated his impression of this document is that the library would become the hub of a true community center. He questioned if the Committee saw this type of atmosphere in the libraries they visited. Ms. Fiore stated they saw a lot of meeting rooms in some of the libraries, and Enfield’s library has only one. She added there were guidelines as to what those meeting rooms could be used for. She added these were all termed libraries, not community centers.
Ms. Grimes stated while the libraries they visited didn’t try to take on the role of a community center, they always thought it was very important for the library to be a unifying factor in the community, and they were proud of their strategic partnership with all the other processes of their town.
Councilman Egan commended the Committee for all their hard work.
Mr. Vayda stated at a couple libraries, they actually had segments of their buildings that were open to the public off hours.
Councilman Peruta expressed his appreciation for this document. He questioned if this plan calls for a closer tie to the school libraries. Ms. Grimes noted that’s referred to on Page 14 of the document.
Mr. Shanley invited Councilmen to e-mail any further questions or comments to him concerning this document.
Councilman Crowley thanked the Committee for their work on this. He noted there should also be a cost associated with the plan. Chairman Falk stated that would be the next step.
Councilman Mangini thanked the Committee for their efforts in putting this plan together.
Chairman Tallarita stated his belief that overall the Council is committed to the fact that this really needs to move to the next Council. He added his belief tonight’s Council comments are important to consider. He noted this dialog can continue, but he feels this Committee should come before the new Council early in its term to give them an opportunity to hear this plan.
Chairman Tallarita stated all the Council candidates have received this document.
Ms. Grimes questioned if the Council sees this document as a request for money or as a guideline. She noted a guideline can be approved. Chairman Tallarita pointed out the guideline would have costs associated with it.
Mr. Shanley stated perhaps staff can work with the Committee on the type of acceptance resolution that a new Council could consider so that they can satisfy the need of the grant while at the same time recognize more detail is necessary for a governing body to really move forward.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #8029 by Councilman Kaupin, seconded by Councilman Mangini to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #8029 adopted 9-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 7:47 p.m. |