Selectmen Ready For Next Round Of Capital Planning

By John Voket

The Board of Selectmen is planning to plow through requests related to the five-year municipal Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) with a goal of completing the next phase of the mandated program by the end of August. The selectmen are also awaiting the delivery of the Queen Street Traffic Study, which is expected before the board’s next meeting August 7.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said he and his fellow board members may hear more than one presentation about the report because he expects selectmen to be invited when consultants discuss findings before the Planning and Zoning Commission or one of the Borough boards.

The Newtown Bee previously reported that the Queen Street Area Traffic Study final report will contain approximately 40 recommendations on how the town could best manage traffic flow in the town center through the year 2026.

If all recommendations were implemented, the cost of the work would fall in the range of $1.75 million to $2 million, of which more than half the amount would likely be reimbursable to the town through a combination of state and federal grants, according to the regional planning official who is overseeing the study on behalf of the town.

David Hannon, deputy director of the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO), said he expects that the traffic study final report will be submitted to the town by the end of July. HVCEO is the regional transportation planning agency.

The $49,000 study’s cost is being split between the town and HVCEO. Vollmer Associates, LLP, of Hamden is conducting the study under the guidance of a town advisory panel.

Selectmen learned this week that a bid for a new “triple combination pumper truck” was awarded to a Rocky Hill company, FireMatic. The new truck will cost $458,338.

“The bid cost includes a discount of $14,000 with the down payment of $300,000 at the time of contract,” Mr Rosenthal said.

The first selectman explained that the expenditure was originally in the current budget, but after consultation with the Board of Finance and Legislative Council it was decided the new truck would be financed over time through a bond initiative.

“We will initiate the special appropriation that will then go to the Board of Finance and ultimately the council who will authorize us to set a date for the town meeting to approve the recurring debt,” Mr Rosenthal said. The special appropriation was subsequently approved.

Fairfield Hills Usage Fees

The selectmen then approved setting fees for the use of the Fairfield Hills property. The fees were determined after significant discussion and consensus among members of the Fairfield Hills Authority, the facility’s property management representatives. and other town officials.

Baseball and soccer fields would be made available to municipal organizations at no charge, nonprofits would pay $25 per hour, and unaffiliated organizations would pay $35 per hour. After some discussion on related charges like extra security, the board approved the charges with the idea that any adjustments to the rates or clarifications about usage would be made at a subsequent meeting.

The selectmen then turned their attention to reappointing some members of the Fairfield Hills Authority. The authority’s Chairman Robert Geckle, Amy Dent, and Judge William Lavery were up for reappointment as part of a staggered cycle of terms.

Mr Rosenthal said Judge Lavery requested his reappointment be withdrawn from consideration because his new responsibilities as chief administrator of the state judicial branch and his work as chairman of the library board required an amount of time that prevented him from continuing his volunteer work on the authority.

“Judge Lavery wrote a very nice letter expressing his regret but his new position with the state will take too much of his time,” Mr Rosenthal said.

The vacancy will provide an opening on the authority for either a Democrat or an unaffiliated voter by charter guidelines.

Before the meeting concluded, Mr Rosenthal distributed the various municipal department requests for the CIP saying he would invite representatives of the Parks and Recreation Department and the fire departments to the next meeting to discuss their requests.

Mr Spragg said new CIP requests totaled $13.1 million, with slightly more than $11 million proposed for borrowing. Selectman William Brimmer, Jr, then noted a large portion of the new requests came from the Parks and Recreation Department for a new swimming pool.

“The figure for the community center pool is substantially lower than the $20 million number we heard from [the Park and Rec Department] at one time,” Mr Brimmer said.

There was some discussion of new funding in the CIP for a new dog pound, which Mr Rosenthal said he put into the CIP at $500,000. He said the project would have no architect fees because those services were being donated.

Mr Rosenthal said the Canine Advocates organization that supports the town dog pound is expected to raise some of the money to underwrite the project, and that nearly $50,000 has been raised so far. The first selectman said he was considering a site for the new animal control facility at a location formerly occupied by a sewage treatment plant at Fairfield Hills, saying the location was far enough away from residences that the noise of barking dogs would not be disturbing.

Mr Brimmer joked that the only positive attribute to the existing 20-year-old facility was it was a deterrent to dogs running away.

“Once they visit there the first time, they never want to run away again,” he said, eliciting laughter from fellow selectmen.