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1974/01/07O MINUTES EXECUTIVE BOARD January 7, 1974 The meeting was called to Order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Arthur B. Powers. Deputy Mayors Joseph Lanzoni and Loren Dickinson were present. Also present were Miss Deena~Clavette of the New Britain Herald and Mrs. Joyce Molleur of The Hartford Courant. Present for pa~t of the meeting were Mr. Dominic Scerra, Town Treasurer; Clifford Landry; Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs of the Four Fire Departments; Members of the Fire Board; Mrs. Jean Conway, Mrs. Marcelyn King and Mrs. Ronald Griggs of the Public Health Nursing Service. (Review of the recent state of emergency in the Town and recommendations offered by the participating town agencies is attached.) Motion made by Mr. Lanzoni and seconded by Mr. Dickinson to accept the minutes of the December 27, 1973 meeting. MOTION CARRIED. MayOr Powers read a letter from Mr. F. W. Riggs, District Manager of the Connecticut Light and Power Company in which he ex- pressed his gratitude for the cooperation and understanding ex- hibited by the Mayor, town officials and residents during the recent emergency. Mayor Powers read a letter from Senator Ruth O. Truex of the 9th District advising of the covening of the General Assembly on February 6 for the second' kerm of the biennium and of her availa- bility for the discussion of any problems which the town might require action by the Legislature. It was the consensus to have the Mayor invite Mrs. Truex and }~. Robert Argazzi, State Representative, to the January 28 meeting of the Executive Board to discuss related matters. Mayor Powers presented to the Executive Board an Ordinance for the Licensing of Kestaurants, prepared by Town Counsel Jackaway at his request. The Mayor felt that there is a definite need for such an ordinance and requested the Deputy Mayors to review it thoroughly and offer comments at the next meeting. With respect to the abandonment of Columbus Avenue, a Motion was made by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mr. Lanzoni, that based on the approval by the Town Meeting on December 27, 1973 for the abandon- ment of Columbus Avenue, the Executive Board hereby concurs and directs that the necessary legal action be taken to convey the town- owned street to the adjacent property owners. MOTION CARRIED. Executive Board Minutes January 7, 1974 -2- Mr. Dominic Scerra, Town Treasurer, presented, with pleasure, for the Board's acceptance the results of the bids for the borrowing of $4.5 million in anticipation of the high school bond issue. Mr. Scerra advised that he will invest the money not needed for a period of one year beginning January 15, 1974, in short-term (thirty, sixty and ninety day) certificates of deposit, thus earning interest to offset the cost of the temporary borrowing. At'the moment, our money is earning approximately 9%. Motion was made by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickin- son to accept the recommendation of the Town Treasurer and award the. low bids for the borrowing of $4.5 million in anticipation of the High School Bond Issue, as follows: Hartford National Bank & Trust Co., Hartford ($3,000,000) $1,000,000 3.95% 1,000,000 4.01% 1,000,000 4.04% Connecticut Bank and Trust Co., Hartford ($1,500,000) $1,500,000 4.16% MOTION CARRIED. (Complete last of bidders is attached) The next part of the Executive Board meeting was held with the Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs of the four fire departments at which time the Mayor introduced and explained his voluntary gaso- line allotment plan for firemen. Mayor Powers said that he had received a call from Chief Fiore of the Kensington Fire Department expressing concern over the availability of gasoline to the fire- men in order to pursue their duties. Mayor Powers felt that a voluntary system conducted by the gasoline stations at the request of the Administration could be successful and therefore was pre- senting his plan which would guarantee a weekly allotment of 10 gallons of gasoline', outside of personal use, by using an allotment card which will be issued to each active firefighter. It is his hope that this 10-gallon guarantee will allow firemen to fight fires and assist when necessary without having to worry if they will have enough gasoline. This could also include those who supply emergency town services such as the ambulance. He also presented to the Chiefs a copy of the allotment card for their per- usal. To this end, Mayor Powers advised that he had, this day, written to 25 gasoline proprietors in the Town explaining the plan, the use of the enclosed allotment card and asking for their coo- peration. He emphasized that this was a plan that required the cooperation of both the firemen and the gas station proprietors. He requested the Chiefs to use their discretion in providing him with a list of active firefighters and advised that upon re- Executive Board Minutes January 7, 1974 -3- ceipt of the lists, his office would type the name of the fireman on each card and he would duly sign each card as Mayor and return these to the chiefs for distribution. Following general dis- cussion on this and other matters, Mayor Powers thanked all for coming and asked for their continued cooperation. The remainder of the meeting was devoted to reviewing the following budgets for presentation to the Board of Finance. Fire Board. Mr. Ronald Lindgren, Chairman of the Fire Board gave a detailed breakdown and explanation of the operating budget and the capital budget in particular regarding the request of $238,000 for the purchase of three new fire trucks - $63,000 for pumper for E.B.F.D. to replace a 1958 vehicle; $100,000 for ladder truck for K.F.D to replace a 195~ vehicle and $60,000 for pumper for K.F.D. to replace a 16-yr old engine. Mr. Lindgren stated that the reasoning for requesting three trucks at this time, which he admits is in variance with the 5-year plan proposed earlier, is because of the time lag of 15 or more months for delivery and the need for advance planning. Mayor Powers advised that the Executive Board realizes the need for the equipment but feels that it cannot justify the pur- chase of more than one truck per fiscal year. He stated that while the-money is covered by Revenue Sharing, this administration is committed to holding to a 3-mill tax increase and part of revenue sharing would have to be held in abeyance in case it is needed for this purpose. Consequently, it was the consensus of the Executive Board to recommend to the Board of Finance approval of the 1974-75 operating budget in the amount of $30,200; Capital Item-Fire Department Equipment, $15,000; and Capital Item-Fire Trucks, $63,000. This item is for the purchase of a pumper for the E.B.F.D. plus the proviso for the ordering of thewS100,000 ladder truck for K.F.D. now but to be paid for in the 1975-76 budget. Public Health Nursin~ Service. Mrs. Jean Conway presented a de- tailed and ~nformat~'~e explanation of the Nursing Service Budget totaling $60,944, a small increase over last year which reflects a 5.5% increase in salaries which the representatives present felt were necessary in order to keep the professional salaries in com- petition with adjacent towns. Mr. Powers commended Mrs. Conway and her Board for complying with the austerity message. It was the consensus of.the Executive Board to recommend to the Board of Finance acceptance of the 1974-75 Nursing Budget as presented in the amount of $60,944. Building Inspector and Zonin~ Commission. Mayor Powers reviewed the budgets of these two agencies and it was the Board's recommendation to approve the 1974-75 Building Inspector's budget in the amount of $31,968 as presented and the amount of $5,085 for the Zoning Com- mission, reflecting a reduction of $500 in professional services. It was Voted to adjourn the meeting at 10:30 p.m.. Respectfully submitted, Rena O. Castiglioni Acting Secretary REVIEW OF THE STATE OF EMERGENCY TOWN OF BERLIN Present= Town Executive Board - Mayor Arthur B. Powers, Deputy Mayors Joseph P. Lanzoni and Loren P. Dickinson Henry Baldyga - Superintendent, Water and-S~er Commission Leslie C. Bentley - Finance Director L. A. Chotkowski, M.D. - Health Director Jean Conway, Mrs. - Nursing Director, Public Health Nursing Service Fire Departments Berlin - Richard R. Simons, Chief East Berlin - Bruno Romegialli, Chief; William Skene, Assistant Kensington - Richard Fiori, Chief~ Richard Scalora, Assistant South Kensington - Charles F. Scheer, Chief; Edward DeVivo, Assistan Paul Fappiano - Civil Preparedness Director Milton Freeman - Business Manager, Board of Education Larry Graham - Director of Public Grounds and Rec. Edward F. Haber - Garage Superintendent Theodore Hrubiec - Superintendent of Public Grounds Clifford Landry - Energy Crisis Coordinator Donald Prue - Superintendent of Streets Richard Russell - Superintendent of Public Buildings Morgan Seelye - Director of Public Works Robert Skinner - Chief of Police The meeting was called to order by Mayor Powers in the Town Hall on January 7, 1974. He welcomed all and expressed appreciation for their attendance. Before the discussion started, Mayor Powers stated that he wished to commend the Board of Education and others who had any- thing to do with the recommendation and implementation of starting schools a half hour later in order to look out for the safety of the youngsters going to school during this change to Daylight Savings Time. Mayor Powers stated that he felt that after an emergency, it is always a good idea to get all participants together to talk about the good things that were done and also the things that should have been done; consequently, the reason for this meeting. Overall, he felt that it was a successful operation due to the cooperation of all groups represented here. Everyone made themselves available. The Town Hall was open and phones manned. Fire departments available and firehouses open. CL&P, overall, did an excellent job. No preferential treatment shown, a schedule was outlined and maintained to the best of their ability with the TOwn being kept informed. The Mayorfelt that with the cooperation of CL&P and all the tOwn.agencies, a good job was done. State of Emergency Review -2- The Mayor said that he was aware of some deficiencies and lacks and these would be brought out by the other speakers. Mayor Powers advised that during an emergency, the Chief Officer or the Mayor has the power to call in men, provide them with food and the Town pays the bills. A $25.00 allotment was set aside for each fire department. He also advised that there is a good possibility that the Town will be eligible for disaster money from the State so he urged the fire departments to hand in any bills promptly to his office and he would turn them over to Mr. Landry so that the Town could prepare a report of the costs incurred. So as to keep the'meeting orderly, Mayor Powers said he would call on each agency for a report of its activities during the emergency. O Paul Fappiano - Civil Preparedness Director Mr. Fappiano announced that the term "civil defense" is now obsolete and this agency is now known as Civil Preparedness. He particularly co~ended the fire departments. He felt that the fire departments were the backbone of the emergency operations. They and the Town Hall were the means of communi- cation. Jean Conwa~- Public Health Nursing Service Ail services maintained to pa~ents and no reports from anyone concerning serious effects. Especially commended the Town govern- ment for response given. RECOMMENDED that a plan be developed that would take care of emergencies in all seasons because problems would differ depending on what kind of emergency it was. Clifford Landry - Energy Crisis Coordinator Praised the Fire Departments. He ~id they can operate and function with or without the rest of us. Stressed the im- portance to prepare for next disaster whatever it might be. Short- coming - Town Garage despartely in need of a permanent generator. Communications center needed as Town Hall does not have sufficient .lines to handle phones. Also, it was proven during the emergency of the need of another frequency to handle radio calls between town agencies. In answer to this, Mayor Powers stated that the new Town Hall Complex would be able to take care of some of the communications problems found in this emergency as there would be sufficient space and more centralization of agencies. O State of Emergency Review -3- Milton Freeman also suggested the use of the schools for a headquarters during an emergency as the school system has a great deal available regarding a communications system. Robert Skinner - Police Chief He advised that his department has 10 walkie-talkies with two more requested in the new budget. This is sufficient. He stressed the need for more telephone lines as there are only three open lines in the police department. He said we owe a deep debt of gratitude to the fire departments. Emergency transportation was made available and offered by the police officers to anyone who called. RECOMMENDATION that another try be made to the forming of an auxiliary police group that would act in support but not in place of the regular working officers. The new explorer scouts being formed by his department could be helpful in some way during an emergency. Morgan Seelye - DirectOr of Public Works No overwhelming problems were encountered in the Highway Department other than the lack of a good-sized generator at the Town garage for use by the Highway, Parks and Garage departments. RECOMMENDATIONS - a plan that would be a simple one to follow with a Table of Organization which would coordinate the various department activities. Donald Prue - Director of Streets Concurred with Mr. Seelye especially in the need of a generator. Edward F. Haber - Municipal Garage Superintendent Made himself available where needed. Stressed lack of gengrating facilities at the garage. Borrowed a portable generator from the Berlin Fire Department which he moved from building to building at the garage complex as it was needed to keep equip- ment in operation such as pumping gas, repairing snowplows and other equipment, etc. Instrumental in loaning Berlin Fire De- partment generator to Messrs. Freeman and Russell for use on public buildings. Discussion brought out that there are 11 generators within the fire departments; one at the Police Department with a pump and the Water and Sewer Commission has the largest generator to service eight pumping stations in the Town'and this was used to its full capacity. State of Emergency Review -4- C Fire Departments Berlin (Simons) Manned the fire station for 36 hours with 15 men around the clock. Pumped cellars, directed people on how to deal with frozen pipes, helped with sump pumps. Anewered questions to those who called relative to what to do in the emergency. Loaned one generator for use at garage end town buildings. East Berlin - (Romegialli) Did the same as Berlin. The rescue truck vas used extensively to answer emergencies within our section. Rendered some assistance to the Rest Home and ,this was only at a minimum as they had limited power. Kensington - (Fiori) Same services offered and performed as the other departments. Assisted the Ledgecrest Convalescent Hospital. Few people stayed at the firehouse but it was available at all times. Provided fresh water, firewood and in general advised people of the availability of the firehouse, if needed. RECOMMENDATION - should have a storage area for cots and blankets and a stockpile of wood. South Kensington - (Scheer) Same services offered and performed as other fire departments. Firehouse was manned at all times during emergency. Stressed the need for better communications. Richard Russell and Milton Freeman Mr. Russell thanked firemen for their help. Stressed the need for a mobile 3-phase generator. Suggested that the Civil Preparedness program be up-dated. Mr. Freeman also stressed the need of the generator. Grateful for the use of the Berlin Fire Department generator during the emergency. Took six hours of labor by him and Mr. Russell to drain the pipes of the Hubbard and Percivial Schools He also stressed the need for up-dating the Civil Prepam~- ness program'similar to that found in the surrounding towns of New Britain and Meriden. Mr. Freeman advised that the McGee School has plans and was available during the emergency to keep theentire cafeteria staff on standby to mass feed people round the clock. He emphasized that the schools could be the next logical place if the fire departments were not available for providing emergency headquarters for people during an emergency. C State of Emergency Review -5- Dr. Chotkowski - Health Director Stressed the need for self-preparedness as has been pointed out in this and past crises. His main suggestion was the pre- paration of a simple pamphlet that could be used as a means of communications, listing facilities available and main areas to be covered in an emergency , Mrs. Conway concurred and said pamphlets were available from the State on various related subjects that could be used as a guideline. Mr. Ted Hrubiec suggested first-aid classes for those in- terested. Mr. Fappiano agreed that there was no question that many areas of civil preparedness should be up-dated. He also agreed that our neighboring cities do have good programs but those cities have large budgets, well paid Directors and more facilities. He also stated that classes have been held on food preparation and first aid in the past but interest is only up during or right after an emergency but then complacency sets in and hard to get people interested and keep them interested. Mr. Powers said that he has found'this to be true and suggested that perhaps we could think in the terms of a civil preparedness auxiliary. He also stated that the firs~aid classes are an integral part of the fire department activities and are held there at various times. The question was asked regarding the facilities available at the local convalescent homes during the emergency. Mr. Fiori of the K.F.D. advised .that a new state statute specifies that any convalescent home with bed patients must have an emergency generator and a sprinkler system. The East Berlin home does not have bed patients; it is merely a boarding home. The question was asked regarding the chain of command in the event the official in command was incapacitated. (Can't remember what the answer was.) Mayor Powers and the Executive Board agreed that the idea of a simple pamphlet for use by the townspeople was an excellent idea; one which would list a few do's and don'ts to be observed during an emergency and one that would stress self-preparedness. The following offered to serve on a committee to work with the Executive Board in preparing such a pamphlet: Mrs. Jean Conway - Public Health Nursing Service Paul Fappiano - Civil Preparedness Director Clifford Landry - Energy Crises Coordinator William Skene - East Berlin Fire Department Morgan Seelye - Director of Public Works Larry Graham - Dir. of Public Grounds and Rec. State of Emergency Review -6- In summary, Mayor Powers said that he would study the suggestions and recommendations offered ~onight and the EXecutive Board, along with the committee, would work on im- plementing the pamphlet and a program of organization to be used during an emergency. Mayor Powers, along with Deputy Mayors Lanzoni and Dickinson, again thanked and praised all town agencies and individuals for a "superb job."