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
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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.
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State of Emergency Review
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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
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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.
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State of Emergency Review
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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
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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."