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1976/06/07MINUTES EXECUTIVE BOARD June 7, 1976 The meeting was opened at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Arthur B. Powers. Mayors Joseph P. Lanzoni and Loren E. Dickinson were present. Deputy Also present were: Ms. Susan Brown, representing the Hartford Courant, Mr. Morgan Seelye, Town Engineer, Mr. Dominick Scerra, Town Treasurer and Mr. and Mrs. James of Ipswitch, England (Mrs. James is the retiring Mayor and Mr. James is a Magistrate). On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to accept the minutes of the meeting of S/17/76. MOTION CARRIED. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to accept the minutes of the meeting of S/24/76 with the following correction: page 1, paragraph S, 1st sentence should read "Mayor Powers said it was unfor- tunate that Mr. Haber has chosen 'to withdraw' his offer to rebuild the fire truck". (The words'to withdraw'were omitted). MOTION CARRIED. Mayor Powers reported that at the April 26, 1976 meeting of the Executive Board it was voted to renew the existing contract with Albreada Company for refuse pick-up. Mr. Jackaway, Corporation Counsel,has advised Mr. Josep~ Paskiewicz, Deputy Director of Public Works that the motion made by the Exec- utive Board did not contain the language of Section 4-4 of the Charter. Mr. Paskiewicz has asked that a new and proper motion bp made so that the con- tract with Albreada can be signed. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to renew the Town's present Refuse ContraCt with Albreada Company of Torrington for another year (1976-77) at a firm price of $78,6S8.44 and that it is deemed in the best interest of the Towh not to put this contract out to public bid. MOTION CARRIED. Mayor Powers told Mr. Dickinson that he was supposed to have a report from Mr. Paskiewicz or Mr. Seelye regarding the situation on Kramer Drive. He will definitely see that a written report is available at the next meeting. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to award Contract WS 76-06, Water and Sewer Department Building to the low bidder, Kensington Builders, Inc. at a quoted price of $24,226.00, as recommended by Morgan Seelye, Director of Public Works. The budget appropriation is $36,000 and remaining work, not part of the contract, will include electrical plumbing, interior partitions and ceilings and sitework. Mr. Seelye adds that it is expected that adequate funds will remain to complete all items. Other bidders were as follows: Ronnie Demeo, Inc. Dura Construction Co. New England Carpenters inc. D.M.C. Construction Co. Concetto Pizzo Cedar Construction of Farmington Marcar Construction Comco, Inc. E. Aiudi ~ Sons 25,590.00 26,490.00 28,000.00 28,981.00 29,400.00 31,908..00 34,470.00 34,690.00 35,700.00 MOTION CARRIED. Executive Board Minutes 6/8/76 -2- Mr. Seelye presented a letter written to Mayor Powers in which he states that the Water and Sewer Commission voted to recommend to the Executive Board that the F.R. Mahony ~ Associates, Inc., of Hingham, Massachusetts, be awarded the contract to supply Flygt submersible pumps and related e- quipment at their bid price of $10,745.00. Mayor Powers had seen this letter last week and wrote a note to Mr. Seelye in which he advised that he (Mayor Powers) felt that an item costing this much should be bid out publicly. Mayor Powers said he understood Mr. Seelye's desire to purchase this specific equipment from this company. Mr. Seelye said that the Water and Sewer Commission has maintained the policy of using only one brand of sewage pumps in the submersible stations to simplify operating and main- tenance procedures, also because of the satisfactory service. After some discussion the Executive Board agreed that it was in the best interest of the Town not to put this item out to bid. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to award the contract for submersible pumps and related equipment to F. R. Mahony ~ Associates for the quoted price of $10,745.00 in that it was deemed not to be in the best interests of the Town to put this item out to public bid. MOTION CARRIED. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to award the contract for pool patches for the Berlin pools to the low bidder, Penn Emblem Co. of Philadelphia, Penna. at their firm bid price of $49S.00 for 2100 pool patches in three different styles . The only other bidder was Emblem ~ Badge of Providence, Rhode Island at a bid of $909.24. Vote was based on the recommendation of William H. Roe,~Director of Recreational Services. MOTION CARRIED. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to award the contract for a television set and antenna for the Community Center, to the lowest bidder who met full specifications, Frank's Appliance ~ Furni- ture, Kensington, at a firm bid price of $725.00. Kensington Furniture, also of Kensington, bid $750.00r Modern Electric sent in two bids one was for a set with only a 5 month guarantee (specifications sent out d~finitely stated one year guarantee) at a bid of $720.00 and another bid for a set with the full one year guarantee as specified in the bid at a price of $770.00. In that Modern Electrics did not meet specifications, Mr. William Roe, Director of Recreational Services, recommended acceptance of the bid from Frank's Appliance ~ Furniture. MOTION CARRIED. NOTE: This item was rebid (see previous minutes). Mayor Powers read a letter from Mr. Jack Ross, Secretary of the Zoning Com- mission in which he advises that the Zoning Commission has unanimously de- cided to request the Corporation Counsel to bring an action to reverse the decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals in granting permission to Theresa Tonina, 11 Harris Street, Kensington, to sell alcoholic beverages for con- sumption off the premises on Lot #72, Block #58 and located on the west side of Harris Street. (This is the former Red ~ White Store owned by Mr. and Mrs. Victor DiSarro. Mr. Ross states that the Commission feels the action should be reversed because of the following: 1) The previous owner's license was cancelled 2/26/76 and Zoning Regulations 11.04.05 provide "The provisions of these Regulations shall not be deemed to be retroactive ex- cept than any place where the sale or dispensing of alcohic beverages ..... ceases to be used for such purpose for a period of 50 days wuch use should not be resumed except in conformance with these regulations". - Executive Board Minutes 6/7/76 2) Inasmuch as these premises were not used for the sale of alcoholic beverages for more'than 30 days (actually 90 days), and as the premises are located in a residential district, these premises are no longer eligible for such use, as they cannot qualify as being in conformance with the Zoning Regulations. 5) The Zoning Board of Appeals treated this matter as they would any other non-conforming use apparently ignoring Section 11.04.03 of the Zoning Regulations. 4) If this permission is sustained, the financial gains will be Mr. DiSarro's who apparently lost his license for illegal op- eration. Mr. Ross ends his letter by saying that the attorney of record in this case was Thomas Marshall. The matter was addressed by the Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday, 6/1/76 and therefore, an appeal must be taken by Mon- day, 6/14/76. Mr. Jackaway, in commenting on this matter said they he will take up the case but only ifthe Executive Board so desires. He said that the former Red ~ White store has been used for the sale of alcoholic beverages for a long, long time and if the owner has been trying to sell it for this purpose, then it doesn't lose its non-conformity status. Mr. Dickinson said there is a beauty parlor right next to it in the same building and if one side is used for business why would the other side have to be used only as residential. Mayor Powers said if this were a flagrant violation we, Of course, would want to take it to appeal; but first we must find out if there was an at- tempt to sell this building for the purpose of selling alcoholic beverages or other business purpose. Mr. Jackaway said we have one week from today. He stated that he doesn't see this as a flagrant-type violation but we must determine if the owners have been acting in good faith in trying to sell the building. Mayor Powers told Mr. Jackaway that if he feels that such an attempt was made and that Mr. Jackaway was satisfied that the owners are acting in good faith, he (Mayor Powers) certainly would not want to take an appeal to court. He asked'that Mr. Jackaway inform the'Board one way or the other. A lengthy discussion was~held on.the matter of the $12;000. for-the~past due utility-bills_which was:turned:down at,Town Meeting on-5/24/76. : 'Mayor Powers:read a breakdown of_the bill~:-ifor April and:MaM. He also read the estimated figures for June and said that the June bills could be paid in July,as has been the practice over the years,out of the new budget. Mayor Powers said the Town Meeting turned down the request to transfer the money in the #3811 Account and that at that meeting some of the comments were that it should come out of next year's budget. This is deficit spending, said the Mayor. The new budget calls for $72,000 for fiscal year 1976-77, if we paid these bills out o the new budget you can see we would have a built-in deficit of $12,000. Mr. Russell's original request for the utilities count for fy 197S-76 was for $80,000 but the Board of Finance cut this by~ $20,000. Because the buildings were new and we were not sure of the cost of utilities, they felt that a budget figure of $60,000 might be sufficient. However, they (the Finance Board) did tell Mr. Russell that if he ran short in this account, he was to come back to them for additional funds. This he did. The Mayor continued, if we take the money out of next year's bud- get, and in the process pay high interest costs on the unpaid balance, we are then not acting fiscally Prudent, we are going into deficit spending. Executive Board Minutes 6/?/76 -4- Mayor Powers said he asked Mr. Jackaway, Corporation Counsel, to be present tonight to discuss' the matter of taking this to Town Meeting again. Mr. Jackaway asked if the resolution was to transfer the money from one account to the utilities account. Mayor Powers answered yes;from the General Fund. The resolution was defeated. Mr. Jackaway said a matter can be brought be- fore Town Meeting as many times as the Board wishes so long as the resolutio~ has no change in position. He cited examples of a change in position of a resolution presented to Town Meeting which is turned down. Mayor Powers asked if there were any changes in the position of this resolution. Mr. Jackaway said none. Mayor Powers said that Mr. Doran, at the Town Meeting held on 5/24/76, refer. red to a comment made by Mr. Ward of the Finance Board, saying that the Town was broke. Mayor Powers asked Mr. Scerra, Town Treasurer, if the Town was "broke" Mr. Scerra said no, in fact there will be a surplus. The surplus certainly won't be as big as it has in past years because of the decline of the Grand List, however, there will be a surplus at the end of the present fiscal year. Mayor Powers, speaking to Deputy Mayor Dickinson, said Loren, you have to take a responsible position on this. When are those bills going to be paid? It was not the intention of the Town Meeting, when it passed the Budget for fy 1976-77 to pay the previous year's bills out of the budget they were voting on. Mr. Jackaway said the Town is liable for any services rendered. Mayor Powers said, I cannot let the Town go into financial jeopardy. The people were not fully informed on this matter. There was no publicity on the Town Meeting, for one thing. Secondly, Mr. Russell was not there to discuss his budget needs. There is going to be a possible 10% increase in electric costs this coming year, in that the Connecticut Light ~ Power Co. has gone before the Public Utilities Control Authority for a large increase in rates. I feel we should take a responsible position and go back ~to a Town Meeting, and this time, let the Board of Finance specify the area where the funds will come from. For example, there is surplus money in the options account. Mr. Dickinson asked if it was common to have to go back to Town Meeting on a~ item that has been rejected, and what happens if it is voted down again. Mayor Powers and Mr. Jackaway agreed that it is common, particularly where school board projects and requests are concerned. Mr. Dickinson said he agrees with financial responsibility, but he says his impression was the purpose of the resolution was for a transfer to pay the bills and the people voted not to pay the bills at this time. Mr. Jackaway said, I think, Loren, you have to examine the facts. There was no publicity on this matter and the community deserves a much fuller dis- closure. This was not really a true Town Meeting as such. Mayor Powers agreed. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson,it was voted to write to the Board of Finance asking that they recommend the calling of a Town Meetin~ to transfer money in order to pay the April and May utility bills now past due, and specify the area the transfer will come from. IN FAVOR: Mayor Powers Deputy Mayor Lanzoni OPPOSED: Deputy Mayor Dickinson MOTION CARRIMD. -Executive Board Minutes 6/7/76 On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to call a Town Meeting for the purpose of appropriating a sum not to exceed #5S00 from the General Fund to Account #1559, Contracted Services, Berlin Pub- lic Health Nursing Service. This item is reimbursable at a rate of 99.9%. It was further agreed to hold this Town Meeting date open until we hear from the Finance Board on whether they will recommend calling another Meeting on the matter of the Utility Bills. Then both items can be brought up the same night. MOTION CARRIED. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to appoint Richard Gagliardi to the Berlin Youth Council, as recommended by Mrs. Lil- lian Klotz, Chairman of the Council. Mr. Gagliardi, a former member, has been off the Council because he was a Town employee. He is no longer on the Town's payroll. MOTION CARRIED. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to erect a chain link fence between the Berlin High School and the rear of the pro- perties on Brandegee Lane. The Town has received an estimate of $S.2S per linear foot for the fence and installation. In a letter dated S/25/76, the Board of Finance recommends the appropriation of $4000.00 to be taken from Federal Revenue Sharing Funds. MOTION CARRIED. At this point, the Executive Board adjourned (8:00 p.m.) in order that they might attend a hearing with respect to the ~ossible opening of Fairview Place as an access road to property which Universal Specialties is purchasing from the Tuffak Corporation. The residents of Fairview Drive and Fairview OPlace, some fifty people, were in attendance. Mayor Powers explained the situation. Universal Specialties has been told that if they purchase the property they will not be able to come across land owned by Tuffak to get into their property, including trucks and employees' vehicles. The Economic Development Commission Chairman ~illiam Diskin was present to help answer questions put_ forth by.the residents. The residents- made~t;quite clear that they'd, id not.want Fairview Place opened rom traffic.. They-stated many times that when the-Industrial. Road was built for Rowland Products it'was agreed that Fairview Place would be closed and the gates at that end would be permanently closed. Mayor Powers said that this was the agreement with Rowland, however, no one expected Rowland to sell out to Tuf- fak. After lengthy discussion, Mayor Powers said he wanted to give the residents a chance to express their views and tell the Executive Board how they felt about this matter. Corporation Counsel Jackaway told the residents that legally we have an obligation to open that street and we may be liable in court if we refuse. Mayor Powers said in light of this, there are three alternatives: 1. ~e will talk once more with the representatives of both companies to see if Tuffak will agree to allow Universal Specialties to cut across their property. 2. If Tuffak does not agree to this, the Town will take the position that we will not allow Fairview Drive or Fairview Place to be used as an access to Universal Specialties. .Executive Board Minutes 6/7/76 ' 5. If the case goes to cOurt and we lose the case, we must make every effort to control the traffic and pro- tect the residents of that area. Mayor Powers thanked the residents for coming and assured them that the major issue here was the safety of the residents in that area. He told them that they would be kept posted on any new developments.. At the close of the meeting several people expressed dismay over the fact that no representatives of either company had come to the meeting. Back in regular session, at 9:10 p.m. Mayor Powers read a letter from Mrs. Harvey Dodson, President of the Kensing- ton Garden Club, in which she advises that the club now realizes that it will be financially impossible for them to maintain the old Percival School building which the Town has leased to them. They request that they be re- lieved of their lease arrangement with the Town, She further states that the club is very grateful to the Town for allowing them to use the building over the years and for the cooperation given them. Mrs. Dodson also asks about space at the old Kensington Grammer School, saying there is a large vacant room on the third floor. Mayor Powers said that obviously we won't hold them to the lease and the Board concurred. As far as space at KGS is concerned, Mayor Powers said he would refer this matter.to Mr. Roe, Director of Recreational Services. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to termin- ate the terminate the lease between the Town of Berlin and the Kensington Garden Club for the use of old Percival School immediately. MOTION CARRIED. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted ~o hold a public auCtion for the purpose of selling the old Percival School. 'MOTION CARRIED. Mayor Powers read a letter from the Registrars of Voters in which they ask that the wall between their office and the office formerly used by Mr. Charles Davis be removed in order that they may have more space. Mayor Powers said that office is now being used part-time by the Town Sanitarian, Mr. John Cacciola, and perhaps an arrangement can be worked out so that they can use that office as long as it does not conflict with Mr. Cacciola's schedule. However, the Board agreed that they did not wish to have a wall removed at this time. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to deny the request of the Registrars of Voters to tear down the wall between their office and the one now being used by Town Sanitarian, John Cacciola. MOTION CARRIED. On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to award the sign Bond Anticipation Notes and No-Litigation Certificates in the amount of $787,000 for the Town-wide Water System as awarded to the low bidder, Colonial Bank ~ Trust Company at 4.00% interest with a $10.00 premium. Other bidders were as follows: Executive Board Minutes .6/7/76 -7- New Britain National Bank ~ Trust New Britain National Bank ~ Trust New Britain National Bank ~ Trust Connecticut Bank ~ Trust Hartford National Bank ~ Trust Hartford National Bank ~ Trust $287,000 @ 4.23% 250,000 @ 4.55% 250,000 @ 4.75% 787,000 @ 4.00% 300,000 @ 4.22% 487,000 @ 4.36% no premium no premium no premium no premium no premium no premium MOTION CARRIED. Mayor Powers read a memorandum from Morgan Seelye, Director of Public Works, with regard to the possible abandonment of Woodruff Lane. This is in re- sponse to a. letter from Mr. Enrico Valtota of Winchell Dr. Mr. Seelye ad- vises that he visited the area with the Superintendent of Highways to deter- mine the feasibility of abandoning the uncompleted portion to Winchell Drive and possibly building a cul-de-sac to provide a turn-around area for trucks and cars. He further states that the residents of the two end houses came out and expressed the desire to have the street extended to Winchell Drive. Mr. Seelye says that inasmuch as the neighborhood is not unanimous in its desires on the abandonment, and because the extension of the road would be preferable to abandonment, he recommends that the Executive Board hold a public hearing on the matter. Mayor Powers and the Board agreed that this was the best course of action to take. The Mayor said he would set up a public hearing in the near future. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Patricia A. Casella Secretary