1977/03/14MINUTES
EXECUTIVE BOARD
March 14, 1977
The meeting was opened at 7:~0 p.m. by Mayor Arthur B. Powers.
Lanzoni and Dickinson were present.
Deputy Mayors
Also present were: Lawrence 4. Graham, Superintendent of Public Grounds and
Recreation (part of the meeting} and Paul Ohanesian of the Berlin Eagle.
Mr. Richard R. Russell, Superintendent of Public Buildings was also present
for a part of the meeting.
The Executive Board discussed the Youth Council's Budget for t~e Coming fiscal
year. Account #2701, Youth Council's Directors is being increased by'$240.00
in that additional hours will be required at McGee and the new Community Cen-
ter. Account #2702, Special Staff Assistant is being increased by $1890 in
order to allow for additional personnel, particularly at the High School where
larger crowds have .been showing up for the drop-ins. There is also an increa~
in Police Protection {Account #2703). Because of greater programming and
larger crowds additional policemen will be needed. It is reported that even
this year's budget will run short in this area. Account #2707, Bus Drivers i~
decreased 'by the Council. The Council is asking for $640 for supplies, howev~
the Board cut this back to $600. The Executive Board also cut a request for
an increase in supplies for special events, Account #2710, back from $SS0 to
$400. Ail other items remained the same. The Executive Board agreed to sub-
mit this budget to the Board of Finance with the above increases which were
not disputed and the Board's cuts in the two above mentioned areas.
~'~On motion by Mr. ~anzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to submit
the Youth Council's budget for the fiscal year 1977-78 to the Board of Financ~
~with the above comments. MOTION CARRIED.
On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to Sign
signature cards for the Olive Selden School Fund with the New Britain National
Bank, at the request of Finance Director Gary S. Clinton. MOTION CARRIED.
The secretary read the minutes and the following corrections were made: page
2, paragraph 1, sentence #1 should read: "... we now find that Northeast
Utilities can use the steam to generate electricity..." and page 2, paragraph
4, sentence #1: change the word "adjourned" to "recessed". Also on page 4,
paragraph 8, sentence #1 should read: "...the Board voted to act on Mayor
Powers' and Mr. Dickinson's p~ggpstion..."
Before taking a vote on the minutes Mr. Dickinson said he felt that he could
not in good conscious go along with the minutes. Mr. Dickinson said he was
referring to the section dealing with the complaints by residents in the Over-!
hill Drive/Patterson ~ay area with regard to sewage back-ups in their homes
due to malfunctioning of the Worthington Fire District-'s pumping station.
Mr. Dickinson said he called the Mayor's Office on Monday morning (2/28/77)
to ask what time the Executive Board meeting would be. He said he spoke
with the secretary and asked her about the meeting time and was told 7:30;
~'~, he said he then asked if Mayor Powers was there and if so could he speak
with him. He said the secretary connected him with the Mayor and Mr. Dickin-
son spoke with the Mayor about the many phone calls that had been coming in
regarding the sewage back ups and that Mayor Powers said he had also received
calls. Mr. Dickinson said he then suggested that Mr. Jack Ross, Chairman of
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J/14/77
-2-
the Worthington Fire District, be invited to attend the meeting to help re-
solve these problems.and that Mayor Powers agreed to such a meeting and Mr.
ickinson asked if he should call Mr. Ross and Mayor Powers said no his office-
would take::care'o£'.it .... · '-
Mayor Powers said he did not have any knowledge of a call. It is still my
contention, said the' Mayor, that I did not talk to you that day. I dontt
like being Called a liar and Itm sure you dontt either, Loren. But if I
did talk with you I certainly would have remembered it and I most certainly
would have called Jack to come to the meeting. I spoke with Tom Shiel and
he remembers my discussion.
Mr. Dickinson said he knew the Mayor was discussing the matter with' Tom Shiel
when he was outside of the office hanging up his coat but said it was not
discussed as part of the meeting.
Mayor Powers asked why, if he supposedly had talked with the Mayor that mor-
ning and was under the impression that the Mayor .was going to call Mr. Ross
to come to the meeting, then why didntt he (Mr. Dickinson) ask_where Mr. Ross
was at some point during the evening. Mr. Dickinson didntt reply to this.
Mayor Powers said we are both men of integrity, I give you my word of honor
that I know nothing of this alleged conversation. I think it would have been
a good idea to invite Jack to the meeting if you had asked me to and I would
have done so.
~Mayor Powers said I know we discussed it because not only was that matter
brought up but so was the Sou~h Slope Drive emergency where raw sewage was
being dumped into the brook by the Kensington Fire Department. I said at
that time I would write to Jack Ross and to Dr._ £hotkowsk~ and also to Jim
EI'lSworth ofthe Kensingto'n~F~re~Distric~.._with::~espec~..~o:.~he South SloPe
DriYe~matter;---I feit--it'~as a health hazard. I'm just sorry this .whole
thing had to-be blown out of proportion.
On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mayor Powers, it was voted to accept
the minutes of 2/28/77 with the above noted corrections.
Mr. Dickinson OPPOSED the motion saying he felt the minutes were
inaccurate.
MOTION CARRIED.
At this point Mr. Graham joined the Board to discuss the matter of the bid
for a one hal£ ton pick up truck for the Golf Course. At the last meeting
Mr. Dickinson questioned why only Ford Motor Car Companies had bid on this
truck and it was voted at that meeting ~2/28/77) to request Mr. Graham to
come to the.meeting to explain. Mr. Graham said that we now have 11 town
owned trucks and they are all Fords. This means that parts are interchange-
able and repair work is easier.
ayor Powers said you may have a point there, however, we must open this
ehicle to other manufacturers. I~m sure that Ed (Mr. Haber) can repair
"make of vehicle.
any
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3/14/??
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Mr. Dickinson said I believe in.competitive bidding. This should be put out
to bid to all companies and if the Ford dealer comes in low then that's Okay.
Mayor' Powers said it wo~ld be difficult to put it out to bid now because the
bids have been opened but in the future, all manufactUrers should be allowed
to bid.
Mr. Dickinson said he agreed with the Mayor that we can't very well put it
out to bid again now, but in the future we should remember that competitive
bidding is necessary.
On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was v6ted to award
the contract for a one half ton pick up truck for the Golf Course to the
iow bidder Brainard Ford Truck Sales, Hartford, Conn. at their bid price of
$5,895.00. Other bidders were as follows:
LeBrun Sichler Ford Sales $5,974.63
M ~ E Ford Sales, Inc., Meriden 4,020.00
MOTION CARRIED.
Mayor Powers said he had'received a request from the press to have "post
office" boxes placed out in the .lobby so that any items we might have for
them could be placed inside and they could just come in at any time and
pick them up. The Board agreed that this was a good idea.
Mayor powers read a letter from Richard R. Russell, Superintendent of Public
~-~.Buildings, in which he requests a transfer of funds in the amount of $12,000
into Account #$811, Otilities, and $200 into Account #3814, Overtime. The
-latter is to cover call-ins.
Mx~.-.'Russell-was present to discuss-his--request. He.said he is not short
or overdrawn in this account but due to the severity of the winker, he feels
he will not be able t° manage to the end of the fiscal year with the remainin~
funds in this account (the utilities account includes, electric, telephone and
heat.)Mr. Russell said he Will have'approximately $15,000 in that account
after the February bills are paid. Telephone runs about$2000 to$2200 per
and electricity runs about$2300 to $2400 per month. He said he came up with
the $12,000 figure by averaging out the months, using only April, May, August
and September. He said as far as fuel is concerned, he will have to top off
the tanks and there has been a jump projected from 32.96 to 39.9¢. Mr. Rus-
sell said that the Vapormid System which was put into Hubbard School is workil
out very well and showing a 14% to 18% savings. He is going to recommend it
be placed in all town buildings to save on fuel.
Mayor Powers asked if Mr. Russell felt he needed $12,000 at this time. Mr.
Russell said he would hate to come up short by asking for only-$S000 or $6000
and then have to come back for more. Mr. Russell said he has asked for
$82,000 in'the 1977=78 budget. ~'".
On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to' forward
Mr. Russell's request for a transfer of $12,000 into Account #3811,:Utilities
and $200 into Account #3814, Overtime. MOTION CARRIED.
On motion by Mr. Lanzoni, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, it was voted to call a
Town Meeting to be held on Monday, 28 March 1977 at 8:00 p.m. in the Public
Meeting Room at Town Hall for the following items:
Executive Board Minutes
3'/14/77
1. To appropriate $10,000-£rom the General Fund to Account
#145, Unemployment Compensation, as recommended by the Board
of Finance;.
2. To accept a quit claim deed for the fillet curve area on
the east side of Mary Ann Court (this apparently was not done
when the road was conveyed to the Town in 1965-66).
$. If approyed by the Board of Finance:
to Account #3811, Utilities.
To transfer $12,000
MOTION CARRIED.
Mayor Powers read a letter from Edward Haber, Chief of the Berlin Fire
Department and Chief Mechanic for the Town, in which Mr. Haber repeats
his request for support from the Executive Board to ask the Board of Finance
to release some money so that he can buy a new or used chassis to rebuild
the fire {tuck which was damaged at a fire in the East Berlin Fire House.
Mr. Haber had made this request of the Board of Finance in a letter written
on 12 April 1976. At that time, the ExecutiYe Board did give its full
support and Mayor Powers. wrote-to the-Board of Finance on 3 May 1976 recom-
mending to the Board of Finance that Mr. Haber be authorized to either pur-
chase a diesel powered chassis at $11,000 or a gasoline powered chassis at
$8500, and also recommending that this money be taken from Revenue Sharing
monies. Mr. Haber in his most recent letter states that this truck can be
repaired and he is. willing to do the work i£ he can get the materials. The
Board of Finance has never responded to the request. He states that if he
does not hear that the Board of Finance has taken positive action on this
request, then he will have no alternative but to obtain a wrecker, tow the
truck out of the garage, where it is taking up valuable space, and "junk"
it.
The' Executive Board agreed that Mayor Powers should write to th~ Board of
Finance on'this matter again, stating that the Board supports Mr. Haber in
this request..
Mayor Powers read a letter from Mrs. Cindy Wilcox of the Berlin HiStorical
Society in which she asks that the Executive Board consider the appointment
of a Study Committeee in the area of the Arts and Humanities in Berlin.
She feels there is a definite lack in this area. She feels the Committee
could assess the needs and wishes of the community in the Arts and Humanities,
study the feasibility of meeting those needs and create a plan for goals.
Mrs. Wilcox suggests that some of the goals of the Committee be to .determine
whether the Town of Berlin should be involved in the Arts and Humanities and,
if so, how?; to involve Berlin in the Arts and; To coordinate the presently
fragmented efforts of a small portion of the community for greater community
impact in the Arts. Mrs. Wilcox states that she knows of several'qualified
residents who may be interested in serving on such a Committee and tha~'i~'~
would be of no cost to the Town beyond a small amount of postage, phone'.calls
and some use of the copying machine. Mrs. Wilcox further states that-she 'wil4
be attending a Conference on the subject matter in Los Angeles.
O ~
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The Board discussed this matter and felt it might be good for the community
and since Mrs. Wilcox seems to be willing to do most of the work and the
~'~cost would be so small (they could use the Townts postage meter) that we
should ask her to submit the names of those individuals she has in mind .
The Board agreed that we are a bit weak in this area.
Mr. Dickinson said he had some names for vacancies but after a brief dis-
cussion it was decided to hold off for a week on this.
Mr. Dickinson said he would like to have a copy' of the Annual Report which
the Mayor Wrote. Also, he would like a copy of the job description fo~
Clifford A. Landry, Jr.
Mr. Dickinson said he would also like to have the minutes prepared and ready
by'..Thursday and mailed out so that they can be read before the Board convenes.
He also said he would like an agenda presented along with the minutes.
Mayor Powers. said he had no objection to either request but did feel that
preparing an agenda would be difficult in that many of the matters to be
brought up come in at the last minute. However, the Mayor said, I will do
my best to see that you get as much information as I can supply.
There. being no further business-~ the meeting-adjourned at-9:10 p.m.
ResPectfully submitted,
Patricia A. Casella
Secretary