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1964/06/17Berlin Board of Finance June 5, 1964 Minutes 1. On Friday, June 5, 196k it was voted to transfer ~173.k6 fron the Staff Nurse II sub-account, Public Health Nursing Budget, to sub- account Part-time Nurse, P. Ii. E. S. budget, per Mrs. McCain'e re- quest in her letter to this Board dated June 3, 1964. 2. It was voted to transfer $150. from sub-account General Expense, P. H. N. S. budget, to sub-account Part-time Nurse, P. H. ]~. S. budget, per Mrs. McCai~'s request in her letter to this Board dated June 3, 196~4. 3. In reference to 01d B~slness /f2--Minutes of June 4, 1964, it was agreed that a letter be sent to Chin. K. Place, Board of Educatio~, in response to his letter of May 13, 1964 advising that it is this Board's opinion after discussion with the town auditor that in the interests of auditing procedure and si~iplification of the audit of the town records that the monies collected from the pay phone continue to be returned to the General Fund. ~. In reference to Mr. Powers' letter of June ~, 1964 (See Minutes of June 4, 1964--Co~ms- Rec'd. ~4) a copy of this Board's letter of June ~, 1964 to Mr. Seelye will be sent to Mr. Powers advising of this Board's decision regarding Mr. Seelye's request for certain budget reallocations (See Minutes of May 19, 1964--Item #3 under New Business). Members voting were Chin. P. D. Doran snd Messrs. W. S. Brown, S. J. Sargis and M. D. Coe. Respectfully submitted, Clerk Pro Tern Berlin Board of Finance June 16, 1964 Minutes A contmittee meeting of the Board of Finance was celled to order st 7:30 P. M. on Tuesday, June 16, 1964 at the Town Hall. Members Present: Chin. P. D. Doran and Messrs. W. S. Brown and M. D. Coe. Lacking a quorum no action wes taken on any business. A Financial Statement for the period ending May 31, 196~ was received. Communications Received: 1. A letter dated June 8, 1964 from Town Counsel H. N. Jackaway ad- vising there are several cases pending against the Town of Berlin including zoning cases and ne~ligence c~ses. Mr. Jackaway advised he would meet with this Board et its conve~ience to review these cases so that this Board may be aware of the potential exposure of the town from a financial viewpoint. 2. A letter dated June 16, 196[~ from Police Commissioner Wm. McKeon advising of two estimates for repair work for the new police station. These include: Carpenter work (Btgelow) Labor & Materials ~255.00 Floor Repairs Tile ~: Materials 190.00 ~.0u 3. A letter dated June 16, 196~ from First Selectman A. B. Powers requesting budgets for the Fire District Elimination Committee, the Insurance Committee, the Co~umittee for the A~'ed and the Board of Public Works. ~. A letter dated June 16, 1964 from Mrna. Della Burava, Chairwoman of the Berlin Jury Committee, relative to extra work involved in com- piling the Jury List this year. She advised that since the list of names has increased from 120 to 360 thero is much ~or~ wor~ involved. On Msy 25 she received a r~qucst from the Clerk of Superior Court for an additional list of ~0 names. The JDry Co[muittoe feels the extra hours of work should be co~.~pensated and asks Ibr consideration of this matter. 1. In reference to Co~m. Rec'd. #1, l~. Jaokaway was invited to attend the Board's meeting to discuss the various cases and claims referred to in his letter. Mr. Jackaway discussed the following negligence cases in court: a) Rogals.ki vs. Town of Berlin and Town of Meriden This case instituted some time ago---July 1958. Clai~ for injuries of his child riding a bicycle on Wast Peak Road. Child hit a hole in the road while riding. Proper notice was not given Town of Berlin b~t this was corrected b~ legislature and the action is for Rogalski has medical bills of ~600. and cl',ild has made "fairly decent recovery". Case is liability against town. The question involved is, wss there shy obligatio~ by Berlin to maintsin the road? The town by statute is re- quired to keep its roads in good repair. The Board asked Mr. Jackaway what constitutes negligence to which he replied, "The existence or non-existence of rea- sonable prudence". !~r. Jackaway noted that he thinks if there were any value to this case it would have been settled long ago. b) Beecher vs. Town of Berlin This case instituted May 27, 1964. Mrs. Beecher was walking along Cole Lane and stepped into a hole in the road. She is suing for ~lO,O00. for bruises and a foot fracture. She is represented by Camp, Williams and Richardson. The case is returnable to Court of Common Pleas. ~WLr. Jackawsy noted that the hole was caused by an excavation ordered by Kensington Fire District and said District failed to fill to grade a main cover. The case is not returnable to court until July 1965. c) Nowak vs. Town of Berlin This case involves a M~rs. Nowak who stepped into a ditch on Baxter Ave. in 1961. She received an snkle sprain which was responsible for medical bills of ~180., bills for shoes and arch supports amounting to $47. plus loss of her time at her place of employment. The action is claimir~ $15,000. Case was re- turnable in June 1962. Mr. Jackaway discussed the following four zoning cases which have been instituted in the past 4 weeks: a) Blaise vs. ZoninE Board of Appeals In this case Blaise wanted to make a multiple dwelling of one family home on Worthington Ridge. Zoning Board of Appeals turned Nlaise down. Blaise claims the Z. B. A. made mistake. Case returnable the first Tuesday of June 1964. Blaise repre- sented by Atty. Donald Clark. b) Zonin~ Commission vs. Zonin8 Board of Appeals This case involves proposed new post office in East Berlin. Atty. A. Gree~. represents the Zoning Commission. Mr. Jack- away was representing Mr. McCue Just after former Town Coun- sel Dawson became Mayor of New Britain. Thus, Jackaway couldn't represent Zoning Co..mmission. Now he is defending and represents Z. B. A. c) Fot~'nier vs. Zoning .Boa,rd of Appeals This is a companion case to the case noted just above. Fotu~nier is represented by Atty. E. Olson and this case involves an East Berlin post office. Fournier is inter- ested in building the post office on his own land. d) Palladino vs. ZoninE Co~muission Mr. Jackaway advised that Chm. Probst of the Zoning Com- mission has advised that another case is now going against the Zoning Commission and it just started today. Palladino asked the Zoning Commission for a change on Chamberlain Hwy. There were two alternatives--"a" and "b". The Zon- ing Commission gave Palladino alternative "b" and now he is not pleased with that and wants alternative "a". Mr. Jackaway noted four co~panion cases challenging the validity of the Zoning ordinance itself and all four were brought in ~ovember 1962: a) Loretta Alling vs. Zoning Commission This case will definitely be tried end may go to Supreme Court said Jackaway. This involves the triangle o£ land opposite Ferndale Dairy. b) R. Nadeeu vs. Zoning Commission c) Hrubiec & Grant vs. Zoni~g Commission d) A&na Bruce vs. Zonin[~ Co~mission Mr. Jacksway noted that these four cases were all repr~- sented by Atty Ribicoff's office in ~artford. He fur- ther noted that "a couple of these cases may be settled". He charges $2%. for filing on each of the above cases, he advised. Mr. Jackaway discussed the following claims: a) Claim of S. Wiecek and Buswell Metal Products vs. Town of Berlin Mr. Wiecek was riding in a truck which was owned by Bus- well and was bei~g driven along Reservoir Road when it struck an overhanging tree li~nb. Wiecek sustained per- manent scarring of his face. The tree limb was within highway limits. Under our statutes any person injured must report it to the town wlt!~In 60 days. No action has been brought as yet. If not brought by September 1964 no action can be taken. Aetna Insurance Co. paid Wiecek for Buswell Metal Products sn~l now Aetna wants to collect for it. b) DeMaio vs. Towr~ of Berlin DeMaio is represented by Pellegrino, Pellegrino and Pelle- gri~o. This case involves the DeMaio fa~aily injured in an accident on ~est Peak in October 1963. The injuries included fractures, cuts and bruises. There is a claim, said Jack~way, b~t the !~eople were driving too fast. The Board complimented Hr. Jackaway for !~is clear presentation of the above cases. ~ir. Jackaway noted that under the Hartford County Bar Fee Schedule the charge is ~12~. for filin~ at,peals and pleading, J~lO0. for pre- paratton prior to trial, and ~200. for each day of tr{al. exposure of fee basis is ~42~. ?~. Jackaway said it might be much better to set up the town coun- sel job on a salary basis and set up a separate fund for claims, perhaps to be built up over a period of years. The Chairman asked Mr. Jackaway to investigate or look over the town ordi~a~:c~ oz~ sidewalks. He noted that New Britain can come back on the property owner if sidewalks are left unsanded in icy weather etc. ~. Jackawsy said the Towr~ of Berlin can't come back at t~-,e property owner here as most of the sidewalks are on town property b,~t the property owner can be fined. Chair,]an Doran advised Mr. Jackaway that this Board is interested in knowing the backgrou~d of t~ese claims against the town which are ~id, g~d asked if there is any reason why this Board should not be e~titled to this information. Mr. Jackaway said there is no reason why this Board should not have t~e informatio~. Ch~. Do,-an explained that since these co~:rt cases are brought to this Board's attention the Board simply wants to know what the various cases are about. The Board a~d Mr. Jackaway discussed the possibility of the town obtaining public liability i~surance. Mr. Jackaway said he is in- terested in obtaini~g figures ora this although First Sslectman Powers has told him such insurance is prohibitive. The Board will write the Board of Selectmen that in view of the ready sizable financial impact..of the cases and claims should judg- ments go against the town, and~obability that such claims may be on the increase, this Board is concerned that a thorough explora- tion be made of all reasonable and practical means by which the town may achieve at least some degree of protection to help defray the expense of the more costly judgments which conceivably might be levied agsfnst the town. Specifically, it would be of interest to determine what the premiu~ m~ght be for a public ~i~bility policy which~incoroorated~a~sizable~deductible clau~e such as $1,000. or wo~ a~for~ s~trac~ve ~rb~e~t~n aga~s~ t~e occasional large judgments ~hich might be levied against the town. 2. Mrs. Rena Castiglioni was present to discuss end-of-the-year ~rans- fers. She advised there ~re no funds for the following sub-accounts in #2la, M. & O. Town Vehicles for expenses incurred in May and that she is holding bills for these as follows: Gas & Oil &: Grease Parts Contractual Services A transfer of $1,891.22 is needed. e5o.45 1,087.87 152.90 $1,~91.22 M_rs. Castiglioni advised that the only other necessary transfer she can foresee right now will be for #21, Social Security, but she is not ready to request it at this time. She thought the amount needed might be close to ~l,000. She noted there are three items in which there should be a surplus. She talked with Cb~n. Probst of Zoning Commission who advised her there will be about $1,000. surplus in #19, Zoning Commission Acct. A s,arplus of about $3,000. will be !eft in #58, Outdoor Relief', she noted, and although she has not yet talked with Chm. Bengston of the Conservstion Commission, #123a, to establish exactly what surplus there will be in that account, she esti~tes that approxi- mately $3,000. will remain as surplus in that account. She noted there may be some surplus in #33, Street Lightingl The town will continue the street lighting program, she said. It is possible the surplus in this account could amount to ~l,OO0. Also, a surplus of $3,000. is possible in #30, Snow and Ice Removal; s surplus of $500. in #126, Veterans Funerals, is probable, and a sur- plus of between ~l,O00. and $2,000. is possible in #18, Insurance. She noted that a couple of hundred dollars msy be needed for P~obate Court to pay that bill. However, no bill has yet been received for the Probate Court. Mrs. Castiglioni noted that additional monies will be needed for #22a, East Berlin Fire Dept. Also, the bookkeeper-clerk account may be short because the Secretary will be taking her vacation and the bookkeeper-clerk will be working for a full week when this occurs. In the Sanitation Account, #44, there is presently about $900. bal- ance for incinerator but there will be two more month's bills to come in. She suggested that perhaps money will be transferred with- in the Sanitation budget if necessary and agreeable with this Board. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Berlin Board of Pittance Minutes June 17, 1964 Inreference to Co.mme. Rec'd. #2, Minutes of June 16, 1964, in was voted to transfer $500. from #127, Conti~gency, to #17, Mai~tenance of Town Property. In reference to Com~s. Rec'd. #2, Minutes of June 16, 1964, it was voted to authorize the expenditure of $445. for car- penter and floor repairs and other repairs at the new police headquarters from #17, Maintsnce of Town Property.