City of Meriden, CT - September 15, 2003 City Council Minutes

CITY COUNCIL MINUTES

SEPTEMBER 15, 2003

The Meriden City Council’s regular meeting of September 15, 2003 was convened at 7:03 p.m. by Mayor Mark Benigni. Mayor Benigni led the Council in the salute to the flag and Patricia Lynes offered the invocation. The Clerk called the roll. Present: Robert Clermont, Joseph Ferrigno Feest, Keith Gordon, Brian Kogut, Patricia Lynes, George McGoldrick, Walter Shamock, Anthony Tomassetti and Stephen Zerio.

EXCUSED: Matthew Dominello, Joseph Galotti and Michael Rohde.

ATTENDANCE AT PUBLIC COMMENT: Robert Clermont, Joseph Ferrigno Feest, Keith Gordon, Brian Kogut, Patricia Lynes, George McGoldrick, Walter Shamock, Anthony Tomassetti and Stephen Zerio.

OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: Roger L. Kemp, City Manager and Lawrence J. Kendzior, Corporation Counsel.

Stephen Zerio, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to invoke Rule 20 to bring forth a Consent Calendar and to approve the minutes of September 2, 2003 and to adopt the Consent Calendar and minutes as previously prepared. Motion carried unanimously.

CONSENT CALENDAR

Item 1. Presented By Brian F. Kogut, by request.

Whereas, the State of Connecticut has revised applicable statutes so as to charge municipalities for each delinquent motor vehicle taxpayer reported by the municipality to the Department of Motor Vehicles; and

Whereas, such reports assist in the collection of delinquent motor vehicle taxes in that the State will not renew the registration for any motor vehicle for which the local property tax payment is delinquent; and

Whereas, Section 12-146 of the Connecticut General Statutes has been amended to provide that municipalities may charge a fee of $5.00 to any person making a payment of any delinquent property tax or installment thereof, when such delinquency has been reported to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved, that the following be enacted as Section 187-26 of the City Code:

A fee of five dollars ($5.00) shall be charged each person paying any delinquent property tax or any installment thereof on any motor vehicle, which delinquency has been reported to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles of the State of Connecticut pursuant to the provisions of Section 14-33 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended; and

Be It Further Resolved, that this ordinance shall be effective upon passage and that the publication hereof be dispensed with.

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Referred to Finance for Public Hearing.

Item 2. Presented by Brian F. Kogut, by request.

Be It Resolved, that Carriage Drive be added to the paving list.

Referred to Public Works and Parks & Recreation.

Item 3. Presented by Stephen Zerio and Brian Kogut.

Whereas, the City of Meriden has budgeted in excess of $15 million for medical benefits in FY 2003-04; and

Whereas, RS McGladrey has developed a program of positive re-enrollment for Health Insurance Benefits that is designed to ensure that only those employees who are eligible are receiving these benefits; and

Whereas, this re-enrollment process will be funded from the Health Insurance Fund; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved, that funds not to exceed $15,000 be appropriated from the Health Insurance Fund to fund a pilot program to complete a positive re-enrollment of sample groups in both the City and Board of Education.

Referred to Finance.

Item 4. Presented by Brian Kogut, by request.

Whereas, the operational expenditures and revenues have changed since the last budget period; and

Whereas, the income of the Meriden Water Department (Water and Fiscal Divisions) for the 2003-2004 Fiscal Year water use billings should approximately match the expense level; and

Whereas, the recurring rates include an increase in the basic service charge; and

Whereas, the budget proposed to the Meriden City Council for the Fiscal Year 2003-2004 for the Water Department (Water & Fiscal Divisions) is $7,699,230; and

Whereas, the Fiscal and Water Division budgets have been assessed a general fund allocation of $976,000; and

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Whereas, the Public Utilities Commission finds it appropriate to maintain the commodity rate at Two Dollars and Forty Nine Cents per One Hundred (100) cubic feet; and

Whereas, the proposal includes increasing the basic service charge as follows:

Meter Size Existing/Proposed Semi-Annual Charge

1-1/4”-1-1/2” $11.57 $20.80

8”> $136.42 $195.56

Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the aforementioned rates for the Meriden Water Department shall take effect June 1, 2003 and said rates shall be effective and due and payable for billings, due and payable December 1, 2003. Subsequent billings shall be due and payable on the first day of June and the first day of December each and every year thereafter until this Ordinance is further amended; and

Be It Further Resolved, that the rates and charges for water users of property located outside the territorial limits of the City of Meriden shall be fifty percent (50%) higher than the rates and charges noted above for the users located within the City of Meriden except where prohibited by Prior Contract or resolutions.

Referred to Finance for Public Hearing.

Item 5. Presented by Brian Kogut.

Whereas, the proposal includes maintaining the basic service charges as follows:

Meter Size Existing Semi-Annual Charge Proposed Semi-Annual Charge

1-1/4”-1-1/2” $10.35 $18.65

8” $122.00 $175.33; and

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Whereas, the current septic waste discharge fees $60.00 per 1,000 gallons, shall be revised by the Water Pollution Control Authority and the City Council to $70.00 per 1,000 gallons; and

Whereas, the Environmental Protection Agency requires that the sewer use charge be adopted by the Grantee to operate and maintain the sewer system and treatment works in order to qualify for Federal and State Grants; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved, that the aforementioned rates for the use of the Meriden Sewer Collection System and the treatment of said sewage shall take effect June 1, 2003, and said rate shall be effective and due and payable for billings, due and payable December 1, 2003. Subsequent billings shall be due and payable on the first day of June and the first day of December each and every year thereafter until this Ordinance is further amended; and

Be It Further Resolved, that the rates and charges for sewer users of property located outside the territorial limits of the City of Meriden shall be fifty percent (50%) higher than the rates and charges noted above for the users located within the City of Meriden except where prohibited by prior contract.

Referred to Finance for Public Hearing.

Item 6. Presented by Brian F. Kogut, by request.

Be It Resolved, that a streetlight be installed on the pole at the entrance of Meetinghouse Village on Yale Avenue (by retention pond).

Referred to Public Safety.

Item 7. Presented by Robert Clermont and Mark Benigni.

Whereas, the City has many programs and services that are made available to the public through the submission of forms and applications both of which shall be herein after known as forms; and

Whereas, at the present time all forms pertaining to the public are made available to the public in paper form through the City department that pertains to the form; and

Whereas, those forms issued by the various departments within the City are obtainable only during the City’s business hours; and

Whereas, by posting any and all forms pertaining to the public’s use on the City’s web site would create a greater convenience to the public; and

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Whereas, by posting any and all forms pertaining to the public’s use on the City’s web site would result in a decrease in paper costs to the City and paper consumption on behalf of the City; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved, that the City Manager is hereby instructed to take an inventory of any and all forms pertaining to the public’s use and make said forms available to the public through the City’s web site.

Referred to Human Services.

Item 8. Letter to Mayor Benigni from Kevin Curry re: Soap Box Derby was referred to Public Works and Parks & Recreation.

Item 10. Letter from Planning Commission re: Discontinue a portion of Fremont Street and their recommendation that the City discontinue and abandon paper street known as Fremont Street between Belleview and Piedmont Roads. The Commission has determined that said area is not necessary within the City street system was filed.

Item 11. Claims submitted against the City by Robert Mierzejewski, 106 Harrison Street, Meriden; Kim Mierzejewski, 51 Charles Street, Watertown, CT.; Stephanie Katuzny, 527 Paddock Avenue, Meriden; Wesley Bilger, 703 Westfield Road, Meriden; David Kluge, 67 Nassahegan Drive, Burlington, CT. were referred to Legal and Safety & Risk.

Item 19. Golf Course Commission Meeting Minutes of July 22, 2003 were filed with City Clerk.

Item 20. Flood Control Implementation Agency Meeting Minutes of July 1, 2003 were filed with City Clerk.

Item 21. Meriden Aviation Commission Meeting Minutes of August 12, 2003 were filed with City Clerk.

Item MNO21A. Letter to City Manager Kemp from Peter & Paul Barakos requesting concrete curbs for the front of 67 Buckingham Street was referred to Public Works and Parks & Recreation.

Item MNO22. Presented by Brian F. Kogut.

Whereas, the Meriden Public Library has a recent vacancy for a part-time Librarian I; and

Whereas, this position was funded in the 2003-2004 budget; and

Whereas, there are no insurance benefits attached to this position; and

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Whereas, the 20-hour vacancy is resulting in 20 hours of time when the library is open without adequate staffing; and

Whereas, this position is one that was created during the reorganization plan of 1994-1995; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved, that the City Manager be empowered to approve the hiring of an individual to fill this position.

Referred to Finance.

END OF CONSENT CALENDAR

To: Roger L. Kemp, City Manager

From: Wilma C. Petro, CPPB, C.P.M., Purchasing Officer

Date: September 2, 2003

Jeffry Cossette, Deputy Chief of Police, is requesting a bid waiver for the CDPD Airtime for Verizon Wireless, using State Bid Contract #934-A4-1468-C. The prepaid price will remain at $30.00 (+$1.00 FCC charger per unit per month) per unit with unlimited use on this prepay plan. Verizon has provided excellent coverage and support of their Public Safety Network, and their price is the most competitive.

Therefore, Jeffry Cossette is requesting a bid waiver for this service.

Wilma C. Petro, CPPB, C.P.M., Purchasing Officer

Robert Curry, Finance Director

I agree with your reason for the waiving of the provision of Chapter VIII, Section I, Article C of the Charter of the City of Meriden, and I hereby consent to the waiving of Chapter VIII, Section I, Article C of the Charter of the City of Meriden for the purpose of executing the project in the manner stated above.

Roger L. Kemp, City Manager

Stephen Zerio, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to file. Stephen Zerio stated that he had this removed from Consent Calendar to respond to a couple of questions that were asked during public comment. Zerio asked City Manager Kemp how long the contract was for. Kemp stated that the Chief of Police has just changed vendors in his effort to save the taxpayers money and has switched to Verizon, saving approximately $6,000 a year. It is an annual contract that the city hopes can continue for many years. Zerio asked about Nextel. Kemp stated that Nextel had cost more money and that the city changed from Nextel to Verizon off of a state contract at a much lower price, saving taxpayers several thousand dollars. Gordon stated that presently it is not the same type of service. They will offer the same type of service as Nextel in Connecticut

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in the future but basically it is just the phone service. The two way radio process is not up to running at this time. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 12A. Your Finance Committee, to whom was referred the resolution concerning an amendment to GPIB #56 – Dog Pound/Humane Society Building (0401-7356-887) - $1,200,000 on 8/18/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

Committee: Brian F. Kogut, Chairman; Keith Gordon, Vice-Chairman; Stephen T. Zerio; Walter A. Shamock; Joseph R. Galotti, Jr.

Brian Kogut, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Kogut stated that this is the bond resolution for the joint dog pound and Humane Society facility. It is contemplated that this will include a veterinarian area within the facility. Currently the city pays approximately $50,000 a year in vet bills. The hope is by bringing a veterinarian in we will be able to defray that cost, either by offering a veterinarian a reduced rent or possibly no rent. Councilors Gordon and Tomassetti were both very active in this for a long time. They ran a sub-committee and brought the Council to where it is now. Gordon stated that at the present time the facility that is being planned on the east side is on property that the city currently owns. It will be approximately 12,000 square feet, divided into 3 sections. One section will be the Humane Society, the middle section for a veterinarian and the dog pound facility in the third section. Kemp had been in contact with Dr. St. Clair who had two other veterinarians along with him, that wanted to build an emergency clinic or rent a clinic in the city because if pets get sick at night they currently have to go to Cheshire or New Haven. The vets wanted to man that facility on a rotating basis and the city is trying to currently work with them on this idea. Gordon stated we can cut that $50,000 vet bill in half. The additional cost of putting the vet clinic in the middle should hopefully be paid for within a 10 year period. Gordon stated the Humane Society puts notices in the newspaper when they need food, blankets and money and do a lot of fund raising. Gordon feels it is time for the city to support a new facility for the Humane Society and dog pound. He stated we have been under a mandate for the last 3 years to fix it and Kemp has been talking with the state in regards to this for the last 3 years letting them know that we have been trying to do a joint facility. Tomassetti stated that originally he wasn’t in favor of the additional $300,000 but after a lengthy discussion with the veterinarians believes this facility will pay for itself, especially if we run a night time facility and weekend emergency center. He feels this is a good deal and hopes the Council will support it. Kogut wanted to publicly thank Councilors Tomassetti and Gordon for putting a tremendous amount of effort into this over the past couple of years. Benigni stated he felt that once we go forward with this new facility that the city reclaims Dossin’s Beach as a recreational outlet. As this project moves along he would like the Parks and Recreation Committee to determine how the Dossin Beach facility will be utilized. McGoldrick stated he thought that this discussion was very similar to the one the Council had in regards to the Meriden Symphony. In addition to being an organization that has earned the Council’s support over the years he feels the important point was made that they also need to generate additional private support and volunteers. Shamock stated that this building is long overdue. He remembers when Ted Kronenberger would come to his office looking for donations. Rose Kroeber was continuously having tag sales. He also thanked Councilors Tomassetti and Gordon.

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Gordon stated that the Humane Society will be entitled to some type of grant money once they get into a different type of facility. He believes some of the grant money will help with anything that they need in the future for running the operation. Gordon stated that the Humane Society smells so bad that if a person went in to adopt a dog or cat that the smell turns them away, so the animals don’t move very quickly to outside homes. The volunteers and staff work very hard to keep the place clean but the odor is embedded in the wood. The new facility will have the appearance of being clean. There will be drains and stainless steel and the place will be kept that way. Zerio congratulated Councilors Gordon and Tomassetti also. He states that the Council has been dealing with this issue for at least 5 years and to finally see it come to a culmination it is a testimony to both of their hard work, especially over the past year. He knows how much time and effort that was put in on this resolution but also for the selection of the Meriden companies that will be working on this project. Zerio also wanted to recognize the fact that there is a fairly new board that is starting to work at the Humane Society but there are others such as Bob Debaise who works tirelessly to keep this initiative strong. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 12B. Your Finance Committee, to whom was referred the resolution concerning an amendment to GPIB #49 – amended by reducing appropriation for “Girls Softball Complex by $33,035 and adding a new appropriation for “Little League Improvements/Equipment - $33,035” on 9/2/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

Committee: Brian F. Kogut, Chairman; Keith Gordon, Vice-Chairman; Stephen T. Zerio; Walter A. Shamock, Joseph F. Galotti, Jr.

Brian Kogut, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Kogut stated that 12B and 12D are companion committee reports. Kogut stated the city allocated approximately $33,000 to various little leagues in the city and the committee spoke at length about the appropriate funding mechanism. Essentially the committee is taking $33,000 out of the Girls Softball Complex and using that to fund the little leagues and then taking $33,000 of unutilized state funds for recreation and putting them into the Girls Softball Complex. Benigni thanked the Finance Committee for doing their homework on this and providing and finding the funding for the little leagues. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 12C. Your Finance Committee, to whom was referred the resolution concerning an appropriation of $226,000 from State funds from ECS grants to be split between the City and Board of Education on 9/2/03 report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

Committee: Brian F. Kogut, Chairman; Keith Gordon, Vice-Chairman; Stephen T. Zerio; Walter A. Shamock; Joseph R. Galotti, Jr.

Brian Kogut, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Kogut stated that the city received an additional $226,000 from the state in the form of the ECS grant. The city hoped it would be more but this is all that was received. The Finance Committee is recommending a split between both the City and the Board of Education of those monies to be used for capital non-recurring. Kogut stated we use the program about $600,000 per year and that was split between

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the City and the Board of Education. Zerio stated that during the budget process both the Board and the City over the last several years have had this understanding to put aside dollars for capital non-recurring items so we weren’t in a position of bonding for items that may not live through the actual bond period. This has been working successfully. In fact the Council had assessed the small increase of a ½ mill of increase when we first started this program. The split was between flood control and the city’s capital non-recurring needs. This year, because of the very difficult budget season that both the city and the state underwent we did not provide any increase for capital non-recurring with the hope and expectation that we would receive extra ECS funds to the tune of $600,000 from the state. That was not to be and at one point near the end of the final implementation bills, the city was standing to lose an additional $240,000 to the budget that we had already approved back in May which would have increased an awful lot of stress on line item budgets here in the city. Through the work of our delegation and staff members in Hartford we were able to gain this extra $226,000 and will be glad to make this split tonight. Clermont stated it had been his understanding that ECS funds could only be used for education. He asked Corporation Counsel if the city could actually use those funds for anything other than education. Kendzior stated that the Council is actually making a special appropriation, it’s not per se the ECS funds that are being appropriated. The increase in the ECS funds represents an increase in the revenues but doesn’t mean what you’re doing is directing those specific funds from one place to another. You are simply making a special appropriation. Extra ECS funds simply come in on the revenue side of the budget. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 12D. Your Finance Committee, to whom was referred the resolution concerning unexpended state grant be transferred to City’s Softball Complex - $33,035 on 9/2/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

Committee: Brian F. Kogut, Chairman; Keith Gordon, Vice-Chairman; Stephen T. Zerio; Walter A. Shamock; Joseph R. Galotti, Jr.

Brian Kogut, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Kogut stated that this item is the companion to 12B which was just approved. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 12E. Your Finance Committee, to whom was referred the resolution concerning an appropriation not to exceed $10,000 from Contingency Budget to possibly purchase a bronze plaque with a list of servicemen who gave their lives during WWII on 6/16/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend filing.

Committee: Brian F. Kogut, Chairman; Keith Gordon, Vice-Chairman; Stephen T. Zerio; Walter A. Shamock; Joseph R. Galotti, Jr.

Brian Kogut, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Kogut stated that in a previous meeting this was referred to the CIP for funding so we are recommending filing to remove from the agenda. Shamock stated that he is happy to endorse this and wanted to thank Councilor Lynes who originally submitted this resolution. Shamock stated that he followed this item through Park and Recreation and Finance Committees. Motion carried unanimously.

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Item 12F. Your Finance Committee, to whom was referred a letter to Mark Benigni from James Wolfe, Treasurer of Christmas in the Village requesting City of Meriden’s financial help to install American flags on the light posts on Main Street in South Meriden from Hanover Street to River Road on 8/18/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption and the passage of the accompanying order:

Committee: Brian F. Kogut, Chairman; Keith Gordon, Vice-Chairman; Stephen T. Zerio; Walter A. Shamock; Joseph R. Galotti, Jr.

Be It Ordered, that an appropriation of $1,000 be approved and source of funding to come from the Special Events & Celebration Account (001-0214-726).

Brian Kogut, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Kogut stated that this was a request by the Christmas in the Village Committee to purchase 30 flags for a cost of $32.50 each. The Finance Committee originally was funding this from Contingency but found funds in other appropriate existing accounts. Gordon stated that the Christmas in the Village Committee was formed about 5 years ago and is one of the co-chairs. The committee tries to do as much as they can without getting the city involved. They have purchased all their Christmas decorations and put them up and take them down without assistance. The committee has already purchased the flagpole holders. They have received permission to put them up without the use City staff. Ed Haberli will be putting them up with members of the South Meriden Volunteer Fire Department. There are 60 poles and every other one will have a flag to dress up Main Street. Benigni stated that when he spoke with Jim Wolfe he was told they would do all the labor and all the hinges were bought. Benigni feels the city gets the benefit of these flags beautifying the area. Benigni encouraged the Council to support this. Feest asked Gordon if these flags would be placed on the black decorative poles that were installed a few years ago and he was told yes. He also wanted to know if the brackets would stay on the poles year round and Gordon stated yes. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 12G. Your Finance Committee, to whom was referred a resolution concerning a job description for Police Records/Fleet Clerk on 7/21/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

Committee: Brian F. Kogut, Chairman; Keith Gordon, Vice-Chairman; Stephen T. Zerio; Walter A. Shamock; Joseph R. Galotti, Jr.

Brian Kogut, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Kogut stated this is an upgrade of a current position and not a new position. Last year the City upgraded the fleet maintenance software package and as a result there was a need for someone to take on some additional duties. The employee that has this position picked up additional responsibilities. The upgrade equates to a one step change in the position at a cost of $1,227.00. This will be picked up within the Police Department budget and we are not looking for an additional allocation. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 13A. Your Public Safety Committee, to whom was referred the resolution concerning placement of a stop sign for New Hanover Avenue near curve going down towards Hanover Road

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on 6/16/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend denial and the passage of the accompanying order:

Committee: Matthew C. Dominello, Sr., Chairman; Anthony D. Tomassetti, Vice-Chairman;

Michael S. Rohde; Keith Gordon; Joseph Ferrigno Feest.

Be It Ordered, that this item be denied as recommended by staff. Staff reviewed the area and find there are no warrants met for the installation of stop signs.

Be It Further Ordered, that the Police Department monitors this area with radar.

Anthony Tomassetti, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Gordon stated this resolution came from him when he was asked by the resident that lived on the curve of New Hanover Avenue. One of the problems the resident was having was when trying to back out of their driveway on to New Hanover, cars coming around the corner came very close to hitting them. Also cars speeding from Prospect Avenue down towards the curve enter the opposite lane. The residents thought a stop sign might help. Gordon explained to the residents that putting a stop sign in for the purposes of speed didn’t meet any warrants that would allow the city to do this. Munson looked at this area to see if any safety improvements could be made. Gordon believes Munson will be approving signage to state there is a sharp curve and to slow down. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 13B. Your Public Safety Committee, to whom was referred a letter to City Council from John Cerrato of Polish Knights re: Painting of curbing from entrances of Prince Street parking lots down to the corner of Willow Street on 6/16/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

Committee: Matthew C. Dominello, Chairperson; Anthony D. Tomassetti, Vice-Chairman; Michael S. Rohde; Keith Gordon; Joseph Ferrigno Feest.

Anthony Tomassetti, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 13C. Your Public Safety Committee, to whom was referred a resolution concerning an appropriation of $6,600 from State’s Narcotics Asset Forfeiture Fund for payment of rent on 7/7/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend filing.

Committee: Matthew C. Dominello, Sr., Chairperson; Anthony D. Tomassetti, Vice-Chairman; Michael S. Rohde; Keith Gordon; Joseph Ferrigno Feest.

Anthony Tomassetti, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 13D. Your Public Safety Committee, to whom was referred the resolution concerning installation of a blinking light and new signage at the intersection of River Road and Oregon

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Road on 7/7/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption and the passage of the accompanying order:

Committee: Matthew C. Dominello, Sr., Chairperson; Anthony D. Tomassetti, Vice-Chairman; Michael S. Rohde; Keith Gordon; Joseph Ferrigno Feest.

Be It Ordered, that this item be transferred to the Legal Traffic Authority so that he may send this request to the State Department of Transportation for their review as River Road is a State Road.

Anthony Tomassetti, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 13E. Your Public Safety Committee, to whom was referred a letter to Matthew Dominello, Chairman of Public Safety from Joseph Zajac, Administrator for Meriden Transit District re: Bee Street Commuter Lot Bus Route on 7/7/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend denial and the passage of the accompanying order:

Committee: Matthew C. Dominello, Sr., Chairperson; Anthony D. Tomassetti, Vice-Chairman; Michael S. Rohde; Keith Gordon; Joseph Ferrigno Feest.

Be It Ordered, that this item be denied as recommended by staff.

Anthony Tomassetti, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 13F. Your Public Safety Committee, to whom was referred the resolution concerning a job description for Police Records/Fleet Clerk on 7/21/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

Committee: Matthew C. Dominello, Sr., Chairperson; Anthony D. Tomassetti, Vice-Chair; Michael S. Rohde; Keith Gordon; Joseph Ferrigno Feest.

Anthony Tomassetti, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Gordon stated that this item was a companion report to the Finance Committee report that was adopted. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 13G. Your Public Safety Committee, to whom was referred a resolution concerning a problem with streetlight on corner of Howe Street on 8/18/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption and the passage of the accompanying order:

Committee: Matthew C. Dominello, Sr., Anthony D. Tomassetti, Vice-Chair; Michael S. Rohde; Keith Gordon; Joseph Ferrigno Feest.

Be It Ordered, that this item be approved as recommended by staff. CL&P will change light to a full cutoff fixture on SNET pole #4404.

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Anthony Tomassetti, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Feest asked if the City Manager could do an inventory of any outstanding items to be completed by CL&P and prepared for the next Public Safety meeting. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 13H. Your Public Safety Committee, to whom was referred a letter to City Council from Rob Tabellione re: 18-wheelers using Yale Avenue as a short cut to Route 68 on 8/18/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend denial and the passage of the accompanying order:

Committee: Matthew C. Dominello, Sr., Chairperson; Anthony D. Tomassetti, Vice-Chair; Michael S. Rohde; Keith Gordon; Joseph Ferrigno Feest.

Be It Ordered, that this request be denied as recommended by staff. Staff has reviewed Yale Avenue and have found no physical characteristics which should prohibit trucks using Yale Avenue.

Anthony Tomassetti, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 13I. Your Public Safety Committee, to whom was referred a letter to Councilor Dominello from John Gopian of Hunter’s Ambulance re: Possible placement of a crosswalk at Vine Street/South Vine Street/West Main Street on 7/7/03, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption and the passage of the accompanying order:

Committee: Matthew C. Dominello, Chairperson; Anthony D. Tomassetti, Vice-Chair; Michael S. Rohde; Keith Gordon; Joseph Ferrigno Feest.

Be It Ordered, that the attached letter from Captain David Ceneviva dated 8/2/03 outlining possible improvements to pedestrian traffic in this area be implemented.

Anthony Tomassetti, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Councilor Feest stated that this item has been brought up several times. The request is for an additional crosswalk to be placed in the area. Through the study that the City did it was found that it would be more confusing to have 2 crosswalks in that area. The crossing guard that is currently in front of Ben Franklin School will be brought in an hour earlier to help the flow of children coming across South Vine Street. There will also be more signs placed in front of Ben Franklin where the current crosswalk is which is the best visible area for it. Gordon stated he asked if they could get pricing for a yellow warning light that would blink back and forth somewhere near Napoli’s so the traffic going east on West Main Street, would have a warning device letting them know there is a potential danger around the curve. McGoldrick stated this was one of the reasons he had proposed a West Main Street corridor study which is currently making its way through the Planning and Engineering Departments. He hopes this will become part of that larger study which will include a traffic study. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 14. No report from Economic Development, Housing & Zoning.

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Item 15. No report from Public Works and Parks & Recreation.

Item 16. No report from Human Services.

Item 17. No report from Committee of the Whole.

Item 18. Meriden Police Department Monthly Report of July 2003. Stephen Zerio, made a motion, seconded by Anthony Tomassetti, to file. Zerio asked the City Manager why the reports arrive approximately 6 weeks late. Kemp stated that it normally takes the Chief two to three weeks to collect the data from the previous month so there is always a lead time of 2-3 weeks. Motion carried unanimously.

There being no further business to be brought before the Council, Stephen Zerio, made a motion, seconded by Patricia Lynes, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

Clerk of the City Council