City of Meriden, CT - December 15, 2003 Minutes

C. Each property acquired by the City, other than for a specific purpose or project approved by the City Council, shall be reviewed by the Economic Development Task Force. The Task Force shall recommend to the City Council that the City maintain ownership of such property, or that each such property be sold or transferred, and, if so, by what method and on what terms and conditions. The Task Force may recommend that such property be disposed of by transfer to a contiguous property owner or owners, by listing the property for sale with a licensed real estate agent, or by a request for proposals. The City Council may accept such recommendation or may approve the disposition of such property by a method or means other than that recommended by the Task Force, provided that in such instance the City Council shall set forth its reasons for not accepting the recommendation of the Task Force.

Michael Rohde, made a motion, seconded by George McGoldrick, to adopt. Rohde stated that the sentiment of the committee was that the current system of the Director of Public Works being the tree warden is working effectively. The city is currently out of sync with the ordinance that is on the book so the committee is going to be looking to put this ordinance in line with the current practice which is working and balancing the safety issues relative to trees and environmental oversight issues. Clermont stated he had submitted this resolution. It came forward as a result of a speech that was given to the Conservation Commission from a member of the DEP where it was pointed out that the city wasn’t in compliance with it’s own ordinance. Clermont stated that he personally doesn’t have an objection to changing the ordinance if it would better meet the needs of people within the city. He feels the city should comply with the ordinance on the books until

Michael Rohde, made a motion, seconded by Walter Shamock, to adopt. Rohde stated this was brought forward by a member of the Meriden Rotary Club who is very involved in the soap box derby. This is a growing sport which receives not only local but regional attention. Rohde stated there is a perfect spot at Hubbard Park that is not being used, the old logging road. It is a perfect place for safety and to give the attention to the sport that it deserves. The staff highly recommended this and this looks like a nice solution to use the park for the derby. Gordon asked since the derby is going to be confined within the park during the events would this cut down on overtime situations since the city won’t need to have streets closed by the police department. Rohde stated that didn’t come up for discussion. Rohde stated anytime an event is done there are safety issues due to the fact there are a lot of vehicles going back and forth bringing the cars back to the top of the hill and a lot of pedestrians. Rohde wasn’t sure what the security needs might be for the use of Hubbard Park. Rohde feels it is likely that is the case but wasn’t sure. Benigni stated this is another way to highlight Hubbard Park as people will come in from other communities. Motion carried unanimously.

Michael Rohde, made a motion, seconded by George McGoldrick, to adopt. Rohde stated this street is a very narrow street and serves a only a couple of houses and is not anywhere near up to specs to be accepted as a city street. There is a gentleman who lives at the end of the street that is handicapped. There have been some issues with overgrown bushes at the end of the street. The committee felt that this item needed to be designated as a safety issue by the Fire Department and if that is the case the city can go in and do some of the work to rectify the overgrown weeds and other items that are creating a problem. Clermont stated he was the maker of the resolution and the gentleman at the end of the street is a special needs resident. The gentleman’s main concern was his only way in and out of that property is by taxicab as well as his concern regarding emergency vehicles that may enter such as ambulances, fire trucks and so forth. Clermont stated even if the city is not able to accept this as a city street as long as we are able to meet some of his concerns that would be appreciated. Zerio stated that the Council had already voted on this matter and denied this as a city street for the same reasons. Zerio stated that the Planning Commission also denied this issue for all the reasons that the Public Works Committee stated. The committee was also sensitive to the issues that Councilor Clermont brought forth and feels this will be the proper solution. Motion carried unanimously.

Anthony Tomassetti, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Gordon stated that he asked for this item to be recommitted as he had been unable to attend the Public Safety meeting when it first came up. There is some public safety activity going on in that street that came to his attention through the west side commander. The police were having trouble working on it due to the lighting condition on the street and felt that this would add a lot of safety to the neighborhood and give them the visual effects they need to do their job. Rohde stated relating to this and other matters of increasing lumens or installation of streetlights that the committee never gets a report back as to when the item has been taken care of or where it stands in the pipeline. Rohde stated he did ask that a report be drawn up for the next meeting as to the status of these. We want to make sure that when we take action we can be reassured that these will be taken care of in a reasonable timeframe. Motion carried unanimously.

Anthony Tomassetti, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Gordon stated that staff stated the city can not have mirrors on corners and public right of ways. If this situation occurred on the requestor’s home property they could put a mirror up at the end of their driveway so they could see left or right coming out of their own driveway. This is something that the city’s traffic engineer was against and/or the city has never done before. Benigni asked if there was anything that could be done to address the constituent’s concerns. Tomassetti stated that this is a blind drive coming up Allen Avenue and is going to request that the traffic engineer put up a “Blind Driveway Sign” to possibly slow traffic down. Gordon stated that the traffic engineer stated it wasn’t a sight line problem as long as the people coming down the hill are doing the speed limit and only the police can control that with radar. Feest stated the city has had radar out there and also the monitoring trailer out there in an attempt to try to slow people down. It is a bad situation. Benigni asked Kemp to ask the Police Chief to put the speed machine up there for a while to get some readings. Motion carried unanimously.

Brian Kogut, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Kogut explained that 19A and 19C are related. 19A reduces an existing bond by $13,500 and 19C will increase it to fund the traffic light at the corner of Lockwood Street and Chamberlain Highway. When this project was bid out it came in at $13,500 over what the estimated cost was. When the city voted to put this item in there was to be a cost sharing. Westfield Shopping Town contributed and Kogut believes some of the other businesses in the area, although not sure which ones were required by the Planning Commission to do the same. Because the item came in over budget they still met their requirement to the Planning Commission but regardless Mr. Caruso has sent a letter to Westfield asking them to kick in an additional $7,000. Kogut doesn’t know if Westfield will but it is a possibility. At this point in time the city is moving forward to fund this. Motion carried unanimously.

Brian Kogut, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to waive the reading and adopt. Kogut stated this is another bonding resolution. It is all for items that were approved at the last council meeting. One item that came up at Finance Committee had to do with an I & I Study which is an inflow & infiltration study and that is actually in here for a million dollars. A former member of the City Council had commented that a similar study had been done in the 1980’s and possibly would need to be done again or could we utilize that study. Staff was asked to go back and look at it and Kogut was told was the city did do an I&I study in the 1980’s and 1990’s and were required and are required again by state mandate to continually update those studies. This is 80% grant funded by the state so the city’s share would be 20% but it is in fact a requirement. Shamock stated there was also some discussion that evening on removal of the bleachers for $100,000. Kogut stated that would be in the next committee report. Clermont asked if the number in here represents the 20% or the 100%. Kogut stated it represented the 100%. Motion carried unanimously.

Brian Kogut, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to waive the reading and adopt. Kogut stated these are all items that were approved at the last Council meeting as part of the CIP. Mr. Shamock had mentioned one item that the Committee had a discussion about and that was bleachers. In this bond issue there is $100,000 for phase 3 of 6 for six bleachers which the city has been phasing in over time. The discussion centered around whether or not the city could utilize some bleachers that were budgeted as part of the girls’ softball complex because a lot of them were to be temporary and transportable bleachers. The committee did ask for additional information. The money, $100,000 is for replacement of permanent bleachers on the home team side at Ceppa Field. The bleachers are not portable. Kogut asked Rohde to comment on these as there were some safety concerns and some code issues. Rohde stated there have been several infrastructure problems at Ceppa such as the lights which had started falling down and that became an emergency situation where these were replaced. There is a similar situation with the stands. These are permanent stands and we have good attendance at the games but we definitely need these replaced. Benigni stated the city is also in need of a good sound system at Ceppa. Motion carried unanimously.

specialist position needs to be filled for reasons of public safety, not only for the firefighters but for the citizens of Meriden. The Fire Department yearly goes through a strenuous process called pre-planning where they go to every property and business to be sure buildings are up to code and make notations regarding hazardous materials in buildings, where fire hydrants and alarm panels are, etc. The City funded this position for $30,000 last year. The City put $30,000 in the MIS budget for this person who was hired as a consultant and started working on the fire side to upgrade the computer system that the city purchased 4-5 years ago. There was no one in the department to work with the information that would merge into what was needed at the Fire Department. The city is going to put computers into the fire trucks with money that has already been appropriated through the technology budget. This information on the pre-planning which is being done at each fire station can be put into the computers enroute to a call. The officer can punch up the address or it will automatically come up once dispatched and let the firefighters know what hazards are in the building; if this is a repeat offender; if there have been problems there before; what type of situations have been found there that we can correct and can correct in a timely fashion; where hydrants are; where sprinkler connections are; where alarm panels are; etc. If it is a medical call are there any hazardous conditions that we need to know about prior to walking in there; has there been domestic violence; and prior to the firefighters going in to have police back-up, etc. This person would take this information and put it into a system that will bring us where the city needs to be for the safety, not only for the firefighters, but for the public. Gordon stated Fire Chief Trainor is in the audience if any questions need to be answered. McGoldrick stated he agrees with Gordon on this. He stated at the meeting that the Director of our Information Systems explained this is a particularly important position as it will allow us to combine systems that we already have in place. He underscored this by making the point stating if he had to give up a position or he had to make a reduction to keep this position funded he would. Shamock stated Kogut is knowledgeable, conscientious and always prepared and is conservative with the city’s money. Shamock doesn’t take his vote against this lightly. He believes Kogut is entirely correct in his stance against this position. Shamock stated in the actual resolution this position only paid $42,000. Shamock stated it isn’t $42,000. Shamock asked the Director of Finance and was told it is a $55,000 position. In deliberations last year during the budget process Shamock stated the Mayor came out strongly against new positions. This is a new position and Shamock understands that the city needs but doesn’t know where the money will be coming from due to our fiscal restraints. Shamock firmly believes this is not the time to fund new positions. Shamock states he has voted for every aspect of new technology that has come before the Council and feels we have to take a stance. The Council can’t appropriate $55,000 for a new position. When the committee chair comes before the council and recommends against this, Shamock feels the Council should vote with the committee chair. Gordon stated that the police specialist that handles this technology is Sgt. Elionfante. There is no one available to back Elionfante up if he is sick or on vacation. If the police have a hardware problem, someone from the MIS department can take care of it. Any glitches within the public safety software cannot be handled. Two and a half years ago the city ran into a problem for a 4 week period where the computers at dispatch were not working and it created problems on response times, location findings, etc. This position is needed. Gordon appreciates the fact of the fiscal responsibilities and doesn’t like going against the chair. Rohde stated this is a classical dilemma in tough fiscal times to be making prudent budget decisions. Rohde feels this is a good investment and believes the budget is not in such dire straights that the city can’t afford this. Rohde feels this capitalizes on the investment that the city has already made with our MIS system and computer upgrades.

Feest asked what the city got from the $30,000 that we spent last year and wanted to know what the difference was between contracting it out if that was an option, because if one removed the benefits it wouldn’t be that bad. Gordon stated that the cost from $42,000 to $55,000 is the difference on the benefits. Gordon stated that the person who is doing the job now is retired out of New Haven and was dealing with the same HTE public safety software. When the city went looking for somebody they couldn’t find somebody that had that experience but this man does have the experience. The employee is looking for full time employment somewhere else. The Fire Chief and Deputy Chief Cossette feel this person is the right person for the job and has moved us into the right direction but we have to continue on a forward motion. Benigni stated he can’t believe there isn’t anyone in the MIS Department who doesn’t know this software and feels someone should receive some training. Benigni doesn’t think it is appropriate when Elionfante is out sick or away on vacation that there is no one available to take over and that doesn’t sit right with him. Benigni asked Kemp to send a message to the MIS Director that we should consider getting someone training so they have some experience in this. Benigni realizes this is a position that we need. Benigni stated our first concern is saving the positions that we have of people who are already working, not to add new ones. Benigni wants the Chief to look for the savings within his budget. Benigni recommended maybe holding off on filling a vacancy or hold off on the supplies and equipment account line. Benigni stated that Gordon has made it very clear that this position is needed because it helps protect our citizens and firefighters. Gordon stated it is not that the MIS department doesn’t have someone to service computers, they do, but that is on the hardware. This is software that takes someone with a public safety knowledge of codes, etc. that helps them make the whole thing work. There has to be a meld between the professionalism of the fields vs. the hardware. Benigni stated he understands that the city has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on technology for our police and fire departments. We need to have the positions to back up that expense, to make that expense valid. Kogut stated that Gordon had brought up Sgt. Elionfante from the Police Department and feels that is important. Kogut explained that at the police department as they started utilizing more technology an officer within the department stepped up to the plate to help that department. At the Fire Department, rather than a firefighter stepping up and taking on more roles in technology they want to go outside and hire somebody else. The other difference is this position is going to be in the MIS Department. The Police Department didn’t hire somebody and put them in the MIS department to service our computers. They took someone from within and this is the type of thing Kogut would like to see from the Fire Department. Kogut stated that the Mayor made a good point. Maybe there is a management position that is a backup or support position that can be eliminated and this person can take on that role. Kogut would certainly explore something like that if the Fire Chief feels that this position is more important than another position that he has. Tomassetti stated that it was his understanding that the Fire Department and Police Department would both utilize this person. Tomassetti stated he would support this item 100%. Shamock wants to wait until 2005 and look at the position then. Shamock stated he is concerned about public safety. Clermont spoke with Deputy Chief Cossette about this position and has spent time down at the Fire Department to try and develop an understanding of what they do and see how this technology may help them. Clermont feels the need is genuine and isn’t going away. The city has to have someone to maintain the computer system. The city needs to have someone to continue to grow the technology in the city. Clermont’s questioned if the city should hire someone for this or train someone from within. There is going to be a cost associated with both. Clermont asked Kemp if he knew what the numbers would be to hire someone vs. sending someone for training. Kemp

stated Montemurro gave up a job in his budget for this position. Money is in the budget for this position and was approved by the City Council for the current fiscal year. Kemp stated last year there was $30,000 in the budget for this job. Montemurro told Kemp the salary is $42,000 and the city put $12,000 more in the budget for the position for the current fiscal year. The city should have enough in the fringe benefits account to cover this position during the course of the year. Benigni stated we are increasing the budget by $25,000, the salary is going from $30,000 to $42,000 and we’re providing benefits for $13,000. Zerio asked permission from the council to ask Fire Chief Trainor to come forward to answer some questions. Trainor stated that the Council seems to be confused between the two organizations. This position does not belong to the Fire Department, this is an MIS position. The director of MIS stated he saved the position and cut money. Montemurro made the statement that he would cut someone from his department to save the Public Safety Specialist position. Trainor stated the police department was lucky they had personnel in the department that could move into this computer training position. The Fire Department does not have that kind of personnel. Chief Trainor feels it would be ridiculous if the city wants to take a trained firefighter that they have invested thousands of dollars in to make him a computer expert. A firefighter’s salary is $50,000 plus all his benefits. To make a firefighter a computer specialist is not economically feasible. That is why this person is coming from the MIS division. The gentleman who is in the position now has made fantastic improvements in the system. Chief Trainor explained that there is certain reporting that has to go to the state which is done on computer. If it’s not done right it is returned by the state. This gentleman took a 4 month backlog and straightened it all out so the fire department is now reporting to the state with 0 defects on the report. Another project is the GIS system which he is working with. Trainor stated the department was asked to do a needs assessment by the engineering firm that is doing the assessment for GIS. Trainor was sent all the information to do and he started on it and the gentleman who is in this position called and asked if the chief was working on this. He had already completed the report to the engineering firm. The engineering firm came back with glowing reviews and stated that the fire department came through with the best needs assessment that we had. This is because the gentleman in the position is aware of the needs of public safety and understands how the system works. He has tremendous experience. Benigni stated it is very tough to decrease employees once they are added. Trainor stated if we lose this person we might as well as throw out the computers because they’ll mean nothing to us. Trainor reiterated they have no one in their department who is capable of doing this type of thing. Trainor doesn’t want to take a firefighter at firefighter’s pay and have them come and work on computers. It is just not economical. Trainor stated again this is not a fire department position. That’s why the funding is not coming from the fire department. Benigni stated we hire firefighters to fight fires. We hire police officers to fight crime. Benigni stated he is hearing two different things. He is hearing from the Council that we need expertise in the field and then hearing we need a computer expert. If we need a computer expert hire one, if you need someone to fight fires you hire a firefighter. Benigni stated he is not sure what we need. Benigni’s only concern is that when you add a new position it is very difficult to take it away. The city’s first objective should be to provide all the necessary services and protect current employees. Schede stated she is concerned about departments that have only one person with no back up. Schede stated she took umbrage when she is told that if a person is out or absent at the police department that things aren’t going to function and the fire department will just unplug their computers if the Council doesn’t approve the position. Schede feels this is like a no vote of confidence and feels there have been many mixed messages sent. Schede asked if this job was going to be posted. Schede feels this item

should go back to Public Safety to be defined more clearly. Gordon stated Chief Dunn had wanted this position placed under the Fire Department. Gordon stated the Finance Committee had decided this would position would remain in the MIS Department since it had to do with the city wide technology. The MIS Department didn’t have any one that was public safety software orientated at the time. Gordon stated that the Finance Committee wasn’t pleased at the time. The Police Department was took a sworn officer off the line to do computer work that they needed to put everything together for the computers in the cars, etc. Gordon stated this has been approved by the Public Safety Committee and there is a job description that was approved by the City Council. Benigni stated the city had someone doing this for $30,000 a year on a private contracting basis and it has worked fine. Benigni wanted to know what the rationale was to make this a full time MIS position with full benefits rather than how it has been working in the past. Gordon stated there is much to do in such a short period of time and the city needs to have this 40 hour position. Kogut wanted to answer Schede’s question in regards to this job being posted. Kogut suspects that the person who did it on a contract basis part time will take the position. Zerio stated there was a lot of discussion during the budget hearings regarding the needs for the MIS Department. The budget adopted was actually less than last years appropriation. Zerio stated the job description was approved at the last Council meeting. Montemurro gave a very credible proposal as to why this position was necessary, not only for the needs of the Fire Department but also for the needs of the GIS system which the city had invested a lot of money for. Zerio stated that the Council has always spent the appropriate dollars for public safety in the past. With the increase in technology the city needs to hire someone that is both knowledgeable of the new technology in the current system and also the public safety needs in the city. Zerio feels the budget can sustain this position at this time and urged the rest of the Council to approve the resolution tonight. Zerio stated the Finance Chair is doing his job. The Finance Chair oversees the committee that holds the purse strings and has been watching diligently every penny being spent. Zerio feels since the Council has seen fit to approve this job the city should be fill it at this time because of the public safety needs. Feest stated he would be voting in favor of the position. Feest is requesting a list of what computer programs being run in the city, who is trained for it and who is the back-up. If the city is going to be centering itself around technology which all corporations are, we should start running like a corporation and need to make sure there are people are multi-tasking and trained to back up each other. Clermont asked Kemp which would be more cost effective, hiring a consultant or a full time person. Kemp stated Montemurro needs a full time position because of the work load even though to hire someone part time would be cheaper. That would not help him accomplish that goal. Keith Gordon, made a motion, seconded by Patricia Lynes, to move the question. Motion carried unanimously. Vote taken on base motion to adopt was carried. Councilors Shamock and Kogut voted Nay.