City of Meriden, CT

The Meriden City Council’s regular meeting of July 20, 2009 was convened at 7:02 p.m. by Mayor Michael S. Rohde. Keith Gordon led the Council in the salute to the flag and Matthew C. Dominello, Sr. offered the invocation. The Clerk called the roll. Present: Dante’ Bartolomeo, Brian Daniels, Matthew Dominello, Keith Gordon, Brian Kogut, George McGoldrick, David Salafia, Hilda Santiago, John Thorp, Trevor Thorpe and Anthony Tomassetti.

ATTENDANCE AT PUBLIC COMMENT: Dante’ Bartolomeo, Brian Daniels, Matthew Dominello, Keith Gordon, Brian Kogut, George McGoldrick, David Salafia, Hilda Santiago, John Thorp, and Trevor Thorpe.

Keith Gordon, made a motion, seconded by Matthew Dominello, to invoke Rule 20 to bring forth a Consent Calendar and to approve the minutes of July 6, 2009 and to adopt a Consent Calendar as previously prepared. Motion carried unanimously.

A RESOLUTION AMENDING A RESOLUTION MAKING APPRO-PRIATIONS AGGREGATING $3,157,000 FOR VARIOUS PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AND EQUIPMENT IN THE CITY OF MERIDEN 2009/2010 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM AND AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF $3,157,000 BONDS OF THE CITY TO MEET SAID APPROPRIATIONS AND PENDING THE ISSUANCE THEREOF THE MAKING OF TEMPORARY BORROWINGS FOR SUCH PURPOSE

Section 1. Section 1 of the Resolution entitled “A Resolution Making Appropriations Aggregating $3,157,000 For Various Public Improvements And Equipment In The City of Meriden 2009/2010 Capital Improvement Program And Authorizing The Issuance Of $3,157,000 Bonds Of The City To Meet Said Appropriations And Pending The Issuance Thereof The Making Of Temporary Borrowings For Such Purpose”, adopted by the Common Council on June 15, 2009, as amended (the “Resolution”), is hereby further amended by adding the following new appropriation:

Section 3. Section 3 of the Resolution is amended by increasing the total amount of bonds of the City authorized to be issued therein by $165,000 from $3,257,000 to $3,422,000.

Section 3. Section 7 of the Resolution shall be applicable to the appropriations added by this amendment as of the date of adoption of such amendment.

Item 3. Claims submitted against the City by Joyce O. Zwick, 129 Hillcrest Terrace, Meriden, CT; Ouafoa Kouhaila, 23 Converse Circle, Meriden, CT; Doll Barnes, 340 Barnes Road, Wlfd., CT were referred to Legal and Safety & Risk.

Item 10. Petition with 15 signatures from residents of Hickory Street requesting the correction of ponding water at the corner of Hickory and Garden Streets was referred to Public Works and Parks & Recreation.

Item 2. Letter to City Council from Mayor Rohde re: Reappointment of Philip Ashton to the Flood Control Implementation Agency for a term expiring 6/21/12 and appointment of David White to the Flood Control Implementation Agency as a representative from Planning Commission for a term expiring 1/31/11 (replacing Geary).

Item 4A. Your Finance Committee to whom was referred a resolution concerning $150,000 be allocated for the continued financing of the C.I.D.E.W.A.L.K. Program on 6/15/09 report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

Brian Kogut, made a motion, seconded by George McGoldrick, to adopt. Kogut stated he was away last week and would ask Councilor McGoldrick to do the committee reports this evening. McGoldrick stated the C.I.D.E.W.A.L.K. Program is a program that provides city matching funds for sidewalk construction. It encourages property owners to repair their sidewalks and it is important in that it leverages private dollars into the program for the repairs. It is open to both residential and non-residential properties at 65% match and there is a cap on each project. The cost and projects are reviewed by city staff. The existing dollars have been spent for this program and this level of bonding is needed to continue the program. It also

should be noted that the guidelines are being reviewed by the Economic Development, Housing & Zoning Committee at this point also. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 4B. Your Finance Committee, to whom was referred a resolution concerning an appropriation of $26,497 be appropriated to Acct. #117-4730-500 to fund two replacement vehicles for the Senior Citizens Center on 6/15/09, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

George McGoldrick, made a motion, seconded by Brian Kogut, to adopt. McGoldrick stated this is an appropriation to fund the replacement of two of the four mini-buses currently maintained by the Senior Center. It provides a 20% local match for about $93,000 of federal funds. There will be no local tax dollars needed for this because the 20% will come from program revenue funds that are already available in the program. Gordon stated also the two oldest vans will go back and be sold to the Transit District. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 4C. Your Finance Committee, to whom was referred a resolution concerning filling vacancy for Golf Course Service Technician on 6/15/09, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

George McGoldrick, made a motion, seconded by Brian Kogut, to adopt. McGoldrick stated this is to correct a situation where work is currently being done by an existing employee, essentially out of classification which requires paying him a 10% stipend. Correcting this classification will not add an employee. It will simply correct the classification of an existing employee and eliminate the stipend saving a small amount of money for the Enterprise Fund. It should be noted there are no tax dollars involved in this. This is entirely Enterprise Funds and no General Fund effect. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 4D. Your Finance Committee, to whom was referred a resolution concerning filling vacancy of Operator I position at Water Pollution Control Facility on 7/6/09, report that they attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

George McGoldrick, made a motion, seconded by Brian Kogut, to adopt. McGoldrick explained that we had an in house promotion at the Water Treatment Facility creating a vacancy at a time when maintaining staff levels is critical during the plant upgrade that is currently ongoing. This action would

Thorpe stated he felt compelled to say there are no new city tax dollars being used for these employees. During public comments it was inferred that these personnel replacements are somehow dealing a bad blow to the taxpayer. These are all existing dollars. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 4E. Your Finance Committee, to whom was referred a resolution concerning Meriden Transit District is requesting an increase of $5,140 to its FY 09/10 budget on 7/6/09 report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

George McGoldrick, made a motion, seconded by Brian Kogut, to adopt. McGoldrick stated this action is essentially a technical correction which will adjust the existing budget. This will increase both the spending authority and the revenue line for the Transit Authority by the $5100. This will reflect operational cost information and revenue information from the Connecticut Department of Transportation which was not available at budget time. By increasing both the revenue and expenditure side we had a net budget effect of zero. Motion carried unanimously.

Item 4F. Your Finance Committee, to whom was referred a resolution concerning sale of tax liens (470 Murdock Avenue) on 7/6/09, report that they have attended to the matter and recommend adoption.

Brian Kogut, made a motion, seconded by Keith Gordon, to adopt. Gordon stated McGoldrick has to abstain from this item and he would be handling it. This action allows the City Manager to sign off on the sale of tax liens of properties that are owed to us in the sum of $87,953.16. We will be getting 100% of that money and receiving it on time. Motion carried unanimously. McGoldrick abstained.

There being nothing further to be brought before the Council, Mayor Rohde entertained a motion to adjourn. A motion was made by Keith Gordon, seconded by Matthew Dominello, and carried unanimously, to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.