BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, MAY 18, :30 A.M. GUILFORD TOWN HALL

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1 BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, MAY 18, :30 A.M. GUILFORD TOWN HALL First Selectman Carl A. Balestracci, Jr. called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Present: Board Members: Carl Balestracci, Salvatore Catardi, Joseph Mazza and Cynthia Cartier Town Officials: Others: Media: Finance Director Sheila Villano, Human Resources Director Mitch Goldblatt, Purchasing Agent Pam Millman, BOE Dr. of Operations/Facilities, Fire Commission Member Ken Wilson, Jr., Parks and Recreation Commission Member Gary Gilbert, Economic Development Specialist Jackie Simonetti, Superintendent of Highways John Volpe, Public Works Commission Chair Gene Bishop, Environmental Planner Kevin Magee and Clerk Traci Brinkman Saint Raphael s Occupational Health Representatives Phil Noto, Bruce Jacobsen and Debbie Borisjuk, and CIRMA Representatives Patty Lewis and Luke Pentz and resident Ron Ferris Guilford Courier Reporter Fay Abrahamsson and Mike Graziano, taping for GCTV 1. Approve minutes of: 1.1 Minutes of May 7, 2009 Special Meeting Upon a motion made by Mr. Catardi and seconded by Ms. Cartier, the board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the May 7, 2009 Special Meeting as presented. Opposed; None 2. Public Forum (limited to 2 minutes regarding agenda items) Ron Ferris spoke in favor of the Hay License Agreement for the Northern Heights Open Space and recommended they proceed as soon as possible. He said it is 1

2 a beautiful piece of property and would like to see it hayed. 3. Human Resources Director (Mitch Goldblatt): 3.1 Discuss and take possible action on recommendation for the Safety Committee to appoint Saint Raphael s Occupational Health in Branford as the Town s Initial Care Provider for Workers Compensation injuries. Mr. Goldblatt explained that the Safety Committee was studying the need for an initial care provider for occupational injuries. He said currently employers can go wherever they like and there is no direction in terms of occupational injuries. The committee studied this issue and looked at two different providers, but felt the most comfortable with St. Raphael s. He added that this is an agreement, but there is no commitment if the town wants to stop using them in the future. Mr. Goldblatt said this would be for all employees with the exception of police, who currently have their own initial care provider and the fire department, who currently use St. Raphael s as well. Mr. Catardi asked what the difference would be between the fire department agreement and this agreement. Mr. Goldblatt said they all fall under the same agreement. He added that an agreement was already established with the fire department and this would add to it. There is no set precedent for handling injuries with regard to initial treatment if an employee is hurt on the job. Mr. Mazza said he has never seen the agreement with the fire department. Mr. Goldblatt said basically the agreement is that town employees will be directed to St. Raphael s Occupational Health in Branford. He added that if the selectmen approve this the employees would go there if injured unless it is an emergency situation. CIRMA Representative Luke Pentz said that implementing an initial care provider is a standard practice, which helps the town get employees the best specialized care and helps to keep costs down. Ms. Lewis explained that once an employee goes to the center it can be determined if they need a specialist and the facility will help get them the specialized care more quickly. Mr. Mazza asked why this facility was chosen over others such as Yale, which is closer. Mr. Goldblatt said they started looking at this because costs for workers compensation have gone up tremendously. He added that they have been trying to work with CIRMA to get costs down and started looking at an 2

3 initial care provider and for a location that dealt with occupational health. Debbie Borisjuk, Executive Director for St. Raphael s Occupational Health in Branford, explained that Yale New Haven Hospital does not have an occupational medicine program and is geared more toward respiratory diseases and environmental studies. She added that St. Raphael s has a comprehensive program that deals with muscular/skeletal injuries, lacerations, lung issues and exposures. Ms. Borisjuk said another decision is to either go with a hospital based program or a private practice and the advantages of hospital based is that all the physicians are credentialed and board certified. She added that two of their physicians are board certified in occupational medicine. Ms. Borisjuk said that the Guilford Fire Department arrangement began as part of periodic physicals where a contract exists, but injury management grew out of that. She added that there is no specific binding agreement and they can even set up departments in their computer system so they can monitor where the injuries are occurring. Mr. Catardi asked what provisions they have if an employee has an incompatible situation with their care, will they be able to see someone else. Ms. Borisjuk said that they have three physicians and three physicians assistants so they would be able to see someone else. Mr. Catardi asked what would happen if the employee needed to see an orthopedic. Ms. Borisjuk said they will ask them if they have one, but if they do not they can recommend one to them. She added that if they want to see their own physician for a second visit they can do that as well. There was some discussion about how differences of opinions between the initial care providing physician and the employees physician might be resolved. Ms. Borisjuk said that many times the doctors will have a discussion and come to an agreement. Mr. Mazza said he just wants to make sure that employees have a choice. He asked if there is a severe accident if the employee would be taken to an emergency room or if they would have to come to the Occupational Health facility. Mr. Goldblatt explained that this is not for ambulatory care, but occupational injuries and this facility in Branford specializes in occupational health. 3

4 Mr. Catardi asked if there would be any issue with regard to bargaining units. Mr. Goldblatt said this is not a bargaining unit situation, but rather an employer/employee situation that is governed by state statute. He added that he would like the selectmen to endorse the use of St. Raphael s as the initial care provider and reiterated that this agreement can be broken at any time, but at least they will have a direction from the selectmen. Upon a motion made by Mr. Catardi and seconded by Mr. Mazza, the board voted unanimously to endorse the efforts of the Director of Human Resources to appoint Saint Raphael s Occupational Health in Branford as the Town s Initial Care Provider for Workers Compensation injuries. 4. Finance Director (Sheila Villano): 4.1 Receive monthly report from Finance Director. Revenues Ms. Villano said a few months ago she had projected a $1,715,000 deficit in revenues, however this month they were over projections by $774,000 due in a large part to tax collections. She added that she now thinks they will have a $1.2 million deficit instead of $1.7 million. Ms. Villano said they have collected 96.7 percent of the revenue budget compared to percent last year at this time. Expenditures Ms. Villano said they have obligated 83.8 percent of the budget this year compared to 84.4 percent last year at this time. She added that encumbrances are lower than last year at this time and many departments are already looking at blanket purchases orders and canceling some. Mr. Catardi asked where we were with regard to legal expenses. Ms. Villano said they will see an overage this month in tax appeals and there was another large billing so there will be more. She added that the 2010 budget was increased for appeals. Ms. Cartier said maybe they can look at a flat fee for attorneys in the future to handle appeals instead of hourly. She added that she has seen this done before. Ms. Cartier asked if they had looked at some of the special funds, such as the Parks and Recreation Program fund, in order 4

5 to put money back into the general budget. Ms. Villano said they haven t looked at taking any of that money, but they have been encouraging the use of that money to buy some items needed instead of putting it in the operating budget. Mr. Mazza asked if they have been keeping track of how much they are saving versus what they said they would save six months ago. Ms. Villano said many department heads have called her with updates and are doing better than what they had originally thought. There was some discussion about a Board of Education surplus, which has been estimated by the board to be about $150,000. Ms. Villano said their expenditures are at 70 percent compared to 72 percent last year at this time so they are way under and their surplus could be a little better as well. She added that she is hoping for a $600,000 total surplus including the BOE, so when combined with the $1.2 million deficit, they would need to take $600,000 from fund balance. Medical Benefits Ms. Villano said they didn t have a great month, but she is still projecting a surplus of $535,818 and a projected fund balance, including the IBNR, of $58, BOE Director of Operations/Facilities (Cliff Gurnham): 5.1 Consider and take possible action on recommendation from the Standing Building Committee to amend existing contract with Silver Petrucelli & Associates. Mr. Gurnham said that Silver Petrucelli has all the roofing projects for design and architecture. They did do the Adams slate roof last summer and the SBC thought it would be appropriate to amend the contract to include the 20,000 square foot portion of roof at Adams, which they are going to try to get done this summer. Mr. Mazza said he noticed that this agreement does not include a one-year warranty inspection and questioned who would do this. Mr. Gurnham said that he will do the inspection and if he sees issues he will bring that to the attention of the manufacturers. Upon a motion made by Mr. Catardi and seconded by Ms. Cartier, the board voted unanimously to amend the existing contract with Silver Petrucelli & Associates to include design and bid work for the Adams Roof Replacement Project. 5

6 6. Purchasing Agent (Pam Millman): 6.1 Receive report on results of the sale of vehicles at State Auction. Ms. Millman explained that these were old vehicles not being used that were on the Public Works site. She disposed of them by using a state auction held May 7. Ms. Millman said she sold six of the seven vehicles, the seventh vehicle will be in the next auction. She added that the six vehicles averaged about $1,000 per vehicle and yielded $6,275 in revenues for the town and it cost $500 to have the vehicles brought up there. Ms. Millman said she believes the 7 th will probably get another $1,000 as well. Mr. Catardi brought up a concern that prior to the disposal of vehicles they are offered to different departments and he is worried that they are adding to the Fleet. Mr. Balestracci noted that many times these cars are just replacing older vehicles. Mr. Catardi stated Ms. Millman is aware and he is sure she would be on top of it. 7. Environmental Town Planner (Kevin Magee): 7.1 Consider and take possible action on Hay License Agreement for the Northern Heights Open Space. Mr. Magee said the Agricultural Commission at its April meeting approved and recommended to the Board of Selectmen a one year license to Erwin Wimler to Hay the Northern Heights Open Space for $25 per acre for a total of $1,125. He added that Mr. Wimler is a former owner of that property and this agreement has been reviewed by Ms. Millman and town counsel. Mr. Catardi asked if this was the only person interested in doing this. Mr. Magee explained that there is not enough time to bid this out, because the fields need to be hayed shortly. He will be allowed to do it this year, but they may bid it in a different fashion next year. Mr. Magee said June is the first cutting so they don t want to slow the process. Mr. Balestracci said there have been two other areas in town that have been leased out, but this will now be the formal agreement for haying. He added that as the town acquires more open space at least now they will have a standard license agreement. Upon a motion made by Ms. Cartier and seconded by Mr. Catardi, the board voted unanimously to approve the Hay License Agreement for the 6

7 Northern Heights Open Space. 8. Consider and take possible action to authorize the first selectman to sign appraisal proposal for the Shoreline Diner Site for a total fee not to exceed $2,000. Mr. Balestracci said they are in the process of reacquiring the right of way that the town had given the original diner owner. It is needed back by the town for a new radio tower. He added that an important step is to have a summary appraisal report completed and the appraiser has given an estimate for the work not to exceed $2,000. Mr. Balestracci said they have had a partial appraisal done in the past, but not a summary appraisal. Upon a motion made by Ms. Cartier and seconded by Mr. Catardi, the board voted unanimously to authorize the first selectman to sign the appraisal proposal for the Shoreline Diner Site for a total fee not to exceed $2, Consider and take possible action on setting a Public Hearing Date of Monday, June 15, 2009, 8:30 a.m. in the Guilford Town Hall to receive public comment on programs that shall be included in the town s application for the 2009 Neighborhood Assistance Act Program. Upon a motion made by Mr. Catardi and seconded by Mr. Mazza, the board voted unanimously to set a Public Hearing Date of Monday, June 15, 2009, 8:30 a.m. in the Guilford Town Hall to receive public comment on programs that shall be included in the town s application for the 2009 Neighborhood Assistance Act Program. 10. Discuss and take possible action on Soccerfest and Fibromyalgia Proclamations. Mr. Balestracci did not read the proclamations, but noted that Soccerfest is July this year and it is their 30 th year. Upon a motion made by Mr. Mazza and seconded by Mr. Catardi, the board voted unanimously to approve the Soccerfest Proclamation. 7

8 Upon a motion made by Mr. Mazza and seconded by Mr. Catardi, the board voted unanimously to approve the Fibromyalgia Proclamation. 11. Appointments and Resignations: 11.1 Act on resignation received from Deborah Spalding from the Water Pollution Control Authority. Upon a motion made by Mr. Catardi and seconded by Ms. Cartier, the board voted unanimously to accept the resignation from Deborah Spalding from the Water Pollution Control Authority Act on resignation received from Steve Cortese from the Economic Development Commission. Upon a motion made by Mr. Catardi and seconded by Ms. Cartier, the board voted unanimously to accept the resignation from Steve Cortese from the Economic Development Commission Act on reappointment of Charles Havrda to the South Central Connecticut Regional Water District s Representative Policy Board for a term to begin July 1, 2009 and expire June 30, Upon a motion made by Mr. Mazza and seconded by Mr. Catardi, the board voted unanimously to reappoint Charles Havrda to the South Central Connecticut Regional Water District s Representative Policy Board for a term to begin July 1, 2009 and expire June 30,

9 12. Requests for Use of Town Property: 12.1 Act on request from the Guilford Art Center for special permission with regard to three regulations Governing the Use of the Town Green for its Craft Expo taking place July 16-18, The special permission requested has to do with an extension of time for the event setup and break down, permission to put stakes in the ground to set up the tents and the ability to have vehicles drive on the Green to deliver and remove tents and electrical equipment. Mr. Catardi said he had no problem with these exceptions. He added that given the size of the event they need extra time to setup and take down and in addition they leave some tents up to be used for the Community Picnic. Mr. Catardi said they just need to keep the number of vehicles on the Green to a minimum. Upon a motion made by Mr. Mazza and seconded by Ms. Cartier, the board voted unanimously to approve the request from the Guilford Art Center for special permission with regard to three regulations Governing the Use of the Green for its Craft Expo taking place July 16-18, Act on request from the Guilford Garden Club to place a sign on the Green advertising its Christmas Fundraiser on Broad Street taking place December 5, (Sign Placement 11/21-12/5) Upon a motion made by Mr. Catardi and seconded by Mr. Mazza, the board voted unanimously to request from the Guilford Garden Club to place a sign on the Green advertising its Christmas Fundraiser on Broad Street taking place December 5, (Sign Placement 11/21-12/5) 13. Correspondence: 13.1 Public Works Department Monthly Report 13.2 Building Department Monthly Report Both reports were received without comment Letter from F. Vigorito dated May 12, 2009 re: repair son his road. 9

10 Mr. Balestracci said Mr. Vigorito wanted to thank the Public Works Department for their quick response on improvements to his road. He is pleased with their prompt response. Mr. Catardi also wanted to compliment the department. Someone had discarded an appliance in his neighborhood under some power lines. He alerted a nearby public work employee and they took it to the dump Letter from E. Steinmetz dated May 13, 2009 re: Economic Development Specialist Jackie Simonetti Mr. Balestracci stated that in his letter Mr. Steinmetz is praising the work Ms. Simonetti has been doing for Economic Development. He added that in his letter they have been lucky to hire part-time people that do more than their share of work and this is a big reason why economic development in Guilford has been more progressive and aggressive. Ms. Cartier said she receives the newsletter Jackie puts out every month and it is a great resource of information Letter from D. & A. Greco dated May 11, 2009 re: Dog Park Funding 14. Old Business Mr. Balestracci stated that these citizens are concerned that during these tough economic times the board would consider a dog park. He added that he believes they would have no intention to consider this. Mr. Balestracci said the has over 2,000 acres of open space, which is more than enough open space for people to walk their dogs on. Ms. Cartier stated that maybe they should designate those areas and make it clear to people about where they can and can t take dogs. Ms. Cartier said that the Wellness challenge has ended and all the teams did a great job. She added that the top four finishers were the Cops in Training, Baldwin Babes, Calvin Leeters and the Public Works team. She added that all the different departments got involved. In addition they had another luncheon and are planning a health fair in the fall in the schools. 15. New Business Mr. Balestracci said there was an article in the New Haven Register at the end of last week regarding teacher salary concessions. He wanted to thank the Board of Education and the teachers for their work. Mr. Balestracci said there was a lot of pressure from the state on local bargaining units and the Guilford Education Associate was the first in the state to vote for salary concessions. He thanked them for their commitment. 10

11 Mr. Catardi stated that they should also thank the town groups as well. Mr. Balestracci said that every bargaining unit in town is in serious negotiations for salary concessions. He reminded the public that May 19 is the next vote on the budget and they are back to using all five polling locations. Mr. Balestracci said they tried to save money by using one location but it didn t work out. 16. Public Forum (limited to 3 minutes regarding any issue) Public Works Commission Chair Gene Bishop said at the last Public Works meeting Thursday night they discussed the issue of the catch basin cleaner that is in need of replacement, but was not approved for bonding. He added that they have a plow truck with a dump body on order and they contacted the company to see if it can be retrofitted with the catch basin cleaner. Mr. Bishop said this can be done for an additional $61,000. He added that he knows there was not enough time to get it on the agenda, but they only have a few weeks to make changes. Mr. Bishop said he doesn t know where the money would come from, but the would need an answer in a short period of time. Mr. Catardi said asked if it is more or less costly to retrofit the truck rather than buying one made for that purpose. Mr. Bishop said it is only a minor change and adds about $60,000 to the $150,000 truck purchasing one for that purpose would cost about the same. They just saw this as an opportunity to replace that truck because they are uncertain as to how long the current one will last. Mr. Mazza asked how long they had before a decision needed to be made. Mr. Volpe said he can talk to the manufacturer and delay it, however if they put it on hold the manufacturer does want to be paid for the cabin chassis. He added that if they waited until next year it would take almost another year to get the truck. Mr. Catardi said he thinks it makes perfect sense, but they just need to figure out how to find the $60,000 to do it. Ron Ferris spoke regarding the initial care provider issue and said he thought the board should get feedback from employees before deciding this. Ms. Cartier explained that a committee made up of employees representatives worked on this so employees did have input. Mr. Ferris said he spoke to the first selectman about an article in the Courier, which stated that the date for the Town Meeting and budget had not been set and as a result he missed the Town Meeting. He added that Mr. Balestracci said the town is not responsible for what is in the newspaper and that people have to pay attention to the legal notice, but you would think a large article would have that information. 11

12 Mr. Ferris also complained about the inability to go to Town Hall during business hours because people work. He suggested important notices be placed outside for people to pick up. It was noted that agendas and minutes are on the website, however Mr. Ferris said he does not like to use his computer because of viruses. There was no other business to come before the board. Upon a motion made by Mr. Catardi and seconded by Ms. Cartier, the board voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 10:05 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Traci K. Brinkman Clerk Board of Selectmen 12