Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
June 19, 2006
Present: Ketcham, Miller, Takacs
Also present: two members of the public and S. Wolf of the Redding Pilot
Mrs. Ketcham called the June 19, 2006 meeting to order at 7:35 pm in the Hearing Room of the Redding Town Office Building.
Miller, Takacs. Approved. Unanimous.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion: move to approve the minute of the May 15, 2006 & June 9, 2006 minute as submitted. Miller, Takacs. Approved. Unanimous.
ADOPTION OF THE NATIONAL INCIDENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
This program enables the town to access federal/state funding in emergencies.
Motion: that the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Redding, Connecticut, by virtue of the authority vested in us by the Constitution of the Statutes of the State, do hereby establish the National Incident Management System (NIMS) as the standard for incident management within the town of Redding. Takacs, Miller. Approved. Unanimous.
STATUS OF GRANT APPLICATIONS
1. State Matching Grant Program for Elderly and Disabled Demand Responsive Transportation for FY 2007. Sharon Rehme, on behalf of the Town of Redding, applied for and received a matching grant from the Connecticut Department of Transportation to increase the availability of transportation for the elderly and disabled. The”Dial-a-Ride” program is being managed by Heritage Center, and with the grant the program will expand from three days/week to 5days/week, and access to a handicap accessible vehicle will be available from the Sweethart bus. The grant is for this year, and reapplication can be made for the following years.
Motion: that the Redding Board of Selectmen at a meeting held on June 19, 2006 in Redding, Connecticut, a quorum being present, authorized First Selectman Natalie Ketcham to act on behalf of the Municipality in negotiating and executing all necessary agreements with the Connecticut Department of Transportation for the purpose of obtaining financial assistance to carry on a mutually agreed upon program of transportation in the Town of Redding. Miller, Takacs. Approved. Unanimous.
2. Federal Fiscal Year 2006 Section 5310 Program Grant for one wheelchair accessible vehicle for elderly and disabled transportation. Mrs. Rehme reported that the grant program provides up to $40,000, with the Town paying 20% of the cost, for the purchase of a handicap accessible vehicle. Mrs. Rehme reported a 8-10 handicap accessible van would accommodate two wheelchairs. The purchase process will begin in January 2007, with the van being available for the summer of 2007. Mrs. Ketcham reported that the 2006-2007 budget includes the required 20% of the cost of the vehicle. No action was needed.
3. Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Grant of $2,000 to do a structural analysis of Heritage House. Kathleen Van Jena reported the grant award provided the services of a structural engineer to study and submit a report on Heritage House prior to the marketing of the property. The structural engineer, Jim Grant, completed his review and his report will be available in the new few weeks. He will also be present during the Open House to advise potential buyers what they can and can’t do, and will have some cost analysis information available. The Board of Selectmen will schedule an Open House for the property in late July or early September.
4. Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Grant of $6,000 to do a Historic Resource Survey, “Beyond the Dwelling” to document historic outbuildings in Redding. Mrs. Von Jena reported the matching grant will be used to survey the outbuildings that exist on “historic” property or additional properties. Two former students of Dan Cruson and Jean Taylor are photographing and documenting the outbuildings.
Mrs. Von Jena urged the board to adopt a written policy regarding historic preservation to keep the various boards and commissions aligned in their work, and enable the achievement of a balance between the homeowner and the historic nature of the community. She provided a notebook of information for review. Following discussion and brief explanation of some of the material, the Board of Selectmen suggested she provide the same information to the chairmen of the Planning and Zoning Commissions. First Selectman Ketcham will plan for a meeting with the chairs of Planning and Zoning to discuss the material.
5. Homeland Security Funding: this grant, for the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 years totaled $96,271. The funding provided mobile data computers for each of the police cars, a fingerprint system and a teleconferencing system.
6. STEAP Grant for Police Station Renovations: Mrs. Ketcham reported the Town received a STEAP Grant to be used either for renovations to the existing Police building or for a new building at a new locations. The RISC recommended a new Police building be built in the Georgetown area and the existing building be used for Town office space. More information will be available next month on this issue.
Pending Grants
1. Request for $500,000 in federal funds to create a Regional Dispatch Center in Georgetown (Congressman Shays’ office). The concept of a regional dispatch center will be explored. The Towns of Wilton, Weston & Ridgefield are interested in participating in the study, and each appointed a representative to the study group. The group met to review the service benefits and cost effectiveness of a regional dispatch center, and recommended going forward with the regional concept. The next steps are dependent on receipt of the grant. If the grant is received, members of the study group will visit other regional dispatch centers in the state to learn of the benefits and problems of the regional center concept. Mrs. Miller cautioned that before this moves forward, the concept of
a regional center needs to be discussed further.
2. Request for $2,465,064 in federal funds for underground utility construction on Main Street and Old Mill Road and relocation and upgrade of the current railroad crossing in Georgetown (Dodd/Lieberman’s office). An answer regarding this grant should be received some time during the summer.
ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
1. Emergency Management update: Mrs. Ketcham reported that, due to increasing responsibilities of the Health Officer Doug Hartline, the current Emergency Management Director, a change has been made. Joe Miceli has been appointed the Emergency Management Director(EMD) with Steve Schell as the Assistant EMD. Doug Hartline has the CERTS (Citizen Emergency Response Team) up and running. Two dozen people are in training or have completed the training.
2. Athletic Fields update: Mr. Takacs reported the next meeting has been scheduled for July 18. The report from Blades and Govern will be available at that time.
3. Policy updates: no new information.
4. Highstead Arboretum request to expand study: the request is to allow them to expand their study/tracking of forest sampling from Highstead Arboretum to some adjacent Town properties, Redding Land Trust and Nature Conservancy properties. There is no cost involved in the project for the town.
Motion: move that the Redding Board of Selectmen give Dennis Foster of Highstead Arboretum permission to expand their forest sampling study to Town of Redding land as described in his memo of May 17, 2006. Miller, Takacs. Approved. Unanimous.
5. Electricity: Mrs. Ketcham reported she is exploring the participating in Connecticut Conference of Municipalities buying consortium for electricity.
6. Art Show: Mrs. Miller commented on the wonderful artwork that is hanging in the building.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion: move to executive session to discuss matters pertaining to personnel & pending litigation. Takacs. Miller. Approved. Unanimous.
The meeting recessed at 9:35 pm
RECONVENE
The Chair reconvened the meeting in public session at 10:55 pm
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 10:55 pm to Friday, June 23, 2006 at 8:00 am
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Maday, Recording Secretary
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