TOLLAND 3 Minutes - Town Council - 2019 - 2019-03-13 Special Budget Meeting Minutes

SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
TOLLAND TOWN COUNCIL

HICKS MEMORIAL MUNICIPAL CENTER
6th FLOOR COUNCIL ROOM
MARCH 13, 2019
Present: Bill Eccles, Dave Skoczulek, John Reagan, Paul Reynolds, Tammy Nuccio, Christine Vincent and
Brenda Falusi
Also Present: Steven Werbner, Town Manager

Michael Wilkinson, Director of Administrative Services
Kevin Eklund, Admin. Resident Trooper
Lori Sherwood, Secretary Law Enforcement
Tina Binheimer, ACO
Heidi Samokar, Director of Planning and Community Development
Lisa Hancock, Director of Finance and Records
Scott Lappen, Public Works Director
Bruce Watt, Recreation Director
Jason Lawrence, Assessor
Sheila Bailey, Town Clerk
Chris Jordan, Asst. Finance Director
Jim Paquin, Building Official
Barbara Pettijohn, Director of Library Services
John Littell, Director of Public Safety
Michelle Manas, Collector of Revenue
Meeting called to order at 7:02 pm.
Town Manager Steven Werbner started the meeting by talking about the three year revenue comparison with the
Governor’s numbers. He then talked about the potential adjustment in State Aid. The impact of the FY20
Governor’s Adjusted Budget would be a decrease in revenue of $570,437 and an additional $100,136 in
payments for Teacher retirement. He used a figure for ECS in the amount of $8,866,871. He stated another
potential change in State Aid is the payment of the (TAR) and (LOCIP) Grants totaling a decrease of $19,171.
Including full BOE budget, the overall tax increase is 5.43% on an overall budget increase of 2.81% which
includes $1,577,979 in additional expenditures. Impact of Governor’s budget on the Town Mill Rate is a .79
mill increase or 2.26%. Only addition to the Town budget is the funding of the Town Engineer position.
The Town Manager went into a discussion on the foundation issue at Birch Grove School:
BIRCH GROVE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Foundation impacted by the presence of Pyrrhotite
Structural Engineer has determined that the crumbling foundation is impacting the
integrity of the steel support columns of the building.
The Structural Engineer as well as the School Facilities Unit of the State of Connecticut
has stated that the school should not be occupied in the next school session and that
planning for the replacement of the school should start immediately.
The only option to address the structural concerns of the school based on its size and
method of construction is to demolish the existing structure and replace as new.
The State of Ct has granted this project emergency status which provides us with 52%
reimbursement of costs as well as allows for the waiving of certain bidding requirements to
speed up the process.
Tolland Town Council Special Meeting Minutes March 13, 2019 Page 2 or 2
Estimated cost at this point is 46 million dollars which again will be offset by 52%
reimbursement from the State of Connecticut and possible additional federal assistance. It is
hoped that with final design the cost estimate will be lessened.
Planning work has commenced to determine suitable temporary classroom
arrangements for the next school year
Estimated time of design and construction is two years. FOR THE SAFETY OF
THOSE OCCUPYING BIRCH GROVE SCHOOL THIS REMIDIAL WORK MUST BE
PERFORMED. THE STATE OF CT AS WELL AS LOCAL SCHOOL STAFF HAVE
DETERMINED THERE IS NO ROOM AVAILABLE TO HOUSE STUDENTS
ATTENDING BIRCH GROVE SCHOOL AT ANY OF OUR EXISTING SCHOOL
FACILITIES WITHOUT ADDITIONS. TO ALLOW WORK TO PROCEED AS
SOON AS POSSIBLE A REFERNDUM WILL BE NECESSARY ON May 7, 2019
TO ALLOCATE THE FULL 46 MILLION DOLLARS WHICH WILL BE OFFSET
BY THE RECEIPT OF STATE OR FEDERAL GRANTS. SHOULD THE TOWN BE
RESPONSIBLE FOR 48% OF THE COST OUR DEBT SERVICE WILL INCREASE
STARTING IN 2021 AND DEPENDING ON BORROWING OPTIONS SHOW
INCREASES FOR EITHER THE NEXT FOUR OR FIVE YEARS. MAGNITUDE OF
THE INCREASES IS $100,000-$600,000 ON A YEARLY BASIS AGAIN DEPENDING
UPON THE FINAL BORROWING SCHEDULE
THIS BUDGET MAINTAINS THE FOLLOWING:
One free bulky waste enjoyed by approximately 1600 residents last October at a cost of
$28,588. The four resident troopers of which two were added back in to this fiscal year.
Cost for the four troopers is budgeted at $717,000. Based on recent personnel changes
an additional $45,000 will have to be added to this cost.
The Town Manager went through the amounts needed to get down to certain budget levels below the 5.43% tax
increase. To get to 3% requires $1,081,517 in cuts; 2% requires $1,526,847,
The current unassigned fund balance amount of $7,779,132 assumes that in the last quarter of this fiscal year
$393,340 will be allocated to the BOE 1% reserve fund and $634,857 allocated to the capital projects fund for
BOE capital projects.
The Town Manager also talked about the concern of a high mill rate in comparison to the other Towns.
Throughout the presentation there were questions from Town Council members and statements of residents on
the following topics: Town Engineer position; grand list; revaluation; teacher retirement funding; mill rate with
adjustments; State police statistics; Public Works budget and renovations; save public safety from budget cuts;
Town needs more development.
Meeting adjourned at 8:48 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Wilkinson
Director of Administrative Services

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SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES

TOLLAND TOWN COUNCIL

Also Present: Steven Werbner, Town Manager

Meeting called to order at 7:02 pm.

BIRCH GROVE PRIMARY SCHOOL

THIS BUDGET MAINTAINS THE FOLLOWING:

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