Since the mayor has given the order to stop providing the Town Council and other meetings online, I have decided that in light of fact that there are other towns coming online to do this that I will provide the meetings as I am able to.
It’s your town – get informed and get involved.
Wallingford Inland Wetlands June 2, 2010 - PART 1
Wallingford Inland Wetlands June 2, 2010 - PART 2
Wallingford Inland Wetlands June 2, 2010 - PART 3
Wallingford Inland Wetlands June 2, 2010 - PART 4
Since the mayor has given the order to stop providing the Town Council and other meetings online, I have decided that in light of fact that there are other towns coming online to do this that I will provide the meetings as I am able to.
It’s your town – get informed and get involved.
Wallingford Inland Wetlands April 7, 2010 - PART 1
Wallingford Inland Wetlands April 7, 2010 - PART 2
Town Council Chambers
6:30 P.M
1. Opening Prayer – Father Jay Cretella
2. Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call
3. Consent Agenda
3a. Consider and Approve Tax Refunds (#783 - #793) totaling $8,325.53 Acct. # 001-1000-010-1170 - Tax Collector
3b. Consider and Approve a Transfer in the Amount of $3,000 to Regular Salaries and Wages Acct # 6030-101-1000 from Election Materials $2,935 Acct # 6030-401-4005 and from Overtime $ 65 Acct # 6030-101-1400 - Town Clerk
3c. Acceptance of a Donation and Appropriation of $170 Youth & Social Services Special Fund to Donations Account # 213-1042-070-7010 and to Expenditures Account # 213-3070-600-6000 - Youth & Social Services
3d. Acceptance of a Donation and Appropriation of $380 Youth & Social Services Special Fund to Donations Account # 213-1042-070-7010 and to Expenditures Account # 213-3070-600-6000 - Youth & Social Services
3e. Acceptance of a Donation and Appropriation of $150 Youth & Social Services Special Fund to Donations Account # 213-1042-070-7010 and to Expenditures Account # 213-3070-600-6000 - Youth & Social Services
3f. Acceptance and Appropriation of three (3) Board of Education Grants awarded for an amount greater than included in the original budget – Board of Education
3g. Consider and Approve a Transfer in the Amount of $40,000 to Highway Guard Rail Acct # 001-5010-999-0005-00 from Contingency-General Purpose Acct # 001-7060-800-3190 - Engineering
3h. Consider and Approve the Appointment of David Parent as a regular member of the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission to fulfill the remainder of an unexpired term, which expires 3/20/13 - Chairman Robert Parisi
3i. Consider and approve 2010-11 Bid Waiver List Request for Recording Secretary Services – Planning & Zoning
3j. Approve Minutes of Regular Town Council Meeting of June 8, 2010
3k. Approve Minutes of a Special Town Council Meeting of April 15, 2010
4. Items Removed from the Consent Agenda
5. PUBLIC QUESTION & ANSWER
6. Report from the Economic Development Commission – Richard Nunn, Chairman
7. Conduct a Public Hearing for June 22, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. regarding Neighborhood Assistance List of Projects – Program Planning
8. Consider and Approve a Resolution Authorizing the Mayor to submit the approved list of programs eligible for investment by business firms and to provide such additional information; to execute such other documents as may be required by the Department to accept on behalf of the Town any funds available for those municipal programs on the list; to execute any amendments, rescissions and revisions thereto and to act as the authorized representative of the Town of Wallingford - Program Planning
9. Executive Session pursuant to §1-200 (6)(D) of the Connecticut General Statutes with respect to the purchase, sale and/or leasing of property – Mayor
Since the mayor has given the order to stop providing the Town Council and other meetings online, I have decided that in light of fact that there are other towns coming online to do this that I will provide the meetings as I am able to.
It’s your town – get informed and get involved.
Wallingford Town Council Meeting - April 13, 2010 - PART 1
Wallingford Town Council Meeting - April 13, 2010 - PART 2
Since the mayor has given the order to stop providing the Town Council and other meetings online, I have decided that in light of fact that there are other towns coming online to do this that I will provide the meetings as I am able to.
It’s your town – get informed and get involved.
Wallingford Town Council Meeting - March 9, 2010 – PART 1
Wallingford Town Council Meeting - March 9, 2010 – PART 2
Wallingford Town Council Meeting - March 9, 2010 – PART 3
Last week I needed to travel to Florida for business and I was flying out of JFK. I tend to take flights from New York because I can get the direct flights I need without needing to stop for layovers and connecting flights and so forth.
Generally this means that I have to burn up about eight gallons of gas round trip, pay the tolls on the way and then there’s the cost of long term parking that just went up 20 percent (per day).
The travelling costs for a trip like this (gas, tolls, parking for seven days) is generally about $165.
So for this last trip I decided to try something different.
I got a ride to Union Station in New Haven and I took Metro North to Grand Central in Manhattan. From there I walked a few blocks to the subway and I took it to Jamaica Station. At Jamaica Station I grabbed the AirTrain directly to JFK.
I did the exact opposite for my trip home as well.
The cost for the train ticket to Grand Central was $38.50 round trip and the cost of the subway round trip was $15.00. My total savings was $110.00. If you want to cut $10 for my father’s fuel to Union Station in New Haven you’re still talking about a savings of $100.00.
Now this trip did take me an extra two hours of time each way to allow for train and subway schedules and travel time but the time was my own.
I wasn’t driving my car; I was free to read the paper or work on my laptop or even nap a bit (and I did all three).
Actually on the way down my original departing flight was cancelled so from the train I rebooked my flight. I could have done that from the car while driving but it would have been difficult to do safely. From a passenger seat of the train it went about as simply as possible.
Now if I was travelling with my wife and the kids or with a lot of bags this would obviously not make sense to do and it would actually cost more.
When you consider all of the single commuters out there you can see where the savings are. Not just in personal dollars but in costs from the consumption of fossil fuel and other costs of a single commuter on already overcrowded roads.
The only missing piece to this puzzle is getting from Wallingford to New Haven.
Amtrak only has six to eight trains (depending on the day) that travel the line — half before noon and the other half after. They are long travel passenger trains that generally are not well suited to be used for commuting.
The plan to bring a New Haven to Springfield commuter line is way overdue. There are New Canaan and Waterbury lines that serve the western side of the state in a north/south fashion and then there’s the Shoreline East that serves from the Old Saybrook area westward into New Haven.
There’s a big gap in the coverage of commuters along the I-91 corridor. Something that the New Haven to Springfield commuter line will resolve.
I am going to be headed to a Yankees/ Mets game on Saturday and I am going to take Metro North but I’ll have to park in the Union Station garage. This is a far better solution than driving into the city and try to park but it would be so nice to hop a train in Wallingford and change for the Yankee Clipper in New Haven.
This solution might be a few years away yet but I am one commuter that is looking forward to the arrival.
Eminent domain is the third rail of politics in Wallingford. There is no more thankless task for the public official here than to request a rational discussion of its use, for he has thus waded into a political swamp that is almost impossible to navigate. Within minutes, any sought-after calm, methodical discussion of the subject quickly disintegrates.As Published in the Record Journal Sunday June 13, 2010
By Samaia Hernandez
Record-Journal staff
shernandez@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2266
Follow all the news directly on the Record Journal Website for the most up to date information. www.myrecordjournal.com
Write a letter to the editor letters@record-journal.com
WALLINGFORD — In his first year as superintendent of schools, Salvatore Menzo has found himself in a position many heads of school systems could only wish for: the ability to assemble, and not just inherit, his administration. Last June, former school superintendent Dale Wilson — a 36-year veteran of the system — was handing the baton over to the highly ambitious 38year-old Menzo, just one year removed from completing his doctorate in education at the University of Connecticut, who was hired by a then-Democrat- controlled Board of Education.
Wilson’s departure set in motion a wave of administrative retirements that have allowed Menzo to have a say in filling a total of nine management roles this school year, including the two in his three member Central Office team: assistant superintendents of personnel and instruction.
Though some internal candidates applied for several jobs, all but one were filled with professionals from outside the district, including Parker Farms Principal Michael O’Neill, who came all the way from Northern California. Cindy Lavallette, chairwoman of the English department at Lyman Hall High School, was the only district employee to be promoted in the process to assistant principal of a high school.
The turnover of management roles and out-of-town appointments speak to the district’s new direction. All of the leaders have some, if not ample, experience in a host of initiatives that Menzo charted this year, including federally mandated models for struggling students, assessing student performance and new technology for collecting and analyzing student performance data — all of which will be easier to set in place this fall under the new elementary school reconfiguration, according to school officials.
“All the positions we are filling are from retirements,” Menzo said. “We wanted to replace them with people that definitely have an understanding of where we’d like to go as a district, in terms of professional development, curriculum, instruction. We wanted people who had a breadth of experience.”
Wallingford, being a large suburban school district, has often appealed to seasoned out-of-towners, making it hard for some internal candidates to beat out the competition. And aligning a team of people who share the vision of the top leader is nothing new in the world of public education.
“I found as superintendent, and I think this is still the case, it’s a very attractive school system, so you tend to get people who have done a good job elsewhere,” said town-resident Joseph Cirasuolo, who served a 12-year term as Wallingford’s superintendent and hired more than a handful of administrators during that time. Cirasuolo is the executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.
“Superintendents are trying to find the best people they can find,” he added. “Most of the people I hired were from out of town.”
Ellen Cohn wasn’t even in the market for a new position, let alone working for any single district; she was content consulting with systems across the state, including Wallingford, as they adopted new models such as Scientific Research- Based Interventions, which she helped pioneer in the state. But when Cohn, a consultant with the Capitol Region Education Council in Hartford and a trained social worker, learned that Martin Taylor, the assistant superintendent for instruction, was retiring, she jumped at the opportunity.
“I was a consultant in the district this year and I was very impressed with the open-mindedness of the staff. You don’t find that everywhere,” said Cohn, who was been working with teachers and principals on data team training across Wallingford’s 12 schools this year. “The other big appeal,” she said, “is Sal Menzo. I really like his vision. As an action-oriented person myself, I really like strategic planning.”
Board secretary Michael Votto, who was chairman when Menzo was hired, knows turnover is not uncommon at all in town. It just doesn’t usually happen as quickly as it did this year, he said. “I think a little bit of it is just plain coincidence,” Votto said. Since there were few internal applicants, the board and Menzo focused on finding people who were in line with new initiatives and district goals.
“There are two schools of thought,” said Chet Miller, a Republican member of the board. “Like a lot of people, I’d like to think that we’d promote from within, but there’s another school of thought that bringing outside ideas, perspectives, experiences can be good for a school system. I kind of go along with that latter school of thought.”
With pressure from the federal government and mandates including No Child Left Behind, it only makes sense for superintendents to assemble administrations of people who understand their goals and objectives, said Roch Girard, president of the Connecticut Federation of School Administrators, a roughly 1,000-member union of department and school heads. In the end, keeping up with all of the mandates will fall on administrators, he said. “Nothing is simple in education anymore,” Girard said. Menzo admits that with the retirement of almost 10 administrators, the district will not be able to replace the history it is losing, not to mention the rapport with parents, students and teachers, but he’s confident about taking the school system to the next level.
“It’s about the best fit for the school district,” Menzo said, “and moving the district forward.”
Town Council Chambers
6:30 P.M
1. Opening Prayer – Reverend Dean Warburton, First Congregational Church
2. Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call
3. Consent Agenda
3a. Consider and Approve Tax Refunds (#768 - #782) totaling $6,075.52 Acct. # 001-1000-010-1170 - Tax Collector
3b. WITHDRAWN - Consider and Approve a Resolution Authorizing the Mayor to submit the applications for Neighborhood Assistance applications to the State Department of Revenue Services – Program Planning
3c. Set a Public Hearing for June 22, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. regarding Neighborhood Assistance List of Projects – Program Planning
3d. Acceptance of a Donation and Appropriation of $38 Youth & Social Services Special Fund to Donations Account # 213-1042-070-7010 and to Expenditures Account # 213-3070-600-6000 - Youth & Social Services
3e. Consider and Approve a Resolution Authorizing the Mayor to Execute and file and to provide additional information as necessary to Execute a Youth Service Bureau Grant with the State of Connecticut in the amount of $30,000 for FY 2010-2011 – Youth & Social Services.
3f. Consider and Approve a Resolution Authorizing the Mayor to Execute and file and to provide additional information as necessary to for application with the State Department of Education for a Grant Request for financial assistance in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for FY 2010-2011 – Youth & Social Services.
3g. Consider and Approve a Transfer in the Amount of $10,000 to Purchase Professional Services-Tree Contract Acct # 001-5015-901-9023 from Materials & Supplies Acct # 001-5015-401-4100 – Director Public Works
3h. Consider and Approve a Budget Amendment in the Amount of $40,000 to Outside Contractors Acct # 001-2005-101-1800 and to Charges for Current Services Acct # 1065-060-6020– Police Chief
3i. Approve Minutes of Regular Town Council Meeting of May 25, 2010
4. Items Removed from the Consent Agenda
5. PUBLIC QUESTION & ANSWER
6. Report from the Economic Development Commission – Richard Nunn, Chairman
7. Consider and Approve a Transfer in the Amount of $41,908 FY 2010-2011 To Regular Salaries & Wages Acct # 001-7030-101-1000 from Contingency- General Purpose Acct # 001-7060-800-3190 – Program Planning Director – Program Planning
8. Consider and Approve Bid Waiver List for FY 2010-2011 - Mayor
9. Consider and Approve a Budget Amendment in the Amount of $66,000 to Maintenance of Treatment Equipment Acct # 461-8640-652 to Source of Funds- Appropriation from Cash – Sewer Division
10. Consider and Approve Bid Waiver Request for hiring a project manager whose duties would be to develop specifications for bidding energy saving measures pursuant to the Nxegen Study – Board of Education
11. Consider and approve a Transfer in the Amount of $654 to Wireless Microphone Acct # 001-1303-999-9910 from Regular Salaries & Wages Acct # 001-3020-101- 1000– Program Planning
12. Executive Session pursuant to §1-200 (6)(D) of the Connecticut General Statutes with respect to the purchase, sale and/or leasing of property – Mayor
13. Executive Session pursuant to Sec. 1-200 (6)(B) of the Connecticut General Statutes regarding strategy and negotiations with respect to the pending tax appeal matter of Infinity Route 5 Limited Partnership v. Town of Wallingford – Town Attorney
14. Motion to consider and approve the settlement of the Infinity Route 5 Limited Partnership v. Town of Wallingford as discussed in Executive Session.
