Mayor pitches $145.1 million budget; Dickinson’s plan would divide firefighting, EMS duties at Fire Department

As published in the Record Journal Tuesday April 3, 2012

By Mary Ellen Godin
Record-Journal staff
mgodin@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2255

WALLINGFORD — On Monday Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. proposed a $145.1 million budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year that reflects a 2.59-percent increase over current year spending and reductions in state and federal grants.

The budget, if approved, would mean a tax hike of 0.76 mills or 3 percent over the current budget, bringing the tax rate to 25.98 mills. The owner of a home with an assessed value of $191,000 would pay an increase of $145 annually, according to Dickinson and Finance Director James Bowes.

“The realities of high unemployment, less revenue, new unfunded governmental mandates, unrealistic collective bargaining arbitration decisions and serious budgetary difficulties at state and federal government levels, render local budget decision-making extremely difficult,” Dickinson read in a prepared statement.

Growth in the town’s grand list will generate about $900,000 in additional revenue at the current tax rate, but the town had to contend with a $258,000 reduction in state and federal aid. This left only $642,000 in revenue to pay for $5.2 million in departmental requests. In addition to the tax hike, taking $4 million out of the town’s rainy day fund also helped cover spending.

Department heads asked for a 3.7-percent increase in spending. Dickinson said, had he not shaved $1.6 million off department requests, the budget increase would have been 3.7 percent, instead of 2.59. School spending increased 3.20 percent for a total of $89.6 million in spending. Schools lost $1.3 million when a federal grant was eliminated.

Dickinson said the spending plan effectively balances the need to provide a level of service that residents can afford.

In a bold move to possibly generate more revenue and provide greater accountability, the mayor proposes splitting the Fire Department into two divisions: the Fire Rescue Division and the Emergency Medical Service Transport Division.

The EMS or ambulance service, which now has one ambulance running full time, would add another ambulance during peak hours instead of allowing outside vendors such as Hunter’s, AMR or Nelson Ambulance to pick up the added calls and increased revenue.

Fire Department records show an increasing number of medical response calls in the past three years, a trend that’s expected to continue.

The EMS division would be funded by the adoption of a proposed ambulance enterprise fund ordinance. Revenues will come from user and insurance fees to cover the cost of ambulance transports. The town’s contract with an outside billing company is set to expire. But it would also add a collection agency to help it collect delinquent user fees under the proposal. The goal is to make the EMS division as self sufficient as the town’s water and sewer utilities. The mayor’s budget calls for spending $2 million on the EMS division and $5.6 million on the Fire Rescue Division.

Government spending — which includes some education costs — totals $55.5 million, $889,018 million more than last year or 1.53 percent. Increases included $225,000 for health insurance and $70,000 for the next revaluation.

Dickinson criticized the federal government for grant programs that gave municipalities money last year, to protect teacher jobs, but withheld it this year.

“They should make it for capital improvement,” Dickinson said. “Not do it for one year and not do it for another. The feds are out of touch. They’re raising financial havoc at the local level.”

The town’s Water Division budget includes a rate increase of 3.5 percent to increase revenues and help pay the cost of some major projects at crossings of Interstate 91, engineering services and storage and wage agreements.

The sewer division will also increase its revenues 10.3 percent through a rate increase. The department’s expenses have increased 4.1 percent due to wage increases, a siphon project and equipment replacement.

The budget also allows for funding the assistant town planner position in the Planning Department. There had been some concern that the economic downturn had eliminated the need for two people in the office. But after interviewing acting Town Planner Kacie Castello, Dickinson decided to keep the assistant planner spot, while filling the vacant town planner position. The office handles all Planning & Zoning Commission staff work, regulations and meetings, in addition to Zoning Board of Appeals and zoning enforcement matters.

“I do not believe one person can handle the nature and issues that surround ZBA and planning,” Dickinson said. “We will have times when there is no one there.”

Republican Town Councilor John LeTourneau said that, at first glance, he was satisfied with the mayor’s budget.

“I like what I see but I want to dig deeper,” LeTourneau said. “The EMT and having that extra ambulance available is something the Town Council has discussed.

Democratic Town Councilor Jason Zandri said he’s anxious to see what was cut from the education budget and also wants to take a closer look at the spending plan before commenting.

Sarah Nathan / Record-Journal – Photo courtesy of the Record Journal.

Wallingford Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr., center, answers questions about his 2012-13 budget while Finance Director John Le-Tourneau, left, Council Chairman Robert Parisi, second from right, and Comptroller James Bowes, right, skim through the budget overview in a conference room at Town Hall on Monday.

Councilors, mayor spar over online technology

As published in the Record Journal, Wednesday March 14, 2012

By Dan Ivers
Record-Journal staff
divers@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2275

WALLINGFORD — Town councilors sparred with Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. Tuesday night over whether to post information about the town budget and local properties on the town’s website.

Councilors Craig Fishbein, Jason Zandri, John LeTourneau and John Sullivan criticized Dickinson’s resistance to posting his budget proposal, which is due April 1. Dickinson argued that the document would be available on paper, and a lack of demand for it over the years proves there is no justification for the time that employees would need to post an electronic copy on the website.

“I don’t understand where the need is. Who is calling for this?” Dickinson said. “The information is available to people if they want it. Every duty, everything that each department is involved with, takes time. We have less staff — any addition of duties comes with the burden of justification.”

Technology Director Donald Rowe was summoned by the council to explain what posting the budget might require, and he estimated his office would spend about 10 minutes uploading an existing electronic copy.

Last week, Dickinson agreed to post an electronic copy of the current operating budget online, but he repeated his opposition to the posting of his proposal for 2012-13. He said that compiling the documents places additional responsibilities on the town’s finance department and he is concerned about setting a precedent.

The bipartisan group of councilors, however, pushed back, saying the move would show taxpayers that the town is committed to transparency.

“This is an opportunity for people who care about their town, and pay their taxes on time, to get an idea of where their money is going,” said Sullivan, a Democrat.

Dickinson is the town’s executive officer and is not obligated to follow recommendations of the Town Council. He said he intends to weigh the benefits of posting the document against the burdens on town employees, but he reiterated his opposition to furthering technology simply to “keep up with the Joneses.”

“It’s got to meet a useful process. It’s got to meet a useful endeavor for the people,” he said. “I obviously do not march to the step of perhaps the rest of the world on this issue ... We don’t jump just because someone else does it. We take our time and think it through.”

Earlier in the meeting, councilors sparred with Dickinson over his recommendation to endorse an application by the South Central Council of Governments for a grant to help establish a regional property database among its 15 member towns. The database would include information on individual properties in each town, as well as general information on local highways, zoning, demographics and economic development.

Dickinson said the town would not release information on individual properties, mostly out of concern for citizens whose addresses are protected, such as police officers, judges and Department of Correction employees.

Some councilors objected to the limited participation, saying much of the same information is already available through non-government websites, and that spending money to publicize such a limited amount of data is not worthwhile.

“Either the Internet is evil or it is not,” said Fishbein, a Republican. “This seems like something that, at least in its limited form, is of no benefit.” Zandri, a Democrat, criticized Dickinson’s position as a stand against technology, and said the town would be missing out on a rare opportunity.

“I presume that you are probably as resistant to a keyboard as somebody with a bag of peanuts that has a peanut allergy,” he said. “I think to not take the opportunity to expand on and add to a service when it costs us nothing is a shame.”

The council ultimately voted 5-4 not to endorse the grant application, with Nicholas Economopoulos, Robert Parisi, Rosemary Rascati and Vincent Cervoni casting votes in favor.

Councilors, mayor spar over online technology

As published in the Record Journal, Wednesday March 14, 2012

By Dan Ivers
Record-Journalstaff
divers@record-journal.com 
(203) 317-2275
WALLINGFORD — Town councilors sparred with Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. Tuesday night over whether to post information about the town budget and local properties on the town’s website.

Councilors Craig Fishbein, Jason Zandri, John LeTourneau and John Sullivan criticized Dickinson’s resistance to posting his budget proposal, which is due April 1. Dickinson argued that the document would be available on paper, and a lack of demand for it over the years proves there is no justification for the time that employees would need to post an electronic copy on the website.

“I don’t understand where the need is. Who is calling for this?” Dickinson said. “The information is available to people if they want it. Every duty, everything that each department is involved with, takes time. We have less staff — any addition of duties comes with the burden of justification.”

Technology Director Donald Rowe was summoned by the council to explain what posting the budget might require, and he estimated his office would spend about 10 minutes uploading an existing electronic copy.

Last week, Dickinson agreed to post an electronic copy of the current operating budget online, but he repeated his opposition to the posting of his proposal for 2012-13. He said that compiling the documents places additional responsibilities on the town’s finance department and he is concerned about setting a precedent.

The bipartisan group of councilors, however, pushed back, saying the move would show taxpayers that the town is committed to transparency.

“This is an opportunity for people who care about their town, and pay their taxes on time, to get an idea of where their money is going,” said Sullivan, a Democrat.

Dickinson is the town’s executive officer and is not obligated to follow recommendations of the Town Council. He said he intends to weigh the benefits of posting the document against the burdens on town employees, but he reiterated his opposition to furthering technology simply to “keep up with the Joneses.”

“It’s got to meet a useful process. It’s got to meet a useful endeavor for the people,” he said. “I obviously do not march to the step of perhaps the rest of the world on this issue ... We don’t jump just because someone else does it. We take our time and think it through.”

Earlier in the meeting, councilors sparred with Dickinson over his recommendation to endorse an application by the South Central Council of Governments for a grant to help establish a regional property database among its 15 member towns. The database would include information on individual properties in each town, as well as general information on local highways, zoning, demographics and economic development.

Dickinson said the town would not release information on individual properties, mostly out of concern for citizens whose addresses are protected, such as police officers, judges and Department of Correction employees.

Some councilors objected to the limited participation, saying much of the same information is already available through non-government websites, and that spending money to publicize such a limited amount of data is not worthwhile.

“Either the Internet is evil or it is not,” said Fishbein, a Republican. “This seems like something that, at least in its limited form, is of no benefit.” Zandri, a Democrat, criticized Dickinson’s position as a stand against technology, and said the town would be missing out on a rare opportunity.

“I presume that you are probably as resistant to a keyboard as somebody with a bag of peanuts that has a peanut allergy,” he said. “I think to not take the opportunity to expand on and add to a service when it costs us nothing is a shame.”

The council ultimately voted 5-4 not to endorse the grant application, with Nicholas Economopoulos, Robert Parisi, Rosemary Rascati and Vincent Cervoni casting votes in favor.

District to study use of student-owned technology

A reminder of what is missing from Wallingford. I am not suggesting, necessarily, that we have to keep up with the Smiths and the Joneses but we should be doing what we can to keep ahead of the Flintstones

As published in the Record Journal, Tuesday March 13, 2012

By Kimberly Primicerio
Record-Journal staff
kprimicerio@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2279

SOUTHINGTON — Over the next six weeks, parents, students and educators serving on the school district’s technology advisory committee will research the use of student- owned technology in classrooms.

The committee found out on Monday the work it faces. The group will look into the district’s current technology policy and will decide if anything needs to be changed regarding student use of cellphones, e-readers and computer tablets in the classroom.

The school system is trying to determine if any of this increasingly popular technology should be embraced in the classroom as an aid to the education process. By April 20, School Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi Jr. hopes to have the group present its findings and recommendations.

“We’ll have some deep conversations,” Erardi said at the committee’s first meeting, at Plantsville School. “It’s a simple task, but it’s complicated.”

He said it’s possible the committee could establish no new practices, but he doesn’t think that would be a good outcome. Taking controversial positions on technology is OK, Erardi said.

Before research tasks were divided among committee members, the group looked at school technology protocol and shared opinions.

Suzanne Hodges, a science teacher at the high school, said student-owned electronics are stored in lockers and are not to be used during the school day. Exceptions are made in some classes for tablets and e-readers.

Debbie Miller, a technology analyst at the elementary schools, called the existing policies antiquated.

“The cellphone policy is unrealistic,” said Cheryl Hilton-Campbell, a committee member who is PTO president at Kelley School.

Hilton-Campbell said that while the cellphones shouldn’t be on and should be stored in lockers, that’s not what’s really going on in the schools.

“I think we need to establish ethics on how to use the technology responsibly,” she said. “The technology needs to be used, but it’s vital to use it the right way.”

Spencer Richards, PTO co-president at Kennedy Middle School, agreed and said children need to be learning and using the technology.

As the conversation continued, it came out that schools prohibit the use of cellphones but many allow e-readers. Teachers are finding out that many students, even children in elementary school, have their own e-readers.

Pam Aldi, assistant principal at Kennedy Middle School, said that as long as teachers are monitoring students, the e-readers help students with reading. It makes them feel comfortable at their reading level since other students can’t see what they’re reading. Text can also be enlarged and sentences can be highlighted, she said.

Abigail Harris, a sophomore at Southington High School, said technology use is inevitable, and students, faculty and administrators need to move on together.

After the exchange of opinions, committee members were assigned jobs. One group will talk with personnel in other school districts to find out how they embrace technology and what works for them.

Another group, including students from the high school, was tasked with coming up with survey questions. Such questions will ask teachers and students if they have certain devices and what they use them for. The surveys will give the committee numbers to work with and a good idea of how ubiquitous technology has become.

Erardi said the group’s mission is not to create a new policy through its findings and suggestions, but to come up with practices. The practices will be presented to the Board of Education and, if the board finds them appropriate, a new policy on technology will be crafted.

The committee will meet again on April 2.

Wallingford Fireworks 2012 campaign: Week three collections net another $1,194.68; the 2012 campaign total stands at $4,567.07

Good morning everyone.

This week is going to be an exciting week for the Wallingford Fireworks Fund and all her supporters. Please keep an eye out on the blog this week for additional announcements.

Until then, totals are in from our week three collections are in and we collected an additional $1,194.68.

Our full 2012 campaign is to collect $30,000.00 before the Mayor’s deadline of 5PM on Friday May 25th 2012.

Our current totals for the event stand at $4,567.07 (oh for the want of an additional eighty two cents to make that a sequential total; had I known that was going to be the remaining balance ahead of time I would have thrown it in).

I am still waiting on Mr. Bowes, Wallingford’s Comptroller, to let me know what the costs to the town services are as that is the first of the totals we need to take care of before we can even consider paying for the fireworks themselves.
In 2011 those costs were:

Police Dept. Overtime $7,750.00
Fire Dept. Overtime $1,900.00
Port-o-lets $990.00
Fire Marshall $850.00
Public Works $330.00
Board of Ed $330.00

Town Services 2011 total $12,150.00

I am sure that amount is probably 2 to 5 percent higher this year so I am planning for about $13,000.00

So that is where we are right now.

Today is Tuesday the 20th and my father is supposed to be out at the Yalesville Dunkin Donuts on Main Street (Route 150) to collect for us. Stop by and see him.

I am working all this week in New York City (I am on the train as I write this) so I am unavailable to help until the weekend. Over the weekend we are again planning to be at the Wallingford Landfill and the Wallingford Recycling Center.

We are always looking for additional volunteers to stand out and collect donations.

We have slots available at the Dunkin Donuts here in town on most mornings. While we like to cover a full morning rush hour shift from 6:30AM to 9:30AM if all you have is an hour to spare and want to help we’ll take it.

We’ve also sent out the letters to all the donors from the past two years and we have gotten a few checks to date (they are already deposited and in our running total).

If you’re a newcomer and want to donate you can by sending your tax deductible donation to:

Wallingford Fireworks Fund
c/o Jason Zandri
35 Lincoln Drive EXT
Wallingford, CT 06492

As always, if anyone has any questions of me please feel free to reach out by calling 860 614 6069 or via email at Jason@Zandri.net. (Generally speaking, I can answer email faster than a phone call because of my work schedule).

 

PLEASE – stay tuned this week for a major announcement here on the blog and I would expect in the Record Journal as well.

More thoughts on the regional property database and State Supreme Court case, Commissioner of Public Safety v. Freedom of Information Commission.

As a follow up to the Record Journal story Mayor backs regional database, but without property data (cross posted to my blog) and my response follow up on my Town Council page where I offered my own take on the subject and just how much information is already out there, I have been discussing this with a number of people to get their thoughts, feedback and input.

On person I had an email exchange with offered to me a link to the SUMMARY OF COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY VS. FOIC which I am going to review. (A quick “thank you” to them for their thoughts and these points of reference; we have different mindsets here but I need that to remain as objective as possible).

The full majority opinion is available at the following link: http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR301/301CR37.pdf. The concurrence is available here: http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR301/301CR37A.pdf

One point that was made to me was “suppose you're a member of a protected class under the statute (also referenced in the Supreme Court decision I sent you). If I, as a private citizen or corporation, make your home address public, nobody can do anything to me as far as I know. If, however, I am the town assessor and make your address public, I'm violating state law.”

So I am going to see where my thoughts are to issues like that after I read the ruling. The bottom line here – I believe that currently I could walk into the town assessor's office right now and get data relative to those individuals that are part protected class under the statute (I might be mistaken – I am going to review and I will let you know). The town assessor is already making that information public if I walk in – if my thought process is correct, how is he or she suddenly in violation if that information is available online?

I suppose this is one of those situation where “the devil is in the details.”

I’ll have to look at it and follow up.

Mayor backs regional database, but without property data

As published in the Record Journal Saturday March 10, 2012

By Dan Ivers
Record-Journal staff
divers@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2275

WALLINGFORD — Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. is recommending that the town endorse a grant application that would help create a regional property database, but he will not allow the release of the town’s records.

The South Central Regional Council of Governments is applying for the $591,028 grant from the state’s Office of Policy and Management, with the intention of creating a central database for property information in its 15 member towns.

Dickinson has recommended that the Town Council endorse the agency’s proposal, but said Friday he objects to the posting of information on individual properties in town.

“I’m not sure why people in Russia or China should be able to look up what your property looks like. I just don’t see the benefit,” he said.

Town Councilor John Le-Tourneau, who co-chaired the council’s Information Technology Committee, said he wanted to hear more about Dickinson’s reasoning, but doesn’t understand his reluctance to take full advantage of the grant.

“We’re not plowing new ground. Other towns do it and they’ve done it successfully for a number of years,” he said. “On the surface, I don’t see the problem.”

Eight of the regional council’s 15 member towns, including Meriden, already provide online access to property records through technology called Geographic Information Systems. The systems have details on each property, including photos, assessed value, owner information and year of construction. In Wallingford, however, people have to go to the tax assessor’s office to get the same information.

If the grant is awarded, the regional council would create a database for Wallingford, North Haven, New Haven, Madison, Orange, East Haven and Woodbridge, and expand existing programs in the other eight towns to include information on demographics, economic development, environmental features and transportation. All the improvements would come at no cost to the towns.

“Those municipalities without a web-based GIS program will have access to a dynamic regional system, while municipalities with a web-based GIS program will gain access to new data layers,” the grant application reads.

Dickinson said he recommended that the council endorse the grant so the additional information on demographics, transportation and economic development could be included, but he said he will not release any data on individual properties for inclusion.

He cited concern over a recent Supreme Court decision that barred towns from posting information that includes the addresses of public safety officials, such as police officers, judges and correction officers.

“If someone can tell me how we can guarantee there won’t be privacy issues, that’s fine. But no one’s been able to tell me that,” he said.

Last year, Dickinson rejected a recommendation from the Information Technology Committee to make property records available online for an estimated cost of $6,000. He cited many of the same concerns, including the Supreme Court decision, as his reasoning.

Should the grant be approved, it would take about two years for the database to be launched.

Saturday March 10, 2012: Join Susan Bysiewicz in Wallingford

Please Join

Event Chair
Samuel Carmody

And Host Committee

Robert & Kathy Avery  ·  Ernest Childers  ·  Patricia DeRenzo  ·  Amie Dighello   Vincenzo DiNatale  ·  Hon. Nicholas Economopoulos  ·  Valerie Ford  ·  William Fritz   Kevin Goodrich  ·  Karen Grava  ·  Robin Hettrick  ·  Barbara Kapi  ·  Nick Kern       Jeffrey Kohan  ·  William Lanzoni  ·  Edward Loughlin  ·  Howard Marshall 
Carolyn Massoni  ·  Hon. Mary Mushinsky  ·  Ronald Piazza  ·  Joyce Quigley           Bryan Rivard  ·  Richard Rizzo  ·  Kaitlyn Romania  ·  Larry Russo  ·  Joseph Severino · Carmen Spiteri  ·  Vincent Testa  ·  James & Betty Torre  ·  Hon. Jason Zandri 

For an evening with
Susan Bysiewicz
Former Secretary of the State and Candidate for U.S. Senate

At the home of
The Carmody Family
210 High Street, Wallingford, CT
Saturday, March 10, 2012
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm

Donations are welcomed but not required

Please RSVP to Alex Florek at AFlorek@susanforct.com or 860-343-1585

Susan Bysiewicz for Connecticut Can Accept Up To $7500 Per Individual.

Contributions or gifts to Susan Bysiewicz for Connecticut are not tax deductible.

If you require accommodations to attend this event, please contact the campaign.

Plan to put mayor’s budget online renews Wallingford tech debate

As published in the Record Journal Tuesday March 6, 2012

By Dan Ivers
Record-Journal staff
divers@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2275

WALLINGFORD — The Town Council has engaged in a brief debate over whether to post Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr.’s budget proposal on the town’s website after it is unveiled next month.

In the context of a discussion about Councilor Craig Fishbein’s plan to include details on changes in spending for each town department on annual tax bills, fellow Republican John LeTourneau proposed posting the budget online. Dickinson, at the council meeting last week, voiced his opposition to the idea, saying he doubted many residents would view the document and questioned whether it might occupy technical staff’s time.

While placing documents related to the budget process is commonplace in most towns, Wallingford is far from typical when it comes to technology. Internet access is available in a handful of Town Hall offices, but only where state or federal law requires it.

Similar debates are nothing new in Wallingford, where councilors and employees are split on Dickinson’s stringent attitude toward technical advancements.

“I agree that not every employee in Town Hall needs a terminal on their desk,” Le-Tourneau said. “But when we have the town clerk’s office having to go up to the third floor to check an e-mail account, it’s absolutely ludicrous.”

Former Town Planner Linda Bush, who retired last week, called the policy “very frustrating” during a recent appearance on local public access television, saying employees at Town Hall wasted a significant amount of time waiting to use two Internet-enabled computers. On Monday, Dickinson said he believed the town would be able to accommodate Le-Tourneau’s request, but defended his approach toward adding any additional duties for employees.

“The question is time constraints. It’s a question of what has to be accomplished,” he said. “If we had a lot of people asking for the budget and we were spending a lot of money mailing it out to them, you’d look for ways to avoid that cost. We don’t have that. We’re responding to something that probably isn’t a problem.”

Dickinson’s approach to technology is nearly the opposite of that of another local chief town executive, Southington Town Manager Garry Brumback. In his first two budgets, Brumback has set aside $1.15 million for systems upgrades and to transfer work formerly done on paper to computer. He said he plans to expand the number of online and computerized services in Town Hall over the next few years to mirror the online services already prevalent in the private sector, envisioning a virtual Town Hall “My hope is that in three years, people will forget they only had access to Town Hall through brick and mortar,” Brumback said last week.

His end goal is for most Town Hall business to be completed online — eliminating the need for most people to visit Town Hall unless they choose to do so.

In 2010, the Wallingford Town Council formed an Information Technology Committee, which met several times to discuss potential improvements.

The group eventually passed on a report to Dickinson that recommended an audit and cost-benefit analysis of the town’s telephone systems, as well as an effort to post property records available in the assessor’s office on the town website.

Both suggestions failed to move beyond the discussion phase, however, and the Informational Technology Committee appears to have been disbanded. It has not met in nearly a year, and co-chairs Fishbein and LeTourneau said it is unlikely to be reformed.

Instead, the council will likely deal with technology-related issues, such as that regarding posting the budget proposal online, on an individual basis. The issue was tabled and will be revisited at its meeting next week, and Le-Tourneau said he was confident he would have enough support to pass the measure.

Jason Zandri, a newly elected Democrat, said he believed the resistance to a move as simple as uploading an already completed PDF document was evidence of a larger aversion to technology, rather than a decision about money or employee efficiency.

“For him, it’s a principle thing,” he said. “It’s shortsighted. We can sit there and argue all day how many people are going to access this online, but if we don’t put it up there, it won’t be any more than zero.”

For some councilors, however, a desire to have the budget online does not equate to total disagreement with Dickinson’s wider approach. Fishbein said that he supports the posting for the sake of public transparency, but values close inspection of any move that might require some investment of taxpayer funds.

Dickinson “is very frugal and I think he is the best protector of our taxpayer dollars,” he said. “He is certainly willing to have a conversation. His question always comes around to ‘Show me the benefit or the cost savings to the town.’ ”

Attack on McCully provokes surprise and anger

As published in the Record Journal Thursday March 1, 2012

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff

rblair@record-journal.com 

(203) 317-2225 

WALLINGFORD — Several town councilors and the mayor said Wednesday they were surprised by a councilor’s decision to publicly level accusations of misconduct by the director of the Department of Public Works during Tuesday’s council meeting.

Nicholas Economopoulos, a Democrat who is planning to run for mayor this year, accused Henry McCully’s staff of cutting down healthy trees and selling the wood and of removing a tree from a town worker’s private property as a favor. McCully denies the accusations.

“I don’t cut people favors,” he said Wednesday.

Economopoulos’ accusations came when McCully appeared before the council Tuesday night to request a budget transfer for tree removal. Council Chairman Robert Parisi, a Republican, said it wasn’t the proper time to make such allegations.

McCully called Economopoulos’ comments “inappropriate and baseless.”

“I don’t want to get involved in politics. ... I want to put my energy into running my department,” he said.

McCully said that while he doesn’t run a perfect operation, he doesn’t deserve to be called out for misconduct.

“I don’t think it’s a deserved character assassination,” he said. “I’ve been here 29 years, I’m not hiding anything.”

“It was very inappropriate,” said Republican Councilor John LeTourneau. “Henry came for the transfer. That was the topic, not calling him out on alleged wrongdoings. It’s not the venue to do that. Those questions could have been asked by a phone call, he didn’t need to bring it out.”

Economopoulos said Wednesday that he was giving McCully an opportunity to answer the questions in public, and accuses McCully of lying about the two incidents. He said he plans to present evidence at a future meeting.

“I already know for a fact that wood was taken out of our town parks, and he’s denying that,” Economopoulos said. “I’m getting all my ducks in a row, and I’m going to get it on the agenda and prove that.”

Democratic Councilor John Sullivan said he had no comment on Economopoulos’ actions during the meeting.

Economopoulos has spent several months requesting documents and gathering information about the activity of the Public Works Department. He said it’s part of his mission to make town government more efficient and accountable.
Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr., a Republican, said that he’s willing to listen to Economopoulos, but that the meeting wasn’t the proper channel to make the accusations.

“If he feels that he has information of wrongdoing, we want to know about it,” Dickinson said.

But he admitted that it’s “difficult to respond at a public meeting when you don’t know the issue until it’s voiced.”

“At a meeting like that, there’s no way to be prepared,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson said that the two instances had already been investigated by the town and he didn’t think there had been sufficient information to justify accusing McCully or his staff of any wrongdoing. The tree removal occurred three years ago, McCully said.

Councilor Jason Zandri, a Democrat, said that he thought Economopoulos would be best advised to raise the questions at a future council meeting, after an item has been placed on the agenda.

“This is an ongoing thing he’s investigating, and I think he should bring it up at a future point,” he said.

Zandri said that McCully was prepared to discuss the budget transfer but may have not had explanations available.

Parisi said he tries to keep council meetings civil, and in his years on the panel, he hasn’t seen a situation that played out quite the same way.

“We have rules that cover being nice, we may have to review that,” he said.

Parisi said that he was caught off guard by the accusations, and that they were made with no backup.

“Most of the items on the agenda have some backup information,” he said. “To say someone is acting irresponsible should be backed up.”

LeTourneau said the council has the right to ask questions of department heads but it isn’t there to micromanage.

“We’re not their boss,” he said. “The mayor is their boss. A lot is up to the mayor or the Personnel Department.”

Money transferred again for tree removal

As published in the Record Journal Wednesday February 29, 2012

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff

rblair@record-journal.com 

(203) 317-2225

WALLINGFORD — A budget transfer of $35,000 for tree removal led to more than a half hour of debate during Tuesday night’s Town Council meeting about the activities of the Public Works Department.

Public Works Director Henry McCully appeared before the Town Council for the third time this fiscal year asking for a transfer of money to pay for contracted tree services. McCully said Tropical Storm Irene and the late October snowstorm contributed to the increased need for money.

“These storms have led to increased activity removing trees,” he said. “We have trees that are damaged, or with hanging limbs. We have to go until July 1 of this year, and there’s no money left in the budget.”

McCully had transferred $25,000 to the account twice. McCully said the money was for the whole removal of dead and diseased trees that are considered hazardous. Public works employees use bucket trucks to trim trees and will remove smaller ones, but typically don’t remove larger ones.

“As practice we don’t take down large trees,” he said.

But Town Councilor Nicholas Economopoulos, a Democrat, questioned whether the money was needed, and asked McCully to produce a list of the trees that he wanted to remove.

“I think there could be a different solution than having $35,000 come out of the account for materials and supplies,” he said. “To be responsible councilors, we should have a list of the trees.”

Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said it isn’t practical to require McCully to produce a list to the council.

“I’m not sure that’s providing the service we want to provide to the public,” Dickinson said.

Economopoulos, who has been recently requesting documents about the activity of the Public Works Department, asked McCully about a tree that was removed from Marcus Cooke Memorial Park. Economopoulos said that the tree was healthy. He went on to accuse McCully’s staff of cutting healthy trees and selling the wood.

“You know what I’m implying, that they’re cutting good trees and using them for firewood,” Economopoulos said.

Economopoulos also accused Mc-Cully of removing a tree from a town employee’s private property.

“I’m implying that he’s a town worker, and you cut him a favor,” he said.

McCully denied the charges, and Town Council Chairman Robert Parisi said that council meeting aren’t the right venue to raise such accusations.

The $35,000 was taken from money originally budgeted for salt.

“We haven’t had to purchase a lot of salt,” McCully said. “I think we can get through March safely.”

The transfer was approved by a 8-1 vote with Economopoulos casting the lone dissenting vote.

McCully said that the tree-removal budget has ballooned in the last two fiscal years due to the large amount of snow in early 2011 and the two storms at the year’s end. He expected to ask for only $70,000 for the account going forward.

Wallingford PZC to revisit revitalization

As published in the Record Journal Wednesday February 22, 2012

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225

WALLINGFORD — The Planning and Zoning Commission plans to revive discussion on a downtown revitalization plan that was shelved after it met lukewarm response from the Town Council in December 2010.

The plan calls for a 23.3-acre Incentive Housing Zone that would encompass parts of Hall Avenue, Quinnipiac Street, North Cherry Street, Meadow Street and the intersection of North Colony and Center streets. Allowable densities would be increased to attract developers to build retail and housing similar to West Hartford’s popular Blue Back Square, which opened in 2007.

The zone would allow a maximum of 361 housing units. Drawings of the proposed units include retail and restaurants on the first floor with the upper two or three floors composed of apartments or offices. Twenty percent of the units in the zone must be affordable — classified as those targeted at people who make 80 percent of the area median income — and the housing must meet per-acre density requirements.

Wallingford received a $50,000 planning grant from the state in April 2008.

Towns can qualify for incentives of up to $2,000 for each unit allowed to be built in an Incentive Housing Zone, up to $2,000 for every multifamily unit building permit issued and up to $5,000 for every single-family permit.

A public hearing originally scheduled for Monday was canceled, but Town Planner Linda Bush said the planning commission would be bringing the issue back up in the coming months and seeking input from the mayor and the council. Bush said that the commission doesn’t need an affirmative vote from the council to amend the zoning regulations.

Jim Fitzsimmons, a Democratic PZC member, said that while not required, support from the council was important.

“We don’t make decisions in a vacuum,” he said. “We’re appointed by the council; we’re all on the same team.”

Bush, who is retiring on March 1 after 28 years as town planner, has long been a proponent of the plan.

“Nobody invests money in that neighborhood,” Bush said. “We want to change that. We want to expand the retail. We’d like to see it a Center Street-type district.”

The plan remains largely unchanged from the one that resulted in a 4-4 vote by the council in 2010, though some parking was added. Councilors Vincent Cervoni and John LeTourneau, both Republicans, and Democrats Vincent Testa and John Sullivan supported the plan at the 2010 meeting. Republican Chairman Robert Parisi joined fellow GOP Councilors Rosemary Rascati, Craig Fishbein and former Councilor Jerry Farrell Jr. in opposing the plan.

Newly elected Councilor Jason Zandri, a Democrat, said he is “cautiously optimistic” about the proposal.

“I need to get deeper into it,” he said. “I want to talk to some of the downtown people. It’s good to hear what the people have to say.” The proposed development would take place in the area around the new train station on the Springfield, Mass.-New Haven commuter line. The new regulations are purposed to “promote the development of a transit-oriented, pedestrian friendly downtown community within walking distance to the (train station),” according to the proposed regulations. The Department of Transportation has proposed building a new station near Judd Square or Parker Street. Other upgrades include streetscape improvements, including ornamental streetlights, brick pathways and trees.

But Fishbein said he still has problems with the idea behind the plan.

“It’s going to turn the town of Wallingford into the city of Wallingford,” Fishbein said.

He said that he had problems with the height of the buildings and the idea of putting parking garages downtown. Fishbein said he was also concerned that, if there were improvements planned that property owners wouldn’t buy into, the costs could fall to the town.

LeTourneau, who owns Wallingford Lamp and Shade on Center Street, said he supported the idea the first time around and still stands by it.

“I have no idea why it was pulled (from the PZC agenda),” he said. “I don’t know why it’s before the council; it’s a Planning and Zoning issue.”

Fitzsimmons noted that the new zoning regulations are an overlay, and don’t replace what’s currently there.

“Nobody is required to make any changes,” he said. “But if a developer wants to, the option is there. It’s another zoning opportunity.”

Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said he supports the idea of the zone, though he, too, had earlier concerns.

“It encourages investment in downtown,” Dickinson said. “We’re changing our regulations to encourage private investment. Everyone benefits from that.”

Fitzsimmons said he backs the plan and hopes it would help the local economy recover. The last two planning commission meetings saw no new development come to town.

“Times are tough, but this is a wonderful opportunity for the town,” he said. “Let’s put it on the books for when the economy does turn.”

LeTourneau said he’d like to see some action taken.

“We can do nothing, and we will have nothing,” he said.

Information from The Connecticut Mirror is included in this report.

Bidding edge to local businesses eyed through code change

As published in the Record Journal, Tuesday February 21, 2012

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225

WALLINGFORD — Changes have been proposed to the town’s purchasing code to favor local businesses, but one councilor wants to see more done.

New language in the code raises the bid threshold from $4,000 to $7,500 and requires the purchasing department to attempt to obtain quotes for purchases below the threshold from local vendors.

Open-market purchases don’t require advertisement and aren’t handled in the same way as the competitive bidding process. These purchases “shall, whenever possible, be based on at least three competitive quotes and shall be awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible quoter,” reads the proposed code change.

According to the new language, “whenever possible, reasonable efforts shall be made to obtain such quotes from local vendors.”

Town Councilor Craig Fishbein, a Republican, said that he had requested the changes during a meeting of the Ordinance Committee to help drive town work to local businesses. “The $4,000 bar is too low,” Fishbein said. “Right now, a $5,000 expenditure has to go out to public bid. It could be awarded to another town.”

Fishbein said that the new language “almost mandates they have to attempt to make the purchase from local businesses.”

“It’s steering the business to Wallingford,” he said.

But Fishbein said he wants to see more done to help local businesses, and has proposed further language that will award a contract to a local company that comes within 5 percent of the lowest bidder. That proposal is still before the ordinance committee.

Fishbein said that surrounding municipalities — including Meriden, North Haven and Durham — have local bidding preferences, and the result is that Wallingford companies are losing out on contracts there.

“I’m generally against government picking winners and losers, but it’s only fair we help those companies,” Fishbein said.

Republican Councilor John LeTourneau disagreed, and said that preferring local businesses could dissuade companies in other towns from bidding at all.

“I don’t believe it can work,” he said. “Why would you bid if you already have a strike against you?”

LeTourneau said that it isn’t fair that even if a company were to be the low bidder, because they’re out of town, “they don’t have a chance.”

“If I was out of town, I wouldn’t bid,” he said.

John Sullivan, a Democratic councilor, said he wasn’t in favor of pushing the proposal as far as Fishbein wanted.

“I see both sides, but it needs to be fair,” he said. “Local bidders need to put the best price on any bid. It should be one bid, one time and fair to everybody.”

A public hearing on the proposed changes, not including the 5 percent preference, is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 28, during the council’s next meeting.

Rule likely to prevent repeat of debris deal

As published in the Record Journal Friday February 17, 2012

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225

WALLINGFORD - Town employees are allowed to bid on contracts with the town, according to the Town Charter, but a recent event highlights the complications that can occur.

Randy Mangino, a public works employee, had a contract with the town’s Water Department that allowed for debris and fill to be discarded at his Shady Drive disposal site. In January, due to a misreading of the contract, wood cut from the town’s parks by public works employees was improperly disposed of at his site, rather than at a public works yard.

“There was an investigation, but it was determined there was no intentional wrongdoing; the wood was restored,” Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said.

But Dickinson admitted that when contracts overlap with an employee’s work, mistakes can be made.

“We’re planning to make it clear that it’s not a good situation to have a department contract with its employees,” he said.

The charter specifies “no officer or employee shall enter into any contract with the town other than a contract of employment, unless the contract has been awarded through an open and public process, including prior public offer and subsequent public disclosure of all proposals considered.”

Dickinson said that he had been discussing a directive or a mechanism to prevent the same situation from happening again. In his 28 years as mayor, Dickinson said, he’s never seen a similar situation. But when a town employee has a contract with the town, “it’s got to be arm’s length” from his town duties, Dickinson said.

“When any employee is doing business other than as an employee with that department ... it gets too confusing,” he said. “We want to put an end to that practice.” Mangino’s company, Mangino Excavation LLC, was the low bidder for the three-year disposal deal. Under the contract, he was paid $4 in 2009, $5 in 2010 and $6 in 2011 for each cubic yard of debris he picked up and hauled to his site. Four other firms, from Wallingford, Durham, Milford and Orange, submitted bids that were higher.

Mangino could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Corporation Counsel Janis Small said the town was reviewing the provisions in the charter that allow public employees to bid on town contracts and seeing if there’s a way to further define them. There are ways other than a charter revision to address the issues, she said.

“There’s safety in putting something out to bid; everyone has a fair shake,” she said. “But we’re looking at the practicalities of that.”

Small said the charter provision was good, but “it doesn’t take it to the next level.”

“There are still some serious questions,” she said.

Participation in school lunch programs rises

As published in the Record Journal Friday February 17, 2012

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225

WALLINGFORD — The number of students taking advantage of federal free and reduced lunch programs has risen 12 percent over figures from last year.

School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo said that 982 students are enrolled in either program for the current school year, up from 875 a year ago. The district enrolls about 6,400 students.

The increase can be attributed to a number of factors, including the tough economic times and an effort to raise awareness of the programs. Food Service Director Sharlene Wong said previously that the district was ramping up its efforts to reach out to eligible families to encourage them to sign up. She could not be reached for comment Thursday.

“People are hurting,” said Board of Education Chairwoman Roxane McKay. “But I think Sharlene and all of our building administrators do a good job getting the word out to families.”

McKay, a Republican, said it was also important to note that families can apply for free and reduced lunch at any point during the school year.

“If there’s a layoff, or their financial situation deteriorates, that option is always there,” she said.

Because the federal rate of reimbursement is greater than what Wallingford charges for lunches, free and reduced lunch programs help put money in the cafeteria’s coffers. The cafeteria operates its own, self-sustaining budget, but has run a deficit each of the last two fiscal years.

“We don’t want to see more families on the program, but financially, it’s better for our budget,” McKay said.

Republican school board member Chet Miller said the program is a win-win.

“If they meet the criteria, we want them on it,” he said. “It helps us and helps them.” Miller said free and reduced numbers have risen sharply over the last two years.

“It’s amazing how much it’s grown,” he said.

In June 2009, 607 students were on free and reduced lunch, according to Record-Journal archives.

Menzo said that Wong puts information about free and reduced lunch on newsletters sent home each month.

“We’re making certain that we reach as many parents as possible,” he said.

School lunch prices rose by 15 cents in the current school year to help keep pace with the reimbursement the district gets for the federal lunch programs. Wallingford’s prices of $2 for elementary schools, $2.15 for middle schools and $2.25 for high schools are lower than schools of comparable size. The school district receives $2.77 for each free meal it serves and $2.37 for each reduced- price lunch, which costs students 40 cents.

The increases followed the passage by Congress in late 2010 of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. The act contains a provision that schools participating in the federal free and reduced price lunch program have to charge a price for lunch that is comparable to the federal rate for free lunch. Wong said last year that the district was moving toward making the numbers more equal, but didn’t want to raise lunch prices drastically in one year. Any parent who wants to see if they are eligible for free or reduced lunch can call the school’s food services at (203) 949-5927.

Funds OK’d for traffic signal repairs in Wallingford

As published in the Record Journal Wednesday February 15, 2012

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225

WALLINGFORD — The Town Council has approved $15,000 in extra funds to fix traffic signals.

Town Engineer John Thompson said the line item for traffic signal repairs was cut from $17,000 to $12,000 in this year’s budget. So far, $5,000 has been spent, but needed repairs are expected to exceed the balance.

“Due to a major equipment failure at the John Street and South Cherry Street intersection (our oldest traffic signal in town); while we are maintaining operations with borrowed equipment, our contract vendor has submitted an estimate of almost $10,000 to replace the damaged equipment.” Thompson wrote in a letter to Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr.

Thompson said that with five months left in the fiscal year, the Engineering Department wanted to keep a reserve beyond the scheduled repairs “in the event that we need to purchase traffic signal bulbs or other equipment to keep the signals in operation.”

During a brief appearance before the council Tuesday, Thompson said Republican Councilor Craig Fishbein had proposed the $5,000 cut, which the council ultimately passed.

“He asked me at that time what would be the result of that and I told him that if there was a need, I would be back before the council during the year,” Thompson said. “That need has identified itself in the way of some unanticipated expenses.”

Fishbein did not attend Tuesday’s meeting, and Thompson said he had hoped Fishbein would be there so he could make his point.

“You wanted to say, ‘I told you so,’ ” Council Chairman Robert Parisi said.

In other business in Tuesday’s short meeting, the council scheduled a public hearing for its next meeting, at 7 p.m. Feb. 28, to discuss amendments to the town’s purchasing guidelines. New language shows a preference for local companies.

The council also approved an appropriation of $37,500 for the Water Division, which requested money for consulting services for concrete repairs at the water treatment plant.

Darter looks to oust Fritz

As published in the Record Journal, Tuesday February 14, 2012

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225

CHESHIRE / WALLINGFORD — A local Republican businessman has announced his interest in his party’s nomination for the state House seat now held by Democrat Mary Fritz, of Wallingford. The 90th House District consists of portions of Cheshire and Wallingford.

Guy Darter, 57, co-owner of Darter Specialties on Cornwall Avenue, says he wants to work to make Connecticut more business-friendly.

“As a business person, I can’t take what they’re doing,” Darter said. “It’s not a good state to do business. I want to bring a business sense to government.”

Fritz, 73, said she is “happy to have someone interested in the seat.” However, she said she has done a lot to help small businesses during her years in the legislature.

“I’ve run two small businesses, so I know all about that,” she said. “In 28 years, I’ve helped out a lot of business people, but I’ve never heard from Mr. Darter,” she said.

Darter will be making his first run for elected office, but said he has always been interested in politics and has been attending Republican Town Committee and Town Hall meetings for several years, in addition to visiting the state Capitol for the past decade. With his kids out of college and a growing dissatisfaction with state government, Darter said now is as good a time as any to run.

After growing up in Norwalk, Darter took undergraduate and MBA classes at the University of New Haven. He started Coupon Madness, a direct mail advertising business, which he sold in 1990 to start Darter Press Inc., which began in his garage with one printing press.

The company started as a commercial printer before shifting its focus to screen printing, embroidery and signs and banners. Darter co-owns the business with his wife, Alice, and has lived in Cheshire for 32 years.

Among his chief goals is holding the state budget to generally accepted accounting principles. Darter says the rules will make it so state government can’t rely on “phony revenue” to balance the budget.

“No longer can they play with the numbers,” he said.

The state budget has gotten out of control, Darter said, and taxes and mandates make it hard for his businesses to compete with similar shops in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York.

“The state is fundamentally broken,” he said.

As a business owner, Darter said he’s against the proposal by House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan, D-Meriden, to raise the minimum wage.

“Not in this economy,” he said. “The high school kids won’t have jobs, you’re hurting that population.”

Darter also wants to eliminate the state income tax on Social Security benefits for seniors, and cap the gross receipts tax on gasoline.

Another statewide issue Darter is campaigning on is the death penalty, saying he supports it and wants to strengthen the law to make it easier to carry out.

“It’s impossible to carry out,” he said. “You should get one appeal, and you’re done. ... There’ve been no wrongful convictions on Connecticut’s death row. If there was a flaw, it would come up.”

Darter said Fritz is “very nice,” but it is “time for her to retire.”

“Her politics are old,” he said.

Darter also proposes term limits of 10 years for state legislators.

Wallingford fuel crisis program gets more money

As published in the Record Journal Wednesday February 15, 2012

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225

WALLINGFORD — To address a growing demand, the town has set aside an additional $5,000 for its fuel crisis program, which distributes money to low-income residents who need help paying heating bills.

Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. requested the money in a letter to the Town Council on Feb. 1 and the funds were approved at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

“Due to the reduction in state energy assistance, the current unemployment situation within our community and the rising costs of fuel prices, we have experienced a large number of needy individuals utilizing the Fuel Crisis program,” Dickinson wrote.

The need locally has been exacerbated by cuts in federal and state fuel aid. Last year, the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, was funded at $4.701 billion, with more than $100 million going to Connecticut. This year, federal officials proposed $2.570 billion for the program, a cut of nearly 50 percent. The program was eventually funded at $3.472 billion. Of these funds, Connecticut received $79.531 million.

U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, a New Haven Democrat whose 3rd District includes Wallingford, said when the funds were announced in December that she was disappointed in the cuts.

“In this difficult economy, with sky-high energy prices and cold winters, families throughout the country rely on the LIHEAP program,” De-Lauro said at the time in a statement. “I believe that we have a moral obligation to care for our most vulnerable citizens, and that means fully funding the LIHEAP program. ... We cannot leave American families out in the cold.”

Wallingford isn’t alone in an increased demand for fuel assistance. Patricia Wrice, executive director of Operation Fuel, which helps low-income residents with their heating bills, said demand is as high as it was last year, but there’s less money to go around.

“We’ve had federal benefits reduced by $30 million,” she said.

Wrice said residents have been fortunate that this winter has been warmer than last, but there hasn’t been a drop-off in fuel aid demand.

“If we had a winter like last year, it would be a disaster,” she said. “The economy hasn’t bounced back. It could have been a lot worse. The weather kept people safe.”

The Wallingford Fuel Crisis Program account was funded in the amount of $15,589 from town money and private donations for the current fiscal year. As as of Feb. 1, $14,907 had been distributed, leaving little money to spare. “We are very concerned about meeting the fuel needs of a number of our residents and believe that this appropriation will allow us to provide assistance through the remainder of the fiscal year,” Dickinson wrote.

Menzo says 3% needed just to keep service level

As published in the Record Journal, Tuesday February 14, 2012

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225

WALLINGFORD — With a large drop-off in federal funding from a year ago, and the rising costs of insurance and supplies, School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo says the education budget needs to increase by 3.05 percent just to keep services at the current level.

The Board of Education is preparing to present its budget to Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. and is asking for a 3.91 increase overall, or $3,393,634, in additional funding. The money consists of a “sustained services” budget — the cost to operate the schools at their current level — and select items from the school board’s strategic plan. But Menzo says the figure is deceiving, because a federal jobs grant worth $1,295,275 won’t be available this year, creating an immediate shortfall.

Menzo said the Board of Education recommended splitting the use of the grant over two years. To stave off an increase in taxes, Dickinson required the district to spend all the money in 2011-12.

“Now the burden is on this year,” Menzo said. Financially, the district is ahead of where Menzo said it would be a year ago, when he argued to split the grant over two budgets and projected a deficit of more than $2 million. Other savings have been found, but still, if the school budget gets no increase, there will be an automatic gap of $1.3 million that must be filled. “If appropriate funding is not provided, there will be significant services that will have to be reduced or eliminated,” Menzo said.

Democratic Board of Education member Michael Votto said the board has scrutinized the budget and that there are no unnecessary costs. A portion of the money has gone to pay for unfunded state mandates, Votto said.

Votto said he realizes that with a small increase in the grand list, there isn’t new money available, and the increase in the education budget could require a tax increase.

“If we have to raise taxes to help education, I think that’s the best place to put it,” he said. “Education is a priority to prepare our kids for the world.”

Votto said that with other costs going up, “I don’t know how people expect taxes won’t go up.”

Board of Education Chairwoman Roxane McKay said a lot of hard work went into this year’s budget, and she had confidence in the proposal the board would bring to the mayor. McKay said that some of the items included for maintenance — such as repairing cracked sidewalks and removing asbestos — are essential for safety concerns.

With the jobs grant taken out of the equation, the school board is asking for $2,100,408, or about a 2.42 percent increase in new funds from the town.

Menzo said that some of the increase covers additions to the budget — such as adding lacrosse as a sport at the high schools and introducing world language, math and career and technical education coordinators for all the district’s schools — but a large portion is for employee benefits and non-certified salaries. Teachers and administrators took a pay freeze in the first year of a three-year contract negotiated last fall.

As for the strategic plan, Menzo said that the board and school administrators realize they won’t be able to move forward with every aspect of it. Still, money is being put toward technology and maintenance items that are part of the plan, though it is coming from the district’s unencumbered fund balance, or monies left over from last year’s budget.

“It might take longer to get there, but we are moving forward,” Menzo said. McKay said she felt the board had been good stewards of town money, and that no increase or a smaller increase could mean higher costs down the road. As a taxpayer, she said she weighs the cost to townspeople versus the education benefit to the schoolchildren. “It’s a tough balancing act,” she said.

The school board will meet Feb. 27 to adopt a budget and present it to the mayor on March 1.

Councilor suggests downtown site for Wallingford school offices

As published in the Record Journal, Saturday February 11, 2012

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225

WALLINGFORD — The Board of Education has looked in the past to move its administrative offices from Sheehan High School, and one town councilor thinks he’s found a place that will suit their needs as well as offer more downtown parking. Nick Economopoulos, a Democrat, said the town should investigate buying the property at 50 S. Main St., an building across the street from Town Hall, next to the post office.

According to Town Assessor Shelby Jackson, the property is appraised at $1 million and assessed at $728,000. Economopoulos said the property is listed for sale for $1.2 million. Jackson said the building, which was constructed in 1973, has 16,000 square feet and sits on a half-acre.

“It’s mostly medical offices,” Jackson said.

Economopoulos, a former school board member, said Sheehan High School was looking to begin a nursing program that would require a hospital- type setting. Moving the administrative offices would free space for that, he said.

Another advantage of the South Main Street property, in addition to office space, is the parking, Economopoulos said. The parking would be available for municipal use when the offices were closed.

“There’s 26 marked spaces in each lot, on the South Main side and the Center Street side,” Economopoulos said. “We’re killing two birds with one stone, increasing parking on the nights and weekends when the town is busiest, and finding space for the Board of Education.”

He added that town departments looking to expand could possibly use the space.

School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo said the school district had explored moving the Board of Education offices “on a very basic level,” but the current fiscal situation doesn’t make it appear likely.

“It’s a dream of ours ... there’s a lot of possibilities if we were to leave Sheehan,” Menzo said. “We could expand some programming and look at some other opportunities. But, he added, “right now the finances wouldn’t allow us to make any changes.”

“We have to focus our attention at this point on getting budget passed by the mayor before we can investigate anything beyond that,” he said.

Chet Miller, a Republican Board of Education member, said the school district was interested in one point in property at 60 N. Main St., the old library building owned by Fred Ulbrich. “They looked at it, but I don’t know if there was any real sense of it being the right building,” Miller said. “But I know we’ve looked at properties before.”

Miller said he hoped that before the town purchased any properties officials would “look for alternatives within the existing school system.”

“We have a diminishing student population. It keeps dropping,” he said. “Some space has got to be freed up.”

Miller said he didn’t know specifically what the new office space would be used for.

Economopoulos said that the town had planned to spend $500,000 to improve the parking lot behind the businesses on Simpson Court, and that coming up with another half-million dollars shouldn’t be too difficult. He believes the town could buy the property for about $1 million.

But Craig Fishbein, a Republican councilor, disagreed, and said the town shouldn’t be in the business of buying properties. He said he wouldn’t support any purchase “until there’s an identified need for use by the town that’s viable.”

“The track record is clear, the town should not be in the general real estate business,” Fishbein said.

He pointed to the Wooding-Caplan property, located off Center Street, which the council voted to purchase in 1991 for $1.5 million, but has remained largely vacant since. A referendum in2006 overturned the Town Council’s decision to sell the property to a local developer.

Fishbein also mentioned the American Legion building, which was sold recently after a long legal battle over its protected status as a historic building, and a town-owned building at 390 Center St., next to Wooding- Caplan, that was ultimately demolished.

Economopoulos said he wouldn’t support going forward with the purchase without knowing the school district was ready to move.

As far as parking concerns, Fishbein said that the council was exploring the creation of a temporary parking lot on the Wooding-Caplan property.

Councilors will receive a report in March from the Engineering Department with drawings and cost estimates.

Dave Zajac / Record-Journal

Wallingford Councilor Nick Economopoulos has suggested the town look at buying the office building at 50 S. Main St. as a site for education offices and more downtown parking.