AGENDA - REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

TOWN OF WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

Town Council Chambers

July 13, 2010

6:30 P.M

1. Opening Prayer – Deacon Eugene C. Riotte, Most Holy Trinity Church

2. Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call

Distribution of jackets to the Mark T. Sheehan Boys Baseball Team for Winning the State Class L CIAC Championship - Mayor

3. Consent Agenda

3a. Consider and Approve Tax Refunds (#1- #9) totaling $4,807.92 Acct. # 001-1000-010-1170 - Tax Collector

3b. Acceptance of a Donation and Appropriation of $30 Youth & Social Services Special Fund to Donations Account # 213-1042-070-7010 and to Expenditures Account # 213-3070-600-6000, FY 2009-10 - Youth & Social Services

3c. Acceptance of a Donation and Appropriation of $30 Youth & Social Services Special Fund to Donations Account # 213-1042-070-7010 and to Expenditures Account # 213-3070-600-6000, FY 2009-10 - Youth & Social Services

3d. Acceptance of a Donation and Appropriation of $292 Youth & Social Services Special Fund to Donations Account # 213-1042-070-7010 and to Expenditures Account # 213-3070-600-6000, FY 2009-10 - Youth & Social Services

3e. Consider and Approve a Transfer in the Amount of $879 to Purchased Services-Ambulance Revenue Recovery Acct # 001-2030-901-9035 from Regular Salaries & Wages Acct # 001-2030-101-1000, FY 2009-10 - Fire Chief

3f. Consider and Approve a Transfer in the Amount of $420 to Tools Shop & Garage Equipment Acct # 394 from Stores Equipment Acct # 393,  FY 2009-10 – Electric Division

3g. Consider and Approve a Resolution Authorizing the Mayor to contract with the State of Connecticut for a Historic Preservation Grant in the Amount of $6,000 – Program Planning

3h. Consider and Approve an Appropriation in the Amount of $6,000 to Revenue-Preservation Town Acct # 228-1010-020-2030 from Fund Expenditure Acct # 228-6030-999-9907, FY 2009-10 – Town Clerk

3i. Consider and Approve a Resolution Authorizing the Mayor to Execute a Memorandum of Understanding between the Town of Wallingford and the State of Connecticut Department of Public Safety to acquire live-scan fingerprint equipment – Police Chief

3j. Consider and Approve a Bid Waiver in the Amount of $13,500 for software from New World Systems, Inc. to integrate the Functionality of the live-scan fingerprint device – Police Chief

3k. Approve Minutes of Regular Town Council Meeting of June 8, 2010

4. Items Removed from the Consent Agenda

5. PUBLIC QUESTION & ANSWER

6. Executive Session pursuant to § 1-200 (6)(E) of the Connecticut General Statutes with regard to strategy and/or negotiation with respect to collective bargaining – Board of Education

7. Discussion and Possible Action on a Tentative Agreement for the Health Service Professional Association effective July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2012 – Board of Education

8. Discussion regarding 424 Cafeteria Workers Union contract – Councilor John Sullivan

9. Consider and Approve a Transfer in the Amount of $73,000 to Self-Insurance Workers’ Compensation Acct # 001-1602-800-8310 from Property Casualty –General Government $56,000 Acct # 001-1603-800-8250 and from Property Casualty-Education $17,000 Acct # 001-1603-800-8260, FY 2009-10 – Personnel

10. Consider and approve a Budget Amendment in the Amount of $11,000 to Maintenance of Wells & Springs Acct # 431-8600-614 from Transportation Equipment Acct # 433-9012-392 – Water Division

11. Consider and Approve a Five (5) Year Lease Agreement between the Town of Wallingford and Clear Wireless, LLC (Clearwire) for use at West Side Storage Tank for cellular communications equipment – Water Division

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

Wallingford Inland Wetlands June 2, 2010

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

Wallingford Inland Wetlands Meeting April 7, 2010

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

AGENDA - TOWN OF WALLINGFORD - REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

Town Council Chambers

June 22, 2010

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

Wallingford Town Council Meeting - April 13, 2010

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

VIDEO - Wallingford Town Council Meeting - March 23, 2010

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

FROM WALLINGFORD - Ready for that commuter train

As published in the Record Journal – Sunday June 20, 2010

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.

FROM WALLINGFORD - Politics’ third rail

This week’s FROM WALLINGFORD is written by my counterpart on the column – Stephen Knight.

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.

Which is why you saw otherwise lucid and articulate elected officials rhetorically head for the exits when asked about the use of eminent domain to force a conclusion of negotiations over the 10.3-acre Chichowski parcel they voted to purchase some months back. Never mind that the discussion took place in executive session. Their real reluctance to speak to this issue springs from their honest fear that no matter what is said, how articulately it is stated, or how logically the argument is made, they will be accused of being insensitive, power-hungry, rights-stealing political thugs that would steal bread from the mouths of babies if given half a chance.

This predicament is the result of two factors, one uniting and the other divisive: 1) the Kelo vs. City of New London decision having aroused the inherent skepticism Americans have of governmental power that is part of our political DNA and 2) a bit of recent history here in town when the subject last arose.

First of all, the Supreme Court decision in Kelo vs. City of New London sent a shockwave through the national political psyche. To most Americans, the decision legitimized the notion that government power may be used to seize the property of one private party and turn it over to another private party. The concept of “public purpose” was absurdly expanded at the expense of our Constitutionally-guaranteed right of due process, giving rise to a legitimate hypersensitivity to and skepticism of government and its use of power over the individual.

It is worth noting that is was a 5-4 decision, with the conservative, originalist justices decrying the decision of the liberal, Constitution-as-an-evolving-document majority. The positive we can take from this decision is that many states, including ours, have rewritten their eminent domain statutes in such a way as to prevent a recurrence of this travesty.

Secondly, the last time that eminent domain was raised here as an issue was a few years ago when the mayor, in an effort to do some long term land use planning for the town, sought to survey property in the northeast corner of the town. It was thought that possibly, in the distant future, expansion of the I-5 zone allowing industrial parks might take place assuming [note carefully] that this outcome might be the desire of the property owners at that time. At the mere mention of this request, the mayor’s primary political opponent at the time, to further his own narrow political career interests, weighed in, accusing the mayor of attempting to condemn their property. Through blatant distortion of the real issue at hand, he shamelessly manipulated the property owners into believing that they were in danger of having their property taken from them. The discussions in the Town Council were a sad three-ring circus, with the frightened, lied-to, trusting property owners railing against the innocuous survey request while he stood in the back of the auditorium smugly viewing his handiwork. It was politics at its worst, and it has poisoned the well of discussion of land use in that area to this day.

So this is the table that has been set for any discussion of eminent domain in Wallingford. Somewhere there is a balance between our individual rights as property owners and the responsibility of the community to plan its future. We can find this balance, but only if we are willing to approach it as the sophisticated, complex topic that it is. Those who will be living in our town fifty years from now are depending on our ability to do so.

Menzo ‘inherits’ clean slate - Many retirements allowed him to build own team

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.”

WALLINGFORD TOWN COUNCIL MEETING - AGENDA

TOWN OF WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

Town Council Chambers

June 8, 2010

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.

School system hits the Web social networks

As Published in the Record Journal Sunday May 30, 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 — Miss the school board’s new assistant principal appointments? Wondering if the next Board of Education meeting will be held at Sheehan High School or across town at the new Vernon E. Cleaves Vocational Agricultural Center?

Now there’s a place where Web savvy parents and residents with an interest in the town’s public schools can receive instant notifications from administration: Twitter.

“The goal would be to gradually expand the use of it, but right now we’re using it as a way to communicate with parents,” School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo said of the “WallingfordPS,” account on Twitter.

Last month information technology teacher Robert Kovi and system Director Randall Backus joined forces with Menzo to bring Wallingford public schools to the social networking site where followers can opt to receive instant text messages on their cellular phones.

As of Thursday 29, people were signed on as followers. Residents may also sign-up from a link on the school system’s website at: www.walllingford.k12.ct.us.

“Eric Carbone appointed Assistant Principal of Dag Middle School at 5/24/10 BOE meeting,” reads the latest post or tweet updated Wednesday. Other messages vary from links to reports and surveys to notices of special meetings. “Cindy Lavalette appointed Assistant Principal of Lyman Hall,” reads the second most recent tweet.

While the school system moves forward with plans to revamp its elementary school system for the fall, Twitter will be used as one of several ways to keep parents in the loop. Email, public access television, newsletters and the district’s website will function as communication channels during the reconfiguration process, which Menzo is calling a, “Grand Re-Opening” of the town’s elementary schools on Aug. 31.

The system is also planning a re-launch of its website this fall with expanded features such as online school registration.

“We also have a couple of people who are investigating the use of Facebook as a means of communicating with parents,” Menzo said. “We have some very progressive staff members.”

One such member’s office is located in the same building as administration.

Before central office caught wind of tweeting as a way to reach local families, Sheehan’s Athletic Director V.J. Sarullo was already busy using Twitter and Facebook for sports announcements.

As far as the department is concerned, the Twitter account, “MTSAthletics” and new Facebook group “Sheehan Athletics” are still getting off the ground with officials sending instant messages from their cellular phones of canceled games. Next fall Sarullo is hoping to expand coverage on both sites to include instant game results, awards night and other topics that relate to any of the school’s 22 teams.

“Things change up to the minute,” Sarullo said. “This way people will get the info a lot quicker.”

Lyman Hall High School is also on Facebook with 87 followers to date and the school’s Key Club is actively using Twitter.

 

From Jason Zandri – You can view / save the RSS feed of WallingfordPS’ tweets at RSS feed of WallingfordPS's tweets

Paradise and Paradise Lost

As Published in the Record Journal Sunday May 30, 2010

Talk about it online

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

By John Bau

I’m John Bau. I have a daughter at Dag Hammarskjold Middle School, a son at Moses Y. Beach Elementary School, and another who will be at MYB in just a few years. I’m not originally from Wallingford, but I got here just as quickly as I could.

Over the past several months, I’ve uttered these words— or something similar — as I’ve stood up to speak at countless meetings, forums, and ‘focus groups’ as Wallingford has examined the reconfiguration of its eight elementary schools. I always thought it provided a good, quick synopsis of the origins of my point of view. I’m a dad who loves his family and is proud to have chosen Wallingford as his home. I grew up in a 1970s development of cookie-cutter homes in Virginia. When I bought my first home in North Carolina after college, I chose a brand-new house in a neighborhood of cookie-cutter homes. I figured, isn’t that how everyone lives in our modern society?

When I took a job that moved me to Connecticut in 2001, I was charmed by the state’s ancient hamlets anchored by historic neighborhoods clustered around storied town greens or quaint central business districts. Having a lifelong love affair with our great nation, its history, and even two summers under my belt leading tourists through military drills as a “sergeant” in Colonial Williamsburg, I believed that towns like Guilford or Chester only survived in the movies. When I saw the home prices in those towns, I learned that I needed to be a movie star to afford to live there.

Then I found Wallingford.

Founded in 1670(!), Wallingford featured a recently-revitalized downtown with shops, restaurants, Victorian streetlights, and more. It was comparatively affordable and — miracle! — I was able to scrape together enough to buy a small, charming (if rundown) home tucked in between the public library and the elementary school right on Main Street. Who knew that places like this still existed?

I worked hard on that house and it became a little gem. We could walk to the school, walk to shops, and generally live a life that was otherwise consigned to textbooks and storybooks.

When life changes forced me to sell that home, I settled on a ramshackle house one block off Main Street. I was still downtown, and my children would not have to change schools; they could continue to walk to Moses Y. Beach, to church, to the YMCA. This new neighborhood was not quite as polished as Main Street, but is still a place where folks — rather than hunkering down on private backyard decks behind tall vinyl fences — sit on their front porches and talk to each other, chat with passersby, and generally engage with their community. Wallingford as Mayberry, if you will. And my family gets to live here.

Paradise.

The reconfiguration of Wallingford’s eight community based elementary schools into four pairs of K-2, 3-5 partner schools is not a patently bad idea. It helps to ease some of the disparities in class sizes that our town’s ridiculous and ridiculously-outdated school districts have long assured. Like middle schools, high schools, and industrial monoculture farming, it allows for certain efficiencies and economies of scale that arise when you conduct more of any single process — be it fifth grade or growing soybeans — in one place. It lets my seven-year-old ride a bus to school instead of a bicycle. It might even save our town $199,149. I get it. I really, really do. I shall embrace it and support my children and their schools because I’m a dad and that’s my job. Reconfiguration is good.

But in the process, it takes one more swipe at a fabled way of life in our proud nation. And it takes one more step toward making Wallingford into just another suburban zip code.

Paradise lost, anyone?

FROM WALLINGFORD - Memorial Day

This week’s FROM WALLINGFORD is written by my counterpart on the column - Stephen Knight

As Published in the Record Journal Sunday May 30, 2010

Follow all the news directly on the Record Journal Website for the most up to date information. www.myrecordjournal.com

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Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor those who sacrificed their lives in the service of our country. Over the years, while the day has lost some of its solemnity, it has somewhat evolved into a second Veterans Day, where we not only honor those no longer with us but extend gratitude to those who are. This is entirely appropriate, and, to that end, I would like to excerpt a speech I gave on Veterans Day of 2007: “We are the most fortunate, the most blessed people on earth. We live in the United States of America. I have never been able to say United States of America without thinking what incredible good fortune that is. Never in human history has there been a society of such astonishing opportunity, of such unparalleled freedom and such breathtaking abundance as what we enjoy here. And the bedrock, the foundation of all that makes America great is the essential goodness, dignity and generosity of the American people.”

“We are here today to honor and thank the finest examples of those traits: those citizens among us who have answered the call and continue to answer the call to serve in the armed forces of the United States. From Valley Forge to Lake Champlain to Gettysburg to Verdun to Normandy to the Chosin Reservoir to Hue to Kuwait to Bagdhad to Kandahar and countless other places in the world, the American soldier has stood and defended this country with honor and distinction, first with the ferocity and determination to win the battle and then the kindness and compassion to win the hearts and minds of those they have liberated. They have always conducted themselves under the rules of international law and those of common humanity, and have been quick to condemn those incredibly few within their ranks who would stain that record of honor. And in their service, the American veteran — whether protecting the freedom of hundreds of millions of human beings in peacetime or liberating many hundreds of millions from tyranny and enslavement in wartime, has been a positive force throughout the world and has brought credit to this country.”

“But there is one special trait that, in my mind, makes the American soldier, sailor or airman an almost unique figure in the history of conflict. In almost every armed conflict you can name, one side was pursuing conquest and the other side was defending itself from that subjugation or annihilation. The defenders had a personal stake in the outcome, that oftentimes being survival itself.”

“But if you examine the history of the wars in which America has been involved, especially those in the 20th and 21st century, you see our involvement not only to protect the security and interests of the United States but in a larger sense to defend the concept that liberty and freedom are a basic right of all of humanity. To have risked their lives in defense of this high ideal and not just the protection of their homeland puts the US military men and women in a category unique to human history.”

“Let me give you a quote to illustrate my point from Nicholas Sarkozy, the president of France, speaking to our Congress [on November 8, 2007], ‘…America did not teach men the idea of freedom; she taught them how to practice it. And she fought for this freedom whenever she felt it to be threatened somewhere in the world. It was by watching America grow that men and women understood that freedom was possible.”

“What made America great was her ability to transform her own dream into hope for all mankind.”

“The men and women of my generation heard their grandparents talk about how in 1917, America saved France at a time when it had reached the final limits of its strengths, which it had exhausted in the most absurd and bloodiest of wars.”

“The men and women of my generation heard their parents talk about how in 1944, America returned to free Europe from the horrifying tyranny that threatened to enslave it.”

“Fathers took their sons to see the vast cemeteries where, under thousands of white crosses so far from home, thousands of young Americans lay who had fallen not to defend their own freedom but the freedom of all others, not to defend their own families, their own homeland, but to defend humanity as a whole.’ ” To view photographs of the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France where 9,387 US servicemen are buried is to understand Memorial Day. The sight renders one speechless at the thought of such heroism. That we are privileged to call these people our countrymen is an honor beyond words.”

Déja vu in the schools - Reconfiguration not Wallingford’s first elementary school argument

As Published in the Record Journal Sunday May 30, 2010

By Samaia Hernandez
Record-Journal staff
shernandez@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2266

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WALLINGFORD — In 1983, when the Board of Education voted 5-4 to close Parker Farms School, not only did it lead to a major grassroots campaign by parents, but also to the first recall election of its kind.

Two board members in favor of the closing were voted off the board the following January in what became a town and state first. Two years later, the Connecticut Superior Court outlawed recall elections of public officials.

Yalesville School had been selected by district officials as the building to close since it was older, smaller and in need of repairs. When the board voted to close Parker Farms instead — at the last minute, citing economics and enrollment figures — many parents were outraged.

Students from Parker Farms were sent to Highland School and Yalesville. Then, in 1986, a different board voted 7-2 to close Yalesville and re-open Parker Farms at a cost more than three times the original savings from closing Parker Farms.

Twenty-seven years later, there are some parallels: Again, the country is in a recession, again enrollment figures are trending down, again the education budget has been slashed by Town Hall and again the school board has voted in favor of a controversial measure that impacts its elementary school system.

This time, parents banded together online, starting a “$O$: Save Our Schools” campaign and pleading with the board to reconsider breaking up neighborhood K-5 schools in place of buildings that serve grades K-2 or 3-5 only.

A recall election is out of the question this time around, but some parents, across party lines, have already declared that on Election Day 2011 they will not be voting for school board members who supported reconfiguring the schools.

State Rep. Mary G. Fritz, D-Wallingford, would have seen her name on the Jan. 27, 1984 recall ballot. Fritz narrowly missed the election after resigning from her post as school board chairwoman the previous summer to take up a spot on the General Assembly, which she has held ever since.

“Parker Farms needed $300,000 in work,” Fritz recalled. “That’s what that was all about. And Yalesville didn’t need any work.”
“I couldn’t justify spending money to renovate when we could close it,” she added. “What happened in the end? They got a new school and Yalesville got a new school. Then Yalesville became a model for the subsequent renovation project in the ’90s.”

In 1983, the mayor cut $850,000 from a $17.4 million budget request. This year, more than $2.5 million was trimmed from an $86.4 million proposed school budget.If Fritz were on the board this time around, the minority vote against reconfiguration would likely have been higher. She said she sympathizes with parents who are concerned about grade clustering in a town of Wallingford’s size and has questions about the transportation component that will require more buses and cuts into costs savings of close to $200,000.

“I think it’s going to be very hard for people to get adjusted to it; this is a major overhaul,” Fritz said.

Chet Miller, a Republican school board member, was also on the board in 1983 and is now serving a second term after an almost three-decade hiatus.

Back then, he was part of the minority vote, but like most board members today he is very much in support of school reconfiguration. He didn’t believe enrollment would continue to decline in the early ’80s, and it didn’t.

“It wasn’t very long after they closed Parker Farms and Yalesville that they had to be reopened, and at exorbitant costs compared to what we saved: well in excess of one million dollars,” Miller said.

Unlike some vocal parents, Miller doesn’t view reconfiguration as a loss of neighborhood schools, but rather an expansion.

“No matter what anybody decides, there’s always going to be those people who disagree. It’s not a winning position that you can ever take. But ultimately what you try to do is what’s going to be best educationally for the students. Everything I have found will, I believe; it will be much better educationally,” he said of the plan that is reported to result in smaller classes and to more evenly distribute resources across all eight elementary schools.

Board Chairman Thomas Hennessey, a Republican, isn’t worried about political fallout from the reconfiguration vote. He said he stands by his position that the change is an educational tool with a growing number of supporters.

“It’s like night and day between redistricting and closing a school, and we’re not doing either,” Hennessey said.

And this time, the vote in favor of reconfiguration was far from along party lines, as it was for closing Parker Farms.

Democrat Valerie Ford, the longest-serving board member, now in her 15th non-consecutive year and eighth-term, is in agreement with Miller and Hennessey when it comes to reconfiguration.

“I don’t make decisions on whether people are going to vote for me or not,” said Ford, who started her career with the Wallingford schools as an active member of the Cook Hill School Parent Teacher Organization fighting for smaller class sizes. She was a registered Independent before seeking support from both the Republican and Democratic Town Committees.

“Turn us all over; good luck,” said Ford, who told the Record-Journal, before this budget season, that she is not planning to seek re-election after this term. “We did the best we could. We made the best decision that we thought we could make. You try to do the best you can and I really have a lot of faith in our Central Office staff and in most of our teachers and administrators.

“I really think this is going to work and I really don’t think the 50 or so people who show up at meetings represent what everybody is thinking out there.”

No Dickinson veto; 2010-11 budget stands at $141.4 million

By Dave Moran
Record-Journal staff
dmoran@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224

As published in the Record Journal Saturday May 22, 2010

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WALLINGFORD — Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr.’s 10-day window to veto the Town Council’s approved budget for the coming fiscal year expired Friday without a veto, making the town’s $141,400,488 spending plan for the 2010-11 fiscal year official.

By whittling down a number of items in Dickinson’s initial budget proposal — including eliminating a $25,000 longstanding annual gift to MidState Medical Center, and halving the amount budgeted to the Police Department to buy new police cruisers from $134,000 to $67,000 — the council shaved $109,370 from the total overall budget for the coming year, reducing the tax increase called for in the coming budget by $3.94 for the average residential taxpayer.

The coming budget raises the town’s tax rate from 23.20 mills to 24.08 mills, resulting in a tax hike of about $174 for the average residential assessment of $197,000. A mill equals $1 of tax for each $1,000 of assessed property value.

The council approved the budget in an 8-1 vote May 12, and by Town Charter Dickinson had 10 days to veto the council’s budget.

“From what I understand, he’s not going to veto it, but he still has today to do so,” Comptroller James Bowes, the town’s chief financial officer, said Friday afternoon, adding that he was “not expecting a phone call” from Dickinson before the close of the business day Friday.

Late Friday afternoon, Dickinson said that he “absolutely will not veto the budget.”

“I think overall it’s as good as we can do,” Dickinson said. “Certainly there are aspects of it that I wish could be better. Nobody ever wants to increase taxes.”

The budget also includes a more than $2.5 million reduction in the Board of Education’s funding request for the coming year, which the school board plans to bridge through a number of measures, including utilizing the system’s reserve account and reconfiguring the town’s elementary schools. The budget also includes an across-the-board wage freeze for all town employees although the town has contracts with several unions that guarantee their employees wage increases in the coming year.

Dickinson has said that if salary concessions can’t be reached, the town would look to lay off personnel in the coming fiscal year.

Dickinson, a Republican who has served as mayor since 1984, said he could not remember the last time he did veto a council-approved budget, but that “it has happened.”

“I don’t remember the year, but there were several I vetoed in the 1990s,” he said. “Thankfully, it’s not most of the time.” The 2010-11 fiscal year runs from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011.

REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING – AGENDA - May 25, 2010

TOWN OF WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

Town Council Chambers

May 25, 2010

6:30 P.M

1. Opening Prayer – Reverend Margaret Jay, First Congregational Church

2. Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call

3. Consent Agenda

3a. Consider and Approve Tax Refunds (#753 - #767) totaling $7,131.00 Acct. # 001-1000-010-1170 - Tax Collector

3b. Consider and Approve a Request for use of the Parade Grounds by Wallingford Center Inc. during the Celebrate Wallingford 2010 days October 2, 2010 to October 3, 2010 – Wallingford Center Inc.

3c. Consider and Approve a Transfer in the Amount of $3,100 to Maintenance – Meters Acct # 597 from Distribution Plant- Meters Acct # 370 – Electric Division

3d. Consider and Approve an Appropriation in the amount of $3,000 to Prior Year Fund Expenditures Fwd. Document Preservation Acct # 228-1010-030-2032 and to Fund Expenditures FY 2009-2010 Acct # 228-6030-999-9907– Town Clerk

3e. Consider and Approve Agreement for Services for the Wallingford Regional Solid Waste Project effective July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2030 (10 years with 2 five-year extensions) – Program Planning

3f. Approve Minutes of Regular Town Council Meeting of May 11, 2010

4. Items Removed from the Consent Agenda

5. PUBLIC QUESTION & ANSWER

6. Conduct a Public Hearing at 7:00 P.M. to Consider and Act upon the following ordinance entitled:

AN ORDINANCE APPROPRIATING $2,180,000 FOR THE PLANNING, ACQUISITION AND CONSTRUCTION OF VARIOUS MUNICIPAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS 2010-2011 AND AUTHORIZING THE ISSUE OF $2,180,000 BONDS OF THE TOWN TO MEET SAID APPROPRIATION AND PENDING THE ISSUANCE THEREOF THE MAKING OF TEMPORARY BORROWINGS FOR SUCH PURPOSE

7. 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

Dickinson budget examined in workshop

By Dave Moran
Record-Journal staff
dmoran@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224

As published in the Record Journal Tuesday May 4, 2010

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WALLINGFORD — The Town Council continued to scour Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr.’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year in a workshop meeting Monday, reviewing, among others, the budgets of the Tax, Finance, Youth and Social Services and Animal Control departments as well as the office of the mayor.

When the Economic Development Commission came before the council with its proposed budget, Democrat John Sullivan said he would like to see the town increase the amount it allotted for that expense, but the council ultimately voted to approve the commission’s $62,908 budget request without any alterations.

“I would really like to see thousands of more dollars put toward the EDC,” Sullivan said. “We need a very, very aggressive game plan if we are going to be bringing in new business — not just from Wallingford, not just from Connecticut, but from all over the country.”

While reviewing the Youth and Social Services Department’s $366,290 budget request, Republican Craig Fishbein made a motion to halve the $1,200 budgeted to the department for transportation reimbursement after Director Craig Turner told the council that his department rarely exhausts that expense. The council approved that motion, but rejected one by Fishbein to halve the $500 budgeted for gas and oil expenses for the department’s van.

When Government Access TV’s $132,497 budget request came up, several councilors expressed concern that more than $40,000 spent to install an automated camera system in the Robert Earley Auditorium of Town Hall did not allow the department to reduce the amount it budgeted for employee salaries, which was almost $119,000.

“I had high hopes when we installed the new camera systems that we would be able to cut our costs,” said Robert Parisi, Republican chairman of the council.

Scott Hanley, who manages the town’s TV station, said that part of the purpose of the camera upgrade was to reduce the number of hours he worked, because, as the station’s lone fulltime employee, he often finds his duties call for him to log far more than 40 hours a week.

During the review of the proposed budget for Dickinson’s office, Democrat Nick Economopoulos asked the Republican mayor point blank if he would ever support widespread Internet access for town employees.

“I think it’s what I said before: I want to see where we save money and that’s the measuring stick,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson’s $141,509,858 budget proposal for the 2010-11 fiscal year reflects a 0.8 percent increase over the town’s current spending plan, but raises property taxes by 3.88 percent. In addition to the proposed tax increase, Dickinson’s budget proposal cuts funding requests to both the general government and the Board of Education.

The council will continue its workshop review of the mayor’s proposal Wednesday at 6 p.m., when it is scheduled to review the budgets of the Electric, Water and Sewer divisions, among others.

Special Town Council Meeting – Monday MAY 3, 2010

TOWN OF WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

Special Town Council Meeting

MONDAY

MAY 3, 2010

6:00 P.M.

Town Council Chambers

BUDGET WORKSHOP AGENDA

1. Moment of Silence

2. Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call

3. Budget Workshop

      Finance Department

    Tax Department

    Assessor’s Office

    Purchasing Department

    Economic Development

    Youth & Social Services

    Government Television

    Program Planning

    Probate

    Veterans’ Service Center

    Animal Control

    Town Clerk

    Mayor

    Debt Services

    Contingency

TOWN OF WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT - REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

Town Council Chambers

April 27, 2010

6:30 P.M

AGENDA

Opening Prayer – Deacon Eugene C. Riotte

1. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Consent Agenda

3a. Consider and Approve Tax Refunds (#708 - #723) totaling $10,214.37 Acct. # 001-1000-010-1170 - Tax Collector

3b. Acceptance of Donation and Approval of an Appropriation in the Amount of $50 Youth & Social Services Special Fund to Donations Acct # 213-1042-070-7010 and to Expenditures Acct # 213-3070-600-6000– Youth and Social Services

3c. Accept a Donation and Approve an Appropriation in the Amount of $299 Youth and Social Services Special Fund to Donations Acct # 213-1042-070-7010 and to Expenditures Acct # 213-3070-600-6000– Youth and Social Services

3d. Accept a Donation and Approve an Appropriation in the Amount of $1,360 Youth and Social Services Special Fund to Donations Acct # 213-1042-070-7010 and to Expenditures Acct # 213-3070-600-6000– Youth and Social Services

3e. Request for Consideration of Farmland Lease Properties Program Bid Award – Conservation Commission

3f. Schedule a Public Hearing for May 11, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. to be held in connection with an Ordinance entitled:

AN ORDINANCE APPROPRIATING $2,180,000 FOR THE PLANNING, ACQUISITION AND CONSTRUCTION OF VARIOUS MUNICIPAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS 2010-2011 AND AUTHORIZING THE ISSUE OF $2,180,000 BONDS OF THE TOWN TO MEET SAID APPROPRIATION AND PENDING THE ISSUANCE THEREOF THE MAKING OF TEMPORARY BORROWINGS FOR SUCH PURPOSE

3g. Approval of corrections to the Minutes of Regular Town Council Meeting of March 9, 2010

4. Items Removed from the Consent Agenda

5. PUBLIC QUESTION & ANSWER

6. 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

CRRA surplus payment to help reduce Wallingford’s budget

As Published in the Record Journal Sunday April 18, 2010

By Dave Moran
Record-Journal staff
dmoran@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224

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WALLINGFORD — Amid sizable cuts to both the Board of Education and general government budgets for 2010-11 and a proposed nearly four percent tax hike, there’s a relatively small item that could lead to big savings in the future.

In an effort to reduce budget costs and tackle some looming capital projects, Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. has proposed using an estimated $5 million payment the town expects later this year from the Connecticut Resources Recovery Project to fund a number of infrastructure improvements for the town and school system. The items do not count against his $141.5 million budget proposal because they are classified as capital expenses.

Last year, the town received a $7.2 million surplus payment from CRRA, which owns a trash-to-energy facility on South Cherry Street that is used by Wallingford and surrounding towns.

Facing requests that he apply at least some of that money to his budget proposal last year to reduce the tax rate, Dickinson, a Republican, instead reserved it for the purchase of a new fire truck and the construction of a new station for the North Farms Fire Department, a project that still lacks a timetable for completion. This year, Dickinson opted to remove a number of capital item requests from the budget requests of several departments and fund them separately through the surplus payment, thus reducing the town’s overall budget and the amount of taxpayer dollars needed to fund it.

“It’s one-time money, so we certainly didn’t want it to impact the operational budget because it won’t replace itself,” Dickinson said about his decision to use CRRA funds for capital improvements. “It seemed appropriate to spend the money on capital items that are necessary and won’t repeat.”

Comptroller James Bowes said although the expected payment is not being applied directly to the budget, it will still lead to savings in future budget years by eliminating a number of capital projects that would need to be funded through future budgets.

“We aren’t going out and looking for items to spend money on,” Bowes said. “We are addressing needs that are coming in next year’s budget and very shortly thereafter that we’re going to have to attack through taxpayer dollars if we don’t utilize these funds.”

The CRRA distribution will pay for two new snow plow trucks for the Public Works Department, a new ambulance for the Fire Department and roof replacements to both fire and police headquarters.

But the bulk of it, more than $1.2 million, will be used to fund improvements to the school system, including new bleachers for Mark T. Sheehan High School, boiler repairs for several schools and a $600,000 energy efficiency retrofit project that is forecasted to shave almost $500,000 from the system’s annual utilities costs.

Thomas Hennessey, Board of Education chairman, said those capital improvements will not have to be accounted for by the system in future budgets and that the energy savings project will yield immediate savings. Both help to cushion a more than $2.5 million reduction that Dickinson made to the school system’s budget request, he said.

“The energy stuff will save us hard money eventually, because every year we are going to be spending less and less money,” said Hennessey, a Republican. “The capital improvements are things that we would have had to do eventually.”

John Sullivan, a Democratic councilor, said he supported Dickinson’s use of the CRRA funds because even though the money is not being injected directly into the town’s operating budget, it is being used to remove a number of costly capital projects from the upcoming and future budget years.

“We don’t have to use tax dollars to pay for those items,” Sullivan said.

Meriden and Cheshire, which also took part in the CRRA trash disposal project that led to the surplus accounts, don’t plan to use any of the surplus money to fund their general operating budgets either.

Cheshire plans to bolster several of its reserve funds, like pension contributions and debt service, while Meriden wants to add the money to its undesignated reserves in an effort to strengthen the city’s bond rating, which appears set for an upgrade, city officials said Friday.

“Meriden is still in a situation where we believe there is a need to build the reserves a bit higher than where they are presently, so we’re not budgeting the CRRA money,” City Manager Lawrence Kendzior said.

Paul Nonnenmacher, the resource authority’s director of public affairs, said there is no timetable for when the surplus funds might be distributed to the town. Dickinson said that Wallingford will not implement any of the capital improvement projects until it receives the funds.