Board of Selectmen - Minutes - 09/06/2022
agenda center minutes
| Board/Commission | Board of Selectmen |
|---|---|
| Meeting Date | September 06, 2022 |
| Pages | 12 |
| File Size | 0.6 MB |
| OCR Status | Searchable (OCR processed) |
| Source URL | Original |
Document Preview
Full Text (OCR Extracted)
(Procedural Action: Check re Members Present: First Selectm and Selectwoman Jody Nazarchyk Police Department: MINUTES BOARD OF SELECTMEN REGULAR MEETING September 6, 2022 5:00 P.M. Waterford Town Hall (Appleby Room) an Robert Brule, Selectwoman Elizabeth Sabilia gister to be signed by Board of Selectmen in accordance with CGS 7-83) 3 rey . “U 1. Call to Order & Roll Call- First Selectman Brule called the meeting t order at 5:00pm. 2 2. Pledge of Allegiance = 3. Public Comment: 3a. Selectwoman Sabilia requested appoint of privilege to acknowledge the passing of Gerard “Rod” J Gaynor Jr. on August 29, 2022. Rod served the City of New London as a Poli i as a member of the RTM for several years, 3b. First Selectman, Robert Brule a.sked for a Moment of Silence in remembrance of Rod Gaynor. Disposition of Town Property (Ordinance, Chapter 2.112.020): 4a. To Consider and act on a recommendation from Rawle Dummett, Purchasing Agent, on behalf of Fire Services, Police Department and the IT Department to dispose of the assets below: Fire Services: © Holmatro tools & Associated Acce:ssories (list attached) © (5) Scott Eagle Cameras-items will be auctioned (list attached) * Sea Doo GTX Jet Ski-item will be auctioned © Karavan Trailer- item will be auctioned © (2) Traffic Solutions Instalert Rapid Message Trailers- item will be auctioned Information Technology Department: e Attached List of IT assets which are broken and have no value MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 Finance Department Bid Rejection- Old Norwich and Crossroads Pump Station Upgrades- #22-128: To consider and act on a recommendation from Rawle Dummett, Purchasing Agent on behalf of the Utility Commission to reject the lowest bidder Tucker Mechanical due to being significantly over budget. MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 Finance Department Cooperative Purchasing-Ventrae Tractor KN 4520Z Kubota WG972-GL: To consider and act on a recommendation from Rawle Dummett, Purchasing Agent on behalf of the Recreation & Parks Department to award the contract to Turf Products LLC, in the amount of $58,818.81. Funds would be available in line item 24207-54020 Equipment Replacement. MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 Finance Department Cooperative Purchasing- Installation of Guardrails: To consider and act on a recommendation from Rawle Dummett, Purchasing Agent on behalf of the Public Works Department to award the contract to Atlas Companies LLC, in the amount of $35,248.75. Funds would be available in line item 20530-57877 Resurface Roads, Lake Ponds. MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 Finance Department Cooperative Purchasing- 2000 tons of Road Salt: To consider and act on a recommendation from Rawle Dummett, Purchasing Agent on behalf of the Public Works Department to award the contract to Morton Salt, in the amount of $191,160.00 Funds would be available in line item 10130-55010 Town Aid Roads Improved. MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 10. 11. 12. 13. Recreation & Parks: To consider and act on a request from Brian Flaherty, Recreation & Parks Director, for an additional appropriation in the amount of $12,250 to line item 10137-53080 Maintenance of Vehicles, to cover the cost of unbudgeted repairs to the 2015 Chevrolét Silverado Dump Truck, and forward to the Board of Finance. MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 Recreation & Parks: To consider and act on a request from Brian Flaherty, Recreation & Parks Director, a new Capital project request for an additional appropriation in the amount of $22,766, due to pathway permanent repairs needed at Pleasure Beach, to address the wash-out issues, as well making the beach ADA accessible, and forward to the Board of Finance. MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 Public Works: To consider and act on a recommendation from Gary Schneider, Public Works Director to reopen line #20530-57743 Jordan Cove Bridge Replacement that was closed in 2019, and forward to the Board of Finance. MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 Public Works: To consider and act on a recommendation on a request from Gary Schneider, Public Works Director, for an additional appropriation in the amount of $11,775.56 for the demand payment to the State of Connecticut DOT, for the replacement of the bridge over Jordan Cover. Funds would be placed in line #20530-57743 Jordan Cove Bridge Replacement, and forward to the Board of Finance. MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 Finance Department Bid Award- ADA Entrance Improvements-Police Station- #22-130: To consider and act on a recommendation from Rawle Dummett, Purchasing Agent on behalf of Public Works to award the contract to Mattern Construction Inc, in the amount of $70,250. Funds would be available in line item 31120-55851 ADA Improvements YSB/PD. MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 14. Finance Department Bid Award- Jordan Millpond Dam Fishway Repair #23- 102: To consider and act on a recommendation from Rawle Dummett, Purchasing Agent on behalf of Planning Department to award the contract to Schumack Engineered Construction, in the amount of $72,488 Funds would be available in line item 31123-55903 Fish Ladder Repair and Grant line item TBD. MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 15. Appointments and Resignations: 15a. To consider and act on the appointment of Brandon Smith to the Youth & Family Services Advisory Committee for the term of 6/1/22 to 5/31/2025 MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 15b. To consider and act on the appointment of Warren Mackenzie as an alternate to the Historic Properties commission to fill the term of 11/1/19 to 10/3 1/2024 MOTION by Nazarchyk, and seconded by Sabilia, VOTING IN FAVOR: unanimous VOTE:3-0 16. New Business: N/A 17. Correspondence: 17a. 9/11 Ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Park at 5:30p on Friday night 17b. 2023 BOS Meeting Schedule Draft for Review 17c. Email from James Auwood 18. Consent Agenda 18a. Tax refund-N/A 18b. June 29, 2022 Special Meeting Minutes-APPROVED 18c. July 5, 2022 Meeting Minutes-APPROVED 18d. July 19, 2022 Meeting Minutes-APPROVED 18e. August 8, 2022 Meeting Minutes-APPROVED 18f. August 16, 2022 Meeting Minutes-APPROVED 19. Adjournment- was made by Ms. Nazarchyk and seconded by Ms. Sabilia to adjourn at 5:50pm. VOTING IN FAVOR; unanimous, VOTE:3-0 Y) Submitted, ; 4 Cindy Dupointe Recording Secretary Cindy Dupointe From: James Auwood <jwauwood@snet.net> Sent: Friday, August 26, 2022 3:28 PM To: First Selectman Cc: Gail Boehm; william.turnier@snet.net; Brian Flaherty; Ryan McNamara Subject: Rec&Parks Dept 2023-24 CIP proposal for tennis court improvements Attachments: PB Presentation.pdf Categories: First Selectman _. ‘CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. : ' I t Do not click links or r open attachments unless you recognize the sender's s email address and know the. I content is safe. : q Mr. Brule: My name is Jim Auwood and I reside at 19 Peninsular Avenue in Ridgewood Park. Gail Boehm, Bill Tumier and myself would like to request an opportunity to meet with you to discuss further the proposal for tennis court improvements at Leary Park, Waterford Beach Park and Quaker Hill Elementary School. It is my understanding that the proposal was tabled by the Board of Selectmen during the deliberations for the 2022-23 CIP plan but will be resubmitted during this next budget review cycle. Gail Boehm and I attended this past Tuesday’s Recreation Commission meeting and addressed its members in support of the aforementioned CIP proposal with a few modifications. Attached hereto please find my prepared statement that was read in part to the Commission along with questions and answers that they had for Gail and I. The Commission ultimately asked us supportively “what would you be looking for from us” and it was suggested by the Commission and Brian that we reach out to you and ask to meet with you. So here I am, and as I told the Commission - I will talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime that is willing to listen to my pickleball story and its benefits, both personal and to our community. I was happy to receive your email today citing Waterford as the 46th Hottest Housing Market in the U.S., according to Realtor.com. Ironically, - pickleball is listed often as a favorable and desirable amenity in housing developments in certain regions around America. We recognize that your schedule is a busy one and the demands for your time are never-ending, but we will make every effort to fit our time into your calendar. Thank you and I look forward to hearing back from you. PLEASE NOTE that I contacted your office to see if the Selectwomen had official Town emails to copy them, but I did not hear back in time to get this email out before week’s end. Jim Auwood Good afternoon Commission members, Chairman Hall, Director Flaherty, Asst Director McNamara and Program Coordinator Damon. My name is Jim Auwood and | live at 19 Peninsular Avenue here in Waterford. | sent a letter dated August 15th which should be included in your meeting packet along with a letter written by Rich Walton, but written on behalf of 127 Waterford residents and non-residents supporting the Department’s 2023-24 CIP proposal for tennis court improvements. \'m here for two reasons: #1) Along with Gail Boehm and Bill Turnier, | was asked by WBP picklers to speak to Brian and Ryan about adding lines to the 2nd tennis court there to double playing capacity from 2 to 4 courts; and #2) back in August 2021 after finishing pickleball play with a large group of picklers, | was witness to a Town official state “PB IS JUST A FAD” Who said this is far less important than the sentiment expressed. So let’s set the record straight when it comes to PB: First, it is NOT a fad; and second, the game is not limited to us older folks, us seniors. To dispel those two notions, | offer the following: 1) PB is NOT a fad - instead it is the fastest growing sport in America for the past 3 years and counting, According to USA Pickleball, the governing body for PB in America, participation has also grown a whopping 650% in the past 7 years. It’s popularity is expected to continue to grow exponentially over the next 10-15 years, similar to the tennis explosion of the 70s and 80s when Arthur Ashe, Connors, Evert, McEnroe were household names. It’s no coincidence that Towns and cities, racquet clubs and country clubs around the country were building tennis courts to meet that growing demand. 2) PB is NOT limited primarily to senior citizens. Statistics from the SPORTS & FITNESS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION 2022 report show that the average age of today’s pickleball player is 38.1 years old, and continues to fall. The demographics are probably shocking to most of you - Seniors (that is age 65+) comprise 17% of the players here in the US, while those under 25 make up 33% of the total PB playing population. So it’s no wonder that the target demographic which has seen greatest increases are those under 50 years old. So what does that mean? The sport is not going away and it makes sense for towns to have the foresight to address those changes now rather than later. Private enterprise is already doing it - we see it at Racquet Clubs, Fitness Centers even hotel chains replacing tennis courts with PB courts or at least retrofitting tennis courts to accommodate PB. Housing developments list PB courts as one of their amenities. There are specialty venues where you can book travel to places like Italy that includes PB clinics and playing with the pros. Some Royal Caribbean Cruise ships have PB courts on their top deck. There is a national restaurant chain, Chicken & Pickles that advertises PB fun for the family along with dinner. The private sector’s response has recently been matched with public funding of PB courts. Traditionally, municipalities have funded public golf courses, skating rinks, biking and hiking trails, but now you see PicklePlexes popping up around the country. Just one example - Two years ago the City of Holly Hill, FL in the Daytona Beach area built a facility with approximately 24 PB courts along with locker rooms and a small restaurant. That successful project led them to commit an additional $1.5 million for an expansion that will include more courts and a stadium court that will seat thousands of tournament spectators. Now this example may be the outlier and while | know Brian and Ryan are up to the task, that’s not where we’re headed. But Waterford would not be the first Connecticut municipality to make a commitment to build dedicated PB courts. There currently are 34 CT towns with 160 dedicated courts for PB. In New London County there is one town, Colchester. There is one town in Windham County which tore down the existing, run down, little used tennis courts at one site and replaced it with 6 PB courts, new fencing and lights - that would be Windham fondly known as Romantic Willimantic. Our closest neighbor with dedicated PB courts is Old Saybrook. Back in 2018 or 2019 they built 3 PB courts with lights, and I’m told that they already are looking to add 3 more courts due to demand. The Old Saybrook issue highlights the macro-problem with tennis and pickleball courts - in the US there are 4.5 times more tennis players than PB players; however there are 25 times more tennis courts in the US than there are PB courts. So the micro- solution to this imbalance and inequity, which continues to grow each year as the numbers of PB players grows, has been to put PB lines on the tennis courts - it’s expedient and inexpensive, The only expenses are paint, tape, rollers, labor and a couple more portable PB nets. | know, because | bought the paint for the WBP lines, and despite Brian’s best efforts to have his overworked and understaffed crew provide the labor, the Town had to pay a private contractor to paint the lines. So | wanted to publicly thank Brian and Ryan for their commitment to PB for Waterford. And | wanted to also point out the reciprocal commitment of Waterford pickleballers, a group of approximately 140 players between Leary Park and Waterford Beach Park, who generously donated monies to purchase 4 new PB nets and the paint totaling $700 just in the past 2 months. These groups also clean off the wet courts year-round after inclement weather in order to play - a hidden benefit that has and will extend the court surface’s useful life in the future. Which brings me to the current court surfaces. | trust that we can all agree that the tennis courts are in poor shape and that the repairs and patching done have left them both inadequate and potentially dangerous. So assuming going forward, that the CIP proposal is not a matter of IF the courts need to be resurfaced, but rather WHEN they are resurfaced, what will the tennis/PB configuration look like. This is where the PB community may differ with the current proposal for four dedicated pickleball courts at Leary. There are 14 tennis courts available in Town and until 4 weeks ago, there were only 6 PB courts co-existing on 3 of those tennis courts. From strictly a utilization analysis, the current 8 PB courts usage dwarfs the tennis play on those 8 tennis courts at Leary Park, WBP and Quaker Hill Elementary combined. On the first day of four courts at Waterford Beach on July 24th, there were 19 of our PB crew and while playing we were joined by a family of 10, with their three generations of players enjoying PB. 29 PB players just that first morning - how long would it take to get 29 tennis players utilizing those courts? We now average 16-20 PB players most days at WBP. Except this past Friday, when we only had 13 at WBP ~ but then | discovered that some of our regulars played that day at Leary, where their 4 PB courts had a morning total of 25 PB players, and later that day 8 more players there. That’s a total of 46 players in one day on those 4 tennis courts (8 PB courts). | respectfully suggest that | have not seen 46 tennis players in total in the past 30 days at those 2 venues. Having said that, this should not be a tennis vs. PB conversation to begin with. But from a purely utilization point of view, the Waterford pian should merit AT LEAST 6 dedicated PB courts. PB players deserve the same playing experience afforded tennis players that they get on dedicated courts with permanent nets. Having a choice between playing on a dedicated PB court and one with portable nets, the player will almost always choose the former. And that should be a consideration when moving forward with this plan - whatever the final number that is determined, please be mindful that when you build it they will come. Until other neighboring towns do the same, even more players will migrate to the best courts around. East Lyme, Montville, Norwich, Groton and Stonington are all in the discussion stages but do not appear to be as far along as Waterford. The fact that the proposal includes the demolition of the footprints at Leary and WBP, there should at least be consideration formore than 4 PB courts. This is the time to get it right for the next 25-30 years. The existing Leary footprint is sufficient to replace the 2 northern tennis courts with 6 PB courts. The bottom line for the PB folks who have indicated their support for the CIP proposal - we are simply asking that going forward from today, that the Commission consider further discussions be held to consider modifications to Brian’s proposals. Rich Walton, Bill Turnier, Gail Boehm, myself and other PB folks have consistently offered support, will continue to do so and do anything needed to move this project forward to fruition. PB is a fast-growing sport that will continue to grow in our community. This sport is multi-generational and fits squarely with your Mission Statement. | was introduced to the game by my 77 year old sister, have played the game with my 81 year old brother, while competing with my thirty-something year old children and a 5 year old grandson. One thing | learned when | started this homework project that | was completely unaware of - Waterford high schoolers and middle schoolers have had PB as part of the PE curriculum since 1991 - 31 years - which means that those students now between ages 12 and 49 have been introduced to the game, but never really had access to PB lined courts outside of the school gym until recently, so it’s no wonder the fastest growing demographic isn’t me and my fellow retirees. | would like to conclude with a post | read over the weekend: Pickleball is here to stay. It is truly different than all other sports and definitely more than just a game. It transcends needing a racket sport background or athletic background at all, disregards age or gender, and allows both social/relaxed play as well as competitive/high-intensity play. It builds friendships and teaches strategic thinking that can be applied to anything. It’s cheap to play, easy to learn and hard to master. It helps us develop patience, but also decide the right time to strike. It’s inspired a realm of online communities trying to help each other grow, learn the game and enjoy it to the fullest. It keeps people healthy and occupied, regardless of their stage of life. And this is only a portion of why pickleball is so great. Thank you for your time. | am available to talk anytime to anyone that you think needs to hear about the PB story. | look forward to continuing to harass Brian and Ryan and | would like to invite any of you to come play and learn what the addiction to PB is all about. August 23, 2022 Recreation Commission meeting FIFTEEN ROPE FERRY ROAD WATERFORD, CT 06385-2886 PHONE: 860-442-0553 www.waterfordct.org David Campo Waterford Town Clerk 15 Rope Ferry Road Waterford, CT 06365 Mr. David Campo; In ordinance with the Connecticut General Statue 1-21, please be advised of the following 2023 schedule dates for the Board of Selectman. January 10, 2023 April 4, 2023 July 11, 2023 October 3, 2023 January 24, 2023 April 18, 2023 July 25, 2023 October 24, 2023 February 7, 2023 May 2, 2023 August 1, 2023 November 7 or 14, 2023 February 21, 2023 May 16, 2023 August 15, 2023 November 21, 2023 March 7, 2023 June 6, 2023 September 12, 2023 December 5, 2023 March 21, 2023 June 20, 2023 September 26, 2023 December 19, 2023 The Board of Selectman meet the first and second Tuesday of each month, unless otherwise indicated. All regular meetings will begin at 5:00pm at the Waterford Town Hall. The Board of Selectmen will meet the following dates for Budget Meetings in 2023 at 5pm at the Waterford Town Hall: February 1, 2023 February 2, 2023 February 8, 2023 February 9, 2023 Respectfully, Rob Brule First Selectman Waterford Town Hall 15 Rope Ferry Toad Waterford CT 06365 rbrule@waterfordct.org