Board of Finance - Minutes - 03/01/2023

Board of Finance Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Budget Hearing Waterford Town Hall
Present:
Elected:
Staff:
Chairman Glenn Patterson, Ronald R. Fedor, John Sheehan, Kevin Petchark,
Robert Tuneski, David Peabody, Joseph Filippetti
Robert J. Brule, First Selectman
Christine Johnston, Library Director; Marc Balestracci, Chief of Police; Lt. Tim
Silva; Lt. Nicole Van Overloop; Sgt. David Ferland; Sgt. Troy Gelinas; Steven
Sinagra, Director Emergency Management; Mike Howley, Director of Fire
Services; Linda Finnegan, Office Coordinator; Kimberly Allen, Finance Director;
Shea Moses, Secretary
Establishment of a quorum and call to order:
A quorum was established and a call to order was established at 7:00 pm,
March 1, 2023.
Public comment:
An opening statement regarding the budget process was made by Glenn
Patterson, Chairman.
Glenn also stated that the Waterford Board of Education approves the Education
Budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year in the amount of $55,230,455.00.
Standing Motion: was made by Ronald Fedor and seconded by Joseph Filippetti
to tentatively approve the budget requests for FY23/24.
Vote: 7-0-0 Motion: Passed
Library Budget:
There was a discussion regarding the personnel and reallocation of job duties.
With-the renovation it is operating more of a public space. Library Director
john son and President of the Board of Trustees Aaron Rosenberg made a
statement that they will be celebrating the Library’s 100“ year anniversary on
(20/23 which is open to the public and people of all ages. They will be having
live music, art, and activities. Feedback from the public is welcome to help focus
ofthe future of the community and what they would like to see.
et
Bill Sneehan commented that the Library FICA line was not increased when the
BOS voted to increase the OT budget to fund Sunday openings.

Board of Finance Budget Minutes — March 1, 2023
Page 2
Bill Sheehan asked about the fines for overdue materials, Director Johnson
stated that they just reinstated the return policy back in November and people
rejoined the library with a clean slate and it is averaging about $15 weekly on
money from returns.
There was also a discussion on the amount of visits from the same family and if
the online services would affect in person visits. The library is seeing transitions
and a lot of collaboration comes from the community center. Even though there
has been online services, audio books, and emails, people do still prefer printed
books in hand. They also have incorporated more children’s books as well.
Motion by Ronald Fedor and seconded by Joseph Filippetti to approve the
budget requests for FY23/24 in the total amount of
$1,006,837.
Vote: 7-0-0 Motion: Passed
Police Department Budget:
Bill Sheehan asked about the greatest danger that officers face. Chief Balestracci
noted ambushes toward Police officers have increased around the country and
any call can be extremely dangerous.
Chief Balestracci and his team internal training and he pays tribute to his
department’s success coming from highly trained officers that will investigate a
case until the end or there is nothing left to investigate.
Mr. Sheehan also asked about the sharing of resources between East Lyme and
Waterford for the marine patrol control Waterford, East Lyme and the Coast
Guard share resources.
Chief Balestracci noted the department will receive about $50,000 from the state
for a task force. He also stated that he is not at full strength as they are down 1
officer and expect a retirement around June of 2023. There was also a discussion
around Animal Control was still receiving occasional material donations at the
police station but are no longer seeing any monetary donations.
Ron Fedor asked about whether vehicles other than the Fords currently being
purchased were an option given the current vehicles repair histories. The Chief

Board of Finance Budget Minutes — March 1, 2023
Page 3
noted that options are limited and LT Silva noted Ford provided the best options
for the car and accompanying equipment.
There was also a mention of the long standing issues regarding traffic and trying
to slow down the motor issues in the public has been challenging. With regards
to staffing issues and filling in the vacancies, Chief Balestracci stated that he
refuses to lower the standards to fill in vacancies and he is happy with the team
he has now as they have a very positive culture in the workplace and it seems to
work to get the longevity within the department. Chief Balestracci is happy with
the budget as requested and it will work for his department.
Motion by Ronald Fedor and seconded by Joseph Filippetti to approve the
Police Department budget request for FY23/24 in the total amount of
$6,830,602.
Vote: 6-0-1 Abstain: Ronald Fedor Motion: Passed
Emergency Management Budget:
There was a discussion regarding personnel and training. Director Sinagra stated
that the town has grown and that call volumes has increased significantly over
the last 5 years. The dispatchers are taking advantage of training incentives and
right now 1 dispatcher has a Master’s Degree, 1 has an Associates and 1 holds a
Bachelor’s degree.
He noted the department cross-trains dispatchers in both Fire services and in the
Police department.
There was also a discussion on interpreters for emergency calls, which
Emergency Management does work with a contractor, however, if the
emergency is critical they do work with the Police Department to be able to
interpret the call faster. Ronald Fedor mentioned that there are software
programs such as Al to help with the transition of transferring the call to an
interpreter, however, he does not know the specifics regarding costs, and it is
something to look into.
John Sheehan inquired about the status of preventive maintenance on the towns
emergency generators, Director Sinagra replied that all generators are up to date
and are covered under Northeast Generators.
He also noted the radios used by Emergency Management are replaced based
upon how often they are used and the main radio system’s life span is 11-12
years. The last time the radio system was upgraded was in 2007 at a cost of
where $6.5 million. The department is working towards replacing the current

Board of Finance Budget Minutes — March 1, 2023
Page 4
system and is exploring options included the state system. He noted that New
London, the town’s partner in the current system is also pursuing similar options.
There was also a discussion on where emergency shelter supplies stored. Steve
pointed out that some are still stored in the Town at the Community Center and
Recreation & Parks.
Motion by Ronald Fedor and seconded by Joseph Filippetti to approve the
Emergency Management budget request for FY23/24 in the total amount of
$1,094,563.
Vote: 7-0-0 Motion: Passed
Fire Services Budget:
There was a long discussion regarding the shortage of fire fighters. Recruitment
and retention as far as volunteers has been the biggest challenge. They have
been reassessing the current program and will go before the RTM in April. They
are trying to make volunteering more attractive by going into schools to build
relationship within the community and how they can help. Fire Director Howley
and his team have been working on rebuilding the incentive program to help
with the retention of fire fighters. Mike did mention that their ISO rating has
been great regardless of the shortage of volunteers. The volunteer companies
that he works with have great volunteers.
John Sheehan raised a question on whether the fire fighters have taken
advantage in the education incentives. The Director stated that 50% of staff have
taken advantage of education enhancements offered. The new incentive
program depends on the education, the more the fire fighters are educated the
more incentives they receive. They are doing more education classes online to
make it easier to fit the training and education to fire fighter’s schedules as well
as a lot of in house training by career firemen.
The budget reflects 3 additional fire fighter positions to the current total of 12
full time positions. The Director noted that staffing challenges have reduced
Staffing at Goshen and Quaker Hill fire house. Quaker Hill fire house is only open
3 days a week for 8 hours a day, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Goshen fire
house is staffed only on Saturdays and during the summer Saturdays and
Sundays. He finally noted that there was a retirement in October and they hired
someone to take their place a few weeks before.
There was a discussion regarding the Oswegatchie fire house based on the fire
study that was done. John Sheehan expressed that he would like to know what is
going on with the location of the Oswegatchie fire house. Mike Howley did state

Board of Finance Budget Minutes — March 1, 2023
Page 5
that the Ad Hoc Fire Services Committee is still active and was addressing the
Oswegatchie issue as well as other priorities.
Board Member Robert Tuneski the chair of the Ad Hoc Fire Services Committee
stated that the Ad Hoc committee had made a recommendation to the RTM to
form a Building Committee which the RTM approved and was in the process of
filling the membership. He noted that there is not enough data to provide a
timeline as to when any construction would begin.
John Sheehan raised a question of the Knox boxes. Mike Howley stated that they
are secured devices made out of heavy cast metal in the schools and commercial
buildings to give access to fire fighters in the event of a fire or emergency. Over
the last couple of years Mike has been working with Chief Balestracci and Steve
Sinagra to make sure that the Police department and Emergency management
have access to those boxes as well.
Motion by Ronald Fedor and seconded by Joseph Filippetti to approve the
Information Technology budget request for FY23/24 in the total amount of
$3,531,618.
Vote: 7-0-0 Motion: Passed
Board of Finance Budget:
Motion by Ronald Fedor and seconded by Joseph Filippetti to approve the Board
of Finance budget request for FY23/24 in the total amount of $70,159.
Vote: 7-0-0 Motion: Passed
Contingency Budget:
There was a questioned raised by Ronald Fedor if there was a ball park figure
regarding upcoming retirements in FY24. Director of Finance, Kim Allen stated
that is a hard number to estimate.
Motion by Ronald Fedor and seconded by Joseph Filippetti to approve the
Contingency budget request for FY23/24 in the total amount of $265,000.
Vote: 7-0-0 Motion: Passed

Board of Finance Budget Minutes — March 1, 2023
Page 6
11. Adjournment:
Motion by Joseph Filippetti and seconded by Robert Tuneski to adjourn the
Budget Meeting of the Board of Finance at 10:00 p.m.
Vote: 7-0-0 Motion: Passed
Respectfully submitted
Op Zhh She. Prose,
JobA Sheehan, Clerk Shea Moses, Secretary