President Barack Obama gave his 2011 State of the Union address yesterday evening, Tuesday, January 25. Following is the statement released on Tuesday evening, January 25, by Governor Dannel Malloy who attended the State of the Union as a guest of Congressman John Larson. Below Governor Malloy’s statement are links to the text and a video of the President’s address.

“I appreciate President Obama’s frank talk about the challenges that lie ahead and what we need to be willing to do to overcome them. I share his commitment to creating new jobs and keeping the ones we have. There are no easy answers, no quick fixes, and no silver bullet. These are going to be tough choices and our willingness to make them is directly related to our long and short-term recovery prospects.

“But in every situation there is a silver lining. Finding ourselves at this critical juncture after the last few tumultuous years will propel us to find ways in which we can invest in new technology, aging infrastructure and the critical programs and ideas that will help us create new jobs and compete in the global economy.

“Connecticut finds itself in much the same position as our nation does. We need to create new jobs and get our fiscal house in order. I spoke with my commissioners earlier today and made clear to them that solving our budget crisis and creating new jobs starts with them. That means no new spending, no borrowing for operating expenses, no early retirement proposal and we absolutely must meet our pension obligations. Period.

“I’m glad that President Obama agrees that creating and growing new jobs is the biggest, most important challenge we face. I look forward to working with President Obama, the delegation in Washington, the General Assembly in Connecticut and anybody else who wants to get Connecticut back on track again.”

Links To President Obama’s  2011 State of the Union Address

To watch a video of the President’s address, please visit the White House YouTube Channel.

To read the text of the President’s address, please visit the Speeches and Remarks section of the White House website.

John Rathgeber

The CBIA (Connecticut Business & Industry Association), the largest business association in Connecticut issued an open letter to Governor-Elect Malloy yesterday, Monday, January 3, just two days before he officially takes over as our new governor.

The CBIA said about its letter: “As Dan Malloy becomes Connecticut’s new governor this week, we are congratulating him in an Open Letter and wishing him success in tackling the big challenges he and the state now face. We believe Gov.-elect Malloy’s leadership will be crucial to driving renewed economic growth and job creation in the state, as well as in transforming state government. He deserves the help and encouragement of all of us in this difficult time.”  Following is the Open Letter:

Dear Governor-Elect Malloy:

On behalf of our 10,000 members, I want to congratulate you on becoming Connecticut’s 88th Governor and wish you success in addressing the serious economic and policy issues facing our state.

As it was in Stamford, your leadership is critical in convincing leaders of businesses, small and large, to grow their companies in Connecticut, to invest in new products and services, and to create and keep jobs here.

Connecticut’s economic renewal is not just important to the men and women working in our state, the young people seeking employment here, and the 100,000 who have lost their jobs in this recession. It also is critical to our ability to solve our budget problems and provide essential public services.

We applaud your commitment to honest, transparent budgeting. We urge you to take this opportunity to transform state government and encourage municipalities to work together in finding efficiencies and reducing the costs of delivering important public services.

Your commitment to public education is very encouraging, and we ask that you establish goals to close the achievement gap and make Connecticut schools the best in the nation. The Connecticut Commission on Educational Achievement provides a detailed blueprint for action.

And, we urge you to make Connecticut’s economic recovery your administration’s overall priority. Working with employers to solve problems and accomplish regulatory goals will unlock good ideas and improve business confidence in our state.

As you know, when the national recovery strengthens – and it will – Connecticut cannot afford to be passed by. We look forward to working with you, your administration, and Democratic and Republican legislators in making Connecticut a leader again in economic growth and job creation.

Respectfully,

John R. Rathgeber
President and CEO
Connecticut Business & Industry Association

Editor’s Note: As a small business in New Hartford and a member of the Board of Directors of the New Hartford Business Council, NewHartfordPlus fully supports the sentiments expressed by Mr. Rathgeber.  We also urge our local government to adhere to the same principles as outlined in the letter in order to deliver essential services in town in the most cost-effective way by streamlining them and cooperating with our neighboring towns as much as possible, and to actively pursue the economic development which our new wastewater treatment plant has made possible.  With fiscal prudency on one hand and an assertive push for economic development on the other, New Hartford can again position itself as one of the most desirable locations in the state to do business in as well as to live in.

[Correction: The number of hours worked by Beth Paul is 20 hours for Burlington and 20 hours for New Hartford, not 15 hours for New Hartford as our reporter assumed in the original report.  The information regarding the breakdown of her hours was not forthcoming from the First Selectman's Office, therefore our reporter assumed that Beth was working the 35 hours specified by the employees' union contract since Beth is a union member.  Today our reporter confirmed unofficially that Beth's work hours are 20 hours for Burlington and 20 hours for New Hartford.  We have not been able to confirm officially whether the additional 5 hours are being paid to Beth as overtime; nor have we been able to confirm officially whether the town is being reimbursed by Burlington for a proportion of her salary and benefits, as has been customary when the town has contracted out its employees to other municipalities in the past; 7:15 p.m., Friday, July 23]

[Correction: The union representative corrected the statement regarding the union not being approached for concessions during the budgetary process as stated in this report.  The union said that the First Selectman had asked for concessions on the health insurance, the union wanted to negotiate saving the Administrative Assistant's position in the Land Use Office; this was not made negotiable by the First Selectman and no concessions were made by the union.  Subsequently, a part-time Administrative Assistant position was reinstated in the Land Use Office and has been filled; 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 23]

[Correction: The number of hours worked by the Registrars of Voters is 10 hours per week, plus any additional days required for elections; this number was incorrectly given as 15 in this article and has been changed to 10.  The corrected total hours worked by Lila Tuxbury are 20 hours per week, which still make her eligible to qualify for the town's pension plan.  We apologise for this incorrect number; 1:00 p.m., Thursday, July 22]

By: Maria Moore

With the Jerram administration now well into its 7th month in office, that is, over a quarter through its term, NewHartfordPlus is looking at the functioning of Town Hall to see what that might tell us about the current administration. Following is Part II of a two-part report that looks at the way the Jerram administration has handled personnel changes at Town Hall. Part I, published yesterday enumerated the changes in staffing at Town Hall that have occurred since the Jerram administration came into office on December 1, 2009.

Over the past 6 months or so our reporter has spoke many times with First Selectman Dan Jerram regarding personnel changes at Town Hall and the manner in which those changes are being handled. The last contact she had with him regarding staffing at Town Hall was at the beginning of last week, the week of July 12. On Thursday, July 15 she stopped by his office to speak with him about the vandalism at Brodie Park; on Friday, July 16 she stopped in again a few minutes before noon to ask him personnel-related questions for this article; however he had just left for his one-week vacation. Our reporter also speaks with Christine Hayward, Dan Jerram’s administrative Assistant several times a week regarding municipal personnel matters. Her last conversation with Christine regarding personnel matters at Town Hall was this afternoon, Wednesday, July 21.

Our reporter mentioned to First Selectman Dan Jerram this report on personnel changes at Town Hall that she was working on and he said that he had stepped into “a particularly challenging time” when his administration came into office.  He pointed out the fraud that he had had to deal with and also the recession which had a huge impact on his budget for this fiscal year. Our reporter acknowledged the challenges he faced but also pointed out that each administration has had to face its own challenges; for example, his predecessor, Earl MacInnes had to deal with getting the approval by the townspeople for the sewer plant and then getting the construction of that plant off the ground.  Dan emphasized that there are more positive things for our reporter to focus on, such as the road repairs that are ongoing.  A report on the road repairs will be forthcoming; however, this report will concentrate on how changes in personnel are being dealt with by the First Selectman since we believe this gives valuable insight into the management style of the Jerram administration.

Following is how some of the personnel changes outlined in Part I of this report have been, or are being handled by the First Selectman:

1.  The replacement of the Highway Superintendent

The day after the Highway Superintendent was suspended without pay on January 7 First Selectman Dan Jerram appointed fellow Republican Selectman Bruce Gresczyk as Interim Highway Superintendent.  Beginning January 8, Bruce was paid $30 per hour, without benefits and with the use of a town vehicle and a gas card.  Dan pointed out the need to have someone with experience step into the position immediately since it was the middle of winter and the town was almost out of salt.  Bruce had been First Selectman in town from the early ’90s through 1998 when he left that position to move to one at the state Department of Agriculture.

Selectman Bruce Gresczyk served as Interim Highway Superintendent from January 8 through March 12, when he resigned from the position to go back to work full-time on his family’s farming business.   During his two-month stint as head of the Highway Department, Bruce reported to both the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance that he had undertaken an extensive survey of the town roads, most of which he said were in “deplorable condition”.  Bruce completed that survey and helped set priorities for the roadwork to be done with the newly-elected First Selectman. Our reporter asked for a copy of Bruce’s report on the town roads and was told that Bruce had not produced a written report, neither was there a written list of priorities for road work to be undertaken; the First Selectman did show our reporter a photocopied map of the town with roads to be worked on highlighted in yellow.

Bruce also began a major tree-cutting operation in town because, as he reported to the Board of Selectmen and to the Board of Finance members, the town had neglected to keep up with tree maintenance and there were many trees that were a danger.  Our reporter asked at the end of a selectmen’s meeting what happened to the trees that were being cut down around town and she was told that they were left where they were cut and that the property owners normally took the wood.

On March 22, one week after Bruce had vacated the Interim Highway Superintendent position a new Interim Highway Superintendent (or Interim Highway Foreman as he corrected our reporter) was appointed by the First Selectman. That second Interim Highway Foreman is Doug Spencer, a 37-year veteran of the town’s Highway Department and the head of one of the town’s two road crew groups.

Our reporter checked in with the First Selectman’s Office about the “Interim” status of Doug Spencer’s appointment as Highway Foreman and she was told that it would continue for the foreseeable future.

2.  Resignation of the Town Hall Custodian and His Replacement

Norm Paul, the part-time Custodian at Town Hall worked early morning hours, completing his work before Town Hall staff arrived at work at 8:00 a.m.   Norm was informed in February by First Selectman Dan Jerram that he was needed to work during the hours that Town Hall was open.  Norm agreed to change most of his work hours to accommodate the new requirements, but not all.  This was unacceptable to the First Selectman and Norm resigned.

Our reporter asked what Norm’s work hours were when he was hired and she was told that he had been hired to work while Town Hall was open; however, he had been allowed to change his hours to early morning hours under a previous administration.

Norm’s position was not advertised as being available but rather was filled by word of mouth.  An Interim Custodian, who is related to a road crew member has been hired for the position.  However, since she is not available to work during the summer ~ she works at Brodie summer camp ~ the First Selectman’s Office advertised for a temporary summer Custodian.  A college student has been hired for the summer until the Interim Custodian is available to return to the position.  Our reporter asked whether there were any plans to hire someone permanently for that position, and was told that for now it was an interim position.

3. The suspension and retirement of the Land Use (Zoning) Officer

The town’s Zoning Officer, Karl Nilsen was suspended without pay on the basis of an internal investigation by the First Selectman of alleged time card fraud; please see our coverage of Karl’s suspension which led to his retirement.  At the beginning of this year our reporter had asked Karl about his retirement plans and Karl had responded that he had “another 5 years” before retiring.  Karl, however was openly unhappy with the new administration’s plan to eliminate the Administrative Assistant from the Land Use Office.  Like other office heads at Town Hall, he had not been asked to submit a department budget for the new fiscal year as had always been the practice of previous First Selectmen.   This year Karl and other other department heads were informed of what their budget would be and what cuts were being made.   The department heads were concerned about what the cuts proposed for their offices in the new budget and three of them attended the Saturday morning workshop held by the Board of Finance this past March; however, no public input was allowed at that workshop.

The internal investigation carried out by the First Selectman centered around Karl’s allegedly billing the same work hours to both New Hartford and Burlington.  While the investigation was ongoing our reporter asked the following questions of the First Selectman’s Office:

• Has there been a specific policy regarding employees to sign in and to sign out when leaving the building, as the new administration was now requiring all employees to do?  From what our reporter could gather, there was no set, written procedure; each First Selectman handled it differently, with the most recent First Selectman, Earl MacInnes not requiring anyone to sign in or out.
• Do employees have regular job performance reviews where they receive input regarding their performance and the expectations of their employer are clarified?  From the information our reporter was able to gather, it appears that employees at Town Hall do not receive job performance reviews or evaluations, nor have these been instituted by the Jerram administration.
• Is there an employee policy handbook, with specific guidelines and requirements of the employees at Town Hall?  Our reporter was told that there is no  employee policy handbook, nor are there any plans to put one together; rather, the response was that “we’re too small an organization” to put together an employee policy handbook.

Following the acceptance of Karl’s retirement request by the First Selectman on June 6, an Interim Zoning Officer was appointed.  Rista Malanca, who previously worked as the Administrative Assistant in the Land Use Office, has been appointed to the interim position.  A copy of the Memorandum of Understanding which was just signed last week was not available to our reporter.

4.  Bookkeeper’s Assistant Position

Roxanne Helt resigned from the Bookkeeper Assistant position in May.  Her resignation was not communicated generally to the other staff at Town Hall; however, Lila Tuxbury, the Republican Registrar of Voters, was observed being trained for the assistant bookkeeping position.

Roxanne’s position was not advertised as being available internally or in general, but rather was filled by the wife of the Vice Chairman of the Republican Town Committee, who is a close confidant of the First Selectman.  Our reporter asked about the lack of advertising and she was told that Town Hall is not required to advertise open positions.  Our reporter observed to the First Selectman and to his Administrative Assistant that, if only for appearance’s sake, she would have advertised the position.  Asked about Lila’s qualifications for the position, the First Selectman answered that she was qualified for the position, having in the past worked as a bank teller.

As noted in Part I of this report, the Bookkeeper’s Assistant position was cut from 15 hours per week to 10 hours per week;  however, since the Registrar of Voters also works 15 hours per week as a Registrar [ corrected to 10 hours per week plus any additional hours as required], the 25 hours per week make Lila eligible to qualify for the town pension plan.  [The corrected total, 20 hours per week still make Lila eligible to qualify for the town pension plan.]

However, the Assistant Bookkeeper position has not been officially filled.  Since May, the First Selectman’s Office has said that Lila Tuxbury is working as the Bookkeeper’s Assistant “on a trial basis.”  When questioned further about this, our reporter was told that they wanted to see if the position worked out for both parties.  As of the beginning of last week, July 12, the First Selectman confirmed that the position was still being filled on a trial basis.

Part-Time Administrative Assistant Hired For Land Use Office

The First Selectman commented several times since he took office that he believes that certain offices at Town Hall are overstaffed, specifically the Assessor’s Office and the Land Use Office.  At the time that he eliminated the Administrative Assistant position in the Land Use Office he said that support staff would be cross-trained to work in different departments, and that the Land Use Office would receive administrative support in this way.  However, a part-time Administrative Assistant position for the Land Use Office was advertised at the end of June and a new person has been hired for that position.  The position is now a 15-hour per week position.

Our reporter checked in with the First Selectman’s Office about the original plan for the administrative support for the Land Use Office to be provided by other employees at Town Hall.  She was told that that idea had been met with resistance by the employees concerned.  The First Selectman’s solution appears to have been to contract out the town’s Assessor to Burlington and to hire a part-time Administrative Assistant for the Land Use Office.

Cut In Funding Of Tax Collector Assistant Line Item May Hurt Bottom Line

[Please see the comment submitted by the Tax Collector clarifying and correcting some of the information below regarding her department]

Another notice on the doors of Town Hall is from the Tax Collector’s Office and it informs visitors that Notary services will not be available in the Tax Collector’s Office during the month of July, the busiest month of the year for the Tax Collector.  Our reporter stopped by the Tax Collector’s Office and Linda Sheffield informed her that the combination of cutting the funding in her Assistant line item, together with giving her Assistant the same raise as everyone else at Town Hall meant that this fiscal year, she will only be able to have her Assistant, Debbie Ventre work for 876 hours, rather than the 1030 hours Debbie worked last year.  This, despite the record collections by the Tax Collector’s Office last year.

Linda said that because she had Debbie available to follow up on collections, he office brought in $314,807 in back taxes owed; the previous year they had only been able to collect $115,000 in back taxes owed.   Her office also collected 98.5% of the adjusted grand levy; the Board of Finance assumed a 96% collection rate.  Linda attributes the exceptional tax collections of her office directly to her having the extra help available to follow up on collections, either directly or through hiring marshals.  This year, she said, they probably won’t be able to reach the same collection rates because she won’t have the same level of help from her assistant.  Linda also confirmed that with the cut in help, she cannot spare the time during her busy month, July to carry out Notary duties, as she has done in the past.  Requests for Notary services are being directed to the First Selectman’s Office.

Meeting The Challenge in Tough Financial Times

The First Selectman told our reporter that these were challenging times with the economy in recession.  The cutbacks in staffing and in the staff’s hours are his administration’s way of meeting that challenge.  However, one has to note that against this backdrop of cuts, his budget included 3.6% raise to non-union town employees, and he did not approach the employees’ union for concessions.  Our reporter spoke with the union representative, Nancy Eldridge who confirmed that the union had expected to be approached for concessions, and that the union had hoped to have been able tosave the Administrative Assistant position in the Land Use Office.  Nancy said that the First Selectman had never approached the union for concessions during the budget process and no concessions were offered by the union.  [The union subsequently corrected this by saying that the First Selectman had asked for concessions on the health insurance, the union hoped to save the Administrative Assistant's position in the Land Use Office; this was not made negotiable by the First Selectman and so the union made no concessions.  Subsequently, a part-time Administrative Assistant position was reinstated in the Land Use Office and has been filled.]

Part-Time Employees Also Eligible To Join Town Employees’ Union

During her discussions with the town employees’ union regarding staffing changes at Town Hall, our reporter was able to confirm that all part-time employees at Town Hall are eligible to join the employees’ union.  The assumption had been that part-time employees had to work at least 20 hours per week to be eligible; however, Mike Brady, the employees’ union attorney, confirmed the following to our repoter:

“As the plain language of the statute states, only part-time employees who work on a seasonal basis are excluded from MERA (see definition of employee). One who is employed for a period of more than 120 days per calendar year is covered by MERA regardless of the number of hours worked per week.”   Police Dept. of the Town of Windsor Locks v. Board of Labor Relations, 225 Conn. 297, 622 A2d 1005 (1993).

The town employees’ union representative confirmed that all existing and future part-time employees would be given the opportunity to join the employees’ union if they so wish.

[Part II of this report is in the process of being edited and will be published on Thursday. Thank you for your understanding; 9:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 21]

[Addition: We have added the Building Inspector's position in the section 'Other Cuts in Personnel' since the status of that position was changed from a part-time position to a contracted service, resulting in a cut in the funding for that position; many thanks to a friend of NewHartfordPlus who pointed out this omission in our report; 10:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 21]

[[Correction: The wording of the notice originally quoted at the beginning of this article is the wording in the Notices/Announcements section of the town's website. The notice on the doors at Town Hall is worded slightly differently. We have also added the wording of the notice on the doors to this article. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused; 9:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 21]

By: Maria Moore

With the Jerram administration now well into its 7th month in office, that is, over a quarter through its term, NewHartfordPlus is looking at the functioning of Town Hall to see what that might tell us about the current administration. Following is Part I of  a two-part report that looks at the changes in the staffing of Town Hall and the way the Jerram administration has handled those changes.  This report follows up on our June 29 report Notices and Help Wanteds: Town Hall.

If you have had occasion to go to Town Hall in the last month or so you will have been met by a notice prominently displayed on the doors of the building that says:

“NOTICE:

Please be advised that summer vacation schedules may have an impact on daily office staffing.

It is always best to call ahead to insure that staff in a certain office will be available to assist you if you have business to conduct that is of a specific nature.

If you have a question or concern, and no one is available to assist you, please stop by the Selectman’s Office.

We thank you in advance for your understanding of employees’ vacation schedules.”

A similar notice is also posted on the town’s website:

“NOTICE:

Town Hall office staffing may be impacted by summer vacation schedules. If you have specific business to conduct that requires the assistance of specific personnel, it is advised to call ahead to ensure that someone with the expertise required will be available to assist you. We thank you for your understanding of summer scheduling.”

Our reporter didn’t remember seeing a sign like this at Town Hall in previous years and she checked around informally to see if anyone else remembered such a notice in the past.  None of the half-dozen residents she asked could remember such an occurrence either.  On checking with Christine Hayward, the First Selectman’s Administrative Assistant, Christine said that there had been such a notice before and that perhaps people just hadn’t noticed it in the past.   The notice itself may be a moot point: if someone has gotten to the doors of the Town Hall to read the notice, then they may already have made that trip for naught if the person they need to see is out.  The notice is also posted on the Town’s municipal website under Notices/Announcements; however, someone interested in talking to the Assessor, for example, might not think of looking in another section for information pertaining to the Assessor’s Office.

During our own trips to Town Hall over the last couple of months we noticed the following disruption in the service of several offices:

• the Land Use office was unstaffed between Thursday afternoon and the following Tuesday morning during the Memorial Day weekend.  Rista Malanca, who was the only employee who would have been available to staff the office during that time was taking a combination of comp time and a vacation day during that holiday weekend period;
• during the 4th of July, a notice on the door of the Assessor’s Office informed the public that the office would be closed two days during that week.  Laura White was on vacation that week and Beth Paul, the town Assessor was working at the Burlington Town Hall.
• on a Friday morning, the general contractor for the St. John’s Episcopal Church addition was using the credenza in the reception area of the First Selectman’s Office to go through the plans for the addition that he would be leaving with Christine Hayward since the Land Use Office was unstaffed that day.

The service provided by some of the municipal offices has definitely been impacted; however, that is due more to the cuts in the hours and in the personnel of those offices than in the fact that it is summertime.  In the past, each office at Town Hall has been staffed by two employees who staggered their vacation times so that each office was staffed by a member of that office.  With the recent turnover in employees and cuts in the number of hours staff work, it is inevitable that service to the public should suffer.

Since last December 1, when the present administration came into office, the changes in staffing at Town Hall are as follows:

Terminations/Resignations:

1. January 6: Dan LeGeyt, full-time Highway Superintendent was suspended without pay while police investigated the larceny of town money and/or town property.  Dan LeGeyt’s employment was terminated on March 26 for thefts totalling approximately $3,500 over a three-year period.  Dan LeGeyt was one of the highest paid employees on the Town Hall staff with a salary of $63,116.66.  For the specific reasons given for Dan’s termination,  see our March 29 report Town Terminates Employment of Former Highway Superintendent…
2. February: Norm Paul, part-time custodian at the Town Hall, resigned after having been asked to change his work hours from early morning to coincide with the hours Town Hall is open. Norm and the First Selectman were not able to arrive at a mutually-acceptable work schedule and Norm resigned.  Norm earned $17,000 for his part-time position.
3. March 29: Karl Nilsen, full-time Land Use Officer, was suspended without pay while an internal investigation was being conducted into allegations of time card fraud.  Karl submitted a letter of retirement to the town effective April 22. On June 6, the Town reached a settlement with Karl whereby Karl gave up accrued benefits due to him and his retirement was backdated to March 29, the date he had been suspended without pay.  Karl was also one of the highest paid employees at Town Hall with a salary of $61,516.
4. May: Roxanne Helt, part-time Bookkeeper’s Assistant, resigned her position in May for personal reasons.  Roxanne worked 15 hours per week at a salary of $12,573.

Positions Eliminated/Unfunded/Cut In Current Fiscal Year’s Budget:

The following positions were eliminated by the First Selectman in his budget for the current Fiscal Year 2010/2011 which began on July 1, 2010:

1. One full-time road crew position was eliminated.  No-one was laid off due to the move of a crew leader into the Highway Superintendent’s position.
2. One full-time Administrative Assistant position in the Land Use Office was eliminated.  Rista Malanca, who was due to be laid off on June 30 was not laid off due to her move into the Land Use Officer position.  A part-time, 15-hour per week Administrative Assistant has recently been hired for this position.
3. One part-time Administrative Assistant position in the Rec Department was cut from the budget.  Christy Tellier, who works 15 hours per week, is being paid directly by the Rec Department out of its operating budget.  This effectively cut the Parks and Rec budget by $14,000, the amount of Christy’s salary.

Other Cuts In Personnel:

Other cuts in the hours of Town Hall employees made by the First Selectman in addition to the cuts outlined above and which were not part of the new fiscal year’s budget are:

1. The full-time Assessor’s hours available to service the Town’s needs have been cut from 35 hours to 15 hours.  Beth Paul, the Town Assessor has been contracted out for 20 hours per week to the town of Burlington.  When our reporter asked about the arrangement, she was told that Burlington pays a pro-rated amount for Beth’s services.  Beth continues to receive all full-time benefits from the Town of New Hartford, including being enrolled as a full-time employee in the Town’s pension plan.
2. The Tax Collector’s Assistant position has been cut back from 20 hours per week to 12 hours per week.  This means that Debbie Ventre, the assistant in that department is no longer eligible to be enrolled in the Town’s pension fund.  To be eligible for a town pension, the employee must work at least 1,000 hours per year which breaks down to approximately 20 hours per week.
3. The Bookkeeper’s Assistant position has been cut back from 15 hours per week to 10 hours per week.  However, Lila Tuxbury, who is now filling this position is now eligible to be enrolled in the Town’s pension fund because she also works 15 hours per week as the Republican Registrar of Voters; the hours of the two positions combined total 25 hours, more than the approximately 20 hours per week needed to qualify for a town pension.
4. The Building Inspector’s position was changed from a part-time position to a contracted service; see our report of the March 23 Board of Selectmen meeting that includes the First Selectman’s announcement that the Building Inspector’s position had been modified.  As a contracted service provider, Paul Volovski, the town’s long-time Building Inspector was to limit his hours to no more than 15 hours per week at a rate of $40 per hour.   This reduced his salary of $40,558 as a part-time employee to a maximum of $31,200 as a contracted service provider.

These, then are the cuts that have been made to the staffing levels of the different municipal offices.  Part II of this report will look at how staffing decisions have been made by the Jerram administration.

The notice on the right advises visitors that not all Town Hall services may be available due to summertime staffing. Photo: Maria Moore

For all the best reasons in the world ~ or the worst, depending on which side of the table you’re sitting on ~ our reporter has fallen behind on writing up reports of meetings she has attended. She has now been instructed to catch up through a series of meeting briefs over the next several days, which she will attempt to do. As always, please be sure to read the official minutes of meetings which are posted in the Minutes/Agendas section of the town’s municipal website when they become available.

_______________

At its May 11 meeting, the main business of the Board of Finance (BOF) members was handled at the end, when, under item ‘VIII. Other Items to Come Before the Board,’ they set the mill rate for the upcoming fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2010. Before that, some of the other items discussed were:

Agenda Item #I. Superintendent’s Report Dr. Philip O’Reilly, Superintendent of New Hartford Schools, reported to the BOF on the items contained in our May 8 report …BOE Looks To Next Year….

Those items included reinstating positions that had been cut due to savings the schools had been able to realize partly through two retirements of veteran teachers and by signing a new 5-year contract with Dattco, the bus company. Philip also reported on the boiler replacement at Antolini which was also expected to cost less than had been previously projected. BOF questions were centered on whether the schools had enough money to cover the personal day/sick day buyouts which Philip said they did, and on details of the boiler installation.

Agenda Items #V: Opportunity for Public to Speak; and VI.WPCA Update

Noting that no representative from the WPCA was at the meeting to give an update, Denton Butler, BOC (Building Oversight Committee) member expressed his strong concern about the way the WPCA was operating which, he said, “was not proceeding in a manner and at a speed to benefit the town of New Hartford.”  Saying that the wastewater treatment plant would reach substantial completion by the end of June, Denton laid out a number of his concerns to the BOF members, including:

• there was still no quotation for an operator for the plant;
• reporting to the DEP was still deficient and without that reporting the DEP will not release any money;
• funding opportunities for sewer extensions would expire in July and the WPCA has not pursued that funding;
• and that user fees can’t exceed 2% of residents’ median income, limiting the amount that can be raised from users which may then come back on non-users.

Ben Witte, BOF chairman informed the other members of the Board of Finance that Bill Michaud of the WPCA had emailed him to let him know that he wouldn’t be able to make the meeting.  Ben then said: “There seems to be conflict between the WPCA and the BOC. Any time they have brought up issues here the conflict seems to subside and then rise again.” Jim Fitzgerald commented: “It’s a business, and they need to run it as such. We have asked for a 5-year projection and we still don’t have that.” Jim ended by saying he “would have the Board (WPCA) step up or resign and elect someone else who’ll do it.” Dan Jerram, First Selectman added his viewpoint: “I can’t contest what Denton has said. It’s not like any other enterprise ~ it’s a “fee for service” enterprise. The ability to meet deadlines is becoming a greater and greater concern. The request for proposal for operator ~ they kicked it to a consultant and paid $8,000 to do it. They could have done that last year.”

After more discussion Ben suggested putting together a subcommittee to address the matter, but Dan Jerram said he wasn’t sure if he could do that. He said the selectmen could put it on their agenda. Jim proceeded to give more input but Ben responded: “Let the selectmen have a try at it.” And he told Jim to go to the Board of Selectmen if he had any more input. “Ben’s last words on the matter: “I’m just frustrated we keep talking about it!”

As his final Public Comment, Denton said: “I urge you not to increase taxes but draw down reserves to cover any increase in taxes.” Our reporter seconded that request.

Agenda Item #VII, Reports

Treasurer’s Report: Gordon Ross, town Treasurer reported that the town had received the ECS (Education Cost Sharing) money from the state, and that the town’s tax collection rate was 98%, which he said was good.

First Selectman’s Report: Dan Jerram reported that there had been a low turnout for the budget referendum but that it had passed the first time. On the line item transfers, he said Chip (Roraback, the town’s attorney) was considering his position about the line item transfers. Asked about the washout, Dan said that the Inland Wetlands (Commission) has revised it (the plan) a bit and that a second soil scientist was looking at it (the washout area).

Laura Sundquist brought up the fact that the town has two polling stations and that, in talking to Daria and Lila (the town’s Registrars of Voters) they don’t want two. Reggie Smith Jr. said he likes his polling station exactly where it is (Reggie votes in the South End Firehouse); Jim Fitzgerald said there should be only one and that it should be in Bakerville, which has the greater population. Gordon Ross said that in Canton they had passed their budget at a town meeting. Both Dan Jerram and Ben Witte were of the opinion that they had a bigger turnout (with a referendum) compared to a town meeting. Reggie, thinking back to his time as First Selectman in the early 90s with a very active Taxpayers’ Association said: ” I have seen 20 people (at a town meeting) or 500 ready to lynch you!”

Agenda Item #VIII. Other Items to Come Before the Board

The Board of Finance members then discussed setting the mill rate which Ben said they had to do at that meeting in order to get the tax notice out to the taxpayers. Without a copy of the mil rate calculation sheet ~ there were just enough copies for the Board of Finance members ~ and without other visual aids, our reporter had a difficult time following the technical part of the mil rate discussion. The final outcome of the discussion is as follows, as emailed to our reporter by Ben Witte on May 12 in his correction to the figures she had incorrectly reported in our May 12 Grapevine:

“The tax increase is 0.42% (not 0.1%). The mill rate is 0.10 mils increase. This is identical to what was presented at the budget hearing (0.33% tax incr, 0.08 mils & 96% collections), with a slight change to the grand list based on BAA (Board of Assessment Appeals) appeals settlements subsequent to the hearing.”

Following is some of the discussion surrounding the setting of the mill rate.

Ben asked the question: “What do we want to set for the mill rate and for the collection rate?” And then he went around the table getting each BOF member’s response:

• Roy Litchfield: Roy said: “”I’d like to go to zero and would like to see us discuss zero increase in the mill rate. we can do that by adjusting mill rate, and have the opportunity to finance any shortfall shoul it materialize. I really think we started at zero, came close, can keep it at zero.”
• Reggie Smith, Jr.: Reggie asked if anyone had a list of the collection rate over the last 5 years and Ben answered: “The collection rate has been over 98%. We can do anything we like with it.” Ben then cautioned that there was a tight collection rate coming up, that they hadn’t adjusted for appeals.   Reggie asked about moving money from the surplus fund.  ”We can’t move money from surplus after the budget is passed, correct?” Ben agreed, saying the only thing they can change is the collection rate.  Reggie said that they had told voters they would take an additional $30,000 (out of the surplus?) to get to zero.  Ben calculated what the collection rate would have to be to get to zero, and he came up with 96.4.  He said: “If we go at 96, we can put that as a hedge for next year.”  Reggie’s final word: “I’m very concerned about the revenue from the state. I support support 96.4%.”
• Laura Sundquist: ”I admire going for 0%. We’ve passed it and I would rather keep it for insurance for next year.”
• Alesia Kennerson: Alesia agreed with Laura, supporting a 96% collection rate.  ”I accept the figures as on the sheet (mill rate calculation sheet), and keep it as insurance for next year.”
• Jim Fitzgerald said: “(The difference is) so small, and based on what we said, stick with it.”
• Gordon Ross said: “Nobody would really notice it.”
• Ben said: “We will want to budget 97% for next year.   I recommend (we) take 96 and go with that.”
• Dan Jerram said: “It wouldn’t bother me either way.”
• Jim Fitzgerald asked what the collection rate had been over the last two years and Gordon answered: “98.6% Annie (Witte, the town Bookkeeper) told me today.”

Ben then proposed a motion based on a collection rate of 96%.   However, before it could be voted on, Denton Butler asked to speak and in a very forceful tone of voice, he asked whether they had considered how it would be interpreted by their constituents, when they came in with an increase?  ”The last time the collection rate has been at 96% was in ’91-’92.”  He pointed out.     “The bigger issue is if you have the fortitute to stand your ground.” Denton went on. “I defended you through this process. You lost, and now you’re dinking around over the collection rate.”

Denton’s remarks led to another round of discussion over the collection rate.  Jim asked Ben directly what the collection rate is and Ben answering: “98% plus if it makes a difference to you!”  The Board touched on the fact that they had initially said 0% and then had presented 0.8%, which the voters had approved. Ben said that they had been very open at public meetings, and that the additional funds (collected) always go towards funding the next year’s budget.  Never one to like to pay taxes before they’re due, our reporter commented that as a taxpayer, she’d rather the town collected only the taxes needed to fund the budget, rather than to keep collecting more and then putting it towards next year’s budget.

With everyone having had an opportunity to have their say, Denton said: “It’s a philosophy.  I’ve had my say ~ move to a vote.”  Reggie also asked they move to a vote, which the Board did.  Roy who is an alternate on the Board, did not vote. All the other Board members, with the exception of Reggie Smith Jr., voted in favor of the motion, which set the mill rate at 0.08 mils based on 96% collections.

_______________

Board of Finance Meeting, Tuesday, May 11, 2010

AGENDA

I.Seating of Alternates
II.Adoption/Revision of Agenda
III.Superintendent / BOE Report – Dr. O’Reilly
IV.Approval of Minutes a.3/9/10 – Regular Meeting b.3/13/10 – Special Meeting c.3/23/10 – Special Meeting d.4/6/10 – Special Meeting e.4/13/10 – Regular Meeting
V.Opportunity for Public to Speak
VI.WPCA Update
VII.Reports: a.Bookkeeper’s Report – Annie Witte b.Treasurer’s Report – Gordon Ross c.First Selectman’s Report – Dan Jerram
VIII.Other Items to Come Before the Board
IX.Adjournment

A view of Town Hall from under the fragrant tree in front of the Misiorski building across Route 44. Photo: Maria Moore

A Note from the NewHartfordPlus crew: A comment was made at the end of this meeting to the effect that NewHartfordPlus would misreport the meeting anyway.  For the record, our reporter does her best to report on the wide array of topics discussed in the many meetings she attends ~ and not always with the benefit of documents handed out to board members.  If you are aware of an error in our reports, please let us know and we will publish the correction, clarification,  etc. as soon as we become aware of it.  Our corrections are noted at the top of the report in question.  The only corrections we are not able to make are those that would knowingly favor one political viewpoint over another, or one group of residents over another.  As Bob, our techie, is fond of reminding us: “We want to stay playful at this!”

By: Maria Moore

Yesterday evening’s Board of Selectmen meeting at 5:30 p.m. was a brief one, with the Selectmen moving through the agenda items at a steady pace and ending by 6:05 ~ just in time to get home to dinner for those who were not staying for the 7:00 p.m. Board of Finance meeting.

Following is a report on some of the items on the Selectmen’s May 11 meeting agenda; the full agenda is listed at the end of this article.  As always, please be sure to read the official minutes which will be posted on the town website once they become available.

3.  Operations

Budget Referendum: First Selectman Dan Jerram said that the budget referendum had gone well, with a 2:1 approval by the voters of the budget on the first try.  He added the head moderator’s sheet of the vote count to the record of the meeting.

Roads: Dan said that guard rail posts are now being worked on by the road crew.  He also said that Glasso (company) is specing out the roads to be worked on ~ Southeast, Burwell, Steele and Kinsey ~ and then they’ll figure out the chip sealing.   Regarding the West Hill Road overlay, Dan said two bids had come in.

Parking on Central Avenue: Dan said he has talked with the Beekley Library Board about using some of the Foothills land for parking and the Board members seemed receptive to it. They’re continuing to work on it.  The Foothills land is the grassy area between the old library building and the new library on Central Avenue. The Foothills Trader was located there when it was locally-owned.

Wastewater Treatment Plant: Selectman Tom Klebart asked when the sewer plant would be coming online and Dan said: “It’s ready to go” and mentioned the end of May.

5. Resignations from Boards/Commissions – WPCA, Conservation

WPCA: Dan announced that MaryBeth Greenwood, who has been on the WPCA for just over a year, has resigned due to personal reasons.  Steve Hanright was appointed to the WPCA on Dan’s recommendation.  Tom asked if there was still a vacancy on the WPCA, and Dan said there was, that they were waiting for the WPCA to complete the revision of their charter before appointing someone else.

Conservation: Chris James on the Conservation Commission is moving out of state and has resigned from the Commission.  The Selectmen will be looking for a replacement for Chris.

Commission on Aging: Dan proposed Penny Miller for the vacancy on the COA and the selectmen approved Penny for that Commission.

8.  Set Time, Date, Manner of Special Town Meeting

A Special Town Meeting was set for Thursday, May 20 at 7:00 p.m. to act on an easements from Mary Ann Gunning (Emergency Access easement) and St. John’s Church.  The easements are to allow the WPCA access to lines located near the walkway to be constructed as part of the new addition at the back of the church; see the April 12 press release from St. John’s.  To read a downloadable copy of the Notice of Special Meeting, please see the link at the end of this report.

10. Correspondence:

Paul Volovski, the town Building Inspector, sent in a letter saying that the Rec Commission wants to take out the boathouse at Brodie Park since it was unsafe.  Paul agreed that the structure was unsafe.  The selectmen approved taking down the building.

11. Any Other Business to Come Before this Board

Bill Baxter, former First Selectman, had come to the meeting with copies for the Selectmen of paperwork related to the Northwest Chamber of Commerce’s initative to set up an Economic Development District.  This district would include towns in Litchfield county and the northwest corner.   Bill Baxter had recently made a presentation to the town’s Economic Development Commission on the Chamber’s initiative and the town had contributed a small sum [$250? ~ to be confirmed] towards a study for such a district.  Bill told the Selectmen that state funding agencies would now be looking at funding on a regional, rather than a municipal level.  The state has also passed legislation limiting the number of regions in the state to 8, and Bill said that small towns in our area need to hurry, or they may end up being assigned to economic development regions with Danbury or Waterbury.  Tom expressed the apparent feeling of the Selectmen when he said: “I’d rather be absorbed by Torrington or Winsted, rather than Danbury!”  Dan said that the LHCEO (Litchfield Hills Council of Elected Officials had taken a little time to get on board) but they now saw the need for it.

LID (Low Impact Development Stakeholders’ Group): Tom said that the LID was progressing nicely and they were finding that it worked well with the new regulations (the proposed regulations that will soon come into effect.)

The meeting ended shortly after 6 and our reporter went home for a while, leaving Reggie Smith, Jr., the only other member of the public at the meeting, to relax a little in the conference room before the Board of Finance meeting at 7 p.m.

_______________

To read a downloadable copy of the Notice of Special Meeting: Please click on the following link: Notice of Special Town Meeting, May 20 (197).

_______________

Board of Selectmen
Regular Meeting
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
5:30 PM

AGENDA

1.) Minutes – April 13, 2010; April 20, 2010
2.) Opportunity for Public Comment
3.) Operations Updates
4.) Grants Updates
5.) Resignations from Boards/Commissions – WPCA, Conservation
6.) Appointment to WPCA – Steve Hanright
7.) Authorization to sign 2010/2011 Sand/Salt State Contract
8.) Set Time, Date, Manner of Special Town Meeting
9.) Request for Tax Refunds
10.) Correspondence
11.) Any Other Business to Come Before this Board

St. John's Episcopal Church in Pine Meadow with the red banner across the front announcing the building of its new addition. Photo: Maria Moore

Following are the Community Calendar listings for today in New Hartford, CT:

Wednesday, May 12, 2010:

• New Hartford Senior Center activities: at the Senior Center, Town Hall, 530 Main St., New Hartford. Activities: Fitness at 9 a.m. ($2.50 per person, per class, includes a fitness card which is stamped for every class attended); Wii bowling at 10 a.m. For more information please call Jean Barnicoat at 860-379-3980 between 8:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
• Children’s Story Time for 2-year-olds at the Beekley Library: at 10:15 a.m. at the Beekley Library, 10 Central Avenue, New Hartford. For more information please call Andrea Gaedeke at the library at 860-379-7235.
• Planning & Zoning Commission Regular Meeting: at 7:00 p.m. New Hartford Town Hall, 530 Main St. See today’s listing on our Calendar page for a copy of tonight’s meeting agenda.

Our Community Calendar section provides additional information about the events listed above and information on past, current and future events – a permanent record of events in New Hartford. Also check out our Community Bulletin Board where you can see flyers and information on local groups and events.

Should your event be listed here and you don’t see it? Please email us the info. and we’ll add it! Send to newhartfordplus@gmail.com and write Calendar in the subject line.

…NHGrapevine…

“The reason I’m voting for the record is because I’m very concerned about what the state will do.”

Reggie Smith said after the Board of Finance voted in favor of assuming a 96% collection rate; Reggie cast the only vote against the increase.  The other option discussed would have been a 96.4% collection rate.

Here’s the numbers directly from Ben:

“The tax increase is 0.42% (not 0.1%). The mill rate is 0.10 mils increase. This is identical to what was presented at the budget hearing (0.33% tax incr, 0.08 mils & 96% collections), with a slight change to the grand list based on BAA appeals settlements subsequent to the hearing.”

[Many thanks to Ben Witte, the "numbers guy" and Chairman of the Board of Finance, for looking over our numbers and correcting them.]

[This grapevine has been corrected to reflect that Reggie voted against the 0.1% mil rate increase; many thanks to the friend of NewHartfordPlus who corrected this for us.]

Contribute to the …NHGrapevine… Let us know what you’ve heard – or seen – in town and we’ll add it to this listing, and also add it to the …NHGrapevine.. section. So let’s hear what you’re hearing around town…

The lilacs in full bloom outside the Moore home. Photo: NewHartfordPlus archives

It’s been six months since our article An NPR Moment: An Important Message From Our Editor and I won’t bore you by running through the wonderful reasons why you should support NewHartfordPlus financially.  But maybe I will ~ just a tad:

• An average 1,000 visitors per day come to NewHartfordPlus for their local news coverage ~ a lot of interest in the happenings of our small town of 6,500+ residents;
• Our blow-by-blow news coverage of issues we consider important is unequalled: just look back in our archives beginning in January and see for yourself our comprehensive coverage of the recent budget process ~ over 30 articles (feels more like 300!) covering all New Hartford Schools Board of Ed meetings, all Board of Selectmen meetings, most of Regional #7 Board of Ed meetings and all but one of the Board of Finance meetings (the one I didn’t report on was my symbolic boycott: the April 13 meeting after the Public Hearing on the budget when the Board of Finance made no changes to their proposed budget ~ although I did report the essential outcome of that meeting in the Grapevine quote the next in our April 14 Daily Calendar);
• our attendance at an average of 4 meetings per week, including town boards and commissions, and non-profits.  And this means attending the full meeting, not just a 10-minute stop ~ long enough to shoot a 1-minute video clip, write down 2-3 quotes and then leave ~ as one of the local reporters for one of the newspapers covering our town is now in the habit of doing.
• our unaffiliated view on town politics and events which means sometimes I’ll speak up at meetings and ask the hard questions ~ mostly the ones which residents suggest I ask since they, for their own good reasons, feel they can’t ask publicly;
• link our community in person: one of the huge pleasures of being out in our community at different meetings and events, is being able to connect residents with other residents and local organizations just by saying at the right time: “Oh, so and so would love to contribute to your cause/would be really interested in your service/offers the service you’re looking for/have you thought of getting in touch with…? …”
• link our community on the web:  so many residents let us know “I read about it on NewHartfordPlus!”, “I’m so glad you mentioned that!…”

The only thing that has changed in the last 6 months is that my work hours at my paying job have now increased to an average of 30 hours per week, while Bob continues to work full-time.  NewHartfordPlus is our “extra-curricular” activity, taking up an average of 80 hours per week.  You do the math.  Suffice it to say that when we took a 2-hour break this past Sunday to start work on our garden, we both said: “We have to make time to do this!”

OK, here’s the pitch:

If you enjoy coming to NewHartfordPlus at least a couple of times per week, and you find something that makes you feel more connected to our community, then Bob and I are asking you to consider adding NewHartfordPlus to your “Must Support” list.  $10 per month, gets you listed on our Stakeholders page which we really will get updated ~ another “housekeeping chore” which we’ve put below “cover the news” on our to-do list.

We are not asking the non-profit organization you belong to ~ only one of which in the past 16 months has made a financial contribution to our local news site.  But of course, we would gladly welcome any contribution from any of the non-profits whose events we cover, and to whom we provide a link on our home page to their organization’s website, all for free.

We are not asking the Republican Town Committee or the Democratic Town Committee ~ which appear to interpret “Unaffiliated” to mean “One of Them,” even if the large number of voters in New Hartford identify themselves as “Unaffiliated.”

We are asking YOU, our reader, to consider supporting this independent, local news source that continues to link you to our community and our community to you.  Whether you consider us “the blog“, as Ben Witte, the Board of Finance Chairman, referred to NewHartfordPlus in his comment blasting our “slanted coverage” and in which he gave the results of the budget referendum to our readers even as our reporter was down at Town Hall waiting for the results ~ or as the closest thing to a local newspaper since the “New Hartford News” ceased publication in the 1950s [ ? gotta check the name and the date with Dina Waker, our original reporter about town] ~ NewHartfordPlus IS the place to catch up on our local news.

So, until another unaffiliated news source takes our place (Please let us know and we’ll help you get started!), or I decide I really am more interested in pursuing a Masters in Social Work than in being the self-appointed town reporter/photographer/editor 24/7:

Your financial support is critical in continuing to keep NewHartfordPlus reporting on our community!

Thank You,

Maria

P.S.  I’ve promised myself today that, even with two back-to-back meetings to cover this evening, many “hot irons in the fire,” and 150 unread emails in my Inbox, I will find the time to plant the two pink lily of the valley I bought at the Garden Club’s Plant Sale last Saturday, because as Bob reminded me again this morning:

“We’ve gotta stay playful at this!”

Watch for the photo of the two planted pink lily of the valley plants  in tomorrow’s Daily Calendar…

Ways to contribute to NewHartfordPlus:

• Send a check to NewHartfordPlus at P.O. Box 667, New Hartford, CT 06057
• Use the “Buy Us A Coffee” PayPal link to make a payment using your debit or credit card.

Or, in the traditional, country way: right now we’re in need of a coupla bales of hay for our garden…

The wisteria is blooming freely again on the large maple opposite the Moore's home, a glorious reminder that "tempus fugit" and the opportunity to plant a spring garden is a fleeting one: Seize it! Photo: NewHartfordPlus archives

[Article updated to clarify the discussion surrounding 1. Old Business, 3. 2010-2011  school calendar discussion; 10:30 p.m., Sunday, May 9.]

By: Maria Moore

PTO Appreciates Teachers With Breakfast And Luncheon

During this past week, National Teacher Appreciation Week, New Hartford Schools teachers definitely felt appreciated: they were treated to both breakfast and lunch by the schools’ Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). Students also brought to their teachers notes of appreciation on Monday, May 3, and something sweet on Thursday, May 6. The PTO also gifted a new picnic table to the Antolini School and new art for the halls of New Hartford Elementary and Bakerville in honor of the schools’ staff. “The teachers and staff were so appreciative!” Debbie Ventre emailed us. Debbie also included photos of both the luncheon and the breakfast at Bakerville School.

Note: The PTO would like to thank all the families that provided items for the luncheons and breakfasts.

The teachers and staff at Bakerville School enjoy the luncheon arranged for them by the PTO as part of the Teacher Appreciation Week. Photo: Debbie Ventre

Teachers and staff at Bakerville School enjoyed breakfast on Wednesday, May 5 hosted by the PTO. Photo: Debbie Ventre

Many Thanks: To all the teachers in New Hartford Schools and in other schools who do so much for the students in their care.

Many Thanks: To all the members of the PTO for bringing together such a nice program to thank the teachers and staff in New Hartford schools.

Schools’ Board of Ed Members Look To Next School Year

The New Hartford Schools Board of Ed met this past Tuesday, May 4 at 7:00 p.m. at the Bakerville School, even as the Budget Referendum was entering its last hour. Following are some of the items discussed by the Board; the full agenda is posted at the end of this article; the official minutes of this meeting will be posted on the Meetings/Minutes section of the New Hartford Public Schools’ website.

C: Superintendent’s Report

2. Bus Ridership Data: Dr. Philip O’Reilly, Superintendent of New Hartford Schools, said that the data collected showed that there are buses with less than 50% occupancy, and that there are some that have just a few kids riding them. He said he will look at consolidating some of the routes, while keeping in mind that they don’t want to exceed the time students spend on the bus outlined by the Board. Some buses are stopping at every house he said, which is unnecessary.

4.  Magnet School Enrollments: Philip reported to the Board that there are 6 children going to preschool at Magnet Schools.  Board of Ed member Steve Tuxbury asked why they are paying for preschool, and fellow Board of Ed member Bryan Keilty asked what the requirement is for the Board to pay for preschool.  Philip said that they are mandated by law to pay for it, that it is a way to integrate urban kids with suburban kids.  Board member Kate Natale clarified that they pay for a portion of the cost.  Steve said that they have to take a stand or they’ll be contributing to anyone who’s going to a private school.  Philip said he would bring the bill in (to the next meeting) for the Board members.

F.  Opportunity for Public Comment

A parent asked the Board and the Superintendent to use the ALERTNOW message system for all Board of Ed meetings, not just the budget meetings.  The parent said that everyone could use a reminder for the meetings.

H. New Business

1. 2010  Boiler Project: There was an open bid for the boiler replacement at Antolini and 3 closed bids for engineering.  Steve Tuxbury, who is on the Plant Facilities Subcommittee,  recommended that because they were not doing anything new,  they shouldn’t go with an engineer.  The engineering bid for was $30,000 while one of the bids for the boiler was $95,600.  The school has $75,000 in grants for the boiler.  When it came to who would be overseeing the project, Philip said he had the name of a local contractor who could help them with it.  The Board voted to bypass using an engineer for the boiler replacement.

2. Non Union Employee Raises: Kate Natale, Chair of the Negotiations Subcommittee, confirmed that they would like to do something for non-union employees who hadn’t had a raise in two years, but they were split on how much; 3% would be similar to what the town employees or 2% since many people in the community were not getting raises either.  Kate added that next spring they would be going into negotiations with a tough economy.  The issue was in respect to the inequity and concerns with setting precedents.

Pat Okrongly, a teacher at Antolini, had just informed the Board that she would be retiring and this gave the Board members a little leeway.  Steve said that they had just come through a very tough budget that still hadn’t been passed.  Board member Davis Hoffnagle said it shouldn’t be higher than 2%.  Bryan Keilty said it was premature to discuss pay increases with the budget not yet passed.  He said they should have done something with the original budget, not now.  Bryan recommended that they table the matter until the next meeting, Davis seconded it and the rest of the Board agreed to table the item until they knew whether or not the budget had passed.

3.  Director of Student Services: Philip recommended rehiring Connie Hovarth as the Director of Pupil Services for the coming school year.  He said he had heard only positives about her work this past year. The Board passed a motion hiring Connie under the same conditions, i.e. 3 days per week at $680 per day, a portion of which, Philip said, went to Education Connection through whom Connie had been employed.

4. Last Day of School for Students: Philip recommended making Friday, June 18 the last day of school for students; this will allow him to hold teacher professional days on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (June 21, 22 and 23).  This was approved by the Board.

Note: Following the meeting, on Thursday, May 6 the following ALERTNOW message was sent to parents and other interested parties from Philip’s office:

“On Tuesday evening, the Board of Education voted to move the last day of school to Friday, June 18, 2010 (barring any emergency closings). This will be a half day of school with a 1:00 dismissal time. AM and PM Kindergarten will both be attending school that day with abbreviated times to be determined later. Preschool’s last day of school will be June 11th.”

5. 2010-2011 Food Service Contract: The hot lunch program for the current year has been spoken of approvingly at previous Board of Ed meetings.  At this meeting a hand-out showed that, through the end of April, the schools’ lunch program is  operating in the black.  The Board of Ed accepted Philip’s recommendation to sign a contract with Education Connection for food service for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year.

I. Old Business

1. 2010-2011 Budget: Philip said he wanted to begin the discussion of the possible reistatement of positions cut from the school budget (for the upcoming fiscal year 2010-2011).  He’d like to see the following positions reinstated (in FTEs):

Psychology: .4; Paraprofessionals: 1.2; Special Ed teacher: 1; Gym: .1; Librarian (?FTEs); Spanish: (?FTEs).

Reinstating these positions would be made possible because of savings that will be realized; some of those savings are $40,000+ in medical insurance costs, $20,000 savings in heating oil savings, and extending the bus contract for 5 years.  After some discussions about the positions and their reinstatement, Sue Lundin, Board of Ed Chairperson, said they would take the matter under advisement and, based on the outcome of the budget referendum, they would take action at the next meeting of the Board.

New Busing Contract With Dattco Approved: As part of the above discussion on reinstating staff cut from the budget, the Board discussed whether they should approve a new busing contract with Dattco, their present transportation company.  Philip said that based on his research, he felt the price from Dattco was very decent, plus they were giving an additional $10,000 reduction in the coming year.

Bryan asked whether they had explored the possibility of collaborating with Regional #7 on busing.  Philip said that always brings up a lot of questions, and right now they hadn’t done that, they were just trying to move forward.  Kate Natale said that given Philip’s investigations and the type of people they were dealing with ~ referring to Dattco’s responsiveness that had been discussed earlier ~ she was in favor of accepting the proposed contract.  Elaine Carmelich said that based on all that had been said recently about school bus safety, she didn’t think they would be changing bus companies next year.  Steve emphasized that they were making a decision that would affect the next 6 years and he said he coudn’t remember when the busing contract had last gone out to bid.  He wanted to put the contract out to bid.

A motion was made to approve Dattco’s proposed 5-year contract; 5 members of the Board voted to approve the new contract and 3 members ~ Steve, Bryan and Davis ~ voted against it.  Dattco’s proposal for a new 5-year busing contract was approved.

2.  School Security: Steve Tuxbury said that the members of the Facilities Subcommittee who had looked into whether to install a security system at the schools were split between whether to do it or not.  He said that both he and Davis Hoffnagle felt they shouldn’t do it.  Their reasons included the cost of even the minimum package and that a security system gives a false sense of  security. The subcommittee’s recommendation was not to install a security system at this time.  The matter was tabled by the Board members.

3.  2010-2011 School Calendar: Board members considered a proposed school calendar for the upcoming school year, 2010-2011.  It eliminates half days during the school year, except for the last day of school and for conferences. Bryan Keilty asked whether it would be possible to hold the team planning sessions at the end of the day to cut down on the substitute line since a substitute would be required to cover the teacher’s classroom during the planning session; the team planning sessions are 2 hours every 6 weeks.  Steve agreed with Bryan, saying that having to hire additional subs was a deal breaker.   Steve made a motion not to approve the calendar with the half days and the motion was not approved; the Board members discussed approving the calendar and then pursuing the other issue separately.  However, Kate Natale said she wasn’t sure if they would want to approve the calendar before sending out a letter to ask that they (the teachers) reconsider the use of the 20 mins per day to meet the Superintendent’s recommendation for professional development.  The Board agreed to send a letter to the teachers’ association asking to reallocate the 20 minutes daily and to consolidate the 20 minutes into a 2-hour session every 6 weeks.    No action was taken on the proposed school calendar until the issue was resolved.

At this point of the meeting, at a little after 8 p.m. our reporter left the Board of Ed meeting to pick up her coverage of the Budget Referendum since the voting had just ended.  The budget was passed, with 271 residents voting for the budget (“Yes”) and 118 voting against the budget (“No”); to read more about the results of the Budget Referendum, please see our May 4 article Both Budgets Approved…

________________

New Hartford Public Schools
Board of Education Meeting
Bakerville Consolidated School
7:00 PM on Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Agenda

A. Chair to Open Meeting

B.Chair to Select Order of Business

C.Superintendent’s Report
1. Connecticut Race to the Top
2. Bus Ridership Data
3. Green Energy Projects
4. Magnet School Enrollments
5. Asbestos Periodic Surveillance Sheets
6. Spring After School Enrichment
7. Health Care Legislation

D. Building Report

E. Routine Business
1. Approval of Minutes –March 16, 2010
2. Personnel Report –Retirement
3. Expenditure/Projection Report

F. Opportunity for Public Comment

G. Curriculum

H. New Business
1. 2010 Boiler Project
2. Non Union Employee Raises
3. Director of Student Services
4. Last Day of School for Students
5. 2010-2011 Food Service Contract

I. Old Business
1. 2010-2011 Budget
2. School Security
3. 2010-2011 School Calendar
4. Policy (Second Reading)
4118.51 Use of New Web Tools,
5141.27 First Aid/Emergency Medical Care
5144 Physical Restraint Report Forms
6141.321(a) Computers Acceptable Use of the Internet…..

J. Reports

K. Communications to the Board of Education

L. Adjournment

By: Maria Moore

At around 3:45 p.m. yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, May 4 as our reporter was taking a break from her writing by taking photos of the crab apple tree in full bloom in Norma Pappalardo’s garden, the sky suddenly darkened and the wind started to whip through the air.  The storm, which broke the peace of the quiet afternoon,  was short-lived but as it moved through, it left a trail of damage in its wake.

At the top of West Hill, the high winds reached 32 miles per hour, according to Doug Gerard’s weather station on Beeney Road.  The wind and the rain whipped across the surface of West Hill Pond caused problems for crew boats manned by rowers from Lewis Mills High School.  As the storm gained in intensity, three of the five boats were able to row back to shore; the two remaining crew boats were swept down the lake by the winds.  A call for help was made to Litchfield County Dispatch but the rowers were able to reach the safety of the beach at Brodie Park.  The members of the crew boats were transported to Charlotte Hungerford to be checked.  New Hartford’s emergency services were on the scene in full force, with fire trucks from the New Hartford and South End Fire Departments.  Also at the scene was the New Hartford Ambulance service.

In the rest of New Hartford, power outages were reported all over town, from the momentary one noted at Dunkin Donuts in New Hartford Center to outages that lasted 3 hours or more in the Bakerville section.  In many places tree branches were strewn across the roads, temporarily closing some roads such as Route 219 by the Reservoir and Route 44 on the outskirts of town towards Barkhamsted.

By 6:00 p.m. when our reporter and her husband drove down Town Hill to go and vote at the budget referendum, the sky was clear and the colors shone brilliantly in the sunshine.

To read more about the incident on West Hill Pond, please see today’s article in the Hartford Courant.

Many Thanks: To the members of the town’s fire departments and to the local ambulance crew for the kindness they showed to our reporter.

Emergency services personnel confer about the recent emergency at West Hill Pond yesterday afternoon. Photo: Maria Moore

Following are the Community Calendar listings for today in New Hartford, CT:

Wednesday, May 5, 2010:

• New Hartford Business Council Board of Directors/Steering Committee Meeting: at 8:00 a.m. at the Chapin Park Bed and Breakfast, Church Street, Pine Meadow section of New Hartford. For more information about the Business Council, please see the NHBC’s Facebook page.
• New Hartford Senior Center: Fitness: at 9 a.m.($2.50 per class, includes a fitness card which is stamped for every class attended); Wii Bowling at 10:00 a.m.; Refreshments at 12:00 noon; Blood Pressure Check at 12:30 p.m.; Art Horn ~ the Wonders of Weather at 1:00 p.m. For more information please call Jean Barnicoat at 860-379-3980 between 8:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
• Children’s Story Time for 2-year-olds at the Beekley Library: at 10:15 a.m. at the Beekley Library, 10 Central Avenue, New Hartford. For more information please call Andrea Gaedeke at the library at 860-379-7235.
• Canton Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting: at 11:30 a.m. La Trattoria, Route 44, Canton. For more information about the Canton Chamber of Commerce which has a partnership with the New Hartford Business Council, please visit the Canton Chamber of Commerce website.

.

• Commission on Aging Meeting: at 7:00 p.m. at the Town Hall, 530 Main Street, New Hartford. For the agenda for this meeting, please see our Calendar.
• New Hartford Recreation Commission Meeting: at 7:00 p.m. at the Town Hall, 530 Main Street, New Hartford. For the agenda for this meeting, please see our Calendar.
• Have a Spring-related business you want to advertise?: Check out our BRAND NEW Yellow Pages: an economical, simple way to get your business in front of our 32,066 visitors (this past March). Use the “Submit Your Listing” form to send us your information and we’ll list your business. Looking for a lawn care service? Check our Yellow Pages where we’ll be listing companies as soon as their info. is submitted to us.

…NHGrapevine…

“I just learned to knit today!”

Said one of the poll workers at Town Hall yesterday during the afternoon on what was a very quiet day for voter turnout on the budget referendum.

Contribute to the …NHGrapevine… Let us know what you’ve heard – or seen – in town and we’ll add it to this listing, and also add it to the …NHGrapevine.. section. So let’s hear what you’re hearing around town…

The lilacs are in full bloom outside the photographer's home, image from 2009. Photo: Maria Moore

By: Maria Moore

The official results of the budget referendum are in, and both the town budget, Question #1,(which includes the New Hartford Schools budget) and the Northwestern Regional #7 budget, Question #2,  for the 2010-2011 Fiscal Year have been approved. The official numbers are as follows:

District 1:

• Question 1: Yes =123;  No = 46
  • Absentee:  Yes = 3;  No = 0
• Question 2: Yes = 115;  No = 50
  • Absentee: Yes = 3;  No = 0

District 2:

• Question 1: Yes = 145;  No =71
  • Absentee:  Yes = 0;  No = 1
• Question 2: Yes = 137;  No = 75
  • Absentee:  Yes = 0;  No = 1

Out of the 4,462 voters in New Hartford, only 389 voters, 8.7%, turned out to vote in today’s referendum.

On Question 1, which was to vote on the town budget (including the New Hartford Schools), 271 residents voted for the budget (“Yes”) and 118 voted against the budget (“No”).

On Question 2, which was to vote on the Regional #7 budget, 255 residents voted for the budget (“Yes”) and 126 voted against the budget (“No”).

Many Thanks: To both Registrars of Voters, Daria Hart and Lila Tuxbury, and to the Head Moderator, Judy Jones, for making the results of today’s referendum available to us within minutes of the final tally.

By: Maria Moore

Below is a downloadable PDF copy the Northwestern Regional #7 Proposed Budget which we received this morning from Roger Newbury, Business Manager at Northwestern Regional #7. This is the Regional #7 budget that was approved for today’s May 4 referendum at last night’s District Meeting. Paper copies of this budget are available at the Town Clerk’s Office.

To review the proposed 2010-2011 Northwestern Regional #7 Budget, click on the following links:

• Proposed Regional #7 budget, pages 1-5, by line items: Regional #7 Proposed Budget, pages 1-5 (227)
• Proposed Regional #7 budget, pages 6-10, by line items: Regional #7 Proposed Budget, pages 6-10 (219)
• Proposed Regional #7 budget, pages 11-13: Revenues, Assessments to member towns, and Notice of District Meeting: Regional #7 Proposed Budget, pages 11-13 (201)

To review the Town Administration Budget and the New Hartford Schools Budget, pease see our May 3 report Budget Referendum: What You’ll Be Voting For ~ Or Against ~ In May 4 Referendum.

Please Note: We have broken down the 13-page proposed Regional #7 budget into three sections and we have optimized them (reduced the size of each of the three files) since the original 1.51 MB file was too large for us to process.  If you would like a copy of the 13-page proposed budget in one file, please email us at newhartfordplus@gmail.com and we will forward you a copy of the original file.  Thank you for your understanding!

Regional #7 Board of Ed meeting this past February. Photo from NewHartfordPlus archives

Following are the Community Calendar listings for today in New Hartford, CT:

Tuesday,May 4, 2010:

• CLOSED: New Hartford Senior Center: Due to the Budget Referendum.
• Budget Referendum: from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. First District votes at the Town Hall, Second District votes at South End Fire House.
• Northwestern Regional #7 Budget Referendum: At the same time as the town Budget Referendum, from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. First District votes at the Town Hall, Second District votes at South End Fire House.
• Early Literacy Program: Comprehension Session: at 9:30 a.m. at the Beekley Library, 10 Central Avenue, New Hartford. For more information about this Early Literacy Program please see the flyer posted in our Bulletin Board or call the Library at 860-379-7235.
• Bakerville Library Story Time for 3 to 5 year-olds: at 10:15 a.m. Bakerville Library, 6 Maple Hollow Road, New Hartford. For more information about the library please visit the Bakerville Library website.
• New Hartford Public Schools: Personnel and Negotiations Sub-committee Special Meeting: at 6:30 p.m. at the bakerville School, Cedar Lane, New Hartford. For the agenda for this meeting, please see our Calendar.
• New Hartford Schools Board of Ed Meeting: at 7:00 p.m. at the Bakerville School, Cedar Lane, New Hartford. For the agenda for this meeting, please see our Calendar.
• Have a Spring-related business you want to advertise?: Check out our BRAND NEW Yellow Pages: an economical, simple way to get your business in front of our 32,066 visitors (this past March). Use the “Submit Your Listing” form to send us your information and we’ll list your business. Looking for a lawn care service? Check our Yellow Pages where we’ll be listing companies as soon as their info. is submitted to us.

Our Community Calendar section provides additional information about the events listed above and information on past, current and future events – a permanent record of events in New Hartford. Also check out our Bulletin Board where you can see flyers on events happening around town, and where we have listed information on local non-profit groups.

…NHGrapevine…

“Budget Referendum today: Please Vote!”

Voting takes a couple of minutes of our time, and it’s a nice opportunity to say “Thanks!” to those hard-working poll workers and our two Registrars of Voters, Daria Hart and Lila Tuxbury who bring it all together.

Contribute to the …NHGrapevine… Let us know what you’ve heard – or seen – in town and we’ll add it to this listing, and also add it to the …NHGrapevine.. section. So let’s hear what you’re hearing around town…

Spring flowers at dusk decorate a grave at the Immaculate Conception Cemetery on Monday evening, May 3. Photo: Maria Moore