Board of Selectmen Minutes

Present: First Selectman Woody Bliss; Selectman W. Glenn Major; Selectman Richard Miller; Town Administrator Tom Landry; Administrative Assistant Judy DeVito, Residents and member of the press.

Executive Session- Discussion of pending claim concerning Chief Land and proposed settlement agreement with Chief Land. At 7:34pm Mr. Miller made a motion to enter into executive session. Mr. Major seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Accept the resignation of Walter Marcus from the Weston Police Commission effective April 13, 2007. Mr. Miller made a motion to accept the resignation of Walter Marcus from the Weston Police Commission effective April 13, 2007. Mr. Major seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Ezzes said he moved to Weston two years ago from Westport where he grew up. He was on the Westport Board of Finance for ten years and was the chair for eight of the ten years. He has a financial background that has a lot of real estate development. Mr. Miller made a motion to appoint Steve Ezzes to fill the vacancy of John Cunningham on the Building Committee for a term to expire April 1, 2009. Mr. Major seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Discussion/decision regarding the reappointment of Sandra Dadik as Weston’s representative to Southwest CMED for a term to expire May 31, 2007. Mr. Major made a motion to reappoint Sandra Dadik as Weston’s representative to Southwest CMED for a term to expire May 31, 2008. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Discussion/decision regarding proposed settlement agreement with Chief Land. Mr. Bliss said for approximately six weeks he has been negotiating with the chief and other interested parties to see if they could reach a settlement. On April 20^th they reached a settlement which the chief signed under federal age discrimination legislation which if you are over 40 years old you have seven days to revoke your signature. The time had passed and the chief has indicated the he is not going to revoke the agreement.

The settlement provides that the Town will pay the chief $100,000. Our insurance company, CIRMA will settle the four open worker compensation claims that the chief has which has been reviewed with the Workers Compensation Council in Hartford for $75,000. In addition CIRMA will settle all other claims, both present and future claims with the chief and his attorney for $100,000 making the total amount of the settlement $275,000. Chief Land will get $250,000 and his attorney $25,000. This still needs to be ratified by the Board of Finance and the meeting is schedule for 8:00pm on Monday night.

Both Mr. Major and Mr. Miller thanked Mr. Bliss for negotiating this in the manner that it was done. From the Town’s prospective this is a huge win, given what it will cost the town, as opposed to what protracted litigation could have cost the town. Mr. Major wanted the record to reflect that this agreement with Chief Land settles all potential claims that we have.

Discussion/decision regarding a resolution to require town purchase of 20% Clean Energy by 2010.- Keri Enright. Keri Enright said that she had meet with Mr. Bliss and had gone over the numbers. Mr. Miller asked what the cost would be for a private residence. Mr. Strasmore said the average cost per month is about 6% which is $15, however if a person is willing to change 20 light bulbs from 65 watt to 15 watt that will cover the increase cost. Mr. Bliss said he is already on the program and that it is costing him under 6%.

Mr. Major said the resolution does not have them pick the provider. Mr. Bliss said Sterling was the better deal for the Town. Mr. Strasmore said assuming we sign up 200 customers over 3 years in total the cost to the Town would be $5,000 with Sterling and about $10,000 with Community. Mr. Major recommended that we do the resolution as is provided with an authorization for the First Selectman to make an election after he has had a chance to review that information.

Mr. Major made a motion that the Selectmen approve the resolution as presented requiring the Town to purchase 20% clean energy by 2010 authorizing the First Selectman upon review of appropriate information to elect which of the three providers would be appropriate for the Town. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Discussion/decision regarding disposition of old voting machines- Eileen Buckley and Diane Loftus. Eileen Buckley said the Historical Society would like a voting machine and they will get the oldest one. The 3-4-5 Intermediate School has used one and they like it, the High School also wants one. They have not talked to the other schools yet but if they want one that would be fine. The remainder they can sell for scrap but they will not get much for it. Mr. Major requested that if we give it to the Historical Society that there is a caveat that if they opt to get rid of it that they have to come back to the Town first.

Discussion/decision regarding proposed scheduling of Election Day workers –Eileen Buckley and Diane Loftus. Diane said according to the statue “by a majority vote of your board we can establish split shifts for election workers”. That does not pertain to the moderator. She said they would not exercise it for the people who handle the important documents that need to be there at the end of the day. Mr. Major requested that for this year, where we are using the new machines if you can staff it with one group. He said it would be important because they are going to have issues getting through the first run of the new machines.

Mr. Bliss said he would like to see a list of the jobs that they intent to have on split shifts and the ones that would not be on split shift. He said there may be a few that we can do this time and then perhaps more later. Mr. Bliss said they need a written proposal with which positions, how the shift change will work all of those things. Diane said this is evolving right now because the machines are new and they are still trying to finalize things right now.

Mr. Major said we agree to authorize the split shift, we ask for, prior to the next election the registrars provide to the Selectmen so that they can see how they intend to have it work. Mr. Major requested that the registrars have to the Selectmen their plan at the Selectmen’s meeting before the deadline. He said this would give the selectmen an opportunity to correct something if they feel it is appropriate.

Mr. Major made a motion to authorize the registrars of voters to institute a two shift day for election officials with the understanding that the Selectmen’s meeting prior to the filing deadline for the pole workers a plan be submitted to the Board of Selectmen for their review. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Discussion/decision regarding a supplemental appropriation request in the amount of $65,000 for Kids in Crisis. Michael Ferguson said Kids in Crisis is a crisis intervention and emergency shelter for children, newborn to seventeen. It is the only one of its kind in the State of Connecticut. They have a teen house that can accommodate up to ten children and also a children’s program which can also accommodate up to ten children at one time. Both are managed by master’s degree level clinical directors. There is a medical clinic on site staffed by an APRN. Having an APRN allows them to diagnose and prescribe for the children.

They have an education program called STEP (School for Transitional Education Placement). This program is an assessment program. Children that come to them that are not in school or are too far from their home schools go into the STEP program that is operated by a special education teacher who does an assessment of these children to assess what their education needs are. That allows them to then transition them into the local public school. The mandate from the state is that the kids that are not in their home be placed in public schools. They felt it was best that they get an assessment of what these kids needs are rather then transiting them right into public schools. The goal of all their programs on campus is when the children are ready to leave that they go with a full packet and full assessment in hopes that there long term placement will be more successful.

They also have community programs. They provide a program in private schools and community centers throughout Southwestern Connecticut called “Safe Talk”. The “Safe Talk” program was created specifically for children in kindergarten through grade six. It is facilitated by a staff member and specially trained core group of volunteers who go into elementary schools and teach the kids skills.

Another program they have is a youth corp for High School students. The youth corp is an opportunity for volunteers in an advocacy role. It is designed for High School kids who want to work, and who want to support their peers. They work on behalf of Kids in Crisis in getting the word out and advocating in their schools.

The program they want to talk about for Weston is called Teen Talk. It involves a student outreach counselor for both the High School and the Middle School. It currently operates at New Canaan High School, Ridgefield High School and East Ridge Middle School. Next September they are launching at Western Middle School in Greenwich. It is providing the students with a comfort resource.

The Teen Talk counselors are trained and skilled in crisis intervention and providing assessments. Being able to make that relationship with a child and being able to determine where to go, whatever the issues that that child is presenting. They are available in the cafeteria and in the student centers. They go where the kids are. The Teen Talk counselor is not someone who is involved in their placement or doing their college application. A lot of issues they have found relate to depression, substance abuse, family conflict, crisis assessments, grief and loss. Kids in Crisis is also able to offer the kids 24 hour/7 day coverage.

Ellen Uzenoff, chair of the Board of Education, said the superintendent and the administration are very enthusiastic about this program. Because we are so small it is very difficult to go to that person in the school that you might approach for help because everybody knows everybody else’s business. This gives a tremendous opportunity for us to benefit the kids.

Sharon Samuels, Acting Director of Weston Youth Services, echoed the same sentiments. She said her entire commission was on board with the program. She read a letter from Board Member, Dr. Charles Morgan, who expressed his support for Kids in Crisis. Ellen Uzenoff said those kids need to have a network of people that are there to support them.

Weston Police Detective Carl Filsinger said he would like to see anything that would help the children and youths stay out of trouble. The police department has used Kids in Crisis in the past. They need someone who is not always in the school, but someone else that they can reach out to, someone they can trust.

Mr. Miller said he supported the plan and will support the recommendation that they be financed; however, he asked if this should not be in the Board of Education budget. Denise Qualey from Kids in Crisis, said their position has been that they try to keep the program under the town and away from the schools so that the counselor is not a Board of Education employee. She said some of the credentialing might be different, and they can be given tasks that have nothing to do with crisis intervention. If there is a shortage in the school system they might pull this person in.

Mr. Major asked how large the High School population is in Ridgefield. Denise said it was 1700 and Weston is about 800. He said if you use the 80 students that you saw in the course of September to February and you do that over a school year that works out to 143 students. Michael said she may have 80 individual students but she continued to work. That is not including classroom presentation and not including work groups. Mr. Major said just doing the math for the 80 students for a year, it is $500 a student and that is for a school population that is twice the size of Weston. He said that makes it $1,000 an individual for the Weston School System.

He looked at Children and Youth Services budget and said something is missing. If the expense does not belong in the Board of Education then it certainly belongs in Children and Youth Services budget, but Children and Youth is not making the request. Their budget stays in tact with many of the services that Kids in Crisis is talking about providing that they are supposed to be providing. If we hire the director that we are supposed to hire for Children and Youth Services there is going to be a duplication of effort.

Mr. Major said we are talking about bringing a new employee in and his reaction is before we bring a new employee in we should be looking at our job descriptions for Children & Youth Services, and determine how are these two employees going to split their responsibilities. Mr. Miller said he looks at it, not as we are bringing in a new employee, but a new 24/7 service. Ellen Uzenoff said if Dr. Pierson was here she would probably say this would be a matter of what the community values. This is something that puts us in a far better position.

Mr. Major said he was frustrated with the avenue in which this is coming to us. One of his first frustrations is that he is concerned that this is not coming from Children and Youth Services saying we have a need. He is frustrated that it is coming from a different direction. If we bring this on we should be looking at Children and Youth Services and looking at the job descriptions associated with the rolls there, and making sure that they are in fact dovetailing with one another and not overlapping with one another. The prior director was playing a significant roll in the types of things are that we are talking about that this person would be doing. He said there are some decisions on our side that need to be made if we in fact go with this route.

Mr. Bliss said when the director was there she spent a very small portion of her time on this kind of responsibility. Sharyn Samuels said Sarah Cocker the previous Youth Services Director got permission from the commission to do light referrals because it was never in the original mission statement. Mr. Major said that the job description had been changed. There is a youth director in New Canaan, but they have separate rolls from the Kids in Crisis counselor.

Ellen Uzenoff asked how the program was evaluated after the first year. Denise Qualey said it is totally looked at again. They have even changed the personnel when the school did not feel that it was the right fit. She said the school and the superintendent are part of the interview process.

Mr. Major asked about their reporting requirements. What obligation do they have to tell the school, the police, etc. Ed said that they are not a part of the school, so they do not have to, but they keep the school in the loop, you are a part of the culture, you are a part of the community. If a child is at risk to self or others all confidentiality goes out the window. If there are abuse or neglect issues they are required to report it to the Department of Children and Family Services of Connecticut.

Mr. Major asked what kind of increase in the cost of the service did they experience after the first year. Denise said they were given a merit increase of 3% after the first year of employment. It is based on performance, there is an evaluation and depending on the funding from the Town they have paid it from their general fund to keep employees. Their request is the Town would be budgeting a 3% increase.

Mr. Major made a motion that they approve a supplemental appropriation subject to the Board of Finance approval to Kids in Crisis to be used towards Teen Talk in the amount of $65,000. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Bliss said that one of the topics that have been brought up is whether or not our tax relief programs are where they ought to be. He said he would like to have a meeting some night and invite the public to talk about tax relief and get their thoughts.

Mr. Bliss said that he has done some preliminary work to evaluate our program. One of his ongoing concerns is the lack of participation in the deferment program. Mr. Bliss said through the revaluation process, we know the same thing will happen to the abatement program that happens to the veteran’s program and that is the value of abatement goes down. Mr. Miller said the abatement program really does not go down. In the veterans program it does go down. He said the veterans program should be addressed, but he did not feel that we need to address the senior citizens tax abatement deferral program. The people who want to take a deferral have an opportunity to take it. If you want to educate people to exercise that choice that is fine.

Mr. Miller said he did not feel we should touch the senior citizens tax abatement deferral program at this time. He said that the committee has already been told to prepare a proposal that they should submit in September. Mr. Bliss said part of the community conversation is education especially the deferment program. The abatement program seems to be fine and probably the best in the state. Mr. Major said that even though people do not avail themselves to the deferment program it too is one of the best in the state.

Mr. Bliss said he was thinking of having the meeting in the fourth week of the month. He said Wednesday 23^rd or Thursday 24^th of the month. Mr. Miller and Mr. Major would check their schedules and get back to Mrs. DeVito.

Mr. Major made a motion to approve property tax refunds as set forth on the agenda in the total amount of $29,885.65. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Mr. Bliss said he had reviewed them and they are okay.

Discussion/approval of the Board of Selectmen’s minutes for the December 7, 2006, January 4, 2007 and January 18, 2007. Mr. Major made a motion to approve the December 7^th 2006 Board of Selectmen’s minutes as amended. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Major made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 12, 2007 Special Board of Selectmen’s meeting minutes as submitted. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.