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.

 

 

Mr. Bliss called the meeting to order at 7:33pm

 

Discussion/decision regarding the reappointment of Michael Lieberman as Weston’s representative to SWEMSC for a term to expire October 17, 2009. Mr. Miller made a motion to reappoint Michael Lieberman as Weston’s representative to SWEMSC for a term to expire October 17, 2009. Mr. Major seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Accept the resignation of Bob Atkinson from the Area 9 Cable Council effective immediately. Mr. Miller made a motion to accept the resignation of Bob Atkinson from the Area 9 Cable Council effective immediately. Mr. Major seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Discussion/decision regarding the reappointment of Ira Kasindorf to the Commission on Aging for a term to expire December 31, 2008. Mr. Miller made a motion to reappoint Ira Kasindorf to the Commission on Aging for a term to expire December 31, 2008. Mr. Major seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Discussion/decision regarding the reappointment of James Jamieson to the Beautification Committee for a term to expire June 30, 2009. Mr. Major made a motion to reappoint James Jamieson to the Beautification Committee for a term to expire June 30, 2009. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Discussion/decision regarding the reappointment of Sonja Ahuja and Peter Catucci to the Commission for the Arts for term to expire June 30, 2009. Mr. Major made a motion to reappoint Sonja Ahuja and Peter Catucci to the Commission for the Arts for a term to expire June 30, 2009. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Discussion/decision regarding the reappointment Joseph Lametta as Weston’s Representative of SWEROC and SWAB for a term to expire December 31, 2009. Mr. Major made a motion to reappoint Joseph Lametta as Weston’s Representative of SWEROC and SWAB for a term to expire December 31, 2009. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

 

Discussion/decision regarding the potential of a photovoltaic array on the High School Roof and a supplemental appropriation of up to $5,000 for the purpose of creating an RFP and the analysis of the grant funds available.-Don Gary

Don Gary said he was there to ask for a budget of up to $5,000 to act as money for them to get a serious evaluation of putting a significant photovoltaic array on the High School Roof. They are in the process of completing re-roofing the old portion of the High School Roof. It is a flat roof that comprises of about 140,000 sq ft. The new HS roof adds another 60,000 sq ft of flat roof.

 

Mr. Gary said he had representatives from the photovoltaic installers come and take a look at the roof and the situation of the roof is perfect for photovoltaic array. He said it seems like it would be very possible to get between 800 and 1000 photovoltaic panels on the roof. The High School last year used to 2.6 million kilowatts of electricity. An array of 1000 panels will provide approximately ½ of that electricity. A question is can you put something on the roof that would not violate the warranty that we are going to get from the roofing company. Mr. Gary said it appears we are going to be able to it, but that is one of the things that we need to investigate.

 

The dollar amount for the electricity that was used by the High School last year was just a little under $400,000. If we covered ½ it would be about $200,000. He said the feeling is we can get sufficient grants that will enable us to get somewhere in the neighborhood of a five year return on the investment that we make. That would mean we would be getting between 85% & 90% of the cost of the installation.

 

Another way to go is to sign a power purchase agreement with any number of the power purchase companies. They will install the equipment for free. You have to agree to a power purchase agreement in which you buy power from them at below market rates for a period of up to 15 years.   After that you get the photovoltaic array for a nominal fee. The array has about a 40 year life.

 

The analysis of which is the best way to go can only be done after we have more understanding of what is the best way of going. The person who is the premier expert in the State of Connecticut on the photovoltaic array and the obtaining of grants is an attorney with Shipman & Goodwin named Jennifer Janellie.

 

He has had discussions with her and she has done this for a couple of other schools. She said that not only has the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund appropriated its money for this year, which has hardly been tapped into.  They could provide almost 65% of the funding. Connecticut set up a special 50 million dollar school fund for photovoltaic energy and another 50 million dollar DPUC fund of which $25 million is for fuel cells and the other $25 million is for photovoltaic. So far this year, there have been no applications in either one of those funds.

 

The money is available for applications, and it is money that will not be there forever. The Building Committee feels that it is very appropriate for them to take the next step at this point. In order to take the next step, their plan is to get an RFP out to the companies in Connecticut that are certified as proper installers. There are only 10 and we would be fortunate to get half of them to respond. They would put the RFP out to them and basically have them tell us what the engineering is that they feel is appropriate. They will have that reviewed by an independent engineer.

 

They will then deal with Mansville and Silktown, the roofing people to make sure that it does not affect any of the warranties on the roof. There will be no roof penetrations for this.  The arrays will just lay on top of the roof. In addition to that, we can also determine what is the probability of our grant money that they can look forward to, so that we can make a decision whether or not we want to move forward as an owner or as a power purchase agreement. There are two power purchase agreements companies that are willing to give us bids.  

 

For the $5,000 in the next 30 to 45 days they can come very close to particularizing what it is that they can do with this roof. He said this would be the most significant photovoltaic array in the State of Connecticut. He said this is an opportunity to do something which is financially appropriate with a great return on investment and something that is extremely appropriate for the environment.

 

He said for every kilowatt of electricity that we consume in this part of Connecticut that is produced and transmitted by CL&P there is almost a pound of carbon dioxide that goes into the air. If we are able to provide 1 million to 1.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year we would be taking a million pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air just by our usage of this facility plus it makes sense from a financial point for the Town of Weston.

 

Mr. Major asked for a ballpark figure of what they thought this would cost. Mr. Gary said somewhere between 8 & 9 million dollars. Mr. Gary said that customers get charged a premium for any electricity used during the middle of the day and we also get charged a premium for electricity that is used in the summer. The photovoltaic array provides electricity during the middle of the day and during the summer.

 

This is not a system where we store electricity. There is a simple box that collects the electricity that comes of the roof and it is called an inverter. The electricity that comes of the roof is direct current and the inverter turns it into alternating current. It feeds it through a meter which keeps tract of the kilowatt hours that you have created and puts it directly into the grid.

 

Mr. Bliss asked if with the $5,000 they would be developing a business case so that they could look at the detailed financials as opposed to the estimates that we are dealing with now. Mr. Gary said he plans to do go to Hartford and fill out a lot of the forms and have Attorney Janellie edit what he does.  She has  pro forma RFP’s which they will send out and will analyze when they get them back.

 

Mr. Major asked what it would look like. Mr. Gary said it would be a series of panels that are set on a perpendicular 35% azimuth facing south. You will be able to see a few of them on the HS Roof, but will not see most of them. They are put on skids with weights put on them. The previous roof that was up there was held down by tons of rock. They will have to have an engineer certify that the roof is capable of handling the load, but it seems like it will be a fraction of the load that was previously on the roof.  

 

Mr. Gary said he will be taking it to the school facility committee and to the school board. Mr. Major asked if he thought the ultimate cost to the town is approximately 1 million dollars. Mr. Gary said yes if we go the purchase route. If we go the power company route it is zero. We have to make up our minds, which is more beneficial to us in the long run.

 

Mr. Bliss asked what a reasonable life span is. Mr. Gary said that they become more efficient as they have developed over the past years. Mr. Gary said the opportunity is now, and ten years from now if there is something better, we can upgrade.

 

Mr. Gary said that he would be talking to the facilities committee at their next meeting and the Board of Education at their next meeting. He will also talk to the principal at the High School and the new Superintendent. He did speak to Dr. Pierson before she left and she was in favor of it.

 

Mr. Major made a motion that we approve a supplemental appropriation of up to $5,000 for the purpose of creating an RFP and an analysis of grant funding available for a Photovoltaic Ray on the High School Roof. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Discussion/decision regarding Wells Hill Bridge reconstruction plan.  Mr. Bliss said the bridge is totally in Easton, but there are a number of Weston residents who are impacted by it. He said that he has shared all the letters and emails that he has received with the other Selectmen.

 

Approximately two weeks ago, Tom Landry and Joe Lametta met with the Easton people to view the plans. He said he attended an information meeting at the Easton Town Hall on Monday night. A group from Weston and Easton met at the bridge looking for ideas for what they might do there.

 

There is a formal application in front of P&Z in Easton. He said he felt it was important since a number of our residents would be impacted. He said the discussion mainly is whether it the bridge should be one lane or two lanes, although the real issue is the traffic flow.

 

Mr. Bliss said our Police Chief made an excellent suggestion of a way to reduce the flow of traffic. He said the notion is to put a triangle at the intersection of  Kellogg Hill and Wells Hill Road, which would restrict the flow of traffic and make it inconvenient, although not impossible, to come up Wells Hill and then go Kellogg Hill as they did when the bridge was operating. The alternative would restrict coming up Kellogg Hill and going onto Wells Hill out toward Rte 136 across the bridge. It would be an inconvenience for the neighbors who use the road everyday but on the other hand, it would greatly discourage the traffic.

 

There was some discussion about a barrier. He said one of the issues with a barrier is the houses up at the upper end of Wells Hill. If you had too much traffic coming out of Wells Hill Road onto Rte 136 you might get a backup for residents. Both towns have P&Z regulations with regard to dead end streets.

 

Several residents from Weston and Easton spoke:

 

Sarah Najamy, 96 Kellogg Hill Road, Weston, said it did not matter to her if it was a one or two lane bridge but we need to stop the traffic at the top of the hill so that the kids can get on the buses safely and the road is not made for that kind of traffic.

 

Rick Albright, 92 Kellogg Hill Road, Weston agreed with Sarah Najamy’s comments.

 

Jonathan Spitzer, 43 Wells Hill, said they are in favor of anything that would reduce the flow of traffic on Wells Hill and Kellogg Hill Road and are in favor of replacing the bridge as it was.

 

Elizabeth Menke, agreed with comments.

 

Claudia Blount, 16 Wells Hill Road, supported the earlier comments.

 

Keith Melville, 58 Wells Hill Road, supported the comments, looking forward to seeing the design. He asked about stop signs. Mr. Bliss said there were the Police Department was investigating  stop signs for each of the three lengths of that road.

 

Peter Mack, 26 Wells Hill Road, Weston, said he sent a letter and appreciated Mr. Bliss’s attention to his letter and his involvement and his attempt to help reduce the speed and dangerous traffic flow.

 

Jim Magid, 10 Wells Hill Road, Weston, said thank you for creative thinking, however, the two lane or one lane bridge is still a major issue because it is a creeping enlargement of the traffic. He sees no reason expressed by anyone why a two lane bridge makes any sense. He said if someone knows why they did not communicated it.

 

Walter Kazmierczak, 20 Wells Hill Road, Easton said he had a couple of questions. He asked about the 500ft limit zone. He is in favor of a one lane bridge. At the meeting that he attended there was a request by the petitioners to comeback on September 11, with an alternate proposal for a two lane bridge. Not only a one lane bridge but a bridge that would replace what we have and not change location and not affect the wetlands.

 

Tara Tanzer, 98 Kellogg Hill Road, would like to stick with a one lane bridge and said it was not only the commuting traffic but also a great deal of heavy commercial vehicles. She would like to see any plan that is put in place take the trucks into consideration and maybe put some restrictions in place.

 

Deborah Messulam, 20 Wells Hill Road, Weston, thanked Mr. Bliss for all his efforts. 

 

Karen Kingley, Easton said wanted to thank Mr. Bliss for his efforts on their behalf.

 

Mr. Major made a motion that the Board of Selectmen authorize the First Selectman to send a letter to the appropriate Commissions in the Town of Easton expressing our desire that the Wells Hill Bridge remain a one lane bridge and no be expanded any further. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Discussion/decision regarding the approval of Solid Waste Disposal Procurement- Participation Agreement. Mr. Bliss said the City of Norwalk started this effort and they got a price tag in excess of $100,000 and then they asked if we wanted to join them. He said we had a great decision from the US Supreme court on Oneida & Herkimer Counties, NY. A town has the right to direct any garbage collection in its town to a municipal facility. Transporter of garbage does not have the right to take it to where ever he or she wants to take it.

 

Mr. Landry said as that agreement expires we will be negotiating a successor agreement with them. He said this is to evaluate other options. Mr. Miller asked how much the total cost was. Mr. Bliss said in the neighborhood of $150,000. Mr. Miller said our contribution of approximately $12,000 is 9%. He said he wanted to know if what we were contributing was reasonable and fair.

 

Mr. Bliss said we are looking at alternatives. One of the alternatives is that we go Wheelabrator Fry. The other alternative is to find other sources. Mr. Major said not knowing who the other towns are that are participating, not knowing what the overall cost of the study is going to be, and knowing what our percentage of that is there is no way to evaluate whether this makes sense.

 

Mr. Major asked that we defer this to the next meeting because that’s the only way that they assess if the $11,927 number is a reasonable number.  He said tonnage wise with the cost of the study we are right in there with a number of the other towns. Both Mr. Miller and Mr. Major felt that Weston was paying more than their share. After much discussion Mr. Miller suggested that they go back and ask them to reconsider our share because based on tonnage, since he felt that the allocation was not fair and reasonable. Mr. Landry said they would do that, but we were really asking them to change the funding formula and previous attempts to change it had led Norwalk to say that it was a take it or leave it situation.

 

Presentation Saugatuck River Watershed-Sally Harold. Sally Harold said the Saugatuck River Watershed is one of the healthiest watersheds in Southwestern Connecticut.

 

In 2005 they initiated a series of workshops to start the plan for a watershed partnership which was one of Woody’s ideas. He brought a number of conservation groups together and the Nature Conservancy decided to lead this effort. All eleven towns in the watershed are participating in this effort.

 

They just got word that they are going to receive funding from Long Island Sound Futures Fund, so now they are working on two more dams on the Aspetuck River.

 

They had a $100,000 donation from a citizen who is interested in hydrologic modeling. This is going to be put towards modeling watershed surface water and ground water and $50,000 which they just received is also being put towards hydrologic modeling.

 

All three Selectmen thanked Ms. Harold for her presentation.

 

Mr. Miller made a motion to authorize property tax refunds in the amount of $13,826.02 as submitted. Mr. Major seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Mr. Major made a motion to accept the Board of Selectmen’s meeting minutes of May 3^rd as submitted. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

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

 

The rest of the minutes were tabled to the next selectmen’s meeting.

 

 

At 9:23pm Mr. Miller made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Major seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Respectfully submitted

Judy M. DeVito

Administrative Assistant

Approved 11/01/07