Board of Selectman Minutes - September 6, 2007

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.

Discussion/decision regarding the appointment of Harvey Bellin to fill the vacancy (Robert Atkinson) as Weston’s representative to the Area Nine Cable Council for a term to expire June 30, 2009. Harvey gave a brief background about himself. Mr. Miler made a motion to appoint Harvey Bellin to fill the vacancy of Robert Atkinson as Weston’s representative to the Area Nine Cable Council for a term to expire June 30, 2009. Mr. Major seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Discussion/decision regarding the reappointment of Robert Turner as Code Enforcement Officer for a term to expire December 31, 2007. Mr. Miller made a motion to reappoint Robert Turner as Code Enforcement Officer for a term to expire December 31, 2007. Mr. Major seconded and motion passed unanimously.

Discussion/decision regarding grant resolution – Donna Anastasia: Donna Anastasia, Town Clerk, said this is the Historic Preservation Grant which we send $2.00 on each recording that they do on the land records. At the end of the year they get $7,000 back. She wants to use a part of the grant to do ZBA and Board of Finance minutes which amounts to approximately $1,700 each and a Vitals cabinet which is $2,475 with tax it would be approximately $2,623. The minutes $3,430 and an HP printer that will print 24 x 36 inch sheets and that means the maps that were put on disk about 4 years ago she will now be able to print full scale maps with this printer. Mr. Bliss pointed out that we do not pay taxes, but even if the tax is backed out it is still over the $7,000 amount.

Mr. Major made a motion to authorize the First Selectman and the Town Clerk to apply for the historic documents preservation targeted grant in the amount of $7,000. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Don Gary said the selectmen had asked the Building Committee to review and come up with solutions for the fields at Revson which are two side by side full sized baseball fields. What has happened is the soil underneath the outfield in particular has been highly compacted and it was difficult to play this year. The fields were out of service for a fair amount of time. The fields are uneven in the outfield and after it rains it ponds and makes it very difficult to have a good game.

They looked at going to Milone & MacBroom which is a firm that was used in the past. They are landscape architects. The Building Committee asked M & M to come up with solutions for solving the problem. Their solutions were very expensive. They would do a study to redo the entire field and the study would be made up of three components: the survey, site inspection plans and regulatory approvals. Their concept is to start over again. This will be very expensive. It will also keep the fields out of use for two baseball seasons. It will not be able to be fully utilized until the fall of 2009. The Building Committee wanted to find a way around that if possible.

They have searched for people who actually repair athlete fields. They have found a company out of Larchmont, New York called Athletic Field Services and had them out here to survey the fields. They concluded that the fields were highly compacted. The infields did not shed water in the correct direction. The outfields had undulations and were basically a bed of weeds because the soil was so compacted that grass could not grow.

They bid a proposal to renovate the field. It is broken down in three application. One will redo the infields, and two separate application will be done on the outfield. Instead of tearing it up and starting all over again, they have proprietary equipment that is built specifically for this problem. It is an aerator that also vibrates. As it aerates it shatters the compacted soil so that when they come over with fertilizer and grass seed it is open enough so that grass seed gets in and they can establish grass. In addition to that they have proposed bringing in approximately 160 tons of soil. They will layer the soil in the low spots. They emphasize that this is not a complete cure at least for the first time, but this has to be repeated two and maybe three times.

They suggest coming in this fall and aerating, shattering the soil and putting in new top soil and over seeding it and leaving the field fallow this fall. It will be ready to play on this spring. They will do this again in the spring. Once it has been fertilized and the grass starts to penetrate this shattered compacted soil. They feel that we can get enough grass to grow that it will basically choke out the weeds.

The proposal is for $10,000 for the infields. They will also completely redo the two infields. For $22,000 this fall they will redo both outfields. For $42,000 this fall we can get a real leg up on renovating the field instead of studying it. There is another treatment of the outfield next spring which is another $22,000 which brings it to about $64,000. This is the recommendation of the Building Committee, with support of Ellen Uzenoff from the Board of Education. It is not a guarantee but they have checked the references, who are very satisfied with the results.

Mr. Bliss said his first reaction was to go back and sue the people that put the fields together in the first place. The Building Committee explored that with Town Counsel and also Milone & MacBroom. The feeling was that we did not have many options or only limited chance of success if we did that.

Mr. Miller made a motion that they appropriate $65,000 for the renovation of two baseball fields at Revson Field as recommended by the Building Committee and the request be forwarded to the Board of Finance. Mr. Major seconded and modified the motion to read up to $65,000 so that there was a cap as it goes to Board of Finance. Mr. Miller accepted the modification. Discussion continued.

Dr. Maggio said he had a copy of the Milone and MacBroom report and would like to point out on page 3 of the report that the equipment such as the ground breaker will not correct platy structure, which is a condensed structure or do anything to correct the sub soil compaction. Essentially they are telling you that you are spending $65,000 to get something that will look good. There are underlying causes that will not be remediated with that.

Dr. Maggio said he believes the most they would be scraping off is 12 inches. They point out that unless you break up the sub soils the water is still going to get stuck in a bowl. One of the reasons is how the fields were graded. He had a picture after a rain storm in April that showed water pouring through the fence at the Revson Field, Collins berm and fence. The site plans provided did not have existing and proposed field grate. They had no idea what was supposed to be there. Dr. Maggio said that he has asked for an “as built” and there is none at this point.

He said what you have now is a bowl and you would have to tip the bowl over to get the water out. Dr. Maggio said no matter what you do to the top if it is still sitting on something that is in essence a plastic bag the water is not going to go anywhere. Mr. Major asked Dr. Maggio if he attended the Building Committee meeting. Dr. Maggio said he did not. Mr. Major said that the Building Committee would have the technical knowledge to digest what he was putting forth. Dr. Maggio said he felt it would be reasonable to contact Milone & MacBroom and get their opinion.

Mr. Major said based on what was said that he felt it should go back to the Building Committee. He said that there was information that Mr. Gary indicated that he did not know the answer to and he did not like the idea of spending $65,000 but if the Building Committee can review that report in conjunction with this proposal and if Milone & MacBroom would comment on this proposal it would make better sense.

Dr. Maggio asked to see the “as built”. Mr. Landry said he had never seen an “as built” for Revson Field. Dr. Maggio said without the “as built” it really is a stab in the dark. He said there are a number of contributing factors to this field and the plans will never show the Collins fence and the berm that existed there or the drainage that may have gone back to the swamps in the beginning, which is now being dumped right through the fence like a river. Mr. Maggio said he knew this was a significant rain fall, but it happens on less significant events. He said he would appreciate that they have another look at this and get a hold of the report so that next time it comes before the board they have all of the information.

Dr. Maggio asked if the fields were totally ripped up how long would it take. Mr. Gary said if you start in January it would be 18 months, if you start in October it would be 24 months. It is two growing seasons.

Mr. McDonough said there were two problems that were the major cause of the whole thing. If you look at the original drawings of how Revson field was designed and built originally prior to this, it started in the high point on Collins side of the property tapered over and down the hill so that it would drain across the whole field. When the berm got put in it made a dish so that it could not drain.

Mr. Landry said the Milone & MacBroom study will tell you that it was definitely a compaction problem. Dr. Maggio said the test indicate that the type of soil that was there is easily compacted. Mr. Landry said the soil should not have been reused, because it was to prone to compaction. The question is whether you can fix it enough so that you can live with it or not and start over and spend a million and more.

Mr. Major again said this needs to go back to the Building Committee. It is beyond the scope of what they were intending to cover this evening. His hope is that Dr. Maggio and Mr. McDonough would monitor the Building Committee agenda and attend their next meeting because that is where their information would be best served.

Discussion/decision regarding grant application package from the State of Connecticut Office of Policy & Management. Mr. Bliss said this is a grant for $2,500 for books and DVD’s for the library. Mr. Major made a motion to authorize the First Selectman to make application through the Office of Policy and Management for $2,500 grant for CD’s and DVD’s of books on ecological environment subjects for the Weston Public Library. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Discussion/decision regarding Budget Review Schedule 2008-2009. Mr. Bliss wanted this moved to a future meeting. Mr. Major commented that in the last versions that he saw that the meeting would be April 22^nd. He said the charter requires that the meeting be by the 22^nd and it also provides that if the meeting runs pass 11:00pm it is required to go to the next night. He asked if we met the charter requirement for the budget hearing if it is the 22^nd if we did not reach a determination and it had to roll to the next night. Mr. Landry said he would check on this. Mr. Major asked if we could look at having the town budget meeting the week of April 7^th.

Discussion/decision regarding Global Warming Committee budget. Martin Strasmore said that there was a grant available for up to $2,500 from the New England Grass Roots Environment Fund Small Grants Program. There is a deadline of September 15 and maybe they can meet the deadline.

They presented the same budget that they had previously presented. Mr. Major said he thought that we would get a different budget since we had eliminated some things. Mr. Strasmore said that between now and the end of the year they will be focusing on two events. The ICLEI event will require some money for refreshments and a tour of houses that were built in the Town that have been built green and piggy backing on that tour, they will continue with the clean energy program to try and get people to sign up.

Mr. Major said his suggestion would be to pick a number to give you a sum of money so you have money to go forward with. Mr. Major said as long as the money is spent within the parameters that they had submitted. Mr. Bliss said they should be cautious of event refreshments, incentives and gifts.

Mr. Major made a motion that they allocate the sum of $4,500 to the Global Warming Committee to be spent in areas as set forth in their proposed budget of 7/12/07. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Discussion/decision regarding October 4^th ICLEI’s National Day of Climate Change Conversation for Action. Martin Strasmore said ICLEI is organizing a national day for conversation on climate change. The idea is to get all the town leaders together in one place for a couple hours and give them some information. Then have group discussions and come up with ideas that might apply to different aspects of energy conservation. So far, 50 towns around the country have agreed to sign up for this.

Martin said they want the Board of Selectmen to invite the committee members to come. Nancy Selman said this was a chance for people to come together and talk about how could we be a green town, and how each resident could impact that in his or her daily life or work life. Mr. Bliss asked them to come back because he would like to see some more specifics around what is going to happen, whose going to do it, etc. They have reserved the High School Cafeteria for October 4, from 6:00pm until 10:00pm. The Selectmen talked about moving their meeting from 7:30pm to 6:00pm.

Discussion/approval of the Board of Selectmen’s minutes for the meetings of February 1, March 1, March 26, April 5, May 17, June 7, and June 28, 2007.

Mr. Major made a motion to approve the minutes from the Board of Selectmen’s meeting as submitted from February 1, March 1, March 26, April 5, May 17, and June 7, 2007. He wanted to hold the June 28^th minutes to the next meeting. Mr. Miller said to amend the February 1, meeting the spelling of a name. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Any other business to properly come before the meeting- Mr. Major made a motion to add the Lachat property to the agenda. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Major said that the Lachat Committee had put together a report and brought it to the Selectmen and then it was sent on to the Nature Conservancy who had rejected it. Since then there has been very little progress with the Nature Conservancy with putting together the Lachat entrance to the Conservancy. He had a conversation with Mark Harper a couple of weeks ago and he asked the Selectmen to authorize Mr. Harper and him to try to set up a meeting with Steve Patton or whoever he designates.

Mr. Major said the original agreement with Leon Lachat had some very specific requirements for that property. The original proposal that was put together and ultimately withdrawn when it got to P&Z mushroomed those requirements dramatically. Just because we are not going forward with that plan does not mean that we do not have an obligation to meet the requirements that were established by Mr. Lachat.

Mr. Major said the fields are supposed to be mowed on a regular basis. They have not been mowed in a year and a half. There is no maintenance being done on the house. Mr. Major requested that the members of the Heady House Committee be reactivated to take on the Lachat house. He said he had already spoken to two of them and they were willing to do it. He wanted to put them on the next agenda to appoint them at the next Selectmen’s meeting so that the process could get going. He said he would talk to Mr. Harper. He will an appointment with Steve Patton. Mr. Major asked for a true accounting of the dollars.

Wetlands Mitigation- Mr. Major asked if we got the plan approved with Army Corp of Engineers. Mr. Landry said no. There are five wetlands there. A revised plan have been done for four of them and sent to him last week. They need to be reviewed and then submitted. They have not done a redesign for the big one. Mr. Major asked if the Army Corp. of Engineers reject the plan they built. Mr. Landry said that Triton wrote them and said it was a little more complicated than that and they would get back to them.

Mr. Landry said for the field between the High School and the Middle School they have some ideas, but they have not done it yet. Mr. Landry said that we were paying Triton to do it. Mr. Major asked when we expected the issue to be resolved. Mr. Landry said no time soon. Mr. Major asked if we were in jeopardy of penalties or fines. Mr. Landry said yes, but he did not think at this phase. Triton is working with the Army Corp of Engineers in good faith to come up with an approach that is satisfactory to them. Mr. Landry said we will have to pay to implement a new plan from Triton when it gets approved and then we will have to decide if we have recourse for recovery.

Mr. Major asked if we could set a time line. He said he was concerned about the fact that this was sitting out there and from the comments that were made it did not sound like Triton was too concerned about moving this forward. He thinks that they should bring closure to it. Mr. Landry said that Triton would probably say that it was an issue that needs some massaging. Mr. Major asked that Mr. Landry give us an update periodically on this.

Town Hall Roof and Door- Mr. Landry said we hired a firm to do the roof design and they are working on it. They are looking for building plans for the roof. The building committee had given the plans to a company to look at and they have not gotten them back. Mr. Rack Gleason is working on getting them back.

Mr. Landry said he spoke with someone today who had given us a price a year ago. The prices were between $15,000 and $20,000. Mr. Bliss said we have to get them done.

The field between the Middle School and the High School- Mr. Major said the parking area that is not supposed to be a parking area. Mr. Landry said he was told that when the roof construction was over they would undo it. Mr. Major said that it being used as a parking area and we should put the Board of Education on notice that that is not a parking area. If they deem that that is a parking area then they need to go through the proper procedures to have that established. Joanne Pfund said the Building Committee had discussed this at their last meeting.

FAA increase in air traffic- Mr. Major said he gotten an email from Eleanor Smith and he wanted to be sure that we have weighed in with the appropriate organizations and that Weston is being spoken for in the process. Mr. Bliss said that he has attended to FAA hearings, one in New Canaan and the other in Stamford. Congressman Christopher Shays is deeply involved and understands the opposition to the FAA plan. He has asked for another hearing on it. As a practical matter he does not know how much influence all of this is going to have. The FAA only concern is safety and there is no concern for quality of life and no concern for noise. We are in much better shape than Ridgefield, New Canaan and Greenwich. Judy Neville, the First Selectman in New Canaan went to Washington to testify.

Mr. Major asked Ms. DeVito to get in touch with Eleanor Smith and let her know. Mr. Bliss said we should encourage her to email Congressman Shays since he is putting this thing together.

Mr. Bliss said he spoke with Mayor Moccia in Norwalk also Hal Alvord, Norwalk Public Works Director. They originally had a proposal that was in the $160,000 range that was just the City of Norwalk. When other towns expressed an interest in joining them, they went back and got this price. The consultant told them $10,000 per additional town. He said if we were to get our own study it would be about $35,000 to $40,000. The result of the study will be for all those who choose to go in together a single per ton price on solid waste disposal with a 10 year contract.

There are some opportunities to cart the stuff to Pennsylvania, or to Eastern Ohio. The problem with that is when you are in the $60 to $70 a ton range, the cost to transport it starts to become significant, let alone all the wear and tear on the highways. Mr. Bliss said he thought it made sense to join with Norwalk. The pricing for the removal of the waste will be by the ton not by the Town.

Mr. Major made a motion to authorize the First Selectman to enter into the MSW Options Committee Agreement with the City of Norwalk at a cost of $11, 927 to the Town of Weston. Mr. Miller seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

ATTENDANCE and DISCUSSION: The meeting was convened at 9:40 pm in the Town Hall Meeting Room by Chairman Bliss, with members Mr. Major and Mr. Miller present. Also present was Town Administrator Landry. The purpose of the executive session was to discuss a proposed cemetery suitability study contract with the firm Grever and Ward.