MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE

CORNWALL BOARD OF SELECTMEN

Monday, June 5, 2005

8:00 p.m. – Town Hall

PRESENT: First Selectman Gordon Ridgway, Selectman K.C. Baird, Selectman Richard Bramley, Land Use Clerk Colin Gold, and reporter Karen Bartomioli

Colin Gold filled in for Secretary Joyce Hart, and took the minutes for this meeting.

Gordon called the meeting to order at 8:00 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Richard made a motion to approve the minutes of the May 22 Special, May 22 Emergency, and May 16 Regular Meetings. K.C. seconded. The motion was carried unanimously.

ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: There were no additions.

COMMUNICATIONS: Gordon read a letter from the Historical Society thanking the selectmen for adding money to their budget.

RATE BILL: The Selectmen assigned and signed the Rate Bill. The tax rate for the Town will stay the same.

TAX REFUNDS: There was a total of approximately $1300 in refunds. Gordon said he would check with the Treasurer to make sure there were enough funds in the account. He made a motion to grant the refunds as submitted. Richard seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

RESCUE BOATING: Gordon informed the Selectmen that the Rescue Boat has had a busy season. Since January, there have been three serious rescues. He proposed writing a letter to the fire department, thanking them for their training and hard work.

LORCH FARM: Gordon reminded the Selectmen that the closing for the purchase of Lorch Farm was executed on Friday, June 2. He surmised that the $5,000 legal bill would be covered by the fund also. He said that he would write a note thanking the contributors for their generosity and to the Lorches. He also summarized that a Conservation Easement had been put on the Western side of the property by Chris Hopkins, the new tenant, which would prevent any radical changes to it.

ELECTRIC CONSORTIUM: Gordon told the Selectmen that at the latest COG meeting there were two developments in regard to power. First, the Region One School Board was promoting a “bulk buy,” which would cut down on the price of electricity for the life of the 15 year contract. Gordon believed that this was something the Town should take advantage of, as most or all of the other schools were going to sign on. Second, he summarized a “smart power” initiative that was being proposed, relating to renewable power. He said that if the Town could convince ten percent of its residents to sign up, then the Town Offices would receive free solar panels for their own use. It seemed to be a low risk, high reward situation.

PAVILION BIDDING: The Selectmen believed that it was time to get this project out to bid. Gordon said that he would talk with the engineer about incorporating some of the changes/suggestions that had come up. He also talked about the possibility of running a water pipe out to the pavilion.

HOMELAND SECURITY: Gordon said he believed that the suggested use for the $10,000 Homeland Security grant (upgrading power in the Town Hall and Offices) was a worthwhile venture. He also suggested the possibility of getting an emergency generator for those facilities. The Selectmen agreed that this was a good idea.

BUDGET TRANSFERS: Gordon said that these would be discussed mid-week.

CCS UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE: Gordon said that he had a request from the Board of Education for the Selectmen to sign up for a year’s free service offered by Jon-Jay Associates. This outside group would take care of unemployment claims and investigate faulty claims. There was some deliberation amongst the Selectmen as to whether there were any hidden charges or other complications involved in the offer. A consensus was reached. Gordon made a motion to grant the BOE request, but to stipulate in the contract that this was just for school employees, only for the one free year, and effective 7/1/2006. The Selectmen also suggested reviewing the effectiveness of the program at the end of the year, with the input of the BOE. K.C. seconded and the motion carried unanimously.

CAPITAL PROJECTS REVIEW: Gordon went over the various Capital Projects that were still open. The school project was not finished and still required a few finishing touches before the account could be closed. He said that these would theoretically be finished in the summer. The highway truck account still had money in it, which could be applied to something else. Gordon read through the following accounts with little discussion: garage repairs, revaluation, various fire accounts, town office upgrade (ongoing). The road improvements money would be applied to the washout on Town Street. He suggested that the guardrail account be merged with the one for bridge repair. A brief discussion on fire hydrants followed. There was a suggestion to put another hydrant in West Cornwall. Richard asked whether the current system for pumping water into Cornwall Bridge was acceptable for insurance purposes. Gordon said that he would check on this with the Fire Chief. Gordon made a motion to close the Capital Project account for the rescue boat. K.C. seconded, and the motion was carried unanimously.

BITUMINOUS/LIQUID ASPHALT BIDS: Gordon said that the Southwestern portion of town, from Popple Swamp to Cornwall Bridge, including the Route 45 area, would be oiled and asphalted this summer. He approximated that 23,000 gallons of oil would be necessary, but did not have a figure on asphalt quantity. The $175,000 would be used up quite easily, due to the rise in oil prices. There was discussion about whether to use, in some places, fine gravel in place of sand, as the former was more reasonably priced. Gordon made a motion to go out to bid for the SW. Richard seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

BILL PAYMENT: The bills were paid in Executive Session.

EXECUTIVE SESSION: Gordon made a motion to go into Executive Session to pay the bills and discuss the Highway Union Negotiation and Personnel. K.C. seconded. The motion carried unanimously. The Board went into Executive Session at 9:15.

The Board came out of Executive Session at 9:40 p.m.

The Meeting adjourned at 9:41 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Colin Gold