By Meghan Peterson, Ph.D.
The new Board of Selectmen (BOS) held its first regular meeting together on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019 at the old Town Hall building. First Selectman Bob McGarry, along with Selectmen Kate Anderson and Sean Moriarty, conducted business. JoAnn Ricciardelli took minutes, the documentation of which will be available for residents to read at the Town website, www.haddam.org. Ed Munster video recorded the meeting, the video of which will be available for viewing on Valley Shore Community Television.
Nearly two dozen people gathered on the cold, rainy evening. The Pledge was recited. The meeting’s agenda was amended to include additional items. The floor was then opened for the first period of public comment. Ed Munster congratulated the Board and wished them good luck. Neal Perron inquired about the possibility of naming the entrance to the Haddam Transfer Station in Gunner’s remembrance as well as the possibility of naming the bridge in Higganum Center in Phil Goff’s remembrance. McGarry said they will follow up on it and look into it, that the state legislature heads that as well. The Board approved minutes from a November meeting, to which none of the current members were a party; however, Moriarty said that he was in attendance, and that the minutes were accurate as he recalled. The Board approved six motor vehicle tax refunds, which totaled $1,163.54.
The Board then made motions to continue the composition of various boards and commissions. First, McGarry said that there were two long-standing vacancies for abandoned vehicle hearing officers. He indicated that a notice will be put out to the two town party committee chairs as well as on the town website for any vacancies, so that a “wide a number of candidates” can be cast as possible. The Board approved among a variety of boards and commissions, the following: Animal Control Office Daun Kowalski to another two-year term; Assistant Director of Public Works Chris Corsa; Economic Development commission; Gateway commission; Merit Service Retirement Board, which oversees pensions for the two fire departments; Street Naming committee to prevent duplication in street names throughout town; Charter Revision commission; Sustainability committee; and the Board of Finance alternate Prem Aithal to fill the vacancy made by the recent election. McGarry noted that an e-mail had been sent to all currently serving members of boards & commissions to see if they were still interested in serving and unless they expressed otherwise, those individuals would be asked to continue serving. As another point of information, McGarry said that committees formed by the BOS expire and cease to exist 30 days after a general town election. Accordingly, McGarry recommended not continuing the building committee or infrastructure committee; if a need arises to re-institute them, then that would occur, McGarry explained. In terms of the openings on the Economic Development Commission, Anderson urged residents to “please come in first and see how it operates.” She indicated that Town Planner Bill Warner “has expressed that EDC will be taking on significant action items” from the Higganum Center charrettes results – and that residents should see what “they could be getting into” being on the EDC. The Board also approved to continue the Town’s legal representation with the labor firm and general town business firm. Moriarty indicated that he believes “we could find a better town attorney.” McGarry and Anderson voted to continue the town’s legal representation with the same firm; Moriarty voted against.
The one new business item before the Board was a request from Chris Corsa to transfer $50,000 into the tree removal fund to allow Haddam to continue removing hazardous trees. According to McGarry, the town “has been hit hard, as has the whole state, with drought, gypsy moths, the emerald ash borer, two line chestnut borer.” In addition, this is work that the town can typically not do and so is contracted out “to a number of tree services.” The proposal at this point is to take money from a couple of lines, Outside Contractor and Materials ($25K from each) and put it toward tree removal. This request, if approved by the BOS, would then go to the Board of Finance (BOF) for approval and possibly a town meeting. Moriarty said that while he believes the work does need to get done, budgeting can be more concise and accurate on this front. Anderson asked if there was additional information on what work can be expected from this transfer. McGarry said that Corsa has a list of the trees and their locations.
Finally, The Board set the 2020 meeting schedule. McGarry proposed sticking to one meeting per month, explaining that based on his examination of the meeting durations in the past year, he believes that one regular meeting per month is sufficient. He added that he is open to the idea of holding them more frequently should the need arise. Moriarty thanked McGarry for considering holding more than one meeting per month, commenting that more frequency would reduce a need for special meetings. A second meeting could be time for representatives from different committees to give information to the public. McGarry found this to be a favorable suggestion.
During the second public comment period, Mark Lundgren suggested that some meetings be held in Haddam Neck, noting that the last meeting in the spring was well attended. Stu Gilmore asked about the process of street naming. McGarry said that those meetings should and would be open to the public.
The meeting adjourned.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for the second Monday of January: Monday, Jan. 12, 2020.
