December 5 Town Meeting
by Meghan Peterson, PhD
Editors Note: The following is not an official account of the Town Meeting. When available, official minutes can be accessed at www.haddam.org.
A Town Meeting was held on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at the Haddam Volunteer Fire Company Station #1 in Higganum. Scores of residents attended, with dozens more standing alongside the walls.
Topics for discussion centered on a budget transfer request; allocation of monies to a new line item; allocation of monies from an unallocated Capital Non-Recurring line to a different line; and the repurposing of a Capital Non-Recurring truck line for the Haddam Volunteer Fire Company. Town Clerk Scott Brookes read the legal notice into the record. In addition, the legal notice in its entirety can be found at www.haddam.org and was published in Haddam News, the paper of record for the Town of Haddam.
Harlan Frederickson was chosen from among the residents to moderate and preside over the Meeting.
The first item for consideration, discussion and a vote by the residents was approval of a budget transfer request involving $355,320.00 from the Regional School District #17 line to an Unallocated Capital Non-Recurring (CNR) line. Frederickson asked First Selectwoman Milardo to explain the background for this request. Milardo stated there was an overage due to the Town for “a number of reasons” in last year’s budget approved for RSD17 – among them, “some funding came through that was “unexpected” and “some expenses that the Board of Education was able to cut.” She added that the BOS (Board of Selectmen) and BOF (Board of Finance) had decided to bring this request before residents at a Town Meeting. Finally, Milardo described how the Capital Non-Recurring budget lines assist Haddam in doing capital projects throughout the Town. There was no discussion from the public about the item. Residents voted to approve acceptance of the money.
The second item was approval allocating $141,500.00 from the Unallocated CNR to a new line: the Scovil Reservoir Dam. This allocation would pay for repairs to the dam required by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) regulations. Milardo explained that the dam, which is part of the now-bankrupt Nason Group Silver Springs properties (the townspeople of Haddam voted to take receivership over the properties last year), needs safety inspections done every two years. She noted that 2006 was the last year in which an inspection occurred. Also, Milardo said that in 2016 she met with the Town Planner, DEEP engineers as well as Town engineers to review what needed to be done to ensure public safety. Jacobson engineers provided Haddam with an estimate of $141,500 to implement repairs, with a 40% contingency built into the amount. Selectwoman Melissa Schlag read from her cell phone a statement by Sean Moriarty (a Board of Finance member) regarding his view, among other things, that it makes “no fiscal sense” for Haddam taxpayers to pay for a dam that will be turned over to a home owners’ association. Schlag then made a statement, beginning by asking Milardo “to pledge” that she would ensure the land “stays with the people of the town of Haddam.” Milardo responded that Schlag “knows as well as I do that it is up to the people of the town of Haddam to make a decision to buy or sell property. It is not up to the First Selectman to pledge or not pledge on the intent of that. I don’t hold the authority to do that. For you to try to make a political game out of something that took 20 years to come out of, I really take objection to it. This is a safety concern. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions and not hide them on the shelf, as you chose to do. And this is something that the people in this Town can make a decision, as per our Charter. That is my comment to you.” Residents burst into applause. Schlag reminded people that “she was the one who hired a bankruptcy attorney to get the ball rolling.” Milardo asked for the name of the attorney. Schlag responded that “you have the bills.” Milardo said she did not. Schlag then claimed that this “would be the largest private interest public land giveaway in Connecticut history.” Milardo reminded her of the homeowners association in the property owner deeds. Milardo stated that Schlag is “entitled to her opinion,” but that the issue before them is a public safety concern. After further discussion ensued, residents overwhelmingly approved the motion; selectwoman Schlag voted “yes” on this important matter.
Ed note: Schlag’s vote has been corrected from an earlier version of these notes.
The final two matters pertained to line items for the Haddam Volunteer Fire Department: approval of $9,000 from Unallocated CNR to CNR 19-Fit Testing Machine line due to updated testing regulations requirements; and the repurposing of $100,000 from an existing CNR Truck 7-13 line to purchase a Military Truck. Scott Larson, president of the Fire Association and Radio Engineer of Haddam Volunteer Fire Company, explained that one of the older fire trucks, with some updates, would go to Haddam Neck and that Haddam would purchase a military truck. Both of these were handily approved by Haddam voters. The meeting adjourned.
