apologize Eric. it is 7:07. We're going to call the town of Andover Board of Selectman regular meeting for Monday, August 11th to order. And our first order of business is the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. I'm going to make this difficult. I have to we can't hear you.
Jeff, you're on mute. Okay, now I think I'm back. Now I have to get back over here. Okay, first person call public speaker, Kathy Palazi.
Good evening. I just want to thank everyone who took part in honoring our most active senior, Lois Popoffs. I want to she turned 100 on July 25th and I want to thank our board of selectmen that would be Ann Premier, Carol Lee and Scott Persan who were able to attend and I thank you very much. I know that Jeff both Jeffs were unable to come and I thank you very much for even responding. I appreciate that. And the other people that I wanted to thank, there's so many that I did put a letter in the River East, but I'm not sure who read what. I wanted to thank the town administrator, Eric Anderson, the register of voters, Linda and Wall-E. They were there and thank you for their support. I wanted to thank the fire chief and the deputy chief and that would be Ron Mike and Mindy Hegner. And I wanted to thank our
servers Alicia Lee, Carol Lee, and Carol Kuchka. They were fantastic. It was so noisy and so many people. I can't believe everyone got fed. I wanted to thank Haley Kanto, our interim director. She did a great job trying to organize everyone. And I wanted to thank our superintendent Val Bruno who came by and also state senator MD Ramen and state rep. Steve Weir who combined a wonderful award for honoring Lois. Also, I wanted to thank Matt Wright who represented Joe Courtney who also had an award for her. And I wanted to thank the CEO of CBC P TV, Melanie, for coming out and taking a film and she'll let me know when that's ready and I'll let everyone know at the the appropriate people so that they can pass the word. I thank you. You can always watch that. George Knox for driving
his 1925 car. He picked up Lois, took her in the car. She was so pleased. And we wanted to just communicate to everyone. Thank you. Our planning committee was outstanding. Sue Schmidt, Carol Lee, they did the invitations, the decorations, they hoarded food, they set up table, they were just all over the place. Perry Lindley, Mary Dval, Geette Conrad, and and myself and Mike Pazy. he was carrying extra chairs, and I really appreciated that. So, we did the setup and the takedown and we all had a wonderful time. Lois was completely overwhelmed, and she's still talking
about the party. And I want to thank my daughter Tanya Palazi Hughes who baked 100 cupcakes. and also a beautiful cake for Lois's table. She her relatives all came too as far as California and Florida. And thank you very much for the long- winded speech.
Right. thank you Kathy. we'll move on to Joan Heert. I'm all set. But I'm glad to see that one of our most longrunning seniors was honored in such a nice way. so nice to have that senior community center so that we can have events like this and it sounds like a lovely event. I'm glad that it went well. Thank you,
Kimberly Person.
I'm all set. Thank you.
Right. Linda Fish,
all set. Thank you,
Liz Latch.
I'm all set. Thank you,
Louise Goodwin.
I also attended that event and it was very very nicely nicely done to all and I thank all those that actually did this and actually attended and that's it for me.
Hi. how are you guys? Hope you guys are doing well. obviously you have a lot on your plate here. I just wanted to see I don't know if you got my letter. I noticed that there was a a vacancy in the EDC committee and it's a committee that I've been thinking a lot about joining for a number of years and I think it's probably a good time for me to join that if yeah if there's still the vacancy and if the board wants to have me there. All right. Thanks. Tess Grass.
Nothing for me. Thank you.
Right. Wally Barton,
nothing at this time, Jeff, but I'm here for later on in your meeting if you have questions. Thank you.
Yep. did I miss anyone?
Yes.
Haley Proto, I did. Sorry, I'm I'm going through. There's more people that came on. let's go through it. Doris Maldonado.
Hi, I'm having camera issues, so I apologize in advance. Doris Maldonado, thank you for your time, and I am very interested. I know that they're on hiatus, but I've been interested in the community and disability and committee with Elaine. And I'd like to I've already mentioned to them that I'd like to participate moving forward so that the disability community and me as a member can participate in that endeavor. I'm also I'd like to speak on the wonderful work that's being done at the community center. I've been volunteering several times a week throughout the summer and it's it's a concern for for many of us that we don't have a a permanency yet although everyone's working on it. building community throughout the lifespan is it should be inclusive of all of the abilities. and that's important. And, promoting inclusive settings with an inclusive mindset that'll create empowering environments and the community from birth to aging is is critical in Andover. And I've only been here for for se a few several years now. and but it's the only way that our children and seniors and families in town will successfully live and and enjoy growing old and growing and growing young here for generations to come. Having that director provides consistency and opportunities. I have heard in several conversations with with several of our residents that
there's a concern of with the the timing and and with the budgeting, but there are vested community members with experience and urgency to make the center a prized possession for all that enter and and will benefit from it. So, I urge the the all of you to consider that. there are many of us waiting and and yearning to to see it go fully forward so that we can join forces and thank you so much for your work. Thank you.
Great. Haley,
I don't have anything at this time, but thank you for all you do.
Linda Fish.
Whoops. All set.
Okay. I think I got everybody this time. Anybody that I missed speak up if I did. Okay. we'll move on to item three, which is additions and changes to the agenda. Do any of the members of the board have any changes that they'd like to see made to the agenda? Ann, no. Carol, no. Scott,
Jeff Murray,
as long as what we have on the agenda is going to cover what was discussed. this week we're we're fine.
All right. I would like to make I'd like to add a 5A appointment. I'd like to discuss a potential appointment to the EDC and under 9 C I'd like to add 9 CD. appointment of discussions. Let's go. discussions regarding the appointment of assistant town clerk subsequent to the resignation of assistant town clerk Brittany Commtock which is effective August 22nd.
I'll second that.
Okay. I don't think I have anything else. It's a extremely long agenda, but does anybody have anything else? My Scott, I know I didn't get a chance to hear from you. Is he on? Actually, he is not on. Okay, Eric, here you're on mute.
He was on. I do not see him on now on my participants list. I don't know why.
Eric, do you have anything that we're missing that we need to sit there and add to this?
no. I think this is a pretty funny long agenda already.
Okay. so Jeff seconded those two items. any further discussion on those two items?
No. All those in favor? I
as well.
Okay. Carol off mute.
Okay. So, Ann Cray voted yes. Carol voted yes. Jeff Murray voted yes. Jeff Magcuire voted yes. and Scott, we're going to say he abstained, but we're good.
Okay,
Scott is joining again right now.
Well, he's going to have to accept that that he is abstained.
All right. item four, boards and commission presentations. I'm assuming, Eric, we have none.
I see.
Correct,
Eric. None. Okay. Item five, appointments. 5A is a a potential appointment to the EDC. I'd like to make a motion that we appoint Marcy Miner to the EDC as she has requested verbally told us during public speak that she'd like to participate on that committee and I think it would be a good choice. So I make a motion to appoint Meer to the EDC.
Second.
Seconded by Carol Lee. Any further discussion on that? No. All those in favor I
an
Corre I Carol Lee
I Yes.
Okay. Scott Person come off mute. Come off mute.
I Jeff Murray
I
Okay. Five nothing. Thank you very much. item six resignations. 6A is the assistant town clerk resignation. we received a letter from Britney Commtock regarding her resignation effective August 22nd. we have that also in section 9. So we'll discuss that future. Does anybody have any issues related to that resignation?
No. Okay. item seven, account administrators report. Eric,
so we have such an enormous packet. I'm I don't think I want to give you an administrator's report just cuz in the interest of time. I will take questions if all of you have them though. our highest level items and do it now so that we're all aware and then I understand we have an I'm sorry I missed part of your question, Jeff.
Okay. Can you hear me now?
Yes.
Okay. I was saying that I would like you to sit there and go through the high level items that you have.
You don't have to go through the detail of all the report, but just at least so the community gets an understanding of what you're working on and what are the critical issues that you're facing right now.
Okay. the thing that's taking up the most of my time lately in the last day or so has been the the bridge at Bunker Hill which will be later on in the agenda. we also have we are making progress towards the playground and the design and con easy IC easy IQC contract for the playground. you also have in your packet the the current state of the proposal for the senior transportation garage to be located at center street. That is also an easy IQC project. there is a cost estimate in your packet in a separate packet called easy IQC packet because the agenda was just too long to make everything a big packet. so but what I would like approval when we get to that is just to pay for a full-blown design of that project as opposed to agreeing to the whole thing right up front. we also have the squad rescue pumper which has made it to Connecticut. So, we need to get along with approving the financing and getting that rolling so we can get that in service. because that is basically will be ready for service quite shortly. we also had a request for quotations that came back today for the construction inspection and construction management services for the Longill Bridge. We had four design firms submit applications for that. there will be a committee selected to review those. that committee has to be approved by
the Department of Transportation. It will most likely consist of Todd Penny who is Coventry's engineer. a guy named Mark who also works for the town of Coventry who's a former DOT engineer. Ed Sriley who is a has a doctorate in engineering and myself and probably Mark who is a DOT engineer. That will likely be the committee. and the the goal here is to pick the construction inspection firm for the town in the next month. we also have in a couple days the pre-advertisement meeting for the Longill Road Bridge to go over the paperwork requirements for that job. which is expected to start next April. those are the biggest items on the docket. additionally, I've been putting in a lot of time trying to get DOT to consider revisit its consideration for a traffic light either temporary or permanent at for the period of construction of the
Longill Bridge at Hendy Road because there will be a a traffic problem. in in your packet there is all the information for the local traffic authority for that. additionally, we've had correspondence with both D and DOT on a variety of projects. the Capitol Region Council of Governments and I have prepared a letter to the DOT signals asking for some improvement at both the Lake Road Route 6 interchange and the 87 Route 6 interchange as part of a scheduled signalized upgrade. and both those came out of the bikewalk audit that we conducted earlier in the month. that's that's really the highlights of what has been going on. additionally, we will be interviewing for the replacement for the public works supervisor as well as a public works maintainer on this Thursday. following that I got a couple more meetings on Friday and then I will be off in Iceland for about 10 days. So that's all I have in terms of a highle overview. Again, unless you have specific questions for me,
right? Thank you. Does any any of the other members have specific questions they want to ask Eric about anything he just went over? No. Okay. All right, let's get on to item eight, old business. discuss and act upon item AE ZIQC proposal from Gordian Group. there's a request for approval for design and a build cost estimate. So Eric, why don't you go over those items?
Sure. So, all I'm asking for now is permission to sign a contract with Gordian to give us a full design proposal. while I think the cost estimate for the whole proposal is accurate, you know, I don't have enough information to want to say yay or nay on the entire project. I want to see the the full-blown design, structural loading of the second floor and how they're dealing with the existing walls, where the step downs are going to be and a bunch of things in that. And I think that's reasonable. we're going to pay for the design anyway. I would rather pay for the design first and know exactly what I'm building before we commit to the much larger sum of money, which is
Okay. So, so just to be clear, just so everybody understands this, this is design proposal on the old firehouse, which is potentially the new facility to store senior vehicles and that we've discussed about potentially having additional storage for the various organizations with the town that needs storage such as the wreck commission.
Correct. So what happened was several members of the board came back to me and said they wanted it redesigned with full upper level storage that was directly accessible from the upper level. So that is more expensive. But what it does give you is it does really increase the amount of storage space in that there's every bit it so essentially this building now is two full stories you know plus an attic that will not be accessible if that makes sense. And that building will also be facing in the correct direction to potentially allow it to have a solar panel set up on it in case we want to do that in the future.
Correct. That roof is one side of that roof faces pretty well solar south. So that would be amenable to a good solar system on that roof.
All right. So what you're asking from us is permission to go to the EZIQC group and the Gordian to get to request the design proposal and just just so you can verbally give it to the board and to the public. The EZIQC program does what? And is sponsored by you?
Okay. So this is something that is it's a nationwide program but this particular one is sponsored by the CROG or the Capitol Regional Council of Governments although it applies to all of the regions in Connecticut. What it is is a it's a a program that is administered by a company called Gordian. And what they do is they go out and solicit bids from construction companies in a series of different com capacities. So they competitively bid for construction services by design category. They have a book of about 15,000 tasks and each task is a assigned a cost per unit basis. So then what happens is once you have a project, you agree on a scope of work and what that project entails and how many units of each thing are required for that project and the pricing just essentially comes out of the proposal because the unit costs for most things are pre-bid. So that is what I'm proposing. you know, it's similar to what we did with the earlier connectivity grant project. and I'm going to suggest we do both the senior center garage as well as the athletic field construction through this method. The state is happy with it
in terms of the state agencies are happy using this program for state funding. it is a competitively bid you know system. So it's it runs with our current purchasing policy. So that is my suggestion
and we use we use this for the connectivity grant.
Correct.
Okay.
So can I can I just ask a question? So Gordian then is the one who looks through the RFPs and selects the person the company for us.
So what Gordian does is every two years they go out to competitive bid on a two-year contract for each construction major construction category. Like one of them is highway and roads, another one is building and structures. and they select a contractor, you know, based on a set criteria. So, it's done on behalf of the COGS, but it's done by the Gordian group and using the Gordian group's list of tasks in cost basis for tasks, if that makes sense.
Okay.
And do we have any flexibility to to use any local contractors if that ever comes up? so the answer is it would depend whether the builder himself is going to has their own people to do something or whether they're subbing out a task. the last one we did it for the connectivity grant. We use some local contractors. we asked them and then what so in most of those cases when we get to that point we give them a list of local contractors and they then ask those local contractors to bid on the project or the subtasks of the project but ultimately in the end it's the the general contractor who gets to decide who he picks for subs not the town.
Okay. So in this situation, you're you're requesting that this we use this to go out for the design proposal on the new building. So, I think ultimately we're going to use them to actually build the proposal, but I don't feel like I want to sign off or recommend that we sign off on the entire contract until we have a a more solid set of build documents than we have now. And they're not going to spend the time because he's going to have to go out and hire an engineer. he's not going to do that. you know, without getting knowing he's going to be reimbursed
because that's, you know, he's basically told me that that represents his cost to get a final design.
Okay. Anyone have any other questions regarding the easy IQC program?
All right. Then I'll make a motion that we authorize the town administrator to request from the ECIQC proposal from the Gordian Group for a design proposal for the new senior bus storage facility to be located at the old town, the old firehouse.
Second that. Okay. Further discussion on it. All those in favor? an
I.
An Carol
I.
Scott,
you got to say it for me, buddy. So that the person writing our minutes,
Scott Person says I.
Jeff Murray.
Hi.
All right. Jeff Maguire. I Okay, thank you very much. That's five nothing. all right. Item 8B, the community center signage discussion. I believe I sent everybody the the proposal from the sign company, Arts Sign, that the gentleman that did the signage that's done on Route Six. well, listen, I I thought it was a nice it was a nice time. I don't know if anyone has any comments, if they'd like to make any comments. I mean, I know we have that budgeted. We could actually get that done. Anybody have any issues related to the signage that was proposed?
Okay. Murray, do you have any
questions? You had some last time. I'm all right with it.
So, we're My question, the one for that's on the building is what we're talking about now, not this other thing that's on a post or are we talking about both?
Correct. The one that's on the building. He's thinking about putting one up by the street, which is not
Okay. No other further question. I I I'll make a motion that we authorize the town administrator to move forward with the signage for the community center the community the senior and community center as proposed by arts signs. Someone want to second an seconding that. Okay, we're gonna go through. Any first alphabetically?
I Carol Lee.
Hi.
Scott Person.
I Jeff Murray.
Hi.
Jeff Magcguire. I 5 nothing. All right. 8 C Bunker Hill Bridge update. Eric.
Okay. So, I sent you all a whole bunch of information. I'm going to give you try to condense this. So the type of bridge that we are putting at Bunker Hill has consists of six pre-stressed concrete beams that run the whole 80 foot length between the two bearing ends on the bridge. Of the six, two of them were poured with defects. so the question has become do we attempt to repair the defects or do we require the manufacturer to repour new beams. so myself and Scott were at the final design discussion meeting. and my recommendation to you is that we require the contractor to pour to repour the beams as opposed to attempt a repair. even though I think the repair in the short term would probably be very successful, my concern is the long-term durability of the repair. so the the question that this raises is that this is going to take a a big chunk of time. It will probably be around 7 weeks before we have the replacement members built and delivered to Andover. that is likely going to push the bridge project past this year's construction season, which means there's a very good chance that that bridge will not be open till April or May of next year. So, that's going to have a really significant impact on the residents of Andover. and it's something we got to consider carefully, but it's weighed against, you know, a bridge with a life expectancy of 75 to 100 years, starting off with a significant defect that's repaired. So, I didn't necessarily feel like I wanted to make that decision all by myself. maybe Scott can weigh in. He was on the meeting also. I
listened to the opinion of all the engineers that were that were present including the the engineer from the state of Connecticut who also recommended making them report the beam. However, it is our decision as a town, not the engineers's decision how we proceed. So, I want to open that up for discussion.
who did the testing?
No testing needed, Jeff. They're big gaps underneath the beams. You can see in big holes, one of them six feet long on one of the beams.
So, there was no there wasn't like the state doesn't have a test settled into there.
Well, the pred.
The beams do get tested. and there does have to be a testing representative there when they actually pour it. and that is the person that notified you know us in the contractor of the defect. but the the question is really what is the extent of the defect? and whether a repair will have an equivalent lifespan of the bridge and you know both the designer of record CDR Maguire's engineer as well as the state and I also gave all the engineering documents and the repair procedure to Ed Sriley and he also recommended that we reject the beams unless they were willing to warranty them essentially for the life of the bridge which you know there's no real mechanism for them to do. So my recommendation to you is that we reject the beans and require them to be reoured. But we do that knowing that there's some possibility that we'll be able to open the bridge up before winter, but there's also a good probability we will not and it will be April. In other words, everything would have to go perfectly after that for us to finish and get the road open. this construction season,
right?
Which he should. He's given he's given the most
he worst possible timing situation, which he should, but those guys that are at the meeting today all said that it's possible to get it done this this season. You know, it'll be they'll be putting this batuminous down in in the cold weather. And if they can get it all down, then they can put the guardrails. then we can use you know mafia blocks for the guardrails until springtime. But I went to the meeting thinking that maybe it would possible to fix those voids. But after listening to all the engineers and reading all the documents, it's never been tested. Nobody knows how to do it correctly and we probably need to get real new beams, especially for a 100 year span bridge.
Okay. I make a motion that we require, actually before I make the motion, Eric, who am I requiring to report the beams?
all you're doing is giving me the authority to reject the beams and notify NJR that they're going to need to have them recast.
Okay. I make a motion that we authorize the town administrator to notify NJR that we are rejecting the beams and requiring that they recast new beams according to specifications.
I'll second that.
All right. we'll say Carol Lee seconded that because that was the first person I heard. all the Ann
I.
Yes. Carol Lee,
yes.
Scott Person,
yes.
Jeff Murray,
Jeff Magcguire, yes. So, five nothing. Okay. let's move on to 8D. OSHA update.
Okay. No major update right now. I just want to say OSHA will be back out on the 14th, so later this week to do to monitor noise levels for public works during normal operations to see whether we are in fact required to have a hearing monitoring plan in place for employees.
Okay. 8E food truck discussion.
Sure. So at the last meeting I believe Jeff Murray spearheaded an operation or spearheaded a discussion with Janet Steanadus. Sorry if I mispronounced your name regarding the allowance of food trucks and town property. So, I think he's probably the best person to to address this.
I went to that meeting also with Jeff
and Scott. My apologies.
Okay. Which one of you'd like to talk?
You want to do this?
I can do it if you want.
Go ahead.
we met with the applicant that wanted to locate a food truck in Andover on on town owned property. we raised several concerns and things that we were we were worried about as far as the operation and and traffic and hygiene and and how she was going to operate this on a daily basis. And a couple major items came out that the board should consider is we're probably going to tend away from a I mean she was considering a long-term lease of a of an area of town property, but I think Scott and I both, you know, we opted to make it a day use permit. So, if somebody wanted to come and set up on town owned property, they would have to come to the town hall, fill out a permit, pay the fee, and they would be allowed to set up for the day.
there was a couple concerns that I did have. one thing is the applicant would have to have a a reasonable amount of liability insurance to operate on town property. the second was a restroom and an area to san you know sanitarily wash your hands you know before before I mean before preparing food and then the you know one of the other third things was you know set up and take down for the day. and then we also discussed some locations. we felt that the ball field for a temporary one-day permit would be acceptable. We also discussed that that lot over by over and over but we have also as a town have issued or have talked to and over over and over and we've we've allowed them to have overflow parking there for their business. So that would be something that we would have to go and talk to them if we ever decided we would locate a truck there or any kind of business because we've already we've already given them permission to use that lot for for overflow parking. And then the third location was Lake Road at the intersection of Lake Road and Route Six in that parking area. that seemed to be the best fit because of traffic in and out the overand over lot. If we had a lot of people coming in and out of there, the sightelines are not the best and there's really no stoplight to allow people to get freely in and out of that lot. and and if and over and over was having a event or a lot of customers that day, it may impact their business as well. So, I
think we kind of focused on the the Lake Road lot. Then we we discussed, you know, this that if we had to put a port portable bathroom in there and and a wash station to wash, you know, for the employees at the of the food truck to wash their hands to to comply with Eastern Highlands for sanitary purposes. That brought up a couple issues because if we if we just issue one permit to one person in town, that's fine. But if we start getting multiple requests from multiple food trucks, who's going to pay for the bathroom? Is it going to be is it going to be the
original person or does it you know it brought up it brought up some issues to should the town prepare the spot and get the get the portable restroom and in the wash station and then allow access to people that you know apply for the permits for the days of operation. And then the third thing another thing was the the winter months. You know if we have a water wash station out in the winter it's probably going to freeze. So, do we want to make this a seasonal thing or do we want to make it a year- round operation? So, so those were the concerns that we had. we proposed a daily fee of around $100, approximately $100 a day to use the site and the
person would have to set up and then they would have to remove all their equipment and picnic tables, etc. at the end of the day. So they would have to come in with their vehicle or trailer set up and then clean up any garbage or trash that they would be responsible for at the end of the day. So I'm I'm kind of throwing this out to the board to see what your thoughts are. Do you want to make this something that the town wants to sponsor and have a have a specific location down there and make it available to any operator to come and apply for a permit? Because if we do that, we're going to have to supply the restroom and the wash station on a seasonal basis because I don't think we can do it year round. Or if we just apply let this one person do it, they would be responsible for the bathroom and the and the wash station. But if we had another applicant that came in that would that would create a bunch of issues is, you know, she's paying for that already. Would we put two bathrooms down there? And if we get a third operator, do we put three? It kind of it kind of makes a mess down there. So, that's something we probably should all discuss, but that was pretty much our findings. I don't know if Scott if you have anything to add to that.
yeah, when we start to talk about the the board talks about it, I I want to go over the usage of the spot down by over and over because, you know, I was at that meeting when they they said they could use it with overflow parking. I mean, that does not mean that Janet cannot use it. It just said that over Andover is going to use it as for overflow parking and it's very except when they have a huge turnout from some big thing that that there's any parking up there. So I want to do is talk around with the board if everyone is in
agreement and if they are then that's fine but I I don't see any reason why she can't use that lot also. Well, can we get some information on the wash station and what's required because does Tom have a separate wash station
down at that location? I know it's not Tom property, but does anyone know?
Eric's raising his hand.
So, real quick, I mean, the food trucks and food vendors are regulated by Eastern Highlands Health District. they have to have their own washing capability and food prep cleaning capability prior to being issued a food vendor's permit. So we don't have to deal with that portion of it. that is a requirement to be a food service vendor. The the portaotty is a good point though. if you're going to have have something there, then you could argue that a portaotti is needed. I'm not sure it's a requirement for the health department, but it does make sense.
Okay. then listen, I'll just go I I don't like the spot. Oh. near and over and over. and over and over over and over and over. I sorry. I never liked that spot when the chick scoop was there. It's a very difficult spot to get in and out of. I don't even like that Andover and Over is parking there just be and I know no nothing has happened and they have less traffic so I'm okay with it. But if we had a daily food truck there and we're expecting consistent traffic in there, just Scott, I just don't like that parking lot. Never have. I'd like to know the I'd like to get the liability insurance issue rectified. I don't have a problem with the $100 a day except if we're paying for a portaotti and it costing us $100 a month and they use it one day a month, we're paying for that unit. So, we have to really think of financially how it's going to work because it's a little it's a little business for the individual running it. It's a business for us because we're having an expense related to a portaotty. So, I don't think we're What What's her timing too, Scott and Jeff?
He's getting the trailer very soon. I think within days of now.
Yeah. And I was under the impression that she didn't have any handwashing facilities in that trailer. That was the impression that I got.
I I mean, I would have been surprised if she didn't have some kind of washing in the trailer. I mean, they usually have syncs. They they have to do certain things.
Why don't we just ask her to talk about it?
Okay, let's do it. let's see.
Janet,
is she on?
Okay.
Janet, are you available to speak?
I don't see her. Oh, there she is. Okay. well, listen, there are a lot of issues related to it, like what's the level of liability insurance, where we have our setup, Lake Road or the or the field as far as I'm concerned.
yeah, Jeff, why chose those two locations? We we do have stop lights at both locations. So if traffic came in and stopped, there is a traffic light there for them to safely enter and exit.
Yeah. The the only thing about the Lake Road spot is do we have enough parking with the trail access usage? And I would think the answer is probably yes. but it's just something to consider. so I mean it would be it would be good to understand the washing issue because that's an issue, Jeff. I mean, if we're going to I wouldn't sit there and really be in favor of putting a wash station down there that we have to remove seasonally. I have no problem with a portaotti just to allow it to be moved in and out if we chose to do it. but let's let's u see if she we let's move this back further if we need to so that we can move through our agenda. 8F is the Andover's finest update. does any of the members have anything additional they want to add to that discussion at this point? Van, Carol, Jeff, Scott? No. Okay.
No.
All right. We'll sit there and get to that. I know that we promised Diane Grier that we'll sit there and work on that. Eric, 8G, the status of the field improvements in the ECIQC preliminary proposal.
Yeah. So, we're not far enough to have a full-blown design proposal. They've given us a very preliminary cost estimate, which is pretty high. but we're not we're not at a final design stage. I mean, we knew it was going to be considerably higher than doing it ourselves because now we're we're paying a general contractor. So at a minimum project is going to cost 15% more for the overhead and profit for the contractor and we're also sub you know substituting or substituting a lot of public works labor for the contractor just doing the whole job. So there is a significant cost adder. What exactly that is, I don't know. But but the saving grace is that we did have a legislative appropriation by the Connecticut legislature that we will be able to use to make up the difference. So that's all I have at this point on that. Scott is on the committee. Scott, do you want to add anything to that?
It's, you know, we're going places. It's moving. We're waiting for the final proposal, but it's we're getting there. Okay.
Do you guys Scott, does the committee have a timeline on that? Like what they're thinking? Is it next spring?
Probably not going to happen this fall.
Okay.
Can I just ask the question? Is are we using those two $250,000 grants that
we received towards this? I know it's over a two-year period. 250 one year, 250,000 the following. But is that what are we going to be using those funds?
We are.
Well, we'll be using one of them for the project.
I don't think we need them both.
So, we next year we should still have an additional allotment of $250,000. So, but didn't we get a grant to do the fields or
Yes, we also have a steep grant.
Okay. And
the 200 the 250,000 is an extra
. But thank God we got that extra grant from MD Ramen because when Jay left that all the inkind money from the town public work that they were going to do is now going to be used by that grant that MD gave got us.
So you do that in kind.
Okay. So the 250,000 is going to cover what public works was going to do for the inind part of that grant. Is that what you're saying?
With a little luck. Yes.
Hopefully it's enough. So, we're not talking about additional taxation for the residents other than what the has already been committed to at meeting which is $150,000 from the multi-use building fund towards that project.
Okay. And that's okay. Even though we had so the original grant to do this right we had to provide inind services with that grant correct
isn't that part of the grant like
so we weren't guaranteeing that we were going to provide inind services we were guaranteeing that we would spend so we have to match for most state grants 20% of the total cost. So, it was a $500,000 steep grant. That means the town has to have at least $150,000 worth of skin in the game. you know, whether that is services in kind or just money from the multi-use building fund. So,
and we have enough money in the multiuse building fund to cover that 150,000.
We do. Do you know what our balance is of that multi-use building fund?
not off the top of my head, but it's it's, you know, more than $400,000.
Okay. And it's okay that a second grant is going to cross over the first grant that you received for these fields. Yes, there's no problem with using two grants at the same time for this.
Okay. So, so you're thinking construction next year, but when do you think you'll get the RFP and the information back? So, or is that back or is it We're using ECI.
We're just waiting for a final proposal. We have a preliminary one.
Okay. and he was saying that, you know, it's it's going to be tough to get that thing going this fall because it's going to be late. So, you know, optimistically, yes, but it's probably going to be in the springtime.
Okay. Anyone else have any questions related to the field improvement proposal? Okay, we're going to move on to item 8H, the squad rescue pumper and updates relating to that resolution, proposed agreement, and the final invoice and delivery information.
Okay, so you have quite a bit of information in your packet. one of them is the or you were given the actual wording for a resolution to approve using Mnt. I think at the same time before we get into that, Dennis O'Brien has some significant concerns with the lease agreement that he would like to speak to the commission about prior to us actually signing that.
Yeah, I'm right here. Can you hear me?
Yep.
Okay. I'm right here. And in all the years I've been a town attorney and the 50 years I practiced law, I've never seen a contract as complicated and one-sided as this contract. it it doesn't it provides that for example, I could go through a lot of things, but it provides that to start that they can they can assign this contract to somebody else, anybody else they want. They don't have to check in with us at all, get our approval, even mention it to us. They can charge us for attorneys fees and negotiating the contract in the attorney's fees for I don't know for almost anything that they that they seem to want to do. And I just think it's too open-ended. I think it's I think it's a contract of adhesion. It's too too one-sided. And it's also something that is a little bit beyond me because I'm not an expert on the uniform commercial uniform commercial code. I I don't have much experience with it since law school and I'm not I'm not comfortable approving this and then then feeling responsible for it if something goes wrong because there's there's there's an awful lot of I could go through a lot of paragraphs with you.
No, is this the Mnt Bank contract?
Yeah. that you're speaking of. Okay.
It's the lease contract. I I I never expected to see anything as complicated as this, as lengthy as this with all kinds of associated agreements and I I just think it it's just it's just so one-sided in my view. I I thought we should probably find somebody else to look at it. I I hate to do that. I'm I'm always interested in trying to save money for the for the town. And you know if you if I can do it I can save money for the town because of because I have a you know retainer but
I just can't do it. I I don't
Has any has anyone gone to Mnt Eric and talked to them about the contract at all?
No. They sent us the contract initially and said before we go any further, have this reviewed, you know, and tell us what's agreeable or not agreeable with this.
Well, I I can I can write a letter saying, you know, what's not agreeable to me, you know, more more than anything else about four four or five different items. Then can we do that, Dennis?
Yeah, I can do that. I mean, I I just don't
And then
I could never never never agree to recommend to you that you sign off on this.
It's like buying a pig in a poke. There's nothing nothing in the contract about how much you're paying. I mean, Eric may have that information. I don't know.
Well, I just think they just sent you a standard document and
Yeah, I think so. Let's go back to them and and give them your analys your your basic analysis and be as as aggressive as you need to be on behalf of the town and let's get this done.
I will be aggressive. I I I I don't
but let let's get this done and moved forward because when is the vehicle ready, Eric?
No.
It's ready.
Yeah. In New Haven.
It's in New Haven now.
Yeah.
Okay. Let's get this done. Dennis and
all right, I'm gonna pick it apart and I'm gonna I'm gonna mention the top five or top six or seven items that have have really annoyed me regarding this.
Okay. And if they were and if they if they choose not to work with us, then Eric, we'll go to a different contract attorney and get it wrapped up as quickly as possible.
I mean, I think people who write things like this, there's a special place in hell for it. It's really It's really should be a lot lot simpler than this.
Everything should be simpler in life.
Yeah. Well, not everything, but most things.
Okay. All right. Anybody have any other issues related to this?
Well, we going to push this ahead. We We can't wait till next month.
We cannot wait. We got to get this done. So, Dennis, as soon as you can do this,
Oh, you can sign up on it if you want to, but I I will write you a letter saying that you know, if something goes wrong, don't come looking. don't come looking for me.
So, so let's sit there and get our issues back to them and see how quickly we can move this along.
No, we're gonna have to okay it by via email.
Via email.
Well, okay.
I mean, I think you can agree to the resolution, you know, because you're still not authorizing a contract to be signed until you have a contract that you're amendable with.
okay. I I don't disagree with that, Eric. So, that was on page
62 of the main packet.
All right. So, on page 62 of the resolution, the town of Ander approved financing for a squad fire apparatus at the town meeting on 313 2025. by a vote of 73 73 yes and two no votes. The following resolution was offered for adoption by the town of Andover Board of Selectmen at regular schedule meeting of on August 11th. Resolved by the board of selectmen of the town of Andover, Connecticut to approve the purchase and lease of a squad heavy rescue pumper fire apparatus from Spartan Motors USA to be used for fire department activities. The cost of this equipment is $983,692 which town of Andover will lease through a tax exempt initial lease through Mnt
Bank and or its wholly owned subsidiary 233 Jennese Street Corporation. At the conclusion of the lease, the town of Andor own the equipment for $1. Motion to adopt the foregoing resolution was seconded by or hold off on that. And the roll call for the adoption was as follows. I'll make a motion that we approve the resolution with the stipulation that the contract with Mnt Bank is effectively resolved in an amicable manner.
Second. That's my motion. Scott Person seconded. So Scott would be added to this resolution. Eric and the resolution will be signed by the town administrator. Any further discussions on this? All those in favor? I and Cre sorry
I.
Carol Lee
I
Scott Person. Jeff Murray. I
Jeff Maguire I 5 nothing. Okay. All right. the SCBA not 8 I SCBA request for from fire department. Eric, where are we at that? What page do we start at?
that starts at page 101 of the regular packet. So, you're telling me you're telling me from 65 to 101 was all related to the Mnt Bank Agreement. Perfect.
Correct.
Yeah,
Dennis, let's make it four pages.
well, I don't know about four, but
so page 102 is the quote. page 101 is the information from the fire commission or scuba information added to the budget this year and the capital fund of $137. Current about current balance in the fire department equipment fund 567,673 says assuming that the firetruck purchase will instill a possibility change orders after the build inspect 10ear payments. So we have the final number. It's slightly higher than that, but it's only it's a very small amount higher. So it doesn't change the the substance of the argument.
Okay.
so what the fire commission is asking for is approval to use $163,120 for How many units is this? 16
correct
air packs, scubas, and 32 tanks.
32 harnesses.
Yeah, I don't know how to describe it, but Wall-E is probably on and
they're masks. They're Scott air pack masks. That's what the 32 is.
So the AV 3000 is an air mask.
Correct. It's 32 of them.
Okay. we've had this discussion before. They've aged out. The fire commission is looking for approval to spend this money and the money is available. Correct, Eric?
That is correct.
Okay.
My understanding is if we place the order now, we can have them in our hands in six to eight months. I'll make a motion that we authorize the fire commission to order 16 CSBA firefighting. Let me give me a second. Wally, give me the terminology that I should use appropriately for the fire commission. Scott Airpacks is basically the brand name.
Scott Airpacks. So, we'll call them breathing apparatus packs. Okay. I'll make a motion that we authorize the fire commission to order 16 Scott air packs, which are fire respiratory breathing apparatuses and 32 air masks for a total of $163,120. And for the funds to be taken out of the fire department equipment fund, the total amount would be63,120.
I'll second.
Carol Lee is seconding. Okay. Further discussion on this issue. Ann Crme.
Carol Lee.
Hi. Scott Person.
Hi,
Jeff Murray.
Hi,
Jeff Maguire. I 5 nothing.
Okay. new business item.
Wall-E, thank you for all you do on the fire commission that you do. And Wall-E, make sure you wave to me the next time you drive down the road. Okay.
I waved, but you didn't see it because you were busy with the dog. I apologize. Okay. 9A this is new business design proposal for the multi-use trail D funding review and authorized contract with Barton and Logitis and town match authorized by public meeting. Eric, what page do you want to get? So that is a separate packet that should be listed as Percy Cookook_trails because it was long and it was a separate item in it is a proposed contract with Barton and Legudas as well as the D grant authorization as well as a certified resolution of the town governing body that we can enter into that contract and the agreement to spend the money the match from the town. so I think you have everything to approve. Obviously this does require town meeting approval or did but that has already been done. So I'm just submitting this back to you for final approval. you approve it, it will go to deep. I'm making sure Deep is okay with this as is the contract as is. and so we're not quite ready to sign it right now, but I want to get this on the books pretty quickly if that makes sense.
sure. So,
as Go ahead, Carol.
I just had a question. And I know we approved 83,500 at the special meeting on August 1st last year, but I don't remember it being a full match of that. I just remember 20,000 coming from the multi-use building fund.
That is what the match is. The match is I think it's actually 23,000, but I would have to look up exactly because the total is 104,000 of which Yeah. $21,000 match on the town. So again, it's 80% state funding, 20% town funding.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Yep.
All right. So, I'll make a motion that we authorize the town administrator to move forward with we authorize town administrator to review and approve a contract with Barton and Logitis for the design for the multi multi-purpose tray. trail, the Percy Cook Trail, funded by DEP. that is that was approved by the town meeting on August 5th, 2024.
Second, Jeff.
Scott seconded. Eric, so we're in further discussion. Scott, person seconded. Eric, in the future on on items like this specifically, please have please have resolutions just drafted like it just makes it easier because I I am I don't feel I'm doing a horrible job, but I don't feel I'm doing a really good job. So, if we can have that done in advance, that would help.
yep.
All right. Any further any
Appreciate it. Any further discussion on this? Okay. and I
your name
favor Carol Lee
I
Scott Person I
Jeff Murray
Jeff Maguire I 5 nothing. Okay, let's move on to item 9B, local traffic authority. local traffic authority discussion CROG crash data for Andover and B Condot signal project letter to DOT regarding the signals and C status of signal installation on Hendy Road. Eric.
Okay. So, there's a bunch of stuff here. I gave you a standalone packet called traffic_all because I wanted to put everything related to your role as a local traffic authority in one spot. So, I'll take them in order. KROG has updated the crash data for the town of Andover. I put that in your packet because I think it's worthwhile in your role as local traffic authority for you to review the crash data. if you turned to page 43 of that packet, you can see the comprehensive crash data. And the first thing you'll notice is that almost all of the significant accidents and the majority of the minor accidents that have occurred in the town of Andover have occurred on state roads. not town roads and the worst obviously being Route Six. So, I think that speaks to Jeff Murray's concern with the town considering a you know speed cameras for the Route 6 corridor at some point. I think the the data clearly show that if we were going to concentrate on one area, that would be the area that we concentrate on. Does anybody have any questions about the crash data or have had a chance to review the crash data?
you're good.
Okay. All right. we're actually all things considered if you look at Andover compared to a lot of municipalities were not doing too badly but we can still do a lot better. So the second thing is I put in your packet we we sent a letter to DOT the signals division related to the Lake Road Route 6 intersection and the Route 87 Route 6 intersection after we conducted the bike and walk audit of those locations along with a request to to them to have a discussion with us on improvements. If you start with page one of that packet, those are the the projects that are to be completed in 2026 regarding the signalized upgrades of both of those. And our goal is at the same time they do that request them request to them to make pedestrian you know and multi-use safety modifications to what's there now. if they agree to it that will be a freebie for the town that will just be wrapped into the project. So that's what we're going there trying to ask them to do. You can see my letter on page three which I requested that. and then starting on page four is the summary prepared by VHB on the town's behalf regarding our request for a temporary signal at the intersection of Route 6 which is also referred to as Jonathan Trumbull Highway and Hendy Road. because there will be a significant increase in traffic associated with the proposed detour for the federal local bridge project. as you all know the Longill Road will be com closed for a period of approximately 8 months to a
year and while we're doing it we will divert all the traffic that is currently on Longill Road to Hendy. So, you have all the details in there of a traffic study in gory details. so hopefully it makes sense and you understand what we're attempting to do and why. this information has gone to the DOT signals and to the bridge working group. and we're hoping to get a response back from them in the next month or so whether they're going to approve this for a temporary signal. this was also one of the things we looked at in the bikewalk audit and it's my intention to request that the active transportation unit at DOT also reviews this as part of you know as part of the same thing to kind of bolster our claim. So with that I will take any questions that you have regarding those studies. The VHB U study was paid for by
the federal local bridge program.
Okay. It has a significant amount of information in it.
Anyone anyone in in town should look at that. There's a lot of information. And just so everybody in town is also aware, how many times have we applied for a light at Hendy Road, Eric?
Oh, I think about four at this point.
And how many times have we been rejected
each time?
Okay. So, just for the community, we're we're attempting to make this happen because we sit there and understand that when the Longill Bridge project is undertaken, there's a significant amount of road u access to Route Six that comes down that road. Jeff Murray and and Crema live in that area. They come down that hill, they get on to Route Six. What they're going to be required to do is go up Long Hill, turn to Hendy, and come down Hendy and get on to Route Six at a an intersection with no traffic light. And if they're turning left into to go to Willam Manic, they will have potentially significant issues at that intersection. Okay. let's hope the DOT finally hears us because I remember the last time they talked to us, they only
consider deaths at these intersections.
Correct.
that is one of the primary things they consider.
anyone have any other comments or issues or something they want Eric to address related to this? Okay. Well, let's do we have any anything else, Eric? Do you have anything else you want to address related to this 9B?
not not related to that. Nope.
Okay. and any timing as to when we might hear a a an acceptance or a positive response or a negative response related to this? it is in the hands of DOT signals so and VHB has asked them to expedite their review because it is time critical since this is something we're going to construction on next April. So we're pushing them very hard for review right now.
Okay. All right. Thank you. 9 C 9 C 9 A and 9 B. 9 9 A ll right. So 9C, a temporary appointment of the town clerk. this just so we're all aware, Britney Comtock has resigned. the state of Connecticut had communicated with me regarding appointment of a town clerk because it's required. Carol will know all of the rules related to this. we need at this time to appoint Britney as an acting town clerk so that she can get some of her paperwork filed timely and having I had a discussion with her today. She said is her intention is to clean up any of the paperwork filings prior to her leaving on the 21st. so, Eric and Carol, I know that you guys have much more information on this than I do. So, if you'd like to share it before we get going and vote on this,
let's go.
You know, I I I think the active part the town or the state was concerned with is that she needs to be appointed both the acting town clerk and the registar of vital statistics so she can file those on the town's behalf. Okay. or receive those.
Carolyn, any information that you want to add to that?
That's correct. She has to be acting town clerk and that in turn would make her the acting register of vitals to business.
Okay. So, just so we're all aware as we do this she will become that for the next 10 days. Is that accurate, Eric? Just just letting us all know. Everybody aware?
Correct. All right.
Okay. All right. So, I'm going to make a motion that resolve that effective immediately assistant town clerk Britney Commtock is appointed acting town clerk and registar of vital statistics of the town of Andover until August 22nd, 2025 when her resignation becomes official and that the approval of this resolution must be reported forth with to the office of the secretary of state and to the department of public health of the state of Connecticut. Second.
Carol Lee has seconded. Any further discussion on this issue? All right. and K.
I.
Carol Lee.
Hi.
Scott Person.
Jeff Murray.
Hi.
And by the way, Scott Person said yes. Jeff Magcguire. Yes. I So that's a five nothing. Okay. related to this issue, we are we are going to run into the same issue starting August 22nd and moving up until the election. this I would like to get taken care of tonight if at all possible. obviously we have an endorsed candidate by the Republicans and an endorsed candidate by the Democrats. I would rather not have any any issues with those two individuals and the board of selectman being engaged in that. what I had done with Eric today when I was made aware of this, I asked for assistants that had previously worked in the office and that were still residents of the town. There are two. and Eric, I I do believe you told me there were two. I know Lauren Persan is one and I know that there was Barbara Griffin was the other. Correct.
Not Griffin. Barbara, I want to say her last name is Gro.
Gusho.
Okay.
All right.
she is old president. Okay. She's a Bolton resident. Okay.
well, that moves that even further along the line. So, what and this is up for discussion before we move forward. What I my thought was is to appoint Lauren Prasan for a 60 or 75day term up until the election and in the interim work toward hiring an assistant town clerk as well so that we can create as much flexibility in that office as possible. and then have someone be have the assistant town clerk be there for when the elected town clerk enters the office. And so there's no lack of of timing in between what we're dealing with with the resignation of Britney and what we're doing at the time of the election. So that was my my thought. I would like to open that up for discussion so we're all aware of what we're attempting to do within that office and get some feedback so we can move forward. Anybody have any issues? Nothing, Carol? Nothing on this. I'm just gonna ask. No. Okay. All right, then. what I'm going to recommend is that and I'll make a motion that resolved that effective August 22nd, 2025, Lauren Persan be appointed temporary acting town clerk and register of vital statistics of the town of Andover until the new town clerk register is elected and sworn in after the November 4th, 2025 election and that the approval of this re resolution be reported forth with to the office of the secretary of state and to the department of public health of the state of Connecticut.
Second that.
And Ker seconded that. Okay. further discussion on this because I know this is a big deal, but I just think it's in our interest to move this forward as quickly as we possibly can. So, as long as nobody has a problem, I'm good. Anybody else? All right. and Crerme,
hi.
Carol Lee,
hi.
Scott Person.
Okay. Jeff Murray.
Hi,
Jeff Magcguire. I I have nothing. Okay. and now I'm going to make another Eric, you have a name in here.
So, I did simply because the person reached out to me and asked for the job. But that's a discussion for the board. I'm not even suggesting that's the person you should hire. just if you're going to do it quickly without a gap, that would be a possibility.
well, we we have to follow the the proper protocol on this than this. So what so as a discussion purpose I I would like to authorize the town and the town administrator to do a search for an assistant to that office because in my head it's a it's important that that we provide Lauren with we put that into our our mentality that we have to have that that role filled so that that role can sit there and be available. for the new town clerk that November to be there. So, I don't necessarily know, Eric, that it's important that I have them the first day. I'd rather you get the right person so that we can sit there and move forward.
can I just add it is the elected town clerk's
Yeah.
choice of who he she will pick for that position. And that is statutoily. we have an opinion from Dennis O'Brien on that.
So, it I'm just saying appointing Lauren to fill that is great. And then whoever is elected, she can assist them in the transition until they find a new person. until the elected town clerk
selects her assistant town clerk and Dennis can type in whenever he'd like but it is the elected town clerk. We've already appointed the interim, so the office will be fine until the election. And let me,
you know, Lauren's willing to stay on.
I I understand what you're saying, Carol, but my question would been would have been, what if Britney stayed? What if Britney chose not to? She chose not to run. Okay, so that's fine. But what if she stayed on? What would What would the town have done? What would we what would we have done, Dennis?
So, she she was she was appointed. that's a good question. I guess that is a Dennis question. She was
just asking.
It is a union position and she was appointed by an elected town clerk.
Right.
That's a really good question, Dennis.
Yeah, I I don't know the answer to that. I don't know if she her her appointment would survive into the the tenure of the new town clerk elected in on November 4th. Not sure. That's something I have to I'd have to check. It's not
So, are you telling So, are you telling me So, are you telling me that we we as a board All right, this is so ridiculous. We as a board can appoint a a temporary person that
Well, Dennis, I I want to know like within the next
you can do you certainly can do what you just did
and you had to do you appointed an acting town clerk to succeed
Britney until the election.
The other questions are u I'm not sure. Normally, assistant town clerks are appointed by the town clerk. It doesn't doesn't have to be limited to one,
but I don't know if a if Britney chose to stay on as assistant and wanted to stay on post November 4th, I'm not sure that she would have a legal right to stay on. Don't know that that issue is not going to arise in her case because she's leaving. But okay, the question is is that has been raised is a good one and I don't know the answer off top of my head
and I I'm pretty familiar with the statutes governing this but I don't think that question is answered in the statutes. There might be some case law I don't know.
Okay. I mean common sense would tell me that we we appoint someone but
common sense doesn't always seem to work. I'm not saying you can't, but you know, because she Britney is leaving and she's leaving a a void. but I'm not sure that the board of selectmen has the authority to replace her at this time.
Okay. Then then I'd rather move move on to another issue and Dennis, if you can evaluate that.
I will. I will.
That would be great.
Yeah.
I know you would. You're the best.
I'm delighted. I'm delighted. I love
Okay. All right.
I live to work. I live to work.
Okay. 9D andor elementary RFP for bathroom renovations.
I don't have it. I know they're going to RFP, but I don't have any information on that. So, are you telling me the school has not I mean know I know that Jeff Murray was part of a a meeting related to that, but are you telling me that the town does not have the RFP that was that was worked on by the engineering firm? I forgot which one it was. I I know I know their name and when you tell me I'm going to remember the name, but
I would not have that. I haven't asked the engineering firm itself for a copy of it, but
we shouldn't have to.
Jeff Jeeoff, I I I I talked to the board of ed chairwoman today. She she contacted me and she's working to rectify the situation. I told her our concerns and she's working on it. Expect an email in the next day or two.
Perfect.
Okay.
So, Kaitlin Kaitlin Kaitlin is actually working on it. I I spoke to her. She agreed to me that, you know, while Fussen O'Neal is writing the RFQ, I spoke I I told her my concerns that all bids should be sent to the town clerk's office.
Okay. All right. let's just move on. 9E Firewood program. I think Jeff had some something he wanted to propose to the board related to this.
This was something that I was I was actually at my son's little league game at Bliss Bliss Park in Marorrow and there was a gentleman in the corner of the parking lot cutting up a bunch of firewood and I went and approached him and I asked him, you know, is this something that the town is leaving for you? And he said, absolutely. that all the tree cutters and all the clearing that they're doing, they're leaving in this location at Bliss Park in Marboro and they're allowing residents to come in free of charge and harvest the firewood for for their wood stoves and for heating in the winter. And recently I went down to the transfer station and I noticed there was a lot of hardwood and a lot of decent, you know, sized chunks that were in our brush pile that we're going to just with that the town was going to pay to chip up. And I also noticed that there's, you know, and I Eric can probably since Jay's not here, Eric can probably comment on this, but you know, we do have a lot of wood that we try to get rid of. I don't know if public works puts it on the brush pile or not, but I think it would be a great service to the to the residents of Andover if we even to the people trying to get rid of things if we had a separate pile over next to the brush pile down in the brush area where during transfer station hours residents could go down on Wednesdays or Saturdays and
harvest firewood and use it for their personal use. for us putting it in in the pile and just chipping it up or for just you know trying or you know our wood our tree companies just hauling it out of town. It should be something that we should make available to the town residents because I mean we do have a lot of town residents that do need they do use firewood to heat and they maybe can't afford oil or can't afford other means to heat their homes and you know it I just think it would be a good thing to try try out create the pile maybe in one of those concrete bunkers that we had from the old dump and just kind of pile the wood in there. I you know there is a there is this Connecticut state statute that holds municipalities and land owners harmless to it for anybody that harvestes firewood. So if
we had anybody come on to the transfer station and cut and we make it free of charge there's no liability to the town of Andover if there was an accident or somebody was injured. So, I just wanted to propose that just as a cost savings and as a benefit to the other people in town that could probably take advantage of it because it seems like one of the the gentlemen I talked to in Marorrow said it's a huge success. Everybody seems to be going over there and harvesting firewood and you know if there's pieces left like you know knots and other things like that public works can just scoop it up
with the payloader and throw in the brush pile you know when we're done if we have pieces that you know people don't want.
I have no problem with it. I mean, does an does Marboro have a specific policy that they've approved related to that?
I can look into it. I just wanted to mention it to the board just to see if anybody was if it was acceptable to the members of the board. If it's acceptable, I could I could look into it.
I think it's a great idea. Anybody have a problem with it?
So,
good idea. in favor of it. two things. One, when we cut wood on the side of the road, we tend to leave it there as long as we can until we start getting lots of complaints from the residents because most of it does end up getting cut up by residents who are going around looking for firewood. so and then we have to go back and clear up all the crap they didn't want to take because it was too big or knots or butt ends and stuff like that. So I think generally speaking we're kind of already doing it now. The question is do you want to bring it to a central location first or do you want to leave it on the sides of the road? and the second thing is I I have a
little bit of concern with people while the transfer station is open and people are bringing in brush to the pile. at the same time people are cutting wood, especially since we're talking about being on top of a capped landfill. My suggestion is we try it for now. But if it looks like this is going to be successful, the transfer station property is large and right near the entrance, we have a before you get to the entrance, we have a lower level area that we've talked about long term developing for something related to public works. What I would suggest is we would make a landing there. and then that would be the area the firewood is dumped. So, we keep it out of the transfer station and on top of the capped landfill because I just see compliance issues with doing that there long term. That's it.
Yeah, that's that's fine. And, you know, we do have residents that dump hardwood there. So, if we have a hardwood area that they could just go and dump logs or, you know, p pieces of trees that they cut and they can leave there, that's fine just to re just to upcycle it to other people. Well, they're not really supposed to be leaving. They're supposed to be leaving rush only.
They are.
The problem is,
yeah. So, so listen, it's a good idea. Let's work out the logistics of it and try to make it happen.
Okay. Okay.
What what what I can do, Eric, is it okay if I contact Marorrow
and and get some information or is that Do you know the Do you know the town administrator over there that you could contact?
Yeah. you can certainly reach out to him directly. His name is David Porter. if not, I'm going to lunch with him Friday, so I can mention that to him Friday.
Well, how about if you're going to lunch with him Friday, why don't you just mention it and see what the pitfalls are and then can we can you report back to us at the next meeting?
Yeah, I can certainly
or just send us send us an email basically basically what your findings are.
Yep, not a problem. But I I'm certainly in favor of the idea.
Yeah, I think it's just a great idea. cuts down on our waste and you know it's I mean residents are paying taxes to have these trees cut so they might as well get some benefit out of it.
Yep. Concur.
Okay, great. Okay. 9F donation from Hoppen Hodgeges treasurer has requested how to classify or spend the money.
Sure. So my question is does the board have any suggestions? So Hop and Hajes is a event that gets put on annually and the person who runs the event returns some or all the profits to the town of Andover. So we have a pool of money. how would the board like us to spend it because it's not part of our budget and we haven't really classified. in the past we've spent it on sporting stuff. In one case, we bought the picnic table that is alongside the rail trail near the Lake Road parking area. So, what would you like to do with it?
How much is it?
I think it's around $900.
Is there something specific you think where we could use that money to provide something good for the community? why don't we individually come back with ideas for this next month so that we can think creatively.
okay
I think it would be great to use for something that would generate some community engagement and I have an idea but I'll sit there and let's hear everybody else's idea. give everybody a idea and maybe Haley can come up with something from the community center and we can figure out the best way to use that money.
Stuff at the community center.
Exactly. Okay. let's move on to 9G. Transfer of state land to Andover by the DOT. Eric.
Okay. So, you are the board that gets to approve a transfer of land as far as I can tell from the Department of Transportation. If you look on your packet starting at oh around page 107 of your primary packet, you'll see the state is trying to give us back a tiny little sliver of land that is at the intersection of Parker Bridge Road and Route Six. It is
not as small a sliver as you think.
Well, it's a thousand square feet. That's pretty small in my book.
so technically I can't sign for it without your approval as a board. but the DOT for some reason would very much like to give us that land.
Scott, since you know the most about it, what's the issue with that?
It says a lot. There was a house there and they tore the house down when they straightened out Route Six. It's down by Parker Bridge and Route 6, that corner in there.
Would there would there be any reason we wouldn't want to take ownership of it?
I guess not.
Excuse me.
Say that again.
I I guess I guess there's no reason why we wouldn't want to take ownership of it, but
All right.
Eric, do you have any issues with us not taking ownership of it or taking ownership of it? Will it create any liability on behalf of the Dow? I can't see any liability that it causes the town. There's no drainage structures or no drainage within that piece. So, I don't have any concerns with it. I I but I also don't care whether we take it or not because I don't see any value to the town. So, it's neither good nor bad as far as I'm concerned.
Is it up against somebody's else's property like another house? where a sliver of land that they did during the taking in.
But I just
had a question for Dennis though because we are supposed to have special town meeting for the acceptance or disposition of any real property. and Dennis is just checking the charter for us right now to make sure that it's okay because it's DOT land if we decide to accept it.
Yeah, it could also require an 824 review technically. Hate to go to all those extremes, but you may you may be absolutely right, Carol, and if we do, we have to do it. I'm going to check I'm checking I'm looking at the charter right now on my phone. So,
I would call this a dimminimous I I understand. I don't know that there's any would you say it was a thousand square feet?
it is 997 square feet.
Do we do we I mean listen, do we mow anything in that area?
Not that I know of.
No. Oh,
is the state going to be required to The state's not going to mow this area. I mean, are we going to have to mow this area? I mean, not that I care. It's thousand square feet. It's It's not very big.
it is big, Eric. Scott, I apologize. How about we sit there and make a How about we sit there and make a motion that as long as all of the requirements are mess are met, you know, regarding the 824 or anything else like like that that we accept the I mean, it is on route six.
That's a good motion.
All right. So, I'll make a Go ahead, Ann.
Well, I can either do it now or during the discussion. what I ran into with being on planning and zoning, there's a section on Hendee where I guess the road was straightened out 20 or 30 years ago or maybe more. And there's a strip that the town owns. When somebody wanted to build, they couldn't because supposedly they didn't have access to the road because the town owned a little skinny strip. They didn't have enough frontage. And that's a strange little thing, but I wouldn't want somebody to run into that kind of thing somewhere else because the town owns a little strip. I would think it should be going to the nearest homeowner instead of to the town. Maybe the state won't do that. But I just
maybe we should give it to the next.
Couldn't Couldn't we have granted an easement?
Couldn't we have granted an easement for that individual? Maybe I I don't know if they ever came to the town. They came to the the planning and zoning and they turned them down.
Okay.
So, I'm just trying to wonder if we might end up with a complication.
Yeah. They didn't have enough frontage.
Yeah.
The town owned the property that little strip which I thought the town should have given it to that
he homeowner. So if you wanted to do that, there is there are no stipulations in this transfer that says you can't then transfer it to someone else. The only thing to consider is that they still have an easement to slope and a second easement to slope from the two land owners. you know in their original easement. So although they're giving us the property, they still hold an easement over that property and if we transferred this to somebody else, that easement would still apply. But there's nothing like like when the Route 6 corridor stuff for the Route Six Expressway was given to the town, that was given to the town with stipulations over use. this is not. So the town could do anything they want. but then I would assume that would definitely take a meeting if the
town's going to sell turn around and sell that property. I was looking at the acquisition of less than a thousand square feet as a dimminimous operation that would not require an 824 or a town meeting because if it requires a town meeting, it's not worth us even acquiring it.
it does. There's no way it's worth that. 304 C of the charter seems to say, you know, a town meeting is required for any acquisition of property, any acquisition or alienation of property. And you know, just wait until they have a town meeting, something else you want to put on the agenda. You know, there's no time limit. The state isn't giving you a time limit on when you have to accept it.
I thought they did.
It did.
Oh, Jesus. Well, then we just for that. You got any other items you need to go to town meeting in?
No, we're not going to town meeting.
So,
okay. Well, that's a
All right. Well, if that's the case, if we can't look at it as what Eric is thinking as a dimminimous transaction because it is so small,
then take it.
You could, but I can't I can't I can't recommend that because
Okay, then let the state keep the peace property. It's not going to impact the town. Let's move on.
No problem.
Okay. 9H, the NIP program request for expenditure.
Sure. a town resident Megan Lai was listening to the board of selectman meeting when we were discussing the disposition of the money for the NIP program. What she suggested is that based on the state statute enabling that that she proposes a community engagement program that's geared around education for what goes into the storm drain system. and I put her letter in the packet is starting on page 112. I think that's a great idea. I would like to empower Megan to use the NIP money to create a program on behalf of the town of Andover to do that.
How much money are we talking about?
About 3,000 bucks.
And what the what is the money going to be used for? So, one, an education campaign, and two, putting the little placards on all the sto the town's storm drains both in the Lake District and throughout the remainder of the town. and there's a link to a flyer for a similar program in there.
Is there any way you get a breakdown of the cost and what's going to be involved with the plaques and everything just to see where the money is going to get allocated? if you would like further details of the program, but you're generally in favor of it, I would be happy to tell Megan that you require more information, but that you're strongly willing to consider that project if she gives you the appropriate information.
I have to see if like $2,000 is going to be spent on plaques, $1,000 for this. Are we hiring somebody to to, you know, basically put this together or is Megan going to volunteer her time? that's that's kind of what I'd like to know what the basics of the program would be.
I think she would be volunteering her time for this.
She certainly indicated to me that she would do so.
Okay.
I've seen those plaques in other towns.
Yeah. As have I.
Well, I just like to see what they cost per, you know, each, how many basins we have, and, you know, make sure that that is enough money. make sure she can successfully do it. I mean, it's a great idea. I just want to make sure
the funds are s, you know, significant enough to pull it off.
Okay. So, Eric, can you request for Megan that information so we can sit there and you can give her the number and see if the budget the budgeted amount would work and then we can come back next meeting to make a decision.
I can certainly do that.
Okay. item 10, approval of meeting minutes. 7:14 2025. Anybody have any issues? Right. I'll make a motion that we approve the board of selectmen regular minute meetings for July 14th, 2025.
Second. Carol Carol Lee seconded. further discussion and creme
hi.
Carol Lee.
Hi.
Scott Person.
Jeff Murray.
Hi.
Jeff Maguire. I 5 nothing. item 11, the treasurer's report. Eric, are there any issues that we should be addressing on the treasurer's report?
not at this point of the year. the only thing really I know of that will be over this year is we got something back from the Connecticut State Police that they have recalculated what their indirect costs will be for a resident trooper. and they're higher than what they estimated as of last January when they gave their in assessment. So looking at his contract, it's higher. so it looks looking at his contract, my guess at this point is we're going to be over about 8,000 bucks on the resident trooper line item. That's the only thing I have at this point that's really of concern.
Okay. Any other questions for any other members? I spoke to the tax collector today. I told her she did a great job on the the tax sales. it was a very positive result.
I talked to her also, Jeff. Told her the same thing. Did a great job. So that was well appreciated.
Okay.
Do we have authorized refunds or no?
So we do have authorized refunds. That is in your packet.
I saw that there's only three.
Yeah, it's on page 153. There's $18.51 to Frank Chavez, $22.83 83 to Steven Barnett and $21326 to Kevin Kenus. So the total tax refunds are $25460. So, I'll make a motion that we approve tax refunds that total $25460
Second that.
Seconded by an creme. Further discussion. All those in favor and creme
I.
Caroli
I.
Scott Person
I.
Jeff Murray
I'm an I.
Hi I.
Okay. Jeff Maguire I 5 nothing. Okay. departmental reports. does anyone have any questions for the other reports that were included in the packet? Okay. So just to give them the assessor provided a report the building department I I met Linda War Lynn War Werner today very nice appreciated that time with her. the registars of boarders provided us a report and the library provided us report. Any questions related to their information? Okay.
It's the same thing, Jeff. The we used to get a detailed report from the building department about permits.
And I didn't see a blight report in there.
We didn't I w and I did ask for that to be included in the departmental reports. Even if it's not discussed, I think it's good information for the community. So, Eric, if you can look back on that, that would be great.
and
remember back a year or two ago we used to get good building reports.
building department.
We'll sit there. We'll sit there and talk to the building department. I talked to her about the the fee collection and and the rest of that information. So I do think we should get some more information on that, Scott, and just let
a good amount of fees every month there that come in. not enough as far as I'm concerned, but understood. I would actually like to move over 14, 15, and 16. And I'd like to move to public speak so that we can have it before the residents leave and then we can move to executive session. Does anybody have a problem with that?
No. Okay. All right. So, I'm gonna sit there and if I miss somebody, I apologize. I'm going to go because my phone does this alphabetically. So, I'm going to go Doris Maldonado.
Yes, thank you. we have youth seeking community service hours. I while I was at the center, I had a few and I've I've I've been contacted by opportunities in the community. my children themselves began community service when they were in elementary school with Eelyn Repay actually. I have older children as well. and it was an incredible connection. I put in the in the chat the information about the chores program. So Jeff Murray mentioned the wood donations for heating and that would be a great connection with AHM. They're already doing the work and they offer these services for senior citizens and in our towns of of Andover, Hebrin, and Marboro for the board and they have it already set up and the senior centers usually have the application forms. So, I encourage everyone to look into that. That would be a wonderful endeavor now that we're going into the fall season. Thank you for your work.
Thank you, Joanne Heert. I am all set. Thanks,
Liz. Lo catch.
I'm all set. Thank you guys. thank you all for all your hard work.
Okay. Marcy Miner,
I No, thank you.
Tess Grouse.
I'm all set. Thank you.
Okay. And I know we have John Gail on, but John, I believe we're inviting you into our meeting if that's accurate, Eric.
no, that is not John Gail. Go ahead.
I have no comments.
Okay.
All right.
Diane Grener just joined also.
well then let's give Diane Grineer some time on air. Diane Grineer can't hear you, Diane.
Sorry.
She's underwater.
All right, Diane, I would love to give you time, but we'll have to do that the next
Oh, yes. There you go.
I'm sorry. I just
on vacation.
I just got home and logged on and I have no comment because I didn't hear any of the meeting whatsoever. So, sorry. Enjoy. All right. Okay. so, everyone, thank you very much for the time for staying on with the meeting. I'm going to Eric, and before I make this motion, I want to make sure that, I'm going to invite you. I'm going to invite, Attorney O'Brien. Is there anyone else that needs to be invited into our executive session?
Not at this time.
Okay. U, everyone else, thank you very much. I appreciate it. want to make a motion that we move to executive session to to discuss the pending request for employment appeal hearing.
Someone has to second that.
Second.
Carol has seconded that. all those in favor and
creme I
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I have to rephrase that. I make a motion to go into executive session and invite u town administrator Eric Anderson and town attorney Dennis O'Brien. Now you all right and creme
I
Carol Lee
I
Scott Person
I Jeff Murray
Jeff Magcguire I 5 nothing everyone thank you very much Eric if you can stop the recording once we get everybody either in the waiting room which with