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Bonnie Therrien, Manager,
Town Manager's Office
Town of Wethersfield,
presents
Weekly Management Report
9.1.2006

TO: The Honorable Mayor and Town Council Members
FROM: Bonnie L. Therrien, Town Manager
DATE: Sept. 1, 2006

1. COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS
   1. Manager
      • Just a reminder that {{I will be away from the office on vacation and at the International City and County Managers' Association Conference from September 6th - 15th}}. If there is anything I can assist you with before I leave, please let me know. I will be at work on Tuesday. Chief Cetran will be in charge while I am away from the office and Dispatch, Gale and Rae Ann will know how to get in touch with me. There will be no Management Report for two weeks. [ till 9/22/2006 ]
   2. Upcoming Events
      • The Wethersfield Beautification Trust will hold a 10-Year Celebration Party on Saturday, September 9, 2006 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Solomon Welles House. Flyer attached.
      • The groundbreaking for the renovation of the Community Center Gym by the Keane Foundation has been cancelled. An official groundbreaking will occur soon. {{On September 10th, the Keane Foundation will also be holding their Annual Family Picnic on the Broad Street Green. [5-7 PM]}}
      • {{The Wethersfield Fire Department will be dedicating a memorial to the three residents of Wethersfield and the 345 firefighters who died in that event, on September 11th at 6:30 p.m. at Company 1 on Main Street. The public is invited. Light refreshments will be served at the conclusion of the ceremony.}}
      • {{A Roberts Rules/Freedom of Information session will be held for all Boards and Commissions on September 12th at 6:30 p.m. (note change of time)}}. This will be presented by Attorney Bradley, Tom Hennick from FOI, Bob Hirtle from the Ethics Commission and Dolores Sassano, Town Clerk. Letters went out this week to all Board and Commission Chairs asking that their members be in attendance at this important informational session. The location is the Police Department Community Room.
      • A retirement celebration for Lieutenant Kevin Dillon will be held on September 14, 2006 at the Aqua Turf in Southington. Tickets are $50 and available from Lt. Poisson at 721-2922, JoAnn Bjorkman at 721-2908, or Mark Miele at 343-6432.
      • {{The 22nd Annual Wethersfield Chamber of Commerce CornFest will be held on September 16, 2006 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.}} Attached is information and guidelines for participation in the event for non-profit organizations, vendors, businesses and sponsors. Please pass this information on to anyone whom you think might be interested.
      • The CT Disability Advocacy Collaborative will be hosting a Disability Convention on Saturday, September 16th, from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the CT Expo Center. A flyer is attached on this event.
      • A Special Olympics Fundraiser, "Shop for a Cause" will be held on Saturday, September 16, 2006 at Macy's. Anyone interested should contact Therapeutic Recreation Coordinator Natalie Morrison at 721-2952.
      • The Connecticut Main Street Center will present a Downtown Revitalization Institute Forum entitled "Mixed-use/Mixed-income Development in Downtown," on Friday, September 22, 2006 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Lyceum Conference Center in Hartford.
      • {{The Wethersfield Historical Society and the Town will be sponsoring an Historic District Forum to discuss common issues between relevant Town groups concerning Old Wethersfield on Thursday, September 28th at 6:30 p.m. at the Keeney Center.}}
      • The MDC will be coordinating a voluntary trash patrol at Wethersfield Cove on Saturday, September 30th as a part of the 10th Annual CT River Watershed Source to Sea Cleanup.
      • A conference on "Energy in the Northeast" will be presented by Law Seminars International on October 16 and 17, 2006 in Boston.
   3. Council and Board/Committee Dates
      • Shared Services - Monday, September 18th, 6:00 p.m., Town Manager's Office
   4. Department/Division News
      • Library: {{The Library recently published the attached flyer regarding their "24-Hour Service."}} I have also attached an article entitled "Libraries Offer Resources for Small Businesses."
      • Emergency Management: {{There will be a second public broadcast of Emergency Management operations filmed on Wednesday, September 13th discussing shelter operations in case of an emergency.}}
      • Tax Office: There are two finalists for the Tax Collector's position. I hope to make a final decision before I leave for vacation.
   5. Board/Commission News
      • Board of Assessment Appeals: {{Meetings are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 9th, Wed. Sept. 13th, Thurs. Sept. 21st, and Sat. Sept. 23rd.}} For more information, residents can call the Assessor's Office at 721-2810.
   6. Council Questions/Answers:
      • In response to questions from Council regarding the bidding process, attached are emails from other Towns regarding their experiences with bids and vendors. I have also attached a copy of an article from the August 23, 2006 issue of the Hartford Courant regarding the Town of Glastonbury's recent "no bids received" for a bridge project. I have held a meeting with Rae Ann Palmer and Janice McDonald from Finance on improving the way we contact vendors and to expand on the information we give to you for each bid.
      • Attached is an email from our Bond Counsel, Sam Caligiuri in response to some questions that Council had about the upcoming bond for Open Space.
      • I asked Director of Parks and Recreation Kathy Bagley to check with other Towns on their skate park regulations, and she reports that area towns do not have any ordinances and no fines concerning participants not wearing helmets. {{Newington and Rocky Hill do not supervise their skate parks and there is no enforcement. Glastonbury is supervised, but there are no fines. I am asking for something in writing from CIRMA regarding the limits of liability because the area is posted, and also regarding the use of helmets.}}
   7. CCM
      • State Mandates on Towns and Cities.
   8. Miscellaneous
      • Recently, our Historic District Coordinator Kristen Stearley spoke with the contractor doing the work at the home on the southwest corner of Main Street at Garden Street, and was assured that the blue tarp covering the front of the house will be off in two weeks. Kristin will follow up in two weeks as we have had complaints about the length of time the tarp has been on this home. We appreciate all of the work that has been done on this home.
      • We sent the attached letter to Mr. Dave Anderson thanking him for his timely response to our request to clean the silt and sediment from Elm Street.
      • Mr. Paul Thompson sent the attached email complimenting Town staff on their responsiveness and cooperation.
      • Omnipoint's request for an order to approve tower sharing at an existing telecommunications facility located at 23 Kelleher Court in Wethersfield was heard by the CT Siting Council at their meeting held on Thursday, August 31, 2006. We are waiting for the record of their vote.
      • The driveway at the Milano house on Woodside Drive is ready to be paved but awaiting time for compaction. We made field changes to lower the entire driveway to protect his wall, so we did incur added costs for disposing of that material but the project is coming in under budget.
      • We received the attached email from Charles Wright School Parent Marguerite Alpert thanking the Town crews for making the school look fantastic for the first day of school. I have received a lot of compliments on the way our schools looked this year before opening and I want to thank Bob Bauer and his staff for the great job they did this year.
      • A copy of the North Central Connecticut Emergency Medical Services Council's 2005-2006 Annual Report is available in my office to anyone who would like to review it.
      • A copy of the Clean Water Project newsletter is attached for your information.
      • Attached is an article from the Library Journal regarding the role of public libraries in providing public access to the Internet, and the increasing demand for more funding.
2. PROJECT UPDATES
   • Energy Audit: Historical Society Executive Director Doug Shipman completed his review of the fluorescent lighting proposal for the Keeney Center and the Old Academy, and the information has been forwarded to CL&P so that they can complete their Energy Audit. We should have results very soon but this could save the Town some money in our electrical account.
   • Town Hall/Library: {{Attached is a memo from Library Director Laurel Goodgion regarding the Library closing and moving.}}
   • Sidewalk Construction: Attached is a copy of the letter sent to residents in the vicinity of Two Rod Highway and Mapleside Drive updating them on the sidewalk construction projects.
   • Mosquito Control: The Central Conn. Health District advised us that the State of CT has offered to supply the Towns of Newington and Wethersfield with mosquito control product. Paul Hutcheon has made arrangements to have 4,500 larvacide (mosquito dunks) delivered to our Public Works Department some time next week. Town staff will place these dunks into Town catch basins as soon as possible. Mr. Hutcheon and I also took part in a State sponsored conference call this morning to receive an update on the West Nile issue. The mosquitoes are still breeding, especially after the recent rain and there will be even more after this weekend's predicted rain. The larvacide the State is giving to us will last through mid-October when the breeding should come to an end.
   • Line Striping: The company doing the line striping in Town has advised us that the reason they haven't painted the crosswalks is that they can't paint if the roads are wet or even damp. They also advised us that they plan to be back in Wethersfield on September 13th, given the rain that is predicted for this weekend. The roads must be perfectly dry before any work is done on our roads.
3. ATTACHMENTS
   1. Special Olympics "Shop for a Cause"
   2. "Energy in the Northeast"
   3. Library Correspondence
   4. Bidding Process Information
   5. Bond Counsel Email
   6. Letter re Elm Street
   7. Email from Mr. Thompson
   8. Email from Mrs. Alpert
   9. Clean Water Project Newsletter
   10. Memo re Library Move & Closing