MINUTES
LITCHFIELD
SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE
LITCHFIELD INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL MUSIC ROOM
FEBRUARY 5,
2004
A meeting of the Litchfield School
Building Committee was held on Thursday, February 5, 2004, at 7:00 p.m. in the Litchfield
Intermediate School Music Room
Present were: Jack Healy; Chairman,
Stacie Kavle; Malcolm Bramley; William Buckley; Robert Blazek, Lynn Chapman;
Kent Gilyard; John Mullen; Paul Sapiro; Gary Waugh; Jeff Zullo.
Also Present:; Leo Paul, First
Selectman; BOS Members Dan Coelho and Kevin Creed; John Tindall-Gibson,
Superintendent; Peg Perusse, Business Manager; BOE Members: Diane Knox and
Frank Simone; Tim Breslin, LHS Principal; Richard Munday, Tim Callahan and Ryan
Minney of Herbert S. Newman and Partners; Greg Oneglia of O&G
Industries; Public and the Press.
Meeting was called to order at 7:00
PM by J. Healy.
Motion made by B. Buckley to approve
the minutes as corrected of the January 22, 2004 meeting sec. by S. Kavle.
Motion Carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
Public Participation None
Communication
A letter was distributed to the
Building Committee (ABC@) from Town Attorney, Michael D.
Rybak dated January 23, 2004 and regarding Additions and Alteration to
Litchfield Intermediate School and Litchfield High School Construction Manager=s Agreement with O & G
Industries, Inc. (AIA Doc. B801/CMa) and Architect Agreement with Herbert S.
Newman & Partners, PC (AIA Doc. B141/CMa)
J. Healy received a communication
from Doyle Finan regarding Bob Maddox talking to the BC about the Green
Building Council.
J. Healy also spoke with Jon Torrant
regarding his request for space designated in LHS plan for the Booster Club.
R. Blazek was asked by a resident
about the situation of the LHS roof. B.
Buckley - We are trying to identify what would be included in the school
project. The Capital Improvement
Committee (ACIC@) has a request for roof work on all
three schools. The CIC wants to know if
nay of the work is included in the school project. D. Knox - My comments on the radio were that
the BOE would put things through the CIC and where appropriate roll the work
into the school project.
Bond Council Meeting
- Planning a timeline and meeting schedule to facilitate the town
meeting calls and bonding resolution and match the schedule with the one we
[the BC] have. The tentative referendum
date has been moved to March 7, 2004 The BC release of informational documentation
will have to be done by March 5TH.
M. Bramley - Who will prepare the informational packet? J. Zullo - This committee will prepare the
information packet and will include financial impact information from Town
Treasurer and First Selectman. M.
Bramley - I request that the First Selectman and the Town Treasurer create the
information that we publish and we note that in the publication. S. Kavle - The March 5TH date for
publication; do we have to mail by that date?
J. Zullo - Yes that is in the schedule.
I think the date is the 15TH, not the 5TH. The decision was to get the information out
and public endorsement out by that date.
Leo Paul passed out a memorandum
from Murtha Cullina, LLP a Summary of Laws Governing the Expenditure of Public
Funds in Connection with a Municipal Referendum by Joseph P. Fasi, Bond
Counsel. Leo Paul had a few comments
regarding this memorandum including that is states there should not be any
reference to a referendum in any mailing and we should stop referring to a referendum
with a date. M. Bramley - If a Town
Meetings to discuss or act upon is in a municipal building can an individual
involved in this project stand up in support of this project? Leo Paul - I should not get up at the meeting
and endorse the project. K. Gilyard - When we elected the First Selectman and
the Selectman and this Building Committee, we selected people we wanted
leadership and guidance from. Leo Paul
- Anything I do between 9:00 AM and 4:30 PM is considered expending Town funds. I can do this outside of regular business
hours. B. Buckley - When you ask as
attorney for an opinion, they are going to give you an opinion that reduces you
rick to zero. When we put a bond package
together we can=t put out material supporting the
project, just informing about the project.
J. Zullo - This is a State statute.
It does not preclude your first amendment rights. It does not stop any one individual elected
or otherwise from stating their personal opinion. S. Kavle - When we present the material we
don=t need to ask them to support it. It is obvious that we are bringing forward a
plan we support. Leo Paul - Once the
referendum date has been established, between 9:00 AM and 4:30 PM, I can not standup up and endorse the project.
Communication [Outreach]
Subcommittee Update
L. Chapman - We were approached by
the Litchfield Rotary Club to sponsor three informational meetings about the
project. The Club would book the space,
setup, bring refreshments. Do these
meetings have to be completed by the 15Th of March?
Motion was made by J. Zullo that the
Communication Subcommittee initiate planning with the Litchfield Rotary Club to
establish dates and locations for three meetings to be scheduled prior to a
date satisfactory to Bond Counsel, sec. By M. Bramley.
Motion Carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
B. Buckley - If we are all at this
meeting we have to call a BC meeting. M.
Bramley - I suggest one of the information meetings is on a Saturday or Sunday
for part time resident property owners.
J. Tindall-Gibson - The School is
setting up a website. The sample website
was opened and the questionnaire reviewed. R. Blazek - Can the BC suggest some
questions. P. Perusse - We can input any
questions or delete any questions. B.
Buckley - That type of questionnaire is not going to be helpful. We should have a list and ask people to rank
and prioritize the importance of those items.
It should start off with a statement saying that we are limited to $33M,
the funds are limited and we can not do everything but would like to do the
things that are most important to the townspeople. We need to know what they think about
that. P. Sapiro - The questionnaire is
well intentioned but too late. M. Bramley - Anyone can type in a question on
any matter and we can discuss it and answer their questions. B. Buckley - We
have to make decisions now, not in two weeks.
I think presenting a list and having people rank them will help us. We=ll be able to tell the public, if the bids come in, that we
will be able to do what was most important to them. D. Knox - The people need to understand that
a lot of what the BC may expend they will not see like mechanical system
upgrades. M. Bramley –This committee
had decided that athletic fields would not be in our project. The fields that are planned are not part of
the $33M. G. Waugh – It is important
that members of the BC understand what we are up against and the condition of
this building. We went through LIS with
Peg Perusse. Some of the conditions are
dire and the need to address them ….. I don’t envy Tim’s [Callahan] task. I went through LHS with Tim Breslin. Their needs are also great.
Motion to adjourn was made by B.
Buckley at 9:40PM, sec. by K. Gilyard.
Motion Carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kelli L. Green, Recorder
.
Motion was made by B. Buckley to
adjourn at 8:40 PM, sec. By K. Gilyard.
Motion Carried. All votes were in the affirmative. There were no abstentions.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelli L. Green, Recorder