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04-16-2015 REGULAR COUNCIL MEETINGREGULAR MEETING OF THE AGAWAM CITY COUNCIL Minutes dated April 6, 2015 Meeting was called to order by President Johnson at 7:00pm at the Auditorium at the Roberta G. Doering School, 68 Main Street, Agawam. Item A. Roll Call ROLL CALL – 10 PRESENT, 1 ABSENT (Councilor Rheault) Roll Call was taken with the following councilors present: George Bitzas, Cecilia Calabrese, Paul Cavallo, James Cichetti, Council President Christopher Johnson, Gina Letellier, Joseph Mineo, Vice President Dennis Perry, Robert Rossi and Anthony Suffriti. Councilor Rheault was absent. With ten councilors present, there was a quorum. Item B. Moment of Silence and the Pledge of Allegiance. President Johnson asked for a moment of silence and the Pledge of Allegiance. Item C. Citizen’s Speak Time Two citizens were signed up to speak. The first was Michele Labonte-Veras who spoke about Common Core standards and an upcoming informational session on May 18th at 6:30pm at the Agawam Senior Center. Henry Kozloski also clarified the breakdown of CPA funding for the athletic facility at the high school. Item D. Minutes 1. Regular Council Meeting – March 16, 2015 Motion to approve the March 16, 2015 Regular City Council meeting minutes was made by Councilor Cichetti and seconded by Councilor Suffriti. The minutes were approved by a voice vote of: 8 Yes, 0 No and 1 Absent (Councilor Rheault), 2 Abstentions (Councilors Calabrese and Letellier) Item E. Declaration from Council President Just a reminder to give Barbara your iPads after the meeting so our IT Director can loads some apps on them. Item F. Presentation of Petitions, Memorials & Remonstrances None. Item 7. Report of Council Committees None. Item 8. Elections None. Item 9. Public Hearings None. Item 10. Old Business 1. TOR-2015-3 - An Ordinance to Amend Chapter 103 of the Code of the Town of Agawam (Mayor) (2 of 2 readings) (Referred to Legislative Committee) Motion to approve the second and final reading made by Councilor Cavallo and seconded by Councilors Cichetti and Rossi. The vote was 10 YES, 0 NO, 1 ABSENT (Councilor Rheault) 2. TOR-2015-4 - An Ordinance to Amend the Code of the Town of Agawam by adding Chapter 178 Fingerprint-based Criminal Record Background Checks (Mayor) (2 of 2 readings) (Referred to Legislative Committee) Motion to approve made by Councilor Letellier and seconded by Councilor Cavallo. Councilor Rossi stated he had no issue with this item except for the amount being charged. He believes $100 is excessive and would be willing to agree to a lower fee. Council President Johnson stated that when he asked Chief Gillis to explain the difference between having CORI checks and the proposed fingerprinting system and the Chief stated there was virtually no difference. Council President Johnson questioned why change to this system if there is no additional benefit. It isn’t too business friendly especially if they are charged this on an annual basis. Councilor Letellier said she would be okay with fingerprinting if no checks currently exist for ice cream vendors. Councilor Cavallo made a Motion to table until the Police Chief could answer some of these questions. This was seconded by councilors Bitzas and Suffriti. They amended the Motion to include strongly suggesting for Chief Gillis to attend the Legislative Committee meeting to answer these questions. The vote was 10 YES, 0 NO, 1 ABSENT (Councilor Rheault) 3. TO-2015-15 - Budgetary Transfer of $18,000.00 from DPW Wastewater Professional Services (#22542-52190) to Wastewater Overtime (#22541-51030) for insufficient funds due to extreme weather and emergency standby overtime coverage. (Mayor) (Referred to Finance Committee) Motion to approve made by Councilor Cichetti and seconded by Councilor Suffriti. Councilor Mineo as Chair of the Finance Committee provided a report from their meeting earlier that evening where Councilors Mineo, Letellier and Calabrese attended. Chris Golba was at the meeting and explained that due to the extreme weather this season, there was quite a bit of overtime coverage involved and this amount would get them through the remainder of the fiscal year. The Finance Committee voted 3-0 to send a positive recommendation to the Full Council. Councilor Rossi questioned why it was being taken from Waste Water and not out of the General Fund to which Councilor Mineo stated that was how the mayor wanted to do it. Councilor Mineo stated that the $18000 would have to increase the water and sewer rates by coming out of the Waste Water fund however Councilor Letellier stated that this was an internal transfer and would NOT affect the rates. This was for future overtime and may not even be needed. Councilor Calabrese agreed this was a worst case scenario. Council Vice President Perry mentioned that they are a self-sustaining body and the money would have to come from within and Council President Johnson agreed that this in-house transfer would have no impact on the rates. Councilor Rossi said we already approved deficit spending and felt if we appropriate the money due to harsh winter conditions, then it should come from the Reserve Fund. He also questioned Chris Golba who said it was always done this way. Councilor Letellier stated that when we deficit spend, it’s for expenses that are already incurred, these however are for the future and nothing has been incurred. She asked Chris Golba why do this transfer at this time and he answered statistically his department will need it. Councilor Letellier is not opposed to this. The vote was 9 YES, 1 NO (Councilor Rossi), 1 ABSENT (Councilor Rheault) Item 11. New Business 1. TR-2015-16 - A Resolution adopting the latest revision of the Rules and Regulations of the Agawam City Council (City Council) Next Agenda; referred to the Legislative Committee. 2. TR-2015-17 - A Resolution accepting a Grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Emergency management Agency pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 44, Section 53A to Agawam Emergency Management in the amount of $12,435.00 (Mayor) Next Agenda. 3. TR-2015-18 - A Resolution authorizing the Mayor to enter into a Lease Agreement between the Town of Agawam and MC Catering (Mayor) Next Agenda, referred to the Community Relations Committee. 4. TR-2015-19 - A Resolution confirming the appointment of Mario Tedeschi, 150 Juniper Ridge Drive, Feeding Hills, MA 01030 to the Agawam Board of Registrars to a term expiring April 1, 2019 (Mayor) Next Agenda. 5. TOR-2015-5 - An Ordinance creating the position of Chief Procurement Officer as required by Massachusetts General Law (Councilors Cichetti, Suffriti, Mineo, Bitzas and Cavallo) (Two Readings Required) Next Agenda; referred to the Legislative Committee. Item 12. Any other matter that may legally come before the City Council. Councilor Rossi wished a happy birthday to his daughter Gina who would have been 50. Councilor Cichetti reminded everyone about his Legislative Meeting on Wednesday, April 8th. Councilor Suffriti commented about the Common Core informational session and unfortunately that is on the same night as a Council meeting. He hopes the word gets out and people attend. Councilor Cavallo mentioned the School Budget joint meeting went well and they did a great job on their presentation. Councilor Letellier thanked Chief Sirois for hosting the cub scouts. She also made a Point of Privilege as she will be away at the next meeting. Councilor Letellier said it was specifically stated at the Legislative meeting that the Chief Procurement Officer item would not be on our next Agenda and was quite disappointed to see that it was indeed on the agenda as New Business. She has several questions regarding the Chief Procurement Officer position including how will it coordinate with the School Department Business Agent, what is the salary, what are the educational and experience requirements as this would involve millions of dollars, when would this position commence, who hires and how would it affect the budgets? She feels these should have been answered before placing this item on the Agenda and we should not rush to create a position like this. Councilor Bitzas reminded everyone to contact the DPW or the Mayor’s Office if they see potholes. Adjournment. The Motion to adjourn was moved and seconded all around the house with all in favor of adjourning. The time of adjournment was 7:34pm.