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CC MTG MINUTES SEPTEMBER 15 2014 REGULAR MEETING OF THE AGAWAM CITY COUNCIL Minutes dated September 15, 2014 • 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, 0 ABSENT 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, Donald Rheault, Robert Rossi and Anthony Suffriti. With eleven councilors present, there was a quorum. Item B. Moment o f Silence and the Pled a of Allegiance. President Johnson asked for a moment of silence and the Pledge of Allegiance. Item C. Citi en's Speak Time Susan Pettazzoni spoke regarding the Home Rule Charter. Shelley Borgatti-Reed and William Hueglin wanted to show their appreciation to the City Council for the purchase of new band uniforms. Several students paraded before the Council wearing these new uniforms (Monique Matt, Tori, Melissa and Matt) Item D. Minutes Motion to approve the September 2, 2014 Regular City Council meeting minutes was • made by Councilor Cichetti and seconded by Councilors Rheault and Perry. The minutes were approved by a vote of. 10 Yes, 0 No, 1 Abstention (Councilor Letellier). Item E. Declaration from Council President 1. BoardPaq had technical difficulties and after the return of Jeffrey Hulbert, IT Director, the Council will work with the new iPads and Boardpaq following the end of the meeting. Item F. Presentation of Petitions.Memorials & Remonstrances • 1. TR-2014-30 - Resolution to establish an Ad Hoe Sub-Committee of the Agawam City Council to initiate an investigation of the Agawam Municipal Golf Course pursuant to Section 2-11 of the Agawam Home Rule Charter (Councilors Letellier, Johnson and Perry) • This item will remain on the table until the workshop scheduled for Monday, Sept 29"' at 7:00pm in the Community Room at the Agawam Public Library. 1 • 2. TR-2014-34 - A Resolution designating the position of Inspector of Weights and MeasureslEnforcement Office to Code Enforcement Officer/Sealer of Weights and Measures and the position of part time Code Enforcement Officer be designated part time the Electrical Inspector. Motion was made by Councilor and seconded by Councilor to take this item off the table. The main Motion to approve was made Councilor Calabrese and seconded by Councilors Letellier and Cichetti. Then there was a Motion to Amend made by Councilor Calabrese and seconded by Councilor Letellier. This amendment just cleaned up the language. i The vote was 11 YES, 0 NO. 3. TR-2014-36 -A Resolution to bond a new track,field and school locker facility at the Agawam High School(Mayor)(Referred to Finance Committee) Motion made by Councilor Cavallo and seconded by Councilor Letellier. Councilor Mineo gave the Finance Committee report stating that the RFPs were due on October 3'and then they would go out to bid next spring. Councilor Letellier made the Motion to reduce the bonding amount by one million dollars from $7,750,000 to $6,750,000. The vote was 4-0 in favor. The committee felt the town could always come back to the Council for more money but hopefully the CPA Committee would be able to fund at least one million dollars. Councilor Letellier discussed why she had proposed the reduction in the amount. If CPA funds can be used and there is a potential of MSBA money for reconstructing the locker room areas, then it would be premature to bond for the full amount. She is in favor of the project itself but not the funding mechanism. Council President Johnson stated that with all the highly paid staff working for this town, he is sadly disappointed that we couldn't get a principal and interest schedule,a project tax rate and again we received barely any information. He is very discouraged at the lack of backup information provided to the City Council. He also stated that he would like to not just use CPA money but that the figures appear to be padded. He strongly supports this project. It should go to bid and then take the $1,000,000 from CPA after the final amount is calculated since it seems as if it is overestimated and that way the remainder is not footed by the taxpayers of the town. Councilor Letellier made the Motion to amend TR-2014-36 from $7,750,000 to $6,750,000 and seconded by Councilors Cichetti and Calabrese. The vote was 1I- 0 in favor of the amendment. Main Motion as Amended was passed by a vote of 11 YES and 0 NO. Item 7. Re ort of Council Committees Auditor Cheryl St. John gave the Auditor's report for this quarter. Reports were provided by Committee Chairs for Finance, Legislative, Community Relations and Administrative Sub-Committees for this quarter. Item 8. Elections None. 2 • • Item 9. PuW Hearings 1. ZC-2014-1 (TOR-2014-6) -An Ordinance to amend the Code of the Town of Agawam Article XIV entitled Personal Wireless Services Facilities and Towers Chapter 180 §180-94 (Two Readings Required) — Suggest a Public Hearing on • 9/15114 Motion to remove the item from the table was made by Councilor Letellier and seconded by Councilor Cichetti. Public hearing was opened. Presentation was made by Ellen Freyman (attorney), Doug Roberts (architect) and Jay Latorre (Verizon Wireless). Jay • Latorre stated that there was a driving need for this to have reliable coverage in that area of town. They felt that a smaller 100' tower would show just above the heavily treed area where it is to be placed. They contacted the Public Safety in Agawam and although Fire Chief has no need for space on the tower at this time, he supports having it. Several councilors asked questions if this tower would help the poor service in the Silver Street • area. Council President Johnson asked if they had explored co-locations within the area and if so, why had they been rejected. Jay Latorre explained that having their own tower allowed more flexibility and therefore more reliability of service. No one else spoke in favor or in favor name only and no one spoke in opposition or in name only in opposition. The Public Hearing was closed. Council discussion began with Council President Johnson stating that if we passed this,the Council should encourage the ZBA to take advantage of the survey that Verizon has to pay for to see if this is indeed necessary or if service would improve if Verizon co-located on a pre-existing tower. Councilor Rossi would have loved to see a survey with that information. Councilor Letellier mentioned that she would have liked to see what the public wanted but since no one attended the Public Hearing to object to this tower then we should proceed with the vote. Council President Johnson stated that we would not have to delay our vote but have it be a part of the Special Permitting Process. Councilor Bitzas mentioned that it was an excellent presentation and that this would improve the safety of our citizens. This item required two readings. Council President would ask that the Petitioner provide the Council with a list of co-locations opportunities and reasons why you rejected those co- location opportunities. Motion to approve the first reading was made by Councilor Rossi and seconded by Councilor Rheault. The vote was 11-0 in favor. 2. ZC-2014-2 - Petition for Zone Change for 105 Rowley Street, Agawam as submitted by Attorney Michael D. Parker on behalf of Carole A. D'Amato, guardian for James J. D'Amato — Suggest a Public Hearing on 9/15/14 (Refer to Planning Board) Motion to take the item off the table was made by Councilor Letellier and seconded by • Councilor Cavallo. Public Hearing was opened. Presentation was Evade by Attorney Michael Parker on behalf of Carole D'Amato, guardian for James D'Amato. He discussed who James D'Amato was and why he was representing him. Attorney Parker stated that they would like this zone change to build duplexes on a cul de sac street with the price range of$80,000 - $100,000 per parcel. The money would go towards the care • of Mr. D'Amato for his lifetime as well as building a handicapped-accessible home for him. He also stated all funds fall under Probate Court approval and would greatly improve the quality of life for James. No one else spoke in favor however several citizens spoke against including Roy Benjamin, Patrick Kevane and Val Zborski (?) 3 • • stating hove this would adversely affect their property on Lango Lane changing the entire neighborhood and reduce property values. Diane Kevane spoke in name only against this zone change. The Planning Board was to be holding their Public Hearing on Thursday, September 1$th so the Council would like to wait until after their meeting to receive their recommendation. Motion was made to continue the Public Hearing until the next meeting by Councilor Rheault and seconded by Councilor Cichetti. The vote was 11-0 in favor. 3. ZC-2014-3 - Petition for Zone Change for South West Street, Feeding Hills as • submitted by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. on behalf of DCJ Realty, LLC — Public Hearing scheduled for October 20, 2014 —Referred to Planning Board and Legislative Committee Motion was made to table this item until the Public Hearing on October 20`h made by Councilor Suffriti and seconded by Councilor Rossi. The vote was 11-0 in favor. Item 10. Old Business 1. TOR-2014-5 - An Ordinance to Amend the Code of the Town of Agawam to add Section 49-9 entitled Use of Municipal Vehicles(Councilors Donald Rheault and Robert Rossi) (Two Readings Required) Motion to leave on the table was made by Councilor Rossi and seconded by Councilor Mineo. The vote was 11-0 in favor. 2. TO-2014-19 -Voucher List($400.29) Motion was made to approve this item by Councilor Cichetti and seconded by Councilors Rossi and Suffriti. The voice vote was 11-0 in favor. Item]]. New Business 1. TOR-2014-7 - An Ordinance to amend certain fees in the Park and Recreation Department(Mayor) Next Agenda. • 2. TOR-2014-5 - An Ordinance to amend certain fees in the Park and Recreation Department(Mayor) Next Agenda. • Item 12. Any other matter that may legally come before the Q&Council. Councilor Letellier and Councilor Bitzas announced the annual Agawam Rotary's Harvest Festival and Family Fun Day on October 180'. Over $3000 in cash and prize • raffles and a 50150 raffle to benefit the YMCA. Please attend — it should be a great day again this year. 4 • • Adiournment. The Motion to adjourn was moved and seconded with all in favor of adjourning. Time of adjournment 8:37pm • • • • • • • • 5