CC MTG MINUTES JUNE 2 2008 REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING OF THE AGAWAM CITY COUNCIL
JUNE 2, 2008
President Letellier—Good evening and welcome to the June 2, 2008 regular meeting of
the Agawam City Council.
Item L Citizen's freak Time
President Letellier-Our first item of agenda is Citizen's Speak Time. We have two speakers.
Our first is Helen Chester. Welcome to the microphone. For those of you who may not have
spoken before,there is a five minute time period and the Council Clerk will let you know. Please
state your name and address for the record.
Helen Chester—Helen Chester, 320 Barry Street. Last week I read in the paper many
observances for Memorial Day, one of which was at the Springfield Street Cemetery. There are
two I don't know if everybody is aware of that, one of them being the Old Feeding Hills
Cemetery circa around 1700. Some years ago that was taken care of by the DPW although it was
their obligation to do so. I visited there and it's in very disrepair, it's very shameful. I don't
know if the DPW or the Community Preservation or some department could do something to sort
of you know fix it up a little. It wouldn't take much. It's a very small cemetery. Maybe the
Beautification Committee or somebody and I would be hopeful that the Council could look into
that. Thank you.
President Letellier—Thank you Mrs. Chester. We have a couple of CPA Committee members
here and we have the Beautification Committee here so hopefully we'll follow up on that. Thank
you. Next we have Gary Suffriti.
Gary Suffriti—Hi. Gary Suffriti. I live at 228 Adams Street and I'm here in response to an
article I seen yesterday in the Springfield paper about Six Flags and about this Board making the
height requirements different to 200 feet instead of 75 feet and I gotta tell you, I had a hard time
working today because in my mind I'm saying to myself,it absolutely had nothing at all to do
with the height requirement why that ride or Six Flags was held up. It was held up because of Six
Flags and I'm gonna tell you I talked to the Chairman this afternoon of the Board of Appeals.
She was rather shocked that she did not know anything about it until the newspaper gentleman
called her up to ask her her input on it. I don't understand why this Board did not inquire or ask
us to come to the meeting as a Board of Appeal member to find out exactly what took place. I
take real issue with that because this was a serious situation what took place and it seemed like
they wanted to put the ax on the Board of Appeals saying we did not our jobs in a timely fashion.
We were holding them up. We asked them from the time they submitted their paperwork for a set
of drawings. We did not have a complete set of drawings for four months—a complete set. And
also,and I didn't really prepare nothing,but I'm just gonna hit on a few items. One is name one
other time Six Flags ever was inconvenienced. Ever! Not once. As a matter of fact,this Board
had two Special Meetings. I had to leave my job during the day to go meet there just so they
could continue or to go forward in this process which was no problem. I'd do it for them. You
know what I mean but to come back and say we were holding them up. This was a unique ride.
It was a building. It just wasn't a ride. And I will tell you right now,thank God Joe Conte
brought this up and our Building Inspector looked into it to find out to make sure that the egresses
were proper. And they weren't, he wouldn't give them the Building Permit,they went to the
State to Safety Regulation Committee. I'm gonna read, this was the Final Report on it and they
actually shot them down, Six Flags, saying it was not adequate. It says Board Members rule that
an additional stair needs to be designed and installed to satisfy means of egress requirements as
established by 780 CMR. They were concerned that,this is the Board now;they were concerned
that patrons may be trapped at high elevations without means of escaping the building during an
emergency event. It says patterns of device measure only about 24 inches in width which would
make it difficult for patrons and others to successfully exit the device and building in a timely
manner particularly with smoking and air conditioning. They voted unanimous against this ride.
• And I applaud Joe Conte, Board Member of the Board of Appeals and our Building Inspector,
Nick Urbinati, `cuz he stuck his neck out on this, all for the safety of the people not only of
Agawam but in surrounding communities that use this. The point I'm making is the Board and
the height had nothing at all to do with the hold up of this ride, it was Six Flags, and I don't mean
to beat up Six Flags, but their poor planning made it,they try constituting an emergency on the
• Boards and that absolutely was wrong. We did everything they could. And lastly, I got a,we all,
before one meeting, we got an envelope from a State Representative and I opened it up and what
was read in there basically said what is the problem with you guys? Pass this thing. I took issue
with that. I called him up after that meeting and I explained to him exactly what was going on
because I said why wouldn't you call me and ask or a board member and ask what is going on
here? Why is there a problem with them getting the permit? So when I explained everything to
him when I was done he actually apologized and he says I did not know and shame on me for not
asking you or any other board members. I'm saying here tonight I hope that this Council would
at least have another meeting with the members of the Board of Appeals to find out exactly what
happened and the time frames of everything that took place because this Board worked hard.
You guys nominate us,you guys elect us and we've worked hard for this Town to make sure
everything was right.
Clerk—One minute please.
Gary Suffriti-And also for the business. We weren't trying to hold them up. We did
everything we could to pass this for them. So I hope that this Board would before you present
• this for vote, at least have another meeting and bring us together here. Thank you.
President Letellier—Thank you Mr. Suffriti.
Item 2. Roll Call
President Letellier—Barbara could you please call the roll?
ROLL CALL—9 Present, 2 Absent(Councilors Simpson and Young)
President Letellier—With nine present and two absent,we have a quorum. Councilor Simpson
had previously indicated she would be out of town and Councilor Young had emailed me to say
• he'd be running a little late but he will be here as soon as he can.
Item 3. Moment of Silence and the Pledge of Allegiance
President Letellier—Could you please rise for a Moment of Silence and the Pledge of
Allegiance?
Item 4.Minutes
Rmular Council Meeting-May 1932008
President Letellier—Do I have a motion? Moved by Councilor Calabrese, seconded by
Councilor Rossi. Any discussion? Corrections? Amendments? No? Seeing none,a voice vote
will suffice. All those in favor please signify by saying Ay? Opposed? Abstentions? Thank
you,
Item 5. Declaration from Council President
President Letellier--At the end of the meeting during any other business, I'm going to ask each
of the Councilors to indicate if they can be here on our July Th meeting. That's the official
because the Monday is the official holiday, if we're not gonna have sufficient numbers I would
think about rescheduling that meeting to July 13"'so that we have sufficient numbers to pass
i some important items. So wait until we get to the last item and Iet me know. Thank you.
Item 6. Presentation of Petitions,Memorials&Remonstrances
(a) Resolutions
1. TR-2008-20 -A Resolution Reguestine the Mayor to Appropriate Funds
for the Board of Appeals to Employ Outside Counsel for the Appeal of the Special
Permit Granted to Six Flags New England. Council Majork o those Present and
vo& Tabled 5/19/08
President Letellier--Do we have a motion? Moved to leave on the table by Councilor Rheault,
seconded by Councilor Perry and Councilor Cavallo. Barbara, could you please call the roll?
ROLL CALL--7 Yes, 2 No (Councilors Bitzas and Calabrese), 2 Absent(Councilors Simpson
and Young)
President Letellier—With 7 yes,2 no,the item remains on the table and Councilor Young has
just come in.
2. TR-2008-27 -A Resolution Adoptiny,the Fiscal Year 2009—2013 Capital
Improvement Program (Set Public Rearing Date—June 16,2008)(Ma or
(Referred to the Finance Committee) (Maioritp of those present and vogyg2
President Letellier—That public hearing has been set to June 16'h and the item will remain on
the agenda until June 161"
3. TR-2008-28 -A Resolution Adopting the Fiscal Year 2009 Annual
Overatinz Budget for the Town of Agawam (Set Public Hearing Date-June 16,
2008)(Mayor)(A1'aiority of those present and voting)
President Letellier—Again,that public hearing has been set for June 16, 2008 and we'll hear the
item then.
4. TR-2008-29 -A Resolution AyRroving Sewer Use Rates Fixed by the
Departmentof Public Works)(Mayor)(Referred to the Public Safety Committee_
and the Finance Committee OLqkrity of those present and votin
President Letellier--That item was referred to the Public Safety Committee and the Finance
Committee which is not meeting on this until June 4th which is Thursday so I believe a tabling
motion will be in order unless there's any discussion tonight. Moved by Councilor Cavallo,
seconded by Councilor Rossi. Barbara, could you please call the roll? A yes vote is to table the
item until June 16*1.
ROLL CALL-- 10 Yes, 1 Absent(Councilor Simpson)
President Letellier—With ten yes, one absent, we've tabled the item. I did double check with
the Mayor's office to have them call DPW to make sure that Mr. Stone would be here for the
Council to ask questions at the next meeting.
Item Z Report of Council Committees
(a) Rules & Regulations—Councilor Calabrese
Councilor Calabrese—Yes. The Rules and Regulations Committee did not meet this last
quarter. That's the version of my report.
(b) Utilities & Street Acceptance—Councilor Mineo
Councilor Mineo—No matters came before our sub-committee. Thank you.
(c) Licenses—Councilor Rossi
Councilor Rossi—Thank you. We've had no real major issues come before the
Licensing Board other than the rather routine permits and licenses. So there really isn't
anything to report.
(d) Public Safety—Councilor Perry
Councilor Perry—Yes, thank you Madam President. We had one issue that was brought
before us this past quarter. That was TR-2008-22 A Resolution to Establish a No Parking
Zone on Westview Lane and Burlington Drive which my committee met on May S`".
Councilor Rheault was present at the meeting with myself and Councilor Rossi was on
vacation at the time. The following meeting that was tabled. We did not have a formal
meeting after that but our committee members did discuss it and made a recommendation
to the Council and the no parking was passed. Thank you.
(e) Ordinances--Councilor Rheault
Councilor Rheault—Yes. The Ordinance Committee met in May at least once and
perhaps twice. I have minutes from the May 20`h meeting. Myself as chair, Councilor
Calabrese and Councilor Cavallo as members were there as well as Council President
Letellier and Councilor Jill Messick. We discussed the sign ordinance and not to create
problems for small businesses that arose as a result of the ordinance. We worked on
some language. Currently it is in front of the Town's Attorney for drafting and we have a
meeting I believe on the 1 lth to further discuss the language the Town Attorney came up
i
with. The intention is certainly not to hurt any small business. We're trying to get by
that and we're not sure of the final outcome of that yet. We also discussed parking near
Six Flags and we will be further discussing that as well. I met with the Town Attorney
and we looked at some suggestions from Councilor Rossi and a few others regarding that.
Councilor Messick also has provided some input as well as Council President. That's not
finalized and hopefully at that meeting we'll come to some kind of a conclusion as well.
The third item that we also discussed was the height limitations of Six Flags and I with
respect to Gary Suffriti, I think he misread into that article totally what the whole concept
of our discussion was with Six Flags.
Gary Suffriti— If we were at the meeting, we'd know.
0 Councilor Rheault—Well,you're welcome to come to the next one which is the 11t' so
we hadn't come to any conclusion or brought anything in front of the council. But what
we did it was just to talk about the 45 feet that's all. It didn't have nothing to do with
what they admitted and if you read the paper carefully, I said they were at fault for not
corning and nothing is gonna change as far as the restrictions coming for permits. The
only thing that we addressed was one simple thing, was the height issue which they felt
• comfortable and so did we. But you're welcome to come to that meeting and have your
input. I met with Attorney Johnson on that as well and he thought maybe an entire
zoning ordinance for amusements parks might be in order and I disagree with that. I
think we can simplify the footage and the reason ...and he's drafting language in that
respect as well. And that concludes the remarks from the Committee.
•
(f) Zoning Review—Councilor Messick
Councilor Messick—Nothing was referred to the Zoning Sub-Committee officially.
However as Councilor Rheault had indicated I have been involved in meetings with the
Ordinance Committee and we do have a joint Zoning and Ordinance Meeting coming up
on June 11'h in which we'll discuss the things that he just mentioned. So, hopefully we
can move forward on some of these issues. Thank you.
(g) Finance—Councilor Young
•
Councilor Young—Yes, thank you. Finance Committee has been very busy the first
part of this year, including. So busy in fact and now with the budget upon us, I'm going
to ask if I could move my report to next meeting. Like I said there's so much to
accumulate and report out on that I haven't had the time to put that together. So if we
could do that next week I would appreciate it.
President Letellier—We don't need a formal tabling vote but we'll have you speak prior
to the budget deliberations. Thank you.
(h) Industrial Relations—Councilor Perry
Councilor Perry—Nothing was referred to our committee this quarter. Thank you.
•
•
(i) Ad Hoe Sewers—Councilor Mineo
Councilor Mineo—We did meet in January and February and we were looking at setting
up an Enterprise Fund which did pass. We looked at the Sewer District which did not
pass. I will be setting a meeting up shortly after speaking with Jack Stone and I'm sure
everybody saw in the newspaper that only 7%of folks that live in the affected areas have
responded to the brochure/questionnaire which is very weak. We were hoping for a
bigger response. And we'll be meeting shortly. That's A. Thank you.
0) Ad Hoe Recreation—Councilor Bitzas
Councilor Bitzas—Nothing this quarter.
(k) Ad Hoe CPA—Councilor Simpson
President Letellier—And Councilor Simpson is not here so we will reserve the CPA
Committee review for that next meeting.
•
Item 8. Elections
None
Item 9. Public Hearings
None
Item IQ Old Business
• 1` T_O-2008-20 -Voucher List($3,350.00)LMaiority of those present and
votin
President Letellier—That is for legal fees to Bacon& Wilson. Do we have a motion? Moved
by Councilor Rossi, seconded by Councilor Perry and I'll send that out right now. Barbara, could
you please call the roll?
•
ROLL CALL— 10 Yes, 1 Absent(Councilor Simpson)
President Letellier—Thank you. I'm sorry here I just mixed up my notes. Forgive me for a
second. Here we go.
2. TO-2008-21 -Order Granting or Renewing a LICENSE for Junk Dealers
—T's Jewelers Zinovy Tokman 559 Springfield Street Feeding Hills MA. Clerk
(Referred to the License Committee) (Majority of those present and votine)
President Letellier—Do we have a motion? Moved by Councilor Rossi, seconded by Councilor
Rheault. Do we have a report from the Licensing Committee?
Councilor Rossi—Yes. I find that there is nothing unusual with the application and I made a
•
recommendation to the Board that it move forward.
President Letellier—Thank you. Any further discussion on the junk dealer license? No?
Seeing none, Barbara,could you please call the roll?
ROLL CALL— 10 Yes, 1 Absent(Councilor Simpson)
President Letellier—With ten yes,one absent,we've approved the junk dealer's license.
Item 11. New Business
President Letellier—We have quite a full meeting next meeting on the I 6I'. Just a reminder,we
have a budget public hearing,we have the capital improvement public hearing, we have the water
and sewer rate public hearing and we also have...
1. TE-2008-4 -Election of a member of the Community Preservation Act
Committee,also being a representative from the Housing Authority, to complete an
Unexpired Term Expiring April 30,2010. (Council) (Maiority of those present and
votin
President Letellier—That's next agenda.
2. . TR-2008-30 -A Resolution_Authorizine the Declaration_ of Robinson Park
Day(Councilor Rossi)(MaLori .of those present and voting)
President Letellier—Next agenda.
3. TR-2008-31 -A Resolution Appropriating from the Community
Preservation Fund and Authorizinithe ExRenditure of Com_munM Preservation
Funds for the Preservation of Land for Recreational use for Property owned by the
Town of A awam which is located at Benjamin Phel M School. CPA Ma
! those resent and votin
President Letellier—That's to replace the burned down Playscape. Next agenda.
4. TR 2008-32 -A Resolution Confirming the Appointment of Joan Caney,
! 886 Main Street,Apt. #37 Agawam,MA,to the Agawam-Housing Authority for an
Unexpired Term Expiring the Second Monday in January,2010. (Mayor)[Morn
of those present and voting
President Letellier—That's next agenda.
5. TR-2008-33 -A Resolution Authorizin the Pos tine of the Warrant for
the State Primary Election of SeeRtember 16,2008 and the State and Presidential
Election of November 4,2008. (Mayor) (Maiority of those present and voting}
President Letellier—Next agenda.
6. TR-2008-34 -A Resolution Apl2ropriating from the Communi
Preservation Fund and Authorizing the Expenditure of Community Preservation
Funds in the Amount of$5,000 for the Preservation,Rehabilitation and Restoration
of Historic Resources,Namely the School Street Barn as Provided for Under the
Historic_Resources Section of the CommunityPreservation Act. (CPA) (Majority of
those present and voting)
President Letellier—Next agenda.
7. _ TOR-2008-1 - Ordinance Amendins Section 49-7 of the Code of the Town
of Agawam to change the Title of"Council Clerk"to "Administrative Assistant to
the City Council" (Council)(113) (Majority of thosegresent and voting)
President Letellier—Again,next agenda.
8. TO-2008-22 -Transfer-S53 680.42 from Reserve Fund (16605-57300)to
Court Judgments(11512-52194)(Mayor)(Majority of Full Council—6 votes)
President Letellier—That's next agenda. And I'm sorry those prior CPA Resolutions, I'm going
to refer to the CPA Ad Hoc Committee all in one_ Thank you.
9. TR-2008-36 -A Resolution Amendin the Agawam Ci Council Rules
and Regulations to Chan a the Title_of"Council_Clerk"to"Administrative
Assistant to the City Council" (Council) (Maiority those present and voting)
President Letellier—Next agenda.
10. TR-2008-37 -A Resolution Authorizing the Reservation of Funds from
the Community Preservation Fund CPA) (Majorih o those resent and votin
President Letellier—Again, we'll refer to the CPA Ad Hoc Committee. That's next agenda.
11.. T_R-2008-38 -A Resolution Authorizing the Appropriation of Funds from
the Community Preservation Fund CPA 6yaLorAty o those Present and votin
President Letellier—Again,we'll refer to the CPA Ad Hoc Committee. That's next agenda.
12. TR-2008-39 -A Resolution Authorizing the Appropriation of Funds from
the Community Preservation Fund (CPA) (Majority ofthose Present and voting
President Letellier—Again,we'll refer to the CPA Ad Hoc Committee. That's next agenda.
Item.12. Any other matter that map lezally come he ore the 9 Council
President Letellier—So we'll be in for a nice meeting on the 16". And we have any other
s matter that may come before the Council,just as a reminder. Again,please indicate whether or
not you can be present on July 7`h. If not, we'll think about moving it to July 136. We'll start
with Councilor Mineo.
Councilor Mineo—Nothing tonight but I should be around for the meeting.
President Letellier—Okay,thank you. Councilor Cavallo?
Councilor Cavallo—I'm not sure. I'll have to double check,but the 13"'you said?
President Letellier—Would be the next weep,the next following Monday.
Councilor Cavallo—July 13"`is on a Sunday.
President Letellier—Oh, I'm sorry then it would be the 14"'.
Councilor Cavallo—That I could make but I'I1 cal I you and let you know.
•
President Letellier—So could you double check that calendar? Did I do the math wrong. But
the Iegal holiday is July 7'h? So I'm sorry we'll be meeting July 8 h Tuesday cuz the legal holiday
would be the 7". So it would be July S'b Tuesday OR July 13'h?
• Councilor Cavallo—I'll let you know.
President Letellier—Okay, so we have one yes and one maybe.
Councilor Calabrese—Are you sure that that's a holiday? Cuz Independence Day falls on a
Friday.
President Letellier—Oh, I'm sorry. So it would be the 7 h. Maybe some people are still away
on vacation that week. So one yes for the 7"'and one maybe, Councilor Rossi?
Councilor Rossi—Thank you. Yes, I should be around for the meeting. I don't foresee a
schedule problem. Can we get a letter off to Jack Stone and find out what the status is of that
cemetery up in Feeding Hills and find out whose responsibility it is to maintain it. And if they are
maintaining it and if not,they need to make arrangements to find somebody to maintain it? Can
we get that off Madam President?
President Letellier—Yes. Absolutely. Councilor Rheault?
* Councilor Rheault--I had something I wanted to ask. Oh, regarding that TR-2008-31. 1 believe
that was vandalized and I wondered if we had ever apprehended the...
President Letellier—Yes. My understanding is that the Town has sought restitution in addition
to fixing what was on fire if you look at your notes in the packet,they also want to fix the surface
and do some more updates as well. Yes, definitely the Town did seek restitution but I'm sure it's
still in the process of Juvenile Court. But I can ask the Mayor for an update on that. Barbara
could you just... Thank you.
Councilor Rheault—I had something else but I can't figure out what it was.
President Letellier—We can come back to you. Okay, we'll come back to you. Will you be
here for the meeting?
Councilor Rheault—I intent to be.
President Letellier—Thank you. Councilor Perry?
Councilor Perry—The 7"'is fine for me. And just a couple quick things. We did receive a
couple letters in our packets. One in regards to and I'm glad that Councilor Rheault in his reports
on the Ordinance are looking into the transient parking. We did get that letter with pictures
accompanying it so I wanted to bring that up but he addressed that so I'm glad you're looking
into that. We also got a letter in regards to Dova Estates projects off of Silver Street and I will
look into that and if need be call a meeting with the Public Safety Committee in regards to it. I
think everybody did receive that.
President Letellier—Thank you Councilor Perry.
Councilor Perry—Also I just wanted to address, I got a call last week I believe it was on a
Wednesday from some people up on Wagon Wheel Drive in regards to a water notice shut off
due to some work being done on that street. The notice was delivered at 4:00 in the afternoon
stating that 8:00am the following day that their water would be shut off until S:OOpm. I really
have a problem with that type of notice. Fortunately that day,that next day,the work was
cancelled. I got a call just before the meeting that another notice was delivered today at 4:00 and
water will be shut off at 7:30am tomorrow until 5:00pm the following,that afternoon. So it's
gonna go off tomorrow at 7:30am and not come back on until 5:00pm tomorrow afternoon. That
is inexcusable as far as Fm concerned and we need to address that. I will personally write a letter
to Jack Stone in regards to this. Is this common practice? I mean,you have to have at least forty-
eight hours notice as far as I'm concerned to prepare for something like that. You know most of
us, I normally don't get home from work until 6—6:30 at night and to have a notice delivered at 4
is ridiculous. I think we really need to and I will write a letter and you know, it just blows my
mind that they would do something like that. To treat residents like that,the taxpayers,is
ridiculous. And lastly,to touch on ZBA member Gary Suffriti's comments tonight. I...also,I
know we've talked and I think we need to look at and I'm glad that the Ordinance Committee
hopefully along with the Zoning Committee will look into regulations. I mean we're a unique
i� community in Massachusetts to have an amusement park in our town. They are a good neighbor.
I know this past late spring, late winter,early spring, with the ride being postponed and pushed
back,you know and eventually not coming out,that hopefully we can come together as Boards—
the City Council, the ZBA, Planning, Six Flags—to come up with some ordinances that we can
work together on so the park can continue to grow but also abide by the laws and ordinances that
we put forth. As I say,we're unique because we're looking to state law to try and follow on some
of things, there's nothing there. You know like the coaster,the indoor coaster they wanted to put
up,there's nothing in our state laws that regulate that so we're in no-mans land here and I think
we need to work together, all the boards,to come up with solutions. Thank you.
President Letellier—Thank you. Councilor Messick?
Councilor Messick—I should be able to make the July meeting. And just a little bit of additional
information in regards to what Councilor Perry just said. Six Flags is very unique. Agawam is
unique in having an amusement park right here. Actually Councilor Calabrese had spoken to me
and to Larry about looking into other towns in Connecticut who do have amusements parks
similar types of things and what kind of zoning they have and looking at maybe adopting that, not
wholesale but parts of it that might fit our circumstances here. And the goal is to continue to have
a very good working relationship with Six Flags going forward. So you'll be hearing more about
that in the future. Thank you.
President Letellier—Thank you. Councilor Bitzas?
Councilor Bitzas—The seventh meeting is fine with me. Nothing tonight.
President Letellier—Thank you. Councilor Young?
Councilor Young—Also,the meeting, either date in July is fine,nothing else,thank you.
President Letellier—Okay,thank you. Councilor Rheault, did you remember what you wanted
to add?
Councilor Rheault—Yes. Actually it's not really related to Council business but I had the
opportunity to watch the championship of the Agawam High School baseball this afternoon. And
they played East Longmeadow at East Longmeadow. They faced East Longmeadow's ace and
East Longmeadow's ace had a one hitter going into the top of the seventh and was ahead of
Agawam 7—U. Believe it or not, Agawam came back with nine runs and beat 9-7. So it was the
most exciting baseball,high school baseball game I've seen and I've seen as you well know,
President Letellier—You've seen a few?
Councilor Rheault -Quite a few! The second thing I have,during last week's budget meeting I
asked a very simple question and for some reason when you ask simple questions of department
heads,they take it personal. I think our job is to ask questions about the budgetary process. We
are check and balance and I take offense when they come back with their remarks or what have
you. But I know that you have a lot to do on your plate, Councilor Young, but I would like you
to check into one thing at this point. I for the life of me don't understand and maybe I'm wrong,
but how does the department head status go from five steps or five tiers to eight? ...mayor or
anybody else. We used to have these in ordinances and those have been removed somehow and I
don't know where they are. And they called because of the labor board and they don't have to
answer to us. Well, I still don't understand that because if you had a friend and well,there's
some other personal stuff I'm not gonna mention but if you call to find out,when and how,that
became a reality because those salaries have now climbed significantly and I'd like to,big time is
right, but I just don't see how that can happen without this Board taking a role in it. I'm not
saying we wouldn't agree to it, but just do it and then say okay you gotta fund it. I don't, I'm not
so sure that's right so if in your spare time,you'd look that up I'd appreciate it.
President Letellier—I have a partial response to that but I'll wait until Councilor Calabrese
speaks. Councilor Calabrese?
Councilor Calabrese—Yes. First of all, thank you for the heads up on the water shut off. I
happen to live in that area and it would be great to know that. I'm so glad you mentioned that.
Also, in response to what you've done for,with Six Flags. They are a good neighbor here in
town and Gary,I appreciate your comments and I do feel you took a meaning from our actions
that was never intended. I just wanted to say that and finally I know we have a lot on our plate
and, but congratulations to our graduates! This is graduation weekend...I'm looking forward to
seeing those who are graduating I wish wonderful things and coming back,to this community to
raise your families. Have a nice evening. Thank you.
President Letellier—One of the things that the Mayor and I had talked about this morning in our
regular meeting was the raises for department heads. And what she indicated to me was the prior
mayor had placed an ordinance and we approved an additional tier because a certain department
head had gone out and received another advanced degree. Then that was our intent was to reward
someone for getting an advanced degree. Then the mayor—Cohen—then used this as an
46 opportunity to give raises to other people who did not in fact have the advanced degree that the
additional tier was supposed to compensate.
Councilor Rheault—There were three additional tiers.
President Letellier—Yes. And so that is what we're looking into because we did talk about that
this morning and she did remind me that in the fall we did pass one new tier. We certainly did
not pass three new tiers. So I can also, Councilor Young I know you're looking into that,but I'll
try to follow up with the Mayor and the Solicitor on that as well.
Councilor Rossi—Madam President?
President Letellier—Yes?
Councilor Rossi—If I may,those tiers have been removed the Code books for some reason,they
are no where to be found.
President Letellier—Right. I know there are no ordinances that match those new tiers.
Councilor Rossi—I've looked all around and they're not in there. Well,how come there wasn't
any-?
President Letellier--Right. Well because I don't think we passed them!
Councilor Rossi—Even the work tiers aren't in there. Are the old tiers in there?
Councilor Rheault--They're gone.
Councilor Rossi—Any information pertaining to department head salaries has been removed
from the Code Book.
President Letellier—All right. I'll see what I can find out tomorrow. We've got two weeks but
I'll get started on it. Yes, Councilor Cavallo?
Councilor Cavallo--I'm very, very puzzled by that because financially that someone could have
an advanced degree and therefore we created a tier?
President Letellier--That was the rationale that was given to us last fall.
Councilor Cavallo-I mean the only way a tier ...is in the...where they have steps and degree
levels and so forth...say that you have a fifth tier if you have a Bachelor's Degree or you have a
sixth tier if you have a Master's Degree, I mean how do you just arbitrarily just say you want
more money because they have advanced degree and yet you don't have any criteria for all
department heads. Some department heads may not have a degree some may have gotten them, I
don't know. But to me it seems like, it just doesn't make any sense to me.
President Letellier—I think we probably all on the same page in that but these contracts were
signed when the old mayor was in office and we have to honor them or we're breaking people's
contracts.
Councilor Cavallo- It's unfortunate.
President Letellier—It is very unfortunate and like I said my recollection is that we did pass an
additional tier and it was to put this person more in line with persons with similar degrees that
i
were on the School Department that were at similar tiers. The additional department heads that
got raises do not have that same IeveI of education and again it was a contractual item that the
Council doesn't sign contracts. The Mayor signs contracts.
Councilor Cavallo-Aren't they a union? Like the teachers? Are they a union or are they an
association?
President Letellier—They're in the department head union. I will do my best to get to the
• bottom of this as soon as possible. But we did talk about it this morning and I'll try to get more
information. Anything else? Do we have a motion to adjourn? Moved by Councilor Rossi and
seconded by Councilor Rheault. All those in favor please signify by saying Ay. All opposed?
Thank you.
# Adiournment
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