Committee of the Whole

SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - MINUTES City Municipal Building | Council Chambers 295 Meridian Street, Groton, CT 06340 Monday, April 10, 2023 | 6:00 PM Special Committee of the Whole Minutes Mayor Keith Hedrick, Deputy Mayor Gweneviere Depot, Councilor Rashaad Carter, Councilor Lisa McCabe, Councilor Paul Norris, Councilor Christine Piazza and Councilor Stephen Sheffield Mayor Keith Hedrick called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. I. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Keith Hedrick, Deputy Mayor Gweneviere Depot, Councilor Paul Norris, Councilor Stephen Sheffield, Councilor Lisa McCabe, Councilor Christine Piazza, and Finance Director Ron Yuhas. Excused: Councilor Rashaad Carter II. RECOGNITION, AWARDS AND MEMORIALS Mayor Hedrick read the Proclamation announcing National Safety Telecommunications Week as April 9th – April 15th, 2023. III. NEW BUSINESS OR REFERRALS: A. CITY BUDGET PRESENTATIONS Human Resources: Mayor Hedrick stated that the Human Resources budget will be presented at the next meeting. Fire: Chief Tompkins presented the Fire Department budget explaining the increase to Professional Development to $16,000. In anticipation of Sr. Captain Mark Cassidy retiring next year and in order to have a more diverse workforce, he would like to offer Fire Academy training for the new candidate. Councilor Sheffield asked what H&H stood for. Chief Tompkins stated that it is for Heart & Hypertension for retired and active volunteer staff. The placeholder is $50,000, but it is hard to determine how much will be used any given year. At one time per State Statute this had to be offered, but since has been sunsetted, there are past and current employees receiving these funds. Deputy Mayor Depot asked about pension volunteer and what it is used for. Chief Tompkins said volunteers can use this plan but they don’t anticipate any more joining. There is plenty of money in the plan but they also have to pay a firm to perform the actuary every year. Deputy Mayor Depot asked why the facility materials and supplies fluctuated from year to year. Chief Tompkins stated that at one point in time they had repairs to the HVAC systems. SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2023 There was discussion regarding program equipment, i.e. gear purchases, and encumbered funds of $15,000 in FY22. Finance Director Yuhas will look into why it is zero (0) for FY22, suspects it was encumbered. Deputy Mayor Depot asked about the increase to reserve funds. Chief Tompkins explained that the purchase of fire vehicles is costly and we are underfunded, so funds were moved from contractual services to vehicles which Mayor Hedrick concurred. Councilor Piazza asked if there was any training in place to prevent heart and hypertension. Chief Tompkins said that there is a gym available to the staff and also peer programs. Discussion ensued about the costs of contractual services and how union negotiations is every 3 years so the funds fluctuate. Chief Tompkins explained how the stipends work and the sell back of holiday time. Councilor Norris asked why there was no equipment cost increases for FY24. He also asked how the process worked to add money to a line item on the budget before it is approved. Chief Tompkins explained about the turnout gear that is used and needed for the new fiscal year. Mayor Hedrick stated that if the Council wanted to change a line item it would be part of the last Committee of the Whole meeting before final approval of the budget process. Administration: Mayor Hedrick presented the Administration budget to the Council. Mayor Hedrick stated that City Day funds were increased from $5000 to $6500 and it will fall under Parks & Recreation account. An example of Beautification would be City Cleanup Day which this year is on 4/22. We are also looking at doing a parade next year for one of the events. Deputy Mayor Depot asked about revenue from City Day and no funds were posted for FY22. Finance Director Yuhas will look into it. Mayor Hedrick discussed the increase in the Mayor’s salary from $85,000 to $95,000. This salary has not been increased in the last few years. Mayor Hedrick discussed the Utility & Fuel line item, increased budget due to overage of disputed data plan. Professional Development increased due to training for the incoming City Clerk and current Executive Administrator. Page 2 SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2023 Mayor Hedrick explained the increase to the Contractual Services due to website upgrade and legal fees regarding Branford Manor. Deputy Mayor Depot asked about City Day and funding sources in FY22 are zero but FY23 there are revenues. There was discussed regarding revenues from City Day going into General Fund and how expenses are paid. Finance Director Yuhas will look into this, he also explained the increase from $5000 to $6500 and Mary Hill, Parks & Recreation Director can explain in more detail. Deputy Mayor Depot asked how the annual wage increase works for employees and specifically if the new City Clerk is coming in at a higher rate. Finance Director Yuhas explained this is budget amount but not the actual pay that would go out. The process of increases depends on if it is a Union contract or not and when the new hire starts. The non-union will get the annual increase at their annual date of hire. Mayor Hedrick explained the $13,000 for elections and how he has been working with the Town of Groton to get the true cost of them handling the November election. He expects it to come in lower but wanted to be sure he had enough in the budget just in case. Councilor Norris asked about the upgrade to the website and about the cost spread out over the next four years and the purchasing policy. Mayor Hedrick stated that this was done to keep the budget down and there will be a presentation later in April about the upgrade. The implementation will start in the current fiscal year and go into the next fiscal year. Thames Street programs were discussed and whose budget does this go into. Finance Director Yuhas stated it depends whose event it is. Most events will come out of Parks & Recreation budget. Mayor discussed the tentative plans with the upper and lower parks on Thames Street. Councilor Norris asked if FY24 was budgeted for any of these events. Mayor Hedrick stated that some of it is in the Parks & Recreation budget and still discussing with Thames View Street team. IV. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn made by Councilor McCabe second by Councilor Piazza. All in favor. Motion carried. 5-0-0 Mayor Hedrick adjourned the meeting at 7:04 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVED: Danielle Baycura City Clerk Page 3