Committee of the Whole

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - MINUTES City Municipal Building | Council Chambers 295 Meridian Street, Groton, CT 06340 Monday, November 27, 2023 | 6:00 PM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - Minutes Mayor Keith Hedrick, Deputy Mayor Gweneviere Depot, Councilor Erin Artale, Councilor Paul Norris, Councilor Tony Patterson, Councilor Christine Piazza and Councilor Stephen Sheffield and City Clerk Dani Baycura Meeting may be viewed in full on GMTV Youtube. Mayor Hedrick called meeting to order at 6:01pm. I. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Hedrick, Deputy Mayor Depot (via Zoom), Councilor Patterson, Councilor Piazza, Councilor Artale, Councilor Sheffield, Councilor Norris and Finance Director Yuhas. II. NEW BUSINESS OR REFERRALS: A. Groton Sail Project Rear Adm. John Padgett, Mark Oefinger, Jim Streeter and Rick Norris, gave presentation on the Groton Sail Project status. Included in the information given was committee members, brief history, selected location, funding overview, design, paver sales and donation contributions. Anyone interested in learning more about project is encouraged to visit www.grotonsail.com. B. Groton Utilities GU Director Gaudet provided information on the following requested services. 1. Harris Computer Systems Inc – NorthStar Billing System This is the renewal cost for service and maintenance of the billing software utilized by Groton Utilities and Bozrah Light & Power Customer Service. Motion to Move to Mayor and Council meeting of December 4, 2023, made by Councilor Sheffield, second by Councilor Piazza. Motion carried, 6-0-0. 2. Medici LLC - Lobbying Services Annual fee for continuing professional lobby services provided by Medici LLC. Councilors were introduced to lobbyist Marc DiBella, who summarized efforts will continue to support legislation that benefits Groton Utilities. Motion to Move to Mayor and Council meeting of December 4, 2023, made by Councilor Norris, second by Councilor Piazza. Motion carried, 6-0-0. 3. Tyndale Company – Clothing Allowance Per the electrical workers’ union contract, Groton Utilities is responsible for supplying an allowance for Flame Resistant uniforms. This amount covers FY2024. Motion to Move to Mayor and Council meeting of December 4, 2023, made by Councilor Sheffield, second by Councilor Norris. Motion carried, 6-0-0. 1  COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - MINUTES City Municipal Building | Council Chambers 295 Meridian Street, Groton, CT 06340 4. Trimble – Energy Distribution Software Requesting to add services to already established utility software that will enable more portability to the Electric Department. Trucks with this software will have live maps to better track and address outages quicker, amongst other benefits. Motion to Move to Mayor and Council meeting of December 4, 2023, made by Councilor Piazza, second by Councilor Sheffield. Motion carried, 6-0-0. C. Finance 1. Groton Utilities Monthly Report Finance Director Yuhas gave an overall fiscal year-to-date summary of income and expenses for water, sewer and electric. General discussion ensued on reasons for some budget variances. 2. City Summary of Expenditures Review of the Expenditure Summary reflected on target budget trending across all departments; there is no significant variance nor budget overage thus far in the fiscal year. D. Bridge Street Parcel City Planner Creane gave information regarding the acceptance of a land parcel released by the State of CT. Having control of this parcel, that the City typically maintains, relieves the City from having to apply for encroachment permits and other permissions. Council was made aware at this time the proper procedure for accepting the property was not followed; City Council would typically vote prior to acquiring land or not. Planner Creane expressed the mistake was nothing more than human oversight. It was recommended a checklist be created and followed to avoid similar occurrence in future. E. Parking Hearing Officer Chief Burton informed on necessity of a Hearing Officer as part of Parking Enforcement, to hear and make judgement on contested parking tickets. The position is voluntary only; not a paid position. Queries have been sent to interested potential candidates, with hopes of appointing someone in very near future. F. Council Rules It was decided to review the current Rules and Procedures of Council as they are written and suggest/discuss any changes at the Committee of the Whole meeting in January 2024. Recommendation was made to establish procedure when Rules and Procedures are to be voted on. G. Group Committees Mayor Hedrick gave Councilors the pending list of Group Committee allocations. Councilor Sheffield, Councilor Piazza, and Deputy Mayor Depot volunteered to make up the Rules Committee. Clerk Baycura provided an example of how the Group Committee Meetings could change should Council opt for convening for two meetings as opposed to six. 2  COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - MINUTES City Municipal Building | Council Chambers 295 Meridian Street, Groton, CT 06340 III, EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion to Enter Executive Session made by Councilor Sheffield, second by Councilor Piazza. Motion carried, 6-0-0. Enter into Executive Session pursuant CGS 1-200 6(A) Personnel – Fire Department Present: Mayor and Council, Chief Tompkins, Matthew Parizo, Kelly Gillis IN: 8:00pm OUT: 8:16pm IV. ADJOURNMENT Motion to Adjourn made by Councilor Piazza, second by Councilor Sheffield. Motion carried, 6-0-0. 3