Committee of the Whole

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - Minutes City Municipal Building | Council Chambers 295 Meridian Street, Groton, CT 06340 Monday, February 24, 2025 | 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 The following minutes meet all requirements under CT FOIA for public meetings and is not a transcript of the meeting. Please visit Groton Municipal Television on YouTube to view the meeting in further detail. Mayor Hedrick called the meeting to order at 6:00pm. I. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Hedrick, Deputy Mayor Depot, Councilor Piazza, Councilor Artale and Councilor Sheffield. Absent: Councilor Norris and Councilor Patterson. II. NEW BUSINESS OR REFERRAL A. Economic Development 1. HeatSmart Groton Presentation Groton Utilities Conservation and Sustainability Manager Bill Rees presented the Heat Smart Groton program, a collaboration between the town of Groton, the city of Groton, People's Action for Clean Energy, and Lantern Energy. The program aims to increase the energy efficiency of homes within the Groton Utilities territory through home energy audits and installation incentives, ultimately promoting electrification and heat pumps. Bill highlighted the significant increase in home audits since the program's initiation and encouraged the council members to inform more residents about the program. He also provided handouts in English and Spanish, detailing the three-step process, and shared the Heat Smart Groton website as a resource for further information. There is an Insulation 101 Workshop scheduled for Thursday March 13th at 6:00pm to be held at the Municipal Building. All residents and interested parties are encouraged to attend. B. Parks & Recreation 1. 2024 Beach Season Review Parks and Recreation Director Hill provided an overview of last Summer’s Beach season, highlighting the increase in beach pass sales and the need for more staff to manage the influx of visitors. Director Hill also mentioned plans to improve the beach facilities, including replacing swing sets and benches, and cleaning up the area. The discussion also touched on the need to promote the beach more effectively, including advertising in local newspapers. It was asked if there were any beach parking closures, to which Director Hill stated there were a few but they mostly happen mid-day and usually not longer than 90 minutes. Once beach season begins, beach pass sales will 1  COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - Minutes City Municipal Building | Council Chambers 295 Meridian Street, Groton, CT 06340 now occur in the office Monday – Thursday 1pm -6pm and Saturday’s 9am-12pm. There will be an increase to gate fees for the 2025 season. And Council was informed of an initiative using a QR code to the beach rules versus handing out handing out copies of the several page document. 2. 2025 Beach Rules Rule changes described for the upcoming season included: increased Special event fee seeing as gate fee was increased, Memorial Day will now be on Holiday rate and pending size and weather, patrons may be requested to dismantle their tents. Motion to move to Mayor and Council meeting 3/3/25: Deputy Mayor Depot. Second: Councilor Piazza. Motion carried, 4-0-0. 3. 2025 User Fees Director Hill discussed a letter received from a resident requesting changes to the Summer Playground program. The request was for the full-day program being opened to kids going into kindergarten come fall. Director Hill stated the department would work on a case-by-case basis for any residents facing hardship due to the age requirements. Motion to move to Mayor and Council meeting 3/3/25: Deputy Mayor Depot. Second: Councilor Piazza. Motion carried, 4-0-0. 4. Vehicle Purchase The Parks and Recreation department has identified the need to purchase a replacement dump body truck. The request is approximately $76k and came from the State bid list. Motion to move to Mayor and Council meeting 3/3/25: Deputy Mayor Depot. Second: Councilor Piazza. Motion carried, 4-0-0. C. Groton Utilities – Purchasing Policy Revisions Finance Director Yuhas presented an updated purchasing policy citing the current policy had not been updated since 2019. The Groton Utilities Commission approved the revisions at its regular meeting on February 19th and recommends Mayor and Council approve the revisions. Director Yuhas informed Council the most significant changes were for GUC and Council approval required amounts for Budgeted line items. It was stated that regular ongoing operating costs have increased with inflation and service standard trends, leading to more requests going before the Commission and Council for traditional annual fees, renewals, and costs. Increasing the amounts will 2  COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - Minutes City Municipal Building | Council Chambers 295 Meridian Street, Groton, CT 06340 allow for more seamless transactions of recurring budgeted expenses. It was confirmed that anything unbudgeted more than $10,000, would still need to be presented to Council for approval. Motion to move to Mayor and Council meeting 3/3/25: Deputy Mayor Depot. Second: Councilor Sheffield. Motion carried, 4-0-0. D. Donation Request – Thames River Heritage Park Foundation Mayor Hedrick provided Council with the annual donation request for the seasonally operated Water Taxi. This year they have increased the ask amount to $13,300. In past the City has given $12,500. Deputy Mayor Depot requested to see a profit and loss statement before approving said request stating she would like to see what other funding the not for profit receives and how the money is spent. Mayor Hedrick commented the foundation does seek a $100k grant each year from the State, but agreed to provide an income/expense report prior to the Mayor and Council meeting next week. E. Boards and Commissions Reappointments 1. Margaret Robertson – Board of Ethics 2. Peter Berns – Board of Ethics 3. Brian Clinton – Ledge Light Board of Directors Councilor Piazza requested a copy of the original commission application for Brian Clinton. Mayor Hedrick said it would be sent prior to next week’s Mayor and Council meeting. Motion to move all to Mayor and Council meeting 3/3/25: Deputy Mayor Depot. Second: Councilor Piazza. Motion carried, 4-0-0. III. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn: Councilor Piazza. Second: Deputy Mayor Depot. Motion carried, 4-0-0. Meeting was adjourned at 7:04pm. ATTEST: APPROVED: Dani Baycura City Clerk 3