Common Council

COMMON COUNCIL MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT SPECIAL MEETING QUESTIONS TO DIRECTORS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2025 6:00 PM MINUTES A Special Meeting of the Common Council of the City of Middletown, Questions to Directors Workshop, was held on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, 2025, beginning at 6:00 PM. This meeting was a hybrid meeting with in-person participation in the Common Council Chamber and remote access via WebEx. The meeting was also live streamed on Facebook and the City webpage and was broadcast on local cable access television. Present: Councilwoman Jeanette Blackwell Councilman Vincent Loffredo Councilman Grady Faulkner, Jr. Councilman Anthony Mangiafico Councilman Darnell Ford Councilwoman Linda Salafia Councilman Anthony Gennaro, Sr. Councilwoman Leslie Spatola Councilwoman Kelly Sweeney Absent: Councilmembers Steven Kovach and Jonathan Pulino Also Present: Hon. Eugene Nocera, Interim Mayor Sergeant-at-Arms: Middletown Police Officer DiMassa Linda Reed, Clerk of the Common Council City Staff: Arts & Culture: Kisha Michael, Coordinator City & Town Clerk – Ashley Flynn-Natale, CCTC Central Communication – Robert Grauer, Acting Director Equal Opportunity & Diversity Management – Faith Jackson, Director Finance & Revenue Services – Carl Erlacher, CPA, Director; Fire – unidentified General Counsel, Office of – Brig Smith, Esq., Gen. Counsel Justin Richardson, Human Resources Division Kristin Holden, Risk Management Health – Kevin Elak, Director Library – Ramona Burkey, Director Brandi Doyle, Finance Police -- Erik Costa, Chief Public Works – Barbara Knoll Peterson, Acting Director Recreation & Senior Services – Cathy Lechowicz, Director Technology Services – Brianna Skowera, Director Water & Sewer – Joseph Fazzino, Director Absent: Assessor -- Damon Braasch, CCMA II Economic & Community Development – Christine Marques, Director Emergency Management – Robert Kronenberger Land Use -- Marek Kozikowski, AICP, Director Youth Services – Justin Carbonella, Manager Public: Chamber: 0 WebEx: 0 Facebook: 15 1. Call to Order Interim Mayor Eugene Nocera calls the meeting to order at 6:00 PM and welcomes everyone to the Common Council’s Special Meeting, the Questions to Directors Workshop A. Pledge of Allegiance The Chair asks everyone to join in the Pledge of Allegiance. B. Council Clerk Reads the Call of the Meeting and Mayor declares call a legal call and meeting a legal meeting The Clerk of the Common Council reads the Call of the Meeting and the Chair declares the call a legal call and the meeting a legal meeting.  September 2, 2025 COMMON COUNCIL – SPECIAL MEETING Page 2 QUESTIONS TO DIRECTORS 2. Questions to Directors Workshop Opens Interim Mayor Eugene Nocera, Chair, opens the public hearing at 6:04 PM. The Chamber windows are open tonight so we might have to talk closer to our mics. So now open up our question director's workshop and anyone who has a question, please indicate by turning on your lights. Councilman Loffredo. Councilman Vincent Loffredo: Director of Water & Sewer, please. Good evening. Thank you for being here. I'm looking over what you presented in the workshops regarding how the money was going to be spent. Now, I also have this City of Middletown Bond ordinance summary, part A and part B, you know, the upper part dealing with the Public Works and the lower part dealing with Water and Sewer. What I don't see is where we, at least I had some discussion with you about dealing with the whole question of the issue dealing with lead. I don't see it represented in the outline here. Am I missing something? Water & Sewer Director Joseph Fazzino: No, I believe it's in there. It should be included as led service project. Councilman Loffredo: I'll have you take a look at this. Maybe you can tell me where it is, or tell us where it is. The lower part there. (No Audio) The Chair: There is no audio currently. The Director is looking at the bond ordinance. Director Fazzino: I did not generate that, so it is in the language from the bond attorneys in the ordinance. Any questions? Councilman Loffredo: We do have substitute language. Director Fazzino: That's all Public Works. Councilman Loffredo: Okay, that’s all public works. So in the language dealing with the bond just for Water & Sewer? You're saying that it's included in there? Director Fazzino: Yes, it should be in there. We did that with the Finance Department and the attorneys for the bond language that was included in there. That may be just a typo on there. I don't know if the numbers add up to the $9.5M. I did not see that before. Councilman Loffredo: Okay, so I'm looking at the ordinance that's in the packet now for Water & Sewer. Yes, it's Item 4. You have it, it's there properly there, so that's it there. Thank you very much. Director Fazzino: You're welcome. The Chair: Other questions? Are there other questions? Councilwoman Blackwell and then we’ll go back to Councilman Loffredo. Councilwoman Jeanette Blackwell: Acting Public Works Director Peterson please. In the spirit of transparency, I just want to convey that I did reach out to Acting Director Knoll Peterson regarding item 10AA, the emergency purchase order, the memo from the Department of Public Works, regarding Oddfellows Playhouse to the tune of $24,000. I noticed that the memo did not reflect your name, so I really wanted to understand if you had been involved in that approval process. If you could just speak to that. Public Works Acting Director Bobby Knoll Peterson: Absolutely. Also I just want to it is very helpful when you reach out. I really want you to know how much I appreciate that because it allows us to have a more accurate and thoughtful answer. So the Councilwoman did reach out because the memo for the emergency procurement of a new fire alarm at Oddfellows Playhouse . . . generally, when an emergency purchase comes to the Council, it is signed by the Mayor and by Finance, but it is also generally signed by the Director. In order to meet the deadline to get it on the September Council agenda, that memo was drafted while I was on vacation with my family, so I was not here to wet sign it but I did approve it. Thank you. The Chair: Councilman Loffredo please. Councilman Vincent Loffredo: Yes, the Director of the Russell Library Ramona Burkey. Good evening. So on the agenda is the request to deal with allocating some more dollars toward the study there. Am I understanding that? Library Director Ramona Burkey: These are dollars that were actually appropriated two (2) fiscal years ago, but, because they were not encumbered as of this past June 30 th, they reverted to the General Fund. So the Library Study Committee asked that she ask the Council to re-appropriate the remaining $26K and change that had not been encumbered as of July (sic) 30th Councilman Loffredo: And that $21something? Director Burkey: $26000 . . . I'm sorry, but I don’t have that number in front of me. That’s what I remember. September 2, 2025 COMMON COUNCIL – SPECIAL MEETING Page 3 QUESTIONS TO DIRECTORS Councilman Loffredo: Hypothetically, potentially, if we were not dealing with the Water & Sewer and with Public Works, we would be dealing with the bond referendum for the library. Director Burkey: Yes, potentially. Councilman Loffredo: Would we be spending that money if it was moving forward to bonding? Director Burkey: It's possible. There was talk back early summer, springtime, you know, when we were, you know, speaking to Council about the potential library project about going back and doing what's called “value engineering” of the project. So going back and working with the architect, cost estimators, etc. to see if there aren't ways to economize on the project. That's all work that would be performed by professionals, so the architect and costs estimators would have to do that. Councilman Loffredo: The other issue, in my mind, though, immediate need is there are several projects or several needs. It's because we're looking at November of next year, potentially, the matter of going to the voters. In the meantime though, it has been presented and articulated in various forums about certain capital needs that need to be addressed like the leaking roof. Has the leaking roof been repaired? Director Burkey: At the library? Councilman Loffredo: Yes. Director Burkey: It depends on which roof we're talking about. We have 46 different roof surfaces at Russell Library. Councilman Loffredo: Whatever the needs are for leaking roofs. Have they been, do we have 10 that need attention between now and next November? Director Burkey: It depends on what you mean by “attention.” So from time to time we have small leaks, but of course small leaks have a way of turning into big leaks, and we don't know when that's going to happen. In order, for instance, to completely replace the roof over the Activity Room, which is the Children's Activity Room, that's got a flat roof. That's a building that was built in the 1960s, originally. It was originally a bank. That would be somewhere in the range of $70K to $80K, but it's not catastrophically leaking right now. So with a lot, just like with a lot of the infrastructure items at the library, our elevator, our chiller, that portion of the roof, but we don't know when or if it will catastrophically fail. Councilman Loffredo: My question is: Is it better to that money to be appropriated towards some of these real needs that we have between now and November versus doing more study -- hypothetically X Y, and Z -- and realizing that we have another year to go by, at the minimum, with looking at $1M, like, like maybe $60M plus, or something less than that, to deal with what's been currently presented by the Feasibility Study Committee. Director Burkey: If there's additional work that needs to be done by an architect, which could rack up into the tens of thousands of dollars, then we would not have enough. Councilman Loffredo: But this is proposals, at this point, in terms of going to the voters. At this point, if we were going to the voters, and if it was before the Council with an ordinance this evening, in which all the information that the Committee, yourself and the Committee has worked diligently and has studied and spent $26,000 less than $200K -- say $175K already. In the meantime, we know, so I'm I just say, I, personally, don't think I'm not in favor of spending that money that way. I think the need is there and I'd rather see the money being appropriated for the need that you've highlighted, Director Burkey: And the money would not necessarily be spent. It would just be appropriate, if the need arose, for the purpose of doing that value engineering, additional informational items for the public, that have to go out pre-referendum. So that is why we need to have that re-appropriated. Councilman Loffredo: I think that knowing . . . having served on other building committees, when they go through a resolution, they do appoint formally the building committee that hires the architect that then would actually be having the responsibility -- he or she or the firm -- to come up with all the plans and all the rest. So I'll just leave it at that. Director Burkey: Post-referendum. Councilman Loffredo: That would come after, out of the referendum dollars. Director Burkey: This would be pre-referendum work. The Chair: Councilman Mangiafico please. Councilman Anthony Mangiafico: Thank you, Director Burkey. If the library project were to go to referendum in November 2026, or maybe November 2027, would there need to be a new cost estimate of the project completed? Director Burkey: I'm sorry what was that?  September 2, 2025 COMMON COUNCIL – SPECIAL MEETING Page 4 QUESTIONS TO DIRECTORS Councilman Mangiafico: Would there need to be a new cost estimate? Director Burkey: It is likely that the cost estimator and the architect would want to go back and look at the financial conditions, if any changes were made to -- substantial changes were made -- to the footprint of the building or the building program. Yes, they would want to go back and make adjustments to that cost estimate. Plus, you know, we're, we're looking at cost escalations year over year of 3½% to 4%. Councilman Mangiafico: So, at the very least, the Committee would need that money for the new cost estimate, which could be in the thousands of dollars. Director Burkey: Very possible. Yes. Councilman Mangiafico: Okay, thank you. The Chair: Is there anyone online that has questions? Clerk of the Common Council: There is no one online, only staff people, no Councilmembers. The Chair: Thank you. Other questions at this point for our Directors? There are none. 3. Questions to Directors Workshop Closes There being no further questions, the Chair closes the workshop at 6:16 PM and asks for a motion to adjourn. 4. Meeting adjourned Councilwoman Jeanette Blackwell moves to adjourn. Councilman Anthony Gennaro, Sr. seconds the motion. There being no discussion, the Chair calls for a voice vote. The motion to adjourn is unanimously approved with nine (9) aye votes. (AYES: Councilmembers Blackwell, Faulkner, Ford, Gennaro, Loffredo, Mangiafico, Salafia, Spatola, and Sweeney; ANSENT: Councilmembers Kovach and Pulino.) The matter is approved. The meeting is adjourned at 6:16 PM. ATTEST: LINDA S.K. REED, COMMON COUNCIL CLERK K: review/ minutes/ 2025 Sept 02 – Ques to Directors – 2 Sept 2025