City Council

JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH AUGUST 17, 2020 The regular meeting of the Council of the City of Norwich was held August 17, 2020 at 7:30 PM in Council Chambers. Present: Ald. Bettencourt, Ald. Nash, Gould, Wilson, Myles and DeLucia. City Manager Salomone and Corporation Counsel Michael Driscoll were also in attendance. Mayor Nystrom presided. President Ald. Wilson read the opening prayer and Ald. DeLucia led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance. Please be advised that meetings of the Norwich City Council can be viewed in their entirety on the City of Norwich website “norwichct.org”. Mayor Nystrom called for citizen comment. Marvin Serruto, 100 Starr St., spoke in opposition on the topic of increases in school budget for the reopening of the schools due the Covid-19 demands. He also requested some way to be able to meet in person for Council Meetings ceasing the need for virtual meetings. Brian Kobylarz, 16 Hobart Ave., expressed his concerns about the disregard of social distancing and the use of face masks at the First Friday event held on August 7, 2020 wants changes made. Mayor Nystrom declared citizen comment closed. 1 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH AUGUST 17, 2020 Upon a motion of Ald. Wilson, seconded by Ald. Myles, on a roll call vote it was unanimously voted to accept the following. Upon a motion of Ald. Gould, seconded by Ald. Myles, on a roll call vote it was unanimously voted to accept the following. DATE: 8/12/2020 TO: Betsy Barrett - City Clerk City of Norwich, Connecticut FROM: Alderman Joseph A DeLucia Public Safety Committee 2 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH AUGUST 17, 2020 CC: Peter A. Nystrom - Mayor City of Norwich Esteemed Alderpersons Norwich City C o u n c i l Re: Record of vote on a recommendation to the City Council regarding a resolution to authorize and direct the City Manager to accept the US-Department of Justice "COPS" grant award. The Public Safety Sub-committee of the City Council held its regular meeting on August 12, 2020 to take up the City Manager's recommendation on the above-mentioned resolution. Present were Alderman Joseph A. Delucia and Council President Pro-tempore Mark M. Bettencourt, and Alderman William Nash, as were several members of the Public Safety complex leadership and members of the general public via video and phone conferencing. After discussion by the members and public comment, the following motion was made by Aid. Nash and seconded by Aid . Bettencourt; "That the Public Safety Committee forward a favorable recommendation to the City Council regarding the acceptance of the US-DOJ "COPS" grant award. The vote was called for by the Chair, and recorded as 3-0 in the affirmative. City Manager Salomone report: To: Mayor Nystrom and members of the City Council From: John Salomone, City Manager Subject: City Manager’s Report Date: August 17 2020 Meetings via conference call or video included Governor Lamont updates, State representatives and legislators, Region 4 Division of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, City Departments, Storm Isaias Planning, Public Safety and interviews with the 4 finalists for the Fire Service Analysis. Storm Isaias caused severe damage throughout our state and the City is completing a Damage Assessment through the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) who is undertaking the initial damage assessment survey in all eight counties. Municipal/Tribal, Residential and business damages are included in the survey to see if thresholds for any of the federal programs are met which are: FEMA Public Assistance, FEMA Individual Assistance and Small Business Administration (business and homeowner). During the peak of the storm there were 6,500 NPU customers who lost power. Norwich Public Utilities provided updates as to the areas where their crews were working and within 48 hours of 3 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH AUGUST 17, 2020 the storm there were less than 500 NPU customers without power. Thank you to the NPU crews, Police, Fire and Public Works who assisted with the storm issues. The July 2020 Lock Box Tax Collections decreased by $44,000.00 or .006% from $7.144 million in 2019 to $7.100 million in 2020 but increased in number significantly by 1,218 or 28.1% from 4,334 in 2019 to 5,552 in 2020. More importantly during limited City Hall hours, People’s Bank Branch collections increased significantly in both dollars and in number by $825.8 thousand or 46.5% from $1.777 million in 2019 to $2.603 million in 2020 and by 603 transactions or 39.7% from 1,517 in 2019 to 2,120 in 2020. Norwich Human Services is processing over 400 applications for rent and utility assistance thru the Cares Act. Demand has been so high that they have suspended taking application until September 1st. Thank you to the Unitarian Universalist Church for their generous donation of $15,000 to Norwich Human Services to assist needy families. Congratulations to Cheryl Hancin and her staff at the Recreation Department for running a successful summer camp program for about 80 youth. Norwich was one of the few communities to run such a program which required intense planning and implementation of numerous safety protocols with no COVID cases being reported during the 6 week program. The City Clerk’s Office processed over 2,700 absentee ballots in the past few weeks in which 1,921 were actual votes. Thank you to City Clerk, Betsy Barrett, Assistant City Clerk, Roseanne Muscarella, and office staff for their dedication and additional hours during this period to get the job done along with the many volunteers who assisted with the process. Mayor Nystrom called for citizen comment on Resolutions. Marvin Serruto, 100 Starr St., spoke on resolution #2 and requested that no future studies be done on this topic for at least 10 to 20 years. Upon a motion of Ald. Myles, seconded by Ald. Nash, on a roll call vote it was unanimously voted to adopt the following resolution introduced by Mayor Nystrom, Ald. Gould and DeLucia. WHEREAS, the Norwich Fire Department applied for and was awarded an Assistance to Firefighters Grant EMW-2019-FG-01480 (“AFG”) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the Department of Homeland Security in the amount of $193,977 for the purposes of replacing air bags and related vehicle extrication equipment and to provide training for all Norwich Fire Department firefighters to receive training and receive National ProBoard certification by the Connecticut Fire Academy; and WHEREAS, the AFG requires a local match of $19,397.70; and WHEREAS, the items and activities to be funded by the AFG and local match should not give rise to an increase in annual operating costs. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH that City Manager John L. Salomone be, and hereby is authorized and directed to execute and deliver any and all documents necessary to accept the AFG award on behalf of the City of Norwich and to do and perform all acts and things which he deems to be necessary or appropriate to carry out the terms of such documents, including, but not limited to, executing and delivering all agreements and documents contemplated by such documents. 4 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH AUGUST 17, 2020 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH that the local match be funded with $9,000 from the 2020-21 Capital Budget line item for the Norwich Fire Department appropriated for Rescue Airbag Replacement (36024202-57300-C2115) and $10,397.70 from the 2020-21 Norwich Fire Department Professional Development line item (104202000-53322). Upon a motion of Ald. Wilson, seconded by Ald. Myles, on a roll call vote of 4 to 3 it was voted to adopt the following resolution introduced by President Pro Tem Bettencourt, Ald Wilson, Myles and DeLucia. With Mayor Nystrom, Ald. Gould and Ald. Nash voting in opposition. WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Norwich by resolution adopted May 6, 2020 authorized and directed the City Manager to solicit proposals from qualified consultants to complete an analysis of the entirety of the City’s Fire Service focused on the following six (6) specific areas; 1) Response and Dispatch assignment order – commonly referred to as “run cards”, the study is to include an assessment of apparatus response practices to determine; a) if service delivery modalities are aligned with industry best-practices and standards, and b) can mutual aid and automatic aid response plans within all fire department of the City of Norwich be reconfigured for more efficient and effective results. 2) Standardized response-time data collection – the study is to include; a) an assessment of the current methods, standards, and protocols for determining the response time to an emergency, and b) make recommendations for the collection and analysis of reliable and valid response-time data. 3) Communications - the study is to review and make overall recommendations in critical areas involving radio communications to include; a) dispatch staffing, b) interoperability of communication between departments, and c) identify best practices and ways to enhance radio communications. 4) Fire apparatus - the study is to review and make overall recommendations in the area of fire apparatus to include; a) current inventory deployment, b) apparatus procurement protocols, and c) apparatus replacement schedule. 5) Purchasing of equipment and inventory control – the study is to review and make recommendations in the procurement of, and accountability for, necessary capital improvement items including, but not limited to; a) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), b) support equipment, and c) inventory control. 6) Staffing – the study is to review and make overall recommendations in the area of staffing to include; a) administration and support staff, b) suppression staff, c) EMS staff, and d) responsibilities and activity levels of personnel; and WHEREAS, the Council by this resolution directed that the analysis be completed by November 30, 2020; and 5 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH AUGUST 17, 2020 WHEREAS, the City Manager duly issued a Request for Proposals, received responses from eight (8) prospective consultants, and, with the assistance and input of the committee appointed by him, has completed interviews; and WHEREAS, the firm of McGrath Consulting Group, Inc. of Wonder Lake, Illinois is his recommended choice to perform the analysis at a cost of $81,150; and WHEREAS, McGrath Consulting Group, Inc., as well as other perspective consultants, recommended extended the time to complete the analysis by at least thirty (30) days. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH, that it accepts this recommendation and City Manager John Salomone, on behalf of the City of Norwich, be and hereby is authorized and directed to enter into and execute an agreement satisfactory to him with McGrath Consulting Group, Inc. which is to complete an analysis of the entirety of the City’s Fire Service, with focus on the six (6) specific areas listed in this resolution and referred in the City’s Request for Proposals and issue a report on the same, at an agreed price of $81,150 and that the sum of $ 81,150 be and hereby is appropriated from the Contingency Account 10500000-58600 for payment; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH, that the date for completion of the analysis be extended from November 30, 2020 to December 31, 2020 and that the date of December 31, 2020 for the completion of the analysis and submission of a report be included in the agreement with McGrath Consulting Group, Inc. Upon a motion of Ald. Myles, seconded by Ald. Gould, on a roll call vote it was unanimously voted to adopt the following resolution introduced by Mayor Nystrom, Ald. Gould and DeLucia. WHEREAS, the City of Norwich has received notice from the United States Department of Justice Office of Community Orienting Policing Services that the City of Norwich has received an award of $2,069,240 in federal funds to be paid over three (3) year period under the 2020 COPS Hiring Program; and WHEREAS, the official start date of the award is July 1, 2020; and WHEREAS, the funding may be used to (1) hire new officers, (2) rehire officers who have been laid off or (3) are scheduled to be laid off on a specific future date as a result of local budget reductions, on or after the official award start date; and WHEREAS, in order to accept the grant award officially, and to begin receiving reimbursements for allowable costs incurred, a signed copy of the Award Document and Award Document Supplement, if applicable, needs to be submitted to the COPS Office on or before September 7, 2020; and WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Norwich finds it to be in the best interest of the City of Norwich to accept this award made under the COPS Hiring Program, award number 2020UMWX0446. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH, that City Manager John Salomone and/or Chief of Police Patrick Daley are authorized and directed to electronically sign an Award Document and an Award Document Supplement to officially accept of the COPS Office Award Grant, provided an conditions and special 6 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH AUGUST 17, 2020 conditions, if applicable, to the Award Grant are satisfactory to them, and to submit the same via the Account Access link on the COPS Office website. Upon a motion of Ald. Myles, seconded by Ald. Gould, on a roll call vote it was unanimously voted to put the following resolution introduced by Mayor Nystrom, Ald. Gould and DeLucia on the floor. Upon a motion of Ald. Gould, seconded by Ald. Nash, it was unanimously voted to postpone action on the following resolution to be brought back at the September 21, 2020 meeting. WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Norwich, by a resolution adopted September 3rd , 2019, authorized City Manager John Salomone to enter into an individual Real Estate Listing Agreement with Allyn and Associates Realtors offering to sell the property at 8 Garfield Avenue at a price to be recommended by Allyn and Associates Realtors; and WHEREAS, the Council further resolved that upon receipt of a Purchase and Sales Agreement containing an offer to purchase at a price recommended by Allyn and Associates Realtors and containing such terms and conditions as were satisfactory to the City Manager, he was to notify the Council of the proposed Purchase and Sales Agreement for its consideration and possible approval; and WHEREAS, Allyn and Associates Realtors has received offers to purchase the property, the highest offer being the sum of $________________ the property to be conveyed in “as is” condition. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH, that City Manager John Salomone be and hereby is authorized and directed to enter into a Purchase and Sales Agreement on behalf of the City of Norwich to sell said property at a price of $___________ to _______________ of _________________ pursuant to the terms of said Purchase and Sales Agreement and, upon timely tender of the purchase price subject to standard adjustments, to execute and deliver a deed of conveyance to ________________ of _____________or his designee for the property known as 8 Garfield Avenue, and to execute, deliver, and receive such other documents as are necessary to complete the transfer of title in keeping with the terms and conditions of the Purchase and Sales Agreement. Upon motion of Ald. Gould seconded by Ald. Nash, on a roll call vote it was unanimously voted to adjourn at 8:50 P.M. Roseanne Muscarella Assistant City Clerk 7