City Council

JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH June 9, 2025 The regular meeting of the Council of the City of Norwich was held June 9, 2025 at 7:30 PM in Council Chambers. Present: Mayor Nystrom, President Pro Tem DeLucia, Ald. Singh, Ald. Gould, Ald. Bettencourt, Ald. Hayes and Ald. Nash. City Manager John Salomone, and Assistant Corporation Counsel Aimee Siefert were also in attendance. Mayor Nystrom presided. Please be advised that meetings of the Norwich City Council can be viewed in their entirety on the City of Norwich website “norwichct.org”. Ald. Gould read the opening prayer and Ald. Bettencourt, led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Nystrom called for a moment of silence for Anthony Fatone who recently passed away a longtime resident of the community. Upon a motion of Bettencourt, seconded by Ald. Gould, on a roll call vote, it was unanimously voted to suspend the rules to read into the record the following petition and communication. City Clerk Muscarella read the following communication. 1 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH June 9, 2025 2 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH June 9, 2025 Upon a motion of Ald. Gould, seconded by Ald. Bettencourt, on a roll call vote it was unanimously voted to accept the above the following petition and communication. Mayor Nystrom called for citizen comments on the agenda item resolutions. Scott Eggert, Occum Fire Dept., spoke against the various cuts to the volunteer fire departments. Robert Allen, 8 W Town St., spoke against the cut to Yantic Fire for the Hydraulic rescue tool stating the importance of that tool. Timothy Jencks, 32 Providence St., spoke about the various cuts to Taftville Fire talking about the need for training and the dive equipment and his confusion about the funding for the failing roof. Pete Clark, 46 Perry Ave., from Laurel Hill Fire, spoke in support of the Hydraulic rescue tool for the Yantic Fire. Joanne Philbrick, 10 Elm Ave., stated she doesn’t understand the budget. She feels we need more public safety personnel and feels we don’t need any more social services. She stated, “If you build, they will come”. Rodney Bowie, 62 Roosevelt Ave., stated he has lived here for 62 years. He stated if you want to run people out of town then raise the taxes. He pleaded to keep the taxes down. If you lower the taxes, you will see the benefits. Riley Park, 33 Prospect St., spoke about the rise in taxes. He feels this is displacing the people who built this city and making it harder for the next generation to make roots here. The loss of trust and services aren’t improving and he believes this is a result of the increase in taxes. Kate Milde, 23 Union St., Human Services, thanked the Council for restoring her proposed cut positions. She spoke of recent opioid cases that are requiring an emergency meeting scheduled to address these cases. Beryl Fishbone, 19 Bliss Pl., she asked that people look at the budget through a different set of eyes instead of looking at the budget as what is being taken away but look at what is being put into the budget. There being no further speakers, Mayor Nystrom declared citizen comment closed. Upon a motion of Ald. Singh, seconded by Ald. Nash on a roll call vote it was unanimously voted to adopt the following resolution by City Manager Salomone. Relative to an amendment to the 2025-26 budget to adjust revenue estimates. RESOLVED, that the budget for Fiscal Year 2025-26, as tentatively adopted on May 5, 2025, be amended by the adjustments as listed herein. Description Page Org Obj Fund Change in Revenues Increase in Sale of City Assets revenue 49 10040000 49200 GF $500,000 3 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH June 9, 2025 Upon a motion of Ald. Nash, seconded by Ald. Singh, the following resolution introduced by Mayor Nystrom was put on the floor. Upon a motion of Pres. Pro Tem DeLucia, and Ald. Hayes, to amend the following resolution by extending the hiring of the vacant Blight Officer position from October 1, 2025 to January 1, 2026 (page 68), to eliminate one vacant Police Office position (page 73), restore the Assistant ZEO/Blight Enforcement Officer (page 68), 50% funding for Caseworker Human Services (page 107) and 50% funding for Caseworker Human Services from Opioid Settlement Funds. Ald. Hayes asked for a recess to caucus from 8:29 pm to 8:36 pm. Upon a motion of Ald. Bettencourt, seconded by Ald. Singh, it was further amended to remove the restoration of the Assistant ZEO/ Blight Enforcement Officer (page 68) and move up the hiring of the Blight Officer to July 1, 2025 or sooner (page 68). Upon a motion of Ald. Bettencourt, seconded by Ald. Singh, on a roll call vote of 6 to 1 it was voted to accept the second amendment concerning the Blight officers with Ald. Hayes voting in opposition. Upon a motion of Ald. Bettencourt seconded by Ald. Singh, on a roll call vote of 5 to 2 it was voted to accept the amended resolution as follows with Ald. Nash and Mayor Nystrom voting in opposition. Upon a motion of Ald. Nash, seconded by Ald. Singh, on a roll call vote it was unanimously voted to adopted the following resolution. Relative to reducing General Fund expenditures in the 2025-26 budget. RESOLVED, that the budget for Fiscal Year 2025-26, as tentatively adopted on May 5, 2025, be amended by the adjustments as listed herein. General Fund Expenditure Reductions Expenditure Description Page Department Org Obj Impact 53322 $500 55800 1,000 Cut City Council line items 52 City Council 10410300 56610 1,000 58000 2,000 58100 500 54310 500 Cut City Manager line 55800 500 54 City Manager 10411300 items 56610 500 58100 500 Cut HR Professional Human 64 10414100 53010 10,000 Services Resources Eliminate one vacant 51610 69849 73 Police 10420100 Police Officer position 52000 33413 4 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH June 9, 2025 Delay hiring five vacant 51610 174,622 Police Officer positions 73 Police 10420100 until January 1, 2026 52000 83,532 78 Norwich Fire 10420200 53322 4,000 East Great 83 10423300 53322 1,500 Cut fire departments’ Plain Professional Development 85 Laurel Hill 10423400 53322 500 line items 87 Occum 10423500 53322 1,000 89 Taftville 10423600 53322 2,000 91 Yantic 10423700 53322 1,000 Delay hiring three vacant 94 Public Works 10430300 51610 54,837 Laborer positions until 94 Public Works 10430300 52000 28,238 November 1, 2025 Cut Utilities estimate for former Chelsea Groton 97 Public Works 10434700 54411 35,000 Bank property Non- Cut Contingency Account 113 10500000 58600 41,000 Departmental Total $547,491 Expenditure Additions Expenditure Description Page Department Org Obj Impact 50 % Funding for Human 51610 $35,696 107 10442700 Caseworker Services 52000 2,817 Total $38,513 Net impact on General Fund Expenditures: $508,978 Opioid Settlement Funds Expenditure Additions Expenditure Description Department Org Obj Increase Human 51610 35,695 50% Funding for Caseworker 29024427 Services 52000 16,816 Total $52,511 Upon a motion of Ald. Hayes, seconded by Ald. Gould, the following resolution introduced by Pres. Pro Tem Delucia, Ald. Bettencourt, Ald. Singh and Ald. Hayes was put on the floor. Upon a motion of Ald. Bettencourt, proposed to put the Hydraulic rescue tools (page 116) of $70,000.00 be removed from the minus and take $70,000.00 from the Roof maintenance to numerous City Buildings (page 117) to make a new total of $160, 199.00. Upon a motion of Ald. Gould, seconded by Ald. Nash, to add to the above amendment to put Fire alarm system (page 115)$35,000.oo from the minus and take $35,000.00 from the Roof maintenance to numerous City Buildings (page 117) to make a new total of $125, 900.00. 5 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH June 9, 2025 Upon a motion of Ald. Gould, seconded by Ald. Nash, on a roll call vote of 5 to 2 the above amendments were accepted with Ald. Nash and Mayor Nystrom voting in opposition. Upon a motion of Mayor Nystrom, seconded by Ald. Gould, to amend the below resolution to put the Buoyance compensators (page 116) from the minus and take and $$7,872.00 from the Roof maintenance to numerous City Buildings (page 117) to make a new total of $121,028.00. Upon a motion of Mayor Nystrom, seconded by Ald. Gould, on a roll call vote the second above amendment failed on a 4 to 3 vote with Ald. Hayes, Ald. Bettencourt, Ald. Singh and Pres. Pro Tem DeLucia voting in opposition. Upon a motion of Ald. Hayes, seconded by Ald. Gould, on a roll call vote the amended resolution was adopted on a 4- 3 vote with Ald. Nash, Ald. Gould and Mayor Nystrom voting in the opposition. Relative to amendments to the 2025-26 capital budget. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH, that the budget for Fiscal Year 2025-26, as tentatively adopted on May 5, 2025, be amended by the adjustments listed herein. Description Page Department Change in funding Number Station asbestos abatement 115 East Great Plain VFD $ (50,000.00) Tri-band radio 115 East Great Plain VFD $ (12,000.00) Ladder 5 radio headsets 115 East Great Plain VFD $ (9,000.00) Resurface parking lot 115 East Great Plain VFD $ (50,000.00) E-bikes for CPU officers 115 Police $ 30,000.00 Electric powered van 115 Police $ 12,325.00 Buoyancy compensators 116 Taftville VFD $ (7,872.00) Painting and maintenance to exterior 116 Yantic VFD $ (28,000.00) of main building and annex Parking lot improvements 116 Yantic VFD $ (40,152.00) Roof maintenance to numerous City 117 Public Works $ 125,199.00 Buildings Replace door at 75 Mohegan Road to 117 YFRS $ 29,500.00 make ADA compliant Total $ - Upon a motion of Ald. Singh, seconded by Pres. Pro Tem DeLucia, the following resolution introduced by Mayor Nystrom, Pres. Pro Tem DeLucia and Ald. Gould was put on the floor. Upon a motion of Ald. Hayes, seconded by Ald. Gould, on a roll call vote it was unanimously voted to take a one hour recess to refine the budget to find 4 to 5 million dollars worth of cuts. The Council recessed at 9:57 pm and returned at 11:05pm. 6 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH June 9, 2025 Upon a motion of Ald. Nash, seconded by Ald. Gould, proposed an amendment to eliminate four Police and four Fire positions sell Dodd Stadium and sell Chelsea Groton Bank with an approximate reduction to the budget of $5,744,000.00. Upon a motion of Ald. Nash, seconded by Ald. Gould, the proposed amendment was withdrawn. Upon a motion of Ald. Hayes, seconded by Mayor Nystrom, proposed an amendment to cut various departments by 5% from Finance, Planning and Neighborhood Services, Police, Central Fire, Dispatch, Public Works, Human Services and Board of Education to$ 2,567,156.00. Upon a motion of Ald. Hayes, seconded by Mayor Nystrom, the proposed amendment was withdrawn. Upon a motion of Ald. Bettencourt, seconded by Ald. Gould, the proposed amendment was withdrawn. Upon a motion of Ald. Bettencourt, seconded by Ald. Gould, proposed an amendment of revenue to increase interest income (page 49) for $100,000.00. Upon a motion of Ald. Bettencourt, seconded by Ald. Gould, on a roll call vote the proposed amendment passed unanimously. Upon a motion of Ald. Singh, seconded by Pres. Pro Tem DeLucia, on a roll call vote the following resolution failed on a 4 to 3 vote with Ald. Nash, Ald. Bettencourt, Ald. Gould and Mayor Nystrom voting in opposition. Upon a motion of Ald. Bettencourt, seconded by Ald. Gould, on a roll call vote it was unanimously voted to reconsider the vote to pass the following resolution. Upon a motion of Ald. Singh, seconded by Pres. Pro Tem DeLucia, on a roll call vote the following resolution was adopted on a 5 to 2 vote with Ald. Gould and Mayor Nystrom voting in opposition. Relative to the adoption of the budget for Fiscal Year 2025-26. RESOLVED, that the budget of the City of Norwich; including the General Fund, Capital Budget, Town Consolidation District, City Consolidation District, and Department of Public Utilities; for Fiscal Year 2025-26 as submitted by the City Manager on April 7, 2025, as amended and tentatively adopted by the Council of the City of Norwich on May 5, 2025, and as further amended by the Council of the City of Norwich on June 2, 2025 and June 9, 2025 be, and the same hereby is, adopted. Please note that this resolution was amended to add $100,000 to the estimate of General Fund interest income revenue prior to being approved. Upon a motion of Ald. Hayes, seconded by Ald. Gould, on a roll call vote the following resolution introduced by Mayor Nystrom, Pres. Pro Tem DeLucia and Ald. was adopted on a 6 to 1 vote with Mayor Nystrom voting in opposition. Relative to the adoption of the appropriations ordinance for Fiscal Year 2025-26. 7 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH June 9, 2025 RESOLVED, that the appropriations ordinance of the City of Norwich; including the General Fund, Capital Budget, Town Consolidation District, and City Consolidation District; for Fiscal Year 2025-26 as submitted by the City Manager on April 7, 2025, as amended and tentatively adopted by the Council of the City of Norwich on May 5, 2025, and as further amended by the Council of the City of Norwich on June 2, 2025 and June 9, 2025 be, and the same hereby is, adopted. Upon a motion of Ald. Hayes, seconded by Ald. Gould, on a roll call vote the following resolution introduced by Mayor Nystrom, Pres. Pro Tem DeLucia and Ald. Gould was adopted on a 6 to 1 vote with Mayor Nystrom voting in opposition. Relative to the adoption of the tax levy ordinance for Fiscal Year 2025-26. RESOLVED, that the tax levy ordinance of the City of Norwich for the Fiscal Year 2025-26 as submitted by the City Manager on April 7, 2025, as amended and tentatively adopted by the Council of the City of Norwich on May 5, 2025, and as further amended by the Council of the City of Norwich on June 2, 2025 and June 9, 2025 be, and the same hereby is, adopted. AN ORDINANCE CONCERNING THE TAX LEVIES ON THE LIST OF OCTOBER 1, 2024 BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH: Section 1. On the City Assessment list of October 1, 2024 a tax of thirty-four and fifty-one hundredths (34.51) mills on the dollar is hereby established to be levied upon the ratable Real Estate and Personal Property within the City of Norwich of the inhabitants of said City and all others liable to pay taxes therein. Section 2. On the City Assessment list of October 1, 2024, a tax of thirty hundredths (0.30) mills on the dollar, is hereby established to be levied for fire services upon the ratable Real Estate and Personal Property within the Town Consolidation District of the inhabitants of said District and of all others liable to pay taxes therein. Section 3. On the City Assessment list of October 1, 2024, a tax of five and ninety-six hundredths (5.96) mills on the dollar, is hereby established to be levied for fire services upon the ratable Real Estate and Personal Property within the City Consolidation District of the inhabitants of said District and of all others liable to pay taxes therein. Section 4. On the City Assessment list of October 1, 2024, a tax of thirty-two and forty-six hundredths (32.46) mills on the dollar is hereby established to be levied upon the ratable Motor Vehicles within the City of Norwich of the inhabitants of said City and all others liable to pay taxes therein. Section 5. Except as provided in Section 6, all taxes on Real Estate and Personal Property listed in Sections 1 through 4 shall become due on July 1, 2025, and payable on said date in whole or in equal installments from that date, namely on July 1, 2025 and January 1, 2026, except that any tax of less than one hundred dollars shall be due and payable on July 1, 2025. If the first installment is not paid on or before August 1, 2025 or if the second installment is not paid on or before February 1, 2026, interest will be charged on any such delinquent payment at the rate of one and one-half (1½%) per cent per month from the due date or $2.00 whichever is greater, as provided for in the general 8 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH June 9, 2025 statutes. Any person may pay the total amount of such tax for which he is liable at the time when the first installment shall be payable. Section 6. Taxes on Motor Vehicles shall become due and payable in full on July 1, 2025. If the payment is not paid on or before August 1, 2025 interest will be charged on the delinquent payment at the rate of one and one-half (1½%) per cent per month from due date or $2.00 whichever is greater, as provided for in the general statutes. Upon motion of Ald. Gould, seconded by Ald. Nash, on a roll call vote it was unanimously voted to adjourn at 11:55 pm. City Clerk 9