Minutes

Connecticut River Valley Council of Elected Officials

February 11, 2009

 

Attendance:  Please see attached list

 

            The meeting was called to order at 8:35 by Chairman Phil Miller at CRERPA Offices, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook CT.

 

1. Minutes:  Motion to accept minutes of October ’08 meeting was made by Rich Cabral,    seconded by Tim Griswold. All were in favor.

2. Speakers:

            Bill Villano, WorkForce Alliance:  There is additional money in the budget that has been allocated for WorkForce activities to supplement original funding. Anticipated job training figure funds available will be $4.5 billion nationwide.  The money will be used for not only job training but also for re-training.  There is a meeting of the Advisory Group next week where the parameters of the plan will be defined.  Bill is hopeful that he will know more by the end of February. Currently, there is a 30% increase in career centers for job training, and that figure is expected to increase.

            Eddy Shelter:  Kathy Stebbins: Appeal letter has been forwarded.  The number of people using the shelter has expanded to 40 at times.  The shelter can accommodate 30 comfortably.  Shelter has no plans to expand and requests cooperation from the towns. 

 

3. Regionalism:

            Phil asked that Linda Krause facilitate this area of the meeting.  Linda gave a brief overview of the Smart Growth Legislative Package and possible ramifications of the proposal.

            She briefly discussed the origins of the CRVCEO and distributed copies of the bylaws. Geoff Colegrove of Mid States was called upon to give an overview of the history of the RPO’s.

            The general basis of the RPA staff projects has been in a “function follows funding” mode – an “issue of the month” philosophy.

            Linda then discussed the issue of regionalism and how it might affect the small towns.

She then explained the differences between organizations:

             COG: chief elected officials with separate regional planning to advise chiefs- CEOs are board.

            CEO: any chief elected official can join – it only takes two – regional planning agencies stay in place

            RPA:  two reps for town plus one for each 50K over 25K population – one from planning, one from legislative body.  LCVSA (9 Town Selectmen) predated most regional organizations.

            The scope of responsibilities of each organization was discussed.

            The specific proposals of Smart Growth are to study and redraw regional boundaries and that all RPOs must be COGS.  There are incentives for towns to move toward regionalization.

            Questions regarding per capita costs were discussed.   Middletown, with over 25,000 people pays approximate 70 cents per capita while the towns in the Estuary pay $2.00 per capita.

            More and more administrative functions are being passed down to the RPAs;  For example, Emergency Management from which DEMHS was formed.  There are now 5 DEMHS regions in the state.  The CRVCEO/LCVSA area is the dividing line.  We are doing more paper processing and less land use.  The new Regionalism Bill of $50 million would result in comparatively few dollars for the small towns. Emphasis on money is going to higher populations.  It is an equity for debt proposal.

            Linda showed proposed division of towns since Smart Growth indicated that 15 RPOs are too many.  She reviewed a chart with several different proposals.  If the idea is to have a few large regions, then we must take initiatives now. What accountabilities will be removed from towns?

            Sue Bransfield stated that it’s a crisis and the money in isn’t there. Revenues are down, both state and local.  Real Estate taxes are the one constant in Portland. She has gone before her BOE and explained the town’s budget issues.  If we can get through the crisis, we can then restructure. 

            She noted that she participates in bid sharing through CROG.  However, she felt it important to keep the grant-in-aid money as it is presently allocated.

            It‘s better to keep 17 towns autonomous, rather than have the state make decisions for towns.

            Bill Peace, Selectmen, said we need to be with communities that have similar core values.  The super agencies are colossal failures. The people in Hartford are clueless.

            Mike said towns should know their deliverables first; after that is done, then they could  design structure.  Linda noted that a bill was enacted in 2001 that gave towns the right to get together on projects with other towns. The selectmen said we are practicing regionalism down here, and it has worked well among the towns.

            Tom Marsh said he has developed a spread sheet on pending bills and how legislators voted.  He feels we must speak up.  If we track and copy legislators, they’ll know we are watching. 

            The zeroing out of state grant- in-aid funds will have a huge impact on the planning agencies. The proposed regionalism proposal just doesn’t make sense according to Mike Pace.

The “boat is sailing” and much is going. What course shall we follow?  We can be vocal or we can ignore what is going on. 

            Capital Region appears to have the ear of important people in Hartford.

            Proposal was made to form a committee to determine the viability of a joint organization to create a 17-town RPA.  Linda was asked to do the evaluation on the feasibility of this project. Ultimately, a decision must be made on what we want to do. Linda proposed she and Geoff Colegrove work on the plan.

            The suggested Mission Statement could be the following:  “The Committee’s study focused on the RPOs for their potential as an implementing network for state agency programs such as transportation planning and emergency management, and for more consistent planning among levels of government.  This was certainly timely, since there appears to be a growing interest from state agencies in using regional organizations as a conduit for information from the state to the towns.  LPRIC staff devoted far less time to examine the regional organizations from the opposite perspective, which is from the towns’ point of view.  RPOS are also a “congress” of towns, where neighbors raise issues of common interest and address them collectively, or at least shore information on possible solutions.  It is this role that has created many of the differences among regional organizations today, as each organization sought solutions specific to its needs.  When considering the future role of regional agencies and the configuration of regional boundaries, it is our hope that the Legislature will not overlook the local focus which has led many creative cooperative ventures, tailored to the needs of a particular region.”

            Ralph Eno said he would talk with Bart Russell concerning the issue and arrange a meeting with CEOs, COST, and legislators on March 11th if that was agreeable with all.

            Motion was made to accept Ralph’s suggestion on a meeting with COST, CEOs and legislators by Rich Cabral, seconded by Tom Marsh.  All were in favor.

            The next meeting of the CRVCEO is scheduled for February 25th at the Old Lyme Town Hall at Noon. The proposed meeting for the 11th will be firmed up and a general mission statement will be approved.  Once approved, Tom Marsh will send the statement to the legislators and other key organizations and committees.

 

4. Nominating Committee:

            A nominating committee was formed for the election of officers for the CRVCEO.  The members of the nominating committee are Rich Cabral and Phil Miller.

 

5. Motion to Adjourn:

            Motion to adjourn was made by Tim Griswold, seconded by Rich Cabral.  The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 .m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Pat Anthony, Clerk