The Connecticut River Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization*
March 14, 2007
Minutes
*(In deference to attendance by several LCVSA members and attendance by representatives from Representative Courtney’s office and the Governor’s Eastern Connecticut Office, discussion of items from the LCVSA agenda are found within the MPO minutes to provide timely information from the Selectmen present)
Attendance
Chester:
Clinton:
Deep River: Dick Smith
Essex:
Killingworth:
Lyme: Ralph Eno
Old Lyme: Tim Griswold
Old Saybrook: Mike Pace
Westbrook:
DOT: Kathryn Faraci
Staff: Linda Krause, Janice Ehle-Meyer, Jean Davies, Wini Olson
CRERPA: Bruce Edgerton
ETD: Brad Beecher
Ex- Officio: Jeffrey Nelson, Director of the Eastern Connecticut Office of
Gov. Jodi Rell, Jennie Contois, representing Rep. Joe Courtney
I. Chairman Mike Pace called the CREMPO meeting to order in the conference space of the Connecticut River Estuary Regional Planning Agency at 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook at 8:35 AM.
II. LCVSA DISCUSSION: Chairman Pace recognized Jeff Nelson who represents Gov. Jodi Rell. Jeff explained that he is the Director of the Governor’s Eastern Office in Norwich and represents her in an area that roughly corresponds to the Second Congressional District.
Chairman Pace encouraged each Selectman to report his concerns.
Tim Griswold reported that Old Lyme has received approval for the construction of new recreational fields. STEAP funds will cover more than 80% of the cost. The Town of Old Lyme has approved the expansion of the Town Hall and will be looking for applicable grants.
Dick Smith reported that Deep River was awarded $500,000 of STEAP money to apply to the Main Street program.
Chairman Pace asked about the status of Rob Simmons appointment as state business advocate. He is waiting confirmation with a budget but is active with preliminary meetings.
Chairman Pace said that he would like to consult with him regarding a new business in Old Saybrook. He then mentioned the perennial Battle of the Bridge. Proposals for increased rail traffic require more bridge closings and the Marine Trades Industry continually lobbies to keep the span open.
Mike brought up the need for interoperable communication. Old Saybrook is prepared to spend 2.7 million dollars on their new communications system. The State Public Safety Department “is sitting on” $10,000,000. He suggested that some of it be applied to local communication projects within the state.
Linda Krause interjected that she met recently with Commissioner Thomas and Wayne Sanford of DEMHS. They are hoping to speak about mapping and communications to the CEOs of most of the towns in the state at a CCM sponsored meeting on May 1.
Chairman Pace urged Jeff to encourage the Governor to increase the per capita subsidy for Health Districts. If this is not done, towns will be bearing the cost of preparing the state for pandemics.
Linda mentioned participating in REPT (Regional Emergency Planning Team) and looking at transportation as an element of emergency preparedness.
CREMPO DISCUSSION
4. a) and g) Public Transit Operations: Brad Beecher announced that he is applying on behalf of the towns for the Municipal Grant Program. The ETD needs a letter of support from each the Selectman. He will send them samples of suggested language.
3. e) Town Projects- Review and Prioritization – CTDOT 80-10-10: Jean Davies noted that the Governor need to be aware of the problems created for small towns by recent changes in state DOT policy. As a Metropolitan Planning Organization, CREMPO is responsible for the Review and Prioritization of road projects involving federal funding. Currently this includes North Main Street in Old Saybrook, Lyme Street in Lyme and Main Street in Chester. Under the previous arrangement, the match was 80/20. It is now 80/10/10 (80% federal, 10% state and 10% local). Towns provide the plans. Small towns hire local consulting engineers on an as needed basis. Individual small towns cannot afford full time engineering departments. The towns now need to hire a design engineer through a QBS process for design on even small projects. Under the new rules, towns may only use the local engineer to evaluate the applications of other engineers. Costs can escalate and time is easily consumed in the design phase of the project. Town set asides or bond for the projected local cost of a project may not be enough to cover the project if the project process is too long. They have no control over the escalating costs. Mike Pace noted that in Old Saybrook, the North Main Street job could be done for $290,000. The review by CTDOT has added design elements and engineering, so now the projected cost is an $800,000 bill. Tim Griswold spoke to the time that it has taken to close out the project for Lyme Street that was done a couple of years ago. Chairman Pace asked that if Mr. Nelson was talking to the governor that he help convey these concerns.
LCVSA DISCUSSION: Chairman Pace urged Jeff to have the Governor consider the further investigation of Waste Water Management Districts. He suggested that DEP and the Department of Public Health need to learn to get along. Alternate technology is accepted in every state EXCEPT Connecticut. Even in Connecticut, it is accepted for commercial use, but not for residential uses.
Mike Pace sees the situation in Eastern Connecticut one of Risk and Opportunity.
New ventures always involve risk .The opportunity is to plan effectively.
Chairman Pace noted that the boating industry is vital to shore towns. Harbors are filling with silt. Dredging is essential. Disposing of dredged material in Long Island sound is not ideal. Mike urged that beneficial on shore dredge material use be considered. He suggested the scenario of the “tire pond” in Hamden that has been ordered to be covered. He suggested that dredged material might be a suitable cover material.
Chairman Pace commented that Hazard Mitigation has been planned on a global scale and then customized in each town.
Chairman Pace reported that CRRA and MDC are trying to learn to cooperate. MDC not only supplies water, it collects and processes sewage.
Mike has been conferring with Bill DiBella and Chuck Sheehan about the possibility of creating an energy zone where the sludge can be disposed of in an energy productive way.
3. d) Agreements and Contracts: Jean Davies noted that the agency had received an email from Kathryn Faraci referring to a resolution for CTDOT’s application for Federal Highway Administration for Value Pricing Pilot Program 2007 funds by April 26. The requested funds will be used to conduct a pre-implementation study regarding the feasibility and impacts/benefits of instituting a value pricing program for Connecticut. Kathryn explained that this request had been submitted to her department for distribution to the MPOs. She was not completely familiar with the grant application, but had some general knowledge. Jean explained her understanding of the grant wording was that CTDOT was looking at cost and efficiency studies into options for improvement in congestion on state highways through evaluation of various options: tolls, fast lanes, transit programs to name a few. Jean noted that interactions with other listed included OPM and the regions, but was unsure as to the full interaction required by the regions and how CTDOT was going to coordinate with OPM’s office of responsible growth and new initiatives for Transit Oriented Development. Linda suggested that a discussion with Office of Responsible Growth within OPM might be useful. It can be used as an opportunity to have CTDOT planning, transit planning and land use proposals mutually examined.
Chairman Pace appointed a sub-committee of Bill Peace, Dick Smith and Willie Fritz to work with Jean and report back in April. Linda noted that she is pleased to hear that the Governor is aware of the interconnection between land use and transportation.
3.b). LOCHSTP
Jean Davies referred the organization to the color sheet at the front of the packet. The LOCHSTP program priorities listed would connect the ETD on midday during the week with transit systems in New London and Middletown and fill weekend gaps for people employed in Guilford and Madison. She noted that she and Brad, and Janice would be attending a meeting on March 26, 2007 with the LOCHSTP committee and CTDOT to go over the prioritization of these and other New Haven TMA projects
3.c) STIP Amendments
The proposed STIP Amendment would move money for certain bridge improvements from 2007 to 2008. The list includes bridges in Killingworth and Chester. Since neither town is represented today, Chairman Pace asked if other members knew how Selectman Marsh and Selectman Klein felt about the affected projects. Members believed that both projects are looked upon with favor. Ralph Eno moved that the STIP amendment be approved as proposed. The motion was seconded by Dick Smith and unanimously approved.
3.h) 5310 Grant Funding: Jean reported that the next meeting was important to obtain a quorum as there may be an application from Caring Ways for a 5310 application for bus funding from CTDOT, and that the board would also have to vote on the Municipal Grant Program Application discussed previously
3.a) Final Draft Regional Transportation Plan 2007-2035
Jean announced that the 2007-2035 is
very similar to the previous plan with the addition of technical data to comply
with state and federal requirements for environmental review, congestion, and
air quality. It is will going out for public review during the month of April
based on the recommendation of this boards and it is critical that a quorum be
available on May 9 as CTDOT will need the document by May 11th. Mike Pace said that he will be in
LCVSA DICUSSION
Second Congressional
Jennie Contois reported that Rep. Courtney will hold open house in his new office in Norwich on Maundy Thursday, April 4, 2007. He is currently very busy with funding requests.
LUCA
Wini Olson spoke briefly about the LUCA program. She asked Selectmen to designate people in their town to be responsible for reviewing and updating the address files for the 2010 Census. Training sessions will be available within the region, probably in April.
HHW
Janice Ehle-Meyer distributed packets of information reviewing participation in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and outlining the program for 2007. There will be 14 HHW collections this year, including a satellite collection in Clinton. The Killingworth collection will be discontinued. There will be two additional Consumer Electronics collections at $12.75 per household and two sponsored by CRRA. Mike Pace suggested that Janice contact Tom Gaffey at CRRA to see if any subsidies are available.
A new contract has been signed with Clean Harbors. The 100 household minimum charges remain in effect. The $37.00 per household fee was also retained.
Chairman Pace asked if there is much response from small commercial generators. There is not. He mentioned that there is some industry by industry collection.
Janice mentioned that Clinton has volunteered to do the line painting.
Janice reported that insurance costs $16,000 per million per year. If the HHW were to enter a three year contract, the price would be $33,000 per million for three years. It was agreed that the HHW should enter into the longer contract.
Linda mentioned that Westbrook still has not paid the FY2006-2007 bill. The Clean Harbor bill was paid for the material deposited by Westbrook residents. It was suggested that Westbrook residents should not be allowed to use the facility. Chairman Pace replied that he is reluctant to punish the public for the stubbornness of its leadership. Previous letters from the Association have been ignored. He will ask his municipal attorney to send another letter on behalf of the Lower Connecticut Valley Selectmen’s Association. Dick Smith will make a personal appeal. If Selectman Raffa still fails to pay, Westbrook residents will be banned by April 26.
Legislation
Ralph Eno alerted his peers to a bill submitted by Craig Minor that would require all municipal agreements to be authorized by Town Meeting. Dick Smith asked that a letter of opposition be sent on behalf of the Association. Linda Krause agreed to compose the letter.
Ralph mentioned another bill sponsored by 1000 Faces that would reserve Open Space money for towns that have open space regulations. Lyme would be adversely affected. Linda noted that another bill would require all towns to adopt cluster regulations. 3700 bills have been submitted for consideration. Many have attachments with conflicting sentiments.
Mike Pace mentioned the abuse of Affordable Housing Legislation that supersedes zoning regulations. He referred to the 180 unit three story walk ups that are proposed next to the railroad tracks in Old Saybrook.
Dick Smith stated that he spends a lot of time in Hartford and suggested that it might be money well spent if the region hired a lobbyist.
Mike Pace noted that the towns are represented both by COST and by CCM.
Mike announced that CRRA will close the ash landfill in December of 2008. CRRA, in cooperation with the DEP is seeking a new site in Connecticut. Mike outlined some of the disadvantages of shipping waste out of state including shipping costs, highway congestion and possible tariffs.
The meeting adjourned at 10: 32 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Timothy C. Griswold, Secretary