To: Town Council
From: Matt Hart, Town Manager
CC: Town Employees
Date: October 13, 2009
Re: Town Manager’s Report
Below please find a report regarding various items of interest to the Town Council, staff and the community:
Budget and Finance
· FY 2009/10 State Budget – as you know, the state has adopted a budget for FY 2009/10 as well as related budget implementation bills. Please see communication #14, which provides an estimate of the revenue that Mansfield should receive this fiscal year under the statutory formula grant programs.
· Municipal Election and Bond Referendum – A municipal election and bond referendum will be held Tuesday, November 3, 2009 between the hours of 6:00 AM and 8:00 PM. Please be sure to confirm your voting district location. Related to the referendum, we will hold an information session on October 22, 2009 from 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM at the Mansfield Public Library in the Buchanan Auditorium to address questions from the public regarding the four referendum questions:
- $1,052,450 Open Space and Improvements to Such Lands
- $3,093,840 Stone Mill Road and Laurel Lane Bridge Replacement
- $105,250 Hunting Lodge Road Bikeway/Walkway Construction
- $263,130 Salt Storage Shed Construction
Also, we will hold at Special Town Meeting at 6:00 PM on October 26, 2009 regarding the Hunting Lodge Road Bikeway and Salt Storage Shed projects. The Town Meeting will be held in the Council Chambers at the Beck Building.
Council Requests for Information
· Bond Referendum – please see the attachment for item #3 in the packet in response to various questions posed by the Council. I have also inquired whether it would be appropriate for the Town to host a blog where citizens could comment on and discuss the pending bond referendum. Bond counsel has spoken with an attorney at the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) who has cautioned against the Town hosting such a blog. The SEEC attorney is concerned that to the extent that the Town were to exercise any control or place any limits on the blog, any advocacy posted on the blog might be attributable to the Town and in violation of C.G.S. Sec. 9-369b(d), in that Mansfield has not adopted an ordinance permitting pro-con summaries as permitted under this statute.
· Mansfield Community Center Pool Use Analysis – per Council’s request, please see the community center pool use analysis included as item #11 in tonight’s packet.
· Mansfield Skate Park Estimated Operating Budget – as requested by Town Council, please see the estimated operating budget for the Mansfield Skate Park included as item #12 of your packet. This budget was prepared a few years ago, but the estimated costs remain illustrative.
Departmental/Division News
· Parks and Recreation
o Congratulations to Tony Noel, Maintainer at the Mansfield Community Center. Tony recently accepted a new position at the University of Connecticut. Though we are disappointed to see him leave, we are happy for this advance in his career and wish him well. Best of luck, Tony!
o The Mansfield Community Center will serve as host for a Senior Fair sponsored by State Senators Don Williams and Edith Prague. The Fair is scheduled for Tuesday, October 20, 2009 from 10am-2pm at the Mansfield Community Center Gym. Fair participants will provide free blood pressure and blood sugar screenings, flu shots to those with Medicare Part B, Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Connecticare or Healthnet, bone density and body fat tests, and cholesterol screenings ($10 fee for cholesterol)
· Senior Services Retirement – Congratulations to Jean Ann Kenny, Social Worker at the Senior Center. Jean is retiring from the Town after 17 years of service. Thank you, Jean, and best of luck in your retirement!
General Items of Interest
· American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life – this coming weekend, Mansfield will host the Windham Area Relay for Life event at the ECSU ball-field. The Relay for Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature fundraising and awareness event and over 4,000 Relays take place across the nation each year. The first Windham Area Relay was held in 1997 and featured 20 teams that raised $33,000. In 2008, the Windham area assembled 78 teams and raised over $202,000. Please lend us your support this weekend, and see http://www.windhamrelayforlife.org/index.html for more detail.
· Mansfield’s Candidates Night – The Mansfield League of Women Voters will be hosing a candidates’ night for candidates running for seats on the Town Council, the Mansfield Board of Education, the Planning and Zoning Commission and Region 19 Board of Education. The event will be held on October 27, 2009 from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM in the Council Chambers at the Beck Municipal Building.
· Passenger Rail Forum – on October 1st I hosted a forum regarding the restoration of passenger rail to the existing New England Central Railroad line. We had a good discussion with active audience participation. As a next step I will work with the council of governments to initiate a discussion with the CT Department of Transportation, to assess the department’s interest in this initiative.
· Request for Qualifications – with the assistance of the Council’s Regionalism Committee, I have issued a request for qualifications for professional services relating to the evaluation of present and future police services. The response deadline is October 30, 2009.
Upcoming Meetings*
· School Building Committee, October 14, 2009, 5:00 PM, Council Chambers, Audrey P. Beck Municipal Building
· Mansfield Downtown Partnership Board of Directors, October 14, 2009, 4:00 PM, Partnership Office
· Zoning Board of Appeals, October 14, 2009, 7:00 PM, Council Chambers, Audrey P. Beck Municipal Building
· Committee on Committees, October 19, 2009, Conference Room B, Audrey P. Beck Municipal Building
· Planning and Zoning Commission, October 19, 2009, 7:00 PM, Council Chambers, Audrey P. Beck Municipal Building
· Communications Advisory Committee, October 19, 2009, 7:00 PM, Conference Room C, Audrey P. Beck Municipal Building
· Open Space Preservation Committee, October 20, 2009, 7:00 PM, Conference Room B, Audrey P. Beck Municipal Building
· Conservation Commission, October 21, 2009, 7:00 PM, Conference Room B, Audrey P. Beck Municipal Building
· Personnel Committee, October 22, 2009, 6:00 PM, Conference Room B, Audrey P. Beck Municipal Building
· Mansfield Board of Education, October 22, 2009, 7:30 PM, Council Chambers, Audrey P. Beck Municipal Building
· Mansfield Town Council, October 26, 2009, 7:30PM, Council Chambers, Audrey P. Beck Municipal Building
*Meeting dates/times are subject to change. Please view the Town Calendar at www.MansfieldCT.org or contact the Town Clerk’s Office at 429-3302 for a complete and up-to-date listing of committee meetings.