Prst. Std. U.S. Postage Paid Naugatuck, CT #27
“Malice drinks one-half of its own poison.” ~ Seneca
FR EE
Bee Intelligencer Informing the towns of Middlebury, Southbury, Woodbury, Naugatuck, Oxford and Watertown A FREE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Volume VIII, No. 50
Middlebury police dispatch outsourced By KATHLEEN RIEDEL Monday night, the Board of Selectmen approved turning over to Northwest Connecticut Public Safety Communications (Northwest) the dispatching of calls made to the Middlebury Police Department. Northwest, a Prospect company, has been handling the town’s fire and medical emergency calls since 2004. Selectmen said the move would save taxpayers money. “The State of Connecticut has enacted laws and policies and released findings of a recent study that establishes a strong public policy that directs the consolidation of emergency communication dispatch centers,” Middlebury Law Firm attorney Robert Smith said, speaking as the town attorney. Based on the January 2012 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) presentation promoting consolidation due to 911 technology evolution and difficult economic times, former Police Chief Richard Guisti and First Selectman Edward St. John began investigating costs for out-of-house police call dispatching. In an effort to regionalize dispatch services, St. John said he and Guisti had numerous discussions with Northwest, as well as with police dispatchers from Wolcott, Watertown, Southbury and Litchfield County, and they requested budgetary proposals from those towns. “It kind of ended up with not getting proposals or getting proposals that were more expensive than we’d received from Northwest,” St. John said. “It took us back to having to make a decision that Northwest has dispatched our fire and EMS for a period of seven years. I am not aware of any issues with them. They have done an admirable job in dispatching for our operation. And it was all done (the 2004 switch to Northwest) at the behest of our fire chief, our police chief and our supervisor of dispatchers at the time. They totally endorsed the move.” Referring to a printed cost worksheet prepared by Chief Financial Officer Lawrence Hutvagner, St. John said, “Present dispatch costs are at $418,088 a year. If we go to Northwest, we are looking at $196,335. So the savings for Middlebury would equate to $229,202 in the first year. If we turn around and were to bring the fire and ambulance back, based on a 2004 meeting, we would be looking at hiring additional people. And that would actually bring our costs from $418,000 a year up to $707,000 a year.” St. John added if police dispatching were to remain in-house, the town would need to update its facility. That project would cost between $400,000 and $800,000. Smith continued to provide support for the consolidation saying, “The (in-house) cost to the town is not justified by the low call volume numbers.” While 2011 call volume statistics showed Middlebury dispatchers received only 2,244 calls that year, or six calls per day, full-time Middlebury dispatcher Jim Roy, who attended the meeting, said these numbers did not reflect calls received on non-emergency lines.
Smith continued his report saying, “The funding available from the state will help Middlebury transition to a more beneficial and cost-effective solution.” He said the State of Connecticut will give $250,000 to towns regionalizing their dispatch communications, and Northwest will apply for that grant on behalf of the town. It is expected to cover all transitional costs. “I just want to say,” St. John added. “As part of our long discussion, something that I was very concerned about is what would happen to our present employees.” He said as the consolidation investigation progressed, Northwest, in mid-September, guaranteed jobs for the two full-time Middlebury dispatchers. “In order to sweeten the deal somewhat,” Smith said. “The town agreed to cover their dental, medical and vision benefits during the period in which they wouldn’t qualify for those benefits at Northwest, which I believe is six months.” The Middlebury Police Department’s two full-time dispatchers are Roy and Tom Reynolds. Reynolds also attended Monday night’s meeting. Both said they were not aware of the Northwest employment guarantee before Monday night. “Looking at the October meeting and the Nov. 7 meeting, not once did Tom and I hear from you that we were guaranteed jobs from Northwest. Ever. That was never provided,” Roy said. Both Smith and Hutvagner disagreed, insisting that Roy and Reynolds had been told. Roy and Reynolds said the original employment information conveyed the necessity of Northwest’s pre-employment process to validate dispatching experience before either Roy or Reynolds would be offered a job there. “You already know we have been dispatchers for an excess of 20 years here in the town of Middlebury,” Roy said. He added the value of this knowledge and experience was never taken into account when evaluating dollars and cents. “I don’t know what you can do to put a value on that (experience), sir,” Roy said, addressing St. John. “And we know that Northwest’s people do not have it. We know that they are just getting into the possibility of dispatching police services, which they have never done.” “It was your experience that made this board feel strongly that your jobs going to Northwest should be guaranteed,” St. John said. “So when you dispatch our Middlebury fire and police, we are going to have people that know all about our wonderful town.” “I only wish it was communicated better,” Roy said. “I guess what we were asking for is a little more clarity.” After the meeting Roy said he also wanted more clarity of numbers. He felt Hutvagner’s numbers were skewed. He and Reynolds agreed the decision should not be left up to the Board of Selectmen – it should be brought to the people.
The heroes among us
Edward and Jean Tierney of Roxbury, guests of honor at a holiday celebration of the Alliance Française of Northwestern Connecticut in Woodbury last Saturday, were awarded the prestigious medal, Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur, by the French government earlier this year for their efforts during World War II. They helped evacuate more than 20,000 wounded Allied soldiers from the beaches of Normandy in 1944, transporting them to hospitals in England. Ed, age 21 at the time, was a pilot in the Army Air Corps; Jean was a flight nurse. The couple has been married since 1945. (Win Brickmeier photo)
EIDC approves parking lot By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE The Middlebury Economic and Industrial Development Commission (EIDC), at its Nov. 27 meeting, approved architectural plans for a parking lot at Whittemore Crossing and continued work on the Guidebook for Commercial Development. Attorney Michael McVerry, representing Whittemore Crossing owner Dr. Dean Yimoyines, said transformation of 28 temporary gravel parking spaces into a permanent paved lot would help satisfy parking requirements of the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z). The architectural plans were approved with the stipulation the parking lot lighting
Inside this Issue Library Happenings.......... 2 Library Lines.................... 2 Nuggets for Life.............. 6 Parks & Recreation.......... 6 Region 15 Calendar........ 3 Senior Center News......... 3 Varsity Sports Calendar.... 6
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match the existing property lighting. McVerry also presented Quassy Amusement Park plans for a second story for the restaurant adjacent to Kiddieland and a total rebuild on the same footprint for the deteriorated Birthday Pavilion. No action was taken because the plans had already been approved by P&Z Nov. 1. Work on the Guidebook for Commercial Development continued with a review of a similar document from Georgetown, Mass., that Co-chairman Michael Kenausis suggested could be used as a reference document. Members had been assigned areas to research at an Oct. 15 special meeting, with Kenausis taking on the Building Department,
By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE The Middlebury Conservation Commission (CC), at its Nov. 27 meeting, unanimously approved a front parking lot at Whittemore Crossing and a setback decrease for a house at Burr Hall Road. It also confirmed excavation approval dates for Ridgewood. Plans for 1365 LLC to transform a 28-space temporary gravel parking area at Whittemore Crossing into a paved lot were unanimously approved. Attorney Michael McVerry, representing owner Dr. Dean Yimoyines, said the lot would satisfy parking requirements of the Planning and Zoning Commission and needed to be paved to conform to CA40 regulations. He said a new drainage system would route water through the state right-of-way on West Street into Five Star Development LLC property owned by Joseph Desantis. A change in setback to 50 feet from 65 in a 100-foot regulated area for builder Eric
When: What: Where: Cost:
saturday
Dec. 8
Co-chairman Gerry Matthews doing P&Z, Commissioner Frank Mirovsky researching the Conservation Commission, Ted Manello doing the Water Pollution Control Authority, Mark Petrucci talking to the fire marshal and Joseph Salvini interviewing the town engineer. Each member was asked to mark up the appropriate section of the Georgetown document for discussion at a special workshop meeting Tuesday, Jan. 8, at 6 p.m. in the Town Hall Conference Room. Members voted to continue to meet the fourth Tuesday of each month in 2013. The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013, at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall conference room.
Conservation Commission approves projects Strachan for a house at 3 Burr Hall Road was unanimously approved. Strachan agreed to let Commissioner George Tzepos, a neighboring property owner, participate in the vote so that quorum requirements would be met. The resolution of approval stated the change conformed to the purposes of wetlands regulations and no feasible or prudent alternatives existed. In other matters, commissioners confirmed the validity of Ridgewood wetland excavation approvals through January 2019 at the request of Christopher J. Smith, land use attorney for Shipman & Goodwin. The project was originally approved in 2005 when regulated areas were 50 feet from wetlands and were renewed in 2010 after the distance was increased to 100 feet by state statutes. Smith, the attorney representing Ginsburg Development LLC (GDC) during initial construction, also was their attorney when the project was downsized and the golf course eliminated due to financial difficulties at the privately owned company.
Gingerbread Village last day
Upcoming Events
Adoptable Pets................ 8 Classifieds....................... 7 Community Calendar....... 2 Fire Log........................... 2 Frugal Mummy................ 5 In Brief............................ 4 Legal Notices.................. 7
Friday, December 7, 2012
9 to 11 a.m. for all-you-can-eat breakfast; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the Village St. George’s Episcopal Church annual Gingerbread Village St. George’s on Tucker Hill Road in Middlebury $6 for breakfast; free admission to Gingerbread Village
Middlebury Police Department Annual Toy and Food Drive When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. What: Police collect unwrapped toys, food and cash for those in need. Where: Dinova’s Four Corners Grocery
Menorah Lighting on the Green
When: 3:30 p.m. What: Lighting the first “candle” for the beginning of Chanukah; reception at Westover follows Where: Middlebury Green Published weekly by The Middlebury Bee Intelligencer Society, LLC - 2030 Straits Turnpike, Middlebury, CT 06762 - Copyright 2012
He was accompanied by Ted Merchant, Land Development Manager at Toll Brothers, Inc. Merchant represented Toll Brothers when it recently acquired unfinished properties in Avon and Stonington, Conn. Smith asked for guidance on permissible modifications to approved buildings in Phase I by presenting detailed maps of Ridgewood Phase I home sites with overlays depicting the external differences between the GDC and Toll Brothers building footprints, saying the difference was about one percent and might not need re-approvals. He was told Wetlands Enforcement Officer Deborah Seavey could make administrative decisions with respect to minimal changes but, if necessary, she would present anything more substantial to the commission. The next regular CC meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, at 7:30 p.m. at Shepardson Community Center. There will be no December meeting.
Middlebury Town Meeting Dec. 18 See story on page 5
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