| James T. Higgins, At Large | |
| Council President | |
| Jeffrey J. Mutter, District 2 | Bruce A. Lemois, At-Large |
| Council President Pro-tem | Board of Licensing Chair |
| Antonio J. Albuquerque, District 1 | Kelley Nickson-Morris, District 3 |
| Council Member | Board of Licensing Vice Chair |
| Mia A. Ackerman, District 5 | Jason B. Kirkpatrick, District 4 |
| Council Member | Council Member |
MINUTES OF THE CUMBERLAND TOWN COUNCIL
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2008 AT 7:30P.M.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, TOWN HALL
45 BROAD STREET, CUMBERLAND
REGULAR SESSION
The meeting was called to order at 7:48p.m. by the Council’s Vice Chair, Councilor Mutter. Council President Higgins voice is inaudible due to illness.
The meeting opened with the pledge of allegiance to the flag.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Council President Higgins, Councilors Mutter, Ackerman, Lemois, Albuquerque, Morris and Kirkpatrick
Also present, Mayor Daniel J. McKee, Thomas E. Hefner, Town Solicitor, and Sandra M. Giovanelli, Town Clerk
MEMBERS ABSENT:
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CONSENT AGENDA
A. Acceptance of the Regular Town Council Meeting of January 2, 2008
B. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:
Parks and Recreation Department
Rescue Department (Monthly & Annual Report)
Municipal Court Annual Report
Town Clerk’s Office Annual Report
MOTION BY COUNCILOR MORRIS, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ACKERMAN AND ALBUQUERQUE AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
LICENSES-
A. FOURTH CLASS VICTUALLING:
1. An application from Mahmood Quisar of 90 Girard Avenue, Newport for Kahn & Sons, Inc. d/b/a The Cumberland Spot located at 1152 Mendon Road
Councilor Mutter asked Ray Madden, the Building Official to bring them a status of the issues mentioned in the letter he submitted to the Council regarding this establishment.
Mr. Madden explains in the application process it was discovered that the new owner was operating under the previous owners’ licenses after an inspection. He adds that during that inspection the owner was informed that he needed to apply for all the appropriate licenses through the State and Town. He adds that while he was at the establishment there were some safety issues that were found but have since been resolved. He mentions that there is still an issue relative to workmen’s compensation; the owner informed him that he had no employees but from several visits to the establishment it seems that he does have employees without a workmen’s compensation policy. Mr. Madden contacted Workers’ Compensation which informed him that there was no active policy and as of this afternoon there has been no policy delivered to them.
Councilor Mutter asked Mr. Madden if everything is place for this license.
Mr. Madden replied no because he has no workmen’s compensation insurance and he still hasn’t seen any documentation from the Department of Health and Division of Taxation.
MOTION BY COUNCILOR MORRI, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ALBUQUERQUE AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO TABLE TO FEBRUARY 6, 2008. VOTE 7/0.
B. HOLIDAY LICENSE:
1. An application from Mahmood Quisar of 90 Girard Avenue, Newport for Kahn & Sons, Inc. d/b/a The Cumberland Spot located at 1152 Mendon Road
MOTION BY COUNCILOR MORRIS, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ALBUQUERQUE AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO TABLE TO FEBRUARY 6, 2008. VOTE 7/0.
FINANCE REPORT:
1. General Fund Report as of 12/31/07 for the current FY 2007-2008 period
Thomas Bruce, the Finance Director, states that during December, tax revenues continued to exhibit adequate budget performance at a slightly increased rate relative to prior fiscal years. He explains that on December 31, 2007, the Town had collected 61.69% or $15.74 million of the budgeted 2007 tax collections and the performance at this time last year was less at a value of 59.60% and in 2006, the achieved rate was 58.86%. He adds that the 2% improvement equates to approximately $900,000, therefore their budgeting approach this year, for this particular prior year tax levy, is improved to the extent that an account deficit of approximately $900,000 that has previously occurred will be avoided. He points out that for 2006 and prior year taxes, the Town has collected 34% of budget or approximately $141,000 which compares favorably to the prior year rate of 26%. Mr. Bruce mentioned that the revenues and expenditures are generally in line with anticipated amounts with Rescue revenue recorded through October and the Town Clerk related revenues recorded through November. Nevertheless, realty transfer, recording and building permit fees have slowed to approximately 22% of budget collected compared to approximately a 47% average in the three prior years. He states that the non-seasonal payroll approximately reflects thirteen pay periods equaling 50% on a straight-line basis. He reports that the School transfers year-to-date, are reported as of December 31. He informs that the operating expenses should be in the 30% to 60% range, health insurance costs are running favorably relative to budget with incurred health insurance expenses for four months at a percentage of 36.3% of our $2.15 million budget. He announces that as of January 10, the Town has expended approximately $48,000 or 34% of our snow removal and snow supplies budget. He concludes that included in their packets are the November check register, the current CHS2O1O financial report and a financial report concerning the $3.5M Elementary School Construction Project.
OLD BUSINESS
A. RESOLUTIONS:
1. R-07-192 – A Resolution Awarding the Contract for Implementation of Streaming Video and Meeting Management Capability to the Town of Cumberland’s Website to Granicus, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $26,972.50 (tabled from 12/19/07)
Sale Baglio, Granicus’ Northeastern Regional Sales Director, was present. He explained that Granicus provides government web casting and public meeting management to our 300 cities and towns throughout the country. He adds that the resolution before them if approved would allow Cumberland to live stream Town Council meetings as well as other Town Boards and Committee meetings archived online. He points out that this also includes tools to assist the Town Clerk in the preparation of her minutes and the ability to have non meeting related video available through the website.
Councilor Lemois stated that this Council has put in place policies on public input because it is important to them. He asked how they can weigh out the value of this service to determine if it is being used.
Mr. Baglio replied that the system comes with a full reporting module available to see viewership of the live stream as well as archived video and materials.
Councilor Morris asked how the archival portion of the program works and how long are the archives stored.
Mr. Baglio states that they traditionally store 12 months of all the meeting videos but they contract includes 3 years worth of archives as well as 200 hours of other video that they can place online.
Councilor Albuquerque states that the contract includes mobile solutions and asked how that works.
Mr. Baglio explains that the mobile solutions gives them the ability to have meetings or events in other locations but the one limitation is that the video would not be live stream but it is recorded and encoded to be placed on the internet.
Councilor Albuquerque asked what it would take to make those meetings and events outside of Town Hall live stream video and is it costly to do so.
Mr. Baglio explained that the biggest concern about live streaming is the ability to get an internet connection that has enough bandwidth to take that file and make it available at a hosting facility. He adds that it is a current limitation of the technology currently used but they expect that in a couple of years that limitation will be diminished. He states that it is for the Council to decide but he doesn’t believe it is expensive to add bandwidth to a second or even third location.
Councilor Lemois stated that he read somewhere that if someone were to choose a specific part of the agenda it would take them directly to that point of the video that it was discussed.
Mr. Baglio explains that statement is correct and added that is one of the big improvements that they believe Granicus Solutions where integrated public records are provided for the resident. He adds that the agenda items are indexed against the video so that residents that may be interested in view an item can go to that item and see the video directly as well as any documents associated with that agenda item.
Council President Higgins asked for the funding to be explained.
Thomas Bruce, the Finance Director, explained that the Town Clerk maintains an accounting of certain recording fees that are brought in for services rendered. He adds that according to Rhode Island General Law 34-13-7 all of the Rhode Island municipalities allowing 10 percent of recording fees shall be utilized for the purposes of document preservation and technological upgrades. He points out that this account has accumulated over a long period of time and the current balance is $185,000. He concluded that this particular purchase under the caption of technological upgrades does meet the definition of eligible use of this fund.
Jim McLaughlin of 15 Garden Street was present and stated that the presentation sounded very good but he would like to know if they need any software for handicap accessibility. He also questioned where the funds for the monthly fee will come from because he believes that this fund is better spent on video cameras at the schools.
Mr. Baglio replied that there is the ability for close caption.
Councilor Mutter clarified that the monthly fee would be paid from the special account for technological upgrades and document preservation.
John McCoy of 3 Grant Lane asked how fast the live stream would be available on the website and if they are going to be able to put up documents too.
Mr. Baglio replied that the live stream takes about 30 seconds to be encoded on to the website and if the meeting or event is not live it would take about an hour after the meeting for the file to uploaded to the website. He also stated that the program does allow for the integration of the public record of not just the video but the agenda that is indexed to the video but the ability to embed the documents associated with that agenda item.
Councilor Mutter stated that he believes that this is definitely a step in the right direction for open government that all governments are trying to improve upon.
MOTION BY COUNCILOR LEMOIS, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ALBUQUERQUE AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
B. ORDINANCES FOR PUBLIC HEARING:
1. #07-12 – An Ordinance relating to the Senior Citizen Tax Deferment Program (May 2, 2007 and November 21, 2007)
Mayor McKee stated that they would like to amend this ordinance by changing the age and the income level so that those affected can qualify for this next tax season. He also stated that there is also a section that they would like to have deleted.
Referred to the Finance Sub-Committee
2. #07-19 - An Ordinance in amendment of the Code of Ordinances of the Town of Cumberland, Rhode Island, as amended, amending the ordinances and map thereof with reference to Cumberland Assessor’s Plat 59, Lot 7 in the Town of Cumberland ordains (from Agricultural-1 (A-1) to Agricultural-2 (A-2)) (tabled from September 19, 2007, October 3, 2007, November 7, 2007, December 5, 2007 & December 19, 2007)
Councilor Morris stated that the Ordinance Sub-Committee met on this matter that evening and this has been somewhat detailed review of this ordinance giving the circumstances. She explains that they received a negative recommendation from the Planning Board and during their review the applicant has submitted quite a bit of additional information including a conceptual site plan that includes open space. She concluded by stating that the Committee recommends sending this matter back to the Planning Board for further review based on all the new information submitted by the applicant.
MOTION BY COUNCILOR MORRIS, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ACKERMAN AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO REFER ORDINANCE BACK TO THE PLANNING BOARD FOR REVIEW AND TABLE TO FEBRUARY 6, 2008. VOTE 7/0.
3. #07-27 – An Ordinance relating to Fair Share Development Impact Fees (tabled from November 21, 2007, December 5, 2007 & December 19, 2007)
Councilor Morris stated that they have not had the time to review this but it is her understanding that the Solicitor and the Planning Director are working on some changes.
MOTION BY COUNCILOR MORRIS, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ACKERMAN AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO TABLE TO FEBRUARY 20, 2008. VOTE 7/0.
NEW BUSINESS
A. COMMUNICATIONS:
1. An update of the new recycling program as well as review of the issues with the program and their resolutions
Mayor McKee explained that this matter is on the agenda in order to answer any of the Council’s questions and to give an update of what is going well that was prompted by a visit that they had in the Diamond Hill area. He stated that the issue involved some late pick ups so the Coastal representative has given them some explanation that he would like to convey to the Council and the public.
Steve Cuomo, the owners’ representative and spokesman for Coastal, stated that he received numbers from the Rhode Island Resource Recovery comparing the percentage of recycling in December of 2006 at 18 percent to December of 2007 at over 26.8 percent. He explained that is a significant fiscal impact savings to the Town resulting in approximate savings of about $7,000 which will continue to increase as the recycling percentage increases. He pointed out that the actual increase from 18 percent to 26.8 percent really correlates over a 30 percent increase of the volume of the recyclables that Coastal had to handle in the month of December that it previously wasn’t doing. He continued to explain that it resulted in unanticipated service problems because the trucks can only hold up to 4 to 6 tons and with that amount of recyclable increase the tonnage was increased dramatically. He pointed out that given the fact that it was a perfect storm having the holidays with all the card boxes due to Christmas they simply did not have the capacity with their two trucks to handle the volume they had encountered. Mr. Cuomo stated that they worked with the Mayor who demanded that they find a resolution to ensure that they could service this new capacity. He informs that Coastal has decided at their cost to dedicate a third recycle truck that will be used for the entire Town where they will be on call everyday in the event that by 11 o’clock or 12 o’clock they may not have time to finish that days route, they will send out the third truck to sweep the Town. He also noted that when they had those holidays the Landfill opens on a Saturday to compensate for the day after pickup because everyone’s day moves up one but they do not stay open all day so they lost 6 to 7 hours of dumping time in addition to all the increase that they had experienced. He stressed that they have caught up since earlier this week and the problems have subsided. He stated that Coastal takes full responsibility for what happened; it had nothing to do with the Town Management. He concluded that the company will dedicate themselves to ensure that the service they have been accustomed to in the last five years and asked for forgiveness in their inability for those two weeks to struggle with that increase and demand.
Councilor Morris suggested that in the future if circumstances occur that can result in lack of service, they should contact the Town and there could be notice to the residents through a posting to the website.
Mr. Cuomo replied that he believes that there was communication break down between the drivers and management at Coastal because they were unaware of the situation until two days after the fact. He explained that they are going to try to address that issue by having a supervisor on the road for at least 2 to 3 hours a day on a rotating basis so that the drivers do not know that they are there so they can follow them and if they see an infraction they will call it to their attention.
Mayor McKee thanked and congratulated the residents in the Town for their efforts in increasing the recycling rate resulting in realized savings and environmental improvements. He also thanked Coastal for their services to the Town and the recycling program initiative that the Town is benefiting from. He concluded by stating that Coastal has acknowledged and taken responsibility for their infractions that occurred in the last couple of weeks and have put in place measures to address those issues in order to move forward in providing the Town a great service.
B. RESOLUTIONS:
1. R-08-01 – A Resolution Authorizing and Empowering Mayor Daniel J. McKee to Execute a Professional Services Contract for Rescue Service Billing Administrator to Comstar, Inc. of Rowley, Massachusetts for a Fee amount not to exceed four percent (4%)
MOTION BY COUNCILOR MORRIS, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR LEMOIS AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
2. R-08-02 – A Resolution Authorizing an increase to the approved amount of the existing contract with Interbuild, Inc. of Lincoln, Rhode Island in an amount not to exceed $49,320 for extended General Labor Conditions as a Portion of Part II of the CHS2010 Phase III Project at Cumberland High School
MOTION BY COUNCILOR ALBUQUERQUE, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ACKERMAN AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 6/0.
Council President Higgins was absent during vote
3. R-08-03 – A Resolution Authorizing an increase to the approved amount of the existing contract with Commercial Electrical, Inc. of East Providence, Rhode Island in an amount not to exceed $19,070 for Electrical Services as a Portion of Part II of the CHS2010 Phase III Project at Cumberland High School
Jim McLaughlin of Garden Street stated that the general contractor should be responsible for these items.
Jeff Morris from Dimeo explained to Mr. McLaughlin that there is no general contractor on this project, there is a construction manager that oversees the contracts that are held by the Town.
MOTION BY COUNCILOR ALBUQUERQUE, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR MORRIS AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
4. R-08-04 – A Resolution Authorizing an increase to the approved amount of the existing contract with Building Specialties/Architectural Hardware of Agawam, Massachusetts in an amount not to exceed $3,225 for Two Additional Doors and Frames as a Portion of Part II of the CHS2010 Phase III Project at Cumberland High School
MOTION BY COUNCILOR MORRIS, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR LEMOIS AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
5. R-08-05 – A Resolution Authorizing an increase to the approved amount of the existing contract with D.M. Lonergan Paint & Wallpaper Company of Warwick, Rhode Island in an amount not to exceed $4,880 for Window Shades related to the CHS2010 Phase III Part III Renovations at Cumberland High School
MOTION BY COUNCILOR ALBUQUERQUE, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ACKERMAN AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
6. R-08-06 – A Resolution Authorizing an increase to the approved amount of the existing contract with Northeast Steel Corporation, Inc. of North Kingstown, Rhode Island in an amount not to exceed $2,539 for Steel related to the CHS2010 Phase III Part II Renovations at Cumberland High School
MOTION BY COUNCILOR KIRKPATRICK AND MORRIS, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR LEMOIS AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
7. R-08-07 – A Resolution Authorizing an increase to the approved amount of the existing contract with Robert F. Audet, Inc. of East Greenwich, Rhode Island in an amount not to exceed $7,933.09 for Electrical Services related to the CHS2010 Phase III Part III Renovations at Cumberland High School
MOTION BY COUNCILOR MORRIS, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR LEMOIS AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
8. R-08-08 – A Resolution Authorizing an increase to the approved amount of the existing contract with Dillon Acoustical Ceiling, Inc. of Smithfield, Rhode Island in an amount not to exceed $1,554 for the Installation of Framing and New Tiles as a Portion of Part III of the CHS2010 Phase III Project at Cumberland High School
MOTION BY COUNCILOR ALBUQUERQUE, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ACKERMAN AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
9. R-08-09 – A Resolution Authorizing an increase to the approved amount of the existing contract with CAM HVAC & Construction, Inc. of Smithfield, Rhode Island in an amount not to exceed $1,960.57 for HVAC Services as a Portion of Part III of the CHS2010 Phase III Project at Cumberland High School
MOTION BY COUNCILOR ALBUQUERQUE, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR MORRIS AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
10. R-08-10 – A Resolution Authorizing an increase to the approved amount of the existing contract with CAM HVAC & Construction, Inc. of Smithfield, Rhode Island in an amount not to exceed $12,933 for HVAC Services as a Portion of Part III of the CHS2010 Phase III Project at Cumberland High School
MOTION BY COUNCILOR ALBUQUERQUE, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR MORRIS AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
11. R-08-11 – A Resolution Authorizing an increase to the approved amount of the existing contract with Interbuild, Inc. of Lincoln, Rhode Island in an amount not to exceed $1,200 for the Installation of New Doors and Frames as a Portion of Part II of the CHS2010 Phase III Project at Cumberland High School
MOTION BY COUNCILOR ACKERMAN, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ALBUQUERQUE AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
12. R-08-12 – A Resolution Authorizing an increase to the approved amount of the existing contract with Commercial Electrical, Inc. of East Providence, Rhode Island in an amount not to exceed $3,565 for Electrical Services as a Portion of Part II of the CHS2010 Phase III Project at the Cumberland High School
MOTION BY COUNCILOR ALBUQUERQUE, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR KIRKPATRICK AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE. VOTE 7/0.
Councilor Lemois explained that they were handed this process and management style which he was very vocal about in the beginning but since then he has had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Morris and the Mayor and his response and oversight of this project has been done with much detail and with an excellent manner. He added that Mr. Morris has been able to save the Town some money and the management style is different but it is going well.
B. ORDINANCE FOR PRESENTATION AND PERMISSION TO ADVERTISE:
1. #08-01 – An Ordinance relating to Inter-fund Interest Charges (Presented by Council President Higgins on behalf of the Administration)
Referred to the Finance Sub-Committee
2. #08-02 – An Ordinance to Reopen and Amend the Existing Budget (Presented by Council President Higgins on behalf of the Administration)
Referred to the Finance Sub-Committee
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Gerald Ferguson of 111 McGirr Street was present and wanted the public and the Council to be aware that there is a problem with people going into residents recycling bins to obtain recyclables and that act is an offense. He added that there are even fines associated with that type of offense that start at $25 for the first offense, $50 for the second offense and $100 for the third offense. He believes that there are many people who probably aren’t aware that this is an offense and urges that the Town should publicize this information so that the public can call the police if this is being done.
ADJOURNMENT:
MOTION BY COUNCILOR ALBUQUERQUE, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR KIRKPATRICK AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ADJOURN AT 9:17PM. VOTE 7/0.
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Sandra M. Giovanelli, Town Clerk