Board of Selectmen Address Expenditures, Vacancies, Storm Damage, Recycling and Budgets
The following are notes of significant actions taken at the Board of Selectmen’s meetings over the past weeks:
February 28th
After unanimously approving the last meeting’s minutes, the Board addressed approval of the payroll and warrant—the warrant is a combination of monies owed by the town other than payroll—for March 2, 2023, in the amount of $417,102.82, consisting of payroll of $14,904.05 and warrants totaling $402,198.77. Mr. Harris listed the warrants as $883.32 for Eversource Energy, $374,369.87 for O&G Industries for road concrete, and a $1,864.91 Visa payment for miscellaneous expenditures.
The motion to approve the payroll and warrants passed, with Mr. Kinsella abstaining. He usually abstains as he is out of state during the meetings and would want to review the payroll and warrant before voting to approve them.
Mr. Harris made a motion to accept and read a proclamation he had written, championing the town of Goshen’s virtues as a community of “integrity, courage, empathy, decency, and respect.” The motion was unanimously approved. The Proclamation’s text will be included in Goshen Town Topics, the town’s newsletter. Mr. Kinsella thanked Harris and Mr. Carusillo remarked that the proclamation was very well written.
March 7th
Payroll and warrant for the week totalled $46,264.14, including payroll of $29,308.79 and warrant of $16,955.35. The warrant included $1,554 to Brigham Industries for gloves and boots; $1,835.83 to Dime Oil for diesel fuel; and $900 to Yucatech, a telecommunications company. The motion carried with Mr. Kinsella abstaining.
Mr. Carusillo reported on his meeting on Friday, March 4, with Kinsella Fund Committee member Janet Hooper, Board of Assessment Appeals member Donna Molon, Agent for the Elderly Erin Reilly, Anne Green, and Scott Olson regarding social services in the town. Carusillo said he doesn’t think the town needs to hire a social worker, but the group discussed having a social services worker operate out of the Recreation Department. He expressed interest in developing a human services committee to determine if Goshen requires that service and motioned to nominate Hooper, Molon, Reilly, Green, and Olson for the committee. Mr. Harris suggested calling the group a task force; the motion was carried unanimously.
The Board voted unanimously to accept the town Democratic Party’s selection of Jerrold Abrahams as alternate member to the Planning and Zoning Commission, filling a vacancy created by the resignation of Leya Edison. They also approved Bruce Arsego to fill a vacancy on the Zoning Board of Appeals and Henrietta Horvay as an alternate to the Board of Assessment Appeals.
Budget Items
Mr. Carusillo noted the Animal Control 2024–2025 budget increased $500 including training for new hire Matt Perry. The Board of Finance’s projected increase is $975.00. The Library budget increased $100 (from $166,894 to 166,994.) The Rescue budget stayed the same.
The Capital Expenditures budget for the Fire Department and Rescue will be $341,000. Library upgrades to computers, fax machines, and copiers are $2650. The total Capital Expenditures budget for 2024-2025 will be $343650.
The budget projections for Cemeteries decreased by $77. The Fire Protection budget increased $9939, mostly due, according to Mr. Harris, to an increase in cost of electricity, gas, diesel, and home heating fuel.
The Board unanimously approved sending the 2024-2025 budgets to the Goshen Board of Finance for their review.
Mr. Harris made a motion, unanimously approved, to add the tax collector’s report to the Board’s agenda. Harris noted the town’s Tax Collector, Rebecca Junchert-Derungs, does a “marvelous job.” Mr. Carusillo noted outstanding taxes due of $149,024.31.
March 14th
The minutes from the Board’s Tuesday, March 7, meeting were approved unanimously, and there were no matters arising out of that meeting to discuss.
Mr. Carusillo made a motion, seconded by Selectman Kinsella (pending his review) and approved unanimously, to approve the payroll and warrant for March 16 for $87,139.74.
Payroll accounted for $13,459.41. Included in the warrant amount of $73,680.33 was $17,243.00 to the Connecticut Interlock Risk Management Agency (CIRMA), which provides insurance services to local governments; $2,540.61 to Dime Oil for heating fuel; and $1,800.00 to SLR International, an engineering company consulted about the North Goshen Road culvert.
Winter Storm Damage
Mr. Carusillo reported on storm preparation done before the day’s (March 14) storm. The Emergency Operations Center (EOC), located at Town Hall, had been opened and there was an Eversource liaison on site as 98% of Goshen was without power that day. Carusillo put a notice on Blackboard for cars to park off the road around Woodridge Lake to allow trucks to get by. During an emergency or for general notifications such as road closures, authorized Town Officials have the ability to send recorded, text or email announcements to residents using the Blackboard Connect system.
Clean-up around town from the storm will take days to complete, noted Carusillo, who said he hadn’t seen so much damage from a storm hitting Goshen in thirty years. “Woodridge Lake looks like a bomb went off,” said Carusillo. Questioned by Mr. Kinsella, he also said he had instituted a town-wide parking ban.
Mr. Carusillo said Amity Region 5 will send crews to help Goshen clean up storm damage. Questioned by Mr. Harris, Carusillo said Goshen schools would probably be out for a few days.
Cell Antenna
Mr. Carusillo noted he had received a letter from the Robinson & Cole law firm, representing the utility company installing an antenna for the Goshen Fair, across the street from the fair, on Route 63. The installation will allow for better Internet service in the area.
Mr. Kinsella asked whether there had been a review regarding the placement of the antenna by the Connecticut Siting Council which has jurisdiction over the placement of antennas, cell towers, electric transmission lines, power facilities, and hazardous waste facilities in Connecticut. Mr. Carusillo replied that the review had already gone through the Council, and that if there is no response to the letter regarding that review within thirty days by owners of abutting properties, the antenna will be installed.
Mr. Harris noted the antenna will help provide regular cellular service and will be useful to local police units. Mr. Kinsella asked if the public would be interested in being able to view the exact location the antenna will be raised. Mr. Carusillo responded that he will send a map showing the location of the antenna to Mr. Kinsella for posting on the town’s website.
March 21st
The payroll and warrant for March 23 totalled $86,521.57, which included a warrant of $55,937.07 and payroll of $30,584.50. The warrant payments were to Cardinal Engineering for $23,484.70 and McNeil & Co. Insurance for $8,222.25. The payroll and warrant were approved with Mr. Kinsella abstaining.
Storm Response
The overriding issue in Mr. Carusillo’s weekly report was the previous week’s snow storm. He noted that Eversource did an excellent job restoring power to some 1,637 Goshen households in the storm’s aftermath. The town had opened its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Bob Valentine, Emergency Management Director for the town’s Civil Preparedness Department, as well as deputy Jim O’Leary, along with Fire Chief Barry Hall and the Goshen Fire Department, worked hard to let the EOC know where downed limbs were located throughout town. Goshen’s Public Works Department worked with a Wolcott crew to clear the roads.
“Everyone came all together and got it done,” said Mr. Carusillo.
Mr. Carusillo added overhanging limbs hanging around Woodridge Lake are being cleared and sides of town roads will be cleared after the snow melts. Garret Harlow, Public Works Supervisor, told him a few outside crews may be hired, and that, along with the Public Works Department, they will chip up limbs on the sides of town roads. Carusillo hopes firewood scavengers will pick up larger pieces of wood.
Resident Audrey Blondin asked if the town had heard from any state officials regarding the storm. Mr. Carusillo said he had heard from Governor Ned Lamont, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, State Senator Steve Harding, and State Representative Maria Horn. In addition, the towns of Morris, Washington, and Watertown had also offered to send clean-up crews to Goshen.
Recycling & Tipping Fees
Mr. Kinsella motioned and it was unanimously approved to amend the Board’s agenda to include discussion of the tipping fees meeting held on March 21, for town residents and businesses with front-loading dumpsters.
Mr. Carusillo explained that the town’s solid waste, which is currently transported from Torrington to Hartford will, as of July 1, 2023, be transported out of state. Because of the change, fees associated with town waste transportation will increase from the current $116 per ton to $123 per ton. Though this would eliminate trucking to Hartford (MIRA), there was no explanation of why the cost would increase, rather than decrease.
To reduce the tonnage of waste the town collects and pays for, he is encouraging recycling throughout town. Goshen collects more than 1,268 tons of solid waste per year of which 434.4 tons is commercial; so the sixty commercial dumpsters in town produce more than one third of the weight collected, indicating that commercial enterprises are not recycling.
Mr. Carusillo said that many enterprises don’t know there are waste management tipping fees incurred by the town and he encourages those enterprises to, “scrap, compost, and recycle.”
According to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) website, recycling in Connecticut is mandatory. According to Mr. Carusillo, Goshen ordinance Title 51 specifies that residents or businesses not recycling are subject to a $1,000 fine. He further noted that an increase in tipping fees will cause an increase in taxes.
Mr. Harris asked for cooperation from commercial entities and encouraged them to come to the Board with suggestions about how to reduce the amount of hauled tonnage. Mr. Carusillo asked that any commercial owner denied a recycling dumpster call the Board of Selectmen’s office, as USA Waste is required by contract to provide a dumpster for recycling to all commercial enterprises in town. Harris encouraged businesses to contact The Goshen Business Circle to discuss solutions; he noted that increased recycling can possibly reduce the size of the dumpsters a business requires for waste.
Mr. Kinsella noted that bulky waste can be scheduled for pickup. Resident Cindy Barrett mentioned that there is a pickup on the first Friday of each month for appliances, tires, and scrap metal. Mr. Harris noted that that service is intended for residents, not commercial enterprises.
In an unrelated action, it was unanimously approved to appoint Catherine Wright to the town’s Human Services Task Force. The Task Force was initiated in a previous meeting of the Selectmen.
March 28th
The minutes for the March 21 meeting were unanimously approved and, with no matters arising from the meeting’s minutes, Mr. Harris motioned to discuss the payroll and warrant for March 30, totalling $96,636.59.
The total expenditures for the payroll and warrant included a warrant of $84,306.70 and a payroll of $12,329.89. The warrant expenditures included $16,921.32 to Cargill, Inc. for road salt; $6880.00 to Innovative Surface Solutions for Magic Minus Zero liquid road treatment; and $1325.63 to Mountaintop Stone for road stone. The payroll and warrants were unanimously approved.
Mr. Carusillo discussed tree and branch cleanup around town by the Public Works Department. Under a mutual aid agreement, Burlington and New Milford are helping with the cleanup. Carusillo stated limbs being chipped or removed are on the town’s right of way only.
Mr. Carusillo will attempt to have a phone conference with Torrington Police Chief William Baldwin and Chris Leone, Superintendent of Region 6 and Litchfield school districts, to discuss the recent mass shootings around the country. He wants the town to have a preventative protocol in place in order to avert a similar situation in Goshen.
Carusillo discussed the town’s negotiations to purchase property on Route 4 for future storage facilities for the Public Works Department and Fire Company. The Goshen Board of Finance approved the purchase at their March 22nd meeting, recommending use of an anticipated refund from Region 6 to fund the $200,000 purchase. No plans or budgets for construction of the referenced storage facilities have as yet been presented. A town meeting must now be convened for residents to vote on the land purchase.
Resident Audrey Blondin asked if, regarding the town meeting, there had been any progress on residents being able to vote remotely.
Mr. Harris said that he had had several discussions regarding the matter with Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas, the Freedom of Information Commission (FOIC), and the State Elections Enforcement Commission. According to Harris, Zoom doesn’t have secure voting capability: Anyone voting via Zoom would have their voting record accessible to anyone else. He has asked the state legislature to examine whether another online resource can be utilized for remote voting, but so it “does not look good.”
Ms. Blondin asked about previous remote voting, which had been allowed for the School Board election. In response to Blondin’s question if that particular vote had been a violation of existing laws, Mr. Harris replied affirmatively. “The secrecy of your ballot is sacrosanct in this state,” he said.
