Board of Finance Minutes-Public Hearing-4/24/13

BOARD OF FINANCE
PUBLIC HEARING - 7:30 PM
APRIL 24, 2013

CALL TO ORDER

Paul Henault, Chairman, called the Public Hearing for the Board of Finance to order at 7:30 P.M. on Wednesday, April 24, 2013 in the Amphitheater of Simsbury High School located at 34 Farms Village Road, Simsbury, CT. The following members were also present: Peter Askham, Jeff Blumenthal, Nicholas Mason and Barbara Petitjean. Also present were Mary Glassman; First Selectmen; Mary Ann Harris, Finance Director; Tom Cooke, Director of Administrative Services; Burke LaClair, Board of Education Business Manager; Lydia Tedone, Chair of Board of Education; Matt Curtis, Superintendent of Schools; Leslie Faraci; Commissions Clerk and other interested parties.

Mr. Henault called the Public Hearing to order at 7:30PM on Wednesday, April 24, 2013. He provided an overview of the agenda and the budget process.  Mr. Henault opened the meeting up to Public Audience.

Ms. Anita Meilert, SMSP, addressed the Board on behalf of Simsbury Main Street Partnership (SMSP) and provided a history of the Charrette related spending. She said SMSP believes a change in funding amount was done at the last minute and she thinks it should be changed back. She spoke about the work put into the Charrette. Ms. Meilert spoke about the benefits of investing in a parking structure and in implementing the study in general.

Joan Coe, 26 Whitcomb Drive, spoke about the right and responsibility of the tax payers to question the budget. She expressed her concern of spending money on The Hartford Charrette. Ms. Coe listed expenditures that she sees as frivolous.  She said with diminishing property values, the expenditures should also be decreased. She then spoke about her concerns related to the Board of Education budget. She concluded saying she will not support either budget as presented.

Rich Correia, SMSP, spoke about the value of a parking structure in the center of town to the local retailers.

Dr. Michael Rinaldi, 32 Pinnacle Mountain Road, said he did not think the previous presentations were transparent. He questioned the Boards regarding expenditures. He asked specifically about per pupil costs.

Diane Nash, 5 Merrywood, said she had trouble finding information on the website. Ms. Nash said she has heard from local real estate professionals that people are turning away from Simsbury because the budget is too high. She asked about $204,000 related to Design of Simsbury Senior Center and said she cannot understand why they would even consider moving the Senior Center out of town and why there is being a study done related to that.

Norma Servadio, 10 Sagamore Drive, asked about the need for a new Senior Center when Eno Hall is the perfect place for it and all of the amenities needed. She asked if the current needs are not being met at Eno Hall. She said the opinion of current and future users need to be considered.

Dave Balboni, 13 Fox Den Road, provided some history of Simsbury, as he has been a resident since the 1950's. He wanted to know why the grant money is not included in the referendum. He then spoke about The Hartford and his concerns about the partnering with them on this joint venture.

Ms. Glassman took the time to answer some of the questions raised. She began with the questions regarding the funding amount of the Center Area Charrette.  She then moved on to the topic of the future of the Senior Center describing the process thus far and she said there will be plenty of time for public input. Ms. Glassman then responded to additional questions including the topics of the truck wash as well as Simsbury's partnership with The Hartford related to The Hartford Study.

Matt Curtis, Superintendent of School, addressed the public in order to answer some of the questions presented regarding budgetary costs and spoke specifically about grant monies, transparency, per pupil costs and program review. Mr. Henault also spoke about the presentation of the grant monies with respect to the budget. The topic of grant funds was discussed further.

Mr. Henault closed the public hearing and paused for a 5 minute break.

Respectfully submitted,

____________________________________  ______________________________
Paul Henault, Chairman                                     Leslie U. Faraci, Commissions Clerk