[0:00] Um, so you can get us started

[0:03] whenever you would like.

[0:05] » Okay, great. Thanks, Matt.

[0:07] » Okay, so I'm

[0:08] » Colleen, do you want to just record?

[0:10] » Sorry.

[0:18] » Sorry, my recording is not working, but

[0:19] we are live on YouTube.

[0:20] » Yeah, we're live on YouTube, so it's

[0:21] recorded. We'll just post that video

[0:23] back to the website. That's fine.

[0:25] » Are we good to go?

[0:25] » Yep, we are good. Thank you, Vic.

[0:27] » Okay, great. Thanks, Matt. Okay, I'm

[0:29] going to call the March 26 regular

[0:32] meeting of Metrocog March 26, 2026 to

[0:35] order. Um, I'd ask us all to stand to uh

[0:39] recite the pledge of allegiance.

[0:43] » Pledge allegiance

[0:45] » To the flag of the United States

[0:48] » And to the republic for it stands, one

[0:51] nation under God, indivisible, with

[0:54] liberty and justice for all.

[0:57] Thank you. Well, Matt, can you call the

[0:59] role for us?

[1:00] » I can. Thank you. Uh, first select

[1:02] Monroe, town of Monroe.

[1:07] » Volume was off.

[1:09] » No problem. Thank you, sir. Um, uh,

[1:12] first person, Vitali, Town of Fairfield.

[1:14] » Morning.

[1:15] » Thank you, Christine. Uh, first elect,

[1:17] town of East

[1:18] » Here.

[1:19] » Thank you. Ken Fato, city of Bridgeport,

[1:20] proxy Mayor Ganham,

[1:22] » Here.

[1:22] » Thank you. Uh, chairman Toro,

[1:26] » I'm here. Thank you.

[1:28] » Uh, and that is five members. It

[1:30] constitutes a quorum.

[1:32] » Great. Thank you very much, Matt. Uh,

[1:35] good morning everybody again. Nice to

[1:38] see you all even on Zoom today. Um, Matt

[1:41] can give us a little update later on how

[1:43] we're making out on the changes at the

[1:46] uh the office. So, we'll talk that'll be

[1:48] part of the discussion. Um, so right now

[1:50] I'm going to uh see if there's anyone

[1:53] ask if anyone public particip

[1:54] participation. Matt, I don't know if

[1:56] there's anybody who's joining us this

[1:58] morning online to

[1:59] » Uh No one from the public. We do have

[2:02] Alfredo

[2:03] and Sarah and Ashley from OPM that will

[2:06] be making a presentation uh to the

[2:08] board, but no other public

[2:09] participation.

[2:10] » Great. Thank you. Okay. So, let's move

[2:13] then to the approval of the minutes from

[2:15] the January 29th, 2026 meeting. Can I

[2:18] have a motion to approve those minutes?

[2:22] » So moved.

[2:23] » Thank you, Terry. Can I have a second,

[2:24] please?

[2:26] » Second.

[2:27] » Thank you. I'm not sure who that came

[2:29] from.

[2:30] » That was Ken Plato.

[2:31] » Oh, hi Ken. Thank you. Uh, okay. So, any

[2:35] discussion?

[2:39] Hearing none. Uh, all in favor?

[2:42] » I

[2:43] » I

[2:44] » I

[2:46] assume that was unanimous. So,

[2:48] » No. Yep. No, no, no.

[2:51] » Against. Okay, good. So, that those

[2:53] minutes are approved.

[2:56] » All right. Um, item four on our agenda

[2:57] is presentation from Alfredo Herreric,

[3:00] the Connecticut Geographic Information

[3:02] Officer. So, um, Matt, do you want to

[3:05] introduce?

[3:06] » Yeah, Alfredo reached out. Um, would

[3:08] like to make a presentation on some of

[3:09] the the data and and other, uh,

[3:11] information that Alfredo and his staff

[3:13] are putting together. Um they are st

[3:15] they are out of the office of policy and

[3:17] management. Um but Alfredo runs the the

[3:19] GIS office uh for the state of

[3:21] Connecticut. Uh so we're happy to have

[3:22] him here. Alfredo, we gave you the

[3:24] ability to share um unless it should be

[3:27] somebody else. So just let us know.

[3:29] » Yeah. If you could pass it to Ashley or

[3:31] Sarah. I'm not feeling well. So

[3:33] » No problem. Sorry Alfred.

[3:36] » Ashley, you are a co-host now. You

[3:37] should be able to share your screen.

[3:39] » Yeah. Um are you able to see my screen

[3:40] now or is did I not click through? Okay.

[3:43] No, I didn't click through.

[3:44] » It's coming up now.

[3:45] » There you go. Well, thank you everybody.

[3:49] Metrog uh first select people and um to

[3:54] soro share of of this group and Matt Fo

[3:58] to point inviting us and Markver to

[3:59] enabling him to present here like uh

[4:02] Matt um executive director Fula said we

[4:04] do have a few things that we want to

[4:06] present to you very um um high level uh

[4:10] just to keep everybody updated in our

[4:12] priorities and what's coming next for uh

[4:15] in terms of the geospatial um world for

[4:18] you guys.

[4:20] Um

[4:24] um just a little background for those

[4:26] that haven't met us. Um we have two

[4:28] coordinators in in the office. So we

[4:31] will be presenting today on behalf of

[4:33] Alfredo. Um I'm Ashley Benites. Um and

[4:37] my my area of work concerns mostly

[4:39] address data, parcel data, broadband

[4:41] data. So everything that's related to

[4:43] that sort of precise and local uh local

[4:45] fabric aspects. And I have Sarah with

[4:48] me. she will introduce herself in in the

[4:50] second part when she's still discussing

[4:51] her um her as um her slides.

[4:57] So um a little background for those that

[4:59] um are not aware of the GIS office and

[5:02] and the geographic information officer.

[5:05] Um this the office was established on

[5:08] 2022 and is led by the GIO. Um and we

[5:12] coordinate our efforts um it's in

[5:15] coordinating and collaborating with all

[5:17] stakeholders in Connecticut. Um, and we

[5:20] like to see ourselves as as the go-to

[5:22] resource for all things that have to do

[5:24] with geospatial. Um, and that's where we

[5:28] focus the most on on clo working closely

[5:31] with other state agencies, regional

[5:32] councils, municipalities, and other

[5:34] partners. Um, like I like to say,

[5:37] everybody is our stakeholder.

[5:40] The things that we do in general, uh,

[5:43] like I mentioned, we do coordination, we

[5:45] do fat and facilitate the statewide data

[5:47] collection that you may know. For

[5:49] example, parcel data. We compile this

[5:51] data and we share it widely and openly

[5:55] um through our different portals like

[5:57] the geo data portal um and an open data

[6:00] portal. We also do a lot of inter agency

[6:03] supporting other agencies on their

[6:05] projects. Uh we do outreach and training

[6:07] like we're doing today and um and also

[6:11] we do collection of uh main data sets

[6:14] like ortho imagery and lighter data. Um

[6:17] and while we see all this data, we get

[6:19] to see some of the data quality issues.

[6:21] So we get to address um issue standards

[6:24] and guidance. Um and within all these

[6:27] data sets, of course, we do data

[6:28] processing and we're called uh

[6:31] specifically by law to develop data and

[6:34] maps uh of broadband and that's my

[6:36] responsibility.

[6:40] Um just a quick overview of our

[6:42] strategy. I'm not going to go over in

[6:44] detail. We have a vision. Uh I think

[6:46] it's just really related to what I just

[6:48] explained before uh regarding our sort

[6:51] of tasks um and efforts. So I will skip

[6:54] to this uh I'll skip through this and go

[6:59] directly to the highlights and future

[7:00] activities. So um talking about

[7:03] standards and and collection um today I

[7:07] will be talking about um a new guidance

[7:10] that we released what we're calling the

[7:12] GIS parcel data creation guidance and

[7:14] specifications.

[7:15] We do have other webinars that are

[7:19] recorded um and could be used as as

[7:21] resources for those that are interested

[7:23] in knowing more about uh GIS and and the

[7:27] and other um efforts through Yukon and

[7:30] Clear. So that um we put the the link

[7:32] there for you guys. But today we're

[7:34] going to presenting on on on parcel data

[7:40] and in the um priority task that we are

[7:45] looking ahead. Uh one of the things that

[7:48] we want to start working and we've been

[7:50] working on uh for a while is uh

[7:53] developing a comprehensive list of

[7:55] addresses in the state. Um as you see we

[7:59] have different multiple sources that um

[8:03] can tell us where this locations where

[8:05] addresses are. Um and um right now we've

[8:10] estimated that we have 1 1 8 million

[8:14] addresses and we can we are expecting to

[8:17] find more through different processes uh

[8:19] by collecting this this address data uh

[8:22] from all these different sources. Um

[8:30] in the process uh we would like to start

[8:33] surveying uh town towns to understand

[8:37] how um how this data how this data is

[8:41] collected and managed throughout uh

[8:44] through the ordinances and who is

[8:46] responsible entities for creating and

[8:48] documenting new addresses and any other

[8:50] details that we uh uh you would like to

[8:53] provide in terms of the standards and

[8:54] meanings of these addresses to really

[8:57] have a picture. So when we um start

[9:00] publishing and a complete data set we

[9:03] can understand sort of the panorama

[9:06] and the little specs the all the little

[9:09] specs of the addresses. So you can

[9:11] expect on a upcoming win a survey to

[9:14] your towns asking about addresses and

[9:17] and their details.

[9:20] As you may know, we also collect address

[9:23] um sorry parcel and camela from the

[9:26] towns and we like to always give an

[9:28] overview of um of the collection every

[9:33] year and this year we have 159 towns

[9:36] that submitted parcels and we also like

[9:39] to see it and how they adhere to sort of

[9:41] the standards that we have provided. Um

[9:45] uh so 117 uh here to that standard

[9:49] 168 town submitted KMA and 130 out 31

[9:54] towns um uh comply with the issue of

[9:58] suppression of with the submission

[10:01] field. Sorry 117 comply with submitting

[10:04] a suppression field. Um and 38 of those

[10:08] do not um they mentioned that do not

[10:10] suppress information and 23 we estimate

[10:12] that 23 are of complian suppress for

[10:15] suppression and this is very important

[10:17] that field that we call it a suppression

[10:19] is sort of like that tag um to let us

[10:22] know that of a record um the ownership

[10:25] and and the

[10:29] um the ownership and and the mailing

[10:32] address is suppressed um um for these

[10:37] records.

[10:41] Now we are under we're going to start

[10:43] undergoing the 2026

[10:47] parcel and camera collection. Um

[10:50] this um Alfredo will be sending a letter

[10:54] soon um in the coming days. uh we have

[10:57] released a new uh g uh data submission

[11:01] portal to ease the navigation and the

[11:03] submission of this data enabling the

[11:06] councils of governments to uh use this

[11:09] resource so the municipalities can

[11:11] submit more directly to them. Within

[11:13] that we have a um sort of a a submission

[11:18] form that uh requires it that you can

[11:21] submit your files but also requires some

[11:23] metadata information um which we're

[11:25] underlining a little bit more in this

[11:28] process uh to have that complete picture

[11:30] again of of parcel uh their maintenance

[11:34] uh who is uh um responsible for what um

[11:38] and other sort of details that we that

[11:39] are useful for the you know enhancing in

[11:42] the quality of of how the parcel and the

[11:46] kama uh data connects to each other. So

[11:50] you will see um a little bit more about

[11:52] the parcel and kind of collection in the

[11:53] upcoming weeks as well.

[11:56] Um again as you may know we do have also

[11:59] funds we had funds uh for the

[12:02] improvement of parcel and kama

[12:04] throughout the state uh with different

[12:07] targets um based on different things

[12:10] that analysis that we did over um over

[12:14] the submissions. Uh we found issues with

[12:17] some recency of the updates. um a lot of

[12:20] the match rates which is how well the

[12:22] parcel sort of talks with the kama and

[12:24] vice versa and some data completeness

[12:27] also issues and other smaller geometry

[12:30] issues. So there were a total funds of

[12:31] 2,000 uh $2 million uh and they were

[12:35] distributed based on the number of towns

[12:37] with you know an equal balance um and we

[12:40] have helped providing sort of data

[12:41] analysis and and and setting up the

[12:44] targets for this funds.

[12:48] Um like I um just an overview um this

[12:53] this um

[12:55] this grants have a higher prior tier

[12:57] prioritization based on what I showed

[12:59] you before. So um all the efforts were

[13:02] sort of through that funnel of the

[13:03] recency first and um and came to parcel

[13:07] match rates and and the completeness of

[13:09] those fields that um that are really

[13:12] useful uh for different analysis.

[13:16] And now I will pass it on to Sarah for

[13:18] the next uh part of the presentation.

[13:20] Sarah, you can let me know when I have

[13:22] to go next. And if you have any

[13:24] questions, sorry that I was very brief

[13:25] on the addresses, but if you have any

[13:27] questions about that survey or would

[13:28] like to talk more about any of the is

[13:30] the topics that I cover, please let me

[13:32] know.

[13:34] » Great. Thanks, Ashley. Um, hi everyone.

[13:37] My name is Sarah Hurley. I'm one of the

[13:39] GIS coordinators at the GIS office. Um,

[13:41] I largely work with our um, hydrography

[13:45] and the housing and the imagery and

[13:47] elevation programs um, in the GIS

[13:49] office. So, the first thing we're going

[13:53] to talk about here is our 2026 imagery

[13:56] and LAR capture. Um, this is starting

[14:01] very soon. Um, we should be starting it

[14:03] within

[14:05] uh within this week or next week. Um,

[14:09] our imagery data is high resolution

[14:13] aerial photographs of the whole state.

[14:15] Um and the LAR data is a 3D point cloud

[14:19] um of data um across the whole state

[14:21] where we can derive um a lot of

[14:23] different data types but um the bare

[14:26] earth elevation data um gives you um a

[14:32] statewide elevation data set. Um and

[14:35] then there's a lot of other derivatives

[14:37] from that which we'll talk about in a

[14:39] minute. Um but we contract with Dubberry

[14:43] to do this data collection and they

[14:45] manage um our flights that will go

[14:50] across the whole state and collect this

[14:51] data. Um so that basically looks like

[14:54] planes that fly um back and forth across

[14:57] the state. They have um cameras and

[14:59] devices on the bottom of the plane um

[15:02] that will uh collect the data and then

[15:05] Deubberry will take that data and um get

[15:08] the those deliverables back to us. So

[15:11] the flights will be happening right

[15:13] around now um because we do leaf off

[15:17] imagery. So we want the trees to not

[15:21] have any leaves on it, but we would also

[15:23] like the ground to have no snow. So,

[15:26] we're kind of in that um that spot right

[15:30] now where we're waiting for the snow to

[15:33] finish melting but before the leaves

[15:35] start growing on the trees um which is a

[15:38] pretty uh tight window especially this

[15:40] year with how much snow we got. Um so

[15:43] they've been watching the ground

[15:45] conditions pretty closely. Um, and we're

[15:48] hopefully getting to the point where

[15:51] we have minimal snow before the leaves

[15:54] really start um, growing. So hopefully

[15:56] we can hit that window right around now.

[15:58] Um, so this QR code is just a survey

[16:02] that has been helping Deubberry um,

[16:04] understand what the ground conditions

[16:07] look like right now. Um, so you can scan

[16:10] the survey and or scan the QR code pulls

[16:13] up a survey and you could submit um,

[16:15] photos or um, you know, verbal narrative

[16:18] about if you're seeing snow outside your

[16:21] window. Um, so they can get a good idea

[16:24] of what what these conditions are right

[16:26] now.

[16:30] Um, I think we can go to the next slide.

[16:34] Um yeah, so we did this collection also

[16:37] in 2023 using um the ARPA funds and um

[16:43] those funds were able to cover our 2026

[16:46] flight this year. Um we're doing the

[16:49] same uh uh specs um same resolution as

[16:54] the 2023 data so that we are able to

[16:57] compare conditions across 2023 and 2026

[17:01] um imagery and elevation um data

[17:05] and from that we have um a lot of other

[17:09] data uh derivatives. So, we have all of

[17:13] those fully complete and delivered from

[17:16] um our 2023 data. So, that includes

[17:18] imagery elevation, um 2D building

[17:20] footprints, we have 3D buildings, um

[17:24] contour lines, and um there's a few more

[17:27] that are out there now. Um and then in

[17:31] addition to our flights that we do um

[17:35] federally uh the National Agriculture

[17:38] Imagery Program which is also called

[17:40] NAPE um they do every two years or so

[17:43] they do um an imagery collection but

[17:46] they do leaf on imagery. Um, so it's a

[17:50] little bit different than ours. A little

[17:51] bit, um, you know, with with such a

[17:53] highly forested state, it's a little bit

[17:55] harder to, um, see the ground conditions

[17:58] with the leaf on. Um, and then we are

[18:02] are also able to ortho rectify a lot of

[18:05] spots of our um, imagery, which you can

[18:08] see in the photos at the bottom. So that

[18:10] basically means that you see in the 2023

[18:13] NAPE photo that the capital building is

[18:16] um slightly sideways um just by the way

[18:19] the camera took it. So we're able to use

[18:22] um several different photos and it uh

[18:25] changes the image so it looks like

[18:27] you're looking straight down onto the

[18:28] building so you have a really good idea

[18:30] of how that looks um from like from the

[18:35] top.

[18:37] Um so there's um the 2025 NAPE imagery

[18:40] should be coming out soon but they like

[18:42] I said they do it every two years or so

[18:44] two years or so. So all that data um

[18:47] from previous years is available. Um and

[18:51] then I think it was in the the fall time

[18:54] Deubberry did a webinar um or yeah in

[18:57] December they did a webinar um about our

[19:00] 2026 flight. So they go into a little

[19:01] bit more detail of um all all of that

[19:05] about um you know what's what's

[19:08] happening on these flights coming up and

[19:10] what the data is going to look like. So

[19:12] if you want more information about that

[19:15] um you can take a look at that webinar

[19:17] and can we go to the next slide?

[19:23] Um yes so these are some of the

[19:24] derivative data sets that we get from

[19:27] this data. Um, one really interesting

[19:30] one is our imperous cover data and that

[19:33] covers uh driveways, roads, sidewalks,

[19:37] um, bridges, um, any imperous cover

[19:40] areas. Um, we have, uh, polygon for it

[19:45] and, um,

[19:49] uh, we should be able to publish that

[19:51] soon. We have all the data. We're just,

[19:53] you know, one more look through it, but

[19:55] that is going to become public soon. Um

[19:58] and then the DOT also worked to have

[20:01] transportation lane data um from the

[20:05] information

[20:07] um we also have contours and um or steep

[20:11] slopes which is um all the land where

[20:16] it's um moderate steep or very steep

[20:19] areas. Um it's a really big data set but

[20:21] it should be really useful um in

[20:24] determining where there are steep areas.

[20:31] Um so the next program is our 3DHP which

[20:35] stands for the 3D hydrography program.

[20:38] Um we are in a partnership with the

[20:40] other New England states um to

[20:42] participate in this program um with

[20:45] USGS.

[20:46] Um so the 3DHP

[20:51] will use our high resolution elevation

[20:54] data to create um a new surface water

[20:57] data set and that will replace the

[21:01] outdated uh national hydrography data

[21:04] set. Um

[21:06] so the data for this program is derived

[21:09] by watershed and since many wersheds are

[21:12] crossing state boundaries

[21:14] um we wanted to collaborate with the

[21:16] neighboring states so that we can get a

[21:18] full look on the entirety of these

[21:20] wersheds and get all of them done. Um so

[21:25] the there's a data collaborative

[21:28] agreement with USGS so they cover part

[21:30] of the cost and the data validation. Um,

[21:33] so we applied for this for 2025 and

[21:36] didn't receive the funding, but we were

[21:38] able to reapply in 2026 and then we've

[21:42] been approved with that and we're moving

[21:44] forward with um both the border

[21:47] watersheds. So, we're working with our

[21:49] partner states to do the border wersheds

[21:51] and then we're doing the full internal

[21:54] um watersheds in Connecticut.

[21:59] And let's see.

[22:01] So, we're gonna have this hydrography

[22:03] data for almost all of Connecticut

[22:05] except for that one little section in

[22:07] the in the panhandle in the bottom

[22:09] corner just because um New York doesn't

[22:12] have the data, but hopefully we'll be

[22:13] able to do that in the future. Um

[22:17] and the work for this should start this

[22:21] summer. Um so, we should be able to see

[22:23] data around next summer. Um, and to fund

[22:28] this, OPM is going to be submitting a

[22:30] bond fund allocation request to pay for

[22:33] the Connecticut contribution, and we

[22:35] should be doing that around May time.

[22:44] So then um in a similar project, similar

[22:49] you know topic area um PA 2533 requires

[22:53] that

[22:55] all um municipalities submit a

[22:59] geospatial data file of every cover and

[23:02] bridge within their boundary. Um so this

[23:05] is understandably a very large task and

[23:09] the GIS office um has been taking the

[23:13] first steps on this process. um we first

[23:17] needed to identify all the data that's

[23:18] available and now we're working on um

[23:23] developing a data schema that we're

[23:26] going to require that the um town submit

[23:29] this data in so that we're able to take

[23:32] all the town data and aggregate it into

[23:34] one big statewide um data set. So that's

[23:38] where we're currently at with um

[23:42] this program. Can we go to the next

[23:44] slide?

[23:46] So we had aggregated our um first data

[23:51] sets that we have available. Um and we

[23:54] were seeing that a lot of the data is

[23:56] very different. Some are lines, some are

[23:59] points. Um so they're they're pretty

[24:02] different across data sets. Um, so we

[24:05] want to make sure that the schema is

[24:06] able to get the data all in the same

[24:09] data type and giving us the same

[24:11] information so that we can aggregate it

[24:13] all. Currently there's a request out to

[24:16] the COGS and municipalities to send us

[24:20] any covert data that they currently have

[24:22] available. Um, so that'll help us kind

[24:25] of see the landscape of what is already

[24:27] being collected and what is out there

[24:29] and how this data already exists.

[24:37] So, our last item is talking about the

[24:41] housing bill data tools. Um, so I'm sure

[24:44] you're all aware of the PA25-1,

[24:47] an act concerning housing growth. Um,

[24:50] there's a lot of different pieces in it.

[24:53] Um, but the part that we're involved

[24:56] with involves the housing growth plans.

[24:59] Um so the GIS office has been asked to

[25:02] provide data tools to help the towns um

[25:07] develop their developable land

[25:09] inventory. Um so the two parts of this

[25:12] are that we're going to provide

[25:14] guidelines that specify mapping

[25:16] standards for these annual reports that

[25:19] will be going to OPM. So in those

[25:22] reports there are some required maps and

[25:24] we're going to be um providing mapping

[25:26] standards of how that's um going to look

[25:30] in those reports. And then the second

[25:32] part is providing um datas and data and

[25:35] tools um to help COGS and towns

[25:39] determine what developable lands they

[25:41] have available um for housing. So that's

[25:45] going to be in the form of a uh hub

[25:48] website. Um so there'll be a collection

[25:51] of relevant data and tools and other

[25:53] resources that we're working on

[25:55] developing

[25:56] at the moment. Um can we go to the next

[25:59] slide?

[26:03] So the hub is going to have um lots of

[26:06] other spatial housing resources but

[26:09] specifically for PA25-1

[26:12] for the developable land inventory um it

[26:15] will include the mapping guidance. We're

[26:17] going to make some highlevel thematic

[26:19] map viewers which um policy makers will

[26:24] be able to look at for decision- making.

[26:27] So there there's going to be no

[26:28] complicated um analyses or anything like

[26:31] that. I will just be um subject specific

[26:35] data layers um so that you'll able to

[26:38] just look at a map and zoom in and

[26:39] quickly get an idea of what that area is

[26:42] looking like in terms of housing um and

[26:45] what what decisions need to be made at

[26:47] that level. And then we're also going to

[26:51] develop some scenario-based walkthroughs

[26:54] for GIS analyses so that when um the um

[26:59] GIS people get their hands on the data

[27:01] and need to do these analyses, we are

[27:04] able to provide some guidance um on

[27:07] specific topics like uh urban, suburban,

[27:11] um rural areas, things like that just to

[27:13] give a little bit of guidance um in that

[27:16] area. And then we'll also have a data

[27:19] library of all the different um data

[27:23] types that are either acquired from the

[27:26] statue or other types of data that we

[27:30] think might be useful for um

[27:34] uh the communities deciding what land is

[27:38] developable or not. Um, so we're not

[27:42] creating a developable land inventory

[27:45] for the whole state because we we don't

[27:47] have that local data and we don't have

[27:48] that local um insight on um community

[27:52] level areas. So we are just providing

[27:55] the tools and the data to be able to do

[27:59] that.

[28:04] Yeah. And I think that is it. So, if you

[28:06] if anyone has any questions, we can

[28:08] answer them now. Um, but thank you for

[28:12] listening.

[28:15] » Sarah, I have a question for you if you

[28:16] don't mind.

[28:17] » Sure. Yep.

[28:18] » Um, just in regard to LAR, I know enough

[28:20] about it to be dangerous. Uh,

[28:22] » Oh,

[28:22] » However, I have a question for you in

[28:25] regard to LAR. From what I understand,

[28:27] LAR is able to look beneath the ground.

[28:29] Is that correct?

[28:31] Um the LAR that we have is not looking

[28:35] beneath the ground.

[28:36] » It is.

[28:37] » So I can answer this. Um that uh some

[28:41] LAR can pierce beneath the ground. Um it

[28:43] depends on the frequency of the laser

[28:45] that's being used.

[28:47] » Um the the frequency that we are using

[28:49] for this capture in particular is meant

[28:51] to be getting returns from the ground

[28:53] because that's what we're trying to uh

[28:55] measure. Um there are some that can

[28:58] measure beneath and you can do all sorts

[29:00] of crazy things like estimate ground the

[29:02] amount of groundwater because of you

[29:03] know like the intensity of the return

[29:05] and all that kind of fun stuff. Um but

[29:07] in this particular case the lasers we

[29:09] are using are tuned specifically to

[29:12] reflect off the surface of the ground.

[29:14] » Understood. And the reason I was asking

[29:17] it it came with a purpose. You know, a

[29:19] lot of the towns had just recently

[29:21] suffered the floods, right? We had the

[29:22] thousand-year flood where a lot of our

[29:24] roads were undermined and things of that

[29:26] nature. I was looking at it from a

[29:28] benefit of being able to look under

[29:30] those roads in some circumstances and

[29:31] maybe be able to protect sink holes and

[29:34] areas that have been washed out that you

[29:35] may not see immediately after the flood.

[29:38] It might take years to reveal

[29:39] themselves. So, I was looking for it as

[29:41] a benefit to my town or other towns that

[29:43] were affected to possibly search for

[29:46] those things um ahead of time. So that

[29:48] was the reason I was asking. But yeah, I

[29:50] do understand that LAR has been used to

[29:52] recover underground cities in some parts

[29:54] of Europe and Turkey and things of that

[29:56] nature. But I was looking at for that uh

[29:58] that application. So that answers my

[30:00] question. Thank you.

[30:02] » Yeah, no problem. Thank you. That uh we

[30:04] can look into what that would be. Um

[30:07] that's typically more ground planetating

[30:09] radar.

[30:10] » Yeah. Um, but like you know the when I

[30:12] when I say you can tune LAR to kind of

[30:14] search beneath the surface, you're

[30:15] talking like inches, not like feet.

[30:21] » Yeah.

[30:22] » Yeah. The ground penetrating radar,

[30:23] Terry, would be probably your better bet

[30:25] for that. We we actually did a little

[30:27] bit of that work in Trumble on an EPA

[30:29] assessment uh looking for potential uh

[30:33] storage tanks underground and they use

[30:34] ground penetrating radar for that

[30:36] specifically. So it is possible to get

[30:39] further down but it it would have to be

[30:40] done that that is typically done more on

[30:42] a very sight specific basis than it

[30:44] would be kind of flown over the whole

[30:46] state.

[30:46] » Understood. Yeah. And this would be

[30:48] obviously um sight specific.

[30:51] » Yep.

[30:52] » You know so anyway you answer my

[30:53] question. Thank you very much.

[30:57] » Okay. Um that certainly was a

[30:59] comprehensive presentation. We

[31:00] appreciate that. Does anybody else have

[31:02] any other questions at this point?

[31:08] Okay. Uh, thank you again. Um, Ashley

[31:13] Alfredo, we appreciate it.

[31:15] » Matt, do you have anything else you want

[31:16] to offer there or

[31:18] » No, I think we're good.

[31:18] » Could I ask a question for the first

[31:21] speaker? I mean, can you just tell us if

[31:24] if any of our towns are out of

[31:26] compliance with the with the GIS

[31:29] submission requirements?

[31:31] it. No, Metro Cook right now is not in

[31:34] in not compliance. Yeah.

[31:36] » Yeah. Dan, we we coordinate with the

[31:38] towns every year to collect the parcel

[31:40] data and submit it to OPM. Um and we

[31:43] have done so ever since it was required.

[31:45] So uh no, there's no towns in Metro Cog

[31:47] that have not uh continued their annual

[31:48] updates.

[31:50] » Okay, great. Because I know we hadn't

[31:51] done some of the GS GIS uh we hadn't

[31:56] submitted some of the GIS data we needed

[31:58] to. Okay, great. All right, thanks.

[32:02] Okay. Thank you again. Appreciate it.

[32:05] » Thank you.

[32:07] » Okay. Uh we don't have any action items

[32:09] on our agenda this morning. So I'm going

[32:11] to turn to the discussion items. And

[32:13] Matt, you want to start with A, which is

[32:16] the regional PC?

[32:18] » Yeah. Just quick update. As we've talked

[32:20] about in previous meetings, we are

[32:21] updating the regional plan of

[32:22] conservation development. We've had a a

[32:24] team set up of municipal staff um to

[32:27] help uh guide that process with our

[32:29] staff as well as some focus groups on

[32:31] specific focus areas. I did send to to

[32:34] you all, I think it was a couple weeks

[32:36] ago at this point. I can resend it um

[32:39] our uh goals and objectives for each of

[32:41] the various sections of the plan. Um I

[32:43] will resend that to you. I just want to

[32:44] make sure you all see it. I think it's

[32:45] pretty straightforward. It's

[32:46] comprehensive across a number of

[32:48] different um items uh and and

[32:50] requirements uh as outlined in the

[32:53] statutory language for the regional PCs.

[32:55] Um and again, we've worked really

[32:57] closely with staff to make sure that we

[32:58] are addressing all the local intricacies

[33:01] that that um that the region has and

[33:02] make sure that we are uh um kind of uh

[33:05] including all those as part of our uh

[33:07] planning processes. We are also um

[33:10] putting together um we are also putting

[33:13] together um some opportunities and some

[33:17] um outreach materials specifically for

[33:20] your individual planning and zoning

[33:21] commissions. We're not going to go

[33:22] present to them, but we are going to

[33:24] kind of create some short videos about

[33:25] each of the focus areas and what what

[33:26] the plan is going to contain within them

[33:28] uh for for them to be uh digested at at

[33:31] the planning zoning commission's um uh

[33:34] at their own uh time and place. And we

[33:37] also will be uh putting the plan the

[33:39] draft plan out for public consumption um

[33:41] and public review and public comment um

[33:43] after we get it to you all for uh review

[33:46] first. Um so that's really where we are

[33:47] with that. Megan, I don't know if you

[33:49] have anything else to add to it.

[33:58] Oh, Megan, you're muted if you're

[34:00] talking. Sorry.

[34:08] Okay. I guess

[34:09] » He's having some internet issues as

[34:11] well. So,

[34:13] » Everyone's having some internet issues.

[34:16] » Yeah.

[34:17] » Okay. I think we're good. I can I I like

[34:18] I said, I will re I will resend you all

[34:21] the goals and objectives for each of the

[34:22] the sections of the plan. Um just so you

[34:25] can take a look at them. I I don't

[34:27] believe there's anything in there that

[34:28] should be of concern to you, but I want

[34:29] to make sure you all have a chance to

[34:31] see them. So, I will resend those today

[34:32] after the meeting.

[34:34] Thanks, Matt.

[34:35] » And Matt, um, you you covered everything

[34:37] regarding the PCB

[34:39] to to reach us right now. Uh, you

[34:41] covered everything. Yep.

[34:43] » Thank you.

[34:45] » Okay, great. So, let's uh any further

[34:48] questions about the uh PSC item?

[34:53] » Okay, then let's go to item B, which is

[34:55] the economic development strategy

[34:56] update.

[34:57] » Uh, yes, as I mentioned last month, um,

[34:59] we have to update our SDS, the

[35:01] comprehensive economic development

[35:02] strategy. Uh it was initially completed

[35:04] and adopted in um fall of 2021. It has

[35:08] to be updated every 5 years. Uh last

[35:10] time around we went out and hired a

[35:11] consultant for this using some EDA funds

[35:14] which proved to be more difficult to

[35:16] manage than they were worth receiving to

[35:18] be honest. It wasn't that much money and

[35:20] the time and effort it took to comply

[35:21] with the federal requirements did not

[35:23] really um the return on that benefit was

[35:24] not was not uh seen very well. Um so we

[35:27] are going to be updating it internally

[35:28] this this this time around. Um Noah

[35:30] Miller, who's on uh a new wish planner,

[35:33] is going to be working directly with

[35:34] Patrick Carlton on on that strategy

[35:36] document. Um one thing we have to do as

[35:38] part of the SGS is is have a strategy

[35:40] committee. Um last time we did work

[35:42] through the BRBC and their economic

[35:45] economic development committee to kind

[35:46] of set up that strategy committee,

[35:48] although it was very difficult to get

[35:49] those folks kind of in and um and and

[35:51] meet and and have input from them on a

[35:54] timely basis. So we talked to a couple

[35:56] other cogs that have done this process

[35:58] recently. Um and they all start uh began

[36:01] using uh the board members, so the you

[36:04] all and economic development staff

[36:06] within the within the region um within

[36:08] your municipalities as kind of the

[36:09] strategy committee to help guide this

[36:11] planning process. So our hope is that we

[36:13] would do the same for uh for this update

[36:15] for ourselves. Um so we will be sending

[36:18] some information out to you all um and

[36:20] your econ economic development directors

[36:22] and any other staff they can obviously

[36:23] bring in at at their at their um

[36:25] discretion uh to be part of the strategy

[36:27] committee. and the strategy committee

[36:28] really is just going to meet a few times

[36:30] to we're going to go over some of the

[36:31] the uh the data trends that we've seen

[36:33] over the last five years, review some of

[36:35] that information, review some of the

[36:36] goals and the the the SWAT analysis. So,

[36:38] there's a um a strengths, weakness, and

[36:40] opportunities analysis that is required.

[36:42] So, we will kind of take the first pass

[36:44] at that internally with staff and then

[36:46] present that to the strategy committee,

[36:47] get feedback, make modifications, and

[36:49] then go forward with uh producing the

[36:51] full document. Um, so I just wanted to

[36:53] kind of give you a larger overview on

[36:54] what that process looks like. um and

[36:57] that you know again as opposed to using

[37:00] um the BRBC this time I think there's

[37:01] value in in us kind of doing it

[37:03] internally and using you all along with

[37:05] Danfo from BRBC who would be part of

[37:07] that committee as well kind of

[37:08] representing the business community um

[37:10] and maybe one or two folks that he

[37:12] recommends to bring into this. Um so

[37:14] that's kind of our our process for this.

[37:16] So you'll be seeing some more

[37:17] information both from myself andor uh

[37:19] Pat and Noah in the coming weeks on the

[37:21] SDS process. But just wanted to give you

[37:23] all an update on where we were with

[37:25] that. We are in the kind of data

[37:26] collection and data analysis phase right

[37:27] now. So once we complete that, we will

[37:29] be presenting to the strategy committee

[37:31] what that what that results were, what

[37:33] those results were. Apologize.

[37:35] And Pat, no, I don't know if you have

[37:36] anything else on that on that item.

[37:39] » No, I think you gave a good overview. As

[37:40] Matt mentioned, we have some materials

[37:41] that we'll be sending out uh to the

[37:43] board for review um and and really just

[37:45] give an update on the process and kind

[37:47] of uh you know, where it goes from here.

[37:49] But obviously we're just in the we're

[37:50] just starting this um so obviously going

[37:52] through the data collection and uh data

[37:55] analysis piece. Um once obviously we

[37:57] have some more of those findings uh

[37:59] we'll happy to share all the results

[38:00] with you and um you know always provide

[38:02] updates as we get uh get more into the

[38:04] process.

[38:05] » Thanks Pat.

[38:06] » Yep.

[38:09] » Okay. Any more questions, conversation,

[38:12] discussion about that item?

[38:15] Okay. Let's move on to item C.

[38:19] the uh pur update for us, Matt, please.

[38:22] » Yeah, so I was going to send something

[38:23] out yesterday, but I figured we were

[38:24] meeting today. I would just hold a

[38:26] discussion for uh for this meeting. Um,

[38:28] so as many of you likely know, uh, PUIR

[38:31] did meet yesterday at their regular

[38:33] meeting at 9:00 am. Um, the first item

[38:35] on their agenda was the, um, the remand

[38:39] of the judges appeal u, back to PURA on

[38:43] the Aquarian uh, water company uh,

[38:45] change in control to AWA.

[38:49] As we had as I indicated to all of you

[38:50] previously based on their draft decision

[38:53] um

[38:54] they unanimously uh three to zero uh

[38:58] approved the application. Um it's 3 to

[39:00] zero this time just as a as a side note

[39:02] as opposed to the 4 to zero in November

[39:04] which was denied. Um so that is because

[39:09] the chairman um chairman wheel uh he

[39:11] recused himself early on because he was

[39:13] part of OC that provided um that

[39:16] basically set out the OC path for um

[39:19] their uh their concerns about this case.

[39:22] So when he became a peer commissioner he

[39:24] recused himself and then the new

[39:26] commissioner that was just uh made an

[39:28] interim commissioner in uh in January

[39:30] did not feel as if he had the time or

[39:33] ability to come up to speed fully. Um,

[39:35] so he recused himself as well. So

[39:37] there's only three commissioners. Uh,

[39:38] Commissioner, uh, Vice Chairman Arante,

[39:41] uh, Commissioner Cheeseman, and, uh,

[39:44] Commissioner Beecher are the three that

[39:46] voted on this. Um, they, uh, so again,

[39:50] they approved it unanimously, 3 to zero.

[39:53] They did in their statements, and I

[39:55] watched it yesterday morning. Um, they

[39:57] did still, uh, the PUR staff did still

[40:00] have some concerns about the financials

[40:02] and the governance piece. Um but the

[40:06] arguments we made in the in the oral

[40:07] arguments uh last week uh from both our

[40:10] attorney and David Ball as well as OC

[40:13] the office of commun community consumer

[40:15] council and the AG's office that you

[40:18] know purist still had it well within

[40:19] their rights to deny the application. It

[40:21] seems like they did not take any of that

[40:24] really to heart unfortunately. Um, so

[40:28] where we are now, um, I just actually

[40:31] received an email from our attorney.

[40:33] They have been in discussions, uh, he's

[40:35] been in discussions with David Ball, who

[40:37] is representing four municipalities. Um,

[40:39] we are exploring all potential op

[40:41] options, uh, regarding additional

[40:44] appeals on this decision from PURA. Um,

[40:48] so that is kind of still in the works

[40:50] right now. I don't have any updates as

[40:52] you know, as that just happened

[40:53] yesterday morning. um the the the we

[40:56] have not finalized kind of the path

[40:58] forward on an appeal process, but we are

[41:00] um communicating both with our councils

[41:02] and the OC and AG's office on what an

[41:05] appeal potentially looks like and who

[41:07] who who actually files the motion and

[41:09] and where we can support that or where

[41:11] we can be the ones that file that

[41:12] appeal. Um, you know, as I said

[41:14] previously, unfortunately, it it it it's

[41:18] difficult to understand how you could

[41:19] deny something four to zero in November

[41:21] and have nothing change and and now

[41:22] approve it 3 to zero uh three and a

[41:24] half, four months later. Uh but that is

[41:27] unfortunately what has happened here. Um

[41:28] there is still uh just to keep you all

[41:31] fully updated, there is still a piece of

[41:33] legislation that was passed out of the

[41:34] energy and technology committee um a

[41:37] week and a half ago, two weeks ago now.

[41:38] Um that does modify both the governance

[41:41] structure. It changes the authority

[41:43] board structure from a 6 to5 majority

[41:45] RWA to a 6 to5 majority to AWA. It also

[41:49] um looks to clarify the legislative

[41:51] intent of uh public act 24-1 uh which is

[41:54] really what the judge the appeal judge

[41:56] judge Budsick um put in his in his uh

[42:00] remand decision was that the legisl the

[42:02] purer could not override the legislature

[42:04] um in that and they didn't really have

[42:06] uh authority to say the governance

[42:08] structure was not in the public

[42:09] interest. We always have believed that

[42:11] the legislature intended for PUR to have

[42:14] full control uh and full regulatory

[42:16] control to review this application

[42:18] including the governance structure and

[42:19] that that structure was only going to um

[42:22] kind of become uh real if PUR deemed it

[42:26] acceptable. Uh so the language in the in

[42:28] the legislation that was voted out of

[42:29] committee does uh try to address that

[42:32] issue of the judge's interpretation of

[42:33] the legislative intent and make it very

[42:36] clear that the legislature intended

[42:37] always for pure to have full control. Um

[42:40] what happens with that p with that piece

[42:42] of legislation I do not know. It is it

[42:44] is um voted out to the floor. So it is

[42:47] able to be brought to the floor for a

[42:49] vote at any point by the house of

[42:50] representatives in the state. Um we are

[42:53] working behind the scenes to try and see

[42:54] if we can garner support for that and

[42:56] get that bill raised uh in the House for

[42:59] a for a floor debate and a vote. Um but

[43:02] you know I don't have anything more on

[43:04] that at at this time. I would say the

[43:06] one thing that you all potentially could

[43:09] do uh individually is re make sure you

[43:11] reach out to each of your legislative

[43:13] delegation folks, especially those

[43:15] members of the House and urge them to

[43:17] continue to put pressure um on on their

[43:21] caucuses to uh to support this bill

[43:24] coming out for a vote in the House.

[43:26] That's really our best our best case

[43:27] scenario right now. We do have what

[43:30] about a a little over a month of the

[43:32] session left. So there will be a number

[43:34] of other days that the the House and

[43:35] Senate are in session to potentially

[43:37] raise this bill. So we are working

[43:39] diligently and try to try and get enough

[43:41] uh support within the House to raise

[43:43] that bill. But there are a number of

[43:44] roadblocks we are um trying to contend

[43:47] with as well.

[43:49] So that's the unfortunate update for

[43:51] PURE right now. But is it uh we we we

[43:53] are as I said exploring all options

[43:55] moving forward and you know I I don't

[43:57] think this is the end of it. Uh

[43:59] fortunately or unfortunately um we will

[44:01] continue to uh to support uh all the

[44:05] potential opportunities we have uh to

[44:08] address this decision which we don't

[44:09] believe is the correct one.

[44:20] Okay. Anybody have any uh questions,

[44:24] discussion about this? Obviously, this

[44:27] is um you know, not something we would

[44:30] have expected, especially since the

[44:32] result was the exact opposite, you know,

[44:35] basically less than 3 months ago. So,

[44:37] it's just uh extremely frustrating. Um,

[44:41] so I think we should all take Matt's

[44:44] advice and reach out to our uh our

[44:47] legislative delegation and make sure

[44:49] that they do what they can to get this

[44:51] vote to the floor.

[44:54] » So,

[44:55] » And I do have some um I I put together

[44:57] some some draft talking points um about

[44:59] our our major concerns with this deal.

[45:02] Um so, I will get that all to you uh so

[45:04] you have it when you when you do speak

[45:06] with any of the legislative delegation

[45:08] uh members from your municipality.

[45:10] Thanks, Matt. That'd be uh very helpful.

[45:14] » And can I just add one thing, Matt?

[45:16] » Yeah, please.

[45:17] » I have a copy of the the decision. It's

[45:19] about a 50-page decision. So, if you

[45:21] haven't seen it, I could I could send

[45:22] that out after this meeting. Um

[45:24] » Yeah, why don't you do that, Pat? Just

[45:25] so everyone has it. I mean, it's

[45:26] lengthy. It's a lot of uh it's a lot of

[45:31] uh interesting things. if you want to

[45:33] take a look at it.

[45:34] » They they certainly seem to at some

[45:36] points kind of

[45:39] I would say try to directly address some

[45:41] of the arguments that were made by both

[45:43] Tony Mloud and David Ball and the AG's

[45:46] office and the OC during the most recent

[45:48] oral arguments. Um it seemed like they

[45:50] kind of went out of their way to try and

[45:52] in their decision dispel some of our um

[45:55] the the arguments we made in their

[45:57] decision and they tried to from the way

[46:00] I read it is they were trying to limit

[46:02] our ability to appeal. Um but I I think

[46:04] there are still certainly grounds that

[46:06] that uh we could file an appeal under um

[46:09] even with that. But yeah, Pat, if you

[46:11] want to share that out with the board

[46:12] afterwards, that'd be great. Thank you.

[46:15] Uh, so Matt, I I haven't seen anything,

[46:17] but that doesn't mean it hasn't been

[46:19] done. Has William Tong made any comments

[46:21] yet about this?

[46:22] » I haven't seen anything publicly from

[46:23] him. I will say he was very very strong

[46:25] at the oral arguments. Um, he was he was

[46:28] there for five and a half hours. Um,

[46:31] which isn't typical for an AG. Uh, so he

[46:34] spent a considerable part of his day or

[46:35] four and a half hours uh part of his day

[46:37] at the oral arguments. um talked very

[46:41] passionately um during his time um and

[46:44] his with his major concerns of this of

[46:46] this transaction and why he was against

[46:48] it. I haven't seen anything publicly

[46:49] from him yet, but if I do if I do see

[46:52] anything, I will get it out to you.

[46:54] There was also um

[46:55] » There is a press release, Matt, that he

[46:56] » Oh, there is one from the AG's office.

[46:57] Okay, I didn't see that yet. Sorry.

[46:58] » I could send that out with the decision

[47:00] as well.

[47:00] » Yeah, why don't you include that with

[47:01] decision so everyone can see that as

[47:02] well. And we have had some discussions

[47:04] uh our our council has had some

[47:06] discussions with the attorney general's

[47:07] office about what a potential appeal

[47:09] looks like um and and who might be the

[47:10] lead on that. So I will keep you all

[47:12] informed as that discussion uh

[47:14] continues.

[47:16] » Madam Chair, if I can I just like to say

[47:18] one thing. This is not a question. This

[47:20] is more of a statement. with this sale

[47:23] um of Aquarian to RWA, I would certainly

[47:26] hope that uh there's a strong

[47:29] consideration by Eversource to uh remove

[47:32] public benefits. That is my statement.

[47:35] Thank you.

[47:39] » Um yeah, it I also had a comment. Um

[47:45] so I went up to the Connecticut Land

[47:47] Trust Conference on Saturday, which I

[47:49] recommend you. and they have it every

[47:51] year in at Wesian University. And um I

[47:56] got to talk to uh some people who work

[47:59] at RWA and um and then I also saw uh

[48:03] workers from Aquarian here in East

[48:07] and I was sort of surprised that you

[48:10] know they they think it's it's going to

[48:13] be administered better um than Aquarian.

[48:17] they they pointed out that um you know

[48:20] maybe new technology will be introduced

[48:22] faster or this or that. So I was just

[48:25] sort of surprised that um they were kind

[48:28] of all for it. Um and I obviously from

[48:33] East's point of view were very concerned

[48:35] about the tax revenue and and and

[48:38] whether or not they'll be obligated to f

[48:40] pay their full taxes with pilot and and

[48:43] how that'll work and then the water

[48:45] rates. But I just wanted to throw that

[48:47] out there that the people who work at

[48:50] Aquarian and then the people who work at

[48:52] RWA,

[48:54] they think it's going to be better. Um,

[48:56] and I just was sort of surprised to hear

[48:59] that. Um, and I didn't know that before

[49:02] I spoke to them.

[49:04] » Yeah, thanks. And I mean I, you know, I

[49:06] can't speak for individual employees. I

[49:08] would say that, you know, at the

[49:09] employee side of this, I don't think,

[49:11] you know, I don't know how each, I don't

[49:13] know how RWA's run. don't have a lot of

[49:15] experience, you know, dealing with them.

[49:16] I think people that have worked for

[49:17] Aquarium for years, it's 175 year old

[49:19] company in various iterations, um, have

[49:22] been very happy and and considered a

[49:24] very good place to work. I don't know

[49:26] how what those changes would be on the

[49:27] kind of employee side. Um, but I also

[49:30] think that, you know, those employees

[49:31] aren't really uh don't really have to

[49:33] worry about to a certain extent don't

[49:34] have to worry about I mean they might be

[49:36] rateayers but aren't aren't necessarily

[49:38] as clued into the financial aspects and

[49:40] the governance aspects of this deal that

[49:42] um are really where we have major

[49:45] concerns about how this goes forward and

[49:46] how it um how it continues in the future

[49:49] and what the potential burden on on

[49:51] rateayers and municipalities would be.

[49:53] But, you know, I I it's not surprising

[49:55] that the the staff level would would

[49:56] wouldn't be concerned, you know, but I I

[49:59] do think our concerns on a higher level,

[50:02] on an administrative level, are still

[50:03] very uh very valid and and and and we're

[50:06] going to try to exhaust every option we

[50:08] have.

[50:15] Okay. Uh any other comments, questions

[50:18] at this this point?

[50:22] Okay. So, hearing none at this at this

[50:24] time, let's move on to uh the safe

[50:26] streets item D on the discussion items.

[50:29] » Yep. Thank you, Vicki. So, um just a

[50:31] quick update. We received from the

[50:33] Federal Highways Administration a grant

[50:34] uh under the safe streets for all grant

[50:36] program. Um I think we've talked about

[50:38] this once or twice previously and this

[50:40] board this board approved us entering

[50:42] into that grant agreement um about a

[50:44] year and a half ago. We are at a place

[50:46] now where we have a consultant on board

[50:48] uh not fully executed but we have a

[50:50] preferred uh preferred uh preferred

[50:53] consultant selected that we will be

[50:54] moving forward with. Um some of the work

[50:57] under that grant program is updating our

[50:59] safety action plan which staff is

[51:00] already working on. Um but the the

[51:02] bigger piece that I just wanted to make

[51:04] aware to all of you is that it was a

[51:06] planning and demonstration grant. Um so

[51:07] the demonstration grant is really

[51:09] shortterm quick build type projects that

[51:11] would be put out on the street for a

[51:13] temporary period of time. uh typically

[51:15] between April and October April 1st and

[51:18] October 30th is what DOT allows. And

[51:21] just as a reminder, we are focusing on

[51:23] all the state-owned assets with this

[51:24] grant. So, we're not going to look at

[51:26] local road improvements, but it'll be

[51:27] all the state roads, which we know have

[51:29] some pretty significant um uh safety

[51:31] issues and crash histories on them. So,

[51:33] our consultant will be working with us

[51:35] um and our high injury network and our

[51:37] crash hotspot data uh that we update on

[51:40] an annual basis to identify the

[51:41] locations where we will design um the

[51:45] short-term uh temporary demonstration

[51:47] projects. They could be things like

[51:48] ballards at intersections to kind of uh

[51:51] reduce crossing distances and and change

[51:53] the geometry of the of the turn to make

[51:55] sure people are not taking turns at high

[51:57] speeds. Uh it could be daylighting

[51:59] crosswalks. So, uh putting up ballards

[52:01] or some sort of um some type of uh

[52:04] implementation where you don't allow

[52:06] cars to park too close to crosswalks to

[52:08] make sure pedestrians are seen. Um it

[52:10] can be paint, it can be temporary paint

[52:12] um to try and show, you know, where

[52:14] pedestrians can be, refuge locations. Um

[52:17] so there's a number of of different

[52:19] demonstration project types. Um, we're

[52:21] going to work with our consultant to

[52:23] analyze the the crash history data and

[52:25] all the data that we have and the

[52:27] consultant and and our staff and and

[52:29] staff from your municipalities will work

[52:30] to kind of identify the various types of

[52:33] demonstration projects that may that may

[52:35] be helpful in addressing the safety

[52:37] issues at each one of those locations.

[52:38] So, we don't have an idea now. I know

[52:40] based on our grant application, I think

[52:42] we have to do at least four to six

[52:44] demonstration projects throughout the

[52:45] region. Um our hope is though that we

[52:48] have enough money and we work with our

[52:49] consultant to get the costs on these

[52:50] demonstration projects down to a place

[52:53] uh where we can do significantly more

[52:54] than that. Um so that's kind of our hope

[52:55] right now. Uh we as we work through the

[52:58] initial process, we will be coordinating

[53:00] with with your with your municipal

[53:01] staff, engineering staff, planning staff

[53:04] um and have them work with our

[53:05] consultants directly um to make sure

[53:07] that we are um identifying the right

[53:09] locations to try and start looking at

[53:10] addressing some of these safety

[53:12] concerns. And again, unfortunately,

[53:13] these are demonstration projects, so

[53:14] they will be put out temporarily and

[53:16] have to come down. Um, but our hope is

[53:18] to be able to use those as an

[53:19] opportunity to show the the

[53:21] effectiveness of these safety measures

[53:23] uh to hopefully then look for uh

[53:25] programming for uh permanent

[53:27] improvements that will help uh you know,

[53:29] more more permanently uh increase safety

[53:31] for pedestrians and bikes and vehicles

[53:33] traveling through our region.

[53:37] Well, it certainly is uh positiveness

[53:42] » After the last item. Yeah, we need

[53:43] something.

[53:45] » Yeah, I'm sure we can we can I'll use a

[53:48] lot more of that. All right, so um any

[53:51] questions on that update about safe

[53:54] streets?

[53:58] Okay, hearing none, let's go to

[53:59] something positive as well and you can

[54:02] update us on the office remod. Yeah. So,

[54:04] unfortunately, we're still not in the

[54:06] office yet, which is why this is a uh

[54:07] virtual only meeting. Um, so appreciate

[54:09] you all being okay with accommodating

[54:11] our our lack of office space for the

[54:13] short term. Uh, so we did meet with our

[54:15] general contractor yesterday. Colleen

[54:17] Pat and I have had weekly meetings with

[54:19] them. Um, they every the the

[54:22] everything's basically doneish. Um, the

[54:25] floor is the new floor is going in today

[54:27] um and yesterday. Uh, it should be done

[54:29] by tomorrow. And the only thing we're

[54:32] waiting on now is the furniture that we

[54:34] ordered for the two new offices as well

[54:37] as um a couple additional cubicles for

[54:39] the for the uh the open area of uh of

[54:42] the office are a little delayed. Um, and

[54:46] one thing that is it those wouldn't be a

[54:48] major issue for us getting back into the

[54:50] office except for the fact that um there

[54:52] was an upgrade to the electrical

[54:54] standards on the I don't know I'm not an

[54:56] electrician so I don't know all the

[54:57] words but basically the the power that

[54:59] comes into the cubicles that allows um

[55:02] the cubicles to have power uh uh power

[55:04] receptacle that comes up through the

[55:06] floor. It's basically coured up uh

[55:07] through the floor and underneath. Um

[55:09] there is a new standard for those uh

[55:12] that that power receptacle that our

[55:14] current um uh receptacles do not meet.

[55:17] So those are on order. We should have

[55:19] them hopefully next week. Um so we can't

[55:21] do the final inspection until such time

[55:23] that those power pieces are um are

[55:26] installed. So that that's kind of the

[55:28] last limiting factor to us being um

[55:31] issued a certificate of occupancy. Um,

[55:34] so once we have that, we'll be able to

[55:35] move back in fully um and and get all

[55:38] get all of our stuff out of the

[55:39] conference room so we we can have a

[55:41] conference room again. But it is it it

[55:43] moved very well. Um uh everything was

[55:46] really remained on schedule and the

[55:48] really the only the only reason we're a

[55:49] little bit delayed is because of the

[55:51] ordering of this uh very specific

[55:53] electrical component that needs to be

[55:54] installed. But otherwise, the the

[55:56] remodel went very well. The the general

[55:58] contractor did a great job staying on on

[56:01] schedule. Um, even with the snow and

[56:02] things that we had, they they didn't

[56:04] really lose any time. So, it's been a a

[56:05] pretty seamless process. And I think the

[56:06] office is uh I was there last week. It

[56:09] looks really it looks really nice. Um,

[56:11] it's it's well done. It's a little bit

[56:13] bigger than what we had before. Gives us

[56:14] a little bit of ability to to um add

[56:17] more uh capacity uh staff-wise, which is

[56:20] great. Um, and you know, we're really

[56:22] happy with what how it's come out so

[56:23] far. So, we look forward to being

[56:25] hopefully being able to show it off uh

[56:27] to all of you for an inerson meeting in

[56:29] in April is my hope.

[56:32] Well,

[56:32] » That's good to hear, Matt. I'm looking

[56:34] forward to seeing it

[56:35] » For the renovation for you guys. So, um,

[56:38] anybody have a question?

[56:43] Okay, let's uh move on to the housing

[56:46] bill.

[56:47] » Yep. So, housing bill, as I talked about

[56:48] last time or maybe two months ago, I

[56:50] forget. We did put out an RSP for uh to

[56:52] get an on to get a consultant on that

[56:54] can help each one of municipalities with

[56:56] the zoning revisions that are required

[56:58] as part of uh public act 25-1. Uh

[57:00] specifically those zoning revisions are

[57:02] related to minimum parking as well as

[57:05] the submar review for um the development

[57:08] of uh middle housing 2 to9 units on uh

[57:11] commercially or mixeduse zones uh

[57:13] existing commercial or mixeduse zones.

[57:15] Um we did put that out. We unfortunately

[57:18] only got one response um last week where

[57:20] they were due the 19th. We only got one

[57:22] response. So what we are doing um

[57:24] internally is we are going to extend

[57:26] that deadline out another two weeks, two

[57:28] and a half weeks um to and and get it to

[57:31] some other uh lists that maybe didn't

[57:33] see it or didn't uh publish it enough to

[57:35] hopefully get some more. We did reach

[57:36] out to a couple other cogs who had um

[57:40] four to eight responses when they put

[57:42] out their basically same RFP. Um, so we

[57:44] just think maybe either got lost with

[57:46] some of the other ones that were out

[57:47] there or maybe they thought it was the

[57:48] same one and didn't respond. So, we're

[57:50] just going to give a couple more weeks

[57:51] to get a few more responses in to make

[57:53] sure um to make sure that we have enough

[57:56] to go off of before we select a

[57:58] preferred consultant for that work. And

[58:00] then as soon as we get them on, we will

[58:01] we will um put them in touch with uh

[58:04] your planning uh planning department and

[58:06] whoever else they need to talk to uh so

[58:08] they can be again and this is going to

[58:10] be of no cost to yourselves. uh a nocost

[58:12] ability to help um wherever where where

[58:15] and how necessary to make sure your

[58:16] municipality can comply with those

[58:18] zoning revisions. I also just on the

[58:20] zoning side um based on the public act,

[58:22] the zoning uh zoning revisions are

[58:25] supposed to be done by July 1st of this

[58:27] year. It's going to be a very big lift

[58:29] for I think every municipality in the

[58:30] state. I am trying to have a

[58:32] conversation with legislative leadership

[58:34] to see if in some of the they're making

[58:37] a couple very small fixes to the bill um

[58:39] at some point in this session. I am

[58:41] trying to have a discussion to see if

[58:42] it's possible to just extend that July 1

[58:45] deadline out to January 1st of of next

[58:47] year. Uh just give us to give the town

[58:49] six months uh municipality six months

[58:50] additional to make those zoning

[58:52] revisions before they go into in in into

[58:54] effect. So I will keep you updated on

[58:56] that discussion. I don't know where it's

[58:57] going to go, but it is something I'm I'm

[58:58] trying to do because I do think that

[58:59] would give us a little bit more lead

[59:01] time in order to have these revisions

[59:02] incorporated fully into your zoning

[59:04] codes.

[59:05] Wait, Matt, can you just go over which

[59:08] which parts of the zoning need to be in

[59:10] by July 4th?

[59:12] » It's July 1st right now. Um, but as I

[59:14] said, I'm we are trying to see if that

[59:16] can get extended. It's also I mean it's

[59:18] supposed to be in there, but it's not I

[59:19] don't think it it there's no punitive

[59:21] measures if if the zoning is not updated

[59:23] by July 1. So, just I just want to put

[59:25] that out there, too.

[59:25] » No, but but my question is which which

[59:28] » No, I Yeah, I'm getting Yeah, I'm going

[59:29] to get to that, Dan. So, it's there's a

[59:31] minimum parking requirement um where

[59:33] municipalities um are not allowed to

[59:36] require parking um greater than one spot

[59:40] per studio or one-bedroom apartment or

[59:42] greater than two spots for a two-bedroom

[59:44] apartment or greater than three spots

[59:46] for any um units greater than two

[59:49] bedrooms.

[59:51] So, that's the parking piece. And then

[59:52] the other one um is related to a summary

[59:56] review of um so it's as opposed to going

[59:59] through a full zoning process uh summary

[1:00:02] review is kind of like an expedited

[1:00:03] review where the town sets out

[1:00:04] guidelines beforehand um during in the

[1:00:08] summary review code that you have and

[1:00:10] this is specifically for the development

[1:00:12] of middle housing. So two units to nine

[1:00:14] units on existing commercial or mixeduse

[1:00:18] uh parcels. So, they have to be zoned

[1:00:20] commercial or mixed use currently for

[1:00:22] that to be applicable. Um, and that

[1:00:24] would allow a developer to come in and

[1:00:26] put in an application. And as long as

[1:00:28] that application satisfied all the

[1:00:30] criteria that the town laid out for the

[1:00:32] summary review, they would be able to

[1:00:34] basically get a sign off and

[1:00:35] administratively without having to go

[1:00:37] through the full zoning commission

[1:00:39] process for those two to nine unit

[1:00:40] developments.

[1:00:43] » Okay. Yeah. I guess when I saw that I,

[1:00:46] you know, I thought we don't have that.

[1:00:48] We don't have mixed use or so. I I

[1:00:51] didn't know.

[1:00:52] » You don't really have one. I think you

[1:00:53] only have one commercial, two commercial

[1:00:56] zone parcels very minimally. So, it's

[1:00:59] not of uh I think Dan, for your specific

[1:01:02] perspective, I don't think it's of major

[1:01:03] concern because you don't have a whole

[1:01:05] lot of those two zoning types in your

[1:01:06] municipality.

[1:01:08] » Okay. And then just while I have the

[1:01:10] floor here, I I there's a zoning

[1:01:14] um association meeting tonight at the

[1:01:17] aqua turf that I'm going to go to. I

[1:01:20] don't know if anybody else is

[1:01:21] interested. It seems to be the

[1:01:23] association the Connecticut association

[1:01:25] of zoning.

[1:01:26] » Yeah, it's a zoning the zoning

[1:01:27] enforcement officers have an annual

[1:01:30] meeting. I think that's what that what

[1:01:31] that is tonight, I believe.

[1:01:32] » Yeah. So, that looked like a good one

[1:01:33] because they're going to go over 802

[1:01:35] again. So, if anybody's interested,

[1:01:37] that's that's happening.

[1:01:40] » Thanks, Dan.

[1:01:43] » Thank you.

[1:01:45] » Okay. Does anybody have uh any other

[1:01:47] questions on on the zoning update on the

[1:01:49] housing bill?

[1:01:52] » So, obviously that that will be uh I

[1:01:55] know we've talked about this at our

[1:01:56] previous meetings, but certainly that

[1:01:58] consult will be very helpful to us, all

[1:02:00] of us. So, we appreciate that. Yeah,

[1:02:02] we're just and we're trying to make sure

[1:02:03] we just we have enough uh responses to

[1:02:05] make a a a good informed decision on who

[1:02:08] to on who to move forward with.

[1:02:12] » Anyone else have a question on that?

[1:02:15] All right, let's move to the last item

[1:02:17] then if you would update us on that.

[1:02:19] » Yep. Yeah. CBRG is a climate pollution

[1:02:20] reduction grant program through EPA that

[1:02:22] we've been administering for the last

[1:02:23] couple years. Um our comprehensive uh uh

[1:02:28] our comprehensive um climate action plan

[1:02:31] CCAP I always too many acronyms um is

[1:02:34] fully is complete. We're just waiting on

[1:02:36] our consultant to provide um we're kind

[1:02:38] of doing some uh some handbooks or

[1:02:40] playbooks for each of the different

[1:02:41] sections. Um so once those are

[1:02:43] completed, we will be submitting it to

[1:02:44] EPA for our formal submission of that.

[1:02:47] It's not technically due, I don't think,

[1:02:49] until June or July of this year, but

[1:02:50] we're trying to get it in early since we

[1:02:52] were we were ready to submit back in

[1:02:53] December when the initial deadline was

[1:02:54] and then they extended it out through uh

[1:02:56] I think it's June. Uh but we will be

[1:02:58] submitting that shortly um and making

[1:03:01] sure we were in full compliance with

[1:03:02] that grant. And then we do have a couple

[1:03:04] years of of additional funding over the

[1:03:06] next two years um to work on some

[1:03:09] additional work. We're coordinating

[1:03:10] right now with EPA and WCOG, who's a

[1:03:14] partner with us on this on this climate

[1:03:15] action plan and this grant program um to

[1:03:18] try and uh potentially identify some

[1:03:21] opportunities where we can assist the

[1:03:22] municipalities specifically with looking

[1:03:24] at kind of some of their energy envelope

[1:03:26] issues with their buildings and and get

[1:03:28] some more uh real data that we could

[1:03:30] then use to provide uh to you all um and

[1:03:33] inform you on potential opportunities

[1:03:35] for um energy savings and and those

[1:03:38] types of those types of things. So,

[1:03:39] we're I'll we'll provide more

[1:03:41] information as we get a little bit more

[1:03:42] from EPA on that. Uh, but it's something

[1:03:44] that we're hoping to do over the next

[1:03:45] couple years directly with you on your

[1:03:47] municipally owned buildings to give you

[1:03:49] all a better handle on where you're

[1:03:50] currently um, you know, what your

[1:03:52] current energy utilization is, what

[1:03:54] you're currently paying from a rate

[1:03:55] perspective um, for these buildings and

[1:03:57] what opportunities exist to potentially

[1:03:59] uh, mitigate some of that energy usage

[1:04:02] um, and and have more sustainable and

[1:04:04] and conservation practices within those

[1:04:06] within within those municipal buildings.

[1:04:07] So, that's something we're hoping to

[1:04:09] provide be able to provide for you as we

[1:04:10] go forward over the next year and a half

[1:04:11] or so.

[1:04:16] » Okay, any questions on that?

[1:04:19] All right, thanks Matt for that update.

[1:04:21] Appreciate it. Um, it's uh we're at the

[1:04:25] end of our agenda. Anybody have any

[1:04:28] other business they want to discuss?

[1:04:32] » Nice long meeting. Thank you all.

[1:04:35] Yeah.

[1:04:36] » Yeah. Matt, can you resend that POC?

[1:04:39] » Yep.

[1:04:40] » Send it right after meeting

[1:04:42] » And then uh and then I am interested in

[1:04:44] any kind of the traffic planning stuff

[1:04:47] or or even the trains. If you have that

[1:04:50] like already, just forward that to me.

[1:04:52] So, I want to try to figure out what our

[1:04:55] role is on that.

[1:04:57] » Yeah. And I can I'm happy to set up a

[1:04:58] meeting with you too, Dan, to come and

[1:05:00] talk with you more in more detail about

[1:05:01] it all.

[1:05:03] » All right. Okay. Awesome. Yeah, I I

[1:05:05] would like to talk to you about the um

[1:05:08] the taxes and the pilot too and I would

[1:05:10] like to get the exact language of how

[1:05:13] that works if you have it. Um

[1:05:16] » We have that we can get it to you.

[1:05:17] » I really want to study that like from a

[1:05:20] legal perspective. All right. Thank you.

[1:05:22] Thank you so much.

[1:05:23] » Did the chair make a motion to adjourn?

[1:05:25] Just let me just uh um go over the next

[1:05:28] meeting dates which are April 30th and

[1:05:30] May 28th and we'll wait to hear from you

[1:05:32] Matt whether we're going to be uh you

[1:05:35] know at the office next time or have a

[1:05:37] hybrid meeting whatever what however you

[1:05:39] know when you're up to date with the

[1:05:42] » We should be well in well back moved in

[1:05:44] by then. So hopefully that'll be good.

[1:05:46] » Okay. And uh Matt just real quick I

[1:05:48] sorry I had to hop off and get back on.

[1:05:50] Um were there any questions for CT dot

[1:05:52] from you or the board?

[1:05:53] » Nope. We're good. Okay. Gotcha.

[1:05:57] » Okay. Uh, can I get a motion to adjurnn,

[1:06:00] please?

[1:06:01] » A motion.

[1:06:02] » Thanks, Ken. Can I have a second?

[1:06:04] » Second.

[1:06:05] » All in favor?

[1:06:06] » I.

[1:06:07] » Okay.

[1:06:08] » Have a good one. to everybody.

MetroCOG Board Meeting

Transcript