[2:39] Look, I know this guy.

[2:40] Yes, they are different.

[2:41] Each McBride is at least seven

[2:42] miles long. I

[2:44] promise you, my phone is just

[2:46] for me. Very good.

[2:48] Sean,

[2:49] are you ready?

[2:51] Here's Sweet.

[2:59] Recording in progress. I would

[3:03] like to call. Can you hear me?

[3:07] Okay, now we're talking. I would

[3:10] like to call the

[3:12] City Council Plenary Committee to the meeting at

[3:14] 6:31 p.m. m. And I'll take attendance.

[3:22] Councillor Burrell.

[3:23] Here.

[3:24] Councilman Boardman.

[3:25] Here.

[3:25] Councilman Fitzgerald will be

[3:27] online later. It's on TVCCA this afternoon.

[3:31] Councilman Good.

[3:32] Here.

[3:33] Councilman Jones. Here.

[3:34] Councilman McBride.

[3:35] Here.

[3:36] Councilman Merritt.

[3:37] Here.

[3:37] Councilman Picinich.

[3:39] That's me.

[3:39] And I, Mayor Parker. We have eight

[3:43] councilors. So I declare a quorum.

[3:47] Calendar communications, Councillor

[3:49] Barrell.

[3:51] Uh, right now I don't have anything.

[3:54] Okay, thanks. Councilman Boardman.

[3:56] Thank you. I just wanted to send my

[3:59] condolences to the family of... He

[4:00] called himself Neil, but his real name

[4:02] was Joseph Neil Splane. I lived on High

[4:04] Street in Mystic. He was my neighbor

[4:06] when I was little. I lived on

[4:07] High Street in Mystic when I was a child.

[4:09] And I knew him for many years, you

[4:11] know, from top to bottom of the hill.

[4:14] I knew the family quite well

[4:16] because their son was the choir director at

[4:18] Ledyard and then was at UConn and

[4:20] has since retired. But one of

[4:23] the interesting facts about this

[4:24] gentleman is that he was 102 years old. She

[4:26] also attended the same church I did

[4:28] . But he was also a

[4:30] councilor in the city of Groton.

[4:32] Please refer to the obituaries regarding this matter

[4:34] . This gentleman served in the

[4:37] army, was in the Battle of the

[4:39] Bulge, and also went from the army to

[4:41] the navy, where he later retired, I think

[4:43] to occupy some kind of

[4:45] officer position, don't quote me. And then

[4:48] I worked for EB for many years,

[4:51] I worked on the development of the Nautilus

[4:53] and then I went into politics, RTM, the

[4:56] city council. He was also

[4:59] important and decisive in advocating for and

[5:01] helping to bring the Pequot Health Center

[5:02] here, on this side of the bridge

[5:03] . Back then, if you remember, it

[5:06] used to have two lanes and two

[5:07] lanes. I only saw the photos, I don't know, I

[5:09] wasn't there at the time. But if

[5:11] there was an accident and I was

[5:12] talking to a former

[5:13] police officer in the city of Groton, he

[5:15] told me they had trouble getting

[5:16] people across that bridge if it was to go

[5:18] to the medical center. That's why having

[5:20] Pequot Health here can help

[5:21] stabilize people until they can

[5:23] get more help. So my deepest

[5:24] condolences to the family. I

[5:27] happened to see Mr. Splaine just a few

[5:29] months before, as my son had

[5:31] bought one of his cars after

[5:32] giving up driving. It was a

[5:35] great symbolic gesture and I was very excited that

[5:37] the car was for my son. And we were able to

[5:39] have a good conversation and all

[5:41] that. Well, if you don't know much about him

[5:43] , he calls himself Neil, but his name

[5:45] is Joseph Neil Spleen, Spleen. They

[5:48] definitely sought him out as a

[5:49] former councillor from Rotting Town. And

[5:52] again, I cannot emphasize enough that she lived

[5:54] a full life and was able to do many

[5:56] things. And if you read his obituary, it's

[5:58] simply phenomenal in terms of his

[6:00] life experience. I also wanted to

[6:03] let you know that I have received many

[6:05] communications regarding Flock cameras

[6:06] . I sent an email

[6:09] requesting all the information about

[6:11] how much they cost, who controls the

[6:13] data, where they are located, and all

[6:16] that stuff. Because while I answer

[6:18] questions for or against

[6:19] Flock cameras, it's important to know

[6:21] what burden this places on the people and

[6:23] how I should be able to answer

[6:24] questions from the

[6:26] community's voters. Many people have been

[6:28] asking about that. I also received

[6:30] a communication from someone on South

[6:32] Road, regarding the noise, the trucks, and

[6:36] concerns about trucks going up

[6:38] and down late at night

[6:40] to go to Tilcon. And that's why I drove through

[6:43] there late at

[6:45] night to check if, as they said,

[6:47] the traffic got heavier at

[6:48] later hours. So I went and I'm going

[6:52] to follow up with that client as

[6:53] well. I think that's all for

[6:57] now. Thank you.

[7:00] Councilman Fitzgerald is

[7:03] on TVCCA again. Councilman Good.

[7:05] Thank you, Madam Mayor. Just a couple

[7:07] of things. Last week I attended the

[7:11] Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce and

[7:14] Orsted Wind Energy for a cleanup

[7:18] of Groton and Stonington. Many

[7:21] people came and it was a great success. And today, Save

[7:26] Our Sound and Holmgren Subaru organized

[7:30] another

[7:33] Save Our Sound cleanup day at Esker

[7:37] Point beach, with good attendance and

[7:40] many bags of trash collected.

[7:44] So, thank you to all of them for

[7:46] organizing these events. That's all.

[7:51] Councilman Jones.

[7:52] Thank you, Madam Mayor. I attended

[7:54] three different events. Actually, one

[7:57] was very nice, with Mayor

[7:59] Parker and Councilman Pacino aboard

[8:01] the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Eagle.

[8:03] We held a ceremony and

[8:06] also did the first

[8:07] day stamp for the Coast Guard. It was a

[8:11] very enjoyable event attended by

[8:13] many different members of the

[8:15] Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival

[8:18] and other dignitaries. The Secretary

[8:20] of State came and gave a very

[8:21] pleasant talk. The

[8:24] Coast Guard admiral came and the base commander came

[8:26] . It was a very pleasant event.

[8:29] I attended the

[8:31] Golf Advisory Board meeting, a regular meeting

[8:33] . We just wanted to let you know that

[8:35] our new golf software is

[8:37] working wonderfully and

[8:39] everyone is very happy with it. Another

[8:41] good thing: this is the first time we

[8:44] have been able to obtain statistics,

[8:46] all kinds of statistics, from this

[8:48] software. Although only two months have passed

[8:50] , from July to August, we can see

[8:52] many different things, and that will

[8:54] help us in the future to determine the

[8:56] prices, the load and the operation

[8:58] of the golf course. So it was a

[9:00] really good change that hadn't been

[9:02] available before. And also the

[9:05] Liaison Committee with the Board of

[9:07] Education, RTM, the city and the town,

[9:10] just to connect with the four of them, but

[9:14] we had a really good conversation

[9:16] about public schools and

[9:19] construction and all sorts of

[9:21] different things, so that was it.

[9:25] Thank you, Councilor McBride.

[9:29] Thank you. I have nothing substantial to

[9:31] report this afternoon. Okay, I feel a

[9:33] little left out. Other people have

[9:34] a lot to report. I have nothing. I'm sorry

[9:36] .

[9:38] Councilor Merritt:

[9:40] Yes, I attended the

[9:42] port administration meeting at the

[9:45] Noank fire station this week, and

[9:47] regarding Councilor

[9:50] Boardman's issue with South Road, I believe it's

[9:52] the paving trucks for the

[9:55] Gold Star Bridge. My only

[9:57] concern is that I see them during the

[10:00] day, and someone should remind them of the

[10:03] speed limit. It's a

[10:07] heavy load to stop suddenly.

[10:10] Just so you know. That

[10:15] 's all.

[10:15] OK. Councilman Pacino. I

[10:20] have nothing to approve today. Thank you.

[10:23] OK. Now it's my turn. Very good.

[10:27] Besides Connecticut, thank you,

[10:29] Councilor Jones, for mentioning it because

[10:31] I forgot to write it down. I also attended

[10:35] an evening of thanksgiving hosted

[10:37] by Catholic Charities in honor of Tony

[10:39] Sheridan of the Eastern Chamber of Commerce

[10:41] . It was a pleasant event and, once again

[10:44] , congratulations to Tony for all he

[10:47] does in our communities.

[10:50] I also attended the grand

[10:51] opening of Studio Love. It's a

[10:54] new place. It's on Bridge Street and

[10:56] if you have the chance, please

[10:58] visit it. A very warm,

[11:02] welcoming and peaceful space. They do yoga and some

[11:07] renovation work, I don't know, they do a lot of

[11:09] different things, but if you have the chance,

[11:12] please visit.

[11:17] Human Resources Professionals Day is

[11:20] September 26th and I want to thank

[11:23] all our staff. HH. And next month

[11:26] is National Breast

[11:28] Cancer Awareness Month

[11:30] , as well as

[11:31] Cybersecurity and Anti-

[11:33] Bullying Month. Fire Prevention Week

[11:36] begins from October 4th to 10th

[11:38] and I would like to thank

[11:40] all of our

[11:42] city's firefighters. And that's all I have to

[11:44] report. Thank you. Very good.

[11:48] Can I mention just one thing

[11:49] quickly?

[11:50] Yes. I

[11:50] just wanted to mention that

[11:52] we finally have some active links to

[11:54] donate to Human Services on our

[11:55] website. Currently there are three

[11:58] options: donate to our

[12:00] food warehouse, donate to the

[12:01] energy assistance program, or donate to the

[12:03] general assistance fund they have. I anticipate

[12:06] that we will modify this as

[12:07] we move forward and perhaps add more

[12:09] options, but those are already

[12:10] available. You can find the

[12:15] links on

[12:16] our website's homepage or in

[12:18] Human Services on the website.

[12:20] Thank you. OK. Councilman McBride,

[12:26] I will approve the minutes.

[12:29] I would like to make a motion to

[12:30] approve the minutes of the

[12:32] Plenary Committee meeting of September 8,

[12:33] 2026.

[12:34] Second

[12:35] motion made by McBride and seconded

[12:37] by Boardman. Do you have any questions?

[12:43] Okay, since I don't see any hands, everyone who's

[12:45] in favor.

[12:46] I.

[12:48] So it's eight to zero to zero.

[12:51] OK. Next, we will not move on

[12:55] to the first item on the agenda.

[12:58] We will move on to the second one, which is the

[13:03] current presentation of the

[13:06] Conservation Commission 2026-833. If you can

[13:10] come closer, please. And I would like to

[13:15] remind everyone that, according to

[13:17] our rules, the mayor can set

[13:19] the submission time. We have

[13:22] 15 minutes this afternoon for

[13:23] you to give your presentation.

[13:25] The board may ask questions

[13:27] afterwards. Thank you. And if they could

[13:35] appear.

[13:36] Larry Don, I am the chairman of the

[13:37] Conservation Commission.

[13:39] I'm Greg Raphaely, vice president.

[13:41] And Tom Olson, member.

[13:43] Thank you.

[13:44] We will continue with my

[13:48] support. We are here to talk about

[13:52] how the statute requires us to provide

[13:54] information about the inventory of

[13:56] open spaces within the city and

[13:58] the status of what has been

[14:00] happening. That includes both the

[14:04] conservation commission and the

[14:06] tree advisory board, which is

[14:07] part of our statutes. Let's see,

[14:11] next click. Good. So, very

[14:16] quickly, as I said, the inventory and the

[14:18] highlights. I want to talk a little bit

[14:20] about administration. Let's talk about

[14:23] the tree advisory board, what it is, and

[14:27] what we recommend in terms of that

[14:29] compared to the

[14:31] tree commission, which was just approved.

[14:34] Let's talk about the future, and that's all.

[14:38] So, let's get to the actual inventory.

[14:41] Now, inventory information

[14:46] is provided online. Well, at the

[14:50] bottom of the chart, you'll see a

[14:52] website, which is the Croton

[14:54] Conservation Commission Viewer, and

[14:56] you can find just about any

[14:58] information you want about

[14:59] any of the parcels that are

[15:02] in the city's inventory, not just

[15:04] open spaces, but everything that is

[15:06] owned by the city. In a

[15:11] quick summary, we're at 29.5%

[15:14] open spaces, and that's close to the

[15:17] 30% target from a

[15:21] federal perspective. Therefore, what we have been

[15:25] doing for about

[15:27] a year and a half is that we have changed

[15:30] our priority from acquisition to

[15:32] management. That's why we're going to talk

[15:34] a little bit about administration.

[15:37] We will point out that we also calculated

[15:40] which areas are accessible to the public,

[15:43] and it is 17 percent of the total.

[15:51] So, with that calculation alone, only

[15:53] 60% of the open space is actually

[15:55] accessible. Some are due to the fact that it

[15:58] really cannot be done, and others to the fact that there are not

[16:00] enough funds to open it to

[16:03] public access and discuss it under

[16:05] administration. Well, I will point out that we have

[16:09] been pioneers in

[16:12] data collection and in the ability to manage

[16:14] open spaces in the state, and I think

[16:17] other people, other towns, have

[16:19] seen what we have done and are

[16:22] working on it. Therefore,

[16:25] we believe it is a remarkable achievement and will

[16:27] mention it in the future. The

[16:31] presentation. I will say that with the new

[16:34] PLCD, we will ensure that there is

[16:37] alignment between what is in the PLCD

[16:40] and its definitions and the definitions

[16:43] in the viewer, which is preserved

[16:46] and protected space. Well, that's

[16:50] almost always been the case. A very

[16:54] clear understanding of what it is, and I think we're

[16:55] finally clarifying that.

[16:59] I guess I have to do this. Very

[17:02] good. Okay, a quick summary and

[17:04] some highlights. We provide

[17:08] support through reviews and contributions to the

[17:11] PLCD 2035. I mentioned that

[17:14] the inventory was updated. We provide support to

[17:17] Parks and Recreation in the

[17:18] tree management plan and review.

[17:20] We updated the economic value model

[17:22] for open spaces.

[17:25] For those who don't know, this is

[17:28] one in which we quantify the value of

[17:31] open spaces in dollars and

[17:33] cents, and we can compare it to

[17:36] use as open space, use for

[17:38] commercial work, or use for

[17:41] development. And we have used it on several

[17:45] occasions to get input from the city council

[17:48] , which is quantified,

[17:51] not just guesswork. I mentioned the

[17:57] tree management plan that we reviewed.

[17:59] We support that effort with the people

[18:01] in support of climate resilience.

[18:03] We spent a lot of time, Tom did

[18:05] most of the

[18:07] trail connectivity, and we both supported many

[18:10] pollination pathways and, in fact, the

[18:11] creation of several of them. Continuing

[18:15] with the highlights, we've been working

[18:17] with Scura for about 3 years on their

[18:22] composting plan, which has finally

[18:24] been approved by the state. It's already

[18:27] underway. The analysis we've done

[18:30] from the perspective of the city of

[18:32] Groton is that, if we can recover

[18:33] 20% in terms of compound rates,

[18:35] we could probably save the city

[18:37] around one million

[18:38] dollars over 5 years. Now, it

[18:41] may not seem like much, but the

[18:46] cost of waste products for

[18:49] us is going to increase between 35% and

[18:53] 100% in the next 2 or 3 years due

[18:55] to what is happening at the state level

[18:58] and the closures. Therefore, there is a

[19:01] significant increase in cost for

[19:04] everyone, and this composting assumes that

[19:06] around 30% of the waste is

[19:09] compostable, so to speak. So

[19:13] they can eliminate some volume and

[19:14] obtain high-quality compost.

[19:16] Therefore, that is also a benefit.

[19:19] We have participated in

[19:21] joint cleanups in Birch Plain Creek with the

[19:24] NER. It's been two years since

[19:28] the NER was approved, hasn't it?

[19:31] We have also worked with other groups on

[19:33] cleaning certain areas. We have

[19:37] provided a draft of the

[19:38] management plan. I should point out again to

[19:41] those who have visited our

[19:43] website that we have all our

[19:45] management plans, all our

[19:47] conservation plans and lots of

[19:48] information there if you are

[19:50] interested in reviewing them. Finally,

[19:54] on this page, we have had our

[19:56] annual activity with Khan College and

[19:59] have carried out several

[20:02] special study projects. They are also

[20:04] available on our website. That's

[20:06] fun and very useful at the same time;

[20:08] In fact, I will talk about one of the

[20:10] projects when we get into the

[20:12] topic of the conversation about

[20:14] trees. So, the next step is

[20:18] administration. As I mentioned, it's

[20:22] good to buy the land and own it, but

[20:25] if it's not properly cared for, the

[20:28] economic value, which is the capacity for

[20:30] carbon sequestration,

[20:33] pollution management, etc., actually

[20:36] decreases when invasive species arrive

[20:39] . Therefore, not only is it

[20:42] pleasant and enjoyable to walk along the

[20:44] trails, but I also believe it is

[20:46] important to maintain the value of

[20:48] the city's acquisition and ownership

[20:50] . I'd like to give Bray the floor

[20:52] for a minute or two to

[20:54] give an example of Picquats Woods.

[20:57] What

[20:59] I would like to present is the

[21:01] storyboard that is on the right side of the

[21:03] slide. I'm not going to ask you to

[21:05] read it. But what I would like to do is

[21:09] say that we collaborated to obtain this

[21:13] storyboard which is now at

[21:16] Pequot Woods, and the origin of the

[21:19] request also goes back to Neil

[21:22] Splaine. I believe Neil Splaine was

[21:27] mayor when Pequot Woods was

[21:30] first acquired by the city

[21:32] , many, many years ago. There is a

[21:37] trail system in Pequot Woods. On

[21:39] the west side, there is an old winery

[21:41] that obviously dates back to

[21:44] colonial times and had a reference that

[21:48] said it was Jesse's house. I said,

[21:51] "Okay." And as you go along,

[21:56] well, there must be a little

[21:58] backstory to that. I wonder what it will be

[21:59] . "And then our committee

[22:04] contacted the

[22:06] Mystic River Historical Society, and in

[22:08] particular Marilyn Comrie, and

[22:10] posed a question: 'Do you know anything

[22:12] about Jesse?'" "Supposedly, this is

[22:14] a house in Pequot Woods. Do you know anything

[22:17] about it?" And the Historical Society

[22:20] got involved, and as a result of that, there is

[22:23] this storyboard

[22:25] above about Mr. Jonathan

[22:28] Jesse Wheeler. Part of the storyboard

[22:32] deals a little with the period of

[22:34] time he was on the property,

[22:36] how old he was, etc. And

[22:38] apparently he was some kind of

[22:41] farmer in the late 19th century. Part

[22:44] of the discovery of who

[22:47] Jonathan Jesse Wheeler was came from the

[22:52] diary of a particular

[22:54] 15-year-old girl, Mary Clark. That

[22:58] particular diary is held by the

[23:01] Historical Society, and they have produced it

[23:03] as a book. And in it, in fact,

[23:06] he talks about Mr. Jonathan Jesse, who

[23:09] apparently had quite a

[23:11] reputation in the city of Mystic. And

[23:14] this is where I lived. He was a hermit

[23:17] . And his comments in his diary date back to around

[23:21] this time

[23:25] in September 1920. She and her

[23:29] Sunday school class, after

[23:32] a picnic that particular day, were going to

[23:35] have it in the clearing, what is called

[23:39] the clearing in the Pequot Woods, which was

[23:42] right next to the house of Jesse

[23:45] Jonathan Jesse Whalers. And she

[23:49] recorded what her grandmother told her

[23:51] about Mr. Jesse, which was in her

[23:54] notes, in the storyboard that's in

[23:58] Pierre. And it's a very

[24:01] interesting description of some of

[24:05] Mr.

[24:06] Jonathan Jesse Wheeler's strange behavior. So, the

[24:09] storyboard was produced by the

[24:12] historical society and the

[24:15] city of Groton's Parks and Recreation Department

[24:18] , they opened the area where

[24:21] the house's foundations are, they

[24:24] opened it this year and the sign

[24:27] is now in place near the

[24:32] foundations. And if you really want to

[24:35] delve into Mr. Jesse's story

[24:37] , it's an interesting one. The rest

[24:41] of the story is in the

[24:42] storyboard. And I'm going to leave it at that.

[24:45] So, if you're out for a walk and want to

[24:47] take a quick break, check out

[24:49] the board and not far from the

[24:52] road there are some ancient foundations.

[24:55] Apparently, his house burned down in

[24:58] 1890. And it has remained there ever since

[25:01] . But that's one of the

[25:04] features of doing that trail and

[25:07] walking in Pequot Woods.

[25:09] Thank you. I would like to point out that this is

[25:12] a parcel of land that the

[25:14] Parks and Recreation Department has been

[25:16] maintaining very well. We've

[25:18] identified 14 parcels of 716 acres

[25:22] that really don't have any support,

[25:25] and that's one of the ones that's in the

[25:29] budget. Let me move on to the

[25:31] next chart. Very good. Well,

[25:36] those plots are identified

[25:38] and the details are on the website.

[25:43] The typical average, we're talking

[25:46] $30 to $50 per acre per year, you

[25:48] know, for

[25:51] nature management, you know,

[25:53] preserved land. So, when we analyzed

[25:57] this year's budget,

[25:59] we recommended to the

[26:01] city administrators a budget of two

[26:02] additional people. He entered there

[26:05] 0.5, which you approved. Well, it's a

[26:08] start, but we'll be back, as we do

[26:11] every year, to try and get

[26:13] additional support for that. So, with that said

[26:17] , I'd like to move on to the

[26:19] second part of what we do, which is

[26:20] the Tree Advisory Board. This

[26:24] chart only shows the

[26:27] ordinance code that establishes that

[26:29] responsibility. And we've done some

[26:34] work regarding the tree that

[26:37] supports the tree canopy within

[26:41] the city, and I'm not going to go into that

[26:44] here, but I have provided the

[26:47] city manager with a list of

[26:50] approximately 40 items he

[26:54] can discuss. But let me

[26:58] contrast them and talk about... Well,

[27:01] before we get to the

[27:03] tree commission, one of the things we did

[27:06] was environmental justice, a term that's

[27:09] used to ensure that,

[27:11] wherever you live, there's equal

[27:14] opportunity for open space or

[27:17] equal opportunity for

[27:20] transportation, whatever that may be. In this

[27:24] case, we are looking at

[27:26] tree cover in urban environments where

[27:29] Groton is considered urban. And if it

[27:33] 's below 30%, then it's

[27:35] considered a problem. Actually,

[27:38] we're in pretty good shape, except

[27:40] for two tracks identified on the

[27:42] chart as 727 and 728, which are

[27:44] below that benchmark. So there's

[27:48] some work to be done on

[27:49] that. And that was done using

[27:51] state data. What we intend to do, what we

[27:55] have begun to do, was to support

[28:01] the community tree plan, and this

[28:03] is the study I mentioned earlier with

[28:05] the Con College students, who

[28:07] analyzed a wide variety of

[28:09] options on how we can

[28:11] better measure locally without relying on

[28:14] state satellite imagery.

[28:17] So, once again, there is a report

[28:19] available. We provide it in

[28:20] Parks and Recreation. And they know, thanks

[28:23] to Giselle Milroy, who is a member of

[28:26] our committee, that she is in charge of

[28:28] managing it. Well, now, there was

[28:33] a resolution, as you know, 2026-662,

[28:36] that was passed and that establishes, or

[28:39] let me put it this way,

[28:42] confuses who does what to whom.

[28:46] So, as I mentioned, there are

[28:48] approximately 2/3 of the elements in

[28:50] the responsibility of the

[28:52] tree commission that are

[28:54] partially or completely carried out by the

[28:56] tree advisory board. So, our

[28:59] recommendation, based on your

[29:01] approval of that, is to merge the two

[29:03] and put them under the tree advisory board

[29:06] to remove, sorry, under

[29:08] the tree commission. Look, there's

[29:11] confusion there. To simplify

[29:14] things. However, that requires a

[29:17] series of administrative tasks.

[29:19] So, let me give the floor

[29:22] to my administrative experts.

[29:25] One of the things we're going to

[29:27] recommend is that if you go ahead

[29:30] with the tree commission to

[29:33] alleviate the need, you should amend the

[29:35] city ordinance so that this can be

[29:38] done, as shown in the next

[29:40] slide. It's just amending instead

[29:45] of changing. Oh. What did they do? Good

[29:48] . Okay, on the next slide,

[29:50] yes, here we go. In the next

[29:52] slide, it is a change of one

[29:53] word, in which the word conservation is removed

[29:55] from the

[29:56] conservation commission and replaced with

[29:58] tree commission. In that way, it's a

[30:00] simple exchange, but it can also be

[30:02] merged with the

[30:04] current actions, but I don't think anyone

[30:06] looked at the ordinances when

[30:08] the reviews were being done for the commission. But

[30:12] that's what we see, and then, following on from

[30:15] that, we would also have to

[30:17] update the ABC book which says: "Hey,

[30:19] we have the functions of the

[30:22] tree commission and the

[30:24] conservation commission clearly described,

[30:26] because there would be confusion between the two

[30:28] in the way forward." So when

[30:32] you get the update to

[30:33] set the tree commission,

[30:34] which I think will happen, that also needs to be taken

[30:36] into account. So, from

[30:38] our perspective, some punctuality is recommended

[30:40] to help with all of that

[30:43] and minimize confusion.

[30:46] As I mentioned to support that,

[30:48] we provided the city manager with a detailed list

[30:50] of where

[30:52] those responsibilities overlap and

[30:53] the items we are

[30:55] currently doing that would need to be

[30:57] transferred to the new

[30:59] tree commission. And the last beginning. Well,

[31:02] not the second-to-last beginning. We will continue

[31:06] taking inventory. That is our

[31:08] only legal responsibility.

[31:10] We will implement the actions in the POCD

[31:13] 2035. We have identified eight

[31:15] strategic action elements of that

[31:19] work effort that we will support as

[31:22] we supported the last POCD. Transfer

[31:28] . These are things we've already said.

[31:31] We want to continue working on the

[31:33] connectivity of the trails.

[31:35] I already mentioned one of the

[31:36] supporting organic wastes. So, to

[31:39] conclude in a timely manner. As I

[31:42] mentioned before and want to

[31:44] emphasize again, open spaces

[31:46] are not a cost in themselves. They generate

[31:50] income, and I can actually show you

[31:53] the figures. There are a variety of

[31:55] reports from all over the country where

[31:58] green spaces really do promote

[32:01] additional income, and frankly,

[32:04] people are coming to town. And you know, I always

[32:07] value history. I came to this town

[32:09] 25 years ago. One of the reasons was

[32:11] open space. In other words, he moved right next door

[32:14] , right there, to the farm over

[32:15] there. And I walk almost every

[32:18] day. Yes, I walk every day.

[32:20] So it's an attraction for

[32:23] people who come to the town. In

[32:27] summary, we appreciate the opportunity to

[32:30] give you the update and will be open

[32:33] for any questions you may

[32:35] have.

[32:38] Councillor Jones, Councillor Good, Councillor

[32:41] Bordewieck.

[32:44] Thank you, Madam Mayor. And thank you,

[32:48] gentlemen, for the work you do and

[32:50] for all the walks around the different

[32:51] plots of land that people take

[32:53] here. My question focuses on the

[32:58] composting plan. I know that

[33:02] Groton's unique structure, with all

[33:04] the different fire districts, has made it

[33:06] difficult because each one has

[33:08] some control over the trash in their

[33:10] districts. Do you have any

[33:13] recommendations on whether something like this would

[33:15] work in a town like this, or how you would

[33:17] approach it? Because I know it works

[33:20] in Stonington and in places that don't

[33:21] have this unique structure.

[33:24] Depending on where you live in the

[33:25] city,

[33:26] you get a different approach with the fire district. It would be

[33:29] great if we could, you know,

[33:30] merge it all and manage it, but the

[33:33] way this would work is how we

[33:35] 've worked it out with SKAEL, you know,

[33:37] since we started with the schools, the

[33:39] municipality, and the restaurants. So,

[33:42] first you work there. Then

[33:44] test programs would begin. There are

[33:49] commercial companies that

[33:50] will provide containers for

[33:53] organic waste, and they do so and are

[33:55] paid because, as I said, this material

[33:58] is a high-value end product as a

[34:00] result of the

[34:03] composting technology they have. Therefore,

[34:06] several people can earn money,

[34:08] reducing our costs and improving the

[34:10] plant. Therefore, we reduce

[34:12] waste and reduce our costs.

[34:14] So we'll start there. I think

[34:17] , as I've said, merging the district

[34:20] to do that is probably more than I would

[34:22] ask them to do. But

[34:26] if we can move forward and

[34:28] launch some pilot projects,

[34:29] then we can come back with a

[34:31] more substantive recommendation.

[34:33] Okay. Well, that's the approach you would take

[34:34] if you were going to do something to move

[34:36] forward, that's the approach.

[34:37] Start with the things you

[34:39] have control over and gradually unify them. Should

[34:41] we start with the easiest ones? The

[34:42] easiest ones. And the second question is, I know

[34:45] , and I agree with you, the

[34:47] tree advisory board and the

[34:48] tree commission probably, you

[34:50] know, need to merge. And if it's easy

[34:52] to fix a word. There were many

[34:53] obligations listed in the

[34:55] tree commission documents

[34:57] . Are there obligations

[34:59] listed in the tree advisory board

[35:01] that

[35:02] should be merged into that document?

[35:04] The ordinance is very...

[35:06] But you saw that we provided you with all

[35:09] the documentation in the presentation.

[35:11] So there isn't much. There is

[35:13] n't much that's legal. So we

[35:16] expanded it a bit over the

[35:18] years during my time as a

[35:20] conservation commissioner.

[35:22] We provide a lot. For example,

[35:24] we

[35:26] provided good oversight to the

[35:28] ranger, you know, asking, "

[35:30] Where are you, what are you doing, what are your

[35:31] qualifications, are you punctual?" and all

[35:34] this kind of thing, and we had meetings

[35:35] , we brought him in, we invited him to our

[35:37] meetings and things like that to show a

[35:39] certain level of things. And we have done that

[35:41] , and we've worked very closely with

[35:42] Mark and the Parks and

[35:43] Recreation Commission regarding

[35:45] Arbor Days and this kind of thing.

[35:46] And those are tasks that

[35:48] the tree commission will now have to do.

[35:49] Right.

[35:50] There are some that we would do. They

[35:52] 're listed there and weren't

[35:54] included in the other one, but they're not

[35:55] significant in nature.

[35:58] Okay. And he's turned all that

[35:59] paperwork over to the

[36:00] city manager. So.

[36:03] Okay. I think those are my

[36:06] questions. Thank you again for all the

[36:09] work you do to keep

[36:12] conservation at the forefront of our

[36:15] community. So, thank you. Councilor

[36:18] Good.

[36:20] Thank you, Madam Mayor. Through

[36:21] the mayor, I just wanted to probe a

[36:26] little bit more about the

[36:28] tree commission. Do you think what the

[36:29] commission of Trees. What does

[36:32] the Advisory Board do now? Do you think it's a

[36:34] burden that should be taken off the

[36:36] Conservation Commission and

[36:39] passed on to another board, or do you think the

[36:43] Conservation Commission could, in

[36:47] fact, encompass what a new

[36:50] commission would do?

[36:52] Well, let's take a step back and say we

[36:54] 're all

[36:56] volunteer organizations.

[36:57] Right.

[36:59] So, if you volunteer here, if

[37:01] you volunteer there, to me it doesn't matter

[37:02] ... That's not the issue. The

[37:05] issue, really, is that we don't

[37:07] confuse or have two

[37:08] separate things. They should be together.

[37:10] Could they be together under the

[37:12] tree elevation board, together as a

[37:13] tree commission? It could be

[37:15] either; either way would be

[37:16] sufficient. What we're concerned about is the

[37:20] division.

[37:21] Okay, thank you. I appreciate that. And I

[37:23] just wanted to... I've listened to most

[37:26] of your meetings, and I just wanted to

[37:28] tip my hat to Waltham for

[37:30] his kayaking adventures around town.

[37:33] I mean, I really appreciate you

[37:35] putting in that extra effort. Yes, yes.

[37:38] I just wanted to mention it so

[37:42] everyone knows that you guys really

[37:44] take it very seriously. And we appreciate that

[37:47] very much.

[37:50] What is That's it?

[37:52] That's all. Thank you.

[37:53] Councillor Bordenline?

[37:54] Thank you. No, first and foremost, I'm a huge

[37:57] supporter of conservation and

[37:58] protecting the land and everything

[38:00] you all do. As a former

[38:02] cross-country runner in Fitch,

[38:05] growing up here I was able to take part in all

[38:07] the trails in many

[38:09] different ways. Now more as a walker

[38:12] than a runner. But I'm very

[38:14] grateful to have those resources here

[38:16] . As a young adult, and as an

[38:21] adult now, it's very fortunate to have

[38:22] these spaces available for us to

[38:24] use whenever we

[38:26] want. So

[38:27] I appreciate all the hard work and

[38:29] commitment, and thank you for mentioning

[38:31] Neil's name again. That was

[38:34] quite apt and another great thing

[38:37] Neil just did. I think you

[38:42] raise valid points, as you know,

[38:44] how do we do it? One thing is to

[38:45] have them, we have to invest in them

[38:47] , and make sure we keep these

[38:49] places tried and true to what

[38:51] the purpose of these places should be

[38:53] and what their potential can be.

[38:56] And the ability to look at changing the

[39:00] language or deciphering the Ambiguity

[39:03] between the two labels on the tree.

[39:06] I think that's vital to

[39:07] refining everything and providing continuity.

[39:11] I think that simply removes

[39:13] uncertainty and confusion and

[39:15] simplifies things a bit. So I'm

[39:17] open to looking at ways to make

[39:19] that work. I encourage you to keep

[39:22] coming in and asking for more support, and I

[39:23] want to thank you for continuing to

[39:25] ask for it.

[39:29] Financially speaking, we need to find ways to

[39:31] keep everything going. And I also

[39:33] appreciate the bits of history you

[39:35] provide. You know, it's

[39:36] important, right? When we look at the

[39:38] land we have, where it all comes from

[39:39] . Well, one question I have is when

[39:43] you mentioned two sections on the map.

[39:46] Can you focus on that? What are

[39:48] those areas exactly? My first

[39:51] question is:

[39:51] I think we can?

[39:55] I believe it was areas 7027 and

[39:58] 7028. For this reason, we

[40:01] went beyond what's shown

[40:03] here, as we're talking about

[40:05] census areas. Areas 7027

[40:10] and 7028 are very large areas

[40:12] around the airport,

[40:14] extending north to the

[40:16] Route 1 corridor, and then, at

[40:19] 28th Street, you reach the Midway Oval area,

[40:22] from where the route

[40:24] continues all the way to

[40:27] Mystic. So, there's a lot of

[40:32] open space, particularly in the

[40:35] 7028 area. That's where we

[40:36] question the validity;

[40:39] are you guys working from

[40:41] too high a level, or are we really going to examine

[40:43] what's happening within

[40:45] our communities? That's what we

[40:49] were starting to do as part of

[40:51] our responsibilities on the

[40:52] Tree Advisory Board, and we hope that will

[40:54] carry over to continue

[40:58] doing that, to take a look

[41:01] when we get to the block-

[41:03] by-block version, at where we stand, at the 30

[41:06] %, or are we meeting the requirements

[41:08] here at the 30% in different

[41:11] block areas? And it's difficult to

[41:13] differentiate how the state

[41:15] arrived at these numbers, and that's

[41:17] precisely the challenge we're

[41:19] facing. And that's why we haven't drawn

[41:22] any conclusions regarding

[41:25] any particular block area

[41:27] , but I know this is one of those

[41:29] where The city has

[41:31] limited access when it comes to working

[41:34] with public areas

[41:36] regarding

[41:38] tree planting, but also with

[41:41] nature conservation work like they're

[41:43] doing in the city and are

[41:45] going to expand here as well. So

[41:50] that individuals can get a

[41:53] tree planting plan, which is

[41:56] relatively expensive for an individual,

[41:59] but it takes time to develop that whole

[42:02] process, and that's why we feel we

[42:05] need to continue expanding it to the

[42:10] block-by-

[42:12] block level instead of just a total census,

[42:14] which is too large an area to

[42:17] draw conclusions from, which will

[42:19] really help the people

[42:20] affected.

[42:22] Thank you for that. As I said when

[42:26] we were talking about the committee and all that,

[42:27] one of the biggest things with

[42:29] trees is that many

[42:31] local people just don't have the

[42:33] education about what they can plant in

[42:35] their yard, right? What won't

[42:37] affect their septic tank or their

[42:39] pipes? I can speak for myself. I

[42:41] love trees. I know what I

[42:43] want there. I want to get a

[42:44] mixed variety of species, but

[42:46] some people just don't

[42:47] . Sometimes, the obstacle isn't

[42:49] money. It's education about what I

[42:51] should put there. And that That's what I've

[42:54] seen in other cities where they've

[42:55] had days where people

[42:57] can come and pick up trees, and they

[42:58] advise them based on

[43:00] individual properties, going out and saying, "I know

[43:02] this yard would look good with X, Y,

[43:03] and Z." And people are receptive to that. I

[43:06] know I've been trying to look, you know

[43:07] , I live in a neighborhood where they

[43:09] just plowed up all the trees and

[43:10] built the houses, and that's what they were doing back

[43:12] then, right? And

[43:13] now we're realizing that's not

[43:15] the best thing, you know, so now

[43:17] they're looking at ways to rebuild it

[43:18] . So, thank you for that. Does this

[43:21] cover the whole city on this map

[43:23] you guys

[43:25] make? The data, but we don't really get

[43:28] involved in that particular thing

[43:30] when we go out and look at things.

[43:32] Thank you.

[43:35] I just want everyone to know that

[43:37] Councilman Fitzgerald is here

[43:38] online. He got here at 7:06 p.m. It's

[43:43] 9 now. Any other questions?

[43:51] Before we get to you, Councilman

[43:53] Fitzgerald, do you have any questions? I don't

[43:59] know. Councilor.

[44:05] He's online.

[44:07] He's muted.

[44:08] Yes. I don't know if that was a no.

[44:13] Okay. I know I saw him go off. Okay

[44:24] , I'll speak again if you want.

[44:27] Council and Lawn Board for your second

[44:28] turn.

[44:28] Yes, and I just wanted to wrap up and say

[44:31] that I think, uh, yes, there's definitely

[44:33] some way to look at this. I appreciate

[44:35] everything you guys do. And I think there's a

[44:38] lot to learn from, uh, you know,

[44:41] just from the land we have and what we can

[44:43] do, uh, and, uh, you know,

[44:46] in any way that from my

[44:48] perspective anyway, you know,

[44:51] as a community we should be looking at ways

[44:53] to support, uh, whether it's monetarily

[44:56] or, uh, ways to contribute resources. My

[44:59] other question is about composting,

[45:01] when I know SCAR came in and they were

[45:03] looking at different things, so one

[45:05] state I looked at is, well, like you said

[45:06] , they did all the restaurants,

[45:08] which was huge, with Mystic, and I brought it up

[45:10] in that meeting. Have we

[45:12] considered EB and the subbase, as well as

[45:15] the Collection points? There are a

[45:18] huge number of facilities,

[45:20] including Pfizer, and

[45:21] we're partnering with them and starting to have

[45:23] all those

[45:25] necessary conversations.

[45:28] Our Navy representative? I

[45:30] have no idea. I haven't been involved in

[45:33] the SCAR composting thing, but the

[45:36] Navy has its own contracts, and,

[45:38] well, I don't know, I don't see any

[45:40] town-related things. I think they treat them like another

[45:43] fire district, per se, as far as

[45:46] that perspective goes. So,

[45:48] you have to look into where they're going to

[45:51] do it, but I don't know

[45:53] personally or what... It gets

[45:56] a little complicated because of safety and

[45:58] other things being a bit far from

[46:00] their property. So, and you're right

[46:02] , they would do separate contracts. Well,

[46:05] yes.

[46:07] That's another issue that would be addressed

[46:08] maybe later, once we've

[46:10] established something. Then you can

[46:12] say, "Hey, do you want to do something local

[46:14] ?" "Well, but I don't think we're having a

[46:17] straightforward conversation

[46:19] here."

[46:20] Clear. Yes, and I looked at other cities that

[46:22] have great facilities and

[46:24] security, and it's a matter of

[46:26] contract, right? In other words, someone

[46:27] will come to collect the waste, no

[46:29] matter who it is. Therefore, it's

[46:31] just a matter of letting them know that

[46:33] this possibility is emerging; it's

[46:35] also good to know because they are

[46:37] a major consumer of waste in the

[46:39] area. And both are in Pfizer, EB and the

[46:42] naval base is also on the

[46:44] waterfront. Well, again, yes, they still

[46:47] have garbage collection service

[46:50] there, even though it's a

[46:52] security facility. They have people who come to

[46:54] repair the washing machines and dryers in

[46:56] the barracks for the boys and girls

[46:58] who are, you know, contractors outside

[46:59] the Navy. But it would be good, sometimes I

[47:03] think they forget. Always think, oh

[47:06] , that's a closed facility

[47:07] instead of saying, hey, and in the worst

[47:09] case it never goes anywhere,

[47:10] but I think we need to make sure we

[47:12] include them in those discussions so they

[47:14] know that this potential is

[47:15] diminishing. The number of people they

[47:17] feed in the kitchen there, and, you

[47:19] know, EB and Pfizer, there's a lot of waste

[47:21] and stuff that, you know, comes from

[47:23] somewhere outside that base and is

[47:24] transported directly out of

[47:26] our community. And then, moving on to

[47:29] military housing, that's

[47:30] a large housing structure as

[47:32] we begin to consider

[47:33] residential housing. So, there's a lot to

[47:36] think about and a lot of opportunities,

[47:37] but again, thank you again for

[47:39] everything you do and for being, you know,

[47:41] just volunteering and

[47:42] caring about our community and being such a

[47:44] great advocate, as I feel this is

[47:46] vital to our health and well-being

[47:48] . It's not just the fun of walking

[47:51] along those trails; it provides and gives

[47:53] back many

[47:55] health benefits. So, thank you.

[48:00] Councilman Jones for his second term.

[48:02] Thank you, Madam Mayor. I only have

[48:04] one question about page 30 of the

[48:08] document. It supports the growth

[48:10] of a healthier urban forest. It

[48:12] states here that the state objective

[48:15] is a 5% increase by 2040 in

[48:17] urban areas or areas designated for

[48:19] environmental justice where current coverage is

[48:22] less than 30%. So, does that

[48:24] mean we're currently

[48:26] working on the 30 by 30 plan, but

[48:28] the state's target is 30%?

[48:30] What does 35 mean, or what is that?

[48:33] You're confusing the 30% here. The 30

[48:35] % here is the canopy coverage.

[48:40] OK? As opposed to how much

[48:42] open space it is. Those are two

[48:44] different things. All this is just talking

[48:47] about the canopy. How much tree cover is

[48:50] there on Earth?

[48:51] And where?

[48:52] is it? It doesn't matter where I am

[48:54] .

[48:55] So Groton isn't like 62%?

[48:58] In total, this is how

[49:00] they can break it down into these census

[49:01] blocks because they have information

[49:03] on environmental justice in the

[49:05] census block area. OK?

[49:08] But then, when we say what we've been

[49:10] analyzing so far, you

[49:12] know, if you look at a census block,

[49:14] you have the Haley farm, Mortimer Wright

[49:16] , the sheep farm, it's all

[49:18] included there. So, how do you

[49:21] balance that? Of course I have

[49:23] 100% coverage in terms of

[49:25] vegetation cover in those areas because there are

[49:27] no houses or anything. But then,

[49:29] literally next door and halfway there

[49:31] , or maybe you realize there are

[49:33] n't a lot of trees in

[49:35] that spot, okay? Are we

[49:38] putting the trees where they need to be so

[49:41] that the people we need

[49:43] qualify for this

[49:45] environmental justice category in that area?

[49:48] So, you know, you can't just have

[49:50] the numbers not

[49:52] match.

[49:53] Yes, you can't average over such a

[49:54] large area. So, the

[49:56] work effort was to divide it into

[49:58] smaller components.

[49:59] Environmental justice means that

[50:00] everyone has the right to have a tree.

[50:02] Is that right? Okay?

[50:05] In the simplest terms. In the

[50:06] simplest ones, yes.

[50:07] You have tree cover and everyone

[50:10] there has the right to tree cover.

[50:11] In an ideal world, you know, everyone, if I walk out my door and I have

[50:15] 60% tree cover, no

[50:17] matter what house you live in in Groton,

[50:20] okay? OK. That's not the reality

[50:23] . Okay, I

[50:27] 'm just saying this is a goal, not

[50:29] a requirement.

[50:32] And I would point out that in most of

[50:35] these there are no punitive measures if you don't do it

[50:38] , which is interesting.

[50:41] Please, could you help us do

[50:43] this instead of not doing it? X

[50:45] , Y, and Z pass.

[50:46] So, Groton has 62, some

[50:48] parts have 100, some have 60,

[50:50] some have 20, yes, and if

[50:52] basically what they want is

[50:53] just to level this out a little more.

[50:56] That's the goal.

[50:57] And that's something we can

[50:58] work on,

[50:58] focusing first on the areas of

[51:01] environmental justice because that's where

[51:03] they wanted to start.

[51:04] Okay. Okay,

[51:06] to put it in perspective,

[51:07] Connecticut is at 61%, so

[51:09] Connecticut is well above the

[51:11] national average and Groton is

[51:13] above it, so we're doing pretty well. We're

[51:16] not doing

[51:17] badly.

[51:17] Yes, no, I don't know, okay. Okay, thanks

[51:20] .

[51:25] Councilman Fishcher, do you have something to

[51:26] say to me?

[51:30] Nothing for me, thank you.

[51:32] Okay, thanks. Thanks, guys. Thanks

[51:35] , guys, for coming this afternoon. Thank you

[51:36] for your presentation and for giving us more

[51:39] guidance. Thank you.

[51:42] And we'll see you in the next

[51:44] budget cycle.

[51:50] Okay. Okay, the next item on the

[51:58] agenda is 2026-829, the

[52:00] job description for supervisor

[52:04] 355. I believe Director Green and

[52:07] Director Berry are coming to the table.

[52:18] Councilman, could you please read it

[52:20] ?

[52:21] Yes, thank you, Madam Mayor. I would

[52:24] like to make a motion to

[52:26] recommend a resolution to approve

[52:29] the updated job description for

[52:31] Thrive 55+ supervisor.

[52:33] Second, Jones.

[52:35] Motion presented by Bien, and Jones

[52:37] supports it.

[52:38] Good night.

[52:39] Hello. He already introduced us. Do you want us to do it

[52:42] again? Okay. Well, we're

[52:45] here, I hope, for a pretty

[52:46] quick topic. This is just an update to

[52:48] a currently posted job opening

[52:50] . As most of you know,

[52:52] a

[52:54] team member who had held that position

[52:56] for a long time recently retired. We just wanted to

[52:59] clarify things for the candidates to

[53:01] ensure that the

[53:03] job description was aligned and gave them

[53:05] the right information so

[53:07] they could understand the expectations,

[53:09] I would say, of the role and the direction it's

[53:11] taking, making sure that we

[53:13] continue to focus on

[53:14] leadership and making that clear in the

[53:16] job description.

[53:20] Would you like to add anything? It

[53:22] was quick. Yes, I think there were

[53:27] some areas we tried to

[53:30] focus on. One was the

[53:34] additional responsibility of managing employee performance,

[53:36] development, and coaching

[53:37] . And also, you know, the

[53:42] old description focused on the

[53:44] supervision of programs and activities

[53:46] , and we've tried to change that focus

[53:49] to try to make everything fit now. And

[53:53] we are also making a shift

[53:55] towards performance-based results

[53:57] . That would be one of the

[54:01] new supervisor's responsibilities.

[54:05] And we also changed the history a bit—

[54:08] sorry, not the history of

[54:11] their qualifications—to include

[54:14] perhaps a degree in

[54:17] public health administration or community health,

[54:20] which previously focused more on

[54:23] recreation. So we've tried to

[54:26] update the job description

[54:28] to better reflect where we are and where

[54:31] we're headed.

[54:37] Any questions? Councillor Bright?

[54:40] Yes, just a couple of quick questions.

[54:41] Thank you for preparing this, and just one

[54:43] recommendation or request for the

[54:44] future: if we could modify the

[54:46] previous version. I

[54:48] do it based on the level of change.

[54:51] So, if I know that something has been

[54:53] completely renovated, it wouldn't make

[54:55] sense because 90% of it would be

[54:57] modified. So this had

[54:59] enough improvements to warrant leaving it

[55:01] separate so you could see in its

[55:03] entirety what it is and how it turned out.

[55:06] So, I make that assessment based

[55:07] on how much change there is and

[55:09] how digestible it is for people

[55:11] . Just

[55:11] a suggestion because it's easier to

[55:13] check if you see the red line, that's

[55:14] all. But I did the review. I like

[55:16] what you're adding in terms of

[55:18] additional qualifications, but my

[55:20] main question is about level 5 to

[55:22] level 9—how much does that change, and what

[55:24] 's the additional compensation?

[55:26] So, I think the

[55:27] overview indicates that there are no

[55:29] changes. Then, you may recall that

[55:31] we made an adjustment to the payment plan

[55:33] a couple of years ago, so the

[55:35] numbering system changed. So, that

[55:37] just reflects the equivalent number in

[55:39] the payment plan. There is no

[55:41] salary change with respect to what was

[55:42] approved and presented to the board the

[55:44] last few times.

[55:45] OK. Thank you for the clarification.

[55:47] That's the only question I have.

[55:49] Any other help? I don't see any hands. I

[55:57] have to take a roll call vote

[55:59] since the Fitzgerald Council is

[56:01] online. Councillor's Desk.

[56:06] Yes. Board Council.

[56:08] Yes.

[56:09] Councilor Fitzgerald.

[56:10] Yes.

[56:11] Councilor Good.

[56:12] I.

[56:13] Councilman Jones.

[56:14] Yes.

[56:16] Councilor McBride.

[56:17] Yes.

[56:18] Councilor Merritt.

[56:19] Yes.

[56:19] Councilor Piccinino.

[56:20] Yes.

[56:21] And I'm a yes, so it's nine to

[56:24] zero to zero. Thanks, guys, for coming

[56:27] .

[56:28] Thank you.

[56:33] Okay. Alright, our last item

[56:45] of the afternoon is 2026-834, the

[56:47] relocation of

[56:49] polling places in District 7, and we have

[56:52] our registered voter Kristen Ben

[56:55] Diddy, because I was going to say it wrong.

[56:58] Thank you. Oh, there's no excitement for Vaden

[57:02] Vance. Okay, so the presentation.

[57:06] Well, there isn't a real presentation.

[57:09] It's just information. We don't have

[57:12] any metrics or anything to base our analysis on

[57:14] . However, two years ago it

[57:17] was very hot in Fitch's gym

[57:20] and we tried to move to the

[57:22] cafeteria, but it wasn't much

[57:24] cooler because they didn't originally have

[57:27] the air conditioning on and that's

[57:29] a big room. Anyway, we can't

[57:32] use the cafeteria just to

[57:34] get that off your mind because when there are

[57:37] classes, like for the

[57:38] September primaries, we can't

[57:40] use the cafeteria because the

[57:42] students need to eat there. So

[57:45] we used the gym. The gym does not

[57:48] have air conditioning. And two

[57:51] years ago, someone fainted there.

[57:57] She was taken to the emergency room and

[57:59] she was fine, but it was partly

[58:02] due to the heat there and the

[58:04] stress that the whole situation

[58:06] caused her. The other problem from

[58:11] two years ago was that we had the

[58:12] oldest machines, which now

[58:14] have new tabulators, but the

[58:16] oldest machine melted down.

[58:20] They were old, so, you know, it worked

[58:22] , but they jammed because the plastic

[58:25] literally melted in the

[58:27] machine, and we lost that machine. It doesn't

[58:30] matter because now we have

[58:32] new ones. However, just to give you

[58:34] an idea of how hot it is in

[58:35] the gym. This year I bought a

[58:39] bunch of fans to put

[58:40] there. Not many, probably about

[58:43] eight. And we thought that Mary Morrison maybe did

[58:46] n't have air conditioning.

[58:47] So when they found out they were

[58:50] doing that, I put them all on Fitch. And my

[58:53] moderator arrived around 8:30.

[58:58] She was soaked. Her hair was

[59:01] practically soaked. You know, I don't

[59:03] think it was leaking at that

[59:04] point, but it had been there since

[59:06] 5:00 a.m. m. until 8:15 p.m. m. It

[59:10] was too hot in there and the

[59:12] fans weren't very helpful

[59:14] because it's a very large room. We talked

[59:17] amongst ourselves about buying some

[59:19] portable air conditioners, but

[59:21] we would need so many that it simply does

[59:24] n't make sense to have them for just one

[59:27] day every two years. Or every year

[59:31] if we had primaries during

[59:34] municipal hours, as we have done

[59:36] in the past. So, my

[59:41] recommendation or my point of discussion

[59:44] , I suppose, is to move that. I had already

[59:48] researched the high school

[59:51] when it first opened, and I don't

[59:53] remember what they said, but it wasn't

[59:56] viable. So, he didn't go near that.

[1:00:04] When I mentioned this to the

[1:00:05] city manager, Burt, he

[1:00:08] said, "Well, what about the

[1:00:10] community center? If we could put an

[1:00:12] air-conditioned gym there, would you

[1:00:14] use it?" And I said to him, "Well,

[1:00:16] we could." We could get permission

[1:00:20] to do it, but it's not in Ward

[1:00:22] 7. And they don't really like the status—

[1:00:25] in this case, they really don't like

[1:00:27] the polling place being

[1:00:29] permanently outside the ward—

[1:00:32] but it's allowed. And then my

[1:00:37] question to the city manager,

[1:00:41] Burt, was: Could we use this room?

[1:00:45] And I know we were here before we

[1:00:47] moved back to Fitch a while back, and the

[1:00:49] problem was the lines in

[1:00:52] the hallway. But I figured if

[1:00:55] we used that door as the entrance, the

[1:00:57] lines would be outside. We could

[1:01:00] put up tents if it rained or whatever

[1:01:02] . Nothing's perfect, but it would be

[1:01:05] better, and then people would just be coming

[1:01:08] out that way, so there wouldn't be any

[1:01:11] conflicts with staff and

[1:01:13] visitors. So it's all verbal

[1:01:17] . That's my presentation, but I

[1:01:19] really think we have to move it

[1:01:21] somehow,

[1:01:23] Mr. Burt. I

[1:01:24] just want to add that I spoke with

[1:01:26] Principal Ryner about this, and I spoke

[1:01:28] with the staff who were here

[1:01:30] at the time. Even though it was

[1:01:33] congested, we believe we can

[1:01:35] make it work if that's the

[1:01:36] council's wish. Is that

[1:01:39] okay? The council?

[1:01:40] Are you asking for this just for the

[1:01:43] primaries, not for November, or just a

[1:01:45] complete move?

[1:01:47] I would love it if it were just for the

[1:01:49] primaries. However, moving a

[1:01:52] polling place is very, very confusing

[1:01:54] for most voters.

[1:01:58] When we moved from here to Fitch,

[1:02:00] there were angry people coming into the

[1:02:03] building saying, "I always vote

[1:02:05] here." Why don't I vote here? "It

[1:02:08] took them a while to get used to it. They're

[1:02:09] still not used to going to

[1:02:11] the gym. You know, we have a

[1:02:13] huge sign we put up there and people

[1:02:15] keep calling saying, 'I couldn't

[1:02:17] find the place.'" The door was

[1:02:18] locked. "They were on the

[1:02:20] cafeteria side. So it's very

[1:02:22] confusing to move them, which is also

[1:02:25] why in the past,

[1:02:27] when we had a couple of referendums,

[1:02:30] probably about 10 years ago, we didn't

[1:02:33] change the locations. We held the

[1:02:35] referendums in all seven because, at that

[1:02:37] time, I think we had eight. But

[1:02:41] we did it because it's very confusing, and

[1:02:43] people don't, you know, vote once a

[1:02:45] year. To give you another example of

[1:02:49] voter confusion, when

[1:02:52] early voting started,

[1:02:54] we have the early voting location

[1:02:55] in our office at the

[1:02:57] community center, and, you know,

[1:02:58] people were getting used to that.

[1:03:00] We put up big signs so they would know,

[1:03:02] and, you know, we had

[1:03:05] people there separated by districts,

[1:03:07] especially for the last

[1:03:09] election, and we would come up and say, '

[1:03:12] So, do you know where you normally vote?'"

[1:03:15] "And they were saying, 'I vote here.'

[1:03:18] Well, you know, it's all

[1:03:20] confusing for them because they don't think about it,

[1:03:21] except that today I have to vote. I'm going

[1:03:24] to turn around and vote. Well,

[1:03:27] actually, I wouldn't like to do that

[1:03:29] .

[1:03:30] Okay. Thank you.

[1:03:32] Okay. Councillor London and Councillor

[1:03:34] McBride.

[1:03:35] Thank you. Yes, I think this makes more

[1:03:39] sense because it's literally across

[1:03:40] the road and it will be going back to its

[1:03:42] original state. I think it might be

[1:03:45] necessary to hire staff and certainly have

[1:03:47] proper signage on the

[1:03:49] corner on election day and maybe

[1:03:51] someone on site. I would

[1:03:54] fully support us having

[1:03:56] someone for the first round, you know

[1:03:57] , stationed there periodically to

[1:03:59] help people with the signage

[1:04:01] . Another motivation that has

[1:04:04] led me to want it back here is

[1:04:06] that many times, you know, people—and I know a

[1:04:08] lot of people who have

[1:04:09] volunteered over the years we

[1:04:11] 've worked at the stations, and

[1:04:13] people who live in this borough—say it's

[1:04:15] not very accessible. You can park

[1:04:19] on that high curb. I don't know if You had

[1:04:21] kids at Fitch, you know where the

[1:04:23] little round thing is, and you can get there, but it's not

[1:04:25] a straight path for people

[1:04:26] walking. It's a long walk for

[1:04:28] disabled people, and I don't know

[1:04:30] how many complaints I've received. People

[1:04:32] even stand out there saying it's

[1:04:34] ridiculous, that it's too

[1:04:35] far. If they park in the

[1:04:37] disabled spot, they have to go up the

[1:04:39] stairs. And I see people with their

[1:04:41] walkers about to fall over. I love

[1:04:43] this place because it's flat and you can

[1:04:45] get in and out, and anyone with a

[1:04:47] disability doesn't have to walk far to

[1:04:50] get in and out. As for the

[1:04:52] concern about the heating, that

[1:04:53] 's another reason, isn't it? Well, now it's

[1:04:55] definitely on my list.

[1:04:57] I'll also talk to the Board of

[1:04:58] Education because the weather is getting

[1:05:00] warmer, and how do

[1:05:01] our students survive in that gym

[1:05:03] all year round when summer comes and

[1:05:05] the temperature reaches 85, 90

[1:05:07] degrees? I worry about our

[1:05:09] athletes running and playing in that

[1:05:10] gym. We should think about that.

[1:05:12] So, maybe the Board of

[1:05:13] Education will try to get some

[1:05:14] funding or a grant to

[1:05:16] install air conditioning and maybe

[1:05:18] more It might be possible to reinstall it later

[1:05:19] , but in the meantime, I think

[1:05:21] this is the best location, and I think it's

[1:05:22] a no-brainer because it's literally a

[1:05:24] stone's throw away. It's within the

[1:05:25] borough, right? But if we're going to

[1:05:28] do this, we have to act quickly

[1:05:29] because I see the

[1:05:31] disenfranchisement, and I think the timing needs to be

[1:05:33] fast, and the marketing needs to be

[1:05:34] available now. It should be on

[1:05:37] all social media. Obviously, there has to

[1:05:38] be something in the newspaper.

[1:05:40] Signs should start appearing.

[1:05:41] Things should start happening

[1:05:43] immediately. It should be all over the

[1:05:46] city website, everywhere, you

[1:05:47] know, on Channel 19, whatever.

[1:05:49] We have to inform people

[1:05:51] immediately. Well, that's what I'm trying to

[1:05:52] say. But, of course, I'm also

[1:05:54] concerned about the children in Fitch, because I

[1:05:56] 've heard people tell me that they also

[1:05:58] went to a basketball game or

[1:06:00] something and got dizzy there for

[1:06:02] the events. And what about our

[1:06:05] children, too? With

[1:06:07] special needs, disabilities, and other

[1:06:08] conditions. So, to me, it makes

[1:06:10] sense. We don't know what the

[1:06:14] future holds, but I think this It's just

[1:06:15] across the street, it's flat. In

[1:06:18] fact, it could make voting

[1:06:19] faster because you can get in

[1:06:20] quicker. I mean, you don't have to

[1:06:22] park much farther away. And it's

[1:06:24] important that people can

[1:06:25] comfortably get to the restroom, right? All

[1:06:27] the things people need. So it

[1:06:29] would be important to consider that

[1:06:31] . Okay, I took my notes. What's the

[1:06:33] ...? My question is, when do we think

[1:06:35] this would be from the time

[1:06:36] we decide tonight when it would be

[1:06:37] posted?

[1:06:38] Well, it wouldn't happen for this

[1:06:42] election. It's too late. It would be

[1:06:45] too confusing. We have to

[1:06:47] notify every single person in

[1:06:49] the ward by mail that their polling place has

[1:06:51] changed. So, we're waiting for

[1:06:53] the next election, and as of

[1:06:56] now, next November.

[1:06:57] Perfect. Thank you.

[1:06:59] So, there's plenty of time to

[1:07:01] post everything and put up signs all the

[1:07:02] time, and yes, definitely.

[1:07:05] Councillor McBride?

[1:07:06] Yes, thank you. No, I also support this

[1:07:08] for many reasons, Councillor Portalatin

[1:07:09] . That area is quite far away, and if there's a

[1:07:12] lot of traffic here and further out, it's

[1:07:15] a tremendously long walk. The

[1:07:18] hills and steps are too

[1:07:19] far. So, I fully support this,

[1:07:20] and I think there's plenty of

[1:07:22] room here where you can form a

[1:07:23] walking queue. So, I

[1:07:24] fully support it. I think it's a great

[1:07:26] idea. Thank you for proposing it.

[1:07:29] Councillor Jones, then Councillor Good.

[1:07:31] Thank you, Madam Mayor. Can you

[1:07:33] tell us a little bit about why it

[1:07:35] moved from here to Fitch? It

[1:07:38] was originally on Fitch all the

[1:07:40] time. I don't know why it moved

[1:07:43] here. That was before I was a

[1:07:48] moderator. I was a moderator in the building,

[1:07:51] and then it moved back to Fitch

[1:07:54] after...because what I heard—

[1:07:56] now, if it's true, I didn't hear from the

[1:07:59] townspeople who work in this

[1:08:01] building—was that they were having

[1:08:03] congestion issues and didn't like being

[1:08:06] here because of, you know, the

[1:08:09] presidential election, when people

[1:08:11] were waiting in the hall, and other people

[1:08:13] were trying to get in, and people were getting

[1:08:14] angry at them for cutting in

[1:08:16] line even though they weren't in line

[1:08:18] . That sort of thing is what I heard

[1:08:21] in the rumor about why it moved back

[1:08:23] to Fitch. I

[1:08:25] like your idea. to move it to the other

[1:08:27] door. That eliminates the problem of

[1:08:29] people simply leaving. I assume

[1:08:34] , as a staff member, you're thinking about

[1:08:36] this room, which means it needs to be

[1:08:37] reconfigured. Is that something you anticipate

[1:08:40] your staff

[1:08:43] or Public Works or someone else will do?

[1:08:45] No, our staff set up the

[1:08:47] polling stations every day,

[1:08:49] what they need for that day, and then they

[1:08:51] put it all back at the end of the

[1:08:53] night. We have workers who come in; we

[1:08:55] usually have seven or eight

[1:08:56] workers, depending on how busy

[1:08:58] the election is projected to be. So

[1:09:01] we have plenty of people to move the

[1:09:03] tables around and set them up the way we want.

[1:09:05] So you can take care of all

[1:09:06] that. Madam Mayor, do we need

[1:09:09] a motion for this? Yes.

[1:09:12] Okay.

[1:09:14] Can I ask the Council to approve it, and

[1:09:16] then we'll move on to a motion?

[1:09:17] Okay. Is that

[1:09:19] all set?

[1:09:20] Yes.

[1:09:20] Okay. I

[1:09:21] was going to make a motion for the

[1:09:23] Council...

[1:09:24] Okay.

[1:09:24] Jones can go ahead.

[1:09:27] Just a reminder, I need to

[1:09:28] make a note of that.

[1:09:29] Very good. Oh. Borough Manager

[1:09:31] , Bert, you may have to help me

[1:09:32] with this. A motion So... or is it a

[1:09:36] simple motion to move the

[1:09:38] District 7 polling place from

[1:09:40] Fitch High School to the

[1:09:42] City Hall Annex?

[1:09:43] Second.

[1:09:44] Beginning with the

[1:09:46] 2027 election cycle. Yes.

[1:09:49] That includes the primaries as well.

[1:09:52] Yes, 2027 leaves it open in case there's a

[1:09:53] special election or

[1:09:55] something, and as soon as this

[1:09:56] election is over, we can start notifying

[1:09:58] people. So, you know,

[1:10:01] notices can be sent out in

[1:10:02] December just in case something comes up like it

[1:10:04] did in February for the

[1:10:06] special election we had.

[1:10:07] Can you repeat that, please?

[1:10:08] So, a motion to move...

[1:10:14] the

[1:10:16] location of the District 7 polling place

[1:10:22] from Fitch High School to the

[1:10:26] City Hall Annex for the

[1:10:30] 2027 voting season. What would be the

[1:10:34] correct word?

[1:10:36] Voting year.

[1:10:37] Voting year,

[1:10:39] yes, never mind.

[1:10:40] Voting year.

[1:10:41] Second. Okay

[1:10:43] . Okay.

[1:10:44] Motion introduced by Jones, seconded

[1:10:47] by Castlebordelon, and just to

[1:10:49] reiterate, a motion to move the

[1:10:51] District 7 polling place from

[1:10:53] Fitch High School to the City Hall Annex

[1:10:55] Town hall for election year

[1:10:58] 2027.

[1:10:59] I propose. I already did that. It's already been done

[1:11:02] .

[1:11:02] No, I'm just reading it for the

[1:11:03] public.

[1:11:04] With that. I think I'm

[1:11:05] missing some information. Okay. Okay. Fine

[1:11:08] . A Castlebordelon discussion.

[1:11:11] Thank you. I think it would be helpful.

[1:11:15] I actually remember it being

[1:11:17] moved once because of renovations on

[1:11:19] Fitch at one point as well. But

[1:11:22] what I do remember is, the year

[1:11:23] before they did this, not the

[1:11:25] outdoor posters now, but at the

[1:11:27] polling station itself, when people

[1:11:28] came in and you handed them their

[1:11:29] ID to register,

[1:11:31] you could hand them a piece of paper and say, "Just so you

[1:11:32] know, the next

[1:11:34] election will be across the

[1:11:36] street." And start it off

[1:11:37] organically like that because you have people right

[1:11:39] there in this election. It can

[1:11:41] be a simple piece of paper the size of my

[1:11:43] phone, right? You don't

[1:11:45] necessarily want to leave it outside or in the

[1:11:47] newspaper yet, but when they come in

[1:11:48] as people, "Hey, I just want you to

[1:11:50] know you're ready." Take your

[1:11:51] pen. Take your thing. The next

[1:11:53] voting cycle will be in the

[1:11:55] town annex. "Take a piece of paper."

[1:11:57] That sounds good.

[1:11:58] Just an idea. And that's what I saw and

[1:12:00] remember them doing now that I think about it

[1:12:02] . I think it would be great because you're

[1:12:04] not going to put a limit on it. I mean

[1:12:06] , in local elections, there aren't that

[1:12:07] many people participating, but it's still

[1:12:09] a large percentage, and word of

[1:12:11] mouth will spread quickly. And then,

[1:12:13] when you include the posters and the

[1:12:14] newspaper article right after we

[1:12:16] get through these elections,

[1:12:18] we'll start the campaign to change

[1:12:19] the polls, so to speak. I think it would be

[1:12:22] great, but I think

[1:12:23] people would have a little piece of paper ready

[1:12:25] to hand out when they get their

[1:12:26] ballot; that would be appreciated. "Here's

[1:12:28] your ballot, here's your

[1:12:30] pen, and by the way, please note, the

[1:12:31] polling station chain will be

[1:12:33] affected the next time you come back," or

[1:12:34] however you want to put it. That's what I'm

[1:12:36] thinking. And I think it would be a

[1:12:39] polite and organic way to reach so many

[1:12:42] people so quickly. So that would be

[1:12:45] my idea, to get the word out at that

[1:12:47] polling station this November.

[1:12:50] That sounds great.

[1:12:51] So that's my idea. And, again, that does

[1:12:53] n't change what you do. It's just something

[1:12:55] that occurred to me. It doesn't change the fact

[1:12:57] of the motion, but I think it's a bit of an

[1:12:59] obvious idea, and we can re-evaluate it

[1:13:01] later, right? We're always

[1:13:03] changing and growing. Yeah, I mean

[1:13:05] , putting air conditioning in a

[1:13:07] gym sounds like, how come we don't

[1:13:08] have it these days? You know, people

[1:13:11] shouldn't be passing out in our

[1:13:13] gym. So I think it's great. I

[1:13:15] think we have time. We have time

[1:13:18] for the wording to get out. It's

[1:13:20] an election coming up that doesn't usually

[1:13:22] have as high a turnout as

[1:13:23] presidential elections, but we can reach

[1:13:25] a good percentage of those people, and

[1:13:27] the word will get around. I'm excited

[1:13:30] about that because I think the health of

[1:13:31] our poll workers is vital

[1:13:33] , as well as the health of the people who go

[1:13:34] to the polling places. If our

[1:13:36] poll workers are passing out,

[1:13:38] we have immunocompromised people and people with

[1:13:40] health problems, and we don't need

[1:13:41] people passing out at the

[1:13:43] polling places. Another thing, if I remember correctly,

[1:13:46] when I was here many years ago—I mean,

[1:13:48] I worked at the

[1:13:49] polling place at that time—I don't

[1:13:51] remember. I was on high. I think If

[1:13:53] you do it from this doorway, if the

[1:13:55] weather's bad, you could have people

[1:13:56] queuing up in this back area, and you

[1:13:57] just don't have

[1:13:59] polling places to shelter people

[1:14:00] from the weather. You could put 12, 15, 20

[1:14:02] people lined up against this

[1:14:05] back wall like a stage and take

[1:14:07] necks, right? Necks almost like you

[1:14:09] 're at the DMV, and then go back and forth

[1:14:11] . At one point, also, uh,

[1:14:13] your time.

[1:14:14] Yes. A sort of barrier behind

[1:14:16] you.

[1:14:16] Okay, your time. Yes. If I could, in the

[1:14:19] hallway where it separates the people

[1:14:21] going to the front door or to the order. Your

[1:14:25] time's up.

[1:14:26] Anyway. Your

[1:14:27] time's up.

[1:14:28] You can put a barrier in front. Your

[1:14:29] time's up.

[1:14:30] Thank you.

[1:14:31] Yes. God forbid.

[1:14:32] Councilor Pacino.

[1:14:35] Thank you, Madam Mayor. And regarding

[1:14:38] Councilor Bordelon's note, I know

[1:14:40] we can make business cards. And

[1:14:44] if we had them, and obviously

[1:14:45] handed them out with the sticker. And

[1:14:49] maybe even had them

[1:14:51] downtown Early voting is available for

[1:14:53] people who come from the

[1:14:56] 7th onwards. And they can also get their

[1:14:57] little card then. But

[1:15:00] yes, very good idea. I like that idea very much

[1:15:02] .

[1:15:02] Okay. Okay.

[1:15:05] I'm fine. Thank you.

[1:15:05] Very good. Roll call?

[1:15:11] Or should I ask if anyone else

[1:15:12] has any questions, or are we good?

[1:15:15] Okay. Roll call. Councillor

[1:15:17] Burrell.

[1:15:18] Yes.

[1:15:18] Councillor Bordelon. Yes.

[1:15:22] Councillor Fitzgerald.

[1:15:24] Yes.

[1:15:25] Councillor Good. Yes.

[1:15:27] Councillor Jones. Yes.

[1:15:29] Councillor McBride.

[1:15:30] Yes.

[1:15:30] Councillor Merritt.

[1:15:31] Yes.

[1:15:32] Councillor Piccinino.

[1:15:33] Yes.

[1:15:34] And I'm in favor, so that's 9 to 0. Thank you very much.

[1:15:39] Thank you.

[1:15:39] Motion to adjourn.

[1:15:42] Supported.

[1:15:42] Can we add it to item one?

[1:15:44] No. Okay. Fair enough

[1:15:45] .

[1:15:46] The motion to adjourn

[1:15:47] was made by Councillor Good,

[1:15:49] seconded by Councillor Jones. It will be

[1:15:50] a roll call. Councilman Burrell

[1:15:54] .

[1:15:54] Yes.

[1:15:55] Councilman Bordelon.

[1:15:56] Yes.

[1:15:57] Councilman Fitzgerald. Councilman Good.

[1:16:02] Yes.

[1:16:02] Councilman Jones. Yes.

[1:16:04] Councilman McBride.

[1:16:05] Yes.

[1:16:06] Councilman Merritt.

[1:16:07] Yes.

[1:16:07] Councilman Picinich?

[1:16:08] Yes.

[1:16:10] And I'm in favor, and we're 9 to 0, and we'll

[1:16:12] adjourn the session at 7:44 p.m.

[1:16:15] Thank you all. Good

[1:16:17] night.

Groton Town Council Committee of the Whole - 9/22/26

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