The most fervent discussions at Monday night's Common Council meeting were on a recommendation to save money by phasing the hiring of new firefighters in the City Fire District, and on giving a tax abatement to a developer as he considers selling lots to an out of town manufacturer. Other issues under consideration included improvements to a parking lot in the North End, and a senior volunteer program. Looming large over all of these issues was a palpable fear among council members that the city budget would be under extreme strain in the next fiscal year.
Firefighters in the city.
The recently ratified contract with the firefighters, which took over a year to negotiate and which was approved only last July (Middletown Press Story), includes the proviso that the city would hire 4 new firefighters, to enable the department to have a staff of 14 per shift. The Council debated a resolution that would have, in the words of Councilman Tom Serra, given a "respectful suggestion" to the fire chief that he delay hiring these new fire fighters. Chief Gary Oullette clearly was unhappy with the efforts of the council to revisit the terms of the contract so soon after they had approved it. He pointed to the savings in overtime pay that would be realized by the new hires, and to the time necessary for sending new firefighters to the state training facility. Several council members reminded him that the outlook for the budget is very different today than it was back in July. After vigorous discussion, the council with a vote of 9-3 approved the resolution "requesting the mayor to seek to postpone the hiring of four additional firefighters...,"
Tax abatement for developer
The Council considered a proposal from the Economic Development Committee to provide a tax abatement to the developer of 12 lots zoned industrial. These lots, owned by Ted Bysiewicz, and variously known as the Bysiewicz Industrial Park or Liberty Commerce Park, are under consideration for complete purchase by the army, or partial purchase by a manufacturer. Last week, the Economic Development Committee approved a tax abatement which would give Mr. Bysiewicz a tax savings of over $100,000, spread out over the next 4 years (Middletown Eye story here). This abatement would relieve him of about 50% of his tax liability on his land, but would not transfer to a new owner and would not apply to any buildings. The resolution authorizing the abatement is designed to entice Bysiewicz to sell to this manufacturer, removing the property from consideration by the army. Three different scenarios are included in the resolution. Under the first, and simplest one, Bysiewicz and the manufacturer enter into a contract by January 1st, 2009, Bysiewicz gets the abatement and the city purchases one additional lot at market value, which is about $250,000 according to Bill Warner, Planning Commissioner. In other scenarios, Bysiewicz will give the city an option to buy 3 lots, and the city will purchase those 3 lots if the Army chooses Cucia Park for the site of its Military Training Facility. Arline Rice expressed the support of the Westfield Residents Association for this resolution. Council members were also unanimous in calling for the Bysiewicz Land to be kept from the clutches of the Army and to be used for tax-generating industrial development. However, not all agreed with the plan for the city to purchase commercial real estate. Councilman David Bauer warned that commercial real estate values could very well collapse in the coming years, and very forcefully argued against using taxpayer dollars in such an investment, saying, "I wouldn't invest my own money in this, so therefore I won't invest tax dollars in this." The resolution passed, with only Councilman Bauer dissenting.
Green Street parking
The council approved a resolution authorizing the use of a $45,000 Local Capital Improvement Program Grant to improve the parking lot of the Green Street Arts Center. North End resident Izzy Greenberg spoke of how the parking lot serves as the visual gateway to green street, and of how important the North End was to the success of Middletown. The improvements will add handicap and regular parking spaces, as well as providing lighting for the lot.
Senior citizens: volunteering and tax abatement
In a discussion postponed from the previous Council meeting, the Council again discussed the merits of providing property tax relief to senior citizens who might volunteer at city hall. The council approved a resolution to form a committee to study the effects of property tax relief, and they postponed discussion of the volunteer program until the January council meeting.
Planning and Zoning Commission appointment
The council approved the appointment of Carl Bolz as an alternate to the Planning and Zoning Commission. He replaces Matt Lesser, who resigned following his election to the state legislature. Mr. Bolz has previously served as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner, including at least one term as vice-chair. Ms. Rich, of the WRA, and several Council Members applauded his selection for P&Z.
4 comments:
Thank you, fishmuscle, for your explanation of what was happening at the meeting. I tuned in and found myself unable to make any sense of the discussions. I applaud the televising of the council meetings. It would be even more useful for citizen involvement in the legislative process if someone at the meetings were to speak to the audience occasionally and explain the context.
Mr. Bysiewicz is not required to sell any land to the Army or the City. Only the "requirements" of capitalism are driving this tax abatement and possible purchase of industrial property. The Army's interest in this previously stalled industrial park created a tremendous bargaining chip for Mr. Bysiewicz. We should all be so fortunate in these difficult economic times! The Fire Chief was respectfully requested to delay approved staff additions while at the same time Mr. Bysiewicz was assured of generous tax abatements and outright purchases (expenditures) by the City...
Why is it unrealistic for Mr. Bysiewicz to inform the Army that he is not willing to sell his property to them, keeping it out of their "clutches" and continuing to pursue his original buyers from Berlin? It is uncomfortable to see the City jerked around by industrial real estate moguls.
I thank the MiddletownEye for being there through the entire Council meeting.
I would encourage the Eye to pursue getting the back-up meeting information packets in a PDF file and posting that for interested readers and Cable Access viewers who wish to follow the City's business.
One interesting (maybe only to me?) note is that any agenda items that are added to the
Council meeting that night are not available to the public - even Council members can be surprised. As an example, substitute Resolution 12-6 that morphed from a tax abatement plan to a Real Estate purchase was not available until Monday to all Council members and not available to the public.
Keep up the good work! Your efforts are greatly appreciated.
Unbelieveable how Middletwon is giving away tax dollars at a time when budgets are tight. Bysiewicz and his sister (Susan the Secretary of State) need to be investigated! She's manipulating the Army and he's manipulating Middletown. Follow the money!
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