Good evening, everyone.

I'm calling the February 3rd 2026 meeting to order at 7 p.m.

Thank you, everybody.

Before I ask everybody to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, I do want to acknowledge the person who's led us the Pledge Allegiance almost every meeting night.

I have chaired here, Sean Hatch.

I believe this is 20 years of you now attending City Council meetings.

So thank you for attending this member of the public.

And if you please lead us in a Pledge of Allegiance, Mr.

Hatch.

If you can remain standing, please, I'll ask Councilman McAllister to lead us in prayer today.

We had in the past in Danbury for all that we achieved.

I'm sure that that will continue into this coming year.

And I ask all of you also to thank God for that ability to achieve that.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son of the Holy Spirit in me.

Thank you, Councilman.

Madam Legislative Assistant, the role, please.

Coallo.

Flanagan.

Holly.

Lepine.

Salvatore.

Museid.

Present.

Gartner.

Present.

Faye.

Henry.

Wallace Smith.

Spain Reichel.

Giordano.

Jabor.

Rotello.

Chianese.

Dwayne Perkins.

Britton is still on CERT.

This is his last month, I believe, in the JAG training.

McAllister.

Robinson.

Laughing House.

And Dennis Perkins.

That is two absent, 19 present.

Thank you.

We have a calendar of events that is posted online.

I will read them first here for everybody as well.

But before that, I want to draw some attention to some life events.

For February, we have a happy anniversary going on to Councilman John Laughinghouse on February 22nd.

Congratulations, Councilman Laughinghouse.

On February 7th, we have a flag raising and celebration of Black History Month.

This is held in collaboration with City of Danbury and the Greater Danbury NAACP.

It will be out here at Heritage Plaza, 10 a.m.

City Hall.

On February 7th, we have the Fisvalda Sopa, which is a literal translation to soup festival hosted by the Portuguese Cultural Center to raise some funds for the organization.

To RSVP for this, please contact phone number 203 788-3314.

This is 7 p.m.

at the Portuguese Cultural Center 65 Sandpit Road.

February 8th, we have the monthly scholarship fund breakfast for the Danbury VFW, post 149.

This is 9 a.m.

at 5 Bayern Street.

February 11th, we have the Hearts of Hope Breakfast.

This is held from the Center of Empowerment Education.

Tickets are available at the Center CT.org.

This is from 7 30 a.m.

to 9 30 a.m.

Uh this is at the Brookfield 506 Gandalf Lake Road, Brookfield.

February 13th, we have the America 250 Danbury Museum Winter Luncheon.

The Danbury Museum, uh and Bridget has been uh is our coordinator for the 250 celebrations this year.

This is one of our uh initial events here as well through the museum.

Please join us.

America 250 D'Anbury Museum Winter Luncheon, held by and hosted by the Danbury Museum.

Tickets available at Danbury Museum.org.

This is from 11:30 a.m.

to 2 p.m.

at the Amber Room 1 Stacy Road.

February 14th, the DuPriest Valentine Day Show.

This is at the Palace Danbury Theater.

Tickets are available at the Palace Dambury.com, 7 30 p.m.

165 Main Street.

February 16th, Martin Luther King Jr.

Day celebration.

This is the rescheduled event from MLK Day over at New Hope Baptist Church.

This is at 10 a.m.

Uh the tell for those who need the address, 12th Dr.

Aaron B.

Samuels Boulevard.

This is New Hope Baptist Church.

February 17th, we have the CCAR annual meeting.

Connecticut Communities for Addiction and Recovery, 1 p.m.

42 Old Ridgebury Road on the third floor.

These are posted by all means.

This is not all the events in Danbury.

If you have any questions, every want to see anything added to this, please reach out to our office and we can help you out with that.

Thank you.

Now the first 30 minutes of these meetings are reserved for those thoughts and expression of the public.

For there are two pages.

I'm sorry, I didn't see.

Usually they're front and back.

I apologize.

There are a couple more events.

I apologize for that.

And anybody involved with those organizations.

February 21st, celebration of Black History Month through art, music, and words.

This is at West Cons Music and Art Department.

You can learn more at WCSU.edu slash events slash calendar.

This is from 3 p.m.

to 4 30 p.m.

at uh Veronica Hagman Concert Hall.

This is the West uh West Side Campus there.

February 21st.

This one's actually pretty exciting.

I'm sad I can't make this, but for any of you who can make it, Terry Well Mansion, Terry Wild Park Authority is hosting the murder at the mansion.

It's a mystery fundraiser for Terrywild Park.

So Terrell Park and Mansion.

Tickets are available at Terrywild.com.

This is from 6 p.m.

to 8 p.m.

Terral Mansion 70 Southern Boulevard.

I think this is a great use of that space and looks like a really fun event.

I hope many of you can make it.

Also on February 21st, we have the Cedar Journey Musical Benefit concert.

This is hosted by the Lebanon American Club of Danbury.

Tickets are available at Lebanon Dash American Club of Danbury dot com.

7 p.m.

at WestCon over at the Ives Concert Hall.

I believe this is one at the White Hall building, correct?

Yeah, so this is the White Hall building.

February 24th, Dominican Independence Flag Raising.

This is hosted with collaboration with the Dominican Community Center.

This will be 5 30 p.m.

City Hall.

So please join us for that as well.

I believe that is all the pages of the events now, correct?

Okay.

I apologize for missing that page.

And where I was before.

The first 30 minutes of this meeting is reserved for expression and views, opinions by residents or taxpayers in the city of Danbury on matters before the count uh the council tonight.

With that, are the are there any members of the public wishing to speak?

Any members of the public wish Chief Harold Good evening uh Mayor and City Council.

Jeff Harold, 18 Foster Street, Danbury.

Um I'm here to support uh two of the uh events on the calendar tonight.

They're both on the consent.

Um first of all, I'd like to uh recognize the uh appointment of uh Lorraine Sottner to the uh uh Danbury Historical Society is the chairman of the board of that uh right now.

Uh I'm very much looking forward to working with her.

Uh she's going to bring a lot of uh a lot of good energy to the board, and I appreciate that.

Um the other two I'd like to thank also uh as a member of the EIC um the reappointments of uh Gary Duffel and uh Matt Rose, um both of these men are key players in the board and uh have uh longtime service uh with Matt, of course.

And uh it's a very uh interesting board to be on, but these gentlemen bring a lot of good information and a lot of historical knowledge uh to the board, so they'll make the citizens of Danbury and the city a safer and better place through the environmental impact commission.

And that's all.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Chief Harold.

Any other members of the public wishing to speak?

Any other members of the public wishing to speak?

Any other members of the public wishing to speak?

Seeing none, we will close public speaking.

And I will call on Councilman Peter Busage for the reading of the minutes, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I move that we receive the council minutes from the meeting on January the 6th, waive a reading to those minutes as all members of copies and copies are on file in the legislative assistance office, and we approve them as they're presented.

Motion has been made, seconded by Councilman Dwayne Perkins.

Council, are there any remarks on the minutes?

Any remarks?

Any remarks?

Seeing none, I'll try your minds.

All those in favor, signify by saying aye.

Any opposed?

The ayes have it.

The vote is so ordered.

Item number eight, consent calendar, Councilman Salvatore, please.

Mr.

Mayor, the consent calendar for February 3rd, 2026 are the following items.

Item number one, communication appointment of a constable, Michael Safranik.

Item number two, communication appointment of the environmental impact commission, Gary A.

Doofell.

Item number three, communication appointment to the environmental impact commission, Matthew N.

N.

Rose.

Item number four, communication appointment to the Board of Assessment Appeals, Scott T.

Cooney.

Item number five, communication, appointment to the zoning board of appeals, Jacob Williams and Anthony Ribeiro.

Item number six, communication, appointment to the Danbury Museum and Historical Society, Lorraine Sottner.

Item number seven, communication, appointment to the zoning commission, Thomas Nijame.

Item number twelve reports, reports from engineering and planning, water main extension application, 68 Morgan Avenue.

And item number 13 reports, reports, engineering and planning application for sewer extension, renewal, 5 Forest Avenue.

That is your consent calendar.

Thank you, Councilman Salvatore.

Council, what's your pleasure?

Councilman Cuello?

Yes, I'd like to remove item one from the consent calendar, please.

Item number one will be removed from the consite consent calendar.

Any other remarks?

Councilman Gardner?

Yes, I move to accept the consent calendar with item one removed.

Is there a second?

Motion made, seconded by Councilman Dwayne Perkins.

Any other remarks?

Any remarks?

Any remarks?

See none, I will try your minds.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The ayes have it.

The vote is so ordered.

Item number one, please.

Communication appointment of constable.

Dear City Council members, I hereby submit for your confirmation the appointment of the following individual to serve as constable.

Michael Sephrenic.

Mr.

Sefrenick is a longtime Danbury resident who previously served the City of Danbury for over 20 years as a constable.

He is currently the airport administrator and the city's hearing officer.

Throughout his years of service, Mr.

Sephrenic has handled civil processes, supported local events, and assisted with court-related matters.

He has also served the community by providing assistance as needed to the probate court of the state of Connecticut and the Regional Hospice Center.

His record reflects a consistent commitment to professionalism, public service, and the well-being of our community.

The appointment is submitted following the unfortunate passing of Constable Elect Louise McMahon, which created a vacancy in this position.

In the most recent election, Mr.

Sefrenick was the next highest vote getter for the Office of Constable.

Given his extensive experience, institutional knowledge and longstanding service to the City of Danbury, I respectfully recommend his appointment to continue fulfilling the duties of this role.

Thank you for your consideration of this appointment.

Sincerely, Roberto Alves, Mayor.

Councilman Salvatore.

I moved to receive the communication and approve the appointment of Michael Safranic as Constable.

Motion has been made and seconded by almost the whole council here.

I think I heard Councilwoman Gardner first.

Council, are there any remarks?

Councilman Cuello?

Yeah, thank you, Mayor.

I just want to raise a concern regarding the constable vacancy left by Louise McMahon and her untimely passing.

The Republican Town Committee followed the established process and formally approved a recommended candidate.

Yet that recommendation is not reflected on tonight's agenda and was not acknowledged.

The process has been uh respected across administrations and party lines for many years.

Ignoring it without explanation raises legitimate questions and consistency regarding transparency.

This isn't personal, it's institutional.

It's about protecting the integrity of a process that this council has long relied upon.

That is why I am making a motion to refer this issue to an ad hoc for review.

Thank you, Councilman Cuelo.

Um this has been referred to ad hoc.

So I will name Councilman Peter Buzade in the chair, Councilwoman Andrea Gardner, and Councilwoman Candace Fay.

Thank you.

Um just to address any questions.

Uh there is no pres there has been any precedent on this.

Um usually vacancies are when somebody resigns or no longer is serving.

Uh and then we do go to the town committee when things are established in charter.

Uh this was no precedent.

Somebody passed away before being sworn in, leaving an open seat before that option.

Um versations with you know leadership on the council.

Uh, this is an app presentated by the mayor, presented by the mayor here, and we thought the fairest thing to do for the general public here in Danbury was to go see the next highest vote getter for that office, somebody who has served it with uh dignity respect for and we know would continue to do so.

So it was uh about just doing what we felt was right for the voters as well.

So thank you all.

Um and item number eight, please.

Communication lease renewal, tango Yankee LLC Business Aircraft Center.

Honorable mayor and city council attached is a request for a lease renewal agreement between the City of Danbury and Yankee Tango LLC, the parent company of business aircraft center at his as it is known at Danbury Airport.

Michael Safrenic Administrator Airport.

Council, it's your pleasure.

Councilwoman Faye has recused herself on discussion on item number eight.

Councilman Holly.

Thank you, Honor.

I move to receive the communication and approve the lease agreement between Tango, Yankee LLC and the City of Danbury for a term of 25 years with the option of the let's see to renew for one additional 25-year term.

Motion is made, seconded by Councilwoman Gartner.

Council, are there any remarks?

Any remarks?

Councilman Rotello?

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Okay.

Several years ago I had a tenant coming in from uh Rhode Island.

He was an airplane pilot.

He came to Danbury, looked at an apartment.

It was a big trip for him.

Eventually decided to take the apartment.

And the night before he was going to show up with his wife and family and furniture.

Louder?

Thank you.

The hangar burned down.

Devastating, a devastating issue for the airport.

There was a wonderful restaurant in there.

It was almost a historical hangar.

It was made out of huge uh chestnut beams.

It had multiple jets inside, a tremendous loss to the company, the airport, the restaurant of the community.

And my tenant.

He found another job at the airport, so everything was good.

And a couple of years later, reliant, rebuilt that hangar, brand new hangar.

I was standing in that hallway during the zoning commission and planning commission meetings.

I spoke in favor of it.

And they have been a great asset to the community and to the airport during this time.

Mr.

Sefranik.

I approved this lease.

I think it's a good deal.

25 years, I think is is a is a comparable amount of time for a company that's been in business for this many years as they have.

I would love to see a restaurant back at the airport.

I know it's never gonna go in that building again, sort of like jinx, but you know, maybe down the road we could work on something.

But um I think this is it's a six-board issue.

That's why I'm talking about this.

I think this is something that we should all support.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you, Councilman Rotello.

I also agree we should have a restaurant at that airport, and our airport administrator has been working really hard at making that happen.

Any other remarks?

Any other remarks?

Any other remarks?

See none, I'll try your minds.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Um the ayes have it, there will be one abstention.

The vote is so ordered.

Item number nine, please.

Communication application for renewal of water extension 119 Franklin Street.

Council, with your pleasure.

Councilwoman.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I move to receive the communication and refer this application for reports from the engineering department and planning commission.

Motion has been made.

Is there a second?

Seconded by Councilman John Laffinghouse.

Council, any remarks?

Any remarks?

Any remarks?

See none, I'll try your minds.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Any opposed?

Ayes have it.

The vote is so ordered.

Item number 10, please.

Resolution refunding of general obligation bonds.

Honorable mayor and city council.

Attached for your consideration is the resolution authorizing the refunding of up to $55 million of existing debt.

This will allow the city to move forward with the refunding when a certain when a savings opportunity is presented.

Dan Garrick, Director of Finance.

Thank you.

Council, what's your pleasure?

Councilman Lapenhouse?

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I move to receive the communication and adopt a resolution with respect to the authorization, insurance and sale of the of not exceeding $55 million.

City of Danbury CT general obligation refunding bonds.

Motion is made, seconded by Councilwoman Robinson.

Council, I do want to remind you that per Connecticut General Statutes, this does require a two-thirds majority vote to pass.

With that, are there any remarks?

Councilman Dwayne Perkins.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Just uh quick question to Finance Director through you, Mr.

Mayor.

Uh Dan.

We we we were showing a table last night with a bunch of different bonds with a lot of different maturity dates.

How do we get to the $55 million?

Is that based on maturity dates of those bonds, or is there another system that is used to determine how much we can um put under this process?

So this is um is a combination of outstanding bonds that have gotten to the point of I won't say maturity, but to point where we can we can refund those.

And given the market conditions, uh it's favorable, may not be favorable for all, so that's why we're we're asking for a blanket $55 million.

So it's it's bits and pieces of different bonds that are outstanding.

But the number could go higher or it could go lower.

It cannot go higher.

You're limiting it to $55 million.

Probably slightly lower than that, but $55 million to be safe so that if conditions are right, we can move on this quickly.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman.

Council, any other remarks?

Any other remarks?

Any other remarks?

See none, I will try your minds.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The ayes have it.

The vote is so ordered.

Unanimous.

Thank you, Council.

Item number 11, please.

Resolution.

Honorable Mayor and City Council.

The purpose of this communication is to update a 2025 resolution to reflect what was awarded and to amend the amount and the use of funds for an assessment instead of a remediation.

In March of 2025, the City of Danbury applied to the State of Connecticut, Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development Programming, requesting $4 million in funding.

Subsequently, the city was awarded $200,000 for assessment and planning activities.

This funding is dedicated to the half acre former industrial site located at 13 Barnum Core in Danbury.

The current project aims to complete an environmental assessment and investigation and identify potential end uses for the site.

Dan Garrick, Director of Finance.

Thank you, Council.

What's your pleasure?

Councilwoman Mia?

Thank you, Mayor.

I move to receive the communication and adopt the update of the 2025 resolution to reflect the awarding of $200,000 for assessment.

Excuse me, and planning activities.

Are there any remarks?

Any remarks?

Any remarks?

See none, I'll try your minds.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Any opposed?

The ayes have it.

Vote is so ordered 1213 on consent.

Item number 14, please.

Report lease renewal of Danbury duck pin bowling at 7 East Hayes Town Road.

Council, what's your pleasure?

Councilwoman Robinson.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I move to receive the communication and based on the positive report from the Planning Commission, approve the lease agreement as presented for a term of five years with a tenant option in writing to renew the lease for an additional five years.

Motion has been made, seconded by Councilwoman LePine.

Council, are there any remarks?

Any remarks?

Any remarks?

See none, I will try your minds.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Any opposed?

Ayes have it.

The vote is so ordered.

Everybody loves duck pin bowling.

Go support them.

Item number 15, Councilman Peter Buzade, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I move to waive a reading of the reports as all members have copies and copies are on file with the legislative assistance office, as well as accept the reports as they are presented.

Motion has been made, seconded by Councilman Rotello.

Council, before us uh for any uh remarks, questions to Department heads.

I'm just going to preemptively ask uh Antonio to please come up for a little bit.

Uh and I if you can give us a little bit of an update.

I know there's going to be some questions on snow.

First, I want to thank you.

I want to thank you.

I want to thank your team.

I want to thank the Embry Fire Department, paid and volunteer for being out there, uh shoveling out driveways, helping folks out.

Uh the snow was a lot.

It was hard.

Impossible for many of our city, all our cities in Connecticut to keep up with.

And we were getting close to three inches an hour at certain points.

Uh and three three inches is a lot.

Uh it's just impossible to keep up with.

Uh I know some guys were on there for an incredible amount of time in a row, and you can give us an update on how many hours the team worked, and I'm grateful to see all the work they are doing there, Antonio.

So thank you.

Uh thank you.

Um this uh past storm, we refer to it as 007.

Um it is literally the seventh uh of the larger storms we have had, uh, some dustings here and there uh that our department has responded to.

Um depending on where you were in Danbury, I'll give you a quick highlight of this storm.

Uh we had anywhere between 17 to 20 inches of snow.

Uh there were a couple hours where we were exceeding three inches uh of snow per hour.

Uh there were uh a couple periods where we almost felt we had to pull our drivers off the road because they couldn't see.

Uh that's where we put our uh manpower in danger.

We put our equipment in danger.

Uh but they uh pushed through it and they uh continue to plow.

We did not lose any roads in the sense that they were not unpassable.

They did make uh one pass in, one pass out uh to allow emergency responders to uh God forbid, if they had to get into uh a neighborhood they could.

Um of the challenges, extremely low temperatures, uh, which minimized the effect of the salt that we used, uh just wasn't working, wasn't working as quickly as we wanted to.

Uh we had significant equipment breakdowns.

Uh four of our big plow trucks we still don't have back.

That's 40 miles of road that had to be reassigned to other drivers uh so it could get plowed.

On top of it all, midway through the storm in the middle of the night, we also lost our diesel fuel pumps.

So we were scrambling to get fuel, and thank God uh Farley was able to contact Mitchell fuel the next morning.

He opened up his diesel fuel pumps for us, and we were able to fuel up all of our equipment.

Um it would have been a disaster if we couldn't get fuel.

Um the fire department's fuel pumps went down also.

Uh they basically froze the head unit on the top of the uh tanks froze.

Uh so what does the storm response look like?

It's about 106 employees, and we take every piece of equipment we have that runs and we put it out there to fight the storm.

Uh that 106 uh total employees included 45 highway employees, 18 park maintainers, four forestry employees, eight public building employees, ten vehicle maintenance employees, fourteen public utility employees, and a total of seven managers to manage this large group of uh folks that are out there fighting the snowstorm.

We had approximately 90 pieces of heavy equipment, trucks and other vehicles out there fighting this storm, well worth about $15 million worth of assets uh in the middle of a snowstorm.

When you take a look at the materials that were used to fight the storm, it's pretty staggering.

We used 1,0150 tons of material.

Uh that equates to about 175 truckloads of uh leaving our salt barn uh during the middle of the storm.

Um in addition to that, with a storm this big, there's a lot of violations and there's a lot of enforcement action uh that we have only one person doing.

He's our right-of-way inspector, which is only half of what his job is.

He's also a construction manager.

Um but we gave out 120 verbal warnings, uh given out to private uh plow drivers and any resident that was uh pushing snow into the right-of-way, which would be in violation of 42-2C.

We also gave out uh up to today, 86 written warnings issued for sidewalks again.

Uh this would be in violation of our codes and ordinances.

To date, we issued 38 citations uh also for sidewalks and not uh cleaning your sidewalks.

That's in violation of 42-2C.

And uh during this entire storm, the police department continuously towed for over 24 hours uh around the clock, try to get the cars out of our way.

Um just a little note on post-storm cleanup.

Post-storm cleanup continues.

If you're out there driving, you'll see all of our public works guys continuously opening up site lines uh and doing a lot of that work that needs to be done.

Um during the storm, we had to choose and pick where our priorities were.

Our priorities was to open up the school for the next day.

So every single school had to be dug out.

So that was our number one priority.

We had everybody from the water department, park maintenance, anybody that could operate a heavy piece of equipment and could drive a truck was out there moving snow.

Um we um with those efforts were able to open up school on time the next day.

Uh to date we have moved 20,000 yards of snow from intersections, sight lines, sidewalks, and other city locations.

Um we've cleaned miles of sidewalks throughout the city, and we still have some more to do.

Uh enforcement will continue for noncompliant property owners, um, uhly due to sidewalks uh and the clearing of sidewalks.

Um I hope you kind of see the level of effort that goes into a storm like this.

Um we don't get storms this big that often, and um we're not fit out to deal with a storm this big.

So this is the reason why everybody that can plow and anybody that could respond to a snowstorm like this uh is is usually called in.

And it's all hands-on.

Um couple years ago we had a storm like this.

I was actually in a truck plowing because we we lost a couple of drivers uh and uh we were falling behind.

Uh but I just want to thank all the men and women, uh all hundred and six of them that worked uh about 44 hours uh to fight this storm.

Um and I hope you guys uh can explain to your constituents the level of effort that it takes to fight a storm this big.

Thank you.

Thank you, Antonio.

And I do want to thank another group, uh I think earlier the dairy police department.

The memory police department works in tandem with our public works team uh issuing violations uh before a car gets towed, a police officer is there.

They do offer warnings.

We want to help.

We don't want to impair anybody's ability to get to work.

We don't want to put anybody in a financial situation, right?

We we're all friendly neighbors here, but then the police have to be there.

So it takes it's not just when you see a car on the road, it's not well, why didn't we tow it?

We have to get there.

It takes significant manpower, and the police are out there every step of the way with us.

I want to thank every police department for their snow response as well, and everybody who had to be held over.

Uh, you know, nobody wants to be out there getting out of the car in those conditions because you don't know what's going to happen in that storm.

Um you know, we we know what can happen very well when the police officer in danger on icy roads.

So I hope anybody um who is hurt is feeling better.

But just understand I'll get over there.

Uh and while we're talking about it, uh I'll give Councilman Perkins here the credit.

He gave me a little note here that says fire hydrants.

Uh we ask you if you have a fire hydrant in front of your house, it is your responsibility to do it.

We put that message out there.

Um our teams go out there and help, but you know where they are.

Uh so please tell your constituents, tell your neighbors to help clear out fire hydrants.

And you said 44 hours.

Uh that was the initial of the storm.

They haven't stopped.

They're still doing it today.

They're going to do it tomorrow, and they're going to keep doing it.

So thank you.

Um and I will uh yield back here and take any questions, remarks from the council on to it.

Let's keep it easy since Antonio is up there uh to Antonio on snow or anything else.

Consulwoman Gartner.

Yes, so I understand that some surrounding towns are very low on salt.

Morton Salt doesn't have supplies or they can't guarantee delivery dates.

So, how is our city positioned with the salt supply?

Will we get through a next storm if there's another storm like the one that just passed?

Uh we we do.

Uh we built the largest snow barn in the entire East Coast.

Uh thank God we did that.

Um but we are starting to see snow that we have, I mean, salt that we haven't seen in about eight years.

So we're well we're well into our reserves, and uh yes, there's several towns that are struggling right now.

Um I just heard two barges have actually come into gateway in New Haven.

One of them is going to be offloaded this week.

There's another one following this weekend.

So hopefully some of the smaller towns will actually uh get some um get some salt.

But there's several out there that are almost in a state of an emergency.

Thank you, Councilman.

Councilman Ortello.

See if I can get this gizmo working.

Antonio, great presentation.

Uh, we've been doing this for a long time, and it was as good or better than anything you have done in the past.

We were talking about the snow apocalypse in October of 11 when we got a foot.

I threw a fake Christmas tree on my car.

This is October I was driving around with a crucial tree on the girlfriend from South Carolina thought it was a riot.

Sandy, all the stuff that we've been through, this was a big one, it was a bad one.

I think you did a pretty good job cleaning up, and I want to extend my thanks to all the guys that did that.

But I got a quick question for you.

You um scraped off Division Street today and Linden Place, a couple of uh streets that I've got property on to widen the street a little bit.

I haven't run for a week because I can't run on the sidewalks because nobody's shoveling them.

I can't run in the street because there's no more gutters in the lines.

You finally opened them up, so I went running today.

Where are you putting this snow that you're taking and putting in the trucks?

I know in New York City they're heating it up and pouring it down the train.

Hartford used to throw it in the Connecticut River when I lived there, and you can't do that anymore.

So where is it going?

Thank you.

Um most of our snow is being stockpiled uh behind the war memorial.

It's been our stockpile area for years, ever since I've been here.

Um we're pushing it up because we're running out of room.

Um as you saw the forecast for the next week is uh frigid, probably the coldest uh weather we've had in several years.

Um so we're not gonna see this uh melt real quick.

Um but we're gonna just keep pushing it.

If I got to bring a bulldozer down there to push it up, I will.

Um thank you, Councilman.

I remember Blizzard 96 is a kid who used to walk to Rogers Park, and that seemed like a mountain that we were playing on.

Don't tell anybody, and kids don't play there.

But it would that you guys could pile it pretty high up there, I remember.

And it stay there for a long time.

Yeah.

Council, any other questions or remarks?

Council McQuello?

Antonio, good job out there.

Thanks for getting back to me the other day.

I appreciate it.

Can you give us a quick update on where we are overall budget-wise for the rest of the season?

Obviously, the groundhog saw his shadow, and uh unfortunately this weekend looks like it's gonna be very cold, and I'm sure the next few weeks are gonna be the same.

So if you can let us know where we stand, would be great.

Sure.

Um so all of the overtime and all of the material costs are just being loaded into the system.

We'll probably have a current standing of our financials by Monday.

But right now, all the numbers are just starting to come in.

The other thing that we unfortunately have had is a lot of these storms have happened on holidays and weekends.

But I would hope by Monday all of the overtime will be loaded into the system and we could kind of see where our standing is.

Thank you.

And just one more thing I wanted to kind of share, and I appreciate you giving it to me.

I I gave it to the information, pass it on to some constituents.

Obviously, some stuff gets caught up in collateral damage, like you know, mailbosses, mailboxes, et cetera.

And if that happens, the procedure is to dial 311 so it gets placed in the queue of you know, priority, et cetera.

So thanks for sharing that.

You know, that's a that's a good point.

I just want to remind everybody.

We we had some mailboxes that got hit.

Um you're welcome to call me.

Um I'm probably not going to remember the address and the mailbox that you told me about.

But the best thing you could do is put it on the 311 system.

Because that system will go directly to the department and it doesn't get cleared and it keeps bugging that department head until it's fixed or he responds to it.

My brain, forget about it.

Uh 10 minutes after you call me, I probably lost the address.

Uh so please urge, I urge you to use the 311 system.

It's a critical part of our ability to respond to uh uh constituents' complaints and it really keeps everybody kind of on uh on cue.

And this is a great plug that the City of Danbury has an app with 311 on there.

So if your constituents don't want to call anybody, they can download the My Danbury app and they can make their 311 uh request right there from their phone.

So download the app.

Council, any other questions or remarks?

Remarks?

Councilman Quella?

Uh for uh Mrs.

Carvalho quickly, if possible.

Director Carvalho?

All right.

I'll keep it short.

Um obviously with the uh cold temps coming up, you know, sub-zero temperatures.

If you could speak to a little bit about warming shelters and perhaps the status of where we are with our homeless shelters, capacities, et cetera.

Sure.

So uh we, as you know, we've extended the cold weather until I believe the 10th.

So our shelters, 41 New Street, 90 Elm Street will be open and accommodating folks throughout the day as a warming center.

Um we also have uh the war memorial and the library available as a warming center during the day.

At night, the overflow shelter is open for anyone who is not currently staying at 41 New Street or 98 Elm Street.

Um and we won't turn anyone away.

So anyone who comes in at any time of the night, they're welcome to come in and and get uh assistance.

And let's just say somebody had called if they see somebody that needs help.

Is there a number that they could call?

They can contact our our mainline.

Directly.

Okay.

And would you mind sharing that number so everybody 2037 4625.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

Council, any other remarks?

Any other Councilman McAllister?

Chief Thow, please.

Yes, sir.

Chief, I say that as a brother firefighter.

There's nothing worse than trying to find a hydrant in a snowstorm.

And the only thing that is worse is trying to dig it out.

I just like to compliment your on-duty career crew and especially the uh one battalion in particular, 19 that shoveled out 65 hydrants in the last couple of days to make sure that we exist in a safe city, especially the work that uh the battalion did in the South and in my wars and a lot in the fifth ward as well.

Uh I'd like you to extend to them the thanks, not only myself, but my brother and sister uh council members, and I am sure the mayor's office, and the excellent job that you did.

It it's just such an extremely difficult job.

And of course, when you are down in the single digits and below zero, it's very difficult.

So, Chief, uh on behalf of myself and the rest of us, thank you very much for a job well done.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And again, it was the career firefighters and the volunteers that were all out doing it.

Uh to Mr.

Perkins' point, you know, if you have a hydrant in front of your house, please uh you know do your best you can to clear it.

Um to your point, we uh we really had to work on it.

And now with a little bit like a day like today where it kind of warms up a little bit and then freezes back over, those snowbanks will be hard as rocks now.

So as the companies are out discovering more and more hydrants, uh it's getting more and more difficult.

So but again, thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Council, any other remarks?

Any other remarks?

Seeing none, I'll try your minds.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Any opposed?

The ayes have it.

The vote is so ordered.

I extend all committees and we'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

Moved?

Is there a second?

Seconded by Councilman Salvatore.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Any opposed?

The ayes have it.

Good evening, everybody.

Is that wrapper time or a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of