Stamford Planning Board Capital Budget Meeting - December 12, 2023
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Stamford Planning Board Capital Budget Meeting - December 12, 2023
The Stamford Planning Board convened on December 12, 2023, at 6:30 PM via Zoom for a capital budget meeting. The agenda included a supplemental capital project appropriation request for the Comprehensive Plan (2025-2035), a presentation from the Ferguson Library on its facilities plan, review of requested callbacks, a detailed line-by-line capital budget review, old business regarding the 2024 meeting schedule, and new business which included the announcement of the resignations of Chair Terry Dell and board member Michael Totillo.
Discussion Items
- Supplemental Capital Project Appropriation: Master Plan / Comprehensive Plan (CP0042) – Associate Planner Lindsay Cohen presented a request for $199,074 to supplement the existing $250,000 budget for the decennial update to the city's Comprehensive Plan (now called the Comprehensive Plan rather than Master Plan). The funds would cover enhanced community engagement, data collection for four state- and federally-mandated plans (Comprehensive Plan, Housing Plan, Consolidated Plan, Equity Action Plan), and a creative outreach strategy. The total project budget would become $450,000. The board voted unanimously to approve the request.
- Ferguson Library Comprehensive Facilities Plan – Alice Knapp, CEO, presented a 10-year, $40–50 million plan to renovate all four library branches (Main, Harry Bennett, Weed, South End). The plan emphasizes 12 universal design principles, including separating noisy and quiet spaces, adding meeting rooms, improving accessibility, and creating outdoor programming areas. The library has already used $50,000 in city funds and $150,000 from the foundation to develop the plan. Knapp indicated the city’s share could be 50–75% with the library fundraising the remainder. No vote was taken; the presentation was informational.
- Capital Budget Callbacks – The board reviewed written responses to previous questions: the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) has $24 million in cash reserves; Parks Department provided details on pickleball court conversions (dedicated courts, not shared lines); Engineering provided an itemized list. No further action was needed.
- Capital Budget Review – The board methodically reviewed each capital project, assigning tiers (1=fund, 2=mayor’s discretion, 3=not now, 4=BOE long-term, 5=contingent on grants/info) and dollar amounts. Key decisions included: $7 million for citywide paving, $2 million for fire apparatus, $1 million for housing development, $600,000 for John Fuzucie project completion, $200,000 for Bartlett Arboretum pavilion, $275,000 for library boilers, and $500,000 for marina dock design. The tier 1 total reached approximately $32 million, exceeding the $27 million target. The board agreed to revisit reductions at the next meeting.
- Resignations of Chair Terry Dell and Board Member Michael Totillo – Terry Dell announced that she and Michael Totillo have asked the Republican Town Committee not to forward their names for reappointment. They will remain on the board until February 27, 2024, or until replacements are confirmed. Dell thanked the board and staff for her 23 years of service (16 as chair). Totillo also expressed gratitude. The board will elect new officers when replacements join.
Key Outcomes
- Supplemental Capital Project Appropriation Approved – The request for $199,074 for the Comprehensive Plan (CP0042) was approved unanimously.
- Capital Budget Tier Assignments and Amounts Set – The board assigned tiers and amounts to dozens of projects, with a tentative tier 1 total of $32 million. Final adjustments will be made at the December 19 meeting to bring the total closer to $27-30 million.
- Next Steps – The board will hold a final capital budget review on December 19, 2023. A public hearing on the capital budget is scheduled for January 16, 2024. The final budget will be submitted to the mayor by February 13, 2024.
- Resignations Effective – Chair Terry Dell and board member Michael Totillo will serve until February 27, 2024, or until their replacements are appointed. New officers will be elected at that time.
- 2024 Meeting Schedule – Tabled for review; board member Jennifer Gazzino will check for conflicts with school holidays before finalizing.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, and if if when you get in, we'll just start the meeting and then you just try to get in. Okay, thank you. Bye. All right. He's gonna keep trying. He just can't seem to uh no matter what he tries. He's putting the government gov in when they're asking him with the with the email with the password, he can't get in. He's trying it under Totillo using his password for his office. He can't have to enter a password. I I think um uh hopefully he should just be able to join the meeting as an attendee. Um let me I I can you guys can start the meeting and I'll send him an email pointing him to where he should um oh sh okay perfect. We'll start it. And maybe do you you have his you have his phone number at home? Um yes, I do. Yes, I do hold on when I gotta go get it, but you can still start. Okay, so we'll start. Okay, thank you. Okay. Good evening. I'd like to welcome everyone to the Stanford Planning Board Capital Budget meeting this evening. We are on Zoom. Today is Tuesday, December 12th of 2023. Uh, anyone wishing to uh join tonight's uh webinar can do it either from a PC, a Mac, an iPad, an iPhone, or an Android service. You can also use a mobile phone or a regular telephone. All the logins are on our um Stanford agenda with us this evening. I'm Theresa Dell, the chair. We have Jay Tepper, vice chair, we have William Levin, who is our alternate member in this evening. He will be a regular member as uh both um Michael Bacino and Stephen Perry will not be with us this evening, and Michael Totillo is having technical difficulties trying to get in. And we have Jennifer Gazzino this evening, who is our secretary. Also with us this evening is uh Lindsay Cohen, who is the associate planner for the zoning board. Um, and tonight, as I said, we are doing um capital budget, and we also have a uh supplemental request on our agenda this evening. I uh would like to make a motion, please to hold over our planning board minutes until next week to the 1219 meeting because the minutes uh are important and I'd like to have a uh larger majority uh reviewing the minutes and making sure everything is fine. So may I have a motion to hold the minutes over to the 12th moved by Jay? May I have a second, please? Bill in favor, show of hands unanimously held over. And please save your minutes so uh Leslie does not have to resend them to us. So the next uh Lindsay, are you okay now to come back to us? I think she's still talking to Michael Lindsay. I'm sorry, we just have to wait one second because she's doing the present uh the next presentation. Um Terry, were you talking to Michael Totillo on his house or office phone? Do you know? I believe it was his house number. And um I can text you his um his cell number. Uh yes, I only have his office and his home number. Okay, and he didn't pick up his home on his office right now. Back on because we're ready to talk about the master plan project. Okay. Unless you want to put Alice on and let Alice do her presentation. We could do that. Let me try Michael right here.
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