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Record of Proceedings

Stamford Planning Board Meeting - Capital Budget Review (December 20, 2023)

Planning Board — Wednesday, December 20, 2023
BodyStamford, Connecticut
SessionPlanning Board
DateWednesday, December 20, 2023
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:44

Hi, Bill.

1:26

Michael, are you having a problem with your audio?

1:30

Michael Band your picture.

1:45

I just sent him a request asking to unmute.

1:49

Okay, and do his audio.

1:52

Yeah.

1:52

I mean his video.

2:05

Michael, if you want to put something in the chat, if you can chat directly to the panelists or me or email.

2:32

Maybe he needs to sign out and come back in.

2:40

There he is.

2:41

There you go.

2:45

Okay, we'll wait one more second for Jennifer.

2:48

And then we can look at started.

2:51

She should be here by the time we get to double check my phone.

3:44

Because we have our we have a quorum.

4:05

Just us seven.

4:08

Why were they thinking of coming tonight?

4:11

Here's Jennifer.

4:12

Yeah.

4:13

There they have capital appropriation requests on.

4:16

Oh, okay.

4:17

But I I didn't think they would be coming for that, but can you do that, Tony?

4:22

Uh, yeah.

4:24

Try.

4:25

Okay.

4:26

Let's see what happens.

4:28

All right, we'll just wait for Jennifer to get herself ready and then we'll get started.

4:34

There we are.

4:35

Welcome, Jennifer.

4:38

Okay, we're all on audio ready to start.

4:41

Yep.

4:42

Okay.

4:43

Good evening.

4:43

I'd like to welcome you all to tonight's meeting of the Stanford Planning Board.

4:48

Today is Tuesday, December nineteenth of twenty twenty-three.

4:52

It is now six thirty-three.

4:55

Tonight's meeting is a Zoom webinar.

5:00

All the information on how to get into the meeting was on our agenda.

5:04

You could join from a PC, a Mac, an iPad, an iPhone, or an Android.

5:08

You can use a mobile phone or a regular telephone.

5:14

And all the instructions on the meeting.

5:19

We're also on our agenda.

5:21

I just want everyone to know if I lose you.

5:23

I will try to come back in on my uh iPad.

5:26

Uh I've been on generator for two days, and my power seems all of a sudden tonight to be going on and off.

5:33

So we'll have to see what happens.

5:35

Um, I'd like to introduce everyone who is here tonight.

5:38

I am Theresa Dell, the chair.

5:40

We have Michael Totillo, who is a regular member.

5:43

We have Michael Bacino, who is a regular member, and Jennifer Godzino, who is a regular member, and we have William Levin and Stephen Perry, who are our two alternates.

5:53

Jay Kepper will not be with us this evening.

5:56

And we have Lindsay Cohen uh with us, who is our associate planner.

6:01

So I would like to welcome everyone to tonight's meeting.

6:05

The first item on our agenda this evening are the planning board minutes for December 12th of 2023.

6:13

Um Michael Pacino and Stephen Perry were not here last week, so they cannot vote on them.

6:22

But um, did anyone have any comments on the minutes or any corrections?

6:29

Not may I have a motion to accept the minutes for um Tuesday, December the 12th.

6:38

Moved by Michael T.

6:43

May I have a second.

6:47

Second by Jennifer.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget Equity Analysis█████████████████████████████29%
Procedural███████████████████19%
Capital Budget████████████████16%
Personnel Matters█████████████13%
Parks and Recreation██████████10%
Affordable Housing█████5%
Community Engagement███3%
Engineering And Infrastructure██2%
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Stamford Planning Board Meeting - Capital Budget Review (December 20, 2023)

[Note: While the user-provided metadata identifies the meeting date as December 20, 2023, the official agenda and meeting transcript both state the meeting took place on Tuesday, December 19, 2023. This discrepancy is noted here.]

The Stamford Planning Board convened via Zoom webinar at 6:33 PM on December 19, 2023 under the leadership of Chair Theresa Dell. The board unanimously approved routine consent items, conducted a comprehensive line-by-line review of the proposed capital budget to bring it closer to the city's safe debt limit, and discussed board succession and the 2024 meeting calendar.

Consent Calendar

  • Meeting Minutes Approval: The minutes from the December 12, 2023 meeting were approved unanimously. (Moved by Michael Totillo, seconded by Jennifer Godzino).
  • Capital Project Closeout Recommendations: The board unanimously approved the partial closeout of four capital funding lines, including the Aeration Blowers Upgrade (CP5025, $258,074.44 from WPCA bonds and $480,000 from Rebates), Primary Sludge De-Gritting System (CP1455, $1,200,000 from WPCA Reserve), and Vehicle Replacement and Repair (C71282, $140,367 from WPCA bonds).
  • Funding Source Switches: The board unanimously approved switching the funding source for the Primary Sludge De-Gritting System (CP1455) from WPCA Reserve to Revenue Bonds, and for the Vehicle Replacement project (C71282) from WPCA Bonds to WPCA Reserves.
  • Street Patch & Resurfacing Appropriation: The board approved a $2,000,000 appropriation for Street Patch & Resurfacing (C56182) utilizing ARPA funds.

Discussion Items

  • Capital Budget Final Review & Reduction Strategy: The board aimed to reduce the total capital budget from roughly $35 million to approximately $28 million to align with safe debt limit guidance from Ben Barnes. Chair Dell and Tony Romano (OPM) proposed several reductions and deferrals:
    • Harry Bennett Library Branch ($4M): Placed on the "comeback" list; likely to be removed in January due to the unavailability of a state grant for branch libraries.
    • Rich Forum (CP7152, $300k): Proposed to be pushed to the next out-year pending confirmation of project need.
    • Master Plan (Consulting, $100k): Placed on hold contingent on the Board of Representatives approving a separate $199,000 consulting budget.
    • Overall Facilities Needs Assessment ($250k to $125k): Reduced by $125,000 and moved to Tier 2 to complement the Parks Strategic Plan.
    • Electric Vehicle Charging Stations ($500k total): Push funded and unfunded requests into out-years due to delays in the city's audit process.
    • Cove Island Park ($100k to $50k): Reduced by $50,000.
    • Transfer Station / Canal Wall Upgrades ($800k): Delayed one year.
    • Street Paving ($7M to $6M): Reduced by $1 million, following a separate $2 million supplemental appropriation approved earlier in the meeting.
    • Roadway Design (CP1281, $1.1M to $600k): Reduced to match historical spending, utilizing significant existing balances.
    • Board of Education Security Upgrades ($600k to $300k): Reduced to fund portable radios.
    • District-Wide Technology ($1.4M to $1M): Reduced by nearly $440,000 and pushed to an out-year.
    • Housing Development Fund ($1M): Board member Jennifer Godzino strongly advocated for prioritizing affordable housing funds. The board agreed to invite Housing Development Fund Director Emily Gordon to the January public hearing to provide an update on project readiness.
  • Board Composition and Succession: Chair Theresa Dell announced her resignation, effective at the last February meeting or upon replacement. Michael Totillo is also resigning. The Republican Town Committee nominated Stephen Garst and Prasad Tungarthi. The board discussed the process for electing a new chair.
  • Meeting Calendar: The board approved the 2024 meeting calendar, adding a regular meeting on January 9 and rescheduling the Capital Budget Public Hearing to January 23.

Key Outcomes

  • Capital Budget Posting Approved: The board unanimously voted to allow Tony Romano to finalize the capital budget spreadsheet with the agreed changes, update the Capital Project sheets, and post the budget online by the end of the week to trigger the 4-week public review period.
  • Public Hearing Rescheduled: The public hearing for the capital budget was moved from January 16 to January 23, 2024, with a regular meeting added on January 9.
  • Housing Funding to be Revisited: The Housing Development Fund request will be revisited at the January 23 public hearing with project sponsors.
  • Board Succession: The board acknowledged the upcoming resignations of Chair Dell and Michael Totillo.

Meeting Transcript

Hi, Bill. Michael, are you having a problem with your audio? Michael Band your picture. I just sent him a request asking to unmute. Okay, and do his audio. Yeah. I mean his video. Michael, if you want to put something in the chat, if you can chat directly to the panelists or me or email. Maybe he needs to sign out and come back in. There he is. There you go. Okay, we'll wait one more second for Jennifer. And then we can look at started. She should be here by the time we get to double check my phone. Because we have our we have a quorum. Just us seven. Why were they thinking of coming tonight? Here's Jennifer. Yeah. There they have capital appropriation requests on. Oh, okay. But I I didn't think they would be coming for that, but can you do that, Tony? Uh, yeah. Try. Okay. Let's see what happens. All right, we'll just wait for Jennifer to get herself ready and then we'll get started. There we are. Welcome, Jennifer. Okay, we're all on audio ready to start. Yep. Okay. Good evening. I'd like to welcome you all to tonight's meeting of the Stanford Planning Board. Today is Tuesday, December nineteenth of twenty twenty-three. It is now six thirty-three. Tonight's meeting is a Zoom webinar. All the information on how to get into the meeting was on our agenda. You could join from a PC, a Mac, an iPad, an iPhone, or an Android. You can use a mobile phone or a regular telephone. And all the instructions on the meeting. We're also on our agenda. I just want everyone to know if I lose you. I will try to come back in on my uh iPad. Uh I've been on generator for two days, and my power seems all of a sudden tonight to be going on and off. So we'll have to see what happens. Um, I'd like to introduce everyone who is here tonight. I am Theresa Dell, the chair. We have Michael Totillo, who is a regular member. We have Michael Bacino, who is a regular member, and Jennifer Godzino, who is a regular member, and we have William Levin and Stephen Perry, who are our two alternates.

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