Selectmen Hear About New Budget Documentation, Sewage Plant Award

By John Voket

Just a few weeks after unveiling a new form of Capital Improvement Plan documentation, First Selectman Pat Llodra previewed a new system and documentation she hopes will help the board work through upcoming budget deliberations more effectively. During Monday’s meeting, Mrs Llodra confirmed that deliberations would be held January 26, 28, and Monday February 1, with a possibility of also meeting Saturday, January 30, if required.

She said that this year selectmen would inspect and potentially approve 64 separate budgets under their purview, which range in scope from a single line to numerous pages of documentation. Mrs Llodra said she had been working with Finance Director Bob Tait to craft an improved way for the selectmen to handle the protracted process, which in previous years has taken upward of 20 hours to complete over several meetings.

The first selectman presented a documentation format that splits each of the 64 budget requests into one of two groups, either by “document review” or by “budget detail.” The document review will come with recommendations from the finance authority based on a preexisting review, while those departments designated as “budget detail” will be sent home with selectmen who will then be expected to return to deliberations armed with ideas and recommendations for discussion.

Mrs Llodra said since the “document review” budgets will come before the selectmen already trimmed to their tightest efficiencies based on her and Mr Tait’s review and interviews with department or agency heads, she is hoping those budgets will be subject to minimal discussion and expedited approval.

This will ostensibly leave selectmen with substantially more time to review and drill into budgets that are either much more detailed or which contain “more provocative” aspects, Mrs Llodra said. Selectman Will Rodgers asked if “document review” budgets represented exclusively those most costly to taxpayers.

Mrs Llodra replied that the designations did not fall under any dollar amount criteria. She went on to reference the town’s technology department, which has a rather small budget by comparison, but whose budget may include the possible addition of staff.

In other business, Mrs Llodra assured the board that the various social service agencies that typically request donations from the town budget annually have all been closely examined by the finance director. She said Mr Tait requested financials and information about how many Newtown residents actually received services in the past year, in hopes that it would help her board justify continuing or reducing support where appropriate.

Mrs Llodra then told the board that she was planning to schedule discussion and possible action on how the town would move forward examining the Fairfield Hills Master Plan in February. The first selectman said she would open discussion on the matter at the February 1 meeting and keep it on the agenda until a course of review is established.

During the selectmen’s communications report, Mrs Llodra said the operator of Newtown’s sewage treatment plant will be receiving federal recognition. She said Julio Segarra of AOS Operating Systems, a vendor for the town, received a notice from the US Environmental Protection Agency informing him that that the local wastewater treatment plant received the 2009 Region 1 EPA Operations and Maintenance Award.

Mrs Llodra said she expects Mr Segarra will head to Boston on January 27 to receive the award, possibly accompanied by Public Works Director Fred Hurley, who also oversees plant operations for the town.

Mr Segarra told The Bee that the EPA looks at all operational aspects of the plant, including reporting. When they inspect the plant, they match it against all criteria across the region to come up with their criteria for the award.

Mrs Llodra also informed the board she had issued a release touting the technology installed in the new Municipal Center that helps hearing impaired individuals participate in public meetings by delivering amplified broadcasts directly to their hearing aid equipment.

The system combines strategically placed loudspeakers, FM receiver headsets that attendees may borrow to wear during various meetings, and an “inductive loop” system that broadcasts a similar signal to most conventional hearing aid apparatus, so those affected will not have to change out equipment just to hear the proceedings.

According to Mrs Llodra, Newtown is among the first municipalities in Connecticut to install such a system. She told her fellow selectmen that Newtown has been “cited as a model for serving the hearing impaired.”