ATTENDANCE: Amanda Brown, Chair; Fred Bondi; Andrew Conroy;
Kelly Straniti

STAFF: Linda Gulliuzza, Assistant Corporation Counsel

ROLL CALL

Ms. Brown called the meeting to order at 8:05 p.m. and called the Roll. It was noted that Mr. Hilliard was ill and unable to attend tonight’s meeting.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Mr. Todd Bryant, President of the Preservation Trust spoke about the demolition delay ordinance. He specifically talked about homes on West Main Street that had been slated for demolition. A developer purchased the site and created a plan, but then sold the project. The current developer said that the previous plan would be changed. Mr. Bryant said that there were viable homes on the West Main Street site. He suggested that the reason to have a longer delay is to have an approval plan in place before the demolition plan is approved.

In response to Mr. Bondi’s request, Mr. Bryant explained the West Main Street project.

ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES – DECEMBER 18, 2008

** MR. BONDI MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF DECEMBER 18, 2008 AS PRESENTED
** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE (1) ABSTENTION (MR. BONDI)

OLD BUSINESS

A. DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED DEMOLITION DELAY ORDINANCE

Ms. Brown provided copies of the December 2007 report of building activity. Demolition permits for three structures were issued. The structures were dated 1928, 1939 and another from 1928.

Ms. Brown said that in talking with the National Historic Preservation Trust they indicated that the common rule is 50 years. Ms. Straniti distributed revised copies of the demolition ordinance for review at the next meeting.

Mr. Bryant said that he has been talking to Mr. (Peter) Bondi, Chair of the Historical Commission about working together to create a historic resource inventory. He said that he would also work with Mr. Alvord, Director of the Department of Public Works to get the survey on the City maps. He said that he believed the program would cost at least $20,000. Mr. (Fred) Bondi said that the Historical Commission requested an additional $20,000 in their budget request.

Ms. Brown said that they are trying to determine what to do while the list is being compiled. Mr. Bondi pointed out that the 90 day delay is currently in effect. Ms. Brown said that they need the definition of an historic structure. Mr. Conroy added that not all homes built by famous architects are worthy. Mr. Bryant said that the homes on West Main Street are very typical Norwalk homes and are a good example of affordable housing.

Mr. Bondi suggested that the Committee review Ms. Straniti’s draft and discuss this further at the next meeting.

Mr. Conroy asked for the rationale why they want a 180 day delay rather than 90 days. Ms. Straniti said that it was because people want more time to negotiate. Ms. Brown added that it would allow people to intervene when they felt the property was historical. She said that she would provide the minutes that discussed the reason for the 90 day delay.

Mr. Conroy said that the two tier approach makes sense. He said that 180 days does not work for him, but the two tier helps.

Ms. Straniti suggested that the Historical Commission create a list and if someone does not want to be on the list they can appeal to the Common Council. Mr. Conroy said that he did not want that, but they need some body to exercise oversight. Mr. Bondi suggested creating an appeals board.

** MS. BROWN MOVED TO TABLE THIS ITEM TO THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING OF THE ORDINANCE COMMITTEE
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

B. REVIEW OF LIVING WAGE ORDINANCE

Mr. Bondi read the testimony and said that most of the people who spoke about this were in favor of the living wage. He said that the Common Council was also in favor. He asked why it was on the agenda. Ms. Brown said that there were problems on how to implement the program.

Ms. Gulliuzza said that implementation is not a legal issue, but there are some issues with the ordinance. Ms. Straniti said that it was not done because it was passed without input from the City’s staff or with any financial analysis. Ms. Brown said that as a responsible Chairperson, she wanted to address this issue and not put the City in jeopardy of being sued.

Ms. Brown provided the Committee members with a copy of New Haven’s living wage ordinance. She said that it works, but New Haven has a full time dedicated staff person. She said that they need to make a determination to hire a full time person who would have access to DPW and Financial information.

Ms. Gulliuzza said that they need the Committee to tell them what they want; they are not equipped to investigate how other cities work.

Ms. Brown said that as Chair, she decided that she would take the initiative to find out how to implement this ordinance. Mr. Bondi said that someone needs to tell them how to do this because they are not lawyers. He added that they need to ask the Finance Director to put money in the budget for the full time position and see what his response is. It he does not approve the funding, they will need to go to plan B.

Ms. Brown said that she does not know if the Common Council knew what they voted for in this ordinance. Ms. Straniti said that she voted against this ordinance and the responsible contractor ordinance; they are burdensome. They were flawed and never should have been approved.

C. REVIEW OF RESPONSIBLE CONTRACTOR ORDINANCE

Mr. Alvord asked the Committee what they wanted the ordinance to accomplish. He said that his concern was that the impact would be in getting cost effective work on the part of the City. Ms. Brown said that part of the ordinance is to make sure that the people who work for the City can live in Norwalk and that the money stays in Norwalk. She said that most of the people who work in Norwalk do not live in Norwalk.

** MR. BONDI MOVED TO TABLE THIS ITEM
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

NEW BUSINESS

A. BLIGHT ORDNANCE

Ms. Brown said that this request came from Mr. Park regarding 73 Strawberry Hill Avenue. This property is blighted; it is owned by the people who own the old Fitch School property. Ms. Straniti said that while this property is an extreme case, putting a blight ordinance in place is an infringement of a person’s rights and can become burdensome on the property owner.

Mr. Bondi said that it was important to talk to both the Zoning Department and the Health Department about this.

** MR. BONDI MOVED TO TABLE THIS ITEM FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION AT THE NEXT MEETING PENDING FURTHER INFORMATION
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

B. SENIOR CITIZEN TAX CREDIT

Mr. Bondi said that he would like to propose increasing the senior disable tax allowance from $800.00 to $1,000.00 a year. Ms. Brown said that she spoke to Mr. Hamilton about this and he said that the other tax payers would have to bear the burden. Mr. Bondi said that Mayor Moccia was in favor of this tax credit.

Ms. Straniti asked how many people would qualify for this exemption. Mr. Bondi said that a lot of people would not qualify because they earn over $40,000. He said that he feels badly for seniors who have a hard time surviving in the City. Ms. Brown said that they could also qualify for a reverse mortgage.

** MR. BONDI MOVED TO ASK THE FINANCE COMMITTEE TO RESEARCH THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SENIORS AND DISABLED RESIDENTS WHO WOULD QUALIFY FOR THIS PROPOSED TAX CREDIT
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

C. HYBRID AUTOMOBILE ORDINANCE

Mr. Bondi explained that the City of Stamford is investigating giving people who own hybrid vehicles a tax break. Ms. Brown said that people do not need tax incentives to purchase hybrid vehicles. Mr. Bondi said that it would be worthwhile looking at this. Ms. Brown said that the City is going to be doing some serious work and we are about to hit a recession. Mr. Bondi said that it promotes ecology.

Ms. Gulliuzza noted that taxes are highly regulated and they may not be authorized to do this.

Mr. Conroy asked Ms. Gulliuzza about having New Business on the agenda. They used to make a motion to suspend the rules to add an item to the agenda, but did not make a habit of it because it is not fair to the public, in the event they wanted to hear about an item.

Mr. Bondi said that in order to take action, they have to have an item on the agenda.

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. BONDI MOVED TO ADJOURN
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

The meeting was unanimously adjourned at 9:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Rosemarie Lombardi
Telesco Secretarial Services