On the agenda: Cheshire, CT Town Council Special Meeting — flock camera (Aug 18)

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TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
6:30 P.M., THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2026
ROOM 207/209, CHESHIRE TOWN HALL, 84 SOUTH MAIN ST.
Chairman Peter Talbot called the meeting to order at 6:32PM
1. Roll Call.

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Assistant Town Manager Andrew Martelli called the roll.

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Present: Peter Talbot, Chair; Gregory Wolff, Don Walsh, Deb Manke, David Borowy, A. Fiona Pearson,
Lou Todisco (7:37PM),

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Absent: Jim Jinks, Vice Chair; Patricia Cramer

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Also Present: Sean Kimball, Town Manager; Andrew Martelli, Assistant Town Manager; James Jaskot,
Finance Director

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2. Pledge of Allegiance.
3. Proposed FY 2026-2027 Capital Budgets.
a. Board of Education

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Emily Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Cheshire Public Schools, addressed the commission. E. Taylor
shares with the Council that the school building profile is shifting. She states that most of their request’s
focus on the bigger and older campuses. E. Taylor explains the previous years approved capital plan and
the projects that passed referendum and what stage they are at. Further, she gives an overview of the fiveyear capital plan by year. E. Taylor explains the year 1 priority projects and what would have to go to
referendum and what would not.

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D. Walsh brings up the stage renovations at Dodd and asks how old the equipment is at this location and
what condition they are in. E. Taylor states that she will try to find when it was last renovated and that it
is currently in bad condition and a potential safety risk. D. Walsh also asks why the CHS loading dock
and parking lot reconfiguration isn’t being treated as two separate projects so that it would not have to go
to referendum. E. Taylor explains that they get the economy of scale when they do it together and there
isn’t really a way to split it and not go to referendum.

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D. Borowy asks if they are using unexpended prior appropriations to cover certain projects. E. Taylor
explains that with some of these projects there is not a prior appropriation. S. Kimball explains that they
have moved some projects to year 6 to 10 as a placeholder.

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E. Taylor further explains in depth the year 1 priority projects:

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1. Synthetic Turf Field Replacement $950,000

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2. Track Replacement $950,000

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3. CHS Loading Dock Safety Improvements $875,000

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4. Athletic Field Upgrade $350,000

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5. Stage Renovations $250,000

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E. Taylor explains that the amount they are requesting is pretty on par with what was approved last year.
She shows the Council photos of the loading dock’s deterioration and hopes that the Board of Education
can better educate the public on what this is actually for since it had previously failed at referendum.

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E. Taylor share the 5-year outlay by category and by building. She also shares the deferred projects that
are for year 6 through 10 and the Energy Performance Contract.

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TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
6:30 P.M., THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2026
ROOM 207/209, CHESHIRE TOWN HALL, 84 SOUTH MAIN ST.
b. Public Works/Public Property

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Dan Bombero, Director of Public Works, addressed the Council. He states that they are covering public
property as which includes the animal control facility. He explains that phase 1 of that project was
completed as part of the last capital budget process, which brought them up to conformance of state
standards. In phase 2 there is a focus on the front of the building which would establish a
visiting/adoption area, outside pens, and interior improvements for grooming, food preparation, etc.

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Fredrick Jortner, Chief of Police, addressed the Council. F. Jortner explains that they now exceed the state
standard and are pushing towards the 2029 standards that all animal control facilities are going to have to
adhere to. S. Kimball explains that they have been able to save some money by doing these improvements
and not having to rebuild from the ground up.

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F. Pearson asks about a timeline for this project. D. Bombero explains that they have already been
working with an architect and have steps in place to start once they get the funding for it.

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D. Walsh recognizes that there have been several animal groups that have been generous and contributed
to the success of this facility.

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D. Bombero explains the year 1 items that public works request. Which includes a pickup truck for the
department that is equip with a plow and sander. D. Walsh asks what this would be replacing. D.
Bombero states that there are several older vehicles that are at the end of their life.

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Other requests include work on the fire suppression system in the town hall, various town building
improvements account, roof replacement at the police station, salt shed at public works garage, senior
center exterior improvements, and revenue office security upgrades.

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D. Bombero brings up the old Artsplace facility at 1220 Waterbury Rd. He explains that this would be for
renovations to the lower level of the facility with year 3 representing the upper level improvements. S.
Kimball explains that they recommend keeping the facility and that it is in a useful location and there are
a few potential departments that could move there.

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D. Bombero explains their item that would have to go to referendum, a structure to store salt. He
mentions that it was built in the 80’s and they have been doing maintenance on it since. He states that it
could become an environmental compliance issue if they don’t work to address it. He further explains the
structure that they have gotten designed and how it is a better investment in the long-term.

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Public works requests include streetlights/pole replacements, public works dump trucks and plow line,
public works vehicles/non-dump trucks and equipment, grounds equipment, and various pool
improvements.

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c. Other Capital Projects
S. Kimball brings up the wording of the referendums and that they need to have them finalized by
September 4th. He explains the items that would go to referendum and how much they are for.

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1. Salt Shed for Public Works - $1.1 Million

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2. Road Improvement Program – Currently proposed at $2.35 Million

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3. Road Construction at Dickerman Road - $1.375 Million

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4. Notch Road Bridge - $2.3 Million

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TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
6:30 P.M., THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2026
ROOM 207/209, CHESHIRE TOWN HALL, 84 SOUTH MAIN ST.
5. RCP Lining Downstream FMV Replacement - $2 Million

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6. Loading Dock Improvements at CHS - $875,000

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S. Kimball states what can go in the explanatory text regarding the referendum. J. Jaskot explains that in
the explanatory text they can describe what the anticipated grants/other funding is going to be for those
referendum items.

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D. Bowory states that he is surprised to not see land acquisition. Also, he asks if the road projects could
be combined into one question. D. Bowory and D. Walsh bring up concerns for the loading dock project
and question if it is worse now than it was last year. D. Walsh asks if that project could be split up. F.
Pearson states that this project has been deferred for many years and that they should make it clearer that
it is a safety concern.

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G. Wolff brings up a concern that if they put all of the paving items together and it is a very large number
that gets voted down then they won’t have money for any of the paving projects.

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4. Public Comment

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Cathy Devlin of 61 Lanyon Dr. addressed the Council. She talks about potential sidewalks being put on
Lanyon Dr. and the petition that affected residents could have signed. She asks to see the petition. S.
Kimball explains that the definition of affected residents is not crystal clear and that the Council will have
to agree upon who and where is considered affected.

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A citizen makes a comment about having an informational meeting with public comment regarding flock
cameras in town. P. Talbot explains that at the previous meeting there was some public comment on the
flock camera. She asks if there will be a meeting with more information. P. Talbot states that he would
like to have a something with the Chief of Police that the public can attend that will provide citizens with
information.

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5. Adjournment

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MOTION: G. Wolff made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by D. Walsh.

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Motion was passed unanimously by Council members present.

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The meeting was adjourned at 8:27PM.

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Attest: Colleen Costello