Education, Workforce, Youth Development & Community Services Subcommittee - Regular Meeting

Good evening. We're going to call this meeting to order Education Workforce Youth Development Community Service Subcommittee on Tuesday, July 14th, 2026 at 6.02 p.m. Can I have a roll call? Councilor, Deputy Mayor Lloyd?

Here.

Councilor Waterhouse?

Here.

Do we have any other councilors online at all or no? Okay. If we have new business, we have a presentation by Makerspace Worker Force Development Program in partnership with David Weinsholt, Development Officer. Okay. Or is it Mark? Sorry, sorry.

How's that sound? All right, everyone. Let me readdress. My name is Mark Colbert. I'm from Makerspace CT. I'm Chief Operating Officer. We are a 28,000 square foot education facility in downtown Hartford in what's known by most as the old GFOX building. We built this place out about seven years ago, and we've been diving into tech ed and trades education for the last four or five years. We were asked to build a program based on our experiences. Because our facility boasts a couple different modalities, we have a full working wood shop that's about 3,500 square feet, a machining shop where we teach people to get into trades, and get into careers in aerospace and manufacturing. In addition, we have a 4,000 square foot welding and metal fabrication area. We have a series of computer-aided design CAD stations where we train people in basically designing products online. on the computers as well as 3D printing those products out and then bringing them to life. We are really the place where people take ideas to reality. We turn ideas into tangible items there. Because of the size of our facility and the wood shop that we have and all the tools that were supported through Stanley Black & Decker, we have built out several different programs that are starting to open up doors for people in careers in the trades. What does that mean? What are the trades? I think some of us know we're trying to bring back hands-on skill sets to people that have never touched a tool before or don't even know what a tool does. And we know that there's a need out there in commercial construction specifically where we can open some doors by educating high school youth as well as young adults in commercial construction. And we have an idea to take that even further. But I wanted to dive into our first, the next slide. which is these are some of the offerings that we have here. And I'm going to get into just two of these, but I wanted to give you guys an overview of the commercial construction dive, which we'll be talking about, continuing the trades dive, which we'll be expanding on the first one, We also teach OSHA 10 certifications, which are usually used in manufacturing sites as well as job sites. It's a nationally recognized certificate for 10 hours of safety training. We also have this manufacturing benchwork course, which we're not going to talk about tonight, but I'm letting you know that these are the types of things we offer to sort of build a holistic experience. student and give them a well-rounded education back to using their hands, opening doors to manufacturing, as well as commercial construction. Next slide. So the two we're going to talk about, and this is just a brief five-page slideshow, and I'll take questions later for sure. But the commercial construction dive is... training students to build steel studded construction. They're gonna start with understanding blueprints and floor plans, and then build a simulated room within our maker space The benefit of using Makerspace CT is we do have this 28,000 square foot facility where you can build a simulated room, kitchen, or even the platform for a ranch home within our space. So the goal is to build a simulated room in the commercial construction dive. And then step two is, And this would be an expansion on that where you start getting an overview of electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. You have a simulated room. Let's use it. Not just sheet it in sheetrock inside it, but let's start talking about What are those HVAC plumbing and electrical needs within that space? So we have that opportunity. We decided to expand on the first one. So let's go to the next slide. The commercial constructions dive. Next. We laid out a 10-week program, and it starts with foundations and safety. Then it goes to framing systems and sheathing. and then systems integration into the final project. So weeks 8, 9, and 10, we touch on the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. That's in case we don't go to the next step. What if we don't have the funding and we don't move on to the deeper dive of plumbing, HVAC, and electrical? We built into the last three weeks of this program a hint, a touch on it. You have these walls. What do you do with it then? We have our instructors are a combination of OSHA certified instructors. We have instructors that are contractors, builders, commercial construction personnel, and also our OSHA trainers are certified instructors. The students would be walking away with not just OSHA 10 certification, but they'd have this sort of 10 week dive into what it takes to build a room or a room within a commercial constructed space. Let's go to the next slide. So they'll understand commercial steel stud framing. They're gonna build a floor system of rafters. They're gonna build windows and door openings with studs, a top plate and sills. They're going to start assembling ceiling rafters because they can because we have the height. They're going to understand the safe use of construction equipment and tools. And then they're going to do interior and exterior sheathing. It's about 60 hours is our plan. And it's 10 weeks long. We think a minimum of 10 students would be appropriate, but we would never go over a max of 14 students. And it's around $3,600 per student for those 10 weeks. Our facility is air conditioned. Our facility is heated. If our programs are running through lunch or dinner, we'll feed our students. It's a nice place to be. It's a great place to learn. So that is really the cohort size, 10 to 14 students for this hands-on skills pathway. Next slide, please. So now you have the simulated room. What do we do with it? That's why we call it continuing the trades. Next slide. So in a similar fashion, we laid this out. This is a 30-hour program, about half of the first program. Week one, is 10 hours. Week two is 10 hours and week three is 10 hours. Again, we're diving into electrical, plumbing, and HVAC air handling basics. We do not at Makerspace take the place of formal training in construction. We're not taking the place of a Lincoln Tech where it's $37,000 a year and it's a two-year program. We're also not taking the place of real hands-on on the job site training. That's where apprenticeships come in. The goal of Makerspace CT with all of our training programs is to sort of dip your feet in the water. See if you like this as a career. Get some basic training. God bless you. Get some basic training and then take it to where you want to go. If we want to be a feeder to continue that, there's three places you can go with this. One, you can go on to post-secondary, a Lincoln Tech, a tech school, this sort of thing, and take the training further and get your official certificate. It costs a lot more, but that's okay. Two, you might be introduced to construction personnel, as well as we'll have some guest speakers in these programs coming from job sites, Whiting-Turner Construction. I'm in the construction business as well. I would bring in personally some speakers so that they could be introduced to what careers are possible, and they might go into an apprenticeship route. Or the student might say, these trades are great. I like the tools. Maybe I'll stick around and take another program now that I've learned all these safety methods and I understand what construction is and I understand what these tools do. Another open pathway. We keep our programs broad. And one of the best quotes I've heard recently from a high school student that was in one of our programs, he just quoted it a few weeks ago. He said, makerspace CT is like a pool. You dip your feet in the water there. And if you like it, you might want to stay. You'd think I'd pay that kid to say that, but it is so true of what we do. So next slide. This program, again, we stick with the 10 to 14 students. It's 30 hours. And this one is $3,200 a student. There's a lot of materials in plumbing, electrical, and HVAC that get used. But the hope is as we build this out to be more sustainable with additional funding, we hope to reuse a lot of that equipment. So we're working on a program where this whole system can be disassembled and then reassembled again over and over again, a little bit like Legos. We're not going to throw these things away. We're not going to put them out the door. It's a reusable program. Next slide. So that's it. That's how you get from commercial construction and then you dive into continuing the trades. When we spoke with the council earlier, the plan today was to really talk about the commercial construction dive. But we felt it would really benefit the student to take it to the next level.

So that's why we have this program number two here proposed.

So those are the costs. Those are the number of students. And we were asked to point this program towards 17 and 18-year-olds. Sometimes our students are a little lost at that age. They're not sure what they want to do. The way this program is structured, It could work around their school schedule. It might even be weekends, but mostly weeknights. The goal there is not to interfere with homework, not to interfere with their school schedule. Give them a little taste outside of school, what it's like, and open some doors for some new careers. Thank you. I'll take some questions if you have any.

We're probably going to have questions. I appreciate your presentation, and I also appreciate you coming back to the table with the adjustments and of different options, right? And I like the one to two year phase. Well, not one to two year phase, but the different transitions of training from one to two. I like that you're kind of doing a smorgasbord, not just one trade. So, you know, they're getting a little bit of a taste of different things from different trades in there between plumbing and I like it. Does anybody else have any questions or comments?

I do. Thank you for your presentation. I really appreciate it. And I commend Councilor Oliver for continuing to pursue exposing our young people to the trades. My first endeavor was getting laid off on a Friday and on a Monday. I was on a construction site cutting studs. By Tuesday, I was hanging electrical boxes. And by Wednesday, I was on a 35-foot roof with no safety harnesses.

I think we have one of our first teachers right here.

Now I investigate workers' comps. hearkening back to no harness and safety equipment was, wow. But anyway, but because I've had that hands-on exposure, I understand the value of exactly what you're trying to bring to the table. Even if these kids don't decide to pursue that as a career, these skills and exposure to that will take them so far in their life, in their own experiences, in their own homes, and things of that nature. So it really goes far beyond just taking a step one or step two course, dipping their toe in the water. I noticed on the timing, it said two to five. I think there might have to be some conversation around the start time because our high school age kids don't get out until a little after that. But I'm sure that can be managed. As you said, you showed Tuesday, Thursday, two to five, but you also mentioned possibility of weekends. So I'm sure that's something that can be looked at if this goes forward. Additionally, I did see the price for the phase one at thirty six hundred. If they wanted to continue on to the continuing the trades. What is the price point on that if you have it?

Continuing the trades is $3,200. Okay. How many hours? 60 hours for the first one.

30 hours for the second part. But 60 for the first one, right? That's correct.

Okay.

I'm sorry.

No, you can go. That's all right.

If we have some returning students that already have their OSHA 10, would that be something that can be deducted from just that one student? Absolutely. Okay.

Oh, good to know. That's wonderful. Thank you for that.

Mayor Harrington, do you have anything you'd like to comment about?

Well, I'm glad to hear that this program is designed for the 17 and 18-year-olds as they prepare to exit our school system. I was initially concerned when I heard 36 and 32. I thought... And this was just in conversation in the past that it was 10 students, 3,000 per, but that must not have been in reference to these programs. It was another configuration, I believe.

I'd have to research that. We're developing programs daily. When I worked up facility costs, training costs, and certainly materials, I always make sure, especially on materials, we don't know when you're going to pull the trigger on a program like this. I need to make sure. There's about 10% to 15% of contingency fees on materials because they come up and down. And if you say, we commit to this cost, but you don't pull the trigger on the program till the spring, I want to make sure we're covered. I'd hate to come back to the table and ask for more. I want to make sure we're covered with contingencies. And when it is time to pull the trigger, we will settle on the times of the program and the real costs at that time. So just an inquiry.

If all things were to move forward in this discussion, when would you propose to start a program of this nature?

Well, it's a high school age program, right? maybe those students have checked out for the summer and they're on vacation and they're just not here mentally. We always imagine any of our high school programs starting not in September when they're starting school right away, but a little later, we like to trigger that second week, third week of September based on the 60 hours and your request for, for timing. I'd like to see this happen before October 1st and end before the holiday and All right. Almost like a semester, if you will, and work within their school schedule while the students are present mentally and physically and work around their school schedule. So we imagine we're ready to pull the trigger as soon as this fall, just a couple of months.

My last question. Have you thought about what type of transportation-related expense may be?

Is there? I talked to the town manager, and if we can cover the costs for the transportation through the town minibuses, that we can work that out. Because it's only 10 students. Basically, I think that's what we did last session was we had the town's bus. Not the school bus. The green bus that drives around town. I don't know the name of it. Senior service.

We would have to go into more details on that because my understanding is we might not have a

Well, we've done it already. So, I mean, maybe we can look into it. And if not, we'll come back to the table. But I'm glad you're here because that helps me. And I would like to bring you into the loop as well.

That would be helpful. We do know the costs of busing and transportation. If that was something we needed to put out there, we could. It can't hurt. But it's it's it's it's tough. How do you get the students to all get in one place? Get on the bus. Do you come to town hall? Do you come to their school? I don't have those answers yet, but we could work closely with the school and solve that.

Well, we have a we're we got a little while before we have to get there. So this is the good thing about getting the ball rolling now. So by the time we get there, I agree. No, any Bloomfield resident. Yeah, I mean, taxpayers don't all send their kids to Bloomfield School. So I figured it's fair that, you know, we reach out to whomever in town and then they can figure out how to get to maybe Bloomfield High. So we have a one spot pickup. If that works, we got to talk to the Board of Ed, see if they'll allow us to pick up there or at 3.30. We'll figure out something. We'll get on that now, though.

I have one more. So going back a few years, when I worked at Weaver High School, we had a program for juniors and seniors who participated in work study. And they left at one o'clock. Now, we don't currently have that program here, but I do believe there had been some inquiry about I don't know if it would have been reinstituting it or to pursue developing it. But that may be another avenue because if the students were going from class here straight there, that would lessen the amount of time that they take up, you know, from leaving school at 1 and leaving the program, I guess, maybe 3.30 or something like that. Just an inquiry, and I think town manager is going to weigh in on that. Town manager?

Good evening. Good evening. Mr. Chair and counselors and public and staff, thank you for the opportunity to engage. this evening. And I hear you, Mr. Mayor, and I too am familiar with those programs, but I think a distinct and noted difference is those programs involve the school district itself as part of the endeavor where this right here that we're doing, unless I'm mistaken, is solely from the town side of it. So, um, As we start to talk about infringing upon the school day that needs to be something that we do in collaboration with the school district so just thought I'd speak to that even if it's painfully obvious my apologies if it is.

Thank you.

Anyone have any other questions or statements.

uh i'm sorry what so i'm kind of familiar with makerspace and uh uh great programs that you are are involved um you're actually developing a whole lot of relationships even with capital workforce partners esi just the whole workforce gamut um Would there be, and it probably wouldn't be through this program that you're proposing, but if we train young people in these trade areas and then they're graduating, would there possibly be an avenue for them to be assisted relative to job placement? in the aftermath or conclusion of the program.

I know from being in the trades, even with the Carpenters Union, when we've done programs, we tend not to guarantee anybody anything because of the way the economy works and construction. Stop, start, stop, starts, as many people know. So I'm not sure, but maybe if there's shops, That could be something different, like maybe like a cabinet shop where they're consistent with employment. Do you have anything you want to add to that?

The best we do is typically following most of our programs. This is a unique program here because of the trades and construction, but most of our programs end with a job fair within our facility. A job fair is 15 to 20 manufacturers setting up tables. right in our shop where students can come and see what's out there and interview. I would love to have our guest presenters and our guest visitors during this program and maybe as a follow-up for our students to meet with potential career opportunities. Not necessarily guarantee them job placement, but see what it takes to interview and meet these people, and if doors open, we've done our job. That's the best we can do right now. And we have been having really good success on our manufacturing side with students starting to get hired on the spot out of our facility. It's working, right? A lot of this still has to be figured out. And I imagine what we're looking at here on the screen and what we've brought to the table tonight is still a pilot. It still requires some tweaking. As we make more and more of those connections in the commercial world of commercial construction, you can be sure our passions lie with opening those doors. And we will do our best to get those opportunities in front of these students and try to get them some of those interviews and some of those basically those invitations to see what's out there. So we don't guarantee job placement, but we can certainly make introductions that I think will take the students to the next level.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to say the fact that you even exposed them to the last thing that you added, and you didn't mention it earlier, so it's great that the question was presented, is that you have a job fair, right? Even from the perspective of just getting them in front of people and having them go through the exercise, even if it were no jobs available for them to go through the actual exercise of talking to someone about job opportunities, um, mock interviews and things of that nature will have immeasurable value for them. So the fact that there's been some job opportunities that were gleaned out of it is just icing on the cake. Oh, that's awesome. And I commend you for doing that as well and appreciate that about what you're proposing.

I'm just going to add to that if that's okay. Our, um, our amazing instructors sit with these students and do just that. They do mock interviews. I'm one of those people that come down because the students don't always see me. Like, oh, who's this guy? And I try to put them through the ringer because I know what they're going to encounter in the real world. In addition to that, we're going to help those students. We're going to look at their resume and make sure there's a blurb in there, what they learned over these 60 hours and make sure it's appropriate and in alignment with their training. So when I look at this resume, like, oh, okay, I really get it. We're going to help them word that correctly. And yes, getting them, trust me, we really do see They've just built this sort of simulated room. We've seen students come in quiet, looking down on their phones, not disengaged. We see it all the time. The greatest thing about walking into Makerspace CT, and I invite any of you to do this during these programs, halfway through the program, let's say 30-hour mark, 40-hour mark, There's no phones. They're paying attention. They're being safe. They're talking with others and they're working as a team. And to come down and see that in the evenings when our students are there, they're there now. There's a group training right now tonight. That's what keeps us energized and keeps our passion alive at Makerspace. Seeing the students get engaged. It really does work there. We're not your school. We're not a lecture hall. Here's the tool. Here's how you use it. Let's build something. And that's kind of been our mentality since we've opened. So I appreciate everyone's questions. And I'm glad we all sort of share the same passion to open doors for students and give them an opportunity that probably doesn't exist. So thank you. Is there any other questions?

What's your primary tools? What are you using? Makita, DeWalt? I'm sorry, I'm a DeWalt girl. I'm joking, I'm joking, I'm joking.

We use what's available and what's affordable and the safest tool that'll last the longest.

Town Manager, do you have something you'd like to say?

Yeah, thank you for the opportunity and thank you for the presentation, sir. I've seen you before and value all that you're doing. You may have answered this for me in the past. I'm sorry if I forgot, but can you share with us any similar ideas align municipalities where there's a similar approach that you're pursuing here with Tom Bloomfield.

Yeah. This is our program development officer, David Weinholz. I'm going to let him answer that.

We've

Bloomfield has really helped us set a precedent for this type of training, which now has been radiating out into areas like West Hartford, Windsor, Newington, various Hartford schools, where... For 2027, specifically with Stanley Black and Decker, they're looking to support some programs in New Britain, as well as Bristol. So this past year, the work that we've done with Bloomfield has been a boon for us in terms of showing how we can utilize the space, the equipment we have. We have a lot of DeWalt. And there's a need for this. Too many schools don't have access to this equipment and exposure like we used to when many of us were in school. So there's a hunger for it, there's a desire for it. We're seeing, we're answering that call from across the board. But Bloomfield has set a precedent and we've been working with the town and we've been working with the Board of Education because we recognize that it's very important to have both of y'all on board so that we can do this in a way that is beneficial to the students. So I envision that as we continue to build this out, we're gonna be doing this with many districts. We've been training, we've been doing a lot of professional development for educators as well. So it's not just on the student side, but we've been working with Connecticut State Department of Education. We're getting paid through Perkins funding to train the teachers so that they can go back and build, bring these skills to the students. And when, when When the officials in those towns have recognized what we're able to do with teachers, then it opens up the conversation to a broader degree. So a lot of this is new, but it's growing fast. And again, we're grateful for Bloomfield really setting a precedent here and being dynamic in that way. And look, we're building out two very strong pipelines here, one in robotics and manufacturing and one in the trades. And ultimately, what are cost-effective measures and that are going to produce measurable outcomes? Because this is taxpayer dollars being invested in future taxpayers. And I'm all about workforce development. And ultimately, I saw Makerspace CT when I came on board a couple of years ago as a prime conduit to connect these young people to real workforce opportunities. And my goal in developing workforce relationships is to get them into careers. I know how to broker those relationships. We've already had a few apprentices hired this year alone out of our engineering fundamentals course at Trump and Farmington. And people in industry are coming to us because they know that we can deliver the goods. So, I mean, I can keep talking about it all night.

So I believe what I heard you say was thanks to the extraordinary, visionary leadership, which is unprecedented throughout all the municipalities in Bloomfield. Bloomfield Town Council, led in this case by Councilor Oliver, basically showed everyone else what Wright looks like and Team Bloomfield's leading the way.

Absolutely. 100%.

That's a good summary?

That is a perfect summary. And it's attracted also other people in private interests wanting to put their dollars behind this, not just municipal dollars, Board of Education dollars, but people from industry, connected to industry and other philanthropic foundations to support this because they recognize that need.

Okay, thank you. And if you have any publications, I hope that's included in your publications. because we always look for that good press, right? Yes, absolutely.

Your good press is our good press.

If you need any help writing it, let us know, because we have a good department that does that, too. Glad we do that. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, everyone. I would just like to say your level of exposure creates your level of success. And I think that this exposure right here could lead to many, many opportunities for a lot of people. So thank you. Thank you. We believe that.

Thank you for coming.

Now we'll move to the report from town staff. We'll start with senior services.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Luz Cota-Small. I'm the Assistant Director for Senior Services Department, and I'm going to give you just a review of the last couple months. The senior center is always busy, so we're going to just try to be quick about giving you just a review and the highlights of the last couple months, and then a little bit more of the happening now and coming in the next couple months. So I'm going to start to mention the AARP volunteers came to our building, like always been for many years that I know. to help to prepare the tax preparation of the return for 2025. And we are pleased to say that we were able to provide over 460 appointments. So 460 people were able to benefit from that service. So we also have a Tai Chi Kwan Moving with Better Balance program. It's a class that is being, it is a grant. We're using a grant for that.

It is granted by Connecticut Community Care.

Also now For the month of May, we had the pre-Mother's Day luncheon. We went to Sinsbury Inn, and 75 participants went to that luncheon. And it was very good. It was always very nice. Everybody has a very good time all the time. So we moved to June. In June, we have the pre-Father's Day breakfast. A group of seniors, men seniors, went to IHOP. here in Bloomfield. Also, we celebrate the Juneteenth, the sixth annual pre-Juneteenth celebration that happened back in June. And then now July. We start the month with the celebration of American 250th birthday. That was in July 2nd. It was a lunch and entertainment. I believe my understanding, based on what I saw, it was a very good taking from our seniors. So moving forward, this weekend we have a Hartford Jazz Festival. Our seniors are going to go there on Saturday, this coming Saturday. So we did that before, and it was... A very good review. And people were asking if we were going back again. So we are going this weekend.

And where is that located?

It is in the Bushner Park.

Thank you.

We're going to go on Saturday between 1, 1.30 and coming back at 6.30. In August, sailing through the month, in August, we're going to go to the senior statewide outing that is in Cheshire, Connecticut. We go there every year. The name is the Holiday Hill facility. It's beautiful, and our seniors always have a very good time there. And also, in September, we are providing transportation for the PE. We're going to go three times. We're going to go in the senior Connecticut day, and then we're going to go on Saturday and also on Sunday. So we are providing transportation, and our seniors are – responsible for their ticket. Unless you have anything else or any questions?

Have you done the Big E transportation before?

Yes, we do.

How many people usually fill that bus up?

Usually we take two buses.

Wow, nice.

We take two buses and what we do is two buses provide transportation for 48 people if we don't have any Wheelchair, we have a wheelchair, but it's still going to be a little less because the space. And what we do is for that, the senior Connecticut day, because it's a long day, the parade is almost at the end of the day. What we do is we provide two returns. So we go, everybody goes at 9. If a person who cannot stay the whole day come back with us at 2.30, or 6.30 if you want to stay for the parade.

Nice. Thank you. Does anybody have any questions or statements?

So I want to take a moment to thank your department and your director and everyone that works in that department because I went to the seniors' luncheon And we were very impressed. And we stole. I heard. We stole them and they participated in our America 250 celebration on that following Saturday. The something rebels. Yeah, it's. Yeah. That wasn't their name, but... No, it was Connecticut Bells. Yes, Connecticut Bells. They did a great, great job and provided some historical background in their whole performance. It was really nice. And I want to say... Most of the people that came that Saturday after we advertised it came to America 250 at 330 Park.

On Saturday, yes.

It was really nice. And Sarah's on Park provided the food.

Oh, okay.

And there were some seniors that were out there dancing. I'm talking about a 90-year-old woman dancing. who was celebrating her birthday, we gave acknowledgement and she hit the floor.

Those are seniors.

Well, not literally hit the floor. Dancing.

Hit the floor dancing. In a good way, right?

So thank you because that was a wonderful collaborative effort with Leisure Services as well as Senior Services. I always tend to say elderly and that's not the right... No, we don't like to say that. I don't like to say it either now that I'm in this area.

Miss Yvette told me, and I learned from her, that we should always say, older adults. Don't call them senior or elderly. Because it looks better, it sounds better when you call them.

Yes, yes. And we're very appreciative, so I just wanted to give that acknowledgement.

Thank you. We always try, always, always, always try to... ALWAYS KEEP OUR SENIORS IN OUR MIND. OLDER. NOT OLDER. OLDER. WELL, WE ALWAYS TRY. WE ALWAYS TRY, AND IT SEEMS TO BE THAT WE ARE DOING SOMETHING GOOD BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS COME BACK.

MM-HMM. THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPORT. WE APPRECIATE YOU.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. HAVE A GOOD NIGHT, EVERYONE.

I'M SORRY, TIME MANAGER. I DIDN'T SEE YOUR HAND THERE. I APOLOGIZE.

YEAH, YEAH, THANK YOU. AND FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW, I KNOW OUR COUNSELORS KNOW, Ms. Lewis, of course, small very well. And it's not small about her, right? She's larger than charged. She's here to receive that baton that Ms. Yvette Hugh Pinnell is passing. So this is just one example of the excellence that we have as part of the bench in Bloomfield. But she's no longer on the bench. She's stepping into the batter's box and then she's swinging, right, to continue the excellence that the senior services is known for. So I thank you, Ms. Gorsmaul. for your presentation this evening. And I just want to make sure that the public had an awareness that you're going to be taking over the reins, right, come 1 October. And we look forward to continuing the excellence that has been had under Ms. Yvette Hupinel. So thank you for your presentation this evening, ma'am.

Thank you very much. And thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you. Thank you. Now, will we move on to social youth and services?

Good evening. I am Camilla Hillion, currently the Director of Social and Youth Services. I'll try to keep my report brief, and as I go over the various topics, LaTanya, if you can show the appropriate flyers that align with the topic. Currently, we're in the midst of our renter's rebate applications. We have a flyer that we can show up front. They give you information on that for older adults. and disabled adults as well. Excuse me, getting over a summer cold. The application period runs from April 1st through September 30th. To date, we have completed 333 applications and the flyer, which is also online, can give you additional information on how to apply. Next are farmer's market cards, which I hear is a hot topic here in Bloomfield, this farmer's market. But as far as the farmer's market program that we manage in our department through the State Department of Agriculture, we receive cards that we distribute to older adults who are age 60 or older. And we issue cards. We activate the card and we issue $40 on each card that they can use at farmers markets that accept the farmers market card. Not all farmers markets accept the card. To date, we've issued 295 cards. at $40 each. Most of the senior housing sites in town distribute their own cards to their residents, and their residents can be 60 years of age or older, or if they're under 60, on social security disability. And as you can see, there are income guidelines that must be met, and you must be a Bloomfield resident. And we do ask for proof. We don't ask for proof of income. That's more of the honor system, but From our experience, the folks who come in requesting a farmer's market card do meet the criteria. Let's see. I'll move on to partnership with Community Renewal Team and we'll be in contact with Senior Services to assist Bloomfield residents who may have lost or are at risk of losing their SNAP and Medicaid benefits due to the new HR1 requirement. Under this law, many individuals are now considered able bodied adults and must meet a work requirement of at least 80 hours per month through employment, volunteering, or participation in an approved education or training program. Data from Connecticut Department of Social Services indicates that so far 137 Bloomfield residents have lost their benefits. The partnership with a CRT case manager will help those residents understand their options, regain eligibility when possible, and connect them with the resources they need to remain in compliance with the new requirements. More information to follow with the date that we'll have a case manager here to assist. We're thinking of doing it on a food share day where we can maximize the number of people that they can assist. I am working on updates to our uniform relocation plan. That's in progress. That plan will have to come before town council to readopt once the town manager's office and the town attorney has approved. So more information to come on that as well. Youth services. We successfully completed our first year of offering counseling services for Bloomfield youth in partnership with Reset and Restart. We had a late start to the program this year. We started in March. Then we were able to serve, I believe, six or eight youth and their families. We received referrals from Bloomfield Public Schools and our youth diversion team and received lots of positive feedback. So there is demand to continue providing these counseling services, and we plan to have an early start in the fall to be able to serve more youth. And lastly, our Summer Youth Employment Program, it's well on its way. This is a program in which we receive grant funding from Capital Workforce Partners It's a six-week program. We started July 6th and we'll end on August 14th. We received 210 applications from Bloomfield youth. And we interviewed 105 youth for positions. A total of 36 youth were selected to participate in the program. So it was a lot of interviews and a lot of applications to go through. We have 16 youth who are participating in Tier 1 programming. where they participate in career exploration, financial literacy, employability skills, college and career exposure. We have guest speakers and project-based activities. Tier one youth are paid a stipend of $16 per hour for 120 hours or 20 hours a week. The second tier, we have 20 youth who are assigned to tier three programming where youth are placed directly in town departments or with community work sites. They perform actual job duties and are evaluated by their supervisor. Youth services staff monitor and support. This experience prepares youth for future employment. Our tier three youth are paid $18 an hour for 120 hours or an average of 20 hours per week. And that concludes my report. I do have one other thing. We are in need of a town council representative to attend Youth Adult Council. In the past, it was our mayor who chaired this committee and historically has been the chair of this committee, but it is a mayoral appointment. You don't have to attend every meeting, but those that you're able to, and typically they're on Zoom. So we can talk more about that offline, but I just wanted to put that out there.

Excuse me.

So I have a question. Sure. Say you're single. You make twenty three hundred dollars a month via Social Security. In that respect, you're eligible for the single for you for into the farmer's market card.

Yes. Okay.

I'm sorry. I didn't bring.

So if you are typically is a household of one or two. So either a single individual or a married couple or a couple. So the maximum monthly income for a household size of one is $2,461 a month or $29,500 for the year. Okay.

I'm sorry. So this is a silly question. Okay.

No silly.

Okay. So say they're bringing in $2,300 a month via social security.

Okay.

And somewhere along the line, they have from their job, a 401k or whatever, that's bringing in another thousand. Is that included in that? Or is it the documentation from the social security?

I'm not trying to have any income. And any income.

Okay. Okay. Just for those who are listening.

Yeah. It's not just only what you get for social security. If you work, we include that. If you have a pension, we include that. Yeah. Anything that's considered income is what is counted towards your eligibility for the program.

Thank you. Anyone else have any comments or questions?

Thank you so much for your presentation and the continued work you do in the community.

Thank you.

Oh, also, we will, I forgot to mention, we will have the posting for the assistant director position in our department. This is in preparation for my retirement and Dawn, our current assistant director's retirement. We are working closely with... our town manager's office, HR and ops and communications to really get together our plan of transition, our SOPs and et cetera. We are well prepared for this, but we still have a lot more work to do in a couple of months. So just letting you know, we are working on that transition and we should see the posting for the assistant director

Thank you for saying SOPs. Those are going to be very important and crucial to the transition for our remaining staff. Thank you. Thank you.

We appreciate you.

Thank you.

Okay. Dave's not here tonight. Sharon, are you going to do his report? Thank you very much, Deputy Town Manager.

Good evening, Councilors. As the chair mentioned, both Mr. Malesko and Mr. Mase is unavailable tonight. So I am reporting out for Parks, Recreation and Leisure Services. For the aquatic program from the period of July, excuse me, June through July 13th, there were 98 daily admissions. Swim lessons, 160 participants and 936 membership scans. Dive In Movie and Ice Cream Social was held on Saturday, July 11th with 200 participants. The next Dive In Movie and Ice Cream Social is scheduled for August 8th with free membership admission and $8 for the daily admission. For the camp program, 215 campers have been enrolled through three sessions of camp for children ages five through 13. AND 18 CAMPERS IN THE BASKETBALL SKILL CAMP SERVING GRADES K THROUGH EIGHT. SUMMER CONCERTS HAVE BEEN GOING WELL, AVERAGING 300 THROUGH 350 CONCERT GOERS FOR EACH SHOW. THE WEST INDIAN CELEBRATION IS SET TO GO ON THURSDAY, JULY 30TH WITH A RAIN DATE OF FRIDAY, JULY 31ST. WE WILL HAVE WEST INDIAN FOOD, vendors, and activities for the kids. And I believe there is a resident that is working on a fundraiser, which several of you will be participating in.

The West Indian Day celebration, what time?

Thursday, July 30th. Is it the 7th? No, I believe the West Indian starts at 6. 6? Yes.

Thank you. Also, a point of note, for the summer concerts, this year we have food and truck vendors, well, food and ice cream vendors on the spot, and they've been doing exceptionally well, when it hasn't rained, of course. And so we'd like to thank Leisure Services for... putting that together, because I think it is a very, very nice addition.

Thank you.

You're welcome. You have a question?

Was the pool fixed?

Was it fixed?

Yeah.

Yes.

Perfect. How long did it take?

It was only, I believe, unavailable for about a day or two, no longer than that. Beautiful.

Thank you. Appreciate you doing the report for Mr. Moscow director. Let's go. Thank you. That's it for report from town staff. Do we have any comments?

Okay.

Would the person online like to speak going once? Okay.

you hear me yes uh thank you wendy williams wendy williams 48 gab road so two quick things one i echo uh the mayor and having food trucks and ice cream truck at the concerts i think it's a great addition i think it brings camaraderie and a lot more to the town green i think people communicate more they talk in line along with listening to the great music and the second thing that i would like to bring up and i've spoken to counselor oliver about this in the past is I love the thought of the trades up in the high school, but I would love to put together in the fall with a community collective group, a celebration of the trades day so that we can get to the children in the middle school or get an engagement in what trades could be as you grow up, not just try to grab them once they get to high school, because I feel like we might've lost some, or as we continue to grow through makerspace and use all these other resources, as I just listened, THAT PRESENTATION. I WOULD LOVE TO GET ENGAGEMENT AT THE YOUNGER AGE AND JUST GET THEM IMMERSED INTO IT AND SEE WHAT INDIVIDUALS CAN DO AT AN EARLIER AGE WHEN COLLEGE THEY MAY DECIDE THAT THEY DON'T WANT TO GO TO COLLEGE. SO JUST WANT TO SAY I AM MORE THAN WILLING TO GET ON A COMMUNITY GROUP WITH THAT, WORK WITH COUNSELOR OLIVER, WHOEVER IS interested, but I'd love to do that in the fall as you're promoting this program and really have a continuum with the trades in the town. So just wanted to say those two things and I appreciate the time tonight.

Thank you for your comment. We really appreciate that. You know, it's good when we hear people in the community that want to push things like this. And we can definitely get together at some point. We have talked. We will continue the conversation. Deputy Mayor has something to say as well.

I echo those sentiments. I would hope that you guys might be able to pull something together coordinating with our residents who have the same sentiments about the trades and the school district. I think that would be wonderful, especially since many years ago the funding was stopped. You know, it wasn't available for the trades. I went to school in Bloomfield when we had access to trades training. So I appreciate that opportunity. that recommendation. Hopefully we'll be able to have some dialogue around that. And then for the record, Ms. Williams, could you repeat your address?

48 Gabb Road.

I heard Gabb. Thank you. Appreciate that.

Thank you, Wendy. Do we have any more public comments? Do we have any more public comments? And do we have any more public comments? Okay. I'd like to look for a motion to adjourn the meeting.

Second.

Okay. All. I guess. Right. Thank you. Have a good night, everyone. Okay.