Town Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, good evening everyone. It's now Go ahead. Fire it up. By the time I get done blabbing, it'll be 700 p.m. All right. Thank you everybody for coming out on this winter evening. Surprise, surprise. I think last year we didn't get snow until February. Okay. I'd like to call this meeting of the Plymouth Town Council, Tuesday, December 2nd, 700 p.m. to order. Community room Plymouth Town Hall. [clears throat] The fire exit notifications need to exit the room. There are two exits. One to the left, which goes immediately outside. One to the right, which will exit you through the police department and out at those doors. Please rise for the pledge of

allegiance to the flag of the United States of America for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Okay. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion, please. Um, yes, sir. Go ahead. Before [clears throat] I do that, I just want to explain I noticed on last month's uh town council agenda and tonight that the invocation was missing. Um if anybody doesn't know what that is or means, it's the mayor saying God bless the town of Plymouth and God bless the United States of America. And with that said, I would like to make that motion to add the invocation to tonight's agenda and to all town council meeting agendas going forward. I'll second that motion.

Motion by Mr. Tisha, second by Mr. Gazer, Mr. Sigurski. Sorry, Mr. Sorry, Mr. [laughter] All right. So, that would move that to item four and then subsequently we would just move the other agenda items up accordingly into order. Is there any discussion? Motion made, second. Any discussion on that? I'll just do a voice vote. All those in favor of adding item number four, invocation to future town council meetings, say I.

Anyone opposed? No opposition. The motion carries. Thank you. We will take care of that adjustment. And as a result, I will say especially in the spirit of the Christmas season, God bless the town of Plymouth and God bless America. Item now is number five is the mayor's report. My apologies to all the council members for not including the mayor's report in your packet. I will do a better job going forward. It was a little bit fluid [clears throat] and some changes that occurred over the last several days that I wanted to make sure that I included. I'll try not to be quite as long as I was last month, but we'll see how it goes. Um, first of all, I want to acknowledge the changes to the mayor's administrative assistant position. I want to thank Trisha Gail, who decided to retire from the town of Plymouth after many years of dedicated service, not only to the mayor's office, but previously with the board of education. We had a nice little send off for Trish, which included some very, very sugary cake, uh, and some other goodies. It was very nice. Uh Trish has agreed to stay [snorts] on as the town council recording secretary for as long as it's necessary and I'm very grateful to Trish for that. She did have a conflict this evening which she informed me about and uh Linda Schnars has uh graciously stepped in to fill that void. Uh going forward, uh the support of the mayor's office will now be two part-time positions utilizing the budget item that was already created for the single position. One of one of the positions will be a part-time executive assistant who will

provide direct support to the mayor, including but not limited to investigation and followup of residents concerns, supporting our department heads and professional staff in their activities as may be needed and assisting with and coordinating responses to inquiries to the mayor's office from state or private agencies is needed. Again, that is not a comprehensive list. We are utilizing a model that was used by a former mayor who had a more active executive assistant. And from the short time that I've been in the mayor's office, uh it's definitely something that's going to be needed. The second part-time position will be for an executive exe secretary to the mayor providing administrative assistance such as phones, correspondence, and other office tasks. We are currently in the process of and and onboarding employees to fill those roles. [snorts] Also, the process is underway to fill vacancies for the public works director and the zoning enforcement officer. I will be meeting with our human re resource representative to start that process. I spoke with the chairman of the public works commission and we'll be meeting to discuss that commission's role in the process of filling these vacancies. We hope to appoint an interim public public works director soon and we will work with the public works commission and our human resources to do the accurate and required job posting that's required by various contracts. [snorts] So there'll be more to come and I hope more information that I can provide to you folks as soon as those vacancies are filled at least on an interim basis. The public works director is a critical role. It's even more important right now

as we have such major projects in flight. Uh the downtown in coordination with the DOT is obviously the you know the largest one. Um and certainly needs coordination. uh we will do our best and I am open to any council recommendations uh and going forward if if you have recommendations on on those roles and responsibilities I welcome your input. Also u I had the pleasure of meeting with our state controller Sean Scallion and his staff member Josh Barnes. We spent time discussing the state options for the retirement plan and health health insurance programs as well as a tour of our route six corridor from Pquabic to Plymouth Center. We spent a period of time in the downtown area discussing our revitalization project and the status of the funding that we've been awarded. Currently, there are reimbursements due to due to the town of Plymouth for expenditures that we've already made. And although we've been awarded a grant for $1.7 million roughly, uh we are still in and have that grant from the community investment fund. We still not do not have a firm commitment on when we will receive those funds. So, I've been in communication with Mr. Scallion's office and he assured me that his office would provide assistance into finding out where we are in that process and the reimbursement of the monies we've already spent and the other award that we're waiting on. I've also been in touch with Chairman Hams of the downtown commission to discuss the status of the grants and ensure that there's no other outstanding items that we need to provide in order to secure this funding. Just a couple more meetings to report. I

attended the Nagatuck Valley Council of Governments uh the Friday before the Thanksgiving holiday or I guess it was two weeks now. Uh [clears throat] very interesting meeting uh 2 and a half plus hours long. Uh there was a great deal of uh information on their agenda. Some of the topics that were included were the regional public transportation projects uh that are in flight dealing with the you know dealing with the railroad many items that weren't of particular interest to Plymouth but important to know about as well. There was discussion about the brown fields uh zoning regulations and modifications regional and local planning as well as the recently passed public housing legislation. Right now, the Valley Cog, as it's known, is reviewing the details of the House bill that was passed dealing with the public um housing legislation, and they're going to be providing output to all of us and guidance on where how we need to move forward. of particular interest to us uh regarding changes in the housing bill was the state no longer has the requirement that we have a affordable housing plan on a town by town basis. You may recall that we recently contracted the COG to review and update our affordable affordable housing plan. So, we'll be following up with they affectionately call her SN. Uh I know that's her nickname, but anyway, she's our representative. She was the young lady who came and did the presentation. You may recall uh we we'll be scheduling a meeting to discuss redoing the contract because that's going to impact our expenditure for that contract and it will only be focused on the 10-year plan of conservation

development. uh that doesn't mean that our work is done. I expect there'll be other mandates coming to our communities with respect to affordable housing based on the uh review of that bill. Almost done. Um there's been a great deal of conversation about the Tory crossing project and I met with Rich Donovan who's from the Valley Cog who's the director of transportation and planning and um I'm going to be reaching out probably to members of this council to get even some more background on this. You probably know more than me, but this is just a quick update from my understanding. Although most of the design work has been completed, the project is still in what is called a pre-application phase. From a funding perspective, I'm confident the bulk of the funding will in fact come through through the low transportation capital improvement grants program. Uh Mr. Donovan sent me a full packet which I won't bore you with. Uh, but if anybody would like a copy of the full packet that defines the entire process that we need to follow in order to secure those funds, I'd be happy to share it with you. This project will improve the intersection sight lines, add sidewalks, improve pedestrian amenities, and replace damaged pavement, drainage, and so on and so forth. The official next step, the town will need to put in the pre-application to NVC Cog and then that would go to review and submission to the DOT. The Connecticut DOT will then upon completion of their review send a commitment letter to fund this project for the town and at what rates. I'm of the understanding that those rates are variable. Could be 100% it could be I think 80. Joe, you might be more familiar with the parameters. Uh, but it is our intent to lobby for as

much as humanly possible to be paid through LOSA. Um, we're going to do our best to expedite this project for anyone out there who's concerned with Tory Crossing. And there's been a lot of information being tossed about about the status of that. I feel a lot more confident now having this information in hand. It is on their list. They're fully aware of the project. But I will tell you at this time our best case scenario would be to begin the road work itself in late summer of 2026. It could be earlier, but for those residents that have been eagerly awaiting that project, I want to be as clear as I can. We're we're shooting for getting the shovels in the ground in the summer of 2026. I don't think it's realistic to be doing anything before that. Uh so that's the update. I'm also working on getting some other updates on various other projects in flight. Uh I've got a meeting coming up and this just came in today so it's not on my narrative um with our WMC looking for guidance here. WNC, our engineer, who is going to help us with the packages for the $6 million bond, which includes, I know, at least the two main bridges, Todd Road and the South Main Street Bridge. So, we're still getting acclimated, but those folks are coming in next week, Wednesday or Thursday. uh the engineering firm that we've contracted and we've used them before. Uh quite reputable and they'll be coming in and I hope to have more updates on on all the projects as we move forward. Um currently, just so folks know, point of clarity, um I will be filling in with the roles and responsibilities of the public works director. I want to thank other people who have reached out and offered me

guidance in that. And uh for sure that's um we're going to expedite getting that position filled because it it's it's absolutely required. So that's the update on the mayor's report. So thank you for your indulgence on that. Okay. Uh at the very bottom of your packet this evening, you will find uh the suggested layers on reports. I know I tried my best, but we've already identified a couple of conflicts. So that being said, uh I'd like you folks to digest this. I don't think it's any [clears throat] expectation that all of us can make every single lesson on meeting. Uh there's five of us and at last count there's 24 commissions in this community only of which I think what three-fifths are listed here. Uh but but these are the big ones. So I ask you to take a look at it. Let's let's you guys can work with each other if you'd like. Again, this is the first pass. This will get us going. I want to be able to share this list with the commission chair people so we can kind of just get the ball rolling and get the communications going. Um I I think I kept everybody on mostly everything they had previous council members. I think I was able to hold your positions except for one. I believe uh Mr. Green, I made a made a modification with you on police commission. I don't recall specifically, but um please indulge me with this. Take a look at it. I I think the critical thing for our representation, make the meetings that you can. It's really important at a minimum. Meet the chair people, meet the members of the commission. Uh let's try to open up the communication as best we can. That's that would be my request to you and we'll take a look at this and we'll work together if you're okay with that. if we need to make any adjustments going

forward. I also left the backup section blank. If um if you've got if you got some things that you really feel strong about that you want to do that, please reach out to me individually and we'll straighten it out. But that's uh there's no action required. We'll just move forward with this and I ask your again your your support on this on these decisions. Okay. Uh, I'm going to move to item which is now number seven, which is public comment on agenda items. There's not much action items on the agenda tonight. I expect there'll be a lot on the January meeting, but if anyone would like a comment on an agenda item, please step forward, identify yourself, and we'll take your comments. Thank you. Hopefully that mic is working over there. I did not test that one. Testing.

Testing. Thank you.

Um Melanie Church, 328 Main Street. One thing I want to mention that you have on the agenda is to set the meeting schedule. And my concern is for the last 10 years when it came to July 4th, the meeting after July 4th was always cancelled if you go back and you look through all the records. And I think that's one that you need to look at closely because, you know, that's evidently a week that everybody goes on vacation. Um, and that's just a suggestion, but I know for 10 years it's [snorts] you've never made it that that July one has always had to be changed. Um, and also um I wanted to bring up you mentioned odd And the thing that I'm concerned with is that road has sat there for so many years. There are no fire hydrants on that road. There's zero. So for a fire truck to go in the pumper or whatever you call it, if I'm incorrect, you can correct me. But when that comes in, they would have to back it out. and fill it up and then come back again, which is serious and dangerous for the six houses that are on there. Um, so please, I know the plans are only to fix the cover, but the rest of it nothing. And

you need to do because if you go and you go near there and take a look, it's disintegrating. And that's going to need some work, some major work. Um, maybe we can get it through some grant or something, but I I'm imploring and I'm begging for those people, you know, let's turn around and uh try to get that recognized and done. You know, I mean, it's been years. I'd say it's been five or six years since it's been used. It's been blocked off that long. So I think that should be a major um priority. Thank you.

Thank you. Other comments on agenda items? Virginia Canain 18 Adamus Drive. Um I've written this before tonight, so now this is technically an agenda item. I want to express my disappointment that in Mayor Sakorsk's very first town council meeting, he chose to remove the invocation from the agenda, making that one of his immediate priorities speaks volumes. Um, now that it is an agenda item, I want to thank Mr. Tisha for motioning to add that to the agenda.

Thank you. Any other public comment on agenda items? Seeing none, we have now uh item 8, which is accepting the minutes from the November 17th, 2025 meeting. Is there a motion to accept the minutes? I'll make a motion. Second.

Okay, it looks like Mr. Tisha was first and the second came from Mr. Zigerski. Any discussion on the meeting minutes from November 17th? Corrections, comments? No. Okay. All those in favor of accepting the minutes, please say I.

Any objections? Any abstensions? Motion carries. Thank you. Okay, we had handed out the council rules and procedures at a previous meeting, I believe. I don't think we included another copy in your packet. So, unless there's uh any type of adjustments to the excuse [clears throat] me, council rules and procedures that was previously handed out, if you decide, I would entertain a motion to approve council rules and procedures. And I will also note that of course at any time you can bring up and modify those rules and procedures. We have a motion.

Second. Uh sounds like a second over there. And Motion Mr. Green, second Mr. Second by Mr. Zigerski. Adoption of council rules and procedures. All those in favor say I.

Anyone opposed? Any abstensions? Motion carries. Thank you very much. A lot of housekeeping today. Thank you everybody. Um so uh item now which is 10 which is to discuss the town council meeting amendments to dates and times. It was brought to our attention that um we [clears throat] we approved a whole list of meetings at our first council meeting. Uh came to note that uh I guess historically the August meeting is sometimes canceled or removed. Um but Yeah. Um yeah, the public comment was addressed in the July meeting and I I I'm not aware of a July meeting conflict, but um I would just advise council that the the only the difficulty with modifying our meeting schedule is, you know, in flight, if you will, is that if we modify a previously posted meeting, then now it becomes a special meeting. And that kind of changes the rules a little bit, right? For Robert's rules. Um, my recommendation would be to just take the public comment under advisement. We'll take a look at the dates and if folks want to put that on our agenda, uh, adjusting the July meeting for next time through, we can certainly put that if you guys request that, I can put that in the agenda for next meeting. Um, and then but the August regular meeting, I I I don't know. Historically, has that been cancelled because of vacations? I guess I'll defer to the folks that were on council. Give me some history about the August meeting. It was brought up as a concern. So that's why we add it to the agenda tonight.

Was August meeting generally cancelled or August was usually Go ahead. I think August usually happens July. That was kind of the issue. July was a July holiday. Okay. All right. Um Okay.

Okay. Um, I would entertain a motion to table this scheduling discussion and give me an opportunity to take a look at it, reach out to you individually, maybe we come up for with a recommendation of how we want to modify the calendar for next year. If um, someone would indulge me that motion to table, we'll bring it up next meeting. Is there a motion to table this item? Sue Bullyard. Motion made to table. Second, Mr. Green. Any discussion? I I appreciate them very much. Thank you. All those in favor of moving this to the next meeting say I.

Any opposed any extensions? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very very much. Okay, like I said in this meeting this evening, a lot of housekeeping and I appreciate that from everybody. Um item which is now 9 11 is public comment on non-aggenda items. Please folks, anybody from the general public that would like to address the council on any issue, please come forward. Thank you.

Um, Virginia Canane again, 18 drive. Um, I also think it's discouraging that an administration which campaigns so heavily on transparency and communication has provided so little of either, leaving residents to search for basic information on their own. It took more than a week for my FOYA request to even be acknowledged. something that according to state FOYA guidelines and advisory opinions is effectively considered a denial of information. For an administration that emphasized openness, failing to acknowledge a FOYA request, I'm not talking about giving me the info, just an acknowledgement for over a week is concerning at best. Along those same lines, it's troubling that I learned through my own searching and not through any communication from the mayor's office that both the director of public works and executive assistant were let go. I'm not sure retirement was the right reference in the mayor's report. Also troubling, it took until people questioned on social media for info to not come until town council. Based on conversations I've had with people directly involved, as well as information I've gathered, I'm concerned that the DPW decision may be tied to friendships and the good old boys network that this town does not need. Additionally, we still have no clarity on the financial impact that this decision will have. The lack of transparency surrounding these actions stands in stark contrast to the promises made during the campaign. While I do appreciate that meetings are now being live streamed, I'm concerned about the cost associated with the new setup. The most recent live stream only had a handful of viewers live, and more than a week later, the recording only had 27 views, several of which were likely mine. Bringing in two representatives from the tech company for such limited viewership does not seem cost effective. A simple iPad or iPhone on a tripod would accomplish this exact same purpose for a fraction of the cost. Finally, I have had concerns that the fire marshall's vehicle has cost significantly more than what was

previously approved. I urge the council to question this, to look into this, and provide clarification to the public. Thank you. Any other non-aggenda items that folks would like to comment on? Melanie Church, 328 Main Street. I um would like to say when you step into a new position, any of us, we're not ready for everything. And there's been changes. I think we all know that. I think that's been open. But you can only give out so much information by law. You cannot give out the real detailed reason any person is let go. The only thing is anybody that calls the only thing you're allowed to say they work from here from this date to this date. Um you're not allowed to give the reasons why. Um so that part there I disagree. Um, and we got to be careful because we don't need more lawsuits. I was told by a company that deliver that uh to vehicles. One of our police cruisers was towed and when he took it, he checked it. It had no oil. I understand there are eight vehicles sitting out there that aren't working.

And if you go back into the minutes and look at the minutes um for the for the budgets, they were always a replacement. I'm asking everyone up there to please look up the word replacement. To me, replacement means that is retired. It goes away and a new one comes in. We And if you go back to when Ralph Zovich was here, he had told the chief we only needed nine. And she agreed. And since he left, every year we're adding more and more vehicles. And I'm I'm encouraging you, please look at the definitions of these words. It's like the board of finance recommends. There was a legal opinion done by Rich Cavllo and the bond council turned around and said recommend only means that you recommend. You don't have the power to change. The ones that have the power are you, the council. Thank you. Any additional public comments on non-aggenda items? [snorts] Good evening, mayor and council members.

I'm intrigued by the mayor's advisory committee. You brought it up at the last meeting and it sparked an interest. Currently, we have boards and commissions that cover every town run related topic and reports to you and council members. What would the new committee's purpose be? What will be their role during your administration? Thank you. Can you say your name?

Oh, sorry. Nicholas Gentile 227 Montto. Thank you. Any additional comments on non-aggenda items? I will just make a generic reply to the folks that spoke tonight. Thank you for bringing your concerns to the town council. It is the intent of this administration to provide a response to any question that's raised at this meeting. I don't have answers specifically for your concerns this evening, but I assure you that we will capture your concerns and we will respond accordingly. I do have to tell you this on a generic level. Personnel issues are personnel issues. They're protected in a variety of ways. It is my belief that this administration has acted in according with the law of the state of Connecticut and in the best consideration of the town of Plymouth with respect respect to any personnel decisions that have been made in the last few weeks. I'll be able to provide more specific information to you in response to your concerns when at the next meeting or I'd be happy to entertain a meeting with any individual in the town of Plymouth if you'd like to make an appointment and come in and speak to your concerns. If they don't deal with my office and my decisions or members of the council or legal decisions that are made by this governing body, we'll try to find you the right people to talk to. I will acknowledge also that I am in I am now in receive several freedom of information requests and in a new administration there has been some items

that have been backlogged. That's all I can tell you. but we will respond to the letter of the law and provide the best information we possibly can. So, I just wanted to make that generic response and I look forward to getting more detail to you in my mayor's report in the January meeting. So, I appreciate that and I appreciate your comments and participation. It's critical to the function of this body. Any additional public comment on non-aggenda items? [snorts] I know I said that, but I was speaking and in case I raised any concerns, want to throw it open again. Seeing none, thanks very much. I'm now going to turn it over to town council comments. To be honest, I do not remember what side of the room I started on last time. So, I'm going to go right to left this time. So, Mr. Angel, any comments? Uh [clears throat] the only comments I have to make uh we I did attend the uh finance the board of finance meeting this past uh about a week ago for the holidays. Uh they did elect the chair John Greger and Vicky Kerry was elected as vice chair and u there were some additional reports that they're looking for and the

Eugene Croach was elected chair. The new member was new member was Mr. Draper. Yeah. Thank you. Just want to make sure we get the record straight on that one. Mr. Cro would be quite upset considering he was on the phone with us today.

Okay. They are looking for some uh historical data reports as well as some additional expenditure reports. Uh VJ is going to take a look at uh trying to uh accommodate them with some reports down the road. Um the 24 audit draft audit has been uh basically submitted to the T uh by the audit firm and that's under review at the moment. And last but not least, they're working on a 25 audit that's in process and the the calendar for the upcoming meetings will be completed and processed uh the December. That's really it. Thank you very much, Ron. Anything?

Uh yeah, just [clears throat] real quick. um planning zoning had a discussion of the uh Terville Solar One Verogi for the large scale ground welded solar electric system. Um it seems like they're trying to go past the town of Plymouth and straight to the state of Connecticut to try to get the okay. uh many residents from the neighborhood, the neighboring properties came and voiced their concerns and the um planning and zoning agrees with them. Couldn't agree with them more and Margus was reaching out to to the town attorney to see what options that the town has.

Thank you, Mr. Green. warm. I just want to say um [clears throat] I think the mayor has only been in office for three weeks. Has it been that long?

We have to give him the opportunity to do his job. So if he wants to get new staff, he has every right to get new staff. and I have high confidence uh he's going to go about it the right way. So, we just need to give them the opportunity to move the town forward. Thank you. So, is that working? Okay. Um I have a chance to go to the planning and zoning just a little bit closer.

How's that? Okay. I had a chance to go to the planning and zoning meeting which I found fascinating because I've never really sat through all of that. Um but I would suggest that anybody out there that wants to go to these meetings, please go. Um it was very interesting the way that the state was working and the town was working and you know it was just it was really um I learned a lot. So um I'm also working on the veterans project that I spoke about before. Um we have found out we think who um is in charge of being liaison to the council. Um, and I will bring I'll be talking to her shortly and I will bring some more information next month. Hopefully, we'll have it all worked out by then.

Thank you, TJ.

Uh, we had a couple meetings with different committees. Public works is postponed till next Tuesday. So, uh, Millie, I got to talk to them a little bit because I want to say part of Todd Road is part of the bonding package. I just can't remember how much of that is in there. Uh, but we were down a Todd road last night while everyone in this room was asleep at 12:30 doing a high angle rescue of a guy down in the creek. And it is dark. You can't drive down there. And we had to back all the way from the bottom back to the top. So, um, that road definitely does need to have something done to it to get down and back up. Um, [clears throat] parking racks, they had the planters on the green back in October. It was a huge hit. Uh, they're already starting to plan for next year. Uh, they're teaming up with Lions Club. We're going to be doing the holiday lighting uh contest again. The signup sheets are up from now until the 15th. So, if anyone's interested in that, hop on there, sign up, and then we'll have a list off for people to drive around and look at. And uh like Joe said, the tree lighting is on the green this weekend. The beautifification committee is doing a great job and uh getting that up and going and there'll be a lot of fun and different events that haven't been there in the past that will be there this year. So, [clears throat] good family time, lots for kids to do and lots going on. Thank you very much. I appreciate you guys mentioning that uh tree lighting. Uh my understanding is that there's been a lot of participation in that and a lot of volunteers. Um if anyone is interested in volunteering for that event, just contact the mayor's office. I know that they could always use additional folks helping with the parking and everything else. It's um it's a great event. It's a little tight. You know, we have to transport folks from the uh from the center school down to the green and so on. Uh but uh that committee has worked extraordinarily hard so that I'm I'm sure it'll be a very successful event. So

uh I I've been told that I need to attend a dress rehearsal at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. So I guess I got to be there. And I've also been told by multiple people to keep my remarks short. So in the spirit of that I'm going to ask for any motion to adjurnn this meeting motion Mr. Green is there a second to bullyard. Any discussion on adjournment hearing none all those in favor say I.

Anyone opposed? Hearing none that motion carries. Merry Christmas everybody. We hope to see you at all the town affairs. Thank you to our technical team for broadcasting the meeting. Thank you at home for watching. Have a nice evening. Drive safe. a lot more business than January folks. Thank you very much for coming out tonight. Appcate