KENT, Conn.—The Board of Selectmen have set a public hearing on four ordinances for Thursday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall. The meeting will also be broadcast via Zoom and those not attending in-person will be able to comment.
The ordinances will govern bus traffic on South Kent Road, town purchases, materials in the road and cannabis sales.
In a special meeting Wednesday morning, the selectmen discussed the provisions of a purchasing ordinance and the timing of the public hearing and subsequent votes on the issues.
Lindenmayer said that all four ordinances would be taken to the Sept. 18 public hearing, but that he wanted to split the votes on the ordinances, segregating the cannabis ordinance and taking it to a referendum.
“Potentially a lot of people will want to reach out on that one,” he said, recalling the overflow audience that came to the town meeting on the Lake Waramaug wake boat ordinance. That meeting had to be adjourned to a referendum.
“Buses, stuff in the road, purchasing, those three we could handle in a town meeting,” he said. “We won’t have 300 people show up for those. Since we have a [referendum] vote in November for the elections, we can put cannabis on that.”
Town Clerk Darlene Brady said any overflow attendees at the public hearing could be accommodated in other town hall rooms with screens so they can observe and participate in the proceedings.
The town must notify the Secretary of the State of the ballot by Sept. 19, necessitating a Sept. 18 public hearing. The ordinance ballot would be separated from the election form, allowing non-residents with taxable property of $1,000 or more to cast votes about cannabis.
The town meeting to decide the three other ordinances would be scheduled for Oct. 2.
First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer said the purchasing ordinance, the last one to be added to the agenda, would increase the amount town departments can expend without having to advertise for bids. At present, town officials can spend up to $10,000, but the ordinance would increase this amount to $25,000.
“Capping at $10,000 has gone the way of inflation,” Lindenmayer told his colleagues. He said that just the cost of parts to repair a town vehicle can now top $11,000. The increased cap would allow the Public Works Department to order parts and fix a vehicle quickly.
This summer, for instance, the town was able to respond quickly to purchase a used vehicle for the fire marshal, an opportunity that would have been lost it the town could not act within days.
Checks of spending levels set other towns and by the state revealed amounts of up to $25,000. Lindenmayer reported that the towns and state increased their amounts after Covid when supply chain constraints began to push up costs. Kent has had the $10,000 level for more than a decade.
Lindemayer said the proposed regulation is a “living ordinance,” whose wording allows the Selectmen to adjust the cap if outside factors, such as tariffs, cause inflation.
Selectman Lynn Mellis Worthington asked why the entire Board of Selectmen is not involved in bid openings and awards, noting the current ordinance specifically references the board’s responsibility.
“The ordinance says the ‘board shall invite sealed bids,’ not the departments,” she said. “Years ago, the Board of Selectmen took a more active role. It was a Board of Selectmen’s meeting when bids were opened. Why did that change?”
Lindenmayer, a one-term first selectman, said he did not know when the process changed, but that often bid openings take place during the workday. “Of course [bid openings] are public and open to the board if they want to place themselves back in that process,” he said, “but having the board involved in operations is different than having a CEO or first selectman.”
“I feel like the board is separated from this process,” Worthington countered. “We’re not really notified. We need greater communication, so we are not missing things. We need to be aware of the process. It’s just good practice.”
She further asked that a list of contractors used by the different departments be created with information about when the contracts will lapse. “It would be good to have that list, so we don’t get surprised by renewals,” she said.
Lindenmayer agreed that a review of contracts should be part of the budgetary process.
