KENT, Conn.—The Board of Selectmen have called a public hearing for Friday, July 10, at 7 p.m. to discuss changes to six town ordinances but declined last week to include other pending ordinances where they deemed further discussion or information to be needed.
The topics to come before Friday’s meeting, which will be held in-person at the town hall and on Zoom, concern membership on the Inland Wetlands Commission; an ordinance prohibiting food trucks in town; an ordinance prohibiting the placement of material such as snow or leaves in the public right-of-way, and a clarification of the ordinance restricting commercial bus travel on Spooner Hill Road and Bulls Bridge Road.
Also included are ordinances providing property-tax exemptions for veterans with total service-connected disabilities and placing two additional cemeteries under the purview of the Cemetery Committee.
During a special meeting last week, the selectmen plowed through several additional ordinances where changes or clarifications are needed but decided that none were ready to go to a public hearing.
Among them is a decision on whether the Parks and Recreation director can give mid-year raises to employees. The selectmen said they want to curtail the practice, while Parks and Rec Commission Chairman Rufus deRham argued that the director has the power to make adjustments in the light of minimum wage increases. He noted that when such raises have been instituted, it has not exceeded the department’s budget line.
“I thought we discussed this during budget time and determined that it is frowned upon,” said Selectman Lynn Harrington. “Raises need to go to the legislative authority of the town and that didn’t happen.”
She noted that the existing ordnance says the director is responsible for hiring and determining compensation. “It can be argued that that is starting pay,” she said. “That needs clarification.”
She further argued that the budget is the commission’s and not the director’s. “I believe raises should be approved by the commission with recommendations from the director,” she concluded.
deRham said, “We’re good with the way the ordinance is written. At no time has the director raised a salary without asking us, even though he has authority to do this.”
He explained that a lot of the department’s programs rely on young people who fill part-time, minimum wage jobs. “We have lost talented kids because they realize they need the best pay they can get to save for college. We cannot be behind the times. I can see if we exceeded our budget line, you might have an issue with that—we haven’t.”
Harrington commented, “If there is money for mid-year wage increases, maybe you over-budgeted,” but deRham shot back, “You already tried to take away from our employee line. We are looking out for our programs. We’re just trying to retain good employees or otherwise we will need to close programs.”
First Selectman Eric Epstein said he understood deRham’s point, but added, “the three of us were pretty surprised by the mid-year raises and felt it should not be. Now, you’re saying there’s a possibility of mid-year raises again.”
The ordinance was deferred from the July 10 public hearing when deRham said he would take the issue back to his commission for discussion this week. But, he added, “The commission voted for this wording, and we stand by it and believe changes should come from commission and not the selectmen.”
Fire Marshal Tim Limbos gave a detailed overview of fire lanes around buildings in the center of town and said there is no ordinance enforcing them. Motorist seeking scarce parking in the town center often ignore them. An ordinance would allow Resident State Trooper Vicki Donohoe to issue tickets, he argued.
“I’m not trying to create hardships, but the idea is to give the resident trooper the power to act if someone is parked right in the fire lane.” Limbos said.
Limbos’ suggested ordinance would provide for an appeals process overseen by the selectmen, but Epstein did not like that provision. “What do we know about fire lanes?” he asked.
“You are the legislative body, you are my boss, so that’s who it goes to,” said Limbos.
Limbos said he has no authority over private residences—unless they are multi-family units—or even over major home occupations.
Selectmen Lynn Mellis Worthington envisions “a lot of flack” if the ordinance is taken to a public hearing. “The businesses are not going to lose more parking,” she said. “The churches don’t have enough parking and if someone comes out of church and has a ticket …”
She said that if the selectmen get feedback through a public hearing, that will have to be taken into account in future deliberations.
The selectmen then spent a great deal of time vetting wording in an ordinance that would create an Economic Development Commission, an ordinance that was also deemed unready for inclusion at the public hearing. Similarly, an effort to standardize regulations governing use of Lake Waramaug is still underway and not ready for presentation.
