Council Preview
Hartford City Council Meeting

Monday, May 14, 2012

Prepared by:
Hartford Public Library, and Hartford 2000

The Council meeting will begin at 7 P.M. in the Council Chambers in Hartford City Hall. The meeting will be preceded, at 6:00 PM, by a public comment period. The next public hearing will be Monday, May 21, 2012 at 7 PM.

There are 18 items on the agenda. Below is detailed information about items of special interest to neighborhoods. Following those details is a listing of all agenda items, in layperson’s language. The complete official agenda for the Council meeting is available online by clicking on “Council Agendas” at the following web site: http://townclerk.hartford.gov/Webfiles/archive.aspx

ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST

New Agenda Items: The following items appear for the first time on the Council's Agenda.

Weaver High School Renovations – The Council will consider a resolution taking action on a proposed $127 million project to renovate Weaver High School. The Board of Education approved the project on March 20th and the Council is being asked to approve the renovation, to assign oversight of the project to the School Building Committee, and to authorize the Board of Education to apply to the State Department of Education for a School Construction Grant in an amount equal to 80% of eligible project costs. (Segarra) (Item #6)

Previously Submitted Items: The following items were previously on the Council Agenda and were included in the Council Preview/Review. They were referred to committees and/or public hearing or action was postponed by the Council. They are now on the agenda again for action.

COPS Grant – The Council will consider a resolution authorizing the City to accept a grant of $1,933,760 from the U. S. Department of Justice through its Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program. The grant will be used to pay the salaries and benefits of ten new Police Officers for three years. As a condition of the grant, the City must maintain funding for the ten officers for at least one year after the grant ends and must improve the rate at which homicides are solved. The Council’s Operations, Management, Budget & Legislative Affairs Committee recommends approval. (Segarra) (Item #9)

960 Main Street – The Council will consider a resolution authorizing an amendment to the lease between the City of Hartford and the owners of 960 Main Street (the former G. Fox building). Currently, the Hartford Public Schools occupy the 8th and 9th floors and a portion of the basement. They wish to open a welcome center in retail space on the first floor. Under the lease amendment, the City would rent 1,854 square feet of space for an annual rental payment of $22,248 which will include electricity, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Tenant improvements would be paid for by the Hartford Public Schools and reimbursed by the building owners. The Council’s Operations, Management, Budget & Legislative Affairs Committee recommends approval. (Segarra) (Item #11)

LIST OF ALL AGENDA ITEMS

Item #

1. Parking Authority Reappointment. Reappointment of Rex Fowler as a member of the board of the Hartford Parking Authority. (Segarra)
2. MIOP. Authorization to accept donations of $105,000 each from Hartford Hospital and St. Francis Hospital for the Maternal & Infant Outreach Program. (Segarra)
3. Cancer Planning Grant. Authorization to accept up to $32,000 from the CT Department of Public Health to support comprehensive cancer planning for Hartford residents. (Segarra)
4. 5 Dorset Street. Authorization for the City to acquire a vacant parcel of land at 5 Dorset Street from the estate of Reggie Andoline for $3,800. (Segarra)
5. Employee Breaks in Service. Approval to consider breaks in service, for two employees, as leaves of absence, in order that they may qualify for pension credit for all the years they have worked for the City. (Segarra)
6. Weaver Renovations. Approval of the renovation of Weaver High School at a cost of $127 million and authorization for the Board of Education to apply for a School Construction Grant from the CT Department of Education for the project. (Segarra)
7. Appointment. Confirmation of the appointment of Joanna Iovino to the Human Relations Commission. (Segarra)
8. YMCA. Allocation of $1,000 to the Wilson-Gray YMCA Youth and Family Center. (Deutsch)
9. COPS Grant. Approval to accept a three-year grant of $1.9 million from the U.S. Department of Justice to be used to pay salaries and benefits for ten new police officers. (Segarra)
10. Cloud Computing. Request that a cost-benefit analysis be carried out on the possibility of switching City networks to a cloud computing infrastructure. (Cotto)
11. Lease Agreement. Amendment to a lease between the City and the owner of 960 Main Street for rental of an additional 1,854 square feet on the first floor for use as a welcome center for the Hartford Public Schools. (Segarra)
12. CRCOG. Appointments of Councilman Alexander Aponte and Jonas Maciunas to the Policy Board of the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG). (Segarra)
13. Guakia. Allocation of $2,000 to the Guakia Performing Arts Program. (Deutsch)
14. Valet Parking. Report from the Operations, Management, Budget & Legislative Affairs Committee recommending approval of an amendment of an ordinance passed in December of 2012 clarifying that the penalty for operation of a valet parking operation without a permit is $100. (Segarra)
15. CRRA Contract. Approval to enter into a five-year contract with CT Resources Recovery Authority for waste disposal and recycling services. (Segarra)
16. Valet Parking. Amendment of an ordinance passed in December of 2012 to clarify that the penalty for operation of a valet parking operation without a permit is $100. (Segarra)
17. Exceptional Service Increments. Proposal that the City’s Exceptional Service Increment program will apply only to employees in the Classified Service. (Cotto)
18. Resolution of Support. Proposal that the City, through its State and Federal legislative programs, support a constitutional amendment and other legislation that would overturn Supreme Court decisions that have defined corporations as people and money as speech. (Deutsch, Cotto, Jennings)

If you have any questions about the agenda, please call Richard Frieder at the Hartford Public Library, 695-6365, or email Linda Bayer at lbayer@Hartford2000.org. The Council Preview/Review is a joint project of Hartford 2000 and the Hartford Public Library.