Council Preview
Hartford City Council Meeting

Monday, August 8, 2011

Prepared by:
Hartford Public Library, and Hartford 2000

The Council meeting will begin at 7 P.M. at Hartford City Hall in Council Chambers. The meeting will be preceded, at 6:00 PM, by an open agenda public hearing. The next public hearing will be Monday, August 15, 2011 at 7 PM.

There are 36 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://www.hartford.gov/government/Town&CityClerk/Minutes/council_meeting_minutes.htm

ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST

New Agenda Items:

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

Broad Street Improvements – The Council will vote on a resolution that authorizes the City to accept $2.4 million in State and Federal Funds for improvements to Broad Street between Capitol Avenue and Farmington Avenue. Improvements will include the reconstruction of the street and sidewalks, installation of ornamental lighting and brick pavers, and the upgrade of traffic signals. (Segarra) (Item #5)

Sales of City Property – The Council will consider a resolution that would require contracts governing the sale of City property to contain a clause that would provide the City with a remedy should the purchaser not develop the property within a reasonable time. Such remedy might be that the property would revert to the City or that the purchaser would be required to make a payment to the City. (Boucher) (Item #15)

Anti Blight Ordinance – The Council will consider a resolution that requests the Mayor to provide the Council, through its Housing Committee, with a report that includes an inventory of abandoned properties in the city and an identification of which of those properties will be addressed using the Anti-Blight Ordinance. This report is to be completed by September 30, 2011 and will be discussed by the Housing Committee at a meeting on October 11, 2011. The resolution cites requests from residents and neighborhoods for a more expeditious response to abandoned, deteriorated properties and use of the enforcement powers of the Anti-Blight Ordinance. (Boucher, Winch, Kennedy, Torres, Ritter, Aponte) (Item #16)

Park Volunteers – The Council will consider a resolution that would eliminate the current requirement that groups of individuals who want to volunteer to do clean-ups or other work in City parks secure insurance coverage and name the City as an insured. In order not to discourage volunteerism, the resolution states that the insurance requirement should be replaced by a hold-harmless agreement, a waiver of liability, or another less financially burdensome method of risk management. (Cotto) (Item #34)

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.

Reduction in Tax Levy For The New Fiscal Year – The Council will vote on a proposed ordinance which decreases the tax levy for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2011. The proposed ordinance, if approved, will set the tax rate at 71.79 mills which is .5 mills less than the mill rate set by Council in May. (Segarra) (Item #20)

Item #

1. P&Z Appointment. Confirmation of reappointment of David Blatt to the Planning & Zoning Commission. (Segarra)
2. Women’s Commission Appointments. Confirmation of appointment of Linda Moore-Wright and Marva Downes to the Permanent Commission on the Status of Hartford Women. (Segarra)
3. Grandparents Commission Appointments. Confirmation of appointment of Linda Cobbs and Carmen Zayas to the Commission on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. (Segarra)
4. Juvenile Review Board Grant. Authorization to apply for and accept $675,000 over three years from the CT Department of Children and Families for programs to divert first-time youthful offenders from the juvenile justice system. (Segarra)
5. Streetscape Improvements. Authorization to accept $2,421,000 from the State of Connecticut to be used to reconstruct Broad Street between Capitol and Farmington Avenues and to install streetscape improvements. (Segarra)
6. Public Health Grant. Approval to accept $146,391 from the CT Department of Public Health to be used for community education and prevention activities. (Segarra)
7. DUI Checkpoint Grant. Authorization to accept $2,991 from the CT Department of Transportation to purchase signs and cones to be used by the Police Department for DUI checkpoints. (Segarra)
8. Gifts to the City. Acceptance of a gift of three paintings of Elizabeth Park from artist Brian Arsenault. (Segarra)
9. Engineering Contracts. Authorization to enter into contracts with seven firms for on-call engineering services for the Department of Public Works. (Segarra)
10. Murtha v. City of Hartford. Request for Council to enter into Executive Session to discuss the potential settlement of Murtha v. City of Hartford. (Segarra)
11. Battle v. City of Hartford. Approval of a settlement of Battle v. City of Hartford for $100,000. (Segarra)
12. Lease at 253 High Street. Authorization to lease 512 square feet of space at the new Public Safety Complex to the Hartford Municipal Employees Federal Credit Union. (Segarra)
13. Grove Street. Approval to rename Grove Street between Prospect Street and Columbus Boulevard "Bob Steele Street". (Segarra)
14. Transit Oriented Development Grant. Authorization to apply for $795,000 in grant funds from the CT Office of Policy & Management through its Transit Oriented Development Pilot Program. (Segarra)
15. Development Conditions. Resolution requiring that sales of City-owned land for development contain a remedy that can be imposed if the purchaser fails to develop the property within a reasonable time. (Boucher)
16. Anti-Blight. Request that the Mayor provide, by September 30, 2011, an inventory of abandoned properties and identification of which properties will be addressed using the Anti-Blight ordinance. (Boucher, Winch, Kennedy, Torres, Ritter, Aponte)
17. Lien Release. Authorization for the City to release a lien on property at 407 Albany Avenue. (Brinson)
18. Change to Council Rules. Proposed addition to Council Rules to require items not acted upon by Committee to be automatically brought back to the full Council. (Deutsch)
19. Referendum Question. Approval of proposed wording for the ballot question repealing an increase in Council member salaries previously approved. (Boucher, Kennedy, Painter, Torres)
20. Tax Decrease. Ordinance decreasing the 2011-12 tax rate from 72.29 mills to 71.79 mills. (Segarra)
21. Employee Insurances. Ordinance authorizing the Mayor to establish the amounts that full-time, non-union employees pay for health insurance coverage. (Segarra)
22. Repeal of Duplicate Language. Ordinance deleting a section of the Municipal Code governing employee insurance coverage which duplicates another section of the Code. (Segarra)
23. Retiree Health Insurance. Ordinance allowing retirees the option to suspend City health insurance and reinstate it at a later date or to continue health benefits by paying 25% of the cost. (Segarra)
24. Ethics Code Revisions. Ordinance amending the City’s Ethics Code to expand the number of employees who must file financial disclosure forms and to address Council concerns about fraud, nepotism, and conflicts of interest. (Segarra)
25. Parking. Ordinance granting an exception to the requirement that commercial parking lots have attendants present as long as a payment device is present and there is regular security monitoring. (Kennedy)
26. Novelty Lighters. Proposed ordinance prohibiting the sale, gift or distribution, in Hartford, of lighters that are designed to be attractive to children. (Torres)
27. Oil Drum Art. Allocation of $2,000 to allow 240 students to paint oil drums with environmental and nature themes for use as litter containers in parks and neighborhoods. (Winch, Deutsch)
28. C.U.R.E.T. Allocation of $2,000 to the Center for Urban Research Education & Training. (Winch)
29. Children’s Advocacy Center. Allocation of $1,000 to the Children’s Advocacy Center at St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center. (Winch)
30. OPMAD. Allocation of $7,500 to Organized Parents Make a Difference for after-school programs. (Boucher)
31. Sheff Movement. Allocation of $5,000 for the Sheff Movement. (Boucher)
32. AHNA. Allocation of $5,000 to the Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association. (Boucher)
33. Fee Waiver. Waiver of fees for the "Impact Hartford" event sponsored by South New England Conference on October 2, 2010 in Bushnell Park. (Cotto)
34. Parks Volunteers. Resolution removing the requirement that volunteer groups have an insurance policy to volunteer in Hartford parks and replacing it with a less burdensome method of risk management. (Cotto)
35. Spectrum in Motion. Allocation of funding for the Spectrum in Motion Dance Ensemble for teen programming. (Deutsch)
36. Judah Home. Allocation of funding for Judah House to assist women returning to the community form prison. (Deutsch)

If you have any questions about the agenda, please call Richard Frieder at the Hartford Public Library, 695-6365, or Linda Bayer at Hartford 2000, 547-1663 X21. The Council Preview/Review is a joint project of Hartford 2000 and the Hartford Public Library.