Council Preview
Hartford City Council Meeting

Monday, September 24, 2012

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 next Council meeting will be Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 7 PM, preceded at 6 PM by a public comment period.

There are 30 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.

SAFER Grant – The Council will consider a resolution authorizing the City to accept a $3.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through its SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant program. The funds will be used to hire 24 new firefighters and pay for their salaries for two years. Recruitment is currently underway to fill these new positions along with an additional 20 positions budgeted in the City’s General Fund. The 44 recruits will begin their training as firefighters on December 2, 2012. (Segarra) (Item #1)

Brownfield Grant – The Council will consider a resolution authorizing the City to accept a $500,000 Municipal Brownfield grant from the CT Department of Community & Economic Development. Funds will be used to remove environmental contaminants from five vacant lots at 425 and 426 Woodland Street and 1135H, 1137, and 1161 Albany Avenue. The City has already completed environmental assessments on the property and has demolished the buildings. The grant will pay for removal of underground storage tanks, removal of soil contaminated with petroleum, and treatment and monitoring of the ground water. The lots, which are part of the Albany-Woodland Redevelopment Plan area, will be developed for neighborhood commercial use. (Segarra) (Item #5)

Bioscience Enterprise Zone Benefits – The Council will consider a resolution indicating the City’s intent to participate in the State of Connecticut’s Bioscience Enterprise Zone Program, which is a tool to attract new or expanded companies which are engaged in research, development, or production in the areas of bioscience, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and photonics. Participation in the program would allow such businesses that locate or expand in Hartford to be eligible for certain incentives such as a 5 year abatement of property taxes and a variety of State corporate tax credits. (Segarra) (Item #7)

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.

Blighted Housing Special Assessment – The Council will take action on an ordinance establishing a Blighted Housing Special Assessment as part of the City’s Anti-Blight Program. Annually, a special assessment would be levied on housing units that are determined by the City to be blighted. This assessment would result in an additional tax to the owners of blighted property. The amount of the additional tax would be determined by adding up the direct costs to the City for public safety, code enforcement, and property maintenance for the blighted properties, and dividing the total cost by the number of blighted housing units. The cost of blighted housing would therefore be shifted from the general public to the owners of the properties. (Segarra) (Items #16 and 21)

LIST OF ALL AGENDA ITEMS

Item #

1. Fire Department Grant. Authorization for the City to accept $3.4 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the hiring of 24 new firefighters. (Segarra)
2. Readiness Grant. Approval for the City to accept $26,000 from the Connecticut Department of Public Health to be used to improve Hartford’s readiness to respond to a bio-terrorism event. (Segarra)
3. HIV/AIDS Prevention Grant. Authorization for the City to accept $150,000 from the Connecticut Department of Public Health to be used for education, counseling, and other services to prevent HIV/AIDS among Hartford residents. (Segarra)
4. Healthy Start Grant. Approval for the City to accept $553,342 in grant funds from the Connecticut Department of Social Services to reduce infant mortality and give new babies a healthy start in life. (Segarra)
5. Brownfield Grant. Authorization for the Hartford Redevelopment Agency to accept a $500,000 grant from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development to be used to conduct environmental assessment and remediation on five vacant properties at Woodland Street and Albany Avenue. (Segarra)
6. Emergency Shelter Grant. Approval for the City to accept $369,359 from the Connecticut Department of Social Services to be used for the operation of the McKinney Emergency Shelter. (Segarra)
7. Bioscience Enterprise Zone. Authorization for the City to participate in the State’s Bioscience Enterprise Zone program through which State and local tax incentives, already available to businesses within the City’s Enterprise Zone, are also made available to bioscience businesses located anywhere in Hartford. (Segarra)
8. Tax Fixing Agreement. Approval of a tax assessment fixing agreement with Becker & Becker Associates for the redevelopment of 777 Main Street and 45 Asylum Street for residential and commercial use. (Segarra)
9. Commission on the Environment. Confirmation of the Mayor’s appointment of JoAnne Bauer to the Advisory Commission on the Environment. (Segarra)
10. Fee Waiver. Waiver of $3,000 in fees associated with the Hartford Hurricanes Football League. (Kennedy, Anderson, Jennings)
11. Street Closure. Approval of the closure of Franklin Avenue between Preston and Brown Streets from October 5 through October 7, 2012 for the Columbus Day Parade and Celebration. (MacDonald)
12. Commission on Cultural Affairs. Confirmation of the Mayor’s reappointments of Abby Brooks and Thomas Rome to the Commission on Cultural Affairs. (Segarra)
13. Parks & Recreation Commission. Confirmation of the Mayor’s appointment of Rafael Rivera and George Sirois to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission. (Segarra)
14. Envisionfest. Permission for the iQuilt Partnership to serve alcohol in Bushnell Park as part of the Envisionfest event on September 29, 2012. (Segarra)
15. Housing Study. Authorization to accept a grant of $200,000 from the CT Department of Economic & Community Development to conduct a housing study and needs analysis. (Segarra)
16. Blighted Housing Special Assessment. Report by the Quality of Life, Public Safety and Housing Committee on a proposed ordinance establishing a special assessment on blighted housing which will result in owners of blighted housing being liable for an additional tax. (also see #21)
17. Health & Human Services Committee. Report from the Committee on discussions held on September 5, 2012 regarding the Southend Wellness Center.
18. Commission on HIV/AIDS. Confirmation of the Mayor’s appointment of Hector Davila to the Commission on HIV/AIDS. (Segarra)
19. Teen Pregnancy Prevention. Authorization for the City to extend its contracts with nine organizations who are providing services and programs to prevent pregnancy among Latino and African-American youth between 13 and 19 years old. (Segarra)
20. Recreation & Community Centers. Establishment of a policy that City recreation and community centers provide services for all ages with normal or extended hours during school vacations and the summer. (Deutsch)
21. Blighted Housing Special Assessment. Ordinance establishing a special assessment on blighted housing which will result in owners of blighted housing being liable for an additional tax. (Segarra) (also see #16)
22. Pension Benefits. Ordinance providing an opportunity for police officers and fire fighters who are promoted to non-union positions to choose to change the pension program in which they are enrolled. (Kennedy)
23. Retirement Incentive. Ordinance creating an incentive for Assistant and Deputy Chiefs of Police and Assistant Fire Chiefs to retire during 2012. (Kennedy)
24. LGBTI Appointment. Confirmation of the Mayor’s appointment of Dianne B. Waller to the Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues. (Segarra)
25. Ethics Commission. Confirmation of the Mayor’s reappointment of David Klein to the Ethics Commission. (Segarra)
26. Council Committee Appointments. Appointment of Councilman Joel Cruz, Jr. to the Operations, Management, Budget & Legislative Affairs, Education, and Quality of Life, Public Safety & Housing Committees and to the Committee of the Whole. (Wooden)
27. Health Care. Resolution urging the federal and state governments to extend health insurance coverage to all immigrants, especially those young people eligible under the Dream Act. (Deutsch)
28. Library Reception. Authorization for the Hartford Public Library to serve alcohol at the Wallace Stevens Birthday Bash on Saturday, November 3, 2012 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. (Jennings)
29. Renaming. Proposal to superimpose the name “Barnett and French Way” on the block of Brook Street between Liberty Street and Albany Avenue. (Jennings)
30. Rocktoberfest. Proposal to close one lane of Farmington Avenue on Saturday, October 20, 2012 from 2 to 7 PM and to provide a special events fee waiver for the Rocktoberfest event. (Kennedy)

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.