On December 26, 2024, Stafford held a Town Meeting to officially vote on issues working their way through the approval process over the past couple of months and some appointments to the Stafford Public Library Board. If you have never been to a Town Meeting, it is nothing like the free-for-all you might expect (if you watch Gilmore Girls). Each agenda item requires a motion, the language for which is printed out in advance and handed out to members of the audience (more or less at random) to read the motion. Someone then seconds the motion, and the moderator (in this case, First Selectman Bill Morrison) asks if there is any discussion. Once the discussion is over, the vote happens, and the process repeats.
Stars Hollow Town Meetings are far more exciting (and well attended) than in Stafford. (Sorry, I could not resist.)
First on the agenda were budget transfers needed to balance the Ambulance department's 2023-2024 budget before the end of the year. Alex Moore who heads the Ambulance department read the motion: "I move that the Town of Stafford approve transfers from various general government line item accounts in the amount of $175,072.76 to the Emergency Services line items 20-2458280 (Stafford Ambulance) in the amount of $165,867.91 and 20-245-8285 (Ambulance bad debt) in the amount of $9,204.85 for the FY 2023-2024 as recommended by the Board of Finance at their 12/12/2024 meeting- as attached and distributed at the Town Meeting."
As reported previously, the shortfalls were primarily due to costs associated with Advance Life Support (ALS) services. Resident Derek Dimmock, who was in the audience, asked for clarification on the ALS costs. Moore explained that during the 2023-2024 budget, Stafford paid Somers $50,000 every six months for ALS (paramedic) coverage. Additionally, the town paid another $150 for every Medicare or Medicaid call Somers makes. (Stafford has since negotiated a better deal with Somers.) Moore explained that there were 700 ALS calls, and 80% of Stafford's calls were Medicare or Medicaid.
By my count, there were 13 people in the room (not including me), and during the vote, Dimmock was the only vote against the transfer. So, the motion passed.
Last on the agenda was an item regarding extending a tax abatement to the owner of the former Borough School, Bluebird Construction LLC, who is turning it into apartments. As previously reported, six of the 20 units will be designated as affordable. Usually, Stafford's zoning regulations would only allow 12 units in this location, but 8-30g allows developers to override local regulations to provide more affordable housing. Because this project is subject to 8-30g, it must designate 30% of its units for affordable housing.
John Whetton, formerly of the transfer station but who is now at the WPCA, read the motion: "I move that the Town of Stafford authorize the First Selectman to enter into an agreement pursuant to CGS 12-65b approving a three-year assessment reduction on property known as 36 Prospect Street as follows: a 75% reduction of the assessed value for the 2024 Grand List, a 50% reduction of the assessed value for the 2025 Grand List and a 25% reduction of the assessed value for the 2026 Grand List."
During the discussion, Dimmock suggested that the property had already received a decrease in its assessment and asked why it had decreased drastically. Executive Assistant to First Selectman Beth Dadalt explained that before the property came back to the town, a non-profit owned the building and was not on the tax rolls, so the assessor had not taken a close look at it to assess it properly. Once it was properly assessed, the records reflected the change.
Additionally, Dimmock asked about the reduced sale price of the property. Selectman Rick Hartenstein, who was in the audience, said that when a town property is for sale, the price is regularly reduced until a buyer is found. He indicated no interest in the property until Bluebird Construction came along. In 2022, the sale was approved for $275,000.
Dimmock also asked if there was an agreement to have Bluebird Construction repay the town if the property is sold or the project goes under. Morrison said that there is not. He explained that initially, the owner asked for a more extended abatement period and that he had already spent time and money on abating the property.
When it came time to vote, Dimmock and Rob Proulx, an alternate on the Board of Finance who was also in the audience, voted against the motion. It passed. Both appointments to the Library Board were passed without discussion or dissent.