Regular Meeting of the Common Council Wednesday, February 24, 2021 7:00 PM Council Chambers, City Hall, 2nd Floor, 27 West Main Street, New Britain, Connecticut NOTICE - The next regular meeting of the Common Council will be held on Wednesday evening, February 24, 2021, at 7:05 PM in Council Chambers, City Hall, 2nd Floor, 27 West Main Street, New Britain, Connecticut. Public Participation will begin prior to the regular meeting at 7:00 pm. Due to the current public health concerns, this meeting will not be open to the public. Members of the public may view a live broadcast via the live stream link: http://www.newbritainct.gov/meetings Individuals seeking public participation may join the queue beginning at 6:45 pm by calling 1 (609) 663-5783. 7:00 PM - PUBLIC PARTICIPATION CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL INVOCATION PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS AND SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS APPROVAL OF MINUTES MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETINGS OF JANUARY 13, 2021 AND JANUARY 27, 2021. January 13, 2021 January 27, 2021 1 AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA PETITIONS 1. Ald. Dyson for the appropriate department(s) to conduct a traffic study on Colt Street to determine the need for no parking on the south side of the street. Residents have complained of too many vehicles parked on both sides of a narrow street day and night. Petition 2. Ald. Ayalon, Osborn and Sanchez for the appropriate department(s) to provide detailed information as to the process of the enforcement of city ordinances regarding snow removal of sidewalks by property owners. Please provide information as to the handling of lack of snow removal by absentee landlords as well as time frame for the process. Petition 3. Ald. Santiago and Sanchez for the appropriate department(s) to conduct a study regarding installation of signage for short term loading and unloading area for the business from 58 to 64 West Main Street. Petition CONSENT AGENDA - All reports are on consent unless removed during the Common Council meeting. REPORTS OF BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, DEPARTMENTS AND LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES: NEW RESOLUTIONS 1. RE: MARCH 2021 DESIGNATED AS WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH. S. BELOIN-SAAVEDRA, I. SANCHEZ Resolution 2. RE: TAX ABATEMENTS, CORRECTIONS AND REFUNDS. D. SALERNO, R. SMEDLEY Resolution Adjustments Cover Sheet Adjustments Spreadsheet Refunds Cover Sheet Refunds Spreadsheet 3. PUBLIC BID NO. 4036. RE: ON-CALL ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT. A. AYALON, K. RUTKOWSKI Resolution E-Mailing Record Mailing Record Response List 4. COMPLETE STREETS 2.0 MASTERPLAN. RE: $47,600 TO FUSS & O'NEIL TO PERFORM ON-CALL ENGINEERING SERVICES RELATED TO PERFORMING COMPLETE STREETS PLANNING WORK. K. RUTKWOSKI, A. AYALON Resolution 2 5. BUDGET AMENDMENT - PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT. RE: FEE UP TO FULL AMOUNT OF DEEP RECREATIONAL TRAIL GRANTS OF $193,750 TO FUSS & O'NEIL FOR ON-CALL ENGINEERING ASSIGNMENT FOR DESIGN SERVICES OF THE BEELINE TRAIL PHASE 2 AND 3 PROJECTS. A. AYALON, K. RUTKOWSKI Resolution 6. RE: MURPHY ROAD RECYCLING, LLC CONTRACT EXTENSION. K. RUTKOWSKI, A. AYALON Resolution 7. RE: ELC FUNDING. R. SMEDLEY, C. OSBORN Resolution ADJOURNMENT 3 January 13, 2021 REGULAR MEETING OF THE COMMON COUNCIL January 13, 2021 Mayor Erin E. Stewart called the regular Meeting of the Common Council to order at 10:15 p.m. on Wednesday, the 13th day of January 2021 in the Common Council Chambers, City Hall. Fourteen members were present at roll call: Ald. Rosado, Pabon, Smedley, Santiago, Anderson, Ayalon, Beloin-Saavedra, Dyson, Osborn, Reyes, Rutkowski, Sanchez, Thompson and Salerno. Invocation was given by City Clerk, Mark H. Bernacki: O God, our Heavenly Father, as we begin a cold, wintery new year, we take solace in knowing there are only several weeks left to spring. Help us provide assistance to the less fortunate, whether providing a warm shelter, a hot meal or warm clothing. We ask this in Thy name. Amen The pledge to the flag was led by Mayor Stewart. RESOLUTION #35163-4 VETOED BY MAYOR STEWART ON DECEMBER 17, 2020 OFFICE OF THE MAYOR Hon. Mark H. Bernacki Town and City Clerk 27 West Main Street New Britain, CT 06051 December 17, 2020 Dear Mr. Clerk, At its December 10, 2020 regular meeting the Common Council, by a vote of ten to four, passed Resolution No. 35163-4 concerning the immediate removal of the Christopher Columbus statue from McCabe Park. The Council’s action comes after five months of testimony and discussion, including robust public participation from residents and non-residents on both sides of the issue. For my part, I have been clear that, while I generally disagree with the removal of the statue, I will respect the will of the people as expressed through their elected representatives on the Common Council, provided some critical questions were answered first. What is the cost and from where in the City budget will the funds be acquired for removal of the statue? As the body that passes the budget each year, it is their responsibility to determine which line item will be reduced to pay for what they want. At a time when we are pinching every penny to pay for essential items like PPE, snow removal, and public safety without increasing our already high tax burden, if this Council wants the statue removed then it is their duty to allocate the funds to pay for it. What will go in place of the statue? The Council has repeatedly assured residents that they intend to put something else in McCabe Park, but there hasn’t been a single conversation about what that will be. While this has certainly been a contentious issue, there has been one point of universal agreement: the purpose of both the existing Columbus statue and the park itself is to honor the heritage of the Italian American community and their contributions to New Britain. If the Council is going to retire Columbus, they ought to have a concurrent plan for what will go in its place. Anything less is a complete affront to New Britain’s Italian American community. 30 4 January 13, 2021 Finally, I am deeply concerned about the precedent that the Council is setting with this action. This new culture of trying to change history by erasing or “canceling” history is preposterous. Where does it end? If we take the current case further, am I to expect that the next five months will be dedicated to renaming Columbus Boulevard or Columbus Commons? Are we next going to examine the battlefield tactics of Generals Kosciuszko or Pulaski to ensure they adhered to the social mores of today? Are we going to rename the Truman Overpass if some future group decides that the use of nuclear weapons offended their delicate sensibilities? The Common Council has now spent nearly half-a-year on this topic alone, meeting after meeting, hour after hour. If this resolution goes into effect and the Columbus statue is removed the very next day, one thing is certain: the Common Council will have spent six months on a topic that does absolutely nothing to make life better for our residents - taxes won’t be lower, services won’t be better, and our children won’t be better prepared for tomorrow’s jobs. Leadership is not about erasing the past to make us feel better about ourselves today. True leaders learn from the past and work hard to create a better city, a better state and a better country than we found. If the proponents of this resolution invested as much passion into doing something that would actually materially improve the lives of our residents, imagine what the Council could have been accomplished in the past six months. If those who voted in the majority on this Resolution are truly committed to removing the statue and not just scoring political points for the next campaign, then I will commit to working with them once the essential questions listed above are answered. For the forgoing reasons I hereby veto Resolution No. 35163-4. Erin E. Stewart Mayor RESOLUTION 35163-4 RE: REMOVAL OF THE CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS STATUE FROM MCCABE PARK To Her Honor, the Mayor, and the Common Council of the City of New Britain: the undersigned beg leave to recommend the adoption of the following: WHEREAS, a statue of Christopher Columbus was erected in New Britain in 1941 as a symbol of the important contributions Italian Americans made in New Britain and across the country, in spite of the discrimination they faced at the time; and WHEREAS, Christopher Columbus also symbolizes a dark history of white supremacy and violence against the indigenous residents of the Americas, perpetuated by Columbus as well as other conquistadors, practices which persisted in the United States well beyond our nation’s founding, the impacts of which are still clear today; and WHEREAS, monuments and statues honor and celebrate legacies, but provide little education value unless housed in a museum; and WHEREAS, it is important to honor and celebrate the heritage of Italian Americans while also being conscious of the meaning of symbols that have been defined by history through a legacy of oppression which has had a negative impact on other residents of our diverse community; and WHEREAS, over 1,000 people have signed a petition to remove New Britain’s Christopher Columbus statue; and 31 5 January 13, 2021 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of New Britain will immediately remove the statue of Christopher Columbus from McCabe Park and donate it to a local Italian American organization; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City of New Britain will work with representatives of New Britain’s Italian American community and others to find a symbol to honor the significant contributions of Italian Americans to our city that can be celebrated by the entire New Britain community.