CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 6, 2014 The meeting will be called to order at 7:30 P.M. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE & PRAYER ROLL CALL Curran, Haddad, Knapp, Levy, Seabury, Stanley, Wetmore, Fox, Priola, DiGilio, Cavo, Saadi, Visconti, Palma, Arconti, Nero, Perkins, Chianese, Rotello, Loyola and Scozzafava PUBLIC SPEAKING MINUTES - Minutes of the Council Meeting held April 1, 2014 CONSENT CALENDAR AGENDA 1 – COMMUNICATION - Old Ridgebury Road – 13 Acre Parcel 2 – COMMUNICATION - Danbury War Memorial 3 - COMMUNICATION - Appointment to the Commission on Aging 4 – COMMUNICATION - Appointment to the Parks & Recreation Commission 5 – COMMUNICATION - Re-Appointments to the Tarrywile Park Authority 6 – COMMUNICATION - Donation to the Police Department – Ridgefield & Leir Foundations 7 – COMMUNICATION - Donation to the Police Department - CPWDA 8 – COMMUNICATION - Donation to the Parks & Recreation Department – Danbury Westerners 9 – COMMUNICATION - Use of City Property for Parking – 2-4 Germantown Road 10 – COMMUNICATION - Cell Tower – Richter Park Authority 11 – COMMUNICATION - Request for Sewer and Water Extension – Padanaram Road and Eastwood Road- 12 - COMMUNICATION - Request for Sewer – Great Meadow Road and Great Plain Road 13 – RESOLUTION - NRWIB – Youth Employment Funding 14 – RESOLUTION - LOCIP – Public Buildings 15 - RESOLUTION - DOH Shelter Funding 16 - RESOLUTION - SBHC FY 13/14 – Additional Funding 17 - RESOLUTION - Veterans Market Nutrition Program 18 – REPORT - 2014 Neighborhood Assistance Act 19 – REPORT & ORDINANCE - Governmental Entities, Code of Ordinance, Section 2-176 20 – REPORT & ORDINANCE - Building Department Fee Schedule - Code of Ordinance, Section 6-02, 2A and 6-02B-8 21 – REPORT - ORDINANCE & RESOLUTION - An Ordinance Making Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2014 and ending June 30, 2015 and a Resolution Levying the Property Tax for the Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2014 and ending June 30, 2015 A. General Government 1 Budget Report B. General Government II Budget Report C. Education Budget Report D. Public Works Budget Report E. Health & Housing, Public Safety, Welfare & Social Services Budget Report 22 – REPORT & ORDINANCE - An Ordinance Appropriating $3,000,000 for Public Improvements in The 2014-2015 Capital Budget and Authorizing the Issuance of $3,000,000 Bonds of the City to Meet Said Appropriations And Pending The Issuance Thereof The Making Of Temporary Borrowings For Such Purpose 23 - REPORT & ORDINANCE - Sewer Rates as of July 1, 2014 24 – REPORT & ORDINANCE - Water Rates as of July 1, 2014 25 – DEPARTMENT REPORTS – Police, Fire, Health-Housing & Welfare, Dream Homes, Public Works, Permit Center, UNIT, Elderly EXECUTIVE SESSION 26 - COMMUNICATION - Purchase of Property by City 27 - COMMUNICATION - Supplemental Budget Request – Litigation Costs 28 - COMMUNICATION - Ratification of Recent Tax appeal Settlements There being no further business to come before the Council a motion was made at _________P.M. by __________________________for the meeting to be adjourned. Dream Homes Community Center To: Mayor Mark Boughton and the City Council From: Sharice Coleman, Homeless & Housing Advocate Re: April, 2014 Monthly Report cc: ARC Executive Director & ARC Board of Directors I. Program Synopsis Per the proposal endorsed by Mayor Boughton and the City Council, Dream Homes Community Center (DHCC) was established at ARC to serve as the Point of Entry for people who are homeless or low-income renters and to facilitate first-time home ownership for people with hard-to-serve backgrounds. II. Program Updates Dream Homes Community Center continues to put the “Boots on the Ground” in the efforts to end homelessness. The number of people served throughout Danbury continues to increase. Through our Coordinated Access Services, Dream Homes Community Center has served 553 people in the city of Danbury alone since July 1, 2013. Point of Entry Since July 1, 2013, DHCC has provided services to 878 people through the Point of Entry at ARC. The following is a breakdown by town: Town July 2011 – June 2012 July 2012- June 2013 July 2013-April 2014 Danbury 592 590 596 Bethel 26 62 48 Brookfield 33 14 16 New Fairfield 34 22 10 New Milford 77 68 77 Newtown 4 16 24 Redding 7 0 0 Ridgefield 8 5 20 Sherman 2 1 4 Other Towns 45 58 83 Total 828 836 878 1 III. Outreach Highlights: Dream Homes Staff attended the following meetings and trainings: • Homeless and Housing Advocate Sharice Coleman attended the Continuum of Care Meeting held at City Hall. Committee members met to vote on the new Coordinate Access Network System that is to be implemented starting July 1, 2014. • ARC’s Executive Director Rev. Phyllis Leopold and Homeless and Housing Advocate Sharice Coleman attended the Danbury Housing Partnership meeting held at City Hall. Francesca Martin invited SOAR (Social Security, Access and Recovery) Program Manager Libby Protzman from Columbus House to speak to the committee on the importance of income in the process of ending chronic homelessness. Libby also discussed the process of SOAR and the alternative to SOAR. • Homeless and Housing Advocate Sharice Coleman attended the monthly Shelter Plus Care meeting held at Western Connecticut Mental Health Network. Committee members met to discuss current wait list Continued on Next Page 2 IV. Program Highlights—Story of one family served by DHCC this month (names changed) A Point of Entry and Coordinated Access Success Story “John” John was referred to ARC by the local City Welfare office. He had been living in his car for the past few months after losing his job, and being evicted from his apartment. After several attempts of trying to get back on his feet, John began to seek assistance. He came to ARC requesting assistance finding housing and a Security Deposit. Housing Advocate met with John to conduct intake and Needs and Assessment. John had been dealing with some health issues and living in his car which was not helping his condition. It was imperative that he find housing as soon as possible. Housing Advocate reviewed John’s income and expenses. John had been receiving unemployment and was bringing in a decent amount of money; however he was paying a lot of money in child support. Housing Advocate advised John to meet with Legal Aid to see if he could reduce his child support payments since he wasn’t working. Housing Advocate also noticed that John was not receiving food stamps and spending a lot of money on food and eating out. Housing Advocate encouraged John to apply for food stamps and in the mean time take advantage of utilizing soup kitchens and food pantries when he could in order to save money. Housing Advocate continued to work with John in his search for housing. With John cutting back on some of his expenses, and getting his child support payments reduced, Housing Advocate and John were able to establish an affordable rent amount that wouldn’t exceed his budget. Housing Advocate began a housing search for John in the Danbury area that wouldn’t exceed his budget. Housing Advocate also connected John to well known landlords who work with ARC on a regular basis. Within two weeks of coming to ARC, Housing Advocate and John were able to find an apartment that didn’t exceed his budget. Housing Advocate met with the Landlord and conducted the apartment inspection to ensure the apartment met all CT-Habitability requirements. Housing Advocate also met with John and the new landlord to review the lease and tenants rights and responsibilities to ensure John had full understanding of his responsibilities as a tenant. Once John was in full understanding of his lease and his tenant rights and responsibilities he was ready and excited to move in and finally be off the streets. ARC was able to supply John with a security deposit for his new apartment and remains stably housed. 3 CITY OF DANBURY DANBURY, CONNECTICUT 06810 DEPARTMENT OF ELDERLY SERVICES COMMISSION ON AGING ELMWOOD HALL 10 Elmwood Place (203) 797-4686 DATE: April 28, 2014 TO: Honorable Mayor Mark D. Boughton Members of the City Council FROM: Susan M. Tomanio, LCSW Director of Elderly Services RE: Department Report for City Council Meeting / COA Reporting Period: (3/24/14 – 4/28/14) Department of Elderly Services - 711 incoming information calls Elmwood Hall Senior Center - 325 seniors, 2,650 visits / services Program Highlights: Safety Tips for Storing Medication, AARP Tax Assistance (552 tax returns completed), Hearing Loss and Hearing Aids with Quality Hearing, Volunteer Recognition Celebration, Creative Writing: Memoirs, Getting to Know Doctors Express/Urgent Care Municipal Agent – 355 office/phone appointments Monthly Concerns: Preparation and processing for Rent Rebate Program, Medicare D and original Medicare, Affordable Care Act, care giving and long term care options, Medicare Savings Program, elderly & disabled benefits information, area senior and disabled housing options, Medicare, Medigap, Medicare D & Medicare Advantage counseling, Medicaid, elder law and attorneys referrals, home care options, respite care options, Dept. of Social Services Protective Services referrals Van Transportation Program – 407 one way trips Connections / Collaborations: Chair - Aging in Place Planning Council of the Peter and Carmen Lucia buck Foundation (3 – 5 Year Plan), State Commission on Aging (board member), Livable Communities Subcommittee Donations: Donations for performances by Senior Center Chorus – The Village of Brookfield Common - $25, The Gardens - $25 C I T Y OF D A N B U R Y FIRE DEPARTMENT 19 NEW STREET DANBURY, CONNECTICUT 06810 Geoffrey R. Herald, CFO Phone 203-796-1550 Fire Chief Fax 203-796-1552 FIRE CHIEF'S MONTHLY REPORT I hereby submit my report as Fire Chief of the Danbury Fire Department, which covers the period of 21 March 2014 through 21 April 2014 and details activities of the Department. The weather has finally become spring-like. Despite the heavy winter snows, with this change we have had several very dry weeks. The potential for brush fires has been prevalent and indeed we had a very significant woods fire here in Danbury last Friday.