Officials holding hearing on ordinance revisions, plow truck

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BEACON FALLS — The Board of Selectmen is holding a hearing Tuesday on proposed revisions to three ordinances and the purchase of a Freightliner plow truck.

The hearing begins at 7 p.m. at Beacon Falls Senior Center, 57 North Main St.

Officials are looking to make changes to the tax incentive program, Beacon Hose Co. No. 1 service award program and park and recreation ordinances.

The town established the tax incentive program ordinance last March. The program provides tax abatements for eligible businesses that invest in a new commercial building or improvements to an existing commercial building. The incentives have to be approved by town officials and then voters at a town meeting.

Thus far, the Goldenrod Corporation is the only company to receive an abatement for an addition to the company’s building on Lancaster Drive.

Dibra LLC, a Seymour-based property management company, also applied last year for an abatement for a commercial building the company built at 113 South Main St. Voters rejected the company’s application, and the company later submitted a similar application that the Board of Finance rejected.

The proposed revisions to the tax incentive program ordinance includes adding language that states to reapply for the incentive for the same building the value of the project has to be at least 30 percent higher than it was in the previous application.

The proposed revisions will also make it so that applications will go before the Economic Development Commission for a non-binding opinion before going to the Board of Finance for a vote.

Officials are also looking to make changes to the Beacon Hose Co. No. 1 service award program ordinance to clean up and streamline the language. The program provides eligible members of the company a small monetary benefit based on a point system.

The proposed revision to the park and recreation ordinance would add an alternate member to the Park and Recreation Commission.

Copies of the proposed ordinance revisions are available at the Town Clerk’s office in Town Hall, 10 Maple Ave.

The town is also looking to buy a Freightliner plow truck for about $188,000. The truck would be paid in five yearly payments of $37,614. The cost will be offset some with a $40,905 state grant.

Officials plan to take a plow truck offline and use it for parts for another plow truck the town already owns.

The Board of Selectmen will hold a town meeting Thursday at 6 p.m. at the senior center to vote to adopt the ordinance changes and buy the plow truck.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Last evenings public hearing was only attended by five members of the public. Each had an ordinance that was near and dear to them and the discussion was extremely good. Net-net, none of the three (3) ordinances is ready for a prime-time vote. There are issues with each of them and in th end I and members of the public recommended that for the March 7th meeting (which is at 6:00PM at the Senior Center on No.Main Street), the ordinances be tabled and sent back for revisions. The proposed truck for Public Works is ready for discussion and vote. There is one glaring open issue on the financing for the truck that needs further explanation. That is related to the salvage of any parts off the truck being replaced, if the value of those parts are deducted from the grant being applied for. The $40,000 grant will be greatly reduced if that salvage is counted.

    Please attend the meeting on March 7th. We need a quorum of 12 electors to make it a legal meeting.

    Mike Krenesky, Selectman

  2. I am greatly disappointed in the timing of the 7-March meeting. 6:00PM is just a bad time as people are just getting home from work or eating dinner. I hope those that have a conflict making the meeting on the 7th come to the Public Hearing on Tuesday March 5th, which is at 7:00PM, to express their opinions on the ordinance changes and truck purchase. I also disagreed with the setting of the Public Hearing date which give very few people time to obtain the meeting documents. Actually, the 1st Selectman was not going to hold a Public Hearing at all. Town Clerk Len Greene and I, objected to not having a hearing as has been best practice in the past and is one of the steps in changing or adding a new ordinance in the approved Town procedures. I did not sign nor approve the legal notice for these meetings because of these irregularities.

    Please make every effort to attend these meetings and voice your opinion as you believe is correct to do. And just to be clear, I am not speaking against any of the four items on the agenda. I am pushing for full transparency and providing everyone the opportunity to voice their opinion, and have the opportunity to express It by voting.