Cheshire Joint Council and Budget Committee Reviews Public Works, Engineering, and Sewer Budgets
Town Council · Meeting of March 21, 2024
CT CHESHIRE — Cheshire's joint Town Council and Budget Committee session digs into public works, engineering, and sewer costs. The March 21 special meeting, chaired by budget chairman Jim Jinks, featured presentations from Acting Public Works Director Dan Bombera and Town Engineer Merrick, covering a department restructuring that split engineering into its own budget unit and a proposed $159,000 spike in Water Pollution Control contracted services driven by a third-party sludge-hauling shift, a 52 percent fee increase from disposal firm Syneco, and a new stormwater permit cost. The town pays $802,000 annually to the Regional Water Authority for fire-hydrant water availability, offset by roughly $730,000 in RWA property-tax payments.
Officials also debated moving a $25,000 tree-removal line and a $67,500 MS4 stormwater-compliance contract out of the capital budget and into operating funds. The long-troubled Scenic Court road reconstruction carries a rough estimate of $1 million to $1.2 million after test borings found organics beneath the roadway.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 870 words
Source: the Town Council meeting of March 21, 2024, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
CHESHIRE — March 21, 2024 — The Town Council and Budget Committee held a joint special meeting Thursday to review proposed budgets for public works, engineering, and the Water Pollution Control Department, with officials examining spending requests that range from a new grounds keeper position to a $159,000 increase in sludge-hauling costs.
Vice Chair Jim Jinks, serving as budget chairman, opened the session by calling for a collaborative approach to the review. The meeting produced no formal votes but generated extensive discussion about structural budget changes, deferred maintenance, personnel requests, and capital projects across Cheshire's most infrastructure-intensive departments.
The Full Story
Acting Public Works Director Dan Bombera presented the department's budget to the joint body, describing a reorganization that separated engineering from public works into its own department heading, supervised by Town Engineer Merrick. Town Manager Sean explained that the split was intended to clarify purchasing, payroll, and reporting responsibilities, and that while the two departments remain physically co-located they now operate under separate budget account codes.
Bombera detailed an office staff that has processed 1,860 invoices so far this fiscal year and generates roughly 120 work orders per month for residents. His highways division manages 153 miles of road, 115 miles of sidewalk, and 5,950 drainage outfalls, cleaning upward of 800 basins annually. The grounds crew of five maintains 25 fields, six parks, a dog park, and more than 1,500 miles of linear trails.
Among the notable budget line changes, officials discussed moving a $25,000 tree maintenance and removal line back into the operating budget from the capital budget, citing the end of the heaviest Emerald Ash Borer removal cycle. A $35,000 increase in grounds program materials drew questions, with Bombera and the town manager both acknowledging the department has been under-budgeting that line for years as demand for quality field maintenance has grown since the town absorbed grounds work previously performed partly by volunteers and school-based staff. The meeting also addressed a $802,000 water-main service charge paid to the Regional Water Authority for fire-hydrant availability, which officials said is offset partially by roughly $730,000 in property-tax revenue the authority pays the town on the same infrastructure.
"We are trying to get, we've had some of these items that have kind of morphed into sort of more maintenance items show up in the capital budget." — Town Manager Sean, on the decision to move tree removal funding back to the operating budget
Town Engineer Merrick presented the engineering and Water Pollution Control Department budgets. The engineering section requested a $72,000 increase in contracted services, largely to cover a new GPS survey unit with annual licensing, AutoCAD software renewals, and a $67,500 contract for MS4 stormwater-permit compliance monitoring by engineering firm B&L — a cost previously buried in the capital budget. Merrick said the state reimburses 55 percent of costs associated with the Clean Water Fund Act application the town is pursuing for an inflow-and-infiltration study of its sewer system.
The most significant Water Pollution Control discussion centered on a proposed $159,000 increase in contracted services, composed of three elements: a shift to a third-party hauler for biosolids removal, a 52 percent fee increase by disposal firm Syneco following the expiration of a multi-year contract, and a new stormwater general-permit compliance cost. Water Pollution Control Superintendent Dave Milano explained that self-hauling sludge to Waterbury currently requires two employees four to five hours each trip, two to three times weekly, with occasional overtime when the Waterbury facility is at capacity. Officials noted the town-owned sludge truck is near the end of its useful life, and that a $50,000 conveyor upgrade at the plant is also necessary regardless of which hauling method is chosen, because third-party roll-off trucks require a different loading configuration.
"On a good day it might take two, three hours. On a bad day it could be five, six hours." [No timestamp index provided] — Water Pollution Control Superintendent Dave Milano, on the personnel cost of self-hauling biosolids
Council member Dina Allard raised the question of the acting public works director line item in the budget, asking whether a permanent appointment was expected within the fiscal year. The town manager acknowledged budget flexibility would be needed as that decision is finalized, noting the current salary is significantly lower than what was budgeted for the prior director position.
Why It Matters
Cheshire residents pay an estimated $43 per month for the combined services of public works, engineering, and trash and recycling collection, according to the town manager's framing at the meeting. The budget session touched on decisions that will shape that figure: whether to hire a new grounds position and a deputy director for capital projects and sustainability, how to resolve the sludge-hauling question, and whether a series of road and drainage capital projects — including the long-discussed Scenic Court reconstruction estimated between $1 million and $1.2 million — will be funded in year one of the capital plan. The next step is a town manager recommendation in April, when several personnel and line-item adjustments are expected to be finalized before a budget is presented for formal adoption.
Key Motions & Votes
No formal votes taken at this meeting.
Source
Cheshire's community access TV: Town Council meeting, March 21, 2024