Cheshire Town Council Trims Capital Budget by $4.1 Million in Special Meeting

Town Council · Meeting of June 25, 2024

CT CHESHIRE — Cheshire Town Council trims capital budget by $4.1 million, setting revised gross at $10.8 million. The council, meeting jointly with the Budget Committee on June 25, worked through a $14,919,000 proposed capital plan and cut or deferred projects across nearly every department, including eliminating a $490,000 town hall reconfiguration, deferring a $252,000 excavator, and removing a $150,000 animal control facility design appropriation while the town assesses whether the existing facility can meet new state requirements. The council added $100,000 for design and site selection of an adaptive turf field at Bartlem Park after the town was notified of a $750,000 state bond-commission grant for the project.

Road improvement items — including $1.6 million reconstructions of East Johnson Avenue and Industrial Drive — remain in the budget and are expected to go to referendum, a figure Chair Peter Talbot and members acknowledged would be among the largest road-related asks voters have seen. The council also unanimously ratified a Library Union collective bargaining agreement covering July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2026; formal capital budget adoption is targeted for July 9.

In the full story:

• The complete report — 839 words

Source: the Town Council meeting of June 25, 2024, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

CHESHIRE — June 25, 2024 — The Cheshire Town Council reduced a proposed five-year capital expenditure budget by roughly $4.1 million during a joint special meeting with the Budget Committee on Tuesday, bringing the first-year gross total down from approximately $14.9 million to approximately $10.8 million.

Chair Peter Talbot presided over the session, which served as a line-by-line working deliberation through capital projects spanning vehicles, public works infrastructure, road improvements, recreation facilities, and school-related expenditures. The council deferred or trimmed dozens of individual items while adding one new project tied to a recently announced state grant.

The Full Story

Before turning to capital budget deliberations, the council unanimously ratified a collective bargaining agreement with the Cheshire Library Union, Local 1303-431 of Council 4, AFSCME AFL-CIO, covering the period July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2026. Council member Patricia Cramer read the resolution into the record; the vote was unanimous among members present.

The bulk of the meeting was consumed by deliberations led by Vice Chair Jim Jinks and a town finance staffer identified in the transcript only as Sean. The session began with the gross capital total standing at $14,919,000. By the time the council worked through the final line, cumulative reductions totaled $4,099,750, leaving a revised gross of approximately $10.8 million. The council noted that offsetting revenues — including roughly $1.1 million in cash-not-requiring-bonding funds and various grants — had not yet been fully netted out of the figure.

Among the most-discussed new additions was a proposed adaptive turf field, described informally as a "miracle field," at Bartlem Park, prompted by notification of a $750,000 state bond-commission grant. The council debated whether to appropriate the full estimated project cost of $1.2 million or fund only a design and site-selection phase. Members settled on $100,000 for design and site selection in the current year, with the full project — estimated at $1.2 million with $750,000 from the state and the remainder split between town funds and anticipated fundraising — moved to a later year.

"I'd rather just put a number for design purposes and put the whole 1.2 million in there... we don't even have an idea where we're going to put it." [no timestamp index provided] — Don Walsh, Town Council member

On road improvements, the council debated at length how much to appropriate for the general road improvement program alongside two large specific projects: reconstruction of East Johnson Avenue and Industrial Drive, each approximately $1.6 million. Members ultimately settled on $1.2 million for the general road improvement program, a reduction from a staff-proposed $2 million, while keeping the two specific road projects in the budget and acknowledging they would go to referendum.

The council moved the $252,000 public works excavator purchase to a later year, reduced the Water Pollution Control District vehicle line by $55,000 by deferring an engineering director's SUV, and eliminated a $490,000 town hall office space reconfiguration entirely. For the animal control facility — which faces new state compliance requirements — the council removed a $150,000 design appropriation from the current year entirely after members argued the town had only recently learned of the mandate and should first assess whether the existing facility on Higgins Road can be modified.

"I just think we have like four years. I don't think we have to, like I said, we just found out this last week." [no timestamp index provided] — Council member, unattributed (see REVIEW)

A wide-ranging debate over a proposed $250,000 comprehensive traffic study ended inconclusively. Members questioned the scope and whether a town-wide study would duplicate corridor work planned by the Capitol Region Council of Governments. The council left the $250,000 placeholder in the budget temporarily, with a town staffer identified as John agreeing to consult with traffic engineers and report back before a tentative July 9 adoption date.

Why It Matters

The capital budget, once finalized, will shape Cheshire's borrowing and bonding posture for fiscal years 2025 through 2029. Road improvement referendum items — including the East Johnson Avenue and Industrial Drive reconstructions — will go before voters separately and represent the largest single category of spending. The council noted that road improvement referendums in Cheshire have historically passed but acknowledged that asking voters to approve more than $3 million in road-related items in a single cycle is a new test. The next scheduled action is a possible additional deliberation followed by a formal adoption vote targeted for July 9, 2024. The council also agreed informally to schedule a fall planning session — likely in September or October — to begin brainstorming uses for school buildings expected to come offline in 2026.

Key Motions & Votes

- Vote: Ratification of collective bargaining agreement with Cheshire Library Union, Local 1303-431, Council 4, AFSCME AFL-CIO, July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026 (Resolution 062524-1) Tally: Approved unanimously

• Action: Capital Expenditure Budget deliberations — line-by-line review and reductions totaling approximately $4.1 million completed; formal adoption vote deferred — Continued to approximately July 9, 2024

Source

Cheshire's community access TV: Town Council meeting, June 25, 2024