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REDDING REPUBLICAN TOWN COMMITTEE MINUTES Attendance: A quorum was present: Gary Miyashiro Guest: Art Poltrak The meeting was called to order at 8:07p.m. Minutes of March 3 Tom Derderian moved to approve the Minutes of the March 3rd meeting, Richard Emerson seconded. Motion unanimously passed. Treasurer's Report Gary Miyashiro presented the Treasurer's Report and noted a balance of $2,593.90 as of April 1, 2008. .Gary also noted that 19 members had made an annual contribution. Ward Mazzucco ("WM") reminded members that they are encouraged to contribute $100 annually to the RTC. A motion was made to approve the Treasurer's Report, which was seconded. Motion passed unanimously. General Matters Frank Taylor Motion to nominate Frank Taylor as a member of the RTC, tabled from last month's meeting, was made by Tom Derderian and seconded. Motion passed unanimously. WM then welcomed Frank Taylor to the RTC. Guest Speaker: Melanie O'Brien (Possible Candidate from Bethel for 2nd District) WM introduced Melanie O'Brien, a potential candidate to run against Jason Bartlett for the 2nd District General Assembly seat. Ms. O'Brien discussed her possible candidacy and her background. She has lived in Bethel for 24 years and is a practicing attorney, most recently in Ridgefield. Previously, she served as the town attorney in Bethel under Judy Novacek. Ms. O'Brien is married with four children. She recently conferred with various officials and party representatives and she said that she intended to run but was here to answer any questions but not to seek an endorsement (yet). WM thanked her and wished her well in her efforts. Representative John Stripp WM introduced Representative. John Stripp to provide an update on activity in Hartford. Rep. Stripp covered a variety of topics including an announcement that a $400,000 STEAP Grant had been obtained for Redding to assist in the construction of various improvements to the athletic fields at John Read Middle School. Rep. Stripp also discussed the likelihood that the property conveyance tax will be "reactivated" for two more years. A general discussion took place regarding the universal health care bill and budget negotiations. Rep. Stripp finished by noting that money requested for rubber infill for turf fields for the high school is still in the early stages of consideration. Region 9 Art Poltrack and Chris Hocker spoke concerning the Region 9 budget. Art stated that the Region 9 proposed budget reflects an increase of 5.95% from 2007, representing a 3.3% increase in Redding and a 9.12% increase in Easton. In addition to the budget, Art and Chris noted that a separate issue being presented to voters is for $375,000 for expenses related to the design, engineering, planning and permitting for the Joel Barlow field project. The project, if approved, would have a cap of $5 million, with approximately $400,000 of debt service on the $5 million. The approval process should take about a year with construction possibly to begin in the summer of 2009. It is estimated that each field would cost about $1 million, with renovations to the stands and lights costing an additional $450,000. A discussion of various issues related to the project occurred, focusing on the current poor state of the fields at the high school and various practical and budget issues surrounding any field upgrade project. WM thanked Art and Chris for coming and for their work on the Region 9 Board of Education. Natalie Ketcham First Selectman Natalie Ketcham gave an update on various budget and planning issues. She noted that various factors had combined to make it a difficult budget season and that after three years of no taxes, the town might have to raise taxes. She noted that certain revenue streams that were expected had not materialized (particularly revenues related to the Georgetown project), which resulted in the current shortfall. Regarding Georgetown, Natalie announced that various private liens recently had been released, which will now allow the Georgetown developer to begin to develop the roads related to the project. Committee Assignments WM discussed the proposed committee assignments. Tom Derderian, Chair of the Publicity Committee, asked if new member Frank Taylor could join his committee. WM proposed that change, with no objections. Natalie Ketcham moved to approve the committee assignments as proposed, seconded by Scott Palmer. Motion passed unanimously. Convention Delegates The discussion then turned to seeking volunteers to act as delegates for various upcoming nominating conventions. The results of those discussions are: 4th Congressional District Redding is entitled to send five delegates to the Shays convention on May 10th in Norwalk. Redding's five delegates are: Tom Derderian, Laura Hoeing, John Shaban, Jerry Sarnelli, Parker Coates 135th General Assembly District Redding is entitled to send three delegates to the Stripp convention on May 15th (all must live in the district). Redding's three delegates are: John Shaban, Rand Guffey, Frank Taylor 2nd General Assembly District Redding is entitled to send two delegates to the 2nd District convention (date to be determined)(all must live in the district). Redding's two delegates are: Hank Bielawa, Julie Gorman 26th Senate District Redding is entitled to send five delegates to the 26th Senate District convention on May 13th at Westport Town Hall. Redding's five delegates are: Richard Emerson, Scott Palmer, Ward Mazzucco, Christine Kearney, Lewis Brey WM thanked all the delegates for volunteering. Burdon Hickock RTC member, Burdon Hickok, announced that he recently accepted a job offer from the U.S. State Department to work in Baghdad, Iraq to help in the creation of a banking system. He expected his stay to be over a year, if not longer, and he announced that this would be his last meeting for the foreseeable future. Everyone congratulated Burdon and offer their best wishes. Burdon promised to provide his contact information once he was settled in Iraq. Paul Degner WM then introduced Paul Degner, a possible new member who had met with the Vacancy Committee earlier in the evening. WM thanked Paul for coming and said the RTC looked forward to working with Paul soon Chris Shays Visit Tom Derderian announced that Chris Shays would be visiting Redding on April 12th at Town Hall. Tom encouraged all to attend and lend their support. Adjournment Motion to adjourn was made and seconded. The motion unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 9:13pm.
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