Riding the magic ESPN bus

Reporter Jackie Majerus wrote this:
When potential developers come to Bristol later this month, overseers of the downtown mall site want to show them around using an ESPN bus.
Board members of the Bristol Downtown Development Corp., who are in charge of overseeing the 17-acre, city-owned mall property, will play host to visiting developers who come to town March 31 to tour the rubble.
Planner Dick Harrall, who serves as executive director of the BDDC, initially said the interaction with the developers would take about two hours. He said there would be an hour spent at City Hall reviewing the technical aspects of the city's bid process and going over the city's vision for what will ultimately be built there.
After that, they will be taken around the grounds of the mall site. By then the building demolition should be complete, though the site not completely cleared.
But then John Leone, president of the Greater Bristol Chamber of Commerce and a BDDC board member, said the meeting with developers should include a tour of the area.
"It might give 'em a different view," said Leone.
Harrall said they could look into chartering a bus, and Frank Johnson, chairman of the BDDC board, said they should show off Federal Hill.
"Get the ESPN tour bus," said Leone.
Harrall said that would be great, and board members began talking excitedly about showing off ESPN, Lake Compounce and the industrial park on Middle Street.
They're not just selling the downtown site, said Leone, but the whole area.
Board member Jennifer Janelle said the event will be a public meeting.
"There's probably going to be a lot more than just developer candidates," said Janelle, who want to take a ride.
City Councilor Ken Cockayne said the group could use both an ESPN bus and a school bus.
"The public can go on the school bus," said Cockayne.
City Purchasing Agent Roger Rousseau said it's tough to tell how many possible developers will end up answering the city's request for proposals – or how many of them will show up on March 31.
"It's an open invitation," Rousseau said. But he said they should probably plan for 30 to 50 people.
Johnson said it is more important to drive developers past ESPN than to give them a ride on the company bus.
"Let's go first class," said board member Dick Kallenbach. "Get a Dattco bus."
Board member Tom Cosgrove said they should return afterward for coffee.
Leone – who said the tour bus should have a tape playing information about the area – said the tour could have impact.
"It seems kinda hokey," Leone admitted, but he said, "It really does work."

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

More on code enforcement cop

On March 7, city Councilors Craig Minor and Kevin McCauley met with Police Chief John DiVenere to go over the issues related to the code enforcement police officer position that has been held by Tom Lavigne since its creation. Lavigne is a former city councilor.
After the meeting, Minor wrote an email to the chief laying out what they discussed. He released that email to me today after I made a Freedom of Information request to him. Here it is:

Chief:

This is my understanding of what was said at our meeting on Friday, March 7. Please let me know if I got anything wrong.

1. Job Description. Chief DiVenere is fully supportive of having a police officer assigned to do code enforcement full time. However, designating an officer as the Code Enforcement Police Officer would be a bad precedent and in fact is something that the City has historically resisted doing. The duties of the officer assigned to code enforcement could however be spelled out as with other officers who are assigned to specific duties, such as the youth officer and the traffic officer. As with all other officers, the officer assigned to code enforcement is subject to being temporarily reassigned if the Police Department is under-strength or during an emergency, but this is not expected to happen more than once or twice a year, if at all.

2. Overtime. All officers are authorized eight hours of overtime during each three week period. Additional overtime may be approved by the supervisor of the officer assigned to code enforcement provided the officer requests it in writing and provides justification, and it will not be unreasonably denied. Such additional overtime would be requested only if necessary to meet with property owners who are not available during the normal work day or to occasionally appear before City boards and commissions, but not to attend meetings of neighborhood associations and civic groups.

Diane Ferguson pointed out that per the union contract, whenever another City department pays for the overtime of an officer to perform duties for that department it is treated as extra duty and has to be offered to any officer in turn (Craig asked her to provide the documentation on that). Therefore it is not feasible to put funding for overtime in the Code Enforcement Committee s budget.

3. Normal Working Hours. The option exists for the officer assigned to code enforcement to occasionally alter the hours of his shift to include
evening hours, such as from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm.

4. Vehicle. The officer assigned to code enforcement will be assigned a vehicle marked Code Enforcement . As with any other assigned vehicle, however, this vehicle is subject to being used by other officers as needed during other shifts or in an emergency.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Charter hearing on Tuesday night

A proposal to add a chief operating officer to the city government’s permanent structure is among a handful of issues on the agenda for what may be the final public hearing of the Charter Revision Commission Tuesday.
The panel’s chairman, Tim Furey, said Monday that he expects to hear from residents and city officials who want to weigh in a four primary issues where the commission is eyeing changes to the city government’s blueprint.
The most controversial suggestion is to add a chief operating officer who would take over many of the administrative duties that are currently handled by the city’s full-time elected mayor.
The city manager-lite proposal dodges the need to overhaul the entire structure of Bristol’s government while providing what some see as a need for more oversight and continuity in municipal affairs.
“It is clear the current design of the mayor/council form of government is lacking in administrative consistency there is value to having an elected municipal leader. We felt strongly as a group that the duties of the mayor are too demanding and leave little time for appropriate strategic planning and promotion of the City,” according to the panel’s draft report.
Another controversial measure the commission plans to recommend to city councilors that they support changing the part-time treasurer’s post from an elected to appointed one.
Furey said the commission will review the suggestions it hears at tonight’s hearing next week before preparing the final report it has to submit to the City Council by April 4.
The hearing is slated for 7 p.m. Tuesday in the meeting room at City Hall.
Thanks to Furey's willingness to send me copies, I have PDFs of several draft documents that the commission is looking at that detail its findings and recommendations. They may well be changed before they are submitted to the City Council, but here they are in current form:

Draft report - Final report of the Charter Revision Commission

Draft report - Citing major changes eyed by the commission

Draft Report - Showing entire charter with changes indicated throughout

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Bristol aims for home run in Indianapolis

A delegation of city and American Legion officials are heading to Indianapolis in May to make a pitch for the organization to hold its annual baseball World Series at Muzzy Field.
“Needless to say, it would be great for the community,” said Mayor Art Ward, who’s one of the five people taking the trip.
If the delegation can pull it off, the Legion’s World Series would likely be “the largest sporting event ever to take place in the city,” said Paul LaFleur, general manager the American Legion Post 2 baseball team.
Ward said there are nine municipalities competing for the right to host the 2010 World Series, which might be the last one that Bristol could hope to snag. After that year, he said, the American Legion plans to hold the baseball tournament at the same time – and same city – as its national convention.
“It’s a once in a lifetime thing,” city Park Director Ed Swicklas, who is also heading to Indianapolis.
The American Legion is paying the tab for the five men – Ward, Swicklas, LaFleur and American Legion representatives Fran Mullins and Jay Meisinger – to address the selection committee on May 4.
Ward said that Bristol has several compelling arguments for the panel to agree to have the American Legion World Series at Muzzy Field, including the historical ballpark, the long tradition of American Legion baseball in town and the presence of sports giant ESPN in Bristol.
LaFleur said that Bristol has a proven track record of organizational support, “one of the best ballparks” anywhere and demonstrated community backing. It also has ESPN behind it.
The sports giant has given the effort its solid support, LaFleur said. “It’s not a hope. It’s not a promise. It’s documented.”
Ward, a Vietnam veteran who has long been active in the Legion, said he and Swicklas are going because the local chapter “believes it’s crucial for their presentation for the selection committee to know the city’s commitment.”
Bristol is already slated to hold this year’s five-day Northeast regional tournament for American Legion Baseball beginning August 14.
Organizers estimate that the regional tournament will bring 10,000 fans to Bristol and sink about $250,000 in extra revenue into Bristol’s retail economy.
But LaFleur said the World Series is “tenfold” bigger than the regional tournament.
He said he’s been to 14 of the Legion’s World Series over the years and has seen firsthand how popular and professionally run they are.
“This is the likes of which Bristol has never seen,” LaFleur said.
Ward said that in addition to the extra spending, holding the national World Series would be a phenomenal asset” to the community.
He said it help improve the image of Bristol while showcasing Rockwell Park and Muzzy Field – as well as honoring “the members of the baseball committee throughout the years that made the [Bristol] Legion program such that it would be considered.”
In its document for cities interested in hosting the tournament, the American Legion says it is looking for “experienced tournament committees with strong community support, as well as excellent ballparks.”The American Legion World Series brings eight teams together from around the country to compete for the national title.American Legion Baseball has been around since 1925 and claims that millions of young men , ages 15 to 19, have played on its teams over the years.The last time the tournament was held in New England was in 1999, when Middletown hosted the World Series.According to the American Legion Baseball website, Bristol’s American Legion teams have won two regional championships, in 1984 and 1997, and 13 Connecticut championships, most recently in 2006.
Muzzy Field was built in 1912, making it one of the nation’s oldest ballparks. American Legion teams from Bristol have apparently played there for the past 80 years.
Bristol “is an excellent baseball community,” LaFleur said, and its team and organization are legendary in Connecticut Legion history.
Its proponents, including LaFleur and Mullins, are well-known in Legion baseball circles after decades of activity. If the World Series comes to Bristol in 2010, it would mark a highlight for Mullins, who would be putting in his 60th year with American Legion Baseball.
Those personal ties may help, officials said, and they at least got Bristol an inside tip: try to get ESPN on board. Major corporate backing is helpful, the national director told Bristol leaders during a trip to town this winter.
That done, LaFleur said, “We feel absolutely and totally qualified.”

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Hearing on March 26 for new code enforcement law

A public hearing on a proposal to blend together the blight and code enforcement laws is slated for March 26.
The proposed ordinance, which could be adopted by the City Council as soon as April, requires property owners to maintain the structural integrity and appearance of their homes and other buildings. It covers every property in the city.
With strong police support, the new measure “will change the landscape of Bristol,” said Guy Morin, the city’s chief building official.
Violators face $100-a-day fines that can pile up quickly if property owners refuse to comply with orders to clean up unsightly or unhealthy conditions.
A decade after initially declaring war on blight, city leaders are changing direction in part because they found the existing system allows recalcitrant owners to drag out proceedings for years in costly court fights.
The new code enforcement crackdown would allow officials to write citations that rack up fines quickly. They also have more clout to order cleanups fast – or make sure the work is done by someone at the owner’s expense.
In general, the ordinance eyed for passage says that allowing substandard property has a negative impact on the city’s economic well-being and is “harmful to the health, safety and welfare of residents.”
By requiring cleanups or repairs, the proposed law says, the “adverse conditions” can be fixed so that the community is no longer hurt.
The alternative to taking action, according to the proposed measure, is that “undesirable conditions will grow and spread, necessitating future expenditures of large amounts of public funds to correct and eliminate.”
The Ordinance Committee hearing is slated for 6 p.m., Wednesday, March 26 in the meeting room on the first floor of City Hall.

Angry with the chief
The city’s chief building official said he had “had it up to here” with Police Chief John DiVenere’s refusal to provide solid support for the full-time code enforcement officer created within his department.
City Councilor Kevin McCauley said the code enforcement officer within the Police Department “is an integral part of our vision” in cracking down on property owners who refuse to clean up or fix up.
The City Council needs “to lock into this position” and make sure DiVenere doesn’t assign the officer, currently Tom Lavigne, to other public safety tasks.
DiVenere said, though, that he understands the code enforcement officer is a full-time position that the council created and still wants. He said he’s not a roadblock to its effectiveness.
McCauley said the city has “invested time and training” in Lavigne and the officer has become a key cog in educating property owners about the law and making sure they obey it. Lavigne is a former city councilor.
Councilors said they want Lavigne as the key police representative on the code enforcement committee.
“I want the Police Department to have a voice on this committee,” Morin said.
As the proposal currently stands, the panel will include the code enforcement police officer and the police chief, which ought to satisfy Morin’s concerns.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Thanks to King Lear, Eastern wins Academic Bowl

The 14th annual Academic Bowl came down to the last question Saturday.
To win, Terryville High School’s team needed only to answer which of William Shakespeare’s kings once pointed out that gods “kill us for their sport.”
Its members guessed Richard III rather than the aging, shattered King Lear.
And with that wrong answer, Bristol Eastern High School’s four-person team captured a first-place finish over its perennial challengers from Bristol Central High School, St. Paul Catholic High School, Lewis Mills High School in Burlington and Terryville.
Eastern also picked up a first-place in the music category on the strength of singer Andrew Degan’s performance.
A St. Paul student, Nadine Fentner, got top honors in the public speaking category, for a persuasive address that argued against giving immigrants who entered the country illegally such benefits as driver’s licenses, in-state tuition at public colleges and the like.
“It is up to us as Americans to keep our own people first,” she said.
Fentner also nabbed a second-place finish in the poetry category in which Emily Ceskavich of Terryville emerged as the top pick. Ceskavich’s poem stated she would “rather leave life exhausted from the climb” than not to seek higher ground.
In the art competition, two Bristol Central students won.
In the two-dimensional category, Max Shorey got top honors for “My Brother” and in the three-dimensional category, Jamie Jewett’s “Portrait” won.
“I’m always amazed at the talent,” said Tom Monahan, the television newsman who has moderated the contest every year.
Central High singer Danielle Damboise said she was “really nervous at first” about standing before the crowd of about 200 to belt out a tune.
But, she said, “once I got out there and saw that nobody was going to bite me, I was fine.”
In the General Knowledge Bowl, teams of four from each of the five schools had to field questions on a range of topics, from Norman Mailer to geometry.
At one point, Central’s team clearly had no idea how to answer a question asking for the name of a popular cricket in Utah. “Mormon cricket,” they finally guessed. To much laughter, it turned out to be the correct answer.
St. Paul’s team confessed they didn’t know the name of the co-pilot on Charles Lindbergh’s famous trans-Atlantic flight in 1927.
“There’s a good reason,” Monahan replied. “Because he had no name. It was a solo flight.”
In the end, the competition was pretty close.
Eastern tallied 105 pointed compared to Terryville’s 100. St. Paul came in third with 85. Central racked up 65 point and Lewis Mills got 40. But former Bristol Mayor William Stortz, one of the judges, said Lewis Mills was unlucky in getting the hardest questions.
“It ain’t easy. That’s for sure,” Monahan said.
Among the 20 students in the team showdown, only two were girls – Beth Pond from St. Paul’s and Eastern’s Leyna Krauss.
During the public speaking contest, where each school had a single contestant, three of the students said they favored giving illegal immigrants the chance to have identification cards and other basic privileges while two, including the winner, argued against it.
Eastern’s Rob Saporito said “something must be done to keep our borders secure,” but allowing “fear and misunderstanding” to bar basic services for those who came illegally is wrong.
He called it “foolish, melodramatic, self-centered and asinine” to oppose simple services for illegal immigrants.
“If you want immigrants to learn English, why deny them access to a library?” Saporito asked.
“We need to allow them to prosper and fulfill their own American dream,” argued Paul Omichinski from Lewis Mills.
Janelle Roberge of Central said it “would be absurd to withhold identification cards” to people who lack proper immigration papers. She urged policies that would integrate immigrants into the larger society.
But Ross Milne of Terryville said laws must be obeyed. “Who are we to choose which laws we can ignore?”
Tunxis Community College President Cathryn Addy and former Mayor Bill Stortz judged the Quiz Bowl. Bristol Press Editor Bill Sarno judged the public speaking. Mary Lynn Gagnon judged the musical performances. And James Spinelli judged the art show.
First Bristol Federal Credit Union sponsored the bowl, as it has every year.
Nutmeg TV will air the Academic Bowl on cable channel 19 at 7 p.m. on three different days – March 22, March 30 and April 7. Copies can be purchased from the public access television station by calling (860) 793-2552.

By the way, Stortz told me that I should mention on here that Councilor Craig Minor "always comes" to the Academic Bowl, something the rest of the council normally doesn't attend.
Mayor Art Ward was also there. He told me that the event is a great educational showcase.
Stortz said he didn't know two of the answers in the team competition. I missed at least four, mostly because my math's rusty. But as Minor, Stortz and I agreed, it certainly helps to be older in this because we've picked up more history, geography, etc. over the years than teens can possibly have absorbed yet.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

City retirees likely to get more pension money soon

City councilors are poised to offer a hefty cost-of-living hike to retired municipal workers.
Though the city has no obligation to raise pensions, the City Council this week unanimously agreed to adopt a one-time increase this year.
Councilors did not say how much the hike might be or how much more it will cost.
To push through the cost-of-living adjustment, which was first talked about last fall, the council had to adopt an ordinance allowing the move. Councilors did that this week.
It appears the council will soon give a green light to the pension hike that they considered in December, which would provide some retired workers as much as $4,200 more each year.
There are nearly 400 retired workers covered by the general city retirement plan, which is the one the council is eyeing to tap to pay for higher pensions.
Because the trust fund that covers the retirees’ pensions has a whopping excess of money, experts have said the inflation adjustments won’t crimp taxpayers and won’t jeopardize the city’s ability to make pension payments in the future.
It would, however, make it a little harder to snatch tens of millions out of the pension account to fill a new health benefits fund that someday will cover the health care costs of future city retirees. That fund needs more than $75 million.
The general retirement fund has more than $500 million, which is far more than actuarial professionals estimate it will need. The fund has grown so large since its inception in 1978 that taxpayers no longer have to make any annual payments to keep it up.
There are more than 30 city retirees who receive pensions of more than $50,000 annually and at least one who collects twice that.
The cost-of-living adjustments are likely to cover the last five years or so, with more recent retirees getting less than the full amount.
The proposal that councilors considered adopting a few months ago would add 75 percent of the annual cost-of-living increase to pension funds for each year back to 2002, the first time any pension hikes were given.That means that workers who were retired in 2002 could get up to 16 percent more each month if the council endorses the idea. More recent retirees would get less.City Treasurer Bill Veits said that workers who retired in 2005, for example, will get 5.58 percent more, or two years’ worth of cost-of-living adjustments.About two dozen retirees would get the $350 maximum monthly increase while five would get the minimum of an additional $10 a month.
The city offered a cost-of-living hike to its retirees once before, in 2002, without going through the trouble of authorizing the move with a specific ordinance.
One member of the council, Democrat Frank Nicastro, abstained on the issue. He receives a city pension for his 10-year stint as mayor and 17 years as a truant officer.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Firehouse fixups to cost $13 million

Story by reporter Jackie Majerus:

Updating and expanding four of the city's firehouses would cost about $13 million, consultants told fire commissioners Wednesday.
The consultants from the architectural firm Kaestle Boos Associates said the firehouses on Hill Street, Church Avenue, Vincent P. Kelly Road and Mix Street are mostly cramped quarters with limited parking and other issues that could be addressed by expansions at each site.
For an additional $4.7 million, they said, the city could add a new training facility and a "burn building" for exercises.
Fire Chief Jon Pose said the firehouses lack energy efficiency and have "tired" mechanical, electrical and furnace systems. None has air conditioning, he said.
"These buildings have reached the end of their usable life," said Pose.
Sleeping quarters and restrooms aren't private, Pose said.
"There's no facilities for female firefighters," said Pose. "All of our firehouses share those same problems."
The new designs show separate bedrooms for individual firefighters, said Pose, and additional space for more personnel "if that ever happens."
Currently, the city has just one firehouse that can take its largest truck, according to Pose. He said the trend in firefighting equipment is for larger, wider and taller trucks.
"They barely fit now in any of our firehouses," said Pose.
Kaestle Boos, hired a year ago to evaluate the condition of four of the city's firehouses, gave an estimate of $2.6 million to double the size of Engine Co. No. 2 on Hill Street.
"It is a snug site," said Jim Sperry of Kaestle Boos, with limited parking but good sight lines and only minor drainage issues.
Engine Co. No. 3 on Church Avenue is the tightest spot of all, according to Sperry, who said it is also a challenging location.
Dave King of Kaestle Boos proposed a second story addition to the Church Avenue firehouse that would more than double the space there. He said it would cost about $3.1 million.
On Vincent P. Kelly Road, Engine Co. No. 4 has available land, King said. He said the firehouse is using only a little more than half of its 2.2 acre property, while a huge sand storage facility takes up the rest.
"We need to address the dome there," said Mayor Art Ward, who said the matter will be taken up soon with the public works department.
Kaestle Boos recommends more than doubling the size of that firehouse, a project they estimate would cost about $3.5 million.
Adding a "burn building" for training firefighters could be another $800,000 or more, the architects said, and a new training facility would push the cost up by another $3.7 million.
Lastly, at Engine Co. No. 5 on Mix Street, a high water table, poor storm drainage and heavy traffic are problems.
"It can certainly be a real challenge to get the trucks in and out," said Sperry.
Improvements to the Mix Street firehouse, the architects said, would more than double the space and carry a price tag of $3.8 million.
The consultants are expected to soon give a presentation on their findings and recommendations to city finance commissioners.

And a related story:
With the imminent move of CW Resources from its longtime Hill Street quarters to a large location on Broad Street, the city is eyeing the nonprofit’s current home for potential use by the Fire Department.
“They could use that building for something,” said city Councilor Cliff Block.
The old school building, which housed the South Chippin Hill School, is next door to the Engine 2 firehouse on Hill Street.
Fire Chief Jon Pose said he would be interested in the facility, though he’s not yet sure how the department could best use it.
“It’s available and it’s there,” Block said. “It’s not going to cost us anything.”
The Fire Department is preparing to overhaul all of its firehouses, including the central headquarters on North Main Street. Plans remain tentative.
Pose and Block said that the ultimate use for the old school on Hill Street probably would likely be settled as part of the overhaul process.
CW Resources, which provides employment to people with disabilities, has been in the 1,200-square-foot Hill Street building since 1974. It is moving this spring to Broad Street.
The existing building site began its civic life as a one-room school in 1755.
According to state records, the city spent $2,500 in 1914 to open a new rural school called South Chippins School, which apparently had two rooms and was open until 1936. The building, since remodeled, is owned by the city, which has leased it to CW Resources for the past 34 years.
Block said it appears the structure is in good shape.
He firehouse next door has long had a shortage of space, officials said, so gaining the extra property is bound to help.
City officials haven’t made any decisions about the property yet.


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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

More reporters needed in Hartford, Bysiewicz says

Press release issued today by Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz:

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz says the public should be concerned about the reduction in the size of the state capitol press corps. With fewer reporters covering the day-to-day business of the state government, the secretary is troubled that the citizens of our state will be less informed about the decisions being made that affect their lives.

“A vibrant democracy is dependent on its citizens having access to information,” said Bysiewicz. “Our citizens rely on independent investigative journalists as a powerful force in keeping government honest. Today, as a result of a layoffs and cutbacks, with fewer eyes keeping watch, the public and electorate will be less well informed. As I push for ethics reform this session and think of the string of politicians that have betrayed the public trust, I cannot help but feel the people of Connecticut would be better served by the consistent daily coverage of a large capitol press corps.”

After suffering declines in print circulation and advertising in recent years, buyouts and layoffs are being imposed at newspapers all over the country.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

School building panelists thrilled with council's change of heart

Reporter Jackie Majerus wrote this story tonight:

Stunned but delighted members of the West Bristol School Building Committee praised the city council's abrupt decision to approve the Scalia sand pit on Barlow Street as the site for a new, 900-student, K-8 school.
"I think they're finally making a decision that's in the best interest of the city instead of one that's politically motivated," said Gary Vontell, a member of the committee.
Vontell said he was "absolutely surprised" but happy that the council reversed direction Tuesday. He said the committee had expected the council to approve the site on a 4-3 vote last week, with Minor in support of it.
But last week Minor voted against, and there weren't enough votes to pass. On Tuesday, Minor raised the issue again, with a change of heart.
"Really! Wow," said committee Chairman Mike Audette when he heard the news. "Craig has been a staunch supporter of the Park-Divinity site all along."
Audette, who is the principal of O'Connell School, said he was "really happy," but also a little surprised.
Michele Currie and others on the committee had said they didn't know what to do since the council had twice rejected their preferred location, and on Tuesday, Currie suggested that maybe the council didn't have a better alternative.
"They don't want to go back to a completely new drawing board," said Currie. "Of the sites that we had, this was by far the best choice."
Audette agreed.
"It was a unanimous vote of my committee. Of all the choices we had," Audette said, "that was our best option."
But the committee members also seemed perplexed at Minor's sudden change of heart.
"That sounds awful strange to me," said Currie, who said she wondered at Minor's change of heart. She said he'd asked a lot of questions of the committee and had the answering in writing before last week's vote.
"Why now, all of a sudden?" said Currie. Then she added, "I'm not really good at politics."
Audette said he's glad the site selection process is over, and called the council's decision "great news." Until the committee had a site, he said, they remained in limbo.
"The hard work is ahead of us," Audette said, but he said he's happy to be moving forward.
"We still gotta go through the negotiations," said Audette, to strike a deal with the Scalia family. "Just because they back it doesn't mean it's a done deal."
Audette said he never expected the choice of a location to be so difficult.
"I'm just thrilled that the process can now move forward," said Audette, whose students at O'Connell will transfer to the new school when it is finished. "I love my school, but my school is 95 years old and it's really showing its age."

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Child safety zones created to keep sex offenders away from minors

The city approved the creation of child safety zones Tuesday where registered sex offenders who targeted minors won’t be allowed.
“This is a step in the right direction,” said city Councilor Frank Nicastro.
Councilors unanimously endorsed the statute, which will take effect in about two weeks.
Nicastro said he’s glad the city “is getting something that some teeth” by creating areas where children congregate that are barred to sex offenders.
The police are obligated to issue warnings to registered child sex offenders who go to municipal parks, schools, pools, beaches, ball fields and other child-friendly sites.
Offenders who refuse to move on, or return after being told to depart, will face $90 fines.
Nicastro said the savage beating and rape of a teenage girl in Brackett Park last year by a registered sex offender who was wearing an electronic bracelet at the time showcased the need for more government action.
“We have to do everything we can to protect our children,” said Nicastro, who asked the Ordinance Committee to adopt the law.
There are some cases when sex offenders can enter the new child safety zones.
They are allowed to enter polling places to vote even if voting machines are located within one of the zones.
They can also enter zones if they need to do so in order to meet conditions attached to their probation.
Finally, councilors agreed to allow sex offenders who have their own children to pick them up at school.
At any given time, there are about 100 registered sex offenders living in Bristol. It isn’t clear how many of them were convicted of a crime involving a minor.Dale Clift, an assistant city attorney, has said that the new law would require Police Chief John DiVenere to send written notice of the ordinance to everyone on the registry who lives in Bristol. Similar letters will be sent to anyone added to the registry, said city Councilor Craig Minor.The measure is modeled on one that Danbury adopted last year.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Council backs Scalia site for new school

Though city Councilor Mike Rimcoski said the move reminded him of "thieves in the night" sneaking through the back door, a majority of the council tonight backed the placement of a new K-8 school on the Scalia site off Barlow Street.
With the addition of Councilor Craig Minor, the council was able to muster a 4-3 vote to favor the site this time around. Just last Thursday, the council turned down the location.
More details to come.

9:25 p.m. update:
Just days after rejecting the Scalia sand pit site for a new school, the City Council reversed itself Tuesday.
Councilor Craig Minor, who joined the majority in a 4-3 vote against the site last week, said Tuesday that he changed his mind over the weekend in order to allow the controversial project to move forward.
Minor said that his own site preference, at the former grocery store site on Divinity Street, couldn’t attract enough votes. As a result, he said, he agreed to back his second choice for the 900-student, kindergarten to eighth grade school.
“It took a lot of courage” for Minor to switch sides, said Councilor Ken Cockayne, a member of the West Bristol School Building Committee that twice proposed building te new school on the Scalia “A” site.
But city Councilor Mike Rimcoski, who opposed the site, said the last-minute change “makes the entire council look like they’re thieves in the night.”
He said that unexpectedly bringing the issue up for a vote again is “the best way to sneak in the back door” with the public caught unawares.
Mayor Art Ward said the vote should have been delayed so that taxpayers would have the chance to address the council before a decision was made.
“I don’t see the urgency,” said Ward, who joined Rimcoski and Councilor Frank Nicastro in opposing the choice.
With the Scalia site now approved, the city plans next to open negotiations with the owners of the Scalia site and the former Crowley dealership next door to Greene-Hills School, which the council targeted last fall for a new school.
The Board of Educations has long-term plans to open two new K-8 schools and to close four older buildings: Memorial Boulevard Middle School and three elementary schools – O’Connell, Greene-Hills and Bingham.
Education officials want both new schools to open at the same time in order to ease the redistricting hassles and prevent logistical complications that might push up costs on the $115 million plan.
Nicastro said that “people have the right to change their mind” and he appreciates Minor’s concerns, but there is no rush to make a decision.
Nicastro said he doesn’t want to plunge ahead without some idea how much the Scalia site might cost taxpayers.
But the Real Estate Committee, which Nicastro chairs, may have a crucial role to play on the issue because it has the responsibility under the cty charter to review the negotiated deals with Crowley and Scalia. It has the capacity to vote down the deals or simply sit on them.
The city attorney, Edward Krawiecki, Jr, said the council could take up the sales anyway as long as a majority of councilors want to bring it up.
Councilor Kevin McCauley said that if the Scalia site hadn’t won approval, there is “a strong possibility” that both school sites would have fallen through.
He commended Minor for making “the right move.”
Another supporter of the site, Councilor Cliff Block, said that the issue presented “a hard decision” for Minor. He commended his colleague for changing sides, adding that Minor “was not pressured” to do it.
Minor said he didn’t see any reason to delay the decision.He said the issue has been on the table for a year and people have had many chances to speak about it.
Minor said that more delay would put “undue financial and emotional pressure” on property owners near the Divinity and Park streets site that had been eyed. He said it was important to clear away that uncertainty, as a number of residents there had requested.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
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