The Board of Finance met on Monday for the first time since a pair of new members were sworn in earlier this month, marking the start of a new term for the board.
The meeting also came as budget discussions are just getting underway in Town Hall.
The board unanimously voted to re-elect John Michaels as the chair, a position he has held for decades, while Tom Connor was again voted as vice-chair.
Monday was the first Board of Finance meeting for new members Vivian Templeton and Michael Carrington – both Democrats. Meanwhile, longtime board member John Reilly has swapped his regular member seat with an alternate position on the board, essentially trading spots with Steven Giacomi, who won reelection to the board last month.
Following the election of officers, the board discussed and approved a pair of grants to aid the Southbury Police Department.
Police Grants Approved
By securing the Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership grant, in the amount of $12,220 for ballistic vests, it would reimburse half of the town’s cost to purchase new vests, while the department remains compliant with safety standards and contractual obligations.
Finance Director Dan Colton explained that the town provides a new officer with their first ballistic vest, but officers have historically been made to purchase their own vests after that. The vests have a lifespan of about five years and come at a cost of $1,200 per vest.
Colton said that when an officer purchases a new vest, they will be reimbursed for the cost under the terms of the new grant. The grant covers half the cost of 20 ballistic vests, and it was mentioned that the local police department may apply for this grant again in the future.
There are currently 24 police officers in the newly independent Southbury Police Department.
The second grant accepted by the Board of Finance is in the amount of $24,132.36 from the state’s Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Office (CT HSO). The grant would support initiatives that improve traffic safety through more efficient enforcement practices.
In a letter sent from Police Chief Chris Grillo to the Board of Finance, dated November 14, he writes, “Our goal is to reduce the number of crashes, injuries and fatalities from impaired driving through increased high-visibility DUI enforcement activities. Additionally, we aim to communicate with the public, through media venues, the increased levels of DUI enforcement activities so drivers will realize the risks and consequences of operating a vehicle while under the influence and therefore deter that behavior.”
There is no financial burden to the town by accepting the CT HSO grant; all costs associated with overtime, fringe benefits, and the procurement of new equipment will be fully covered by the awarded funds.
Internal Audit Report Flags IT Asset Issues
The board was also presented with an internal audit report of the town’s Information Technology Asset Management, prepared by the Minneapolis-based CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) accountancy firm.
The firm had been tasked with high-priority reviews of certain departments in past years, and this year they chose to probe the town’s IT department, specifically IT Asset Management.
CLA determined an overall audit rating of “Unsatisfactory” – meaning that 26% or more of the samples selected for testing did not pass the test criteria.
While the 13-page report can be read in its entirety below, CLA tested the purchasing, tracking, and allocation of IT assets within the IT department for the 2024 fiscal year.
“There’s some things that we can look at and improve upon, which we’ll work on, and that’s how we look at this report,” Colton said to the board.
CLA interviewed both Colton and the town’s former IT Director, David Richards, as part of the internal audit. Richards left his position in September after five years in Southbury to begin a new position in the Caribbean Island of Saba as the island’s Department Head of Information Services.
There are already some “easy fixes” being put in place, Colton said, with a possible follow-up with CLA next spring to ensure some of the new processes—like the handling of cell phone bills—are up to speed.
First Selectman Tim O’Neil, who was present at Monday’s meeting, said that he is “in the process of reviewing the IT Director applications, and learning about IT remote options.”
Park Damage Under Investigation
The board was briefed on some of the damage sustained at two of the town’s parks: Settlers Park and Ballantine Park.
An insurance adjuster was shown the damages on Tuesday, and the town is awaiting their report.
At Monday’s meeting, however, it was estimated by town officials that somewhere between $25,000 and $50,000 of damage was sustained over Thanksgiving weekend.
The pavilion at Ballantine Park and the kitchen area at Settlers Park were heavily damaged, with restrooms destroyed and their locks broken.
In the kitchen at Settlers Park, lights were smashed, fire extinguishers were sprayed, and cabinets were ripped completely off the wall.
An active investigation is underway by the Southbury Police Department.
The cost to repair the damage will be covered by insurance, except for a $5,000 deductible, Colton said.
“It’s a considerable amount of damage, so we’ll see that affect our insurance line next year,” he added.
O’Neil added that a number of items were stolen from the parks, including signs and possibly fundraiser money for park concerts. Fields in the parks were also damaged with tire marks from cars doing donuts on them.
“We definitely should have cameras in there moving forward,” O’Neil said. “You would think that if there were kids that did the damage in one place, they’d hightail it out of there. They ended up going to another park and doing the same amount of damage.”
Library Staffing and Budget Timeline
When the Southbury Public Library was out of operation for over a year due to historic flooding, a budgeted $25,000 was taken out of the library’s budget, pending its reopening.
Now that the library is open again, the board anticipates making a future transfer from the town’s contingency fund back to the library’s budget for the purpose of hiring two part-time employees.
That transfer could be made at the next Board of Finance meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, January 13. While Board of Finance meetings are usually held on Mondays, the board will meet on Tuesday due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Holiday on Monday, January 12.
The following month, on or before Friday, February 13, O’Neil will submit his budget to the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance.
“Department heads have prepared their budgets,” said O’Neil. “We’ve met with the Building Department, the Tax Department, the Fire Marshal, Public Works, and Emergency Management. Town employees are very professional. That really stands out.”
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