Council to meet Wednesday this week, one day after Election Day

Posted By: Staff November 8, 2022

The City Council is holding its November meeting on Wednesday this week instead of Tuesday, Election Day. Among the items on its agenda is the hiring of a council member as part-time deputy registrar of voters, a new conflict of interest acknowledgement for committee members and a new labor agreement between the city and the association of professionals and supervisors.

The meeting will take place immediately after the Joint Board meeting of the council and Board of Finance at the Board of Education Auditorium. The Joint Board meets at 6:45 p.m. Typically, the council meets at 7 p.m. or as possible after the Joint Board.

This is a link to the agenda:  http://www.bristolct.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11092022-5723?packet=true

Consent Calendar

5a. New Hire Report for October, 2022.  City Councilwoman Jolene Lusitani was hired last month as a part-time Deputy Registrar of Voters. The Registrar of Voters (there are two: a Democrat and a Republican) are responsible for training Election Day workers and maintaining the voting machines.

Both parties are authorized to have a Deputy Registrar and it’s an openly partisan position but hiring someone who already has a part-time job as City Councilmember is unusual. http://www.bristolct.gov/DocumentCenter/View/38534/CC-5a?bidId=

5e. To award Contract 2P23-010 Update of City of Bristol Regulatory Inland Wetland and Watercourse Mapping to BL Companies Connecticut, Inc. for $49,000 and to authorize the Mayor or Acting Mayor to execute. 

The environment is not static – wetlands can dry up or be created over time by human activity. The engineering firm BL Companies is being hired to update that map.  http://www.bristolct.gov/DocumentCenter/View/38536/CC-5e?bidId=

5i. To require each member of a city board or commission to annually acknowledge the City’s conflict of interest policies through the signing of a Conflict of Interest Acknowledgment.  http://www.bristolct.gov/DocumentCenter/View/38540/CC-5i?bidId=

Other business

Item #13: Approval to submit application up to $250,000 for DEEP Climate Resilience Fund Planning (Phase 1) grant for flood mitigation in the Pequabuck River/Coppermine Brook watershed area

The Department of Public Works wants to submit an application to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) for a grant to pay for a comprehensive study of the Pequabuck River/Copper Mine Brook watershed area.

The new Frederick Street bridge and the upstream improvements have significantly reduced the amount of flooding in the Frederick Street/Curtiss Avenue area, but apparently more needs to be done. http://www.bristolct.gov/DocumentCenter/View/38545/CC-13?bidId=

Item #17: Executive Session to review three-year labor agreement between City of Bristol and Bristol Professionals & Supervisors Association effective July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025.

This is the City Hall union that most of the “professionals” (people with college degrees, mostly) and the middle management supervisors belong to. The details of contracts like this are never revealed until the contract is officially agreed to by the City and the union members themselves. http://www.bristolct.gov/DocumentCenter/View/38550/CC-17?bidId=.

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