Hamden Roundup: Chiefs' Contracts

HAMDEN, CT — New contracts for the police and fire chiefs and a $100,000 grant to study a polluted Putnam Avenue lot were on the Legislative Council's agenda Monday, Oct. 5. The town has posted a recording of that night's session, but minutes, which record the votes, had not been posted by Friday, Oct. 9. Five council committees set for the same night did not meet.

Most other boards had no minutes posted by Friday either. Unless minutes are noted, what follows is what each agenda listed.

Legislative Council

The council's consent calendar listed:

Three-year agreements for Police Chief Edward Page Reynolds, starting Friday, Oct. 16, at a base salary of $150,236, and Fire Chief Shelly Carter, starting Monday, Nov. 30, at $147,290 plus $15,000 a year as emergency management director. Each needs a two-thirds vote.
Mayor Adam Sendroff's appointment of Jermaine B. Atkinson, a 25-year veteran of the Stratford Fire Department who rose to chief there, as assistant fire chief.
A $100,000 state grant, with no town match, to test and plan a cleanup at 344-350 Putnam Ave., a former auto body shop vacant for more than 35 years and contaminated with tetrachloroethylene.
Design of the Mill River Trail, which the town engineer puts at $286,000, with 80% reimbursed, up to $228,800.
Moving $70,000 between phases of Haley & Aldrich's $1.8 million Newhall foundation study, which has reached 155 properties instead of about 100, and extending it to the end of the year.
A $56,254 federal Justice Assistance Grant application, mostly for a $52,000 police cruiser, and a resolution backing a Connecticut Climate Superfund.

The regular agenda had an order turning the information technology manager job into an information technology administrator post, moving $10,750.50 to cover the higher pay this year. Items accepted onto the council's submission calendar for later action included 14 block grant agreements with nonprofits, a fleet proposal and a $26,000 police transfer for crossing guards. The council was also to get the Finance Committee's report on the Board of Education's request for $70,000 to hire WestEd to review special education.

Administration & Settlement Committee

The committee's 6:30 p.m. agenda listed a closed session on pending tax appeals and resolutions to settle cases brought by the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority, Whitney Center, Hamden Developers LLC, Northington Hamden Investors LLC and the owners of two other Dixwell Avenue properties. The resolutions do not state amounts.

Finance Committee

Its agenda took in the $70,000 school request and a $239,500 transfer from the contingency account to pay CliftonLarsonAllen for audit support and a study of the Finance Department.

Committees not held

The Engineering, Development & Municipal Planning; Human Services; IT & Civic Engagement; Public Safety; and Public Works, Facilities & Sustainability committees were not held "due to time," town notices say. Their agendas included an AKRF Inc. contract for phase 2 of traffic signal improvements in Hamden Center on Dixwell Avenue.

Civil Service Commission

Minutes show the commission met Tuesday, Oct. 6. It approved filling four jobs, among them truck driver and night custodian; removed two candidates from the police officer list at Reynolds' request; and approved 15 of 16 maintainer applications. It put off the eligibility lists, including one for branch library manager, until a special meeting Thursday, Oct. 8.

Farmington Canal Commission

Minutes show the commission met Tuesday, Oct. 6, on Zoom. Members set 2027 meetings for first Tuesdays, skipping August, and heard two students propose a pair of lending libraries along the trail with environmental books, Spanish-language titles and pamphlets on local parks. Commissioners stressed long-term upkeep; the students said they would return with a written plan.

Inland Wetlands Commission

The town posted video of the Wednesday, Oct. 7, meeting. The agenda had two town projects: shoring up the Hamden Hills Drive bridge footings over Shepard Brook and clearing sediment from the Pardee Brook diversion channel at 2623 Dixwell Ave.

Other boards

Arts Commission: The Wednesday, Oct. 7, meeting was canceled for lack of a quorum. Its agenda had a proposed jazz concert series.
Veterans Commission (Wednesday, Oct. 7): term limits and 2027 dates.
Audit Committee (Thursday, Oct. 8): a briefing on the 2023 and 2024 audits and reports from the firms CLA and CBIZ.
Human Rights & Relations Commission (Thursday, Oct. 8): Reynolds was invited to talk about youth programs.
Ice Rink Working Group (Thursday, Oct. 8): electing a chair and hearing town staff on the ice arena.
Technology Commission (Thursday, Oct. 8): an AI and technology policy.

Sources & Documents

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