Board of Selectmen Meeting, May 23, 2024
If you didn't have the opportunity to personally attend or zoom in to the the recent Board of Selectmen meeting of May 23, 2024, we are providing the recorded GCTV video for your convenience.
BOS Special Meeting Agenda Material
2024 Approved Board of Selectmen Meeting Schedule
Under the "Selectwonen's Updates," Selectwoman reported on the decoration of the barriers on Greenwich Avenue. This is a taxpayer funded town priority? Yet there was no funding for the decoration of the war memorials in town as noted by local Veterans.
"4. Selectwomen’s Updates Selectwoman Rabin said she would keep things brief because the agenda was packed. She said she wanted to acknowledge they had received proposals for decorating the barriers that had been placed for outdoor dining on Greenwich Avenue and the side streets. She reported 16 proposals had been received and were being graded with a meeting likely to happen next week to pick finalists."
Also within the "Old Business" section of the minutes regrding the placement of automatated traffic safety devices in town, it appears, regardless of the infringement on privacy and rights, the appeals process was not thought out well..
"5. Old Business a. Request for approval of ordinance on Use of Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices.
Town Administrator Ben Branyan told the Board that this date was the closing of the RFP for vendors and noted previous requests from the Board for public hearings and public education on this topic. He said their expectation was they could coordinate with whomever was winning vendor on a public information campaign. Branyan said there would be an evaluation process after the closing of bids and they were months away from choosing a vendor. He said the ordinance before the Board of Selectmen had to be approved first. First Selectman Camillo said they would do their best to educate people going forward.
Chief of Police James Heavey said this was being done because of Public Act 23- 116 which allowed local police departments to use speed cameras. He noted Stamford had changed its ordinance just recently and felt there were “really good” vendors that had submitted bids. Heavey said a traffic study would be done in advance of any placement of the devices and the focus would be school zones. He said they would identify locations that would be most effective and there would be a period of change with signage going up to alert people and then enforcement. Part of the fee for violations would go to pay for the devices and also cover Town traffic and safety initiatives. Chief Heavey said they had gotten very little negative input about it and he felt it would be a positive thing.
Camillo said he had only received one negative comment. Heavey said that if anyone was concerned about being sent a ticket when they were not guilty of any violation there is an appeal process as part of the ordinance where the recording would be reviewed by the police department and the person would have a chance to refute the citation. Camillo said it was a public safety measure and not a revenue generator for the Town.
Selectwoman Rabin said she had gotten some feedback from people concerned about removing the human being factor for a violation. She said when someone is cited now it is being done by another human being and there would be a back and forth when it happened. Rabin said she was glad to hear there was a potential for that through the appeal process and there could be a dialogue if someone felt they were being improperly cited. Rabin said in her five years on the Board she always heard concerns from residents about traffic and speeding and people always asked for more enforcement. She said this would extend the ability to enforce and felt that was something residents had been asking for. She said she understood why someone might feel this infringed on their rights but said if there was a chance to appeal then it was the best they could do.
Selectperson Stone McGuigan said she had gotten “overwhelmingly positive” with some pushback. She said she could not emphasize enough how important it was that information got out to the public about the ordinance and what the safety devices would do. Heavey suggested including notices about it in tax bills that went out to residents.
Selectwoman Rabin made a motion to approve the request for approval of the ordinance on the Use of Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices. It was seconded by Selectperson Stone McGuigan and was approved unanimously."
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