Hoping that these bills won’t be voted in this session

With just three weeks to go in this year’s legislative session, as of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments (COG) April 10 meeting, members got an update on priority issues for this part of the state.COG is a regional planning agency made up of the first selectmen and a mayor from 20 area towns. Betsy Gara, executive director of the Council of Small Towns (COST), ran through a list of proposed bills that are of particular interest here. Much of what has not been put on House and Senate calendars by now will not make it through this session. But that is a considered a good thing, for the most part.Many COG members were hearing for the first time about proposed Senate Bill 405, which would repeal an existing law so that planning and zoning commissions would not be allowed to hold public hearings for subdivision applications that meet zoning requirements, and would be mandated to approve them without other considerations. Currently, the public may comment but does not vote on applications.It is raising concerns about public participation rights and constitutionality. As discussed at the COG meeting, other things also factor in, and the bill would not allow zoning commissions to hold subdivision applications up against a town’s plan of conservation and development, water quality standards and other environmental factors and the option to set aside 15 percent of land for conservation.Gara said COST has opposed the bill. She believes it will go next to the environmental committee. COG members voted unanimously to oppose the bill.Trimming trees Tree trimming is a priority issue raised by Cornwall First Selectman Gordon Ridgway. After recent major storms that caused massive and lengthy power outages, requirements were put in place for utility companies to be proactive with tree and branch cutting. Now, there is a proposal to dramatically scale back the enhanced tree trimming program.Legislation is proposed to go back to the “old ways of letting trees just fall down in storms,” Ridgway said at the top of the meeting. It would also reinstate the option for property owners to prevent trees from being cut. “So one person can say he doesn’t want a tree in front of his house cut and the guy down the street loses his power,” Ridgway said.A CL&P representative at the meeting said the bill is driven by legislators, including the speaker of the house from the New Haven area (United Illuminating territory), where constituents are rallying against tree trimming.The bill is still being crafted and awaiting hearings with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA). Letters in opposition were suggested. Gara later said there has not been a lot of discussion about it at COST, but promised to bring it up again. She also noted shoreline residents are “cheering” the proposal, and said they need to be reminded of what happened after those storms.In the realm of public safety, three bills are getting careful scrutiny. Towns’ share of RSTsCOST is seeking revisions to Senate Bill 288 that addresses the cost to towns for resident state trooper programs for overtime and fringe benefits. Towns currently pay 100 percent of overtime and 84 percent of fringe benefits, which will go to 93 percent in the next fiscal year under current law. The Public Safety Committee has approved the bill with an amendment to freeze the fringe benefit percentage at the current rate. It has been referred by the Senate to the Planning and Development Committee.House Bill 5531 is supported by COST. It would allow two or more municipalities to create a regional dispatch authority. It has been sent to the House.Bringing back police, 911Senate Bill 426 upholds new Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) Commissioner Dora Schriro’s freeze on further consolidation of dispatch for state police. It is out of committee and up for consideration by the Senate. COST is supportive.Schriro, who took over as head of the DESPP Feb. 1, has been traveling to state police troops across the state to evaluate conditions and needs. A major subject is the effects of dispatch consolidation in Litchfield County, in 2012, and in the northeast corner of the state since. Schriro halted a consolidation plan for the middle of the state while she works on her report, but reinstated trooper assignments so barracks could once again be open around the clock.COG Chair Don Stein, first selectman of Barkhamsted, was one of those who met with Schriro that afternoon, as she continues to collect input. Stein said later there was nothing new to report, as expected, but came away feeling confident.“She is a very, very impressive person,” he said. “She’s down-to-earth and very focused and seems genuinely willing to work with communities to make sure the right things happen.”Stein confirmed Schriro is considering the cost of reversing dispatch consolidation. New technology is now in place, so it would be a much bigger process than reinstalling the previous equipment. Schriro is also looking at other aspects, such as better management of 911 calls. Only about 40 percent of calls into the 911 system are actual emergencies, according to data Schriro brought to the meeting.Stein said she has agreed to come to a future COG meeting and he is hoping that can be arranged soon.