TOWN OF SOMERS
PRISON
LIAISON/PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
P. O. Box 308
Somers,
Connecticut 06071
Regular Meeting
Minutes
7/20/05 - 7:30
p.m.
Town Hall
I. Call
to Order:
Chairman Robert Minch called the meeting to order at 7:39 p.m. Members present in addition to the Chairman were: Former Chairman George VanTasel, Stephen Minikowski, Jo-Ann Torres, Edward Moylan, Anthony Liquori, Northern District Administrator Remi Acosta, Willard Cybulski Warden Bruce Cuscovitch, Osborn Warden David Strange and Northern Warden Wayne Choinski. Members absent were Charles Colby and Raymond LaFlamme.
II. Minutes Approval: April 20, 2005
George VanTasel made a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of April 20, 2005 and the motion was seconded by Chairman Minch and David Strange and unanimously approved.
III. Old
Business:
Remi Acosta brought up the Sewer Line Project which has been approved and is being overseen by Dave Badin who is in charge of the project. He will contact Badin to get a status report on the project and he will e-mail them to Chairman Minch. George VanTasel noted that the sewer line will run from the Osborn facility past Carl Robinson facility and that the Water Pollution Control Authority will be kept abreast of what is being done.
George VanTasel brought up the topic of prison expansion and Remi Acosta said this topic has not been discussed for some time and in fact there is some talk of sections closing.
IV. New
Business:
Chairman Minch asked the committee members if anyone had heard gun fire coming from a south westerly direction from his home about two weeks ago either on a Friday or Saturday evening around dusk time. He commented that there was some rapid firing from an unknown caliber of weapon that continued for about 45 minutes and conjectured that same was not from Department of Correction personnel in view of the time factor. The undersigned acknowledged hearing same and indicated having called the State Police twice about 1/2 hour between calls. The State Police dispatcher said no
Prison Liaison Minutes
7/20/05
Page 2
personnel were available on both occasions and indicated that as soon as someone was they would respond to it. David Strange concurred that there was no firing coming from the Osborn facility and it was generally agreed that there was no firing emanating from the indoor range or any of the DOC facilities.
Stephen Minikowski noted that the Town of Somers has approved and is close to picking a second ambulance. He however did not know how long it will take to make a selection but commented that the shortfall of ambulance service will be remedied soon. He also noted that the first town ambulance, which is of minimal monetary value, is still functional and good enough to use and will continue to provide coverage as well. He said the new ambulance will be a high technology ambulance and noted there were a large number of sign-ups at the high school as volunteers to support ambulance service. Chairman Minch commented he saw a photo of Stephen Minikowski in his full fire-fighting regalia in the local newspaper to which the latter replied that a scouting group from Ireland had hoped to visit with 25 towns or communities. This group expressed an interest in viewing a DOC facility but it was 9:00 p.m. and therefore not conducive for such a visit.
V. Bed
Count:
Warden Bruce Cuscovitch, David Strange and Wayne Choinski provided the following bed count for their respective facilities:
Willard-Cybulski C.I. 1100 (same)
Osborn C.I. 1874 (plus 17)
Northern C.I. 341 (minus 15)
_____
Total 3315 (increase of 2 since last
meeting)
Prison Liaison Minutes
7/20/05
Page 3
VI. Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn was made by George VanTasel and seconded by Chairman Robert Minch and Stephen Minikowski and unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 7:51 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Anthony J. Liquori, Jr.
Recording Secretary
TOWN OF SOMERS
MINUTES
ARE NOT OFFICIAL UNTIL APPROVED AT A SUBSEQUENT MEETING.