Politics Not-as-Usual Permeates First Town Council Meeting

Monroe Town Council members held their first meeting following inauguration ceremonies Monday night. Taking on the Town's business were three Democrats — party veterans Dee Dee Martin and Michele Mount, and a returning council member  Raymond Knapp. Jr. — plus six Republicans including newly elected Debra Dutches and Frank Lieto, a re-elected Deborah Heim, J.P. Sredzinski and Tony Unger, as well as, party veteran Enid Lipeles.

The first order of business was the election of a temporary chairman so that the meeting could proceed. It was a 9-0 shoe-in for former chairman Enid Lipeles. But, when she proceeded with nominations for the election of a new, permanent chairman of the Town Council as is required, Michele Mount respectfully threw Martin's name in the ring based on her many year’s of service to Monroe and "in the spirit of bipartisanship."

Republican Sredzinski, while acknowledging Martin's long record of service to the town, respectfully stated "I will, however, be voting for Lipeles" whose name had also been put into nomination.

The vote was 7-2 for Lipeles, with Knapp crossing party lines to vote with the Republicans.

And there it is — a snapshot of the new "nice" and determination to do the best for Monroe.

It was clearly evident on the Republican side when Heim nominated Lipeles for the post she has held for the past 14 years. Traditionally the winning candidate who receives the most votes takes over as chairman. Heim beat out Lipeles by a single vote this past election. Bowing to Lipeles' unparalleled experience, she stepped back for the good of the council and was then unanimously elected to the vice-chairman position. 

Committee appointments were made from the pool of council members. Trios will act as liaisons between the town council and various committees. 

Appointed to the Finance, Education, Health & Public Safety matters were Heim, Knapp Jr. and Dutches. 

Mount, Unger and Lieto were appointed to Planning & Zoning, Public Works and Parks & Recreation matters.   

Sredzinski, Martin and Lipeles were appointed to Legislative & Administrative matters; and Unger was made parliamentarian. 

GIS opportunity

Richard Zini, chairman of the Planning & Zoning Commission appeared before the council to recommend a resolution by the town, to join in a regional application by the Greater Bridgeport Regional Council (GBRC) to the state for GIS mapping of Monroe.

GIS, geographic information system, is designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data. It's the merging of cartography, statistical analysis, and database technology. It’s a layering of up to 100 maps pinpointing waterways, septic systems, roads, wetlands, wells. A GIS integrates, stores, edits, analyzes, shares and displays geographic information for informed decision making. 

The $1.4 million grant will fund the GIS system which will be housed and maintained by GBRC. Monroe will have access to its own information, as well as, to that of the other participating towns: Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton and Newtown. 

There will be no cost to Monroe at any level, unless the town decides to setup its own technology center and withdraw its GIS software from the GBRC. 

"We've gone over this carefully, asking the same questions you are," said Zini when Lipeles said it all "sounded too good to be true."

"This (kind of project) has been in the town's Master Plan for several years," Zini said. He estimated that if Monroe developed a GIS on its own, the cost would be close to $400,000.

"I think it's a no-brainer," said Mount. "The state is moving forward to regionalize in an effort to help municipalities.”

"It seems too good to be true. But it's what it should be," said Sredzinski.

Residents interested in the details should attend the Dec. 12 council meeting, 8 p.m., in Council Chambers. A GBRC representative will be appearing with a full presentation.

Public Hearings Dec. 12

• Town Hall Council Chambers, 7 p.m., Demolition Delay Ordinance (Changing the waiting period and fee.)
• 7:45 p.m., Auction Code Amendment (Changing the requirement for application and a fee every 15 days for a permanent town business, to one application and one $50 fee per year.)
• 8 p.m. The regular council meeting begins.