Milford mayor's 2012 state of the city address
If you do your job as a journalist you've written and detailed the biggest issues facing the city as they happen, and the state of the city address is just a recap. But that is not to diminish their value. It allows the mayor in his own words to recap for residents some of the biggest things that occurred over the past 12 months.
In reading the mayor's speech what do you think is the biggest thing that's happened over the past year. For me it's obviously the most recent election where Democrats led by Blake took back City Hall after a 22-year absence.
What else was noteworthy? Let me know at bmccready@nhregister.com Thanks. Brian McCready Metro Editor.
State of the
City Speech 2012
Today,
I've been asked to share with you the state of our city. I would be remiss if I
did not begin my comments by first thanking former Mayor Richetelli who worked
tirelessly with me to ensure a seamless transition, and whose management of our
city over the past many years left us well positioned to meet the demands of
today, and the challenges we face as we look to the future.
Ladies
and gentlemen, the state of our City is strong. In the face of a stubborn and
nagging recession, we have responded purposefully by facing these challenges
responsibly and making the tough choices needed, by looking at City operations
with a new set of eyes, looking for ways to do more with less. Better, faster,
cheaper.
A
moment ago, I thanked our business owners for creating Milford jobs. The
latest unemployment figures from April 2012, show that Milford has a 6.3 %
unemployment rate compared to 7.7% in State and 8.1% Nationally. In fact, since
last fall when I took office, Milford’s unemployment rate has dropped over 2% from
8.4% to 6.3%. It’s clear we are headed in the right direction.
Please keep up the good work.
The
poor economy which has gripped our nation these past several years has not
sparred Milford. We have fought back, sharpened our pencils and made difficult
choices. With the commitment and support of City Department Heads,
Superintendent Feser and our City Employees, we drafted and adopted a 2012-2013
budget which preserves and enhances core and essential City services while
meeting our very real and pressing obligations to Milford’s taxpayers already
under unprecedented financial pressures.
I
am proud to report that the final budget represents less than a 1% spending
increase on the City-side, or a modest total spending increase of just 1.24%.
-- Because of the Revaluation and the growing Grand List, Milford’s mill rate
has actually dropped from 28.89 mills to 25.6 mills. We were able to do
this while ensuring that all essential services remained intact and that our
police, fire, health, and other public safety departments remain among the
finest in the nation. The budget also funds our network of social
services which protect the most vulnerable of our citizens. The budget
maintains our public works and invests in our fundamental infrastructure, all
without dipping into the “rainy day” reserve fund.
We
have negotiated new contracts with 7 of the 9 Collective Bargaining Units in
the City. These are good and responsible contracts. Like in the private
sector, City employees, who had never previously contributed toward their
health insurance, will now be required to fund a premium cost share.
I
came into office believing we could, and we must, look to improve City
operations by driving out inefficiencies and seeking new ways to meet the
demands of our operation. I firmly believe we can yield substantial
savings with simple, yet effective changes, while also improving service
quality.
On
the cost savings side, we installed programmable thermostats in all city
buildings which will save tens of thousands of dollars in heating and cooling
costs annually. -- Now, we are moving forward with a Comprehensive Energy
upgrade to Parson, taking advantage of the financial grants and incentives
through UI and the CT Conservation and Loan Management program, to retrofit
antiquated and inefficient controls for the heating, cooling, and lighting
systems with new upgrades which will yield energy conservation savings of over
$92K per year.
We
recently purchased a lighting control system to monitor and manage the recreational
lighting at Washington field. We expect to realize huge energy savings by
being able to control the field’s lighting schedules from the internet, email,
phone, or fax. No longer will you see an empty softball fields lit-up
during a rainstorm. We hope to expand this program to better control the
lights at Fowler Field and the Eisenhower tennis courts.
In
February, after monitoring the electric supply market, we determined that it
was advantageous to renegotiate our rate with TransCanada to take advantage of
the favorable energy market. This will produce savings of approximately
$1,243,000 over the course of the contract.
We
also took advantage of the lowest interest rates we have seen in 45 years and,
in February, saved the City $913,000 by successfully refunding $8.3 million in
bond issues from the previous decade. In addition, the bond rating
agencies each reaffirmed our solid AA+ rating, citing our manageable debt and
prudent reserves.
As
you may know, we put the Administration of our health care out to bid, used the
opportunity to leverage a slow economy, and allowed the competitive market to
yield cost savings for the taxpayers. As a result of tough negotiations, a
willingness to look beyond Anthem, and some passionate input from some city workers,
we were able to extract over a $1 million dollars per year in Health Care
Administration cost savings.
The
other side of spending, of course, is revenue. While we rely primarily on
taxes, I'm committed to seeking out new, additional and alternative revenue
sources wherever possible. One example, and something we are currently
pursuing, is to take-over the billing of EMS services in Milford. Since
our paramedics presently perform Advanced Life Support, it is only appropriate
that the City should be billing insurance companies for the services it
performs. Many other cities have begun this practice. This could potentially
net substantial revenue for the City.
Beyond
budgets and spending, we have made, or are making, substantial progress on many
other fronts: Milford’s police, fire, health and public works responded
in exceptional fashion immediately after Tropical Storm Irene and they continue
to shine as the clean-up and repairs are completed. While FEMA has already
reimbursed Milford for some costs associated with Tropical Storm Irene, we
still anticipate millions in additional FEMA funding upon completion of the
large scale capital repairs at the Trumbull Avenue and Beach Avenue in
Woodmont.
Speaking
of the Borough, the Engineered Beach in Woodmont had over 9,000 cubic yards of
new sand trucked in from Cape Cod to replenish the area of shoreline damaged by
Irene. -At Gulf Beach, the pier and parking lot were restored, and a
major Erosion Control and Rehabilitation project was recently completed which
shifted the sand from east to west along the shoreline, rejuvenating the entire
section of beach. Walnut Beach had a series of site improvements to the
parking lot over the winter, and the sections of the boardwalk damaged in Irene
have been repaired. Finally, the Bulkhead replacement, repairs, and
renovations to the Town Dock at the end of High Street are nearing completion.
We
are pushing forward with an Agreement to sell a portion of the John Downs
property to Milford Hospital and save the historic home, repay $860K to the
taxpayers, and generate new economic development from the construction of a new
medical facility on the Post Road.
We
are actively and vigorously pursuing additional parking for Downtown. As an
accessible, regional center, Downtown Milford, as you know far too well, faces
tremendous parking challenges. Over the past several months, the
legislative delegation and I have been lobbying for funding for a new parking
structure.
Also,
on the downtown front, we have teamed-up with the Milford Technology Advisory
Council to develop a plan to bring WiFi coverage to Downtown Milford. We
are also committed, over the next 12 months, to make Milford a more walk-able
and bike-able city to get around, for both work and play. We will pursue better
sidewalks, crosswalks, and bike paths, especially in Downtown.
Turning
to the tough challenge of changing or reengineering the way we do
business. We have realized some success in recent reforms to streamline
processes, promote proper development, improve consistency and customer service
within our Department of Permitting and Land Use. Customers can now
complete and track building applications online, and pay for the associate fees
through PayPal. City departments can now sign-off on applications electronically
though View Permit without the cumbersome paper-chase of the former
system. Still, additional process improvements need to be fine-tuned in
order to enhance Milford’s permitting reputation. We must continue to
attract good businesses and corporate citizens who want to build or expand
operations in the best city on Earth.
During
this last legislative session, I worked closely with the Governor and State
Leaders, and through the tremendous advocacy of Milford’s State Delegation, a
new law was enacted which restores local control over solid waste facilities
who could otherwise threaten the environment and health of our citizens - in
particular, the welfare of neighbors adjacent to 990 Naugatuck Ave. This
new legislation re-establishes Milford’s ability to directly protect our way of
life. --- In addition to this legislative victory, the City has positioned
itself extremely well in its opposition to Recycling Inc’s Application for an
expanded permit before CT’s Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection.
Ladies
and gentlemen, I should stop here. Trust me, I could go on for some time about
the many exciting things we have been fortunate enough to accomplish, and on
the many things for which we are currently working, be it our communication
upgrade for police and fire, our investment in city and school infrastructure,
E-books for our Library, our veterans assistance program at Parsons, or flood
mitigation plans - the list goes on. Of course, I love talking about these
issues, people sometimes have to walk away when I get into the details of our
successful single stream recycling program. But, I’d like to leave time
for questions.
So,
I’ll end here by saying, we have a lot to be proud of as residents and business
owners in Milford. But, we have an ongoing responsibility to make Milford
a better place for the next generation. So, thank you for your continued
support and continued investment in the community. Next year we’ll do
even better.
Benjamin G. Blake, Mayor
City of Milford
110 River Street
Milford, CT 06460
203.783.3201 p
203.783.3329 f
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