Town of Southington, CT Health and Sanitation

The Town of Southington hereby unites with the Town of Plainville to form the Plainville-Southington Regional Health District pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 368F of the Connecticut General Statutes. It is hereby declared that the purpose of this article is to protect, preserve and improve the public health of the citizens of the municipalities of the Plainville-Southington Regional Health District.

§ 258-2 Regional board of health.

The affairs of the Health District shall be managed by a Board, which shall have all the duties exercised or performed immediately prior to the effective date of the creation of this Health District by the Directors of Health of the constituent municipalities of the Health District.

The Health District Board shall exercise all the authority as to public health required of or conferred upon the constituent municipalities by law and shall have the powers set forth in Section 19a-243 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended.

Appointments to Board. The appointment of the Board shall be governed by statutes and regulations for the State Department of Public Health. Based upon current guidelines, the Town Council for the Town of Southington shall appoint five members to the Board and the Town Council for the Town of Plainville shall appoint two members to the Board. Of the five members to be appointed by the Town of Southington, one shall be its Town Manager and, of the two members appointed by the Town of Plainville, one shall be its Town Manager. The other appointments shall be in the discretion of the Town Council.

Term of office. The term of office for members of the Health District Board shall be three years, except that, during the initial formation of the Board, appointments shall be staggered into one-, two- or three-year terms.

§ 258-3 Director of Health.

Appointment.

(1)

The Health District Board, with approval of the Commissioner of Public Health, shall appoint a full-time Director of Health for the Health District, pursuant to the procedure and qualifications set forth in Section 19a-242 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended. The Board may also appoint a full-time Acting Director of Health to serve in the Director of Health's absence or if a vacancy exists, provided such Acting Director meets the same qualifications as the Director of Health, as set forth in Section 19a-242 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended, or such qualifications as may be approved by the Commissioner of Public Health. Upon the appointment of a Director of Health for the Health District, the terms of office of the present Director of Health of each constituent municipality shall terminate.

(2)

The Health District shall also appoint the current Medical Advisor from Southington and the current Medical Advisor from Plainville for a period of at least two years. After such time, it shall be in the discretion of the Board as to the appointment of the Medical Advisor(s).

Powers and duties. The Director of Health shall perform all such duties as are required of directors of health by the Connecticut General Statutes or the State of Connecticut Public Health Code. In addition, the Director of Health shall enforce all ordinances of the constituent municipalities within said municipalities as long as such said ordinances do not conflict with the Connecticut General Statutes or the State of Connecticut Public Health Code; provided, however, that any provision of a municipal ordinance which is more strict than the State of Connecticut Public Health Code shall not constitute a conflict, and the provisions of the municipal ordinance shall prevail.

Removal. The Director of Health may be removed upon vote of a majority of the members of the Health District Board upon a finding of misconduct, material neglect of duty, or incompetence in the conduct of his office, in accordance with Section 19a-242 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended.

§ 258-4 Powers and duties of Board.

General powers. The Health District Board may make and promulgate reasonable rules and regulations for the promotion of general health within the district; such rules and regulations shall not be in conflict with the State of Connecticut Public Health Code or any municipal ordinance of each constituent municipality; provided, however, that any provision of such rules and regulations which is more strict than the State of Connecticut Public Health Code shall not constitute a conflict, and the provision of the rules and regulations shall prevail. No such rule or regulation shall be adopted until a public hearing has been held by the Board of the proposed rule or regulation. Notice of the time, place and purpose of the hearing shall be by publication in a newspaper having a substantial circulation in each constituent municipality at least seven days prior to the hearing. The powers of the Board shall include, but not be limited to, the following: to sue and be sued; to make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of powers of the Health District; to make and from time to time amend and repeal bylaws, rules and regulations; to acquire real estate; and to have whatever other powers are necessary to properly carry out its powers as an independent entity of government; to develop and implement a budget; and to develop and implement public health policy for the Health District.

Meetings; Chairperson. The Board shall meet at least quarterly and at other times determined by the Chairperson. At the Board's initial meeting and thereafter at each fall meeting, the Board shall elect a Chairperson, and the Health District shall furnish the necessary offices and equipment to enable the Board to carry out its duties.

Fiscal year; budget. The fiscal year of the Health District shall be from July 1 to June 30, and by the 31st day of January in each year, the Board shall estimate the amount of money required to pay the costs and expenses of the Health District during the ensuing fiscal year and submit that amount to the Town Managers' offices for both Southington and Plainville. Pursuant to Section 19a-243 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended, such Board shall hold a public hearing on its proposed budget, two weeks' notice of which shall be given in a newspaper having a circulation in each constituent municipality of such district. From time to time, the Board shall draw upon the Treasurer of each Town within the District a proportionate share of the expenses of such district, from such funds as may have been appropriated by each, to pay the costs of operating the Health District, such apportionment to be made equitably on a per-capita basis as established by the most recent annual population estimate by the State Department of Public Health. The Health District shall make timely applications to the State Department of Public Health for reimbursements for which it is entitled, as set forth in Section 19a-245 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended. The Health District shall provide said Department with all budgetary and other information necessary for the Health District to qualify for any reimbursements or other funds allowable under state or federal law.

Article II Brownfield Cleanup Program

[Adopted 12-12-2005 (Ch. 9, Art. VI, of the 1989 Code)]

§ 258-5 Title.

This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Brownfield Cleanup Program."

§ 258-6 Declaration of policy and findings of fact.

The Town Council hereby finds that there are many abandoned and likely contaminated properties that threaten the health and vitality of the communities they burden, and that these sites, known as "brownfields," are also contributing to sprawl development and loss of open space. It is therefore declared that, to advance the policy to conserve, improve and protect its natural resources and environment and control water, land and air pollution in order to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the Town and their overall economic and social well-being, it is appropriate to adopt this article to encourage persons to voluntarily remediate brownfield sites for reuse and redevelopment.

§ 258-7 Definitions.

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

APPLICANT

A person whose request to participate in the brownfield cleanup program under this article has been accepted by the Town Council.

BROWNFIELD or BROWNFIELD SITE

Any real property, the redevelopment or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous waste, petroleum, pollutant or contaminant.

BROWNFIELD SITE CLEANUP AGREEMENT

An agreement executed in accordance with this article between the applicant and the Town for the purpose of completing a brownfield site remedial program.

BROWNFIELD SITE REMEDIAL PROGRAM or REMEDIAL PROGRAM

All remedial activities or actions undertaken to eliminate, remove, treat, abate, control, manage or monitor hazardous waste or petroleum at or emanating from the brownfield site, including, but not limited to, the following:

Remedial investigation and remedy selection activities needed to develop such a program.

Design activities.

Construction activities, including, without limitation, grading, contouring, trenching, grouting, capping, excavating, transporting, incinerating, thermally treating, chemically treating, biologically treating, or constructing leachate collection and treatment systems.

Interim remedial measures.

Post-construction operation, maintenance, and monitoring.

Restoration of the environment.

ON-SITE CONTAMINATION

Any hazardous waste or contamination located within the real property boundaries of a brownfield site.

PERMANENT CLEANUP or PERMANENT REMEDY

A cleanup or remedy that would allow a site to be used for any purpose without restriction and without a reliance on the long-term employment of institutional or engineering controls.

§ 258-8 Request for participation.

A person who seeks to participate in this program shall submit a request to the Economic Development Coordinator on a form provided by that Department. Such form shall include information to be determined by the Economic Development Coordinator sufficient to allow the Department to determine eligibility and the reasonably anticipated land use of the site.

The Economic Development Coordinator shall notify the applicant requesting participation in this program within 30 days after receiving such request that such request is either complete or incomplete. In the event the application is determined to be incomplete, the Economic Development Coordinator shall specify the missing necessary information required pursuant to this article to complete the application.

Upon the determination that the application is complete, the Economic Development Coordinator shall present the application to the Town Council for its approval or denial or that it be sent back for more information.

The Town Council of the Town of Southington shall use all best efforts to expeditiously notify the applicant within 45 days after receiving the final application of its decision on the applicant's request for participation.

§ 258-9 Brownfield site cleanup agreement.

The applicant and the Town shall be required to sign a brownfield site cleanup agreement as established by the Economic Development Coordinator and Town Attorney and approved by the Town Council.

The agreement shall fully set forth the terms of the reduction of taxes as to remediation as set out in this section.

The Town Council shall have the power to reduce real estate taxes within this section by up to 30% of the difference between the current real estate tax and the post-cleanup real estate tax. The Town Council shall be allowed, by a two-thirds vote, to reduce an amount up to 100% of the difference between the current real estate tax and the post-cleanup real estate tax.

This program shall be for a period of 10 years or for a tax abatement that totals the total amount of the cleanup, excluding administration and legal fees, whichever is sooner.

This program shall not be available for commercial uses that have a building area of more than 50,000 square feet.

§ 258-10 Certification of completion.

Upon certification by the applicant that the remediation requirements of this article have been achieved for the brownfield site, such applicant shall submit to the Economic Development Coordinator a final engineering report prepared by an individual licensed to practice environmental engineering.