Warren's council hears budget, pact proposals

The mayor has proposed the use of a city building for the tourism bureau.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The city's proposed 2006 budget and proposed three-year labor contracts for firefighters and other city workers were introduced to city council.
The budget proposal from Mayor Michael O'Brien totals about $74 million. This year's budget is about $71 million, and the increase is largely because of inflation, city Auditor David Griffing has said.
The mayor's proposed general fund budget for 2006 includes $35,000 for a home-buyers' incentive program, $65,000 for demolition, $15,000 for sidewalk improvements and $500,000 for street resurfacing and upgrading. Five police officers are the only new city employees proposed in the mayor's 2006 budget.
State law requires council to pass by the end of this month either a full-year 2006 budget or a three-month appropriation. "If we don't have a budget in place on Jan. 1, then I can't pay anybody," Griffing said Wednesday night. "We try to put together an annual budget so that we have to go through the process only once."
Firefighters' contract
The contract for the city's 75 firefighters belonging to Local 204 of the International Association of Firefighters calls for 2-percent annual pay increases, 2-percent pension pickup by the city and a new health-care plan designed to save the city $144,000 a year.
The other labor contract is the agreement with 217 city service workers belonging to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 74, who work in all departments. That agreement gives AFSCME workers, whose salaries average about $35,360 a year, 1.5-percent annual pay increases.
The mayor announced he will propose that the Trumbull County Tourism Bureau rent the historic former Connecticut Land Office Building, 321 Mahoning Ave. N.W., whose exterior has just been restored, for office space at $250 a month rent, plus $250 toward the utilities. The city owns the 1,000-square-foot building. The bureau's trustees will meet today at the Avalon Inn in Howland.
The land office building is ideal for the bureau because it is centrally located among the county's key tourist and entertainment attractions, the mayor said.
Perkins Park improvements
O'Brien also announced that bids will be sought next month for $500,000 worth of improvements to the Perkins Park amphitheater, with the work to be completed by Memorial Day. The project, to be known as The Warren Community Stagehouse, will add a roof, dressing rooms and restrooms and reconfigure the stage.
Council passed an ordinance sponsored by Councilman Robert Holmes III, D-4th, under which the city will enter into a new contract with a private firm for downtown parking enforcement.
Council also passed another Holmes-sponsored ordinance under which the city will enter into a contract for management of its downtown parking deck on Franklin Street. Both contracts have been held by USA Parking and expire Dec. 31.
Holmes noted that parking ticket revenue has declined from $36,000 in 2003 to $24,000 last year, and is only $20,000 so far this year, and he said he hopes those numbers can be improved upon.