Windsor Locks Selectmen Approve Backlog of Meeting Minutes

After repeated delays during the past few meetings, the Windsor Locks Board of  Selectmen Tuesday approved four sets of minutes dating back as far as April 17.

The meeting minutes weren’t approved in the past because of disagreement over whether comments that selectmen found objectionable could be edited out.

Selectman Dennis Gragnolati said the purpose of any board’s or commission’s minutes is to record what happened in their meetings for posterity.

 Gragnolati had objected to what he said were derogatory statements made by people speaking at the board’s meetings. Selectwoman Denise Balboni has supported not voting to approve the minutes.

Gragnolati said Tuesday he would now vote for them after having conversations with state Freedom of Information Commission officials and some attorneys. He said the minutes are accurate and reflect what was said at the meetings.

“My approval of the minutes doesn’t mean I condone what’s in them,” Gragnolati said.

Resident Mickey Danyluk told the board he believes the town should hire stenographers to take transcripts of the meetings rather than rely on minutes. Danyluk said what statements have been included in the minutes has been uneven

First Selectman Steven N. Wawruck jr. has expressed frustration over people requesting that the minutes be brief and then others have requested that they contain much more detailed information.

Town officials have been posting audio recordings of the meetings on the town website. Wawruck has said the recordings have been posted so people who want to know everything that is said at the meetings can hear them.

Resident Peter Tomalonis questioned whether he should ask the town attorney directly for copies of the audio recordings. In the past he was able to get a CD recording of the meetings promptly after requesting them, Tomalonis said.

Wawruck said town staff has been inundated with requests for audio recordings. He said they are following FOI requirements by responding to requests through the town attorney.

“All FOI requests go to his office,” Wawruck said. “He reviews them and gets the appropriate answer out.”

Town officials are also trying to resolve a technical problem with the website that, when fixed, will allow people to download the audio recordings from the site, Wawruck said.

“We’re trying to work through the issue,” he said.