ENFIELD PRISON/TOWN LIAISON COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING

September 9, 2009

CALL TO ORDER

A Regular Meeting of the Enfield Prison/Town Liaison Committee was held in the Thompsonville Conference Room at the Enfield Town Hall on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.  Chairman Nowak called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Present from the Town of Enfield were:  Chairman Tophie Nowak, Kenneth Edgar, Carmella Brennan, Nelson Rodriguez, Captain Gary Collins, Representative Karen Jarmoc arrived at 7:10 and Councilman Cynthia Mangini arrived at 7:15.

Present from the Department of Corrections were:  Warden Christine Whidden, Warden Esther Torres, Warden Edward Maldonado and Administrator Michael Lajoie.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

In the minutes from the June 10, 2009 meeting, Kenneth Edgar made the motion to adjourn. The minutes from the June 10, 2009 meeting were passed unanimously with the amended item.

OLD BUSINESS

Report of Population Counts

                                          Current Qrt.        Past Qrt.

Warden Torres                 Willard Cybulski                  1157                1159

Warden Maldonado          Enfield                                   723                  692

Warden Whidden              Carl Robinson                      1452                1450

Report of Chairman

Chairman Nowak toured the Enfield facility.

Update of Notification System

No Report at this time.

Review of Significant Incidents or Policy Changes

Willard/Cybulski – Quiet. Garden is ready to be harvested. There are two new deputy wardens. Community Detail has helped with Enfield’s Fourth of July Celebration’s setup and breakdown. See attached.

Carl Robinson – Quiet. Garden is also ready to be harvested. Community Detail is working at the Fire Academy in Windsor Locks washing and painting.   

Enfield – Quiet. The Fire Chiefs are invited to a tour on September 11, 2009. There is a Department of Corrections tour on September 16, 2009. On September 18, 2009, the Emergency Response Team will be given a tour. The vegetable garden’s produce was used in the inmates’ meals. They plan on making the garden bigger for next year. $1000 was donated to American Heart Association, 1/3 of donations came from inmate population. MERCA training was given to the workers.

NEW BUSINESS

Mr. Lajoie is getting ready for H1N1 preventative policy. Quarantine areas will be set up. Inmates are being educated and hired to do additional cleaning in the facility. If a prisoner becomes ill, he will be placed in quarantine immediately.  If an employee becomes ill, they will be sent home for five days.

The general public is more likely to cause exposure coming into the facilities. Hand sanitizers will be placed into the facility lobbies so that the people coming in can wash their hands to avoid any contamination.

Chairman Nowak wants positive articles about the prison throughout the media.

Northern had an incident where a prisoner was found dead in a cell. It is currently a criminal investigation.

Prisoners have been able to take apart pieces of metal footlockers.  A committee was formed to find ways to replace them with a safer alternative so they can’t be used as weapons. They have come up with a plastic bag which has been tested by the State Fire Marshall. They will now be used to store the inmates’ property. The footlockers will be pulled from the facility. The new footlockers will be used at Northern.

Representative Jarmoc commented that she initiated the change of the footlockers back in March.  She is pleased about how quickly they are changing out the lockers.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Chairman Nowak stated the next meeting is scheduled for December 9, 2009, 7pm at the Carl Robinson Conference Center.

ADJOURNMENT

Kenneth Edgar made a motion to adjourn and Carmela Brennan seconded it.  The vote was unanimous, and the meeting stood adjourned at 7:25 p.m. 

Respectfully submitted,

Mariann Tucker

Recording Secretary