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Board approves $19,240 CRF appropriation to pilot roadway flood-sensor system and OKs small budget transfers
Summary
The Branford Board of Finance recommended a $19,240 appropriation from the Coastal Resiliency Fund for a one-year pilot of four cell-connected roadway flood sensors, approved related transfers to fund the pilot, and approved routine personnel and overtime transfers; all motions passed unanimously.
The Branford Board of Finance on June 29 recommended that the Representative Town Meeting appropriate $19,240 from the Coastal Resiliency Fund to pay for Phase 1 (pilot) installation of a roadway flood-sensor system.
Peter Hentschel, chair of the Coastal Vulnerability Group and an RTM member, told the board the one-year pilot will install four self-contained, cellular flood-level sensors (three roadway sites and one Long Island Sound location) that report real-time status to a free cell phone app for first responders and the public. The vendor for cloud communication, system software and the cellular platform was identified in the materials as Sentient Things LLC; the contract amount for vendor-provided equipment and cloud services in the packet was listed as $5,240. Town staff would provide local installation of four poles, target pads and device attachments; the packet sets a local installation not-to-exceed amount of $14,000 and a total appropriation request of $19,240 funded from the CRF fund balance.
The Board of Finance approved the related accounting transfers to move $19,240 from general-fund contingency to a transfer-out to the town capital fund, and to increase Fund 700 transfer-in and capital outlay lines as described in the packet. The board also approved two other agenda transfers: a $9,600 FY 2026-27 personnel transfer requested by Human Resources (to reflect bargaining-unit alignment and position reclassifications) and an $8,000 transfer requested by the Tax Collector to cover overtime. All motions were approved unanimously by the five board members present.
The BOF recommendation will go to the RTM for appropriation. The pilot is described as a validation step before further Phase 2 installations would be considered and coordinated with the Emergency Management Director.
