During the meeting, discussion took place in response to resident's complaints about parking on Belden Street, as well as about a referral on the matter from the Planning & Zoning Commission.

The complaints allege that the parking results from overflow from Lombard Commons and Dunkin Donuts, typically occurring on weekend mornings and afternoons. Because cars line both sides of Belden, turning onto Main Street from Belden has become difficult.

"I've seen it myself," said Deputy Chief of Police Robert "Herm" Desena. "It's very frequent on Saturday mornings and Sunday mornings. It's the same problem at Heminway Park - inconsiderate motorists. People want to get their coffee, bagels or donuts and they're parked all along Belden Street."

Commissioner Jack Walton commented on how businesses might react to the restricted parking on Belden.

"One of the things we can't be doing is solving the problems of businesses," said Mr. Walton. "It's not up to the town to solve their parking problems."

Following discussion, the Police Commission voted to place no parking signs along Belden Street, hoping it will serve to deter people from parking there.

Also in attendance at the meeting was resident Dave LeBlanc, who came to repeat his concerns on the safety of school children on Heminway Park Road when entering and exiting the school.

Referring to documents he had received through Freedom of Information requests, he questioned whether or not the Public Works Department had conducted the study used to judge whether to place a crosswalk on Heminway.

He insisted that a crosswalk was necessary to ensure the safety of children entering and exiting the school.

Public Works Director Roy Cavanaugh elaborated on the steps Public Works undertook to make its determination in November in a later interview.

"There was never a formal written evaluation done," said Mr. Cavanaugh. "The process consisted of visually inspecting the site and based upon engineering experience and judgment, we decided to tell the town and BOE to look at the other options."

The Connecticut Department of Transportation Highway Design Guidelines state the conditions needed for the placement of a crosswalk in section 7-2.0. It stipulates that at a 25 mile-per-hour speed limit and 520 linear feet of sight distance is required for a stop on an urban road.

While noting the visually inadequate sight line distances on Heminway Park Road, Mr. Cavanaugh stated, "We saw it was not worth the time to do a full engineering study, when the BOE was trying to come up with better options."

The Police Commission also voted to elect a chairman and vice-chairman at the meeting.

Both positions remained unchanged, with Judy Pilicy re-elected as chairman and secretary and Patricia Kropp as vice-chairman.