Norwich — The City Council on Monday will receive reports on five ethics violations found on city officials who participated in a lavish trip to the Kentucky Derby, and while the council is not scheduled to review the reports that night, it will vote on a resolution to send the four reports involving Norwich Public Utilities officials to the city utilities commission.

As part of that resolution, the council will ask the Board of Public Utilities Commission to hold off on its appointment of board officers until the council votes on appointing one member to the utilities board.

Current utilities commission member Larry Goldman's term expired March 1, and Goldman, a Democrat, is seeking reappointment. But there is strong interest in the five-year position on the board, with four total applicants.

The list includes Gregory Schlough, a Democrat and current member of the Ethics Commission, that ruled in February that the utilities commission Chairwoman Dee Boisclair and Vice Chairman Robert Groner violated the city ethics code by participating in the Kentucky Derby trip hosted by the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Commission.

NPU General Manager John Bilda, NPU Division Manager Steve Sinko and Mayor Deberey Hinchey also were found in violation of the city ethics code for attending the Kentucky Derby trip.

Along with Schlough, Republican Stewart Peil and Democrat Shiela Hayes also have applied for the utilities commission seat.

Council President Pro Tempore Peter Nystrom, a member of the appointments/reappointments committee, said interviews are underway for the utilities commission appointment and a recommended appointment should be ready for the March 20th City Council meeting.

Schlough said Thursday he had applied for a utilities commission seat before he was appointed to the Ethics Commission and was not selected. He told members of the City Council's appointments/reappointments committee that he would remain interested when other seats become open on the utilities board.

If Schlough is selected, he would have to resign from the Ethics Commission. Members of the commission are not allowed to serve on other city agencies. Schlough declined to comment on the Ethics Commission's findings against trip participants, except to say he does not believe his role on the Ethics Commission would cause a problem in working with NPU officials or the utilities commission.

The Board of Public Utilities Commissioners will be asked to act on several of the recommendations in the Ethics Commission reports, including that Boisclair and Groner not be reappointed to their board leadership positions and that they be removed as representatives on the CMEEC board of directors.

The reports also ask the utilities commission to keep tight oversight of travel by Bilda and Sinko for the next two years, approving trips, expenses and itineraries in advance of business trips. Another recommendation is that the utilities commission work with Sinko to establish new travel reimbursement guidelines for NPU employees “to reflect prudent financial management of the NPU travel budget.”

Other recommended action in the ethics reports, including that all five participants reimburse the city for either all or a portion of the estimated trip value and that letters of reprimand be placed in personnel or board appointment files, would be left to the City Council.

According to the city ethics ordinance, agencies that have authority over personnel involved in ethics violations have up to 60 days from receipt of the report to act on the Ethics Commission's recommendations. That clock will start Monday for the City Council.

c.bessette@theday.com