A Trail Of Town Hall Proposals

To the Editor:

Solutions to alleviate overcrowded town offices in Edmond Town Hall have constantly changed, resulting in a seven-year delay and escalating construction costs. Proposals advanced and abandoned were:

The 1999 Kaestle-Boos Architects’ $11 million plan to build an addition to Edmond Town Hall, sufficient for 20 years. Abandoned.

Renovation of Shelton House at FFH for $6 million (included in the June 2001 FFH bond issue estimates). Abandoned.

Construction of a new two-story town hall on the Shelton House site as part of the selectmen’s master plan, 2003. Voted down by the voters, but approved by the Board of Selectmen, Legislative Council, and Planning and Zoning Commission. Abandoned.

Construction of a new 22,000-square-foot addition attached to the one-story Bridgeport Hall for about $10.5 million, 2006. Not enough money left in the FFH bond issue. Abandoned.

Renovation of only Bridgeport Hall to house all town offices except the Park and Recreation Department. In progress.

Consideration of a developer to renovate Bridgeport Hall and then lease the building back to the town. Under consideration.

Thus, instead of using Bridgeport Hall as a community center as proposed by the Friends of Fairfield Hills and others, town leaders approved a Capital Improvement Plan that requests an additional $6.8 million for a recreation/community building. When the 2007-2008 budget is printed in The Bee in April, these capital expenses will appear under Improvement Bonds, usually with no explanation.

At the Legislative Council meeting of January 17, the first selectman stated, “We never said we could do all we planned for $20 million.”

Our town deserves a town hall we can be proud of and a wiser allocation of our tax dollars.

Ruby K. Johnson

16 Chestnut Hill Road, Sandy Hook                       January 24, 2007