Funding The New Town Hall

To the Editor:

Casting aside the challenge of the unapproved master plan and the fact that the original bond issue specifies a different building and different uses, there is another challenge with the Rosenthal Town Hall at Fairfield Hills that needs to be overcome: the funding.

Back in 2001 we appropriated $6 million for the renovation of Shelton Hall for use as town offices, Board of Education offices, and an alternate school. This is the maximum amount that can be spent for the project using the current appropriation.

The town hall plan makes the argument that there are “hard costs” and “soft costs” and that $6 million was only for hard costs. The bond issue documents specify that $5.4 million is for hard costs and $600,000 is for soft costs, so clearly the funds were meant to cover all of the construction costs.

How are we going pay for the town hall? Friends of Newtown and others have implored the Legislative Council to ask that question. In fact, we suggested that the Legislative Council request a representation from the selectmen and finance office that there is enough unencumbered money from the appropriation to cover the cost of fully funding and executing the plan currently on the table for the town hall.

There are also scores of unanswered questions about the town hall and about Fairfield Hills. We believe that the Fairfield Hills Authority and the Board of Selectmen should refrain from further committing our tax money to these projects until those questions are answered and we have received a representation about the appropriated funds to execute the town hall plan.

We can’t build half a town hall, and that is all the money we appear to have authorized for this project. The Legislative Council needs to step up and exercise some oversight on this project before it disappears into the bottomless pit of tax dollars that is spending at Fairfield Hills.

Matt DeAngelis

Friends of Newtown

5 Cobblers Mill Road, Sandy Hook                         January 24, 2007