Selectmen Waive Some Building Fees For Nonprofit Youth Academy

By John Voket

Following a retraction of his initial decision to waive $76,000, essentially 100 percent of anticipated construction and mechanical permit fees to the Newtown Youth Academy (NYA), First Selectman Joseph Borst joined his fellow selectman in endorsing a 25 percent reduction this week.

It was revealed at a previous selectmen’s meeting that Mr Borst issued a written memo to NYA founder and president Peter D’Amico indicating the town would waive $52,000 in permitting and fees, and an additional $12,000 in mechanical fees.

Mr Borst represented the decision as coming from the board, although the board never voted on the measure.

“Obviously I should have done more due diligence,” Mr Borst said at the time. It was determined that more than 100 town inspections would be involved throughout the course of the Youth Academy project, and after being directed to retract his original offer, Mr Borst would request Mr D’Amico to present his case for waiving any amount of town permit fees.

On Tuesday, Mr D’Amico stood before the selectmen indicating that he felt he should receive a waiver for at least the amount of fees required to increase the size and scope of the facility to accommodate requested town uses. The academy, which will feature a full-size indoor soccer field, an indoor four-lane running track and three regulation basketball courts, was granted approval at Fairfield Hills based on a contingency for town and school use.

Mr D’Amico said the original scope of the facility was increased by 28 percent, adding the indoor track and elevating the roof over the basketball/volleyball courts following consultations with school and recreation department staff.

“We saw additional [building] fees added after the track was designed,” Mr D’Amico told the selectmen. “The original building was narrower [with lower ceilings].”

Selectman Herb Rosenthal said the applied fees are based on the size and scope of the project, so his board could easily correlate the added amount.

Mr D’Amico added that requested additions by the town increased the budget on the indoor sports facility from about $5.5 million to $7 million.

“We’re just asking for whatever you can do,” Mr D’Amico said.

Selectman Paul Mangiafico then made a motion to correlate a 25 percent fee waiver based on Mr D’Amico’s contention of a 28 percent increase in the project’s scope.

Mr Rosenthal further stated that as long as the waiver was directly correlated to the increases imposed by the town’s departments, he would support the motion.

“We may get other requests for other nonprofit projects,” Mr Rosenthal warned about the precedent-setting motion. During discussions at a previous selectmen’s meeting, Mr Mangiafico pointed out that the town had recently assessed the full weight of building fees on nonprofit projects at Trinity Church, Newtown Congregational Church, and the new synagogue in Botsford.

Feeling assured that the partial fee waiver was justified by town-requested additions to the complex, the selectmen voted unanimously to support the 25 percent reduction, translating into about an $18,000 discount on the original $76,000 estimated fee costs.