The Budget —

Yes Or No?

To the Editor:

How shall we vote? The town finance department is making an effort to tell the public what the municipal bonds to be sold, included in the 2007-2008 budget, will pay for along with the cost of principal and interest due.

On the town website, under Bonded Projects, readers will find the following: Fairfield Hills (Demolition-Mothballing-P&R Playing Fields–Town Hall) = $6,020,000 with Principal of $301,000 and Interest of $135,450 = $436,450 to be included in the budget to be voted on April 24. A vote for the proposed budget will empower the first selectmen and the Fairfield Hills Authority to convert Bridgeport Hall on the Fairfield Hills campus into a new town hall, and mothball several Fairfield Hills buildings, hoping a developer will take them.

$6,020,000 is not enough for these four projects. Bonds already sold (January 15, 2007) as part of the current 2006-2007 budget are reported only as $7 million for Fairfield Hills without giving details for their use. It is this sum that the selectmen insisted the public had already approved in last year’s budget vote, but which the public has responded, “You didn’t tell us you were going to use that money for a new town hall.”

Click on Capital Improvement Programs (CIP) and bonding plans for the next five years are listed such as: road projects, tech park, high school expansion, Blue and Gold turf, etc. All of these must be funded in future budgets.

School supporters face a dilemma. If they vote Yes for the budget, they are also approving money for a new town hall at FFH. If they vote NO, they can expect the school budget to be cut with no assurance that the Selectmen will abandon their push for a new town hall.

What can the public do?

Attend the P&Z public hearing to approve or disapprove of the selectmen’s request to amend their Master Plan for Fairfield Hills (read The Newtown Bee 1/24/05) to allow Bridgeport Hall to be converted into a new town hall. The Planning and Zoning Commission will hear this request for a “land use” change. P&Z can’t rule on the value of a new town hall versus other uses of the money. P&Z is our land use agency and is limited to consideration of the best use of land and the impact on the environment.

I’m not trying to tell anyone how to vote. I am letting you know this is what you can do. If you are concerned about your town and how your money is spent, you will plan now to attend the P&Z meeting on April 12, 7:30 pm, at the high school auditorium.

If you care, you will be there.

Ruby Johnson

16 Chestnut Hill Road, Sandy Hook                               April 4, 2007