After deliberation, the Legislative Council, during its meeting on Wednesday, October 7, approved a $17,540 special appropriation from the Sandy Hook Special Revenue Fund for the purchase of a box truck to be used by the Newtown High School Marching Band.

The truck will be used to transport equipment for the group.

First Selectman Pat Llodra explained she was contacted months ago to see if the NHS Marching Band & Guard Parent Board purchased a vehicle whether the town could insure it and perform maintenance, with the Parent Board covering maintenance costs.

Mrs Llodra said the proposal was similar to other practices in town,  and she said she suggested the group speak with Finance Director Robert Tait.

The first selectman said that conversation led Mr Tait, who was not present for the October 7 Legislative Council meeting, to recommend looking at the remaining $17,540 in the discretionary fund.

“It then came to the Board of Selectman for a recommendation for $25,000 [roughly], because that was the total cost of the vehicle,” said Mrs Llodra. “It was $17,700 from the fund that is undesignated under the special revenue fund…”

Another $7,460 from the discretionary fund was also proposed for use in the purchase, but the appropriation authority for those funds, Mrs Llodra said, “belongs to the Board of Ed.”

While the Board of Selectman approved the use of the $17,540 during a meeting on July 6, the Board of Education did not pass a motion during a meeting on July 30 to approve the $7,460. School board members during the July 30 meeting voiced concerns about whether other groups could benefit from the funds.

“So it came back to the Board of Selectman as a modified … resolution for the $17,000, which is the resource available, the end of that undesignated fund,” said Mrs Llodra.

The undesignated fund had a total of $193,900, according to the first selectman, and the money appropriated from the account already was used for a range of requests, including school police security overtime, training for summer day care staff, a gift to Newtown Youth Academy, helping C. H. Booth Library with insurance costs following water damage, and a marketing plan for tick-borne disease awareness and mitigation, which is still underway.

The undesignated account was created, according to Mrs Llodra, with donations to the town, following the events of 12/14, that did not specify a certain cause, like technology or security. The donations came with heartfelt messages, she explained, that shared kind words and general good wishes.

As the town processed all of the donations, Mrs Llodra said the undesignated account was created along with other more specific accounts. To ensure accountability for money coming out of the fund, Mrs Llodra said a process was established: in order for money to be appropriated from the fund a request would go before the Board of Selectman, Board of Finance, and Legislative Council.

Mrs Llodra also said all requests were weighed against whether they had merit and whether they would provide a good service to the town.

Legislative Council members voiced a number of concerns against the appropriation, pointing out the fact that the band Parent Board did not originally request the funds, and questioning how many people would be served by the appropriation. In response to concerns aired during the meeting’s public participation, members also questioned the funds going to an area that did not support mental health.

Band Parent Board President Michele Buzzi and Recording Secretary Scott Reiss spoke during the meeting, sharing specifics about the box truck and that the Parent Board would use its funds and future fundraising to cover the remainder of the $25,000 purchase.

Mr Reiss said the band spends roughly $10,000 a year to rent vehicles to transport equipment, and the box truck purchase would save money over the course of the used vehicle’s expected use, estimated at ten years.

Ms Buzzi said the band has members in high school, but winter programs and other aspects of the program have fifth, six, seventh, and eighth grade participants.

“It’s a little bit more far reaching than you might think,” said Ms Buzzi.

The Legislative Council voted 7-2 to support the appropriation for the box truck, with Chair Mary Ann Jacob and member Neil Chaudhary voting against the motion.

“I’d love to be in support of this, but I’m having a hard time,” said Mr Chaudhary, who explained earlier in the meeting that all the other uses of the undesignated account seemed to him to benefit more of the community.

Ms Jacob, an employee at Sandy Hook Elementary School who was present for 12/14, said she supported the other appropriations from the fund because she also felt they served a larger group. While she said she feels the band is deserving, she said other programs, like those that support mental health, could also use the funds.

“I don’t think it serves the greater good in the broad sense,” said Ms Jacob.