The somewhat expedited process of getting a funding authorization for a new police headquarters on the November 6 ballot is progressing favorably and is just a few steps away from meeting the deadline for filing with the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s office.

Following an updated presentation on the project by Police Chief James Viadero and members of the Kaestle Boos architect team before a group meeting of the Boards of Selectmen, Finance, and the Legislative Council on Monday, August 20, selectmen and the finance board subsequently approved a resolution requesting voters approve up to $14.8 million in bonding to complete the final design, site prep, and construction phase of the project.

Both boards also endorsed an amendment to the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) to change and clarify some language pertinent to the project, as well as shifting some of the project’s funding timeline and anticipated costs — while keeping the bottom line intact.

That amended language is as follows:

*In year 2018-19, the project titled “Building/Land Purchase/Remediation/Demolition/Infrastructure” was changed to “New Police Facility — Real Estate Acquisition/Design/Construction.” The department was also changed from Fairfield Hills to Police.

*In year 2019-20, the project titled “Police Facility — Construction Phase” was changed to “New Police Facility — Real Estate Acquisition/Design/Construction,” and the amount was changed from $8,000,000 to $6,800,000.

*Finally, in year 2020-21, the project titled “Police Facility — Construction Phase” was changed to “New Police Facility — Real Estate Acquisition/Design/Construction” and the amount changed from $5,000,000 to $4,000,000.

Selectman Jeff Capeci voted to approve the CIP language, but then voted against the funding resolution, which passed 2-1. He said according to CIP guidelines, the amending of the plan should originate from the Board of Finance and not the selectmen, even though the finance board had that item on a special meeting agenda for action the following evening.

Mr Capeci said although he supports the project, he was uncomfortable with the expedited timeline to move all the necessary business related to the police project to completion, and that it did not fit the process he believed called for the finance board to originate the CIP amendment.

However, the following night at the finance board meeting, attorney Glenn Santoro from the firm Robinson & Cole filed a letter that affirmed the approval process for amending the CIP set forth in Section 310-6 of the CIP Regulations, which is consistent with the process the first selectman initiated.

Mr Santoro acknowledged that while Section 310-3 of the CIP Regulations appears to indicate the Board of Finance is exclusively charged with amending the CIP, Section 310-6B notes that the Board of Selectman identifies the purchases in the CIP. The attorney said, furthermore, that Section 310-6J makes it clear that the CIP plan approved by the Legislative Council shall be the single and final adopted CIP plan for the town.

Therefore, he said, if the Board of Finance makes a change to the CIP that the Legislative Council does not ultimately approve, it would not be controlling.

“The Board of Finance cannot act in isolation,” Mr Santoro stated. “As such, please continue to follow the current process: BOS to BOF to LC to approve any CIP plan amendments.”

The attorney also assuaged concerns expressed by Councilman Ryan Knapp, who noted that the land acquisition and construction funding were all combined in the resolution instead of being broken out in a separate ballot measure. The attorney’s letter explains that, “Because the property acquisition is included as part of the total $14,800,000 project for the development of a new police building, only one ballot question is needed at referendum.”

The council is set to take up the funding authorization and CIP amendment during a special meeting on Wednesday, August 29, at 7:30 pm. From there, the November ballot measure is drafted and dispatched from the Town Clerk to the Secretary of the State. Once approved by the SOTS office, it will appear on the ballot in November.

If approved, the process to request bids, the final vetting of anticipated project costs, and a final budget will be drafted prior to construction, commencing at the chosen site in May of 2019. Officials have designated two parcels of land and a former Taunton Press administrative building near the South Main Street and lower Pecks Lane intersection as the optimal location for the new headquarters.

The existing commercial building is in relatively pristine condition, according to officials, with plenty of adjacent land as a buffer, high structural integrity, and all utilities in place, lending to the swift conversion to its anticipated new use within about 12 to 13 months.

Architect’s Presentation

The update presentation began with Chief Viadero’s review of conditions at the existing facility, which highlighted numerous “glaring inadequacies” that reinforced the imminent need for the department to vacate the Town Hall South facility that currently serves as the department’s headquarters.

Among the numerous issues the chief cited were insufficient parking and no secure parking for department vehicles, forcing the co-mingling of patrol vehicles with civilian staff and public vehicles; the single door sally port prisoner transfer area that creates a security risk and forces officers to process one prisoner at a time; and a very small, confined booking area space, separate from intoxication and second processing area, which also poses a safety risk.

The chief said the current facility’s configuration also forces prisoners to walk through the patrol officer’s work area, does not provide for a private visitor/attorney visiting area, provides no ability to secure furniture and equipment, and permits indirect access to civilians. In addition, the current men’s locker room that was designed for about 15 officers is now serving 35, and the adjacent female locker area is woefully inadequate as well.

He said the transition from a cramped 8,000-square-foot headquarters into the proposed 25,000-square-foot space in the former Taunton Press building will provide adequate space for the existing force to work safely and to expand as the community’s growth dictates.

Kaestle Boos Public Safety Facility Specialist Todd Costa took over the presentation at that point, explaining how the firm put preliminary plans together by interviewing department members and visiting the current facility to learn about the department’s future needs and operations.

“The end result is a program tailored to Newtown Police Department operations,” he said.

Company principle Charlie ‘Chuck’ Boos said the proposed site and existing building are very suitable for reuse, and a finished headquarters will incorporate a total renovation and small addition, along with site landscape renovation to suit department functions.

Mr Boos complimented town and police officials for prioritizing a site that offers “some real economies,” with accessibility via two separate roads, “good skin, bones, high ceilings, flexible space, and good sight lines from Route 25.”

He said the selection also offers economy with construction time savings of up to five months because the existing building’s shell, utilities, and various site elements are already complete or in place. Mr Boos anticipated with a scheduled start of June 2019 that the facility could be ready to occupy sometime in May 2020.

Kaestle Boos landscape specialist Eric Rossi confirmed that all utilities are intact, along with the sanitary and septic systems, and even though there is a significant amount of rock ledge that is part of the site topography, it will allow for the necessary installations, like parking lots and driveways, to be installed or expanded.

Police Commission Chairman Joel Faxon told officials that all five commission members are in support of the project, which he added was “long overdue.”

Questions And Answers

Selectman Capeci said he was concerned about having to go back to taxpayers for more money if the project started pushing past the pre-designated funding limits of the bond resolution and asked what kind of value engineering could be done to ensure the project comes in, at, or under the $14.8 million requested.

Mr Costa said Kaestle Boos uses an experienced professional estimator who utilizes hard bid numbers she receives regularly that helps monitor construction and materials costs, which he said are typically very conservative numbers. He said there are numerous contingency points also built into the proposed spending plan, just in case.

Mr Boos added that based on work his firm has done throughout New England, he felt the project cost estimate was “a good number with appropriate contingencies.

“And we can do value engineering if necessary to stay in budget,” he said.

Public Building & Site Commission Chair and architect Bob Mitchell said he and his team went through a lot of the numbers.

“We have high confidence they are right,” he said, reiterating Mr Boos earlier observations that the site contains a “good building with strong bones that helps solidify the numbers.”

Mr Mitchell said he also gave the cost proposal to another estimator and they validated it.

Mr Rosenthal said there is one final piece of preliminary work: a site appraisal should be done by Friday, August 24, and be forwarded in time for the council’s consideration at their meeting on the 29th.

Council Chairman Paul Lundquist pressed presenters over his concern if the cost estimates come in too low.

Mr Costa replied that since the estimator typically values project components very conservatively, “we’ve saved $8 to $10 million across several municipal facility projects over the past 18 months.”

Mr Boos added that while a lot of unknowns contribute to projects going over budget, a lot of those unknowns are not applicable to the Newtown Police station proposal because “we have a good building, appropriate site, and utilities.”

“We feel budget is exact,” he said.

Finance Board Chairman James Gaston asked why the department was including a large community room as part of the project.

Chief Viadero replied that he wants to see the department hosting a lot of community events.

“We need a place to do that,” he said, adding that the community room can also serve as additional training space and would be large enough to use as an alternate Emergency Operations Center in the event of a large-scale weather event or other incident.