Relief Funds, School Projects, Legal Issues Covered By BOF

By Kendra Bobowick

Disaster relief, school projects, and potential lawsuits entered finance board discussions on Monday, September 12.

“The whole county was declared a disaster area,” First Selectman Pat Llodra told the finance board Monday night. Newtown is among towns that will receive Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursements for costs related to Tropical Storm Irene, which left many households without power for as long as a week.

Mrs Llodra estimated roughly $191,000 in incurred costs as the “bottom line,” although officials were not finished calculating, she said. Total costs to the town may only be as much as $6,000 after FEMA reimbursements. “We are eligible,” she said.

Per a memo from Public Works Director Fred Hurley, “numbers from the storm” include only the storm response and “do not include restoration of washouts, which is a separate item.” Mr Hurley estimated $45,000 in overtime, $95,000 costs for contractors, and another $51,000 for town equipment use. He estimates that reimbursements from FEMA will leave the town with only $6,300 in expenses.

“In other words, we have to come up with $6,300 of new money to cover Public Works operational costs for debris removal during the storm,” he wrote. The town is looking at less than $20,000 in road repairs, also eligible for a FEMA reimbursement.

The first selectman also delivered “not so good news” on the high school renovation project. Certain areas “continue to be difficult,” she said, including the greenhouse installation. The greenhouse is the wrong size for the foundation, which has created problems fitting it to its location, she explained.

“It looked awkward; some fixes were put in place to mitigate and address the concern,” she said, but the mismatch is “noticeable.”

Crews will try to fix the problem “without redoing the foundation or getting another greenhouse,” she said. Some interior work is also incomplete.

Board of Finance Chairman John Kortze also asked about Newtown Hook & Ladder Company #1 litigation against the town regarding denials to use a site located at 12 Sugar Street (Route 302) as the location for a new firehouse. A lawsuit appealing the Inland Wetlands Commission’s decision rejecting the company’s plans for the new firehouse still stands.

“Action against the town at a court level still stands,” Mrs Llodra told finance members Monday. She also hopes for a resolution “away from a court setting.” Her suggestion is to look at alternative sites other than the Sugar Street (Route 302) location, “because the 302 proposal might not work.”

She has spoken with Hook & Ladder officials about alternative sites, and explained Monday, “We are committed as a government to help them address the problem.” She would like to see them “move forward with alternatives.”

Owner-Operator Issue

In other legal matters, Mr Kortze had asked, “If the town or Board of Education is in a lawsuit, is the town technically a defendant?” He and Mrs Llodra focused on the school bus owner-operators, “for example.”

A recent Board of Education decision had awarded a five-year contract to All-Star Transportation, which was an upset for the owner-operators who have run the buses in town for nearly eight decades. As a result, the owner-operators filed complaints with the State Board of Labor relations, making allegations against the school district violating the Municipal Employees Labor Relations Act. Allegations claim the education board failed to bargain with the owner-operators through their elected contract committee with respect to decisions to subcontract school bus driving responsibilities.

Mr Kortze felt that any costs to the town should be understood via an executive session. He would like to know the circumstances, he said. “To be clear and for the record,” he said he would like to know “what, if any, liability we face.”

He would also like to understand “what we’re spending on this as a town and Board of Education from a legal perspective.” Mr Kortze wants to know of any ramifications, he said, “because the town, Board of Education, and this board are going to have to deal with it.”

He said, “Clearly, this is something we should have an understanding of.”

“I think the less said the better — it’s a legal matter and I don’t think we should comment,” said member Joseph Kearney.

“I just want to understand it,” Mr Kortze said.