Sitting beneath the high ceiling in the Mary Hawley Room at Edmond Town Hall and listening first to energetic voices echoing off the lobby’s stone floors and fading toward the movie theater, and next to the sound of heavy rain, she welcomed First Selectman Joe Borst’s thoughts regarding what will happen at the town hall once municipal offices relocate to Bridgeport Hall at Fairfield Hills.

He began with a timeline, looking toward the end of September and beginning of October to shift offices, equipment, computer and phone systems, for example, to their new locations. Aside from “a couple of setbacks hampering us,” he said that the job superintendent is “pushing” the September/October dates.

DeMarco Management Corporation and Maria DeMarco will be handling the move. “She has years of experience and knows her business,” Mr Borst said. Furnishings for the Edmond Town Hall — many of them historic — will remain in the building for several reasons. First, the Bridgeport Hall design plans account for furniture, said Mr Borst, and more important to Ms Motyka — the original tables, chairs, etc should stay where they are. “It goes without saying, furniture stays with the building,” she said.

Making a point aside from the move, she insisted, “It gets granular and into nitty gritty, but we have to clarify” what goes and what stays, and take inventory.

Several points soon emerged. Mr Borst asked that, “Maybe someone should sit with [Ms DeMarco] and do a walkthrough.” Ms DeMarco and the town hall superintendent should together account for what is at the building. Ms Motyka agreed that a liaison between the groups is necessary. Building Administrator Tom Mahoney agreed that he needed to confirm a list of inventory.

Mr Borst will contact Newtown Emergency Communications Director Maureen Will and Technology and GIS Director Scott Sharlow regarding the phone and Internet systems, for one. Both Mr Borst and Ms Motyka agreed that a meeting with the two directors is important.

Ms Motyka turned her thoughts to the Board of Managers finances. She stated, “We need to be sure we are still part of the budget.” Are town funds for the board extended because the building belongs to the town? “I don’t see why services would change,” Mr Borst said.

Who is moving into the spaces vacated by the town clerk, tax collector, tax assessor, to name several of the rooms that will be left empty in town hall?

The social services offices will likely remain at Town Hall South to retain proximity to the police station one floor above. Town Historian Dan Cruson is interested in the clerk’s office and vaults located there. The Visiting Nurses Association might expand its space. The Borough of Newtown officials may seek space, along with the Cultural Arts Commission.

Anticipating the move, which will occur just weeks ahead of municipal elections in early November, Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia looks forward to a visit to Bridgeport Hall and the larger vaults for her office. She will be “the last to go,” however, since she and staff will be busy with elections, absentee ballots, etc.

Wrapping up the meeting with Mr Borst by setting a late July deadline, Ms Motyka ran down her list. She wants to see a meeting with Ms DeMarco, a meeting with Ms Will and Mr Sharlow, an inventory list, and for herself, she intends to coordinate work on a website to promote the building. “We need to get all of these things set,” she said.