Want to be completely informed when you vote in this year’s budget referendum? Then you will need to know as much as possible about the town and school district spending proposals, along with three major project authorizations requiring voter approval for completion.

Your own local news agency — The Newton Bee — is here to help with that.

In addition to our extensive print and online coverage of details leading up to the local budget vote, we are producing two live webcasts that will help residents better understand the finer points of a couple of those capital projects — including one already partially funded.

On April 27, local taxpayers will be called to the polls to vote not only on the town and school district budget requests, but also on capital bonding authorizations for a $1.5 million gas boiler and LED lighting upgrade for the Reed Intermediate School; $3.7 million for the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial; and $5,041,933 that represents the remaining balance on a local emergency radio and communications system upgrade.

To explain all there is to know about the memorial spending authorization, a panel discussion will be streamed live on The Newtown Bee’s Facebook page on April 5, at 5:30 pm. If the expenditure is approved by voters, the memorial will be completed on property near the school grounds to honor the 20 children and six educators who were killed on 12/14.

This webcast panel is expected to include:

*First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, who will make brief remarks and introduce the other guests;

*Newtown Public Building & Site Commission Chair Robert Mitchell;

*Permanent Memorial Commission Chair Daniel Krauss;

*Designers Daniel Affleck and Ben Waldo of SWA Group, San Francisco;

*Tara Vincenta of Artemis Landscape Architects of Sandy Hook and Bridgeport; and

*Construction manager Michael MacDonald from Downes Construction Company.

This webcast is expected to run 50 minutes to an hour, and will be archived on Facebook and the newspaper’s YouTube channel for anyone who misses it live.

Improving Emergency Communications

A week later, on April 12, at the same time, The Newtown Bee will host another webcast, this one to answer questions related to the $5,041,933 balance of the emergency radio system upgrade that will require voter authorization.

Voters are being asked to authorize the balance because in 2020, under an executive order due to COVID-19, the Legislative Council authorized $2.5 million for the first phase of the $7.5 million improvement.

The funds authorized last year primarily paid for hardware and equipment that was necessary to order far in advance of the installation, which will commence later this year after the rest of the funding is okayed.

The April 12 webcast will open with brief remarks by First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, and guests will include:

*Sandy Hook Fire Chief and Newtown Emergency Management Director Bill Halstead;

*Newtown Emergency Communications Director Maureen Will; and

*Mark DeWolfe, a longtime local volunteer firefighter who assisted in developing the project.

Both webcasts will be moderated by Newtown Bee Associate Editor John Voket.

Anyone with ideas for future webcast topics — or who wishes to submit questions in advance for either of these programs — is asked to e-mail john@thebee.com. Webcast questions should be received by noon the day of the discussion.

View all The Newtown Bee video projects, and subscribe to our YouTube channel by visiting youtube.com/user/thenewtownbee — or join the nearly 13,000 folks following The Newtown Bee on Facebook for breaking news updates, event announcements, daily headlines, road closings, and videos.