Town Hall Managers Question Recipe For Fire Marshal’s Pancake Breakfast Ruling

By Steve Bigham

The Town Hall Board of Managers wants to know why the town’s fire marshal is allowing a local organization to hold its annual pancake breakfast in the Alexandria Room at town hall.

The Board of Managers has been forced to prohibit cooking in the kitchen of the historic hall on the upper level of Edmond Town Hall. The decision was based on Fire Marshal George Lockwood’s belief that without a proper hood system over the stove the Alexandria Room’s kitchen was not safe for any kind of cooking.

But the managers recently discovered that Mr Lockwood had given the Newtown Rotary Club his approval to hold its pancake breakfast there Saturday, December 4. Mr Lockwood’s decision came as a surprise to the Board of Managers. Members noted that the town hall had lost a lot of revenue because of the fire marshal’s  decision to close the kitchen. It makes no sense to suddenly allow the Rotarians to cook; it will be viewed as a double standard, they say.

“The fire marshal said we could not have any pancake breakfasts this year. Now he’s saying that Rotary can have one,” said Marie Sturdevant, a board member. “We’re asking for an explanation in writing as to what we can and can not have upstairs.”

Mr Lockwood was scheduled to meet with the Board of Managers on Tuesday, but had to attend an out-of-town meeting of the Connecticut Fire Marshals. However, he discussed the issue with The Bee prior to his departure.

“The fire marshal can allow one function a year with a grease-laden vapor. I don’t care who they let do it, but only one. The grease build-up from one event is not that bad. There would be too much of a fire risk to allow an further cooking there,” Mr Lockwood said. Also, Newtown Rotary uses a portable skillet for the event.

That is fine, say members of the Board of Managers; but they question why Mr Lockwood required them to cancel a pancake breakfast back in January. Many other “cooking” event requests have been turned down since then, they said.

“He said there could be one pancake breakfast a year. He didn’t say which one, though,” noted Marci Becker of the town hall manager’s office. “The board voted that if everybody can’t do it then nobody can do it. You can’t discriminate. It’s either open or it isn’t.”

Those who rent the Alexandria Room usually get around Mr Lockwood’s “no-cooking” demands by having their events catered.

Delays in updating the kitchen are due to the Board of Managers’ lack of money. The municipal space needs committee has recommended the town build a 23,000 square foot addition to Edmond Town Hall. That project would include a major renovation to the kitchen. However, the plan has been put on hold as the town waits to see what is in store for the future of Fairfield Hills. Either way, members of the Board of Managers say, several “deferred maintenance” projects, including the Alexandria Room kitchen, need to be addressed.

Mr Lockwood is scheduled to meet with the Board of Managers in November.