Council Approves Capital Plan

By John Voket

District One Council member Keith Jacobs said in the end, he could not support a proposed Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that includes funding for a new town hall at Fairfield Hills. He said his opposition reflected the sentiment of “hundreds” of his constituents who he said contacted him in recent weeks opposing the development.

Mr Jacobs’ No vote, which was echoed by Councilman Joe Borst, came with a request to further examine the proposal. While the rest of the council voted in favor of the CIP, passing the municipal spending guideline, Mr Jacobs doggedly insisted the council scrutinize the town hall measure at the earliest possible opportunity.

“I would make a request that the town hall be put on the agenda for the very next meeting, or a [special] meeting to be scheduled next week in response to the overwhelming opinions of the public,” Mr Jacobs said. “I have gotten more emails and phone calls, and just meeting people on the street. And I have not heard more than ten people speak in favor of a town hall.”

Mr Jacobs was referring to a proposal to relocate all municipal offices to a central town hall on the Fairfield Hills campus. Certain municipal officials, including First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, Town Clerk Cynthia Simon, and School Superintendent Evan Pitkoff, have endorsed a move to an expanded facility that would provide the necessary space to operate effectively.

While the town clerk and superintendent have not endorsed a move to Fairfield Hills specifically, Mr Rosenthal and members of the Fairfield Hills Authority have been proceeding with a plan to convert the former state hospital cafeteria and community building, Bridgeport Hall, to town office space.

Mr Rosenthal has previously told The Bee that the move would not only provide adequate room to consolidate town functions currently spread across three separate facilities several miles apart, but would serve as a public investment that would, in turn, draw private investment and commerce to the town-owned campus.

The CIP includes funding for the construction of the building, which could be completed and occupied by the end of 2008. The proposed integration of town offices into the former Bridgeport Hall is already through its design phase with architects’ conceptual renderings and floor plans on file.

Rec Center Funding

Officials also heard opinions from legal and financial sources about a proposal to apply remaining bond money earmarked for the town hall construction, to playing field lights and a combined recreation/senior center and pool facility. According to Mr Rosenthal, both the town’s bond counsel and town attorney concurred that neither a recreation center nor field lights are permissible alternatives for authorized spending at Fairfield Hills.

As a result, those two proposals are listed for future consideration on the CIP. The first selectman related that in order to apply bond money to these new proposals, the field lights and recreation center would already have had to have been authorized and approved by taxpayers in the original bond resolution. He said the proposed town hall project is covered by the original bond authorization.

Since these recent proposals were not part of that original authorization, they are subject to the standard course of official approval and oversight, which must include endorsement by the boards of selectmen and finance, the council, and taxpayers in a town meeting. Even if approvals are received to that point, taxpayers could force the initiative to a referendum vote by petition, if enough public support can be garnered.

Responding to questions from council member Jeffrey Capici, Mr Rosenthal referenced the specific lines in the original Fairfield Hills bond resolution authorizing specific uses for the funds.

“A recreation facility, swimming pool, and senior center are not among the items proposed and authorized,” Mr Rosenthal said. The first selectman pointed out, however, that separate proposals for recreation, senior, and swimming facilities have been approved in capital improvement plans going back at least five years.

He has suggested in past interviews that by rolling all the proposed uses into a single facility, the town might actually save money, or create a better overall facility that can benefit virtually every resident, key criteria for both the master plan for Fairfield Hills and a mandate from the council to maximize spending benefits while maintaining a municipal debt cap favored by the town’s bond rating agency.

Responding to criticisms about the need for more funding at Fairfield Hills beyond the initial $21 million bond authorization, Mr Rosenthal said that officials never alluded that the initial phase of bonding would be all that was required to fully redevelop the campus for optimal use and public benefit.

“We never anticipated the $21 million would encompass everything that needs to be done at Fairfield Hills,” Mr Rosenthal told the council. “We always anticipated needing more money for these [recreation center and pool] projects, and previous CIPs already had money [stipulated] for these as separate projects.”

Reallocation Brings Consequences

On two occasions during Wednesday’s council meeting, Patricia Llodra asked what consequences would result if the town used the bonded money for purposes other than what was authorized.

Mr Rosenthal, Finance Director Ben Spragg, and Board of Finance Chairman John Kortze each commented that the town could face both civil and criminal penalties for misappropriation of funds, could face Internal Revenue Service penalties, and potentially jeopardize the town’s bond rating, which was recently given a positive outlook for elevation by Moody’s Investment Service.

“Tax and IRS requirements mandate that we have to spend at least ten percent of bond funds within six months and the entire bond within two years,” Mr Spragg clarified. “We’re borrowing money in a tax-free market and investing it in a taxable market. If we don’t spend the money as authorized, we have to get the bond counsel involved, probably bring in an accounting firm, and there is a possibility the move could have negative bond rating impact.”

Before the council’s vote, Mr Rosenthal also took the opportunity to respond to council members’ and public questions about the proposed tech park that is slated for development off Commerce Road. He explained that the commercial development would be based on a successful model in Bethel, in which the town acts as the developer to ensure that the optimal tenants are qualified for development parcels.

As discussions wound down near 11 pm, Councilmen Francis Pennarola, Joseph DiCandido, David Brown, and acting Chairman Timothy Holian all spoke in favor of supporting the CIP, reiterating that it was simply a planning tool, with each individual proposal subject to the full oversight and endorsement of numerous elected officials and ultimately, the taxpayers.

“I’ve always viewed the CIP as a wish list,” Mr Holian said. “And the Board of Finance did exactly what we asked them to do — provide a plan that stays within the debt cap, while doing as much for the entire town as possible.”

Mr Brown reminded those in attendance that although the council may pass a CIP, “we are not appropriating one dollar for any project. They all have to go through the full approval process,” he added.

“We asked for this plan,” Mr DiCandido concluded. “And this is the unintended consequence of having such a detailed plan. Everybody wants to take shots at it.”