To the Editor:

This letter is to explain the reasoning behind my vote at the Monday, February 29th special meeting of the Board of Selectmen.  I want to make it clear that I support the Community Center proposed project and urge the voters to join with me in voting for it at the upcoming referendum.  What I did not support was the process for approval as proposed by the first selectman and for that reason I voted No on the motion.

As I did at the meeting, I commend the Community Center Committee for their fine work over many months of considering many options, with extensive outreach and interaction with the public, before presenting a well substantiated proposal to the Board of Selectmen.

I voted No because I believe that before asking voters to approve the authorization to spend $14,500,000 ($9.5 million from the generous grant from GE and $5 million from bonds) we should have done the design of the project with all of the desired space and features and submitted that for bids. Once we had firm prices rather than estimates we could then seek voter approval at a referendum. That way, rather than hoping that $14,500,000 will be sufficient to construct the needed 18,000 sq. ft. of community space plus a 50 meter pool as well as a zero entry pool, we would have known for sure.  Right now the resolution only requires a minimum of 13,000 sq. ft. of community space along with the pools.

In that process, we could have also included the design and bids for the Senior Center space addition that is now proposed for a future date.  That way it may have been feasible to go to the voters for approval at one time, rather than piecemeal.  Usually, adding an extension to a building, even when constructed in a manner to provide for it, is more costly than doing it all at one time.  It is also less disruptive than building an addition to an occupied building.

If the bids were sufficient, the timing of bonding for financing the whole project could have been accomplished within the parameters as set forth in the Capital Improvement Plan, $14.5 million for the Community Center in the coming fiscal year, plus $2.5 million and $500,000 for Senior Center design in the following year.  For some reason the first selectman was unwilling to consider my recommendation.  Perhaps, if we had a discussion about this project on an agenda before being asked to vote on it Monday night we would have chosen a different process.

Now, all we can do is encourage the voters to approve the desired project and hope that the bids will be sufficient to accomplish it.

Best regards,

Herb Rosenthal

Selectman

70 Main Street, Newtown March 1, 2016