During a regular meeting Tuesday, February 21, the Board of Selectmen discussed a number of pending issues, including a possible change of zoning that would allow the Edmond Town Hall to expand its accessibility to a broader range of commercial tenants. The selectmen also reviewed progress on potentially relocating the "Rock of Angels" memorial currently located behind the soon to be sold St John's Episcopal Church in Sandy Hook.

The board also discussed and delayed action on signing a letter to President Donald Trump requesting he disavow a particular radio and web blogger who denies that the 12/14 tragedy actually happened.

Ahead of the meeting, selectmen held a brief public hearing that is part of the required process of applying for a Small Cities Block Grant that would underwrite reroofing the entire Nunnawauk senior housing complex, new gutters, and the installation of energy-efficient front and back doors on ten buildings in the complex.

Only one member of the public, Rich Fenaroli, appeared asking questions about whether the project would require competitive bidding and if local contractors could receive priority consideration in the contractor selection process.

He was told by town consultant Larry Wagner that the project would require competitive bidding, but local contractors would be forced to compete on equal ground with any company qualified to bid. The selectmen later unanimously authorized Deputy Director of Community and Economic Development Christal Preszler to move forward with the $800,000 Small Cities Block Grant application.

Director of Planning George Benson and Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers Chair Margot Hall appeared before selectmen to discuss progress on loosening zoning restrictions that would permit trustees of the Main Street landmark to expand the range of tenants that might occupy 6,340 square feet of vacant office space in the building.

Mr Benson said that if the building's operators could fill all vacant space at about $15 per square foot in rental or lease arrangement, it would generate almost the same amount of revenue to maintain and improve the facility as was lost when town offices relocated from Edmond Town Hall to the Municipal Center at Fairfield Hills.

Mr Benson told selectmen that he and the board of managers are working cooperatively with Borough of Newtown zoning officials on "trying to get more rentals in there." He said the definition of the types of tenants the borough would approve contained something of a "gray area," and that preferred tenants - nonprofit agencies and/or arts groups - "don't have money for that."

"But allowing for-profit groups would help the operational budget," he added.

Selectman Herb Rosenthal said he strongly support expanding the allowed tenant base, saying he has had heated discussions with various residents who said such a move would amount to "spot zoning." But he pointed out that between Edmond Town Hall and the former Inn at Newtown "there are two residences, and an awful lot of commercial use."

First Selectman Pat Llodra reminded selectmen that the $95,000 subsidy the town was paying prior to relocating was continued for two years, "and then we started cutting back. That resulted in an economic hardship for Edmond Town Hall," she said. "Now they are facing real pressure" to find more and better ways for it to be self-sustaining.

Selectman Will Rodgers said the board should be support it.

"We took their revenue away and they want this changed at our urging regarding replacing the finances," he said, referring to continued reductions to the board of managers line in the municipal budget. "I don't have a problem with professional use there," he said. "My fear is of the alternative - the danger of building becoming more [deteriorated] outweighs any fears about professional use."

Mrs Llodra then asked for and received her colleagues to back her request to write a supporting document that Mr Benson was acting on the selectmen's behalf in requesting the expansion of tenant opportunities. Mr Benson said he would bring that memo to an informal meeting he was having with borough zoning officials next Monday.

"There is still some push back," he said. "But we've been at it for two years. We're working with them and I think we can come to an agreement - your support is important."

Rock Of Angels

Mrs Llodra then explained to selectmen that the town was at a critical point in determining the fate of the Rock of Angels memorial that was sent to Newtown following 12/14. The privately designed memorial has been installed behind St John's Episcopal Church in Sandy Hook since its arrival in 2013. It was not considered an officially sanctioned town memorial to those lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

In recent months, the Episcopal Church has decided to close and sell the church and its property in Sandy Hook, and offered to give the town the sliver of land containing the memorial with the caveat that the town would take the memorial. Since making the offer, Mrs Llodra indicated that neither the memorial nor the site was part of active discussions among members of the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission (SHPMC).

So she asked the commission to take up the issue while she requested if any other churches in Newtown would be interested in hosting the memorial.

Subsequent to that conversation, she told selectmen that SHPMC had voted, 7-1, less than a week earlier, against taking the Rock of Angels under its purview, and none of the local churches approached were interested in having the memorial on their properties.

"The town is committed to having one memorial," Mrs Llodra said. "The Rock is important but it arrived with no opportunity to influence its design. And it doesn't fit into the memorial commission's plan."

She said to help facilitate its relocation, she offered local clergy town assistance to relocate it, and there had been "no response yet."

Mrs Llodra said she felt it was time to respond to the Episcopal bishop, declining the land donation. She suggested contacting the artisan from Maine who created it to determine if the donor would like it to be returned.

"It's becoming our worry and we can't accept it," she said, adding that Episcopal church representatives made no commitments or promises to its donors. She also told selectmen that the bishop said if they had another answer, they would not be donating the land.

"They wanted to give to us because there was a memorial on it - otherwise it would be made part of the parcel sale," Mrs Llodra said. "[But] it would be disrespectful to our memorial commission if we were to accept this."

Letter On Hold

On the request of Selectman Rodgers, the board then revisited the subject of a proposed letter to President Donald Trump asking him to disavow a particular Sandy Hook "hoaxer," radio and web blogger who denies the tragedy occurred, and who promotes the incident as being one of a number of government conspiracies. Mr Rodgers said several weeks ago when he voted with his colleagues to endorse the letter, he was under the impression a draft of the letter had been circulated among victims' surviving families.

But when he learned that was not the case, and he heard there were a number of survivors firmly opposed to the letter, he was rethinking his position.

"More people than just the families are concerned about hoaxers, but since our [initial] decision, the point was made that the consequence - any pushback hoaxers may give to such a letter - would likely fall on the families," he said. "The hoaxing itself is a painful subject. And some of the points that came out in those discussions and informal polling are relevant, and I'm wondering whether we're not achieving any desired goal from this thing."

Mr Rodgers said besides doubting the letter would have any "reaction at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," he was also concerned since the Legislative Council and Board of Finance both voted against signing it, that it would telegraph to hoaxers that Newtown's government leaders were "not of one mind, and Sandy Hook groups and families were not of one mind."

Selectman Rosenthal said he had never been a direct victim of hoaxers, and that the "only people I heard from directly were encouraging us to send the letter, and were happy with it. These were victims of hoaxers, but not immediate family members. I feel the town should stand up to them, but I respect the families."

Mrs Llodra said while it was her first inclination to send it, she was "tempered by acting on something that was not vetted."

"One victim said they and their children would bear the weight of what [we] do," Mrs Llodra said. "Do I have the right to react when the person that is going to be hurt is an immediate victim?"

She then suggested that "if individuals want to sign it they should. I'm absolutely stuck. I don't know where I stand."

"I don't want the families hurt any more," Mr Rosenthal said, but added that he would "like to get back to those who urged me to support this."

Agreeing to think about the concerns, and to give Mr Rosenthal an opportunity to speak to constituents, selectmen decided to hold off on making any decisions until their next planned meeting March 6.