Town Meeting Oct 1—

Selectmen Send $6M Request To Voters

By John Voket

Without approving either the initial $38.8 million or an additional appropriation to complete the high school expansion proposal, the Board of Selectmen nonetheless approved sending the supplemental $6.045 million request to voters in a referendum that was also approved in a recent 9-3 vote by the Legislative Council after failing to be recommended by the finance board following a 3-3 tie vote.

Late last week, First Selectman Joe Borst called a special Tuesday morning selectmen’s meeting to authorize scheduling a special town meeting to move the extra spending request to a machine vote. The original meeting was then hastily switched to Wednesday morning at Newtown Middle School when he reportedly learned several key individuals, including Democratic Selectman Herb Rosenthal, could not attend the earlier meeting.

Referring to the vote to set a town meeting vote on the issue as “housekeeping” appeared to raise the ire of Mr Rosenthal, who replied, “I don’t know that this is a routine matter.” Mr Rosenthal and Republican Selectman Paul Mangiafico then both asked to hear from voters and others in attendance representing the school board and high school project team before calling the vote.

Responding that he was driven to complete the vote in time to get a legal notice posted in local newspapers, Mr Borst was repeatedly assured by Town Attorney David Grogins that there was plenty of time to hear presentations before a legal notice needed to be dispatched.

“We have until tomorrow morning at 10,” Mr Grogins said, “I hope the meeting won’t go that long.”

There was then additional confusion over voting on the resolution regarding whether or not to call the town vote on the resolution. Mr Mangiafico then asked to clarify that the resolution was amending an original appropriation, and that a failure of the secondary $6 million request in a referendum would not affect the $38.8 million already approved by voters last April.

Once that was settled, the meeting progressed over the course of more than two hours featuring several taxpayers calling to move the project forward, with one resident calling for clarification on who hired a consultant that validated expected costs for the expansion.

That original estimation of $38.8 million fell more than $6 million short once bids were received in July.

State Senator John McKinney made an appearance to reassure selectmen that he believed the town could receive a waiver from the state so the project could skirt new LEED certification requirements mandating extensive redesign and equipment upgrades that architects estimated could add yet another 15 percent to the overall project cost.

Mr Rosenthal asked the state senator if he thought the project could still qualify for the waiver if the planned referendum turned down the additional appropriation. Senator McKinney conceded that it may make the district’s case “weaker.” He then told selectmen that if an appeal for a waiver failed, the town could still appeal for a “nonwithstanding” clause to the full legislature when the reimbursement request was submitted for final state approval.

Architect Joseph Costa then came to the microphone, introducing engineer Kevin Leach, who acted as the secondary cost estimator on the high school project. Responding to the earlier question, Mr Costa confirmed Mr Leach was hired by Fletcher Thompson to review estimated costs.

Further discussion continued for nearly 45 minutes regarding the LEED certification if waiver requests failed. But in conclusion, it was determined that if the environmental conformity was required, the project would face considerable delays and cost increases exceeding ten percent going forward.

At one point amid the discussions, Mr Rosenthal apologized for being “testy” at the beginning of the meeting. He went on to say that he agreed more space was needed at the high school, but that he viewed the entire process leading up to and through the April 22 vote was “one of the most chaotic and poorly planned” he had ever experienced in 40 years of public service, including 14 years on the Board of Education.

“It’s difficult for me to feel confidence with respect to the fact that two firms were off over 20 percent,” Mr Rosenthal said.

Mr Mangiafico echoed his discomfort with the project handling overall.

“I don’t want to point fingers. If that was the game, nobody in the room would go unscathed,” he said.

After further discussion, both Mr Rosenthal and Mr Mangiafico both agreed they were not happy with the additional appropriation request, but agreed to move the appropriation to a vote.

At that point there was still more confusion as Mr Mangiafico attempted to withdraw his second to the original motion, that would have not only authorized the special town meeting, but the approval to bond the additional appropriation if it was approved in referendum.

Once Mr Mangiafico withdrew his second to the original motion, Mr Borst was directed to reread the relevant part of the resolution, but apparently began reading from meeting minutes instead. “Mr Borst thereupon declared…A motion was made by Mr Borst and seconded by…” Mr Borst read from the paperwork.

“What are you reading, Joe?” Mr Rosenthal asked. “Someone has to make a motion to send it to a meeting. You’re reading from the minutes.”

Mr Mangiafico then asked Mr Rosenthal make the motion.

Mr Rosenthal then made the motion to hold a special town meeting October 1, at 9 am, in the lower meeting room at Edmond Town Hall. That motion was unanimously passed.

At that town meeting the date for a referendum will be set.

Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia notified The Bee that absentee ballots will be available at noon the day after the town meeting. Absentee ballots for the referendum can only be picked up in person either by the voter or an assigned designee.

The absentee ballot application can be downloaded from the town clerk’s page of the town website, www.newtown-ct.gov. In order for a designee to obtain an absentee ballot, the individual must meet the qualifications listed on the application, and the voter must sign the section allowing for a designee to handle his or her ballot.

The town clerk’s office will hold a special session for Referendum Absentee Ballots on Saturday October 4 from 9 am to noon. For additional information, contact the town clerk’s office at 270-4210.