Marcia Chambers Photo
Rep .Frank Twohill, Jr. reads Walsh resolutions..
The Representative Town Meeting (RTM), in a unanimous bi-partisan vote, gave final town approval for the Walsh Intermediate School renovation and expansion project last week, enabling the Board of Education (BOE) to apply for a state grant for what is the largest building project in the town’s history.
The final approval came at the monthly RTM meeting held at Fire Headquarters. During an hour-long meeting, the RTM approved a series of resolutions, the last required step before the BOE sends its grant application to the State Bonding Committee by June 30.
Whether the funding will be available at the state level remains to be seen. This question is particularly salient in light of the Governor’s recent last-minute cuts to state aid, which included a $20 million reduction in municipal aid for towns and cities across the state for the fiscal year beginning on June 1.
When Democratic Minority Leader Chris Sullivan (D‑6) raised the issue of funding the project at the meeting, First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove responded that he “[couldn’t] really speak to that.” None of the other representatives commented on the subject.
If the Walsh project receives a grant, it will be the largest building project that the town has taken on to date. Projections made earlier this year anticipated that total cost of the renovation and expansion will amount to about $88.2 million, around $30 million of which would be covered by state reimbursement, if it is granted. The size of the project makes the need for state aid all the more crucial.
At last Wednesday’s meeting, RTM members authorized the BOE to apply to the Commissioner of Education for a grant for the project; to establish the Branford Public Building Commission as the project’s building committee, and to authorize the preparation of schematic drawings and outline specifications for the expansion and renovation. All three ordinances, which had been approved in an earlier meeting as a part of a lengthy bonding resolution, passed. The only thing different in the ordinances was their language, which was changed in order to match the language of the state grant, allowing for a cleaner application. The RTM acted after Frank Twohill, Jr., (R‑1) the chair of the RTM education committee, read the resolutions aloud.
Can One Commission Handle Multiple Projects?
While the democrats on the RTM voted to pass the resolutions that would move the Walsh renovation and expansion project forward, some members of the party still voiced concerns regarding the capacity of the Public Building Commission (PBC) to oversee the project.
Democratic representatives Peter Hentschel (D‑2nd) and Peter Jackson (D‑3rd), both architects, suggested during the meeting that the Walsh renovation and expansion project might be better suited to a dedicated committee than it would to one building commission.
Marcia Chambers Photo
Rep. Peter Hentschel
In explaining his position, Hentschel (pictured) pointed out that the PBC is expected to be in charge of three to four additional projects over the following years may dilute its ability to dedicate the necessary amount of time and focus to the $88.2 million project. Added Jackson, who has been on the building committees of similar projects in the past, the expansion and renovation project would simply be “too much work” for the commission, unless its only purpose “is to serve as a conduit for approving money.”
These concerns are not new. In January when the RTM discussed bonding the project, all but one of the democrats abstained. The RTM’s decision to approve the $88.2 to bond the project in January was carried out entirely by the meeting’s 17 present republicans; 9 out of the 10 attending democrats abstained, with one member voting “no.”
That issue was in part later resolved later in the year, when the RTM approved revisions to the ordinance for the PBC, allowing the Board of Selectmen (BOS) to add four temporary voting members to the commission to represent the “user’s interest” in a project (as opposed to the usual two). The four special members for the Walsh project were appointed in April, along with two ex-officio members, Michael Krause, the BOE chair and Hamlet Hernandez, the Superintendent of Schools. Unlike the committee’s five permanent members, they are to work only on the Walsh Project.
When asked for comment after the meeting, Sullivan remained skeptical that this would be enough to compensate for the fact that that the committee’s five permanent members will need to divide their attention among multiple projects. The committee, he said, “should be specifically working on the Walsh project,” especially given its unprecedented size.
Other RTM Actions
One item was added to the RTM agenda, a resolution to approve the requests of three organizations to be covered under the Neighborhood Assistance Act, a state program that allows businesses to receive tax credits for their donations to the nonprofits that are covered under the act. The Stony Creek Fife & Drum Corps, the Seaside Hall and Community Center, and the CDR Nutritional Program were all approved by the RTM in a unanimous vote.
The RTM is expected to be on summer break for the next two months.
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