The Board of Finance held a regular meeting on Thursday, January 24, 2008 in the Meeting Room at Town Hall South, 3 Main Street, Newtown, CT. Chairman John Kortze called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
PRESENT: John Kortze, James Gaston, Martin Gersten, Joseph Kearney, Michael Portnoy, Harrison Waterbury.
ALSO PRESENT: Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson, members of the Board of Education and Legislative Council, Board of Education Director of Business Ron Bienkowski, High School principal Chip Dumais, Fletcher-Thompson representative Joe Costa, approximately thirty-five members of public, one member of press.
VOTER PARTICIPATION: Ruby Johnson, 16 Chestnut Hill Road, said that the lights at Fairfield Hills should have been put into Fairfield Hills Authority money. She said we should not be fearful that people would vote against the High School project if the playing fields were eliminated; try to bring these groups together. Concerning the $1 million proposed bond resolution, do not approve money for demolition as there was money for this that was spent on other items.
David Nanavaty, Board of Education member, said that the minutes of the Board of Finance of September 27, 2006 show that questions that the Board is now asking were answered then. At a joint meeting of the Board of Finance and Legislative Council, the Council asked the Board of Finance to look at the 2022 enrollment figure. He said that all of the Legislative Council members indicated at a recent meeting that they were behind a High School expansion. He said there is a difference of 12 students in the two Bothwell projections. Move the project forward.
Virginia Jess, 48 Appleblossom Lane, is president of Canine Advocates. She read a letter requesting that the $750,000 for the new animal shelter be left in the budget (Attachment A to original minutes).
LeReine Frampton, 6 Pebble Road, said there is controversy about the seniors not wanting to go with Parks & Recreation in the proposed Community Center. She requested that this not be removed from the CIP. People are moving out of town and being replaced with children. A community center at Fairfield Hills may bring a lot of people and increase development.
Bob Merola, 22 Ashford Lane, proposed that Newtown try a virtual High School as used in Maine. The baby boomlet probably would not result in that much of an increase in Newtown. Put $7 million of the High School project to either the Middle School or Hawley HVAC.
Ben Roberts, 19 Farrell Road, said that the goal should be the projects that are needed, not keeping the debt service under 10%. A drop in bond rating from AA2 to A1 would be 2/10 of 1%, or 1/100 of a mill. We should not use this issue to decide vital projects. Look at what really matters.
Barbara Field, Serenity Lane, supports money for a new animal shelter.
Bob Murray, 1 Farm Field Ridge Road, said that the IPN submitted a letter to the Board of Finance and Legislative Council members in support of the High School expansion.
Charles Hepp, 14 Winter Ridge Road, said that census data indicates growth by 2020. He supports the High School project.
Lisa Schwartz, Merlins Lane, thanks the Board of Finance for their work and would like the High School to move forward.
Po Murray, 38 Charter Ridge Drive, said census data says that Newtown’s aging population is expected to triple. When they leave town they are replaced with younger families.
Bob Merola, 22 Ashford Lane, said we need to look at nice to have and need to have. The gym was half full for a championship game.
Gianine Crowell, 26 Canterbury Lane, said that on the previous Friday the gym was over capacity.
Anthony Mason, 50 Deep Brook Road, coaches basketball and sees more and more kids. He supports the High School expansion in some way but not the gym.
Joan Piscitelli, Butternut Ridge, said there were mid-terms this week which could explain the lack of students in the gym.
Deb Leidlein, 29 Littlebrook Lane, is concerned that the High School will lose accreditation and would like to see the High School expansion.
COMMUNICATIONS:
Mr. Kortze received a letter from IPN concerning the High School project.
Mr. Kortze noted that the Board of Finance takes the recommendations of the Boards of Selectmen and Education and comes up with a town wide CIP taking everything into consideration. Hawley HVAC was approved by the Board of Finance but rejected by the Legislative Council.
Mr. Kortze received a letter from First Selectman Borst asking for the following changes in the proposed CIP: Include the fire engine, move the animal shelter back to 2010-2011, remove the recreation/senior center, add to 2008-2009 due to exigent circumstances the Board of Education steam pipe repair or modify to request an emergency appropriation.
The majority of the emails received by the Board of Finance supported the High School as presented.
The Build-out Committee (comprised of Mr. Kortze, Mr. Waterbury, Mrs. Llodra from the Legislative Council and Mrs. Doyle formerly of the Council) hired Planimetrics to obtain data as to where there is more buildable land, what the town should purchase and what areas in town may be buildable and require different town resources. The data will be turned over to the Long Range Planning Committee.
Mr. Borst wrote requesting that the proposed bonding resolution for the Senior Center/Recreation Center be withdrawn.
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Upon motion of Mr. Gaston, the minutes of the regular meeting of January 14, 2008 were unanimously accepted as presented.
FIRST SELECTMAN REPORT: Mr. Borst was not present.
FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT: Mr. Spragg was not present. Mr. Kortze distributed a graph that Mr. Spragg prepared showing growth of 5.25 % (Attachment B to original minutes).
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Board of Selectmen and Board of Education Capital Improvement Plan. Mr. Kortze presented a CIP that would keep the debt cap under 10% with growth of 5.25% (Attachment C). This included: 1) the Board of Ed request for the steam pipe fix on schedule and as requested; 2) adding the fire truck back in; 3) delete the Recreation/Senior Center; 4) move back the animal shelter to 2010-2011; 5) move the Middle School back to the original time frame but reduce from $32 million to $20 million.
Mr. Kortze is in favor of the High School project as is. Mr. Portnoy asked Mr. Kortze if he consulted with the Board of Education in the reduction of the Middle School costs; Mr. Kortze consulted with Mr. Spragg. Mr. Kortze said that the HVAC and roofs are the focus because they have been out there for years and we can adjust this project as needed. Mr. Waterbury feels that our goal should be to stay at 10%. Mr. Gersten asked Dr. Robinson if she would support the High School project if the stadium and track were eliminated. She would advocate for the full scope of the project as balancing the needs of the community with the needs of the schools. She would support the project in totality.
Mrs. Schwartz noted that the growth of the grand list varies and was the grand list considered. Mr. Kortze noted that the Town benefited from the growth of the grand list except in the last two years but it is declining. Mr. Kortze noted that the charts were developed by Webster Bank. He said that the graphs are percentages of expenditures but the grand list relates to revenues.
Mr. Portnoy said that New Milford extra space in other schools will be used if their high school needs more space, and why doesn’t Newtown do this? Dr. Robinson said that New Milford High School was overcrowded when it was built and Newtown does not have any place where students could go. Dr. Robinson said that Derby had a virtual high school with 45 students under her tenure and that she helped develop this program for the State. She said that we will do some of this at Newtown High School but that this takes two classrooms out of the ability to use them.
Mr. Portnoy feels that the recreation/senior center will come back. He supports the animal shelter. He said we are up against 10% and should try to get down to 9%. Mr. Gersten asked Dr. Robinson what will happen if we miss this year and are there other plans. Dr. Robinson said the 7th grade class would not have enough space when they get to 9th grade and there is no Plan B. She said we cannot put up more portables. We cannot distribute the grades because there is no place to put them in the other schools. Mr. Portnoy noted that the Reed School capacity is 1,100 and there are now 886 students. Mr. Bienkowski said that we are at 80% now and be at 83% next year. He said the High School is at 94% capacity according to Prowda’s figures. Mr. Bienkowski said that all the space in Reed is being
used and the Sandy Hook modules are still being used. Dr. Robinson said that the space per child guidelines have not been changed by the state in many years and were based on when children sat in rows, which they no longer do. Mr. Bienkowski said that Reed has a pre-school and regional special education for which we receive a $30,000 credit.
Mr. Kearney commended Mr. Kortze for a fine job on the CIP. The other Board members agreed. Mr. Kearney would like to use a rolling five year average for budget growth. He said that policies matter and we need to support our principles and policies. He feels that the High School needs expansion but not at the expense of other critical projects with no room for anything that comes up. He would like the figure to be closer to 9% than to 10%. Mr. Gersten feels we are being asked to reward bad conduct because there is no Plan B, there are exigent circumstances and we need to address the magnitude of existing projects. He has difficulty approving the High School project unless the price is reduced. Mr. Portnoy asked how the timeline would be affected if the gym enlargement were eliminated. Mr. Costa said this would jeopardize
the timeline. Mr. Costa said that as of December, there was $2.1 million remaining in design contingency and $1.5 million in construction contingency, for a total of $3.6 million. Mr. Kortze asked Mr. Costa if in this favorable bidding climate, is it possible to expect a figure favorable to the town; Mr. Costa said that we are designing to $41.5 million but are looking for value engineering.
Mr. Bienkowski said that the net contract would be $29 million because of State aid. He said this is Plan B, and that Plan A was $47 million. He said the net impact on the debt service is $95,000 and $73,000 average over twenty years. He said the Board of Ed agreed to follow the bidding system that the town always followed because bids cannot come in higher than the budget, with the belief that we could get more money if we needed but now we are not sure. We are planning to go to the State on March 4 with a plan for $41.5 million. The project should begin in the summer.
Mr. Gaston said that it is the job of the Board of Finance to determine what financially can be provided and that Mr. Kortze did what the Board of Finance should do, to fit the requests into the financial means for the Town. He feels that the fire engine is rolling stock and should not be bonded. He would prefer to keep the animal shelter. He said the High School was in the Board of Education’s CIP for a number of years. The project must be ADA compliant so the gym must be done. Some people may feel shortchanged if athletics are eliminated. We want to get the budget passed on the first time. We should stay at 6%.
Dr. Robinson read a letter from Bill Furrier, Chairman of the Public Building and Site Commission and member of the High School Space Needs Committee, supporting the High School expansion.
Mr. Kortze said that the Board of Finance had anticipated much more dialog in this particular situation. He said that 5.25% is the consensus of most on the Board of Finance and that our cap is not something we pulled out of this air. He feels that we must move forward as is. It is not in this Board’s purview or function to build the project, and we should rely on the what the Board of Education is requesting. The road project number of $2 million is built into the budget each year; perhaps the Board of Selectmen should consider building other numbers into the budget. He is concerned about having a referendum for the High School project prior to the budget referendum because the taxpayers would not know the impact of the reval and the debt service if this is held prior to the Town budget referendum.
Mr. Gersten moved to amend the Capital Improvement as presented tonight to decrease the total by $2 million by decreasing the High School figure to $36,826,000. Second by Mr. Portnoy. Roll call vote: YES (3) (Portnoy, Gersten, Kearney). NO (3) (Waterbury, Gaston, Kortze). Motion failed.
Mr. Gaston moved to approve the entire Capital Improvement Plan as presented tonight. Second by Mr. Waterbury. Roll call vote: YES (4) (Waterbury, Kearney, Gaston, Kortze). NO (2) (Portnoy, Gersten). Motion passed.
Mr. Kortze read comments that he had concerning the fact that the 11th hour scenario that we find ourselves in is not the result of the Board of Finance. Also that we need to recruit the people that don’t write letters and emails to vote positively. The Board of Finance remains focused on passing the budget on the first time. The 5.25% figure is not our target increase; it reflects this Board’s acknowledgement of the public’s demand for lower increases as well as the current economic clime. This Board has always supported this project. We have approved CIP’s for better than 95% of all town requests, at the level requested, at the priority requested and on the timeline requested (Attachment D).
ADJOURNMENT Having no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:20 p.m.
Ann M. Mazur, Clerk
ATTACHMENT “D”
(Comments read by Chairman John Kortze)
There are so many things that need to be said at this point in the process, but I’d like to focus on a few.
First, we have all received many emails from supporters of the project. We have no doubt that those letter writers will support the addition. It’s the people that don’t write letters that we need to equally concern ourselves with and suggest that’s the group the Town needs to recruit to vote positively.
With regards to the process that has unfolded with the addition. The public should understand that the 11th hour scenario that we find ourselves in is not the result of the Board of Finance. This board has been portending the situation we are currently in for four years and its understanding and subsequent passage should have never taken so long to unfold. As a result, we respectfully request that this be a lesson learned and avoid its future repeat. The Board off Education has a tremendous responsibility and autonomy that can only produce the best outcome when that same autonomy recognizes its not an island unto itself and that it must work with the other organizations in Town to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome. We must also understand that “working together” is not a defacto agreement. And
in turn, a question or difference of opinion cannot be construed as “not working together” and should not forestall the discussion.
With regards to our guidelines. This board remains committed to its guidelines and principles. In the words of our banker and rating agencies, to establish guidelines and then ignore them would be the worst financial decision we could make. Please understand that our guidelines have saved the taxpayers millions and…most importantly…have put us on a platform to make the expenditures we currently are planning at the lowest borrowing cost possible.
With regards to the upcoming budget. This board remains focused on passing the budget on the first time. It would be a very useful exercise to examine past budgets to see what has passed and what has failed. Passing the budget on the first time illustrates the Town’s willingness to embrace our capital spending and is a strong and positive signal to the rating agencies. Please focus on delivering a passable budget and don’t make the mistake of passing the tough task on to this board. We need the Board of Ed’s help as well as that of the Selectmen’s. We will be focused, more than ever, on a passable budget and one that is at the very least, consistent with recent history. Failure to pass the budget does not reflect well and a year like last year will only jeopardize the Board of Ed’s high
school addition schedule.
With regards to the CIP and the lowered growth number. It should not be construed that the 5.25% is our target increase. The 5.25% reflects many aspects of the budget including increases, revenues, surpluses, additions to the Non Recurring Account as well as many other items. The end and blended result is 5.25%. It should also be noted that this change reflects this board’s acknowledgement of the public’s demand for lower increases as well as the current economic clime.
Lastly, and in reference to the emails recently received. A common theme pervasive is most of them was the request to support education. Everyone should know, and hopefully the paper will print the fact that this board has always supported this project. This board has implored the public discussion on addressing the issue for a number of years now. This board has approved CIP’s that have provided for better than 95% of all town requests, at the level requested, at the priority requested and on the timeline requested. To portray it any other way would be false. And to a specific email that separated the Bd of Finance into two categories, three that “adequately” support the project and three that don’t. To the three that I guess “adequately” support the project, of which I am one, the
adjective adequately is nothing other than a tremendous understatement. To the reference of the three that were “less than adequate,” that can only be characterized as a greater falsehood. This board has always worked extremely well together and the primary reason for that is the mutual respect we have for each other’s opinions…even if they differ. And we pride ourselves on our ability to fulfill our apolitical role in the process and compromise. Please don’t make the mistake of mischaracterizing questions for lack of support. Please don’t qualify one as a non supporter when they haven’t received the answers to questions asked. And please don’t label or categorize anyone of us prior to any vote.
Going forward, we hope that both the old and new blood on the Board of Ed will realize our right and role in the process. Discussion can only bring understanding. Differences bring healthy debate. Respect for each other’s roles will bring compromise and the compromise will bring progress.
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