Public Hearing, Special Town Meeting Set For New Bethel Police Station

From First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker:

The proposed Bethel police station is going to come up soon for reconsideration. The town website still shows the original proposal; that presentation will be updated by early next week to reflect the new cost and adjustments. The figure approved by the Boards of Selectman and Finance earlier this week is $13.492 million.

Please save the date for the following meetings:

* Tuesday, December 1 - Public Hearing
* Tuesday, December 8 - Special Town Meeting

Both meetings will be held at the municipal center general purpose room, 1 School Street, Bethel.

* Expected referendum date (to be set by the town meeting) - Thursday, December 17.

A few words:

All of us on the BOS and BOF are well aware the holiday period is perhaps not the most convenient time to hold a referendum. However, our choices are very limited. Our original plan was to hold it in mid-September, but this year’s primary election made that time frame unavailable (voting machines must be tested and sequestered for certain periods of time before and after a vote).

October then became impossible as machine testing began and preparations were put in motion for the November general election. We explored putting it on the November 3rd municipal election ballot, but discovered that was impossible due to conflicts between state law and the town charter with regard to the timing of special town meetings and elections. We felt it was critical to avoid mid to late winter months due to the high probability of severe winter weather that could disrupt or even cancel a town wide vote. Following the winter months we are back into the annual budget voting cycle again. The longer we wait to vote, the more the price tag goes up.

We will publish information on this page, on the town website, in the News Times and all area online news organizations, and I encourage everyone to call or write with your questions. Knowing all of us will be busy with preparation for the holidays, I respectfully ask that everyone give this issue some of your time. Let’s move this forward and provide a facility that supports our town police force.

Thank you for your understanding.

Matthew Knickerbocker, First Selectman