Concerns Mount Whether State Will Live Up To Its Promise On Walsh School Project

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

BRANFORD, CT – These days it seems a meeting can’t go by when First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove doesn’t have to answer the same question – will town taxpayers be left footing the entire cost of the $90 million Frances Walsh Intermediate School remodeling project.

And while Cosgrove and other officials repeatedly have answered that they have done “their due diligence” to assure that the state lives up to its share of funding responsibilities of the multi-million dollar project, the questions linger.

The question came up – again – at the Aug. 2nd Board of Selectmen meeting.

And Cosgrove’s response – again – was that there “was no new news” on the school grant.

The reason there was no new news, and the reason for the apprehension amongst many is that the state has yet to adopt a new funding package for the 2017-2018 fiscal year, even though the fiscal year started on July 1st.

The reason is the state is grappling with a multi-billion dollar budget deficit. And the fear is that towns, such as Branford, will wind up losing millions of promised dollars in state grants, including school remodeling funds, once a budget is finally approved.

‘We will not receive a grant commitment until after the state adopts a budget,” Cosgrove said, who added it “is important for us to keep moving along and do our due diligence.”

“Once we have a commitment in place, we can evaluate what happens as a result of the state budget which will be adopted at some point,” Cosgrove said.

Concerns about the state leaving Branford taxpayers holding the bag for the Frances Walsh project have been around for many months.

The town’s share of the school construction project is approximately $58 million. The state’s share is approximately $35 million.