Greenwich BET Approves $411 Million Budget

After hours of debate Thursday night, the Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation unanimously approved a $411 million budget that includes money for the proposed Byram Park Pool Project and the New Lebanon School rebuilding project.

The budget, which will now be reviewed by the Representative Town Meeting and its committees before that body votes on it in May, represents a 2.75 increase of the current 10.969 mill rate.

The meeting was not without controversy as the 12-member board discussed the merits of the Byram pool proposal, the need to hire nine additional firefighters to increase staffing of engines stationed in the Sound Beach and Byram fire stations and whether to add $1 million to the Department of Public Works Department budget for pothole repairs.

First Selectman Peter Tesei was unsuccessful in his bid to add the nine firefighters to increase staffing of the engine crews assigned to the Sound Beach and Byram stations. Democrat Jeff Ramer was unable to convince the board to approve his proposed amendment to add $505,149 that would’ve have paid for the additional firefighters. The proposal would have had three-firefighter crews assigned to those engines instead of the current staffing level of two firefighters.

Ramer called that staffing model as “inadequate fire coverage” and said, “A community of this affluence, a community that has a 62,000 population to protect and has the Grand List, this should not be community that is second-rate in fire response, the way we are first rate in other areas.”

Ramer was only able to garner support from two fellow Democrats — Bill Finger and John Blankley. The amendment failed by a vote of 3-9.

After much discussion that included accusations by Democrat Sean Goldrick of mismanagement of the design work done so far on the Byram pool project, the BET approved $9.5 million for the design and construction of a water park and redesign of the park on Ritch Avenue West.

The Junior League of Greenwich has pledged to raise money for the project that’s estimated to cost $11.5 million and has contributed $20,000 towards the design. Last December, the town announced that soil test borings indicated there are high levels of arsenic in the soil around the aging, leaking pool and picnic areas, and closed access to those areas of the park.

So far, one of the two $200,000 allocations previously approved for design and architecture plans has been spent, Goldrick said. His motion seeking an audit of the work completed so far was defeated by a vote of 2-10. Republican Leslie Tarkington said that audits are typically done upon completion of a project not in its infancy stage.

It is unclear whether the pool will be available for use in this summer.

While several members bemoaned the harsh winter weather created a plethora of potholes around town that necessitated vehicle wheel alignments, a motion to add $1 million to the DPW road paving and pothole repair budget was defeated.

The New Lebanon School project will move forward with $2.8 million approved for architectural and design of a new school facility on Mead Avenue. The appropriation is contingent upon the Board of Education filing updated soil and environmental tests on the site where low levels of pesticides and arsenic have been found.

And there was good news for Old Greenwich residents as the board unanimously voted to add $150,000 to the budget to create a silt removal plan for Binney Park pond. “It was dredged 18 years ago and silt traps weren’t put in,” Goldrick said. “It looks like a swamp. It’s an eyesore.” The allocation will speed up the project that originally slated for the 2016 budget cycle.

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