Madison First Selectman Issues Statement On Academy School Site

Written by Madison First Selectman Thomas Banisch,

I feel strongly that the most important thing we have to do is to keep the Academy School process moving forward. I believe that a vote now, asking voters to determine officially, that the Town needs to prioritize a Community Center within the Academy School Building; at a construction cost of $14 million is part of this forward movement.

I believe that, although in the past, the Town has only brought one vote with bonding information to the public, we are not beholden to past practice when this same past practice may not have been the most beneficial to the voters of this Town.

My intention in suggesting and advocating for this advisory referendum question is to allow for an official vote to keep the process moving forward. No matter what the outcome, the process will be able to continue with what I feel is a clearer path towards a resolution and future use of the building that satisfies the majority of the Town.

If the voters approve the pathway towards a Community Center at this cost, then we as a Board know that our next steps will include convening a Building Committee, conducting staffing reviews for the new services to be offered, and to bring bonding information to the public for the next official vote on how to fund the Community Center project.

If the voters do not approve this advisory referendum, then we as a Board know that our next steps will be to determine what other future uses might be brought to a vote, and if the Community Center project could be brought back for lesser cost, etc.

The one thing I do not want to do is confuse the issue with a vote at this time that doesn’t take into account the other capital needs of our town.

With all of that said, it is also important that we as a Board work together to keep the process moving forward. And that our Board is united in our vision for the future of the Academy School.

For the sake of our Town, and to ensure the voters that we are of a united vision, I would consider the one referendum plan if we agree on the following:

That we do not eliminate from future consideration the idea of two referenda on a single topic;

That the Board of Selectmen will immediately begin work to answer questions left unanswered as by the Academy Community Center Design Committee.

Questions that still exist include Grants that may be available and total operational costs on an annual basis, which can be determined by a staffing profile study for Community Center operations; and we agree to move to a comprehensive capital plan to referendum after January 1st.