New Milford Reviews How It Is Using Its Buildings

NEW MILFORD, CT — A study presented to the Town Council this week shows that 18 percent of town-owned buildings are vacant, The News Times is reporting.

The Facilities Utilization Committee, an ad hoc group formed earlier this year, presented their findings to the council. The report was created after committee members visited all the town-owned sites and queried employees for suggestions on how to best use the space.

New Milford owns 48 buildings, ranging in size from a 6-by-8 foot plastic shed to former schools. The buildings cover more than 252,500 square feet of space, spread out over 28 properties.

More than half of the unused space can be found at the John Pettibone Community Center. The committee recommended that finding a use for space be made a priority.

Another critical issue highlighted in the committee's report was finding more garage space for public works so that snow equipment and vehicles could be kept inside, thereby speeding up snow removal.

The most common need across all the facilities reviewed was more space to store records. The committee suggested either designating a central storage facility as a shared archive, or digitizing everything.

For more, see The News Times.