Council Approves Middle School Roof Appropriation

The Newtown Middle School roof replacement project racked up another town approval Wednesday despite some concerns about the process and timing of the work.

Although the project might not be able to start this summer and the work will unlikely be completed this summer, the urgency for the project to clear town approvals still remains, officials said during the Legislative Council meeting at the Municipal Center.

"The urgency is to get the project in the pipeline, and getting it done," First Selectman Pat Llodra said. "There is an end game here, and that has to be recognized."

Work to replace the aging and leaking Newtown Middle School roof is an approved capital improvement project that officials hope to offset some of the costs through state school construction grants. But before the town can apply for state money, it must agree to bond the entire amount on its own if necessary, which is why the council was asked to vote on the matter on Wednesday.

Last week, the roof project was close to being rejected by the Board of Finance following a split vote with one member concerned about whether the bonding amount might be too much and two other dissenters objecting to the building continuing to be a middle school given enrollment questions.

But a compromise was reached after chairman John Kortze asked for reconsideration, and one of the members who initially said "no" agreed to flip his vote on the condition that another meeting to discuss project bids be held prior to accepting a bid.

During Wednesday's meeting, some council members expressed concern that the project lacked a financial impact statement – required by charter – and other information that might help determine whether the approval for up to $4.3 million in bonding was financially sound.

"Can a taxpayer come forward and say we did not follow proper procedures?" Benjamin Spragg asked Finance Director Bob Tait. "Do you think we're OK by not following charter?"

Tait said he had a document that discusses some of the project's financial impact, but that it needed revisions before it could be distributed in final form. Officials said the financial impact statement could satisfy charter requirements if it were distributed later but prior to any appropriation.

Other concerns included questions about how the work was priced, and whether the price tag -- $4.3 million -- had been fully vetted considering that the project had not yet gone out to bid. But Llodra and other officials said a study had been completed that looked at three options and provided price estimates depending on whether the project would qualify for state funding.

"We're halfway to a bid," said Bill Hart, a Board of Education member who attended the council meeting.

Some council members said they favored delaying approval of the project for a week or so in order to receive the financial impact statement and the study, which was shown to the finance board last week but was not available during Wednesday's council meeting.

But Llodra said officials needed to move the project along the town approval process because they are required to do so as well as submit all of their corresponding documentation by the end of June in order to qualify for state bonding funds.

"Unless you get your filing done by your June deadline it doesn't get into the bonding," she said.

Llodra and others said that given expectations that the state might not have much money to help municipalities with bonding projects in subsequent years, the town should try to qualify for this year's program. The state approval process, however, takes time and that will mean the roofing work will unlikely be completed this year and might not start until after summer.

"The project will take at least three or four months," said Gino Faiella, school facilities director. "Even if we started in the beginning of summer, we couldn't get it done (in time for the start of school.)"

Still, officials said the roofing project was a necessity and that there would be more opportunities to scrutinize the project further as it progresses. The project now heads to the Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday.

Editor's note: The town is looking to offset some of the cost of replacing the Newtown Middle School roof through state school construction grants. An earlier version of this article incorrectly characterized the state's involvement.