Millions of Dollars for Referendum Vote January 7,2023

Board of Finance Public Hearing Latimer Lane Referendum Vote November 29, 2022

Latimer Lane School Renovation

The Latimer Lane School renovation was placed on the ballot and approved for $36.8 Million

The funds were insufficient to cover the escalating costs and revisions were made to reduce the project.

The project as presented to the public has been reduced in scope while the costs have escalated.

This project was presented prior to the consultant report for redistricting, by placing the 6th Grade at the Junior High.

We are now being asked to appropriate $2.2 million for additional costs that will probably escalate in cost overruns in time.

We are living in an inflationary environment with escalating costs for everything associated with building materials and labor.

There is anticipation of an increase in the spending budget for next year with the burden transferred to the taxpayer who is also living with increase costs on a daily basis.

The project should be placed on hold since there are no guarantees that there will not be more overruns since no project going forward has a fixed-price contract.

A pause in the project for a year will give the Board of Education time to reconfigure the usable space, receive a cost analysis on the reduction of students through redistricting at the Latimer Lane School with the 6 th grade at the Junior High and continue to give the students a quality education.

Government runs on other people’s money. Whether Grants or direct payments, it is all tax dollars. When the buckets run low, government always raises taxes.

We the people pay for Government’s insatiable appetite to fund projects whether local, State or Federal.

The taxpayers have to live within their means with less, why not government?

There is no free money.

I am asking the Board of Finance to place the Latimer Lane renovation project on hold for at least a year and not spend more money on a failed project the reduces the scope of the project and the effectiveness of the renovation.

Throughout this process we have not heard anyone presenting the overhead costs that will add to the budget year after year.

Building projects that have been approved have had issues with shortages, cost over-runs and escalation of unknowns, that have led to private industry placing projects on hold.

The Board of Finance is asking the taxpayers of Simsbury to continually pay for cost over-runs, if approved, of a reduction in scope that will not fulfill the needs, as presented.

The Latimer Lane referendum costs of $36.8 million approval and now $2.2 million additional costs is just the beginning of an ever-escalating cost that should not be approved for Referendum vote. How many Referendums will we need to complete the project, if approved?

Infrastructure Appropriation

The infrastructure appropriation for sidewalks and multi-use paths is another project with open-ended escalating costs that should not be approved for Referendum vote.

The Town is proposing an Ordinance to allow bicyclists to use sidewalks and multi-purpose trails that have not been designed for that purpose.

Walkers are all ages, some with disabilities will be challenged by space on narrow sidewalks. People with walkers and strollers use the sidewalks.

Many children that are walkers to get to school, use the sidewalks for safety.

Many people walk their dogs on the sidewalks that could be aggressive with the bicyclists in their path.

At the present time many of the bicyclists on the roads do not stop at stop signs as they are required to do by law.

If the bicyclists can’t follow State Law, why should anyone believe that this Ordinance would regulate their conduct?

This is an accident waiting to happen and inconsistent with the space on sidewalks.

The Town should not approve any projects without knowing the operating costs that will encumber the taxpayers.

In an inflationary time with a recession on the horizon, this is not the time to approve million-dollar projects with cost overruns.

A few political operatives and lobbyists can skew the vote which will not represent the majority of the people.

These projects should not go to Referendum vote.