Board of Finance OKs $120K Facilities Shuffle Transfer

The Board of Finance approved a $120,000 transfer from a contingency account Tuesday to fund the first two design phases of the town's pending facilities shuffle.

The 4-3 vote came a week after members had turned down a more extensive $326,000 request from the Board of Selectmen and deadlocked 3-3 on a scaled-down version of the same. 

But the revised, $120,000 figure was approved by the selectmen on Monday, sending the issue to the Board of Finance for a second time in as many weeks.

The shuffle, , envisions moving the  from its aging home on Edgerton Street to the Town Hall Annex, shifting the offices of  to the old library building at 35 Leroy Ave., and eventually demolishing the old senior center building.

The funds will be used to hire Beinfield Architecture, which was selected to perform design work by the building committee charged with overseeing the project.

Chairman Liz Mao (R), Murry Stegelmann (R), Jon Zagrodzky (R), and Joe Duwan (R) voted in favor of the transfer proposal, while Gwen Mogenson (D), Martha Banks (D), and Lorene Bora (R) voted against.

Tuesday's vote will allow the first two of five design phases to proceed before the project is presented to the Representative Town Meeting.

“I have been waiting years for a chance for the RTM to weigh in on the project,” Stegelmann said. “We have gone years heating, lighting, and snow-plowing the vacant building [at 35 Leroy Ave.] … Strategically, we have to do something about the senior center. On a several million dollar project, I am willing to spend $120,000 to get extra information.”

Other board members questioned the idea of using money from the contingency fund rather than seeking an RTM-backed appropriation.

Bora asked for more time to review the issue. She said a folder of information she had requested about the project was delivered to her house Tuesday but that she had not adequate time to read its contents.

First Selectman Dave Campbell (R), who attended Tuesday's meeting, said he had found 30 studies from over the course of 12 years relating to a possible successor to the current senior center.

“I think this is a common-sense plan. It gives us a chance to create community space,” Campbell said. “I think it is an exceptional value to the taxpayers.”

Selectman David Bayne (D), also in attendance, said he objected to approving a large transfer for the project without first seeking RTM approval.

“You are putting the RTM in a not-so-good position,” Bayne said. “I think there are basic questions that will not be answered by the designs. Why is there a request for office space when there is not a defined need for such office space?”

Selectman Jayme Stevenson (R), who voted in favor of the transfer, encouraged members "to look at this project from 30,000 feet."

"We need to look at this project from a distance and take the emotion out of it. Send it to the RTM, and let the people decide," Stevenson said.