NHS Bonding Delayed—

Selectmen Move Community Center,

NHS Projects To Ballot

By John Voket

The Board of Selectmen was able to clear two of three important matters from its agenda this week, while being forced to delay a third because of an improper level of information on the meeting’s public warning notice. According to a report given by Town Attorney David Grogins, a vote on approving the bonding for the proposed Newtown High School expansion was not required to move the expansion appropriation request through to a referendum, although discussion and action on the matter was originally intended to go forward.

Mr Grogins explained that the town’s bond counsel did not believe “the warning for the meeting was sufficient to proceed forward” with the bonding authorization

“That will not hold up the referendum, it will not hold up this proceeding,” Mr Grogins said. “The Board of Selectmen will have to have a special meeting in the next several days where they will take up this issue — to authorize the borrowing of money assuming the referendum passes.”

According to Democratic selectman Herb Rosenthal, who spoke to The Bee following the meeting, the warning notice filed with the town clerk did not contain the specific language and financial information that had been included as the resolution passed through numerous prior actions and endorsements by the school and finance boards, as well as the finance subcommittee and full Legislative Council.

A copy of the agenda simply states the “High School Expansion & Renovation Resolution,” with no collateral details, or the basic legal language that had been published by other boards up to that point.

Republican selectman Paul Mangiafico then asked for the floor, and proceeded to fully explain some of his concerns and the reasoning behind why he originally voted against the bonding at a March 17 meeting. He first related to his fellow selectmen and the audience of about 50 residents and town officials that following that March vote, he was inundated with e-mails and phone calls, many expressing negative feelings about both Mr Mangiafico’s decision and taking issue with him personally.

“Why did this furor develop?” Mr Mangiafico said. “It’s been awful, it’s been absolutely appalling what’s happened. The e-mails and voicemails the three of us were receiving were beyond description.

“That is not the way we make progress, and it is not the way we influence public officials,” Mr Mangiafico said.

Quoting from the film Cool Hand Luke, Mr Mangiafico began by saying the town found itself in the current position because of a “failure to communicate.” He said that following his vote to postpone the high school bonding he developed questions “that to some degree were answered — some have not.”

He referenced a report regarding the state investigating the Portland school district and considering requesting a return of some school building funds. The state was looking into the matter because the district’s current population fell far below population projections accepted by the state for project reimbursement.

Mr Mangiafico said he understood Newtown’s situation was not related to Portland, so he discounted that concern. He then referenced a jump in projected operating costs for the proposed expansion from $670,000 to more than $2 million.

Mr Mangiafico, who formerly served on the school board, then expressed concern when he learned recently that of the 21 teaching positions required to staff the expansion, at least 16 had already been hired, and were “already on the job.”

“We don’t have the project approved and we hired 80 percent of the personnel, they are on the job already, and there is no change in class size — this is disingenuous,” Mr Mangiafico said. “We don’t have the students, never mind the building. This is what sinks projects.”

The selectman then moved to address his greatest concern, which he said March 17 had significant bearing on his opinion to vote against the bonding.

“Population projections are a driver of the cost,” he said. Mr Mangiafico then reiterated that during his last meeting as a school board member before taking the selectman’s seat, he received a district consultant’s latest population projections.

“I was horrified at what I saw,” he said, adding that the projections were “so dramatically different than previous numbers,” that they should have been addressed in relation to the high school buildout “forthrightly and honestly.”

After reviewing some of his own possible buildout scenarios depending on factors related to consultant projections, Mr Mangiafico said, the size of the box is correct, but it is not the size of the box he was concerned about, but the cost to build it. And endorsing that appropriation is “a personal decision people make in the voting booth.”

He then reminded his fellow selectmen that the Board of Education voted 4-2 on resubmitting the bonding request that was rejected by selectmen March 17; that the finance board approved the project by a 4-2 margin; and that the council voted 9-3 to move the appropriation to the voters.

“There’s clearly a difference of opinion here,” he said. Mr Rosenthal then said he too had “grave concerns,” about the project.

“But it’s important for voters to make the decision,” Mr Rosenthal said.

First selectman Joe Borst said he has been in favor of the project “since the get-go.”