The Board of Finance (BOF) met in person at the Municipal Center, with a call-in option, for a regularly scheduled meeting on November 9 to go over questions with the Sustainable Energy Commission as well as CIP recommendations.

Sustainable Energy

Sustainable Energy Commission Chair Kathy Quinn and Vice Chair Allen Adriani addressed various queries the BOF had, which were prepared in advance by BOF member Ned Simpson, regarding the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) 2021-22 through 2030-31.

Quinn started of the conversation, saying, “Before we get into the details of all these questions, I want to explain one concept and that’s the Small Business Energy Advantage Program from Eversource — SBEA as we commonly refer to it. We have used that program to finance a number of projects within the town and it’s an on-bill payment system where you’re getting your savings through the electric bill, but you’re paying off the expenses through it at the same time. So, the town is not paying out any funds. We don’t have to budget for it, it’s not a capital improvement thing. We pay for it as we go along. Once everything is paid for, then we generate all the savings on the bill.”

The first question that was proposed asked if the commission could provide “a ballpark estimate for putting in a building management system and other major energy saving projects for the Community Center/Senior Center?”

Adriani explained, “We are currently looking at the energy use. Typically, what we like to do is get one-year view of the building… it’s been open for a year, but we’ve had COVID and it hasn’t been fully occupied. To get a real number of energy use, or ‘baseline’ as we call it, we need one-year energy usage, which may take more time, because of COVID.”

So, while at this time they do not have a ballpark estimate, Adriani said he was informed that the Building Management system can be added to the maintenance budget.

Additional topics discussed included LED lighting for Head O’ Meadow, changing out burnt-out lamps across town, and looking into the Municipal Center in terms of insulation and concerns brought up by staff about inconsistent temperatures.

CIP Recommendations

When going over the Board of Education’s (BOE) CIP, the BOF first discussed Hawley Elementary School’s ventilation and HVAC renovations.

Simpson led the conversation, commenting that currently the only estimates that they can do are square footage unit cost estimates and that “they’re very rough.” He added that the pricing could be plus or minus 20 percent. His takeaway, though, is that the paid engineering project is on track and estimates could be given to them by December.

“I think we should just pass this [proposed CIP] on to Legislative Council when there’ll be better numbers and better able to sort out the project,” Simpson said.

BOF Chair Sandy Roussas commented, “I would like to get the best number that we can get for where we are in the process. I don’t necessarily think that the number that we get in, either next week or the week after, or any time before we vote, is going to be ‘the number.’ I think that just based on the way I understand projects to go, there is a lot of fluidity in it until you start the project and getting in your bid, so Ned your point is well taken.”

The next item up pertained to the wording under “Middle School Improvements.”

“We talked about this with [Newtown Superintendent of Schools] Dr [Lorrie] Rodrigue when she was here at an October meeting and she agreed that we could change that to ‘Middle School HVAC,’” Simpson said.

The group was in consensus on that and Simpson moved to the next point of discussion, Head O’ Meadow Elementary School’s “Boiler Plant & Lighting.”

He suggested splitting it into “Head O’ Meadow Boiler Plant” $424,500 for 2023/24 Bonded and “Head O’ Meadow LED Lighting” $425,500 for 2021/2022 Funded from Other and General Funds.

When the BOF opened the floor for BOE members on the phone to give input, Rodrigue said she would want to further discuss it with the commission.

Simpson also recommended changing the name of Public Works’ “Multi-Purpose Building Improvements” to “Multi-Purpose Building Electrical, Mechanical & HVAC.”

When discussing repaving at the C.H. Booth Library for 2023/24, Simpson said that after doing research into other paving projects, he believes it should be increased by $396,000 for Repaving Parking Lot Replace Sidewalks.

He added that as a senior resident, he finds the library to be ADA compliant, but not “senior friendly” in the way its dead-end handicap parking area is designed.

“I think that this project would be the perfect time to reconfigure that side of the building so you can drive in and drop someone off at the barrier-free entrance with the sliding glass doors, then drive right on to the parking lot,” Simpson said, justifying his estimate.

BOF member Matthew Mihalcik explained that he was previously on the library’s Board of Trustees and that they looked into a similar option, but that he recalls there were complications pertaining to the neighboring residence’s shared driveway and landlines.

First Selectman Dan Rosenthal echoed his sentiments, saying, “We don’t have the easement; it’s the other way around. The problem is, I think, in the legal documentation, because they have to be able to get into their driveway and come back out. The question was can we make them, in order to leave for egress purposes. If we made it a one-way in, they would in essence then have to go around the library every time they wanted to leave their home.”

The discussion on this specific item was tabled in order to get input from Public Works Director Fred Hurley.

Simpson proposed splitting Fairfield Hills’ “Building Remediation, Demo, & Infrastructure,” into “Water Infrastructure” $750,000 for 2026/27 Bonded and “Building Remediation and Demolition” total $20,000,000 over five years starting in 2022/23 Bonded.

Roussas stated, “I personally like the idea of going to the voters and getting a mandate from them with regard to the entire project and then bonding incrementally throughout the course of the years. It is a big number.”

Roussas concluded the CIP discussions by saying that depending on what comes of the conversation at the BOE CIP subcommittee and the conversations in regard to Hawley, the BOF may have to have a special meeting, potentially over Zoom.

The BOF will plan to meet for their regularly scheduled meeting on November 23 and, if need be, will have a special meeting November 30 to vote before passing the CIP to the Legislative Council.

BOF Schedule, Transfer

The BOF unanimously approved its 2021 regular meeting schedule.

Meetings are anticipated to be as follows: January 11 and 28, February 8 and 25, March 8 and 25, April 12 and 22, May 10 and 27, June 14 and 24, July 12 and 22, August 9 and 26, September 13 and 23, October 12 and 28, November 8 and 22, and December 13 and 27, 2021, as well as January 10 and 27, 2022.

The approval also consisted of a public hearing date of February 11, 2021, as well as special budget meetings on February 11, 18, and 22 and March 4, 2021.

All were also in favor of passing a transfer of $1,255 Contingency to Other Purchased Services.

For more information about upcoming Board of Finance meetings, visit newtown-ct.gov/board-finance.