Date: Fri 15-Mar-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

school-high-school-project

Full Text:

Town Hopes to Push Ahead Vote On High School Project

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

The push to move along the Newtown High School expansion plans continued this

week as town officials tried to strike a deal with the state Department of

Environmental Protection (DEP).

The project, which the school district had hoped to send to a referendum this

spring, was delayed after the DEP found high nitrate levels in neighborhood

wells near the school, prompting the state to order the school to fix the

problem before starting the addition. However, First Selectman Bob Cascella

and Board of Education Chairman Herb Rosenthal sent a letter to Hartford

earlier this week requesting that the DEP approve the project on the condition

that Newtown commits itself to fixing the problem, if, in fact, it is found to

be the town's problem.

"We're hoping the DEP will accept our letter as a good-faith offer," Mr

Rosenthal explained.

That may still happen, but there's a chance the DEP may not agree to such

terms, instead agreeing to issue a consent order, a binding agreement that

legally requires the town to fix the problem sometime down the line.

That could take at least 30 days to finalize, meaning the amount of work to be

done before a June vote on the high school would be immeasurable. Dr Reed said

even if the process began this week, it would be tough to push the proposed

project through the Legislative Council, the school board and the building

committee, then on to the bidding process and a town meeting all before late

June.

Dr Reed is hoping to present the high school project as a package along with

the proposed Hawley School addition plan. The school board has already agreed

to go forward with the Hawley referendum this spring, meaning he must scramble

to do the same with the high school.

Three weeks ago, the possibility of a referendum on the high school addition

this spring was all but ruled out, but the first selectman's discussion's with

the state have improved the bleak prognosis.

"It's gone from a virtual impossibility to a possibility," Dr Reed said.

If a referendum is held this spring, it would be scheduled June 18, the final

Tuesday of the school year. After that, parents start going away for summer

vacation, and school officials are hoping for the support of parents in

getting the project passed.

Tuesday night, architect Rusty Malik of Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc.,

received authorization to move ahead with a separate bidding process to remove

asbestos flooring from some NHS classrooms. His concern is that if the high

school project referendum is delayed until the fall, the carcinogen

fire-proofing agent would not be able to be removed until the following

summer. The building must be vacant of students prior to the asbestos removal.

"The bottom line is if we don't have the asbestos flooring out, we'll be

delayed until the following summer," he explained to the board.

A June vote on the high school would make the separate bidding unnecessary.

The asbestos removal is estimated to cost $250,000, while the new flooring

would be an additional $150,000.

"The longer the project is held off, the more costly it becomes," Mr Malik

said.

Dr Reed said the projects need to get moving before the state begins to change

its mind on funding. He pointed out that the state tends to give more money to

poorer towns in Connecticut and may eventually begin cutting back on the

wealthier towns. The superintendent said the state has agreed to contribute

significantly more money than it usually gives to most towns of similar

financial status to Newtown.

"You better get it while it's hot," Dr Reed said.

The town continues to mull over how to alleviate the problem. Town officials

have discussed hooking the school up to the municipal sewer system. They've

also considered installing an on-site nitrate elimination filter.

The DEP believes the pollution found in several wells on Oakview Road came

from the school and told the town that disproving that fact would be virtually

impossible.

In the background through the entire process, NHS Principal Bill Manfredonia

watches in anticipation.

"My only hope is that we can use the summer to begin some of the

construction," he said Tuesday.