Date: Fri 14-Jun-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Town-Hall-South-renovation

Full Text:

Referendum Set On Town Hall South Renovations

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

A referendum will be held on Tuesday, August 20, on the proposal to spend

$840,000 of surplus funds to renovate Town Hall South. Voting will take place

in the Middle School gymnasium between 6 am and 8 pm.

The machine vote, which will cost the town approximately $3,500, was forced

when Sam Nezvesky and Hugh Quinn, assisted by a few other residents, collected

more than the required 579 signatures on petitions, in effect overturning the

vote of the July 31 town meeting. The two men cast the only dissenting votes

at the town meeting, which approved the renovations 27-2.

Both men said they felt the decision on whether to spend such a large amount

of money should be made by more than the few people who attended the town

meeting. Mr Nezvesky said Town Hall South is "a disaster" and should be torn

down or sold rather than renovated. Mr Quinn said town officials should look

into buying or renting other empty buildings in town.

"I don't know what the town will do if the renovations are defeated," said

First Selectman Bob Cascella. "The Planning & Zoning Department and the

Conservation Department will have to be moved out of the building before

winter, and we don't have any place to put them."

"We have an OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) issue and a

union issue to deal with," Mr Cascella said. "(When it rains) water floods P&Z

and creeps across the hallway into Conservation."

"With all of the other capital projects that the town is facing now,

renovating this building is the most cost-effective solution," he said.

The proposed renovation project includes installation of a curtain drain

around the building to end the continual flooding problem, replacement of

mildewed interior walls, and the installation of tiled floors to replace

carpeting. In addition, all four sides of the building will be faced in brick,

the flat roof will be replaced with a pitched roof, new windows will be

installed and the parking ramp will be enclosed to create 5,000 square feet of

space for future expansion.

If the proposal is approved, the money will come from the town's reserve fund

for capital and non-recurring expenditures, an account that has been funded by

the Legislative Council in each of the past few years with part of the annual

audited surplus.

According to the Connecticut General Statutes, Section 7-6, any person who is

a registered voter in Newtown or who is assessed at least $1,000 for real

estate or motor vehicles on the town's 1995 Grand List is qualified to vote at

the referendum.

Absentee ballots also are available for the referendum. Any qualified voter

who will not be in Newtown during voting hours on Tuesday may vote by absentee

ballot. The ballots will be available on weekdays between the hours of 8 am

and 4:30 pm at the town clerk's office in Edmond Town Hall.

The town clerk's office also will have special hours on Saturday, August 17,

from 9 am to noon for the sole purpose of absentee ballot voting. Any person

who is unable to vote in person because of a physical disability or unforeseen

illness also may request an absentee ballot. (Anyone who has questions about

voting may call Town Clerk Cindy Curtis at 270-4210.)

The referendum will be only on the question of using $840,000 from the reserve

fund for the renovations. The proposal to issue $650,000 in bonds for road

reconstruction was approved at the July 31 town meeting and was not part of

the petition for the referendum.