A year of hardships and triumphs, hellos and goodbyes, and remembrances of those lost marked 2022 for the town’s municipal government.
Among the goodbyes were Police Captain Chris Vanghele, who left the department in January following the announced retirement of Chief James Viadero. They were replaced by Captain Bryan Bishop and Chief David Kullgren (see separate story).
Another departure in early December was Director of Planning George Benson. While Benson’s replacement is still being sought, Deputy Director Rob Sibley has been stepping up and minding the store. Benson was 70 at retirement and left a long legacy of accomplishments from his 17-year career heading the Land Use Department.
Benson said among his accomplishments were building the Land Use office into what it is today. He said it is “more proactive” in dealing with applications and more responsive to environmental concerns. Many of the staff he has hired have come from environmental backgrounds.
Benson said that his office has taken on “a lot more responsibility” than it had when he began, including heading up the Economic Development Department and administering open space.
When he came into the position, his office only handled zoning and wetland permits. The staff is more involved with other agencies in town now and works with people to answer all their questions. They help develop the planning process and work around environmental issues before they reach the Planning & Zoning Commission or the Inland Wetlands Commission.
During his tenure, Benson’s position changed from land use director to director of planning; his responsibilities then included town planning, review of commercial and municipal developments, pre-application reviews and meetings, business use and location assessment, interpreting state statutes, management of special projects, reviewing subdivisions, borough planning, and administration of Land Use and Economic Development staff.
Benson said another big accomplishment was the realignment of Edmond Road, near Exit 10 of Interstate 84.
First Selectman Dan Rosenthal said prior to the realignment, the area was “a big mess,” but with federal money from then-Senator Nancy Johnson, the town was able to do a lot of work to make the realignment a reality. The town only ended up paying $19,000 of its own money for a small piece of land.
Rosenthal also noted that Benson helped fight against a transfer station that the railroad wanted to build in Newtown, and when the water company wanted to build a water line into a neighboring town.
The town is also “more contiguous,” said Rosenthal, as Benson worked to get sidewalks expanded from Main Street down into Sandy Hook and to Fairfield Hills and Reed School.
Among more “Hellos,” Newtown welcomed Purchasing Director Kerri Mubarek in July. Mubarek brought more than 30 years of purchasing experience to the position.
While her prior experience in purchasing was not with a municipality, she worked in the private sector for Ethan Allen purchasing hand knitted rugs, Caldor purchasing women’s clothing, at Duty Free Shops purchasing liquor and other goods, and for Eastern Mountain Sports purchasing sporting goods.
Charter Revision
Starting in 2021, the Charter Revision Commission began considering a raft of possible changes to the Town’s constitutional document, the biggest being consideration of possible changes to or elimination of the Board of Finance. The bipartisan commission, made up of three Democrats, three Republicans, and one Independent, submitted their final report in June, detailing proposed changes and recommending the elimination of the Board of Finance. Though most of the changes passed muster with voters in November, the elimination of the Board of Finance did not, being defeated nearly two-to-one.
According to town officials, 22 years ago, Charter revision referendum questions were structured in a way that voters ended up approving the creation of a Board of Finance but rejecting giving it policy making power.
In Connecticut, all towns get their power through state statute, and state statute says towns must have a single fiscal authority. By only approving one related Charter question in 2000, the Newtown BOF became a hybrid panel that was vested to be mostly an advisory board.
CRC Chairman Andy Buzzi said the CRC started by looking at what other towns do to handle financial matters, as well as asking everyone they could in town what they think of the BOF and what they want it to do. He noted that members of the previous BOF approached the CRC and told them that they would prefer to do policy making and be removed from the budget and appropriations processes.
Up to that point, the BOF was one of four boards involved in the annual budget process, and which vetted and recommended things like special appropriations and accepting grants.
The CRC looked at a lot of iterations of what a finance panel could look like, including as an appointed, not elected board — or as a full fiscal authority. What supported the commission’s direction, said Buzzi, was a letter from former council chairman Paul Lundquist noting the council can appoint a commission by ordinance to fill advisory roles.
The idea was that the new commission could be made up of the same members currently serving, and would eliminate the town having two fiscal authorities. However, it all became moot when the Board of Finance elimination was defeated by voters.
Approved by voters were a number of smaller changes including redefining the term “Town Department” so the Board of Education could be exempted from certain duties and functions of Town Bodies, which violated provisions of the Connecticut General Statutes; eliminating the Building Appeals Board that had not been seated or active in recent memory; allowing members of boards and commissions to abstain from votes on minutes for meetings where they were not in attendance; changing the method for filling vacancies in the Board of Education to be consistent with the Legislative Council; making the Town Clerk the Registrar of Vital Statistics; empowering the Police Commission to also act as a Civilian Police Review Board; and modifying procedures for emergency appropriations.
American Rescue Plan
Awarded $7.67 million in July 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan, the town slowly but surely reviewed how to spend the windfall in ways that most benefit Newtown taxpayers, while making sure to use the money on one-time purchases rather than costs that would recur in future budgets, such as new programs.
Following the spending of $2.5 million last year towards a HVAC project at Hawley School, the town named a ARP Ad Hoc Committee in January of this year, which has been listening to requests from officials and department heads all over town for ways to disburse the money.
With the two most recent disbursements coming this month in the form of a $240,000 dump truck for Public Works and $20,000 for safety improvements on the Fairfield Hills Campus, the town has so far approved approximately $6.5 million of that. That left approximately $1 million in the fund at year’s end. The town has until 2026 to spend all the funding.
“There is still a lot of work to be done, it’s not completed,” said Rosenthal. “The ARP Ad Hoc Committee has been very thoughtful in their approach in how to distribute the funds. Everything they have recommended has been approved. We are trying to fund things that otherwise the taxpayers would have to pay for.”
Previously, the town government bodies approved a bike park at Fairfield Hills for $75,000; $20,000 for housing stabilization to the Department of Human Services; $125,000 to Edmond Town Hall for doors and cameras; $215,000 for sidewalks in Sandy Hook; $300,000 for a bucket loader for the Department of Public Works; $100,000 towards tutoring assistance; $20,000 for youth enrichment through the United Way; $90,000 for a senior citizen bus.
Additionally, $1.5 million is allocated for a water distribution center at Fairfield Hills; $190,000 for a roof replacement of the multi-purpose building; $50,000 to replace or repair some underground fire suppression tanks; a $325,000 reimbursement to the town’s self-funded insurance for costs of COVID; and $40,000 for COVID-related supplies.
Also, $200,000 for improvements at the transfer station; $100,000 for improvements at the municipal center; $90,000 for a dump truck for the Parks & Recreation Department; $150,000 for a refurbishment of the Dickinson Park pavilion; $75,000 for outside storage at the community center; $155,000 for a patio at the community center; and $16,000 for lift assist handicap-accessible doors at the senior center.
In addition, $15,000 in grants was approved for each of four town volunteer fire companies, Newtown Underwater Search and Rescue (NUSAR), and Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps (NVAC). Newtown Hook & Ladder is getting an allocation of $15,000 in ARP funds from the Borough of Newtown.
“It’s a fairly long list of items we’ve been able to address,” said Rosenthal. “While we can’t use the money to reduce taxes, we can help the taxpayers by using the money on things we were going to do anyway.”
Historic Credits
Seeking to develop several buildings on the Fairfield Hills Campus — Shelton Hall and Kent Hall — the town’s governing bodies approved a measure to formally apply for historic credits with the US Parks Department that would provide financial assistance to WinnDevelopment for renovating those two buildings as mixed use residential/commercial.
While some town officials expressed trepidation over the historic credits, which would place the Fairfield Hills campus buildings on the US registry of historic buildings and limit the town’s ability to demolish buildings on the campus, the Legislative Council voted 8-4 to apply for the credits in August. Concerns centered around the inability of the town to demolish other buildings on campus over a certain period of time, and concerns that “strings” would be placed on the town’s control of the buildings.
Former Land Use Director Benson said the “town is not giving up anything” by accepting historic credits. The campus is already facing limitations on what can be done with the buildings because it is on the state historic register.
“We’re not handing anything over,” said Benson, who noted historic credits would help for developing not just Kent and Shelton Hall, but the other campus buildings as well. “No one can develop these without historic credits. It’s not a financially feasible plan.”
Any change the town wants to make to the exterior of the buildings already has to go before the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) as the campus is on the state historic register, he said. The SHPO would be the same organization that would review changes should the campus be placed on the federal historic register, according to Stacey Vairo, of Preservation Connecticut.
The federal process would designate the campus and all buildings currently standing as historically significant, and the town would not be able to demolish any of the buildings during the time the project is being worked on and for five years after, or the federal Parks Service, which would award the historic credits, could “claw back” the money. The current timeline from Winn estimated Kent and Shelton would be renovated by the end of 2025 and the claw back period would end at the end of 2030.
When asked if any of the buildings were so structurally unsound that they may become compromised before 2030 and need to be demolished, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal responded, “not to my knowledge.”
Sources of funds for this project include federal Historic Tax Credits, state Historic Tax Credits, and Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). It was expected that historic tax credits would make up 25 percent of total project funding.
The rest of the project would be underwritten by WinnDevelopment, with no cost to the town. The town would sell the buildings to Winn but would lease them the land that the buildings are on.
If the mixed use project moves forward, it was estimated it will have a $25.3 million positive impact to the town’s direct cash flow until the demolition bonding payments were completed, over the next 35 years. If the mixed use buildings were renovated, it was estimated the town would bring in $20,070,555 in revenue, with $31,659,976 in expenses, for a net cash loss of $11,589,420 over those 35 years.
If the mixed use buildings were not renovated, it was estimated the town would bring in $1,612,814 in revenue versus $38,477,451 in expenses, for a net cash loss of $36,864,638.
The difference between the two was the $25.3 million positive impact, as officials said the town would see a much smaller cash loss on the Fairfield Hills property with the mixed use buildings. The expenses were mostly related to the cost of demolishing unused buildings, and were estimated to be larger without the mixed use project happening because Kent and Shelton Houses would eventually have been demolished as well.
At year’s end, the town had not heard back on the results of the application, but Rosenthal said he hopes the town will hear something in the first few months of 2023.
Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial
Rosenthal pointed to the completion of the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial in November as one of the biggest accomplishments this year. A project that spans back years to the aftermath of the very tragedy it memorialized, construction began in earnest in mid-2021 and continued right up to its opening in November.
“This was an important project that was touched by a lot of people,” said Rosenthal. “I’m grateful for the care and sensitivity that went into it.”
Rosenthal said the $3.7 million project owes its existence to far too many people to mention by name.
When the Public Buildings and Site Commission took on project oversight on behalf of the municipality ahead of preparation for construction, members carried out their duties as they had previously with the Sandy Hook School and the new police station — by starting an ad hoc commission that could meet weekly. The weekly meetings allow work to get done more quickly and efficiently, former late PBSC Chairman Robert Mitchell said.
“We call it the Sandy Hook method,” said Mitchell, referring to practices put in place during the development of the new Sandy Hook School. “It’s worked very well for us, the projects have come in on time and under budget. You can’t do better than that.”
The memorial near the new Sandy Hook School at 28 Riverside Road, also the base for Newtown Underwater Search And Rescue (NUSAR), was long known as SAC Field — a baseball and soccer field that was utilized by local youth leagues. The property was signed over to Newtown in 2017 by the Sandy Hook Boys’ Social and Athletic Club (SAC) trustees.
The memorial features a welcome wall at the entrance with a quote from then-president Barack Obama and “sacred soil” created from remnants of the many thousands of items sent to the town in the wake of the tragedy. A path from the parking lot will be graded to be Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant. Natural native plants, meadows, and pathways allows visitors to interact with nature and takes them to the reflecting pool, in the middle of which is a tree planted in that same sacred soil.
The Memorial was formally opened to the public on November 13, one day after a private gathering of officials, Sandy Hook families, members of the design team, first responders, and friends.
Positive Financial Picture
Rosenthal said that the picture for the town remains “positive financially.”
“Things continue to be well,” said Rosenthal.
Rosenthal pointed to a growing capital and non-recurring fund, which he said is a positive for the town to fund annual capital expenditures and items with “shorter life spans” that the town does not want to be financing over 20 years. In the later category, Rosenthal pointed to the refurbishment of a Newtown Hook & Ladder ladder track, which is being refurbished to add ten years to its life span rather than being replaced at multiple times the cost.
“The flexibility to pay in cash with capital and non-recurring funds is saving the town money,” said Rosenthal. “We have to keep working toward a pay-as-you-go mentality.”
Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.
A Public Works Department crew working on Ashford Lane during the summer. —Bee Photo, Taylor
Election Day saw Newtown splitting its votes between Republican and Democratic candidates. Outside the polling place at Newtown Middle School were Republican volunteers, including Mitch Bolinsky (left).
Members of Newtown Hook & Ladder help volunteers run the summer flag up the flagpole during the spring. —Bee Photo, Taylor
First Selectman Dan Rosenthal reads a proclamation about the retirement of Land Use Director George Benson in early December. —Bee Photos, Taylor
Newtown High School Athletic Director Matthew Memoli (left), Newtown Youth Football (NYF) Fundraising Coordinator Dan Schenzer, Newtown Youth Football League President Peter Stockwell, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, Parks Director Carl Samuelson and Newtown Parks & Recreation Director Amy Mangold attended a brief check presentation activity June 1. The funds raised by NYF will be combined with town funds to complete turfing the back field at Newtown High School.
By noon on November 13, only a few members of the public and a small film crew were seen viewing the newly opened Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial.
