RTM Cuts $605K Off Bonded Projects for 2011-12

It took three hours, but the Representative Town Meeting late Monday cut $605,000 from school and town projects to be bonded in 2011-12.

The RTM's decision to bond $2 million - instead of $2.6 million - came after a brief flareup between Board of Education Vice Chairman Pam Iacono, a Republican, and Republican leaders on the RTM.

The RTM, controlled 38-12 by Republicans, had just voted against $280,000 for new boilers at Dwight School and seemed destined to vote against $250,000 for bathroom renovations at Jennings School when Iacono said, "I guess we're going to play this game all night."

"Now we're backed up by Dwight, we're backed up by Jennings. We have tried so hard at the Board of Education to be fiscally responsible and put forth a fiscally responsible plan," Iacono said. She then said RTM members in the front row, all of whom are Republican leaders, could roll their eyes, play with their Blackberries and not listen, but the bathroom renovations at Jennings, which also would make them accessible to the disabled, were about "having respect and responsibility to our neediest citizens."

"We don't have enough money to fix the sinks. We can't even screw them into the wall anymore," Iacono said.

Iacono's remark about allegedly inattentive RTM members, who are the legislative body's Republican leaders, didn't go unnoticed.

Peter Ambrose, the Republican deputy moderator of the RTM, said, "This is not a game. We don't perceive this as a game. Comments like that only exacerbate the process."

Iacono retorted, "Then I hope you ask some of your members to get off their Blackberries."

David Becker, a District 1 Republican who announced a bid for first selectman on Saturday, said, "This is the second year in a row the word 'game' has come from the Board of Education. This is not a game. It's an iPhone for me, and I've been doing interest rate calculations on how much this is going to cost us."

Becker said this was the first time the issue of making Jennings' bathrooms compliant with the Americans With Disability Act was coming out. He said past discussions had mostly been about repairs.

The next time Iacono got up to speak, she prefaced her remarks by saying, "Sorry I got a little emotional before."

The RTM decided to cut $125,000 from the bathroom renovations at Jennings, bringing the total to $125,000 for safety repairs, and, over the course of the night, also made the following decisions:

* Reduce funding for roof repairs above Roger Ludlowe Middle School's auditorium from $50,000 to $35,000;

* Approve $105,000 to install a new playground at the town's Early Childhood Center that is geared toward special needs' children and to installing a rubberized surface on an existing playground;

* Approve $540,000 for a new fire pumper;

* Cut a roof replacement project at the Fairfield Senior Center to $480,000 from $500,000;

* Approve $120,000 to remediate land on One Rod Highway where the state plans to build an $8 million regional fire training center;

* Approve $105,000 to remove and/or replace underground storage tanks and install fuel monitoring system on such tanks;

* Approve $120,000 for upgrades to a traffic control signal by Fairfield Woods Road and Palm Drive, which is where an expanded Fairfield Woods Middle School is scheduled to open next September;

* Cut from $90,000 to $75,000 the replacement of a roof on the Fairfield Academy, a former schoolhouse on the Town Green that dates to the early 19th century. Tom Conley, R-3, said RTM members had been told $17,000 of the cost was for copper gutters. Patty Dyer, D-6, said copper gutters may be mandated by the town's Historic District Commission, and First Selectman Ken Flatto said he supported the $15,000 cut and reminded RTM members that they vote on the Historic District Commission's budget;

* Eliminated $100,000 for a backhoe for the town's Department of Public Works. Hank Ference, R-3, said he'd been told the DPW had four backhoes and this was "one of those items we can delay a year to give the taxpayers a break." Richard White, DPW director, said his department makes full use of all four backhoes, but he could rent a backhoe if the 1997 one due to be replaced broke down and another was in the shop;

* Cut from $100,00 to $50,000 the funding request for bunker repairs at the H. Smith Richardson Golf Course. Kevin Hoffkins, D-7, said the RTM had cut money to make Jennings' bathrooms ADA compliant and he couldn't see supporting money for bunker repairs at the golf course. But Edward Bateson, R-3, said the golf course was a "revenue generating asset," an opinion not shared by Liz Hoffmann, R-8. Hoffmann said revenue from the golf course either broke even with its expenses or was a little above. "We keep saying it's a revenue-producing item, and it's never been demonstrated. If anything, it's barely a break-even," she said.

Around midnight, the RTM then voted to approve $2,005,000 for bonded projects in the 2011-12 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The projects will be financed by 10-year bonds.