1. To consider and act upon the appropriation of Town Government expenditures totaling $9,681,068 from the General Fund, and $485,048 from the Capital and Non-recurring Fund, and $903,194 from other governmental funds as recommended by the Board of Finance for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2009 and ending June 39, 2010.
2. To consider and act upon the appropriation of Education expenditure totaling $35,288,515 from the General Fund and $140,000 from the Capital and Non-recurring Fund, as recommended by the Board of Finance for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2009 and ending June 30, 2010.
2. To consider and act upon the appropriation of Education expenditure totaling $35,288,515 from the General Fund and $140,000 from the Capital and Non-recurring Fund, as recommended by the Board of Finance for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2009 and ending June 30, 2010.
3. To consider the resolution entitled "Resolution Appropriating $32,625,000 For The Planning, Design, Acquistion and Construction of Renovations And Improvements To Meeting House Hill Elementary School And New Fairfield High School And Authorizing The Issuance Of $32,625,000 Bonds Of The Town To Meet Said Appropriation Provided That The Bonds Shall Be Reduced By Amount Of Any State Grants-in-Aid Received For Such Purposes. (The State grants-in-aid are currently estimated at $8,076,457).*
* We "the taxpayers are always on the hook for the full amount" until the final audit is complete and State Department of Education [SDE] can adjust as they see fit from their final audit. The $8,076,457 is merely an estimate by the architect NOT BY THE SDE. The architect has a beneficial interest with his COMMISSION WHICH IS BASED ON THE SIZE OF THE PROJECT. This architect project personnel are the same ones that did Portland, CT. Perhaps some risk management/guarantee by the architect that the reimbursement will be $8,076,457 is in order. Experience is the best teacher, the last project Dr. Castagnola did with the personnel representing this architect was Portland, CT. The SDE final audit found that the town's expectation that the new facility would have an enrollment of 1,076 students had not been met. As a result, the state required the town to repay approximately $4.6 million in bonds it had borrowed to help pay for the project. Special legislative action was necessary to solve the problem.
Have you ever done a renovation on your home that EVER CAME IN AS ESTIMATED!!! The state post construction audit is handled very objectively. One of the biggest items will be the roofing for the campus as most is less than 15 yrs old and there is really no reason to do over again. Therefore the SDE will most likely not consider that cost of replacement as necessary when the useful life is 20 years.
THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES BUT NONE WERE DISCUSSED!
4. To consider and act upon the acceptance of a STEAP grant totaling $500,000 for Water Improvement.
