BET Approves $37M New Leb School Rebuild

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By Bill Slocum
Contributing Editor

rebuilt and enlarged New Lebanon Elementary School took a large step toward reality Monday night, when the Board of Estimate and Taxation approved a $37 million appropriation—with some skepticism and a cut.

“This project has got strong support,” BET member Bill Drake noted. “We are going to build a superb new school.”

Drake then moved to take $300,000 from the appropriation, triggering discussion between Republicans like Drake and Democrats on the board.

The discussion allowed Republicans on the BET to express skepticism about elements of the project, including its proposed 62,000 square-foot size, while agreeing a new school was needed. New Lebanon School, it was observed, is the largest single capital item in the largest capital budget in town history.

BET chairman Michael Mason expressed skepticism about how New Lebanon would function as a prospective magnet school.

“I said to this board in a work session: ‘Can someone please find me magnet students that are going to come across town and go to that school?’” Mason said. “Someone has to make this conversation public.”

Mason also questioned whether the state will come through with their promised reimbursement funds for New Lebanon School even if it meets conditions for that reimbursement set by Hartford. “I’m really concerned about the state,” he said.

The cut went through in a 6-6 party-line vote, with Mason as chair casting the deciding vote.

Drake argued the cut was less than one percent of the totality of the project, and represented sensitivity to taxpayer concerns. Democrats countered that the New Lebanon School Building Committee had already done a good deal of “value engineering,” as Democrat Jeffrey Ramer put it, getting the number to where it was.

Steve Walko, chair of the New Lebanon School Building Committee, said after the meeting that he was pleased with the BET’s approval. “It absolutely in my mind validates the work we are doing, as well as the town’s commitment to the school,” he said.

He added he was confused by the $300,000 cut.

“It was unclear whether the BET was looking to reduce the square footage of the school or not. Some indicated they were, others said no. We’re just going to address the $300,000. What they made clear was that it should not come from the contingency fund. So our charge is to reduce the cost.”

At the meeting, Republican BET members Jim Lash and Leslie Tarkington specifically mentioned building size as a concern in speaking in favor of Drake’s motion. “This is an amendment that won’t change the quality of school, but might make the footprint of the building more feasible for this site,” Tarkington observed.

Democrat Mary Lee Kiernan countered that the BET, by favoring the motion, would insert itself into the design phase of the project, a point Drake addressed.

“The intent is not to reduce the square footage,” Drake said. “You can’t do that. That’s the Building Committee’s task. It’s to reduce the financing. That’s our task.”

Walko said the next steps are clear, and include submissions to the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Agency, and the Representative Town Meeting, all before a June 30 deadline.

What is not clear is the level of reimbursement Greenwich can expect from the state, reimbursement offered in exchange for addressing racial imbalance in the Greenwich school system by making New Lebanon a magnet school.

“We know we fall into the program that allows for up to 80 percent reimbursement,” Walko said. “Our projections are that we will fall into a 61.5 percent reimbursement rate. Until the legislature approves it, though, you don’t have it.”

Mason complimented Walko’s leadership before the final vote, saying communication between the Building Committee and the BET is “the best it’s been.” But he added the question of state reimbursement looms large.

“I’m really concerned because of everything we hear about Connecticut,” Mason said. “If the deal gets modified, then we’re really up to another challenge.”

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