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Madison Narrows in on Academy School Facilitator

Meetings to discuss the future of the former Academy School are now on the horizon. After toying with the idea to hire a professional facilitator to run the public meetings for a while, the town has settled on a firm, Fitzgerald & Halliday, Inc. (FHI), to go before the Board of Selectmen (BOS) for a vote on Thursday, Jan. 26.

The Academy School has been a hot button topic in town since the school was vacated more than a decade ago. Over the past three years, the town had been working with Shoreline Arts Alliance (SAA) to explore the idea of building a cultural arts center. However, SAA walked away from the Academy School project in July 2016, citing a lack of progress over recent months and a shift in business terms, leaving the town to come up with a new plan for the aging facility.

Over the past few months town officials met with several firms to possibly run the meetings, which are expected to include a presentation on the history of the building and what studies the town has done to date. Planning & Economic Development Director Dave Anderson said the town feels FHI is the best fit for the meetings.

“They helped us with a grant application in the past, have done some transit-oriented development work for the South Central Regional Council of Governments, and are currently working with us on a project to develop better wayfinding signage throughout town,” he said. “We met with them along with two other firms, and the group felt they were the best fit.”

First Selectman Tom Banisch spoke highly of the firm and its previous work with the town.

“When we sat and talked with them and other firms regarding this project, [FHI] seemed to have the best grasp of what we are trying to do,” he said.

Banisch said the meetings will help educate and elicit discussion on the building. The current proposed scope of work for FHI includes an online survey, up to three stakeholder meetings, and at least two larger public meetings among other services for a total proposed facilitators expense of $14,976, according to Anderson.

Funds for the facilitator will come out of the town’s planning reserve fund, according to Banisch, who said the total cost might not reach the proposed expense.

“We don’t think it is going to cost that much because there are a couple things that we may or may not do,” he said.

Formal approval of the facilitator is pending a formal BOS vote, but once approved, Banisch, who initially said he hoped to see meetings begin in January, said meetings will be scheduled shortly.

“Our timetable is early February and we are still going with that,” he said.

The BOS will vote on the proposed facilitator at the BOS meeting on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. at Walter C. Polson Middle School. The meeting was originally scheduled for Jan. 23, but was postponed due to inclement weather.