Clinton Public Works Faced with Maintaining Two High Schools
Due to delays in the sale of the old Morgan School property, the Department of Public Works is facing challenges keeping the site looking the same as when it was occupied.
Public Works Director Peter Neff said that there hadn’t been many complaints, and only one phone call to the department. After a post to the Facebook group “All Things Clinton…” inquired about the lack of maintenance on the property, however, the Department of Public Works issued a response on its Facebook page on July 4.
In the post, the department noted that the sale of the old Morgan School was not anticipated to take as long as it has. Currently, the town is still responsible for the property until the sale is finalized.
“About every two to three weeks we cut the front of the building and fence line along Route 81. We inspect the property several times a week to make sure no one is dumping trash in the area and to check for vandalism,” said Neff.
The department’s Facebook post read in part, “The Department of Public Works maintains all properties in town including Board of Education properties and quite frankly we don’t have the resources to take care of the old Morgan entirely.”
The post also said that the new Morgan School grounds have ended up requiring more maintenance than the department had previously anticipated.
“We did not expect to nor were we prepared to maintain both properties and this has proven to be problematic. We are not particularly happy with the situation either, but the choices are to maintain facilities that are being used constantly as opposed to one that is not being used,” the post continued.
Neff also addressed concerns that the town is wasting money by having lights on in the old school.
“With the exception of electricity, all other utilities have been disconnected. We keep the power on to maintain the fire and intrusion alarms to protect the building from any damage,” said Neff.
The town plans to sell the old Morgan School to The Village at Mill Pond, a proposed development that will be a blend of retail and residential space. The project has been delayed for almost a year due, according to First Selectman Bruce Farmer, to issues obtaining permits from the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection because of cuts to that department.
According to Neff, the town is anticipating the sale of the property to take place in the fall.