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05/02/2018 08:30 AMWith a new set of tasks on the table to help discern what the public wants to see happen with the former Academy School, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) is now working through the logistics of the new approach. At its regular meeting on April 24, the board started discussing the potential charge for the Ad-Hoc Academy School Guidance Committee.
Following several public hearings at which the board heard numerous residents express displeasure with the potential development options on the table for Academy, the board recently decided to take a step back, refocus, and try to gather more information.
The process started at a special BOS meeting on April 12, when the board outlined and voted for a total of nine next steps to further the Academy School development process: 1) establish an ad-hoc academy building committee, 2) discover costs of building demolition only, 3) discover costs of demolition and building afresh a structure for town or community use, 4) develop preliminary costs of building rehabilitation for town or community use, 5) solicit proposals from the four responding developers for building-only proposals, 6) explore grant and public funding opportunities for any future use, 7) solicit opinion from historic stakeholders, 8) request the Board of Education provide a timeline for the return of Island Avenue School, and 9) take other steps necessary to be consistent with the objectives of the process.
At the BOS meeting on April 24, the board took up initial discussion on what the charge for the committee should entail. As starting point for discussion, Town Planner and Economic Development Coordinator Dave Anderson suggest the committee be charged with considering “possible uses for, disposition, and/or demolition of all or a portion of the Academy School building, and recommend a referendum question for the BOS to place on the Nov. 6, 2018 ballot to enable the public to vote on the recommendation”.
The charge also includes summarizing information from all previous building studies, looking at cost options for different building uses, and conducting a survey or a poll to solicit public opinion. Selectman Bruce Wilson said when he suggested a committee be formed, he thought the charge would be much narrower and focus more on polling and gathering input from the public.
“The work of the committee is not to tell us what we should do; the work of the committee is to make sure that we have properly surveyed the community,” he said. “The community should tell us what they want so I don’t think we should limit the options and I very much see this as a broadening of the conversation, not a funneling of the conversation.”
Selectman Al Goldberg said he agreed, but was having a bit of a “horse and a cart” issue. Goldberg said it will be difficult for the committee to poll the public if it can’t first provide the public with lots of information about each option that might be on the table.
“My sense is we need a group of citizens to research all of those options, present the information to the selectmen and to the public, and then maybe it is time for a poll to figure out which ones deserve further investigation or which one should go to referendum,” he said. “I don’t think we can ask the public what the public wants unless we have given some form and substance to the various ideas—they are too free-floating at the moment.”
First Selectman Tom Banisch said the town has a lot of information on the building already. Goldberg said he agrees that the town does have a lot of studies and cost estimates, but that the key now is looking at that data and figuring out what it actually means.
“What we haven’t done is flesh out what would this building be, how would it be used, why should the public even consider doing something like this,” he said. “I would like to see a citizens’ group put together for the benefit of the selectmen and the public the benefits and costs of these various approaches.”
All board members agreed more information needs to be compiled and presented to the public before the town or committee can organize some sort of community poll or survey on the options.
Furthermore, board members agreed they share a similar vision for the committee and just need to work out some kinks in the language and charge. Other details need to be considered such as the size of the committee and who should be on it to ensure all opinions are represented. Banisch said the board will work on another draft of the charge to be ready for further discussion by its next meeting.
Members of the public at the meeting seemed pleased with the board’s discussion and general direction for the committee charge. Kathryn Hunter, one of the leading members of the Save Academy group, said the committee charge or role in the whole decision process should be fairly broad.
“I would like to strongly encourage the BOS for the committee to be involved in not only in the poll that you will ultimately be commissioning to determine the path forward, but be involved in exploring and defining the options,” she said. “That is where all of the juice is.”