BUDGET 2017: What are the Bonded Projects in NEXT WEEK’s Vote?

Next Tuesday, May 2 is Wilton’s Annual Town Meeting and Budget Vote. In addition to the question about whether or not to approve the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2018, there are five items that town officials are asking residents to consider for bonding. Here, we explain them a little more so voters will have a better idea when it comes time to mark their ballots.  [Editor’s note:  for a general overview of the meeting and what’s at stake, check out the GMW Guide to the 2017 Annual Town Meeting and Budget Vote, that we published earlier this week.]

The bonded capital projects are the larger projects Wilton officials would like to execute in FY’18, but rather than pay for them out of the town’s or schools’ operating budget, the town would need to borrow money to be able to pursue them. There are five proposed bonding projects this year, and each of these projects will be a separate question on the ballot, for voters to either approve (vote yes) or not (vote no). They pass or don’t based on simple majority vote of all voters who cast ballots.

All of the projects have been endorsed by the Board of Finance. All of the projects were also passed unanimously 5-0 by the Board of Selectmen, with the exception of the tennis court replacement project, which passed 4-1.

First selectman Lynne Vanderslice has explained that the goals of the FY’18 bonded projects are to, “ensure the quality of assets owned by the town…and the adequacy of town facilities to meet current needs.”

Proposed Project:  Year one of a five-year road restoration project (road paving): $2,794,500

Vanderslice has said that the most common request she gets from residents is for road repaving, either because of the deteriorating condition of their own road or a road they frequently travel, or both.

The town has been bonding road repaving for the last several years, at a rate of 10 miles a year but there are still 75 miles that haven’t been repaved. The Board of Selectmen has a standing goal to repave every town road as part of that road restoration program.

According to Vanderslice, “If we continue to repave at the rate of 10 miles per year, it will take 8-9 years, not 7.5 years to reach our goal. This is because some of the major roads repaved early on in the road restoration program have lives of less than 10 years and thus will again need repaving.”

The BoS wants to accelerate annual repaving from 10 miles per year to 15 miles per year, so that by the end of  FY 2022, every road in town will be 10 years old or less.

Along with an accelerated repaving schedule, there’s an accelerated bonding and repayment plan that the BoS proposes–a $5,000,000 acceleration in bonding and an acceleration of principle payments as follows:  FY 2018–$100,000; FY 2019–$200,000; FY 2020–$300,000; FY 2021–$400,000; and FY 2022–$500,000 for a total of $1,400,000 in accelerated principal payments during the five year period. Officials say that amount “seems manageable” because there’s a similar amount of expected savings from an the anticipated $5,000,000 reduction in the cost of Miller Driscoll.

Next Tuesday, voters will be asked if the town should bond $2,795,000 to spend up to in FY 2018, which will be the first year of a total $15,048,000 to be requested for the five years from FY2018 thru FY2022.

Proposed Project:  $1,266,000 for planning, engineering, conceptual design and cost estimates for the Police Station renovation

Editor’s note:  Check out our story, including a video that provides a behind the scenes tour of Wilton Police Headquarters and why officials say the building is outdated, overcrowded, inefficient and in need of being replaced.

Town officials have begun to make the case for why the town needs to renovate and expand Police Headquarters. The building was built in 1974 for a force of less than 30 males with no thought towards female officers. The department is currently comprised of 45 officers, both male and female. Since 1974, the number of dwellings in Wilton has increased by 36%; the number of registered voters (presumably 18+ population) has increased by 36%; the number of commercial buildings has increased 89%.

Most of the police station’s building infrastructure is original, making it inefficient, outdated and non compliant with current regulations.

A three person resident committee will work with Wilton’s facilities director Chris Burney to study the Town Campus and to develop a plan for the expected expansion and renovation of the police headquarters. The town previously commissioned a needs assessment study which put the cost of a new headquarters at $12,660,000. That amount is a placeholder until a more precise cost can be determined. The bonding question on the ballot next week is not for the building project itself, but rather up to $1,267,000, or 10% of the placeholder amount, for conducting and developing the necessary engineering and design studies and design plans to bring a proposal to the Annual Town Meeting in May of 2018.

Among the problems police officials have itemized:

• The building is over crowded
• Bathroom and locker room facilities for males have not been expanded. The facilities for women were constructed within existing space–including hallway space.
• There are no public restrooms
• Electrical systems do not meet the needs of a modern police force
• The HVAC systems are outdated and inefficient and require increasing maintenance costs
• The building is not ADA compliant
• The booking area has become a common area which, in addition to the processing of criminals, includes the processing of non-criminals and computer server storage.
• Safety concerns–Juveniles must be processed and detained away from adults, but no separate area currently exists.
• The Emergency Operations Center also functions as an office for five sergeants, a briefing room, a meeting room and a training room. Each time the EOC is required, appropriate furniture and equipment must be brought in and other moved aside
• The investigative area is inadequate to house detectives and provide space for necessary equipment and interviews. Equipment must be moved around to provide an area for interviews and there are safety issues associated with conducting interviews in common areas

Proposed Project:  $450,000 for Planning, design, and replacement for the Wilton High School tennis courts

Wilton owns 12 blacktop courts at Middlebrook and Wilton High School. Permanent cracking has occurred throughout the courts due to water under the surface–not unlike what occurs on a road surface. The courts do not have curtain drains. Annually the town fills the cracks and small “pot holes,” but they reopen after the winters. The deterioration will continue and worsen, the town says.

What are the options? Either continue to repair cracks until the courts are no longer repairable, at a current cost of $15,000 per year for the 12 courts; or replace some or all of the courts. There are two possible ways to replace the courts:  blacktop replacement, which carries a one-year warranty and requires curtain draining to slow down cracking; or post-tension concrete, which is guaranteed for 20 years and doesn’t require curtain draining–but costs 25% more per court than blacktop.

The town has proposed replacing only the high school courts for now, believing that the amount of recreational use the courts get supports only replacing those eight courts. Officials have opted to go the post-tension concrete route. As justification:  The courts, located on Rte. 7, are the town’s primary courts, used not only by the Wilton High School team but also by many other residents–including the Parks & Recreation tennis programs, which average 272 residents.

For now, officials will opt only to repair the four Middlebrook courts each year, and say that they’ll determine whether to replace those down the road once they are beyond repair. The FY’18 budget includes $6,500 for repairing the Middlebrook courts in Spring 2018.

If this project is approved at the Town Meeting & Vote, it will go out for the RFP process and schedule replacement this August.

Proposed Project:  $100,000 for planning, engineering, analysis design and bid documents for the BOE district-wide roof replacements

All or part of the Middlebrook, Cider Mill and High School roofs are coming close to the end of their useful lives. This project would bond $100,000 to spend up to in order to perform engineering and architectural studies and plans for the three roofs. This does not cover repair, only planning, analysis and bid documents.

Proposed Project:  $100,000 for planning, design and installation for the Middlebrook School Elevator Replacement

The Middlebrook elevator, which is original to the building, is breaking down on a regular, weekly basis. Parts are becoming no longer available. For certain students, the elevator is their only means of accessing their regularly scheduled classrooms. Classes need to be temporarily relocated when the elevator is not functioning. Funding would cover replacing it.