The Town and School Needs Assessment Priorities Committee held its inaugural meeting yesterday (Wednesday, July 10).
As the magnitude of the costs for the identified work came into view — for some members, seeing the numbers for the first time — the committee is still coming to grips with the scope of what it is being asked to do and the immediate tasks at hand.
The committee is initially expected to meet weekly during July and August, but some members seemed skeptical of what First Selectman Toni Boucher framed as a strictly “short-term” need for the committee’s work — considering the 10- to 15-year planning horizon for the school and municipal building needs identified to date.
Committee Membership
Voting members on the committee include:
- Toni Boucher, First Selectman
- Bas Nabulsi, Selectman
- Matt Raimondi, Board of Finance Chair
- Rudy Escalante, Board of Finance member
- Patrick Pearson, Board of Education member
- Dr. Kevin Smith, Superintendent of Wilton Public Schools (and community member)
- Patricia Temple, community member
- Rich Santosky, community member
Non-voting members include the following Town employees:
- Matt Knickerbocker, Town Administrator
- Dawn Norton, Chief Financial Officer
- Michael Wrinn, Town Planner
- Frank Smeriglio, DPW Director/Town Engineer
- Jeff Pardo, Assistant DPW Director/Facilities Manger
- Jose Figueroa, Facilities Manager, Wilton Public Schools
Temple Named Chairperson
The new committee’s first order of business was to select a chairperson.
First Selectman Toni Boucher, a member of the committee, made a motion for Patti Temple to serve as chair. She noted the chair would have “help and support” from Town Administrator Matt Knickerbocker.
As discussed at the meeting, the chair’s role is primarily to facilitate the committee’s work. The chair does not have more decision-making authority on the committee’s recommendations than any other voting member.
After questions from some members — notably Raimondi — about Temple’s relevant experience and perspectives, the voting members unanimously voted in favor of Boucher’s motion to name Temple as chair.
Temple has served in multiple capacities for the Town, including on the Miller-Driscoll School Building Committee — where she said there were many “lessons learned” — and more recently, on the Police Headquarters Building Committee, which she co-chaired.
Mission To Be Accomplished
Boucher began the discussion by describing the new committee’s charge.
She noted the committee is “an ad hoc committee of the Board of Selectmen (BOS), which is in charge of all Town buildings — the schools and and the municipal [buildings] — and also responsible for bringing forward any capital bond requests to the public at the Annual Town Meeting in May every year.”
“We [BOS] felt that it was advisable for us, given so much that we have on our plate to repair — given two very extensive assessments that were done on the conditions — to have this ad hoc [committee] comprised of elected officials and volunteers from the community, plus our professional non-voting advisory staff members [who] were appointed by the Board of Selectmen,” Boucher continued.
“The purpose of the committee is to analyze the needs assessments of the Town’s school and municipal buildings and to serve as an advisory board to the Board of Selectmen with regard to setting of project priorities — and thereby, will be enhancing government transparency and community involvement in this process, which is important,” she said.
“Short Term” Focus?
Boucher repeatedly described the new committee as having a “short-term” focus and narrowing in on what the needs assessments have deemed “priority 1-2” projects to be addressed starting in FY’26. (The BOS already tackled the most urgent needs in the FY’25 budget and bonding referendums).
“Frankly, this is a short term committee,” Boucher said, noting the need for the committee was “less extensive” than the police station building committee, for example.
“It’s a very short committee timeframe… this is going to be just a couple of meetings in the summer, July and August,” she said. “We’re going to advise the Board of Selectmen on what the needs are going to be for our next Annual Town Meeting.”
Though Boucher said the committee could be reconvened if a future need arose, she stated the committee would actually “disband” after the summer.
“It is short term,” she repeated. “Let’s look at what we have in front of us. Let’s guide the Board of Selectmen on what needs to be addressed right away, in year one next year, and possibly year two.”
Rudy Escalante was one member who asked for clarification.
“Can I take a step back? Because, as I understand it now, we have [millions] to spend, and we have about two months to figure it out?” he said. “So what are we going to do over the next 60 days?”
Following Escalante’s question, Bas Nabulsi expressed a concern about the short-term focus Boucher described.
“There were a number of reasons why the Board of Selectmen thought this committee would be useful,” Nabulsi said. “I think the Board of Selectmen needs to revisit Toni’s comment that this is only for two months, because I’m not sure that was — I think [the BOS] should talk about that.”
“More generally, there was a concern that we [BOS] didn’t have the bandwidth to drill down on the prioritization that went into the way that [the needs were] laid out across the 15 years, and there was a hope that the committee could evaluate the timing [to] make sure that things are being forecast in the right order.”
Nabulsi went further, suggesting “the merits” of the Town Hall space needs assessment warranted additional scrutiny. (After the meeting, GMW asked Nabulsi to confirm whether he was referring to the space needs, which he confirmed.)
“And beyond that, this [space] needs assessment is indeed a critical issue, because there’s been no discussion really [by the Board of Selectmen] on the merits of what’s in that,” he said.
Rich Santosky echoed Nabulsi’s concern about Boucher’s expectations for a short-term assignment.
“I agree with you,” he said after Nabulsi’s comments. “One of the comments I had told Toni was that I think that this is more time-consuming and a bigger lift than what is contemplated,” Santosky said.
Later in the discussion, Escalante commented, “I think either we narrow our focus to something that’s doable in the next 60 days, or this becomes a more longterm project.”
Preliminary Discussions Begin
Frank Smeriglio offered his perspective on the needs assessments as an important “eye opener” which served as a way to “get our hands around all of the issues” rather than continuing to take a year-by-year approach to problem-solving in the school buildings and municipal facilities.
Echoing Smeriglio’s comment, Jeff Pardo — who has taken the lead in working with the outside consultants on the needs assessments — noted that the needs assessments are an improvement over “figuring it out as we go along.”
He also emphasized some flexibility will still be necessary.
“Before we start, everybody has to understand that these assessments are not written in stone,” Pardo said. “They’re all recommendations by architects and engineers. It helped to put a 15-year plan together [but] it’s going to change year to year. Priorities change. Things break down that we didn’t expect to break down… So as long as everybody understands, this is going to evolve.”
Pardo gave the committee members a brief overview of the needs assessments, emphasizing some of the topline numbers:
- $132 million in repairs and upgrades in school buildings over 10 years — which could amount to $143 million if stretched over a 15-year horizon, due to cost escalation
- At least $25 million for municipal building repairs and to address Town Hall space needs.
Among other discussion highlights:
- Knickerbocker sought to allay concerns about a pattern of deferred maintenance, instead attributing the volume of building needs to a “lack of planning, not a lack of maintenance.” He reminded the committee that the consultants had concluded that Wilton’s facilities were very well maintained.
- The committee members acknowledged that the inventory of Town-owned properties could change. For example, Boucher said the Town is open to selling the Gilbert & Bennett building, which could require up to $2 million within the next two years just to maintain if the Town retains ownership.
- Committee members seemed open to the possibility of investigating alternative solutions to the various building needs, such as tearing down Town Hall in favor of new construction, if a cost analysis provided rationale.
- Committee members reflected on the desire to achieve approval from residents for any recommended work — but also anticipated pushback from taxpayers on projects that are perceived as excessive or unnecessary.
Next Steps
The committee members agreed to come to the next meeting prepared to delve into the needs assessment reports. Members were encouraged to participate in site visits to observe actual conditions, if they have not already done so.
The “Town and School Needs Assessment Priorities Committee” now has its own page on the Town website, where residents may find reports and other documents pertaining to the committee’s work. All meetings will be noticed on the Town website. Residents may attend the meetings in person or remotely via Zoom. Meeting locations and Zoom links will be included on the agenda for each meeting, posted on the Town website.
Reading in the article the suggestion of tearing down the current Town Hall building and designing another structure gives me pause. I wonder if the special committee would investigate, as an alternative, the efficacy of leasing space in the large office building across Rte 7 from Town Hall, creating a Government Center where all departments could be under one roof. Having departments as they are now in in scattered facilities, many with cramped quarters, makes it difficult for visitors to find where they need to go, or for inter-departmental collaborative work to take place efficiently. As well, the parking area at the ION building is much larger than current Town Hall provides. Gone are the days when Wilton was a quiet little rural town.
Don, yes, that was mentioned briefly in the meeting. Matt Knickerbocker mentioned he had discussed the possibility of a municipal center in a redeveloped commercial building with Town Planner Michael Wrinn. It was seen as an unlikely possibility, but is on the Town’s radar.