By Thane Grauel
WESTPORT — The Board of Finance will discuss the next step of the Long Lots Elementary School replacement project Monday.
The Long Lots School Building Committee has recommended the school be replaced with an entirely new building. The finance board will next have to approve money for the design of a new school, and, after that, an appropriation to build it.
At more than $90 million, that will be the town’s largest expenditure ever.
The project as planned would move the Westport Community Gardens from its home of more than two decades. The fact that is happening, and the history of how it happened, has been a concern not only to the gardeners but others who watch town government and how it works.
Board of Finance Chairman Lee Caney said that at the body’s first discussion Oct. 24, the public was invited to speak first, and then officials talked.
“This time, in between speakers, we’re going to take public comment,” he said of Monday’s meeting, which is at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium. It also will be streamed on the town’s website and broadcast on Optimum Government Access Channel 79.
“We always want to get as much public comment as possible, with so many people wanting to speak on issues,” Caney told the Westport Journal on Saturday.
Asked about the expected timeline, he said his board would have its second hearing, and then the Planning and Zoning Commission was expected to discuss the matter, after an 8-24 request by the first selectwoman, at its Dec. 18 meeting. Then, he said, the Board of Finance would have a third meeting on it.
But how that will play out is not clear.
An 8-24 request was expected to be made to the Planning and Zoning Commission last week, but it did not appear on the Planning and Zoning Department’s online list of pending applications as of Saturday.
An 8-24 request is required, by state statute, to review changes to municipally owned properties be made to the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Caney said Saturday he didn’t know if the request had been made by First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker yet.
Tooker could not be reached Saturday evening.
The Dec. 18 P&Z agenda has only one item listed so far, and it is not the Long Lots plan.
The gardeners, meanwhile, emailed those interested with an update on Friday.
“Just a quick note to say that as of Dec. 8 the town had not yet filed its 8-24 Municipal Improvement application for Long Lots School to be considered at the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC),” the email said. “Although it was expected this week, as soon as it is filed we will let you know so that you can send in your comments to PZC.”
“Multiple officials have confirmed the PZC would hear the matter at its Dec. 18 regular meeting, including Board of Finance Chair Lee Caney, and RTM chair of the P&Z subcommittee Matt Mandel (who coincidentally says his Committee ready to review a potential request to overturn any negative PZC decision),” read the email from the “The Save The Gardens and Neighborhood Team.”
Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.
In years past, residents in 06880 who felt passionately about a topic, would stand on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen bridge, regardless of weather conditions ,with signs in hand. Honk if you support this . Whether it would have had an effect on stopping the construction of a needless school ,who knows? But you’ve got to admire the spirit behind the effort to Just Say No!
We need a new school at Long Lots as much as I need a migraine. The school population is declining. The SAT scores are declining. The Celebrity Couple is suing the Board of Ed et al for a lack of transparency. Scarice and Plunkett are describing the town as having a “toxic achievement cycle” …describing ours as a community that places value on achievement.” as though that was a negative attribute. So their placing SHS grads in Indiana is supposed to be a great achievement.
Follow the dollar. Those suggesting we need to tear down Long Lots and build a new monument to stupidity are architects, developers and engineers. In reality, as Mary Ciara Webster brilliantly explained based on her own home renovation project, it’s far more economical to update an existing structure .
The gardeners who have lovingly invested blood,sweat and tears tending the soil for the last 20 years can continue their efforts which benefit all of us.
When my younger recently married law associates ask me whethere they should relocate to Westport, my advice is do your own due diligence. Westport is leading the state in diversity. Is that a positive or negative to you as a couple? Westport has a rainbow sidewalk in the center of town unlike most in the Gold Coast. Is that appealing to both of you? Westport is 1% black but the BoE is actively recruiting minority high achool grads to teach your future children under a residency program. Does that make sense to you ? The BoE is additionally recruiting from black only colleges and universities. Do you see that as a plus ? Westport is offering 2 affordable housing units out of an 8 unit complex with balconies, unobstructed water views and a dock. What was your experience living in luxury Manhattan aprtments that also offered affordable housing?
And if you do move here, and find the school system which spends $25K per student is sub par, are you willing to sacrifice other indulgences to send your kids to GFA where the SAT scores are 100 points higher than SHS and 25% get acceptance letters from the Ivies?