By John Schwing
WESTPORT — The Long Lots School Building Committee, the target of what some critics have called a lack of transparency in planning the most expensive project in town history, is taking steps to broaden access to its deliberations.
The committee, which has regularly held in-person sessions in a small — often crowded — Town Hall meeting room since it was set up in 2022, has maintained neither broadcast nor audio archives of its proceedings as do most town boards or commissions.
The official minutes filed for nearly all of the committee’s meetings are brief, often consisting of only a few, generally worded sentences. And when the committee voted to go into executive session, the minutes do not cite a specific reason the panel was required to state publicly before going behind closed doors — as obligated by state open-meeting rules.
In a Feb. 16 letter, the committee — without specifically saying so — appeared to acknowledge it needs to be both more transparent and proactive in disseminating information about plans for the new elementary school, expected to cost about $100 million. (Full text of the letter appears below.)
The letter primarily details steps underway for the architectural/design phase of the Long Lots project following Representative Town Meeting approval of $6.8 million for that purpose.
But the committee also wrote it would be posting “regular” status updates on several platforms and would begin recording its meetings.
“We are working to have most, if not all, of our meetings in Town Hall recorded,” the letter states. “Occasionally, we may run into a conflict with a previously scheduled board or commission meeting that could preclude the town’s ability to record both meetings but we will endeavor to overcome that challenge.
“As we have in the past, we’ll always open our meeting to public comment.”
The letter does not address why the committee did not, over the last year and a half, keep audio archives of its meetings in Room 201 of Town Hall, where other town boards also meet and do record the proceedings.
The LLSBC wrote that it hopes to post twice-monthly updates as work on the school project proceeds — using its webpage on the town’s website, as well as via Facebook and a new link to the Board of Education’s website.
The committee’s decision to conduct business with greater transparency, however, comes after several officials raised questions about limited public access to its proceedings. The officials’ concerns added to months-long complaints from several vocal critics about the process. A number of citizens have filed Freedom of Information requests for reports they felt should have been disclosed by the committee.
The committee’s failure to record its meetings “comes up a lot,” Board of Finance member Danielle Dobin told LLSBC members when they asked financiers to approve the $6.8 million in Long Lots design money earlier this month.
The LLSBC made the commitment to post regular public updates about the project after the same issue arose during RTM committees’ review of the design funding request.
And the agenda initially posted for the RTM’s March 5 meeting also spotlighted the transparency issue with a request from two members of the legislative body “to amend the mandate/charge of the Long Lots School Building Committee created September 6, 2022, to add provisions regarding easy access to information and proactive public input on design alternatives.”
Action on that proposal, according to a revision of the agenda made Tuesday, has now been “postponed to a future date.”
Although no reason for the postponement was given, whether the RTM acts to enforce greater transparency by the LLSBC will likely depend on how the committee addresses the issue going forward.
John Schwing, the Westport Journal consulting editor, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.
Following is the Feb. 16 letter by the Long Lots School Building Committee:
A long overdue acknowledgment of what many of us have been saying all along. Unfortunately it comes too late to include interested parties in the initial planning stages. We can only hope that broader inclusion from this time forward will result in improvements to the planning and execution of the project.
The process had no where to go but up. There continue to be unfulfilled FOIA requests, dating back to Nov. 1 as an example.
The effort to covertly replace a garden with a ball field is coming out of the closet now that it is barreling along in the conspired direction —long after a scorched earth campaign by the town that snuffed out voices of objection.
There is no need to use Terrace 1 to build this school. Yet I suspect the one company that stands to win the construction contract is the one who will say it must.
There is no desire by town officials to retain what little remaining open space exists in Westport. There is absolutely no effort on the part of the town to preserve the community garden or the native preserve that surrounds it.
This new effort to communicate is commendable but too little too late. The rules of Democracy, thrust upon the town by vocal citizens comes long after the members of the community ripped each other apart and abutting neighbors listed their homes for sale.
Let’s not declare victory. The simple task of replacing a badly neglected school is fraught with ill intent.
On February 22nd RFQs were submitted for Design and Construction Management. There haven’t been any updates regarding which firms were short-listed for the RFP. Once again – radio silence. We are spending millions in public finding. The process is supposed to be public, open, competitive and transparent.
Yulee
Bids were due and received Feb. 22. They were subsequently opened and the town’s purchasing staff handed off to the Long Lots Building Committee for evaluation and decisions. No other information is publicly available. There was not a public opening of the bids.
Toni,
RFQ was submitted on Feb 22. Per Addendum 1,
4. Clarification: This RFQ will be followed by a request for proposals (an RFP) including fees, from the respondents meeting the qualifications criteria of this RFQ. The Town will then evaluate the responses to the RFQ and RFP to determine the four most responsible qualified proposers using the criteria listed in this RFQ for selecting a firm to provide architectural services for the Long Lots Elementary School Phase II project (the “Project”). The qualifications criteria for this RFQ include due consideration of: the proposer’s pricing for the Project; experience with school design work of similar size and scope; experience with sustainable projects (including geothermal HVAC systems); organizational and team structure, including any subcontractors to be utilized by the proposer and their experience; past performance data, including, but not limited to, ability to work with Town committees and Town hired CM, adherence to project schedules and project budgets and the number of change orders for projects; litigation history; references; presentation skills; the approach to the work required for the Project; knowledge of OSCG&R regulations and filing requirements and documented contract oversight capabilities. Final selection by the Town will be limited to the pool of the four most responsible qualified proposers and will include consideration of all criteria described above. For purposes of this RFQ, “most responsible qualified proposer” means a proposer who is determined by the Town to be qualified when considering price and the factors necessary for faithful performance of the work based on the criteria and scope of work described in this RFQ.
It is important to know which 4 firms were selected by the Town. This is public information that should be available to all. Again, transparency.
I am concerned that failure to follow the process mandated by State law will deprive the town and its taxpayers of savings resulting from competitive bidding and could jeopardize the Town’s right to partial reimbursement from the state of over $10 million.
commission before being funded by BOF and approved by the RTM. I am concerned that failure to follow the state mandated process could jeopardize the Town’s right to receive partial reimbursement from the State
The LLSBC letter of February 15 states that it will interview a shortlist of architecture firms and construction managers who have responded to the Request for Qualifications (RFQ). Then, from those interviews, it will select the Architect and Engineer team that will design the new school and site and a Construction Manager that will build the new school and site.
LLSBC’s stated process does not comply with the procedures required by State law. From the RFQ respondents, up to four Architectural firms and four Construction contractors will be selected. Then, those selected need to respond to the Request for Proposal (RFP). Proposals are sealed bids that are to be publicly opened and the Town will then need to select the best and lowest bids from those responding to the RFP.
The LLSBC process does not trump that required by State law.
Jerry ! You are correct.
We are going to be screwed !
There is zero competitive bidding going on here.
Oh quel surprise.
Are we shocked ? Nope.
Is it ok,? . Not at all !
Will tooker get away with it ?
Seems so !!!!
Incredible.