By Kerri Williams

WESTPORT – The Long Lots School project passed a major hurdle Wednesday as both the Conservation Commission and the Flood and Erosion Control Board approved the plans for the new elementary school.

Both the board and commission unanimously approved the school plans during a joint public hearing held to expedite the approval process. The plans required review because portions of the project are within the upland review area setbacks and the protected area of an unnamed tributary of Muddy Brook.

Town officials are under the gun for the Representative Town Meeting to approve the project by June 16, due to a state deadline for grant submissions and a town charter regulation requiring that expenditures over $500,000 have a two-week window for anyone interested to file a public referendum.

If the town fails to meet the June 30 deadline state deadline, the grant funding would not be in the 2026-’27 state budget, and the opening of the new school, scheduled for 2027, would be delayed again unless the town made up for the gap in state funding.

Drainage plan ‘above and beyond’ requirements

In presenting the plan to the boards on Wednesday, officials from SLR Consulting said that their goal was to exceed town and state standards for storm water drainage.

“We went above and beyond what is permitted,” said Ryan McEvoy, principal civil engineer with the company. He added that the new project will more than double the storm water storage on the property.

“We knew this was a concern for this area,” McEvoy said. “This was a critical element to success.”

Ted Gill, with the town’s Department of Public Works, said the department worked closely with the Long Lots Building Committee to ensure that the local standards were adhered to.

“They not only followed our local standards but have gone fairly well beyond that,” Gill said. Officials were asked to look at runoff during a 25-year storm but also ensured the site could withstand a 100-year storm.

Gill said that the concerns of neighbors in surrounding properties were listened to and addressed by a berm being re-established on the northern side of the property as well as by adding to the drainage system on the site. The system includes runoff being routed to a hydrodynamic separator and into storm water basins.

Public concerns against artificial turf fields

During the hearing, several members of the public shared their concern that the Long Lots Building Committee may change their plan for grass playing fields on the site and instead decide to install artificial turf fields.

If the fields were artificial, they would not be permeable, affecting the drainage of the site, said District 8 Representative Town Meeting member Wendy Batteau. She added that the “toxic chemicals” in the turf field would “adversely affect the environment and contaminate the wetlands.”

Other members of the public called for the boards to attach an “absolute condition” in their approval that there could never be an artificial turf field on the site.

In discussing the project, members of both the Flood and Erosion Board as well as the Conservation Commission questioned whether they could impose a condition on which type of field could be installed in the future.

Peter Gelderman, of the town attorney’s office, advised Conservation Commission members that they should not comment or make a condition concerning turf fields because they are not part of the current application.

Conservation Director Colin Kelly said that a change to turf fields would have to come back before the department because the property is regulated.

“I want to be sure we are not agreeing to something that could change down the line,” said Conservation Commission Member Diana McDowell.

Kelly also asked that the Conservation Department be briefed during the 28 to 30 months of the project construction to be sure that all the wetlands standards are upheld.

“Since this is so lengthy, there is more of a necessity for monitoring,” Kelly said. “…We need to ensure many eyes are looking at the project.”

Moving forward, the Board of Finance is scheduled to meet at 7:30 p.m. this evening in the Town Hall Auditorium to discuss the funding appropriation request for the project.

RTM members were told on Tuesday that the cost of the school has risen to about $108 million, an increase of about $10 million from the figures previously put forward. Tariffs imposed by President Donald J. Trump could drive costs up even further, officials said.

Kerri Williams is a freelance writer who has worked in journalism for years, including as a reporter for the Norwalk Hour and managing editor of the Norwalk Citizen-News.