By John Schwing

WESTPORT — On the face of it, the numbers are eye-popping:

• $80-$100 million for a new Long Lots Elementary School.

• $90 million for a combined police, fire and emergency medical complex.

• $85 million to replace or renovate Coleytown Elementary School.

• $26 million for new facilities and renovations at Longshore Club Park.

• $11 million to redesign and rebuild downtown parking lots.

• $4 million to replace/repair various bridges, culverts and flood-mitigation projects.

But town officials and their financial advisors, speaking at a Tuesday forum at the Westport Library, are confident Westport’s current fiscal status will enable the town to shoulder a cumulative debt of between $400 to $500 million for projects currently punch-listed in its 10-year capital forecast.

There is, however, one very big asterisk: no surprises *. No surprises like mold infestation that triggered the sudden closure of Coleytown Middle School in 2018, requiring a years-long remediation project. No surprises like a global health emergency, like the COVID-19 pandemic that in 2020 upended all municipal services — and life, in general — over several years.

That was the general assessment of Westport’s current — and future — fiscal status delivered during “Preparing Westport for Major Capital Spending,” a forum co-hosted Tuesday night by the League of Women Voters of Westport and the Westport Library’s Common Ground initiative. (A video recording of the program can be viewed on the library’s YouTube channel.)

The program, introduced by William Harmer, the library’s executive director, was planned in the spirit of helping to promote civil discussion of controversial, sometimes divisive, topics.

“Democracy thrives when individuals actively participate in informed conversations about matters that impact them and their community,” he said. “Civil discourse stands in stark contrast to the regrettable instances of vitriol, bullying, harassment, threats and name-calling that are currently pervasive, even occasionally — unfortunately — in our community.”

Jim Marpe, former first selectman, and Velma Heller, a former Representative Town Meeting moderator, provided historical perspective regarding town spending on major projects.

Heller noted that the town’s first four or five infrastructure projects were one-room schoolhouses, one of which — the Adams Academy — still stands on Morningside Drive North. That prompted Marpe to observe, “I bet there was controversy over the cost and location, even then” — an unspoken reference to controversy that has swirled around plans to build the new Long Lots Elementary School.

However, he added, the town’s first high school was built not with public money but with funds donated by Horace Staples, the benefactor whose name the school now bears.

Marpe also referenced the town’s acquisition of the waterfront property that is now Longshore Club Park for $1.9 million in 1960 to meet growing recreational demands of post-World War II boom years — a price tag he estimated would be about $20 million today.

First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, Marpe’s immediate successor, compared her strategic approach to Westport finances as trying to navigate a “narrow road” — “to make sure you thread that needle of not spending too quickly and too out ahead of the game … and not waiting till things are completely falling apart.”

Tooker said her goal regarding large expenditures, and judging whether the town can afford a certain project, is to ensure the tax rate remains “stable, consistent and competitive.”

The 10-year capital projects list, she said, is a “work in progress,” updated annually to adapt to evolving demands and unexpected changes from both the town and school district sides of the fiscal ledger.

The first selectwoman detailed three of the largest town-side projects currently under review by her administration:

• Potential creation of a combined public safety complex, housing the police, fire and emergency-medical service departments. Estimated cost: $90 million.

With a $110,000 appropriation to study the concept awaiting final RTM approval, Tooker said the idea of building a central headquarters for the three public safety agencies took shape after a 2018 study indicated about $70 million is needed to upgrade the town’s four fire stations. She noted that constructing a new fire headquarters has been on the capital project list for some time, and that the option of combining it with police/EMS headquarters, currently downtown on Jesup Road, could free up space for more parking in the central business district.

• Longshore Club Park capital improvement plan, a multi-faceted project to build and upgrade a range of recreational facilities at the 168-acre park — apart from its 18-hole golf course. Estimated cost: at least $26 million to $40 million over project’s 10-year span.

With growing public demands for more and improved recreational facilities since the pandemic, Tooker said highlights of the Longshore plan include adding pickleball, tennis and paddle courts, upgrading the swimming pools, building a new golf clubhouse and replacing the park’s maintenance building.

She also pointed out that $8 million in renovations to the Inn at Longshore are planned next year under a new lease the town has signed with a group affiliated with the Delamar hotels, which is building a new hotel on the site of the former Westport Inn.

• Downtown parking upgrades and expansion, as revised plans to redesign Parker Harding Plaza and add more spaces at Jesup Green currently face Planning and Zoning Commission review. Work at the Baldwin lot was completed in 2022, and tentative plans also call for upgrades at the Taylor and Imperial lots. Estimated cost: $11 million.

Tooker, noting that plans for the Parker Harding and Jesup lots had been the subject of a lengthy P&Z hearing a night earlier, did not acknowledge that the project once again was greeted by a round of skeptical questions. Last October, when the Parker Harding plan got a similar reception from the P&Z, it was withdrawn and a revised version, adding the Jesup component, is now working its way through the town approval process. The P&Z is expected to continue its review of the application April 8.

Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice then took the podium to outline some of the school district’s major capital projects: 

• A new Long Lots Elementary School, plans for which are currently in the design phase. Estimated cost: upwards of $100 million.

The project was fast-tracked, he said, after a 2021 study of the seven-decade old structure detected mold, since remediated, but also determined the structure was leaking air because its roof, windows and doors all need to be replaced, as well as its three HVAC systems. It was judged to be “past its useful life,” he said.

The new Long Lots, Scarice said, is the school district’s “biggest, highest priority right now,” with educational specifications adopted last year to accommodate about 600 students. The project is now entering the design phase under purview of the Long Lots School Building Committee, after the P&Z approved the town’s 8-24 application in January.

The superintendent skirted any mention of the months of controversy that engulfed planning for the new school, which focused not on the need for a new school, but on other uses of its Hyde Lane property. That debate raged over the fate of Westport Community Gardens versus new athletic fields — both of which remain in flux while specific site plans evolve.

• Coleytown Elementary School, an initial study indicates that “replacing this building is probably the wisest” step, according to Scarice. Estimated cost: $85 million.

More studies will determine whether the new-build option is the best recommendation for Coleytown El, Scarice said, but addressing the school’s condition is nowhere near as “time sensitive” as dealing with Long Lots.

He said a recent “envelope study” of the town’s six other schools found they will be in “good shape” physically “for a long time.” Over the next five years, that study recommends about $12 million worth of work at five of the schools, excluding Long Lots and Coleytown elementary schools and the recently renovated Coleytown Middle School.

Scarice and Assistant Supt. John Bayers both highlighted growth in Westport schools’ enrollment, particularly at the elementary level, compared to neighboring school districts. And while the rate of enrollment growth is currently not reflected at the town’s secondary schools, they noted, the higher number of students in lower grades probably will be reflected at the middle and high school levels in years to come.

And Marpe noted that growth in school enrollment will likely translate into increased need for services, ranging from public safety to parks and recreation programs.

Town Finance Director Gary Conrad told the gathering that, although the “dollars are big” for the capital forecast list, the town expects to keep annual debt payments — principal and interest — under 10 percent of the operating budgets through 2033.

In the current fiscal year, he said, the town’s debt service is about $11 million, with $3 million in interest payments. Over the long-term, he added, the town’s annual debt-service costs could balloon to $25 million.

Two financial advisors hired by town officials to guide bond and investment policies agreed with the upbeat assessment of Westport’s ability to finance major capital projects without imperiling its top-tier credit rating.

Mike Andreana, bond counsel from the Pullman & Comley law firm, and Matt Spoemdle, bond strategy advisor from Phoenix Advisors, both indicated that Westport, with AAA-rated bonds and its focus on long-term planning, should be able to handle the increasing debt load.

Both men, who consult with other state communities in the same capacity, said they find Westport’s long-term planning process is among the best they’re familiar with.

Given its current fiscal status, Spoemdle said, Westport “is in just about the best shape you could possibly be in” to take on the debt tied to the capital projects planned over the coming years.

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.