By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–Efforts objecting to the plan for a new Long Lots Elementary School – one to reduce the $103 million cost and another to overturn two approvals for the project – have failed.

A petition for a referendum to cut the price tag of the new school to $90 million garnered only 71 of the minimum 2,015 signatures required by the Thursday deadline. The number of signatures required reflects 10 percent of the town’s registered voters as of the most recent election.

A pair of petitions asking the Representative Town Meeting to overturn approvals from the Conservation Commission and Flood and Erosion Control Board were rejected because the RTM had already approved the decisions.

The outcomes were disappointing to Toni Simonetti, who spearheaded the petitions. She stressed that she did not oppose a new school, and agreed that a replacement for Long Lots was overdue, but argued the cost was too high because of excessive or unnecessary amenities.

“I am very sorry that the town is going to overspend on an elementary school,” she said. “I think we need to watch for further very high-cost projects that are on the horizon in Westport.”

Located at 13 Hyde Lane, Long Lots is one of five elementary schools in the Westport Public School system. 

Simonetti estimated the target $90 million price based on information available, but said she has been denied some data needed to arrive at a more precise figure.

Board of Finance stands firm

Two Board of Finance members defended the approved cost in a June 23 letter to Westport Journal. Board Chairman Lee Caney and Liz Heyer, the Long Lots School Building Committee representative, said the effort to reduce the budget would incur more costs in additional design, delays and ongoing upkeep to fortify the existing school.

Simonetti said that an out-of-town trip hindered her efforts to collect the signatures needed for the referendum, but that she had been able to gather the much smaller number of signatures for the petitions to the RTM over the approvals. She collected 30 signatures each, exceeding the minimum 20 signatures needed.

Still, they were unsuccessful. In a message to RTM Moderator Jeffrey Wiesner, Town Attorney Ira Bloom wrote that, since the project involved town property, and the RTM reviewed the decisions June 12, “No further review on this application by the RTM is allowed. All administrative reviews have been completed.”

Despite the result, Simonetti said she will continue to keep an eye on town happenings.

“I will continue to be a watchdog in this town, not only on the financial side of things but also governance and town planning,” she said. 

Gretchen Webster contributed reporting to this story.