New Milford Finance Board Approves $2.8 Million For Schools, Town Projects

NEW MILFORD, CT — The Board of Finance approved nearly $2.8 million in spending from reserve and settlement accounts July 29, including $1.96 million for school projects and equipment and more than $800,000 for municipal vehicles and other capital expenses.

The Board of Education's $1,964,500 request from its Capital Reserve Account accounted for the largest appropriation considered at the special meeting. The request included $450,000 for technology, $22,500 for band and music, $20,000 for athletics, $46,000 for districtwide furniture and $1.426 million for facilities.

Board members questioned several parts of the school request, including $400,000 for elevator modernization and $275,000 for bleacher replacements. Mayor Pete Bass said the elevator is not currently in compliance and the money would be used to bring it up to code. The bleacher work is planned at Schaghticoke Middle School, where the gym floor would also be redone.

Members also discussed $200,000 for teacher and administrator laptop and desktop replacements, band equipment, student furniture and cafeteria tables, and $150,000 for Central Office upgrades.

No Board of Education representative attended the meeting. Board member Joe Troiano said he would vote against the request because no school board representative was present to answer his questions.

The appropriation passed 4-2, with Chairman Walter O'Connor, Walter Bayer, Brian Whitfield and alternate Richard Sumara voting in favor and Troiano and Nick Garofalo dissenting.

$803,000 Approved for Vehicles, Equipment and Other Projects

The finance board unanimously approved another $803,194.77 from the town's Capital Reserve for projects across several departments.

The largest item was $300,000 for a Public Works plow truck. Highway Operations official Mike Boucher said the truck being replaced needed to be taken out of service. He said the replacement would be used for winter plowing and hauling material during the summer.

Boucher said it took about two years to obtain the town's last new plow truck and that officials were looking at alternative suppliers.

Another $143,000 was approved for environmental compliance work associated with the Century Brass property. Public Works Director Jack Healy said the money would pay for the next phase of environmental assessments required by state and federal agencies.

Healy said sampling tests conducted during the previous six months had come back clean. He said testing could continue for years, but environmental regulators can close an issue after a sufficient number of consecutive satisfactory samples.

The capital spending package also included $120,000 for an undercarriage vehicle wash system for the existing Public Works wash bay. Boucher said the system is intended to remove road salt from municipal vehicles more efficiently.

Other appropriations included $74,069.77 for a New Milford Police Department vehicle, $50,000 for a Public Works pickup truck, $50,000 for a facilities vehicle and up to $42,000 for a Fire Marshal vehicle replacement.

Deputy Police Chief Al Wilcoxson said the police vehicle being replaced was nearing the end of its operational use and would be transferred to Public Works for repurposing.

Deputy Fire Marshal Ed Pagan said the Fire Marshal's Office was using an older vehicle that had previously been repurposed from the police department. He said officials intended to find another used police vehicle and repurpose it for the office.

Lynn Deming Park Projects Receive Funding

The board also unanimously appropriated $66,760 from the Land Fill Settlement Fund for Parks and Recreation projects.

That funding includes $32,000 to replace the roof and gutters at the Lynn Deming Park bathhouse, $15,540 for park entrance signs, $13,820 for park amenities and $5,200 for a water fountain foundation and bottle filler.

Parks and Recreation Director Dan Calhoun said the department wants to install or replace signs across the town's 20 parks to provide consistent signage. Planned amenities include 88 ADA-compliant picnic tables, grills at Lynn Deming Park and Clatter Valley Park, coal and ash bins and upgraded trash receptacles.

Calhoun said the Lynn Deming bathhouse roof is more than 30 years old and needs replacement along with its gutters and skylight.

The separate $803,194.77 capital package also included $6,000 for security camera upgrades at Lynn Deming Park. Calhoun said the park currently has seven cameras and the department wants to upgrade the system and install two cameras with license plate-reading capabilities because of vandalism issues.

New Milford Community Ambulance Corp. received $18,125 for an HVAC controller at the ambulance barn. Donna Hespe said the project would update the air conditioning system so it could operate together with a heating system that was upgraded several years ago.

The Board of Finance met in special session at 7 p.m. July 29. There was no public participation. The meeting adjourned unanimously at 7:33 p.m.