FAIRFIELD, Conn. Fairfields financiers approved two projects Tuesday night. One will go through without any new costs to the towns taxpayers. But the other will add up to $11 million to the towns growing debt.
The Fairfield Board of Finance moved forward with updates to the area around Penfield Pavilion and a full replacement of the roofs on Fairfield Warde High School at its monthly meeting Tuesday night.
The low-cost project agreed upon was Public Works Director Richard Whites plans for Penfield Pavilion. The work includes a new parking lot to go with the new pavilion, a bulkhead in the beach to cut area flooding and a new sidewalk extending to Beach Road.
The Penfield work will technically be done with no new cost to the town. Fairfields boards already approved $182,000 worth of bonds to pay for the parking lot as part of the pavilion construction project last year.
White told the board that Fairfield also earned $400,000 in a Small Town Economic Assistance Program grant, or STEAP, from the state. That money allowed him to add the sidewalk and bulkhead work and choose a more environmentally friendly material for the parking lot paving.
White said he was also trying to obtain federal funding for the project to cut the amount being bonded, but he was not optimistic.
Were simultaneously trying for another grant, White said. State officials are setting up the priority, but theres so many it didnt seem that we would be successful.
The costlier project was the long-discussed plan to replace Fairfield Warde High Schools leaking roofs. All sections of the schools roof, except for its newest wing, are now about 20 years old and past warranty.
The Board of Education plans to install new roofs on the building over the next four summers. These should last as long as 30 years before they need replacement, said Erin Aichler of Hoffman Architects, who designed the plans.
The finance board agreed that Wardes roofs needed replacing. But some members questioned the idea of approving $11 million at once for a four-year project and before contactors have bid on the project.
The towns traditional process has been to approve funding before taking bids, but Kevin Kiley and other board members called for a change in policy. This project, however, they decided was too important to stall.
This is a project that should have been done at least five years ago, Kiley said. Its clearly well overdue, and it clearly needs to be done.
Both projects still need approval from the Representative Town Meeting to go through. The RTM is scheduled to vote on both at its Feb. 27 meeting.
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