Alvin & Beatrice Wood Human Services Facility
TOWN COUNCIL Votes PROJECT to go to referendum for
$22.3 million ON NOVEMBER 8, 2016 without
adequate preparation.
$22.3 million ON NOVEMBER 8, 2016 without
adequate preparation.
2017
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History
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Three important Bloomfield agencies – Senior Services, Leisure Services, and Social & Youth Services – along with Bloomfield Access Television (BATV) are currently located in the existing building, a re-purposed school, at 330 Park Avenue. Centerbrook Architects was hired to evaluate building inadequacies and estimate the cost of repair. Their conclusion: the building could not be repaired and should be replaced, at a cost of between $30 million and $35 million (the higher price included an indoor swimming pool).
If the Town Council accepted this conclusion and the estimated cost to rebuild exceeded the Town’s remaining $20 million debt capacity, what should have happened next? One answer is to halt the process, not move it forward without a real plan with a real budget. Another is to undertake a critical evaluation of demographics to determine the current and future need for these services, while looking at the latest innovations and contemporary methods of delivering services to these user groups. This would also include a community dialogue about how best to meet those needs in tandem with other long-term objectives, such as revitalization of the town center, proximity of services, transportation needs and the like; these issues were covered in the 2012 Plan of Conservation & Development (POCD) endorsed by the Council but have been ignored. Unfortunately, none of this happened. The Town Council looked solely at what funds were available. With $11.6 million already earmarked for improvements to the Public Works facility, only $20 million was available before reaching our agreed upon debt limit. So the Council asked Centerbrook “what can you build for $20 million?” Centerbrook came back with a “stripped down industrial chic" concept for a new building without a pool for $22.3 million (still in excess of the bonding limit before any design work began). Absent any input from town agencies, the public, or a building committee, the Town Council chose to ignore the public concerns voiced at several Council meetings and moved forward with this option for referendum. Sadly, the lack of analysis and concern for costs is eerily similar to the Hartford government’s ramming through the troubled Yard Goats Stadium proposal. As a Bloomfield resident, you will be asked to vote in November on whether or not to fund this undefined project. No one can predict the final cost of this project. |
What can we do?
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BloomfieldCitizens.org certainly agrees that the Senior Services, Leisure Services, and Social & Youth Services provide essential services to our community. However, issuing a bond is no blank check to explore options that should have already been studied and well defined. This is not fiscally responsible. From what we have learned, the town will not be able to build a facility we can be proud of for the amount of money ($22.3 million) approved in the referendum. Most likely our taxes will increase with this bonding.
We urge residents to consider their vote carefully. |