MONROE, Conn. — The Facilities Planning Committee decided to follow First Selectman Terry Rooney’s recommendation to focus on pursuing a project to build a new school building to solve the district’s space issues, rather than the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee’s preference to renovate and reopen Chalk Hill.
Rooney said a new building could be tailored to the school system’s needs and be more energy efficient, with a more efficient use of space, than renovating and adding a new floor to an old building, in which issues could be found when walls are opened up, leading to costly change orders.
“If we’re gonna do it,” Rooney said of a school building project, “this town deserves something new that it would be proud of.”
Though a new building will now be the focus, Domenic Paniccia, a committee member, said they should put together a pros and cons list.
The Ad Hoc Facilities Committee, which preceded the new building committee, had also found that state reimbursement for a renovation is typically 39.29 percent, while reimbursement for a new building is around 32.5 percent. But the first selectman said he believes reopening Chalk Hill could still prove to be more expensive in the long run.
The Facilities Planning Committee‘s first meeting was held in the conference room of Monroe Town Hall on Wednesday. Town Councilwoman Dona-Lyn Wales was chosen as the chair, Paniccia was elected vice chair, and Geoffrey Medeiros as secretary.
The rest of the committee includes Tom DiBlasi, Monroe Police Commissioner Mike Vitello, Board of Finance member Samantha Spino, Board of Education member Greg Beno and Rosemary Riber, the grant writer for the town and the school district.
Rooney sat at the table during the meeting, which was also attended by Superintendent of Schools Joseph Kobza.
The first selectman told the committee their charge is to assess the facilities needs of the entire town, though the focus right now is primarily on the school system.
Though the new committee will rely heavily on information gathered by the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee, Riber said more detailed information is needed to have a complete application for state funding by the June 30 deadline, so the committee will most likely have to work toward filing an application next spring.
However, Riber said she could ask if the town can submit an application this year with more details coming.
All committee members agreed moving forward with an incomplete application by June 30 in hopes the state will allow the town to provide more answers at a later date could be a risk, because it may seem like the committee doesn’t know what it’s doing.
Beno suggested a scenario where the town could start building a new school and come back to the state for reimbursement later. “I don’t want state reimbursement to hold us up if we’re moving efficiently,” he said.
One of the findings of the Ad Hoc committee was that the town does not own a suitable piece of vacant land for a new school, but Rooney said he envisions tearing down Chalk Hill and constructing a new building in its place.
Wales asked the First Selectman’s Office to provide print copies of Monroe Public Schools’ districtwide Facilities Plan for each committee member.
She also suggested assigning different schools to each member, who could become an expert on its facilities needs, saving the entire committee time in finding answers during its reviews.
Rooney said he would like to see “real concrete ideas and concepts” by November.
The Facilities Planning Committee will meet twice a month (canceling any meetings that are not needed), on the second and fourth Tuesday.
Beno suggested having meetings at different schools, so a facilities tour could be part of the work sessions.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 23, at 7 p.m. at a school to be determined.
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