We are bringing forward an opportunity that I feel makes a lot of sense and improves the future of our Town. The Boards of Selectman, Finance and the Planning Commission have overwhelmingly endorsed the idea.
We have brought in an independent engineering firm who has overseen 50 of these types of Public Works conversions to study our plan and advise us as to its feasibility. They have endorsed the project as well.
You have elected me to run the Town like a business and I have tried to do so. Last year, we reduced spending by $975’658.00 from the approved Town operating budget and returned a surplus of $588’000.00 to the general fund.
We must run the Town like a business but unlike most businesses, the Town will be here 100 years from now. That means we must think ahead and continually invest in our infrastructure and work to improve our processes if we are to operate at peak efficiency.
The Public Works Dept, Park and Rec Dept and the operations of the Water and Sewer Dept have been headquartered in 5 buildings off Roxbury Rd since the early 70’s. Three of those buildings are well beyond their useful life and are too costly to heat, cool and maintain. The Public Works garage is too small for the operation and is in need of a roof at the very least. The Operations building for Water and Sewer has been recently renovated and will stay in service for that department.
The Town has a tentative agreement to purchase a large warehouse-29’502 sq feet-on two acres of land and two vacant adjoining lots of approximately one acre each in the industrial park off Colton rd. This will, should you approve, allow us to move the public works, the park and recreation field department and the field equipment of the Board of Education under cover to a centralized location. I expect this to take care of their needs for at least the next 25 years at an initial capitol savings of over $1’000’000.00 to the Town. This project is in the 5 year capitol plan to be built over the next two years at a cost of $4’000’000.00. We have moved it up by one year to take advantage of the savings we can realize.
The cost to purchase the warehouse on two acres is $1’079’000.00. The appraised value of the building is $1’470’000.00. The cost to purchase the two adjacent lots is $421’000.00 for a total acquisition cost of $1’500’00.00. The expected cost to retrofit the building is $1’400’000.00 to bring the total project cost to $2’900’000.00.
The unique opportunity we have in front of us is twofold;
1.) The price of land, goods and services and the cost of money are at an all time low due to the economy. We are in an excellent position to capitalize on this.
2.) The principal and interest payments in our annual operating budget is reducing every year; next year reducing by $743’800.00; the following year by an additional $233’536.00
That means our budget is scheduled to be reduced by almost $1’000’000.00 over the next two fiscal years. This gives a unique opportunity to invest in our infrastructure without increasing our annual debt payments from this year’s level.
In other words, we can implement our capitol plan, improve our facilities and still spend less next year than this year. We should take advantage of the position we are in because we know that we will have to upgrade these facilities in the next 5 years. If you believe as I do that the economy will recover soon and the price of land, products, services and money will rise then there will never be a better time to make this investment. Its good planning. The towns departments will be able to operate more efficiently, keep 55 vehicles under cover to protect our multi million dollar fleet investment and move from a residential zone to an industrial zone where we should be.
Please come to the Town meeting on September 23 at 6:30 to see a more detailed presentation on the project and cast your vote.
Paul M. Formica
First Selectman
East Lyme
691-4106
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