Washington Selectmen Meeting 3/12/08

03/12/2008

Washington Board Supports Single Vote on Region 12 Issue

By: Ann Compton

WASHINGTON - The Board of Selectmen unanimously passed a resolution calling for a single binding vote referendum on the Region 12 primary school issue at its March 6 meeting.

Region 12 Board of Education member Valerie Andersen told the board a "two-step" process had been proposed and was under consideration, which she believed would further confuse an already convoluted issue.

The referendum, postponed from last year, has been further delayed by a lawsuit initiated by the Town of Bridgewater which sought to amend the original Region 12 plan so that each of the three towns would have to vote and reach a consensus on a single school vs. three schools for it to pass.

That lawsuit was resolved last week in Litchfield Superior Court when the court found that a majority-rules vote in all three towns was adequate.

Board of Education member James Hirschfield proposed the two referendum plan at a recent meeting, which would require two votes several weeks apart.

One would cover the question of a consolidated school for all three towns and the other, the question of renovation.

Ms. Andersen maintained that this plan is impractical on several levels. She stated that holding two votes in the coming months by June 30 with town budget votes going on in May would be unwieldy.

"We would have to have one referendum, close the machines, have another and somewhere in there put our budget referendum. It just doesn't make sense," she said.
The selectmen agreed, and the resolution was passed requesting that the Board of Education define a way to hold a single binding referendum.

Ms. Andersen also encouraged the selectmen to seek an opinion as part of their Washington Primary School study at the Shepaug campus whether there would be septic issues.

She suggested using a local, independent contractor for this rather than S/L/A/M, who recently completed the study for the town.

"We need to find out if the existing septic could handle an additional 200 primary school students with the existing school or more, if consolidation goes that way," she noted. "It's well worth the trouble and would ease the process."
First Selectman Mark Lyon said the S/L/A/M conceptual design includes $2.5 million to address septic issues at the Shepaug campus.

Mr. Lyon explained that S/L/A/M representatives said there are "some new and innovative ways of handling waste for a small population that wouldn't involve the septic system."

The selectmen will review the complete report shortly, said Mr. Lyon.