Bridgewater Town Appove Added legal Funds

Bridgewater OKs more money for court appeal

By Lynda Wellman

STAFF WRITER

Updated: 01/21/2009 10:43:59 PM EST



Bridgewater residents voted unanimously Tuesday night at a town meeting to add $37,360 to the current budget to continue a state Supreme Court appeal.

In an effort to retain control over the fate of its primary school, last spring Bridgewater appealed Litchfield Superior Court Judge John Pickard's decision in favor of the Region 12 School District that includes Bridgewater, Roxbury and Washington.

Judge Pickard ruled March 3 that a vote on any proposed consolidated primary school is essentially a facility issue. Bridgewater, however, argues it is a matter of voter rights, not a facility issue.

The town argues primary school consolidation is a fundamental change in the decades-old regionalization agreement that kept K-5 schools in each of the region's towns.

"Each individual town has to be able to vote "yes" to change the plan, that's the key thing," Bridgewater First Selectman Bill Stuart said. "Our votes are important to us."

If Judge Pickard's ruling stands, consolidation could be decided by a majority vote of residents of the region as a whole, even if the majority of Bridgewater residents vote against consolidation.

Members of the political action committee "Save Our Schools" urged the town to spend the additional money to pursue the appeal.

Nancy Hawley, the SOS treasurer, said after the vote she was happy with the result since "we are so close to a decision in this case."

"It's been a long battle preserving a small Town's rights," she said, remarking a larger town, such as Washington, should not have the right to determine if the Burnham School in Bridgewater should be closed.

A "very happy" Mr. Stuart said after Tuesday's town meeting vote that with the current economy the idea of building a new school is on hold, but he expects it will be back in the future.

Mr. Stuart said the law firm handling the Supreme Court appeal, Horton Shields & Knox, has agreed to cap its fees at $50,000 since the firm can use the research and preliminary work done by the town's initial appeal attorney, Charles Bauer.

"This will be the end of it," Mr. Stuart told the four dozen residents who attended Tuesday's 10-minute town meeting.

He said the case is expected to be argued before the state Supreme Court sometime this spring, in March or April.

Jen Iannucci, an SOS member, said she was "extremely pleased with the result" that showed "townspeople are behind the appeal."

The town has spent $61,000 on the case -- $19,600 on the Superior Court lawsuit and $41,400 on the appeal as of Dec. 31.