Chairman's View: Picking Priorities (Dec. 6, 2018)

Chairman’s View: Picking priorities

DECEMBER 6, 2018 BY JOHN ENGEL. CHAIRMAN, TOWN COUNCIL

“I do have to pick my priorities. Nobody can do everything.” — Ray Kurzweil

We held the first joint offsite meeting among the four funding bodies (Board of Selectmen, Town Council, Board of Education, Board of Finance) in over 10 years, an important step toward approaching our town and school budgets with a spirit of cooperation.

Critical takeaways: 10 of us think that the budget is driven by the Board of Finance, 10 believe we all share it, and nine votes were scattered among Town Council, Board of Education and Board of Selectmen. It’s a shared responsibility but clearly, the BOF is driving the bus. Most of us believe that the budget should come in at an increase of between 0% and 1% this year, a big change since last year’s debates between 2% and 3.5%. We agreed a joint meeting should bookend the budget process every year: November and May. And, support was nearly unanimous for conducting a professional town-wide survey.

We had our last forum on town buildings in April. It is time to listen again. The Town Council is scheduling a public hearing for Wednesday, Jan. 9, to solicit input from the public and discuss our buildings within the context of the 5-year Capital Plan. Why is it necessary and why now? In April the focus was on preservation of important buildings and the need to decrease building expenses. There have been several articles over the last six months floating different possibilities for the Library, the repurposing or demolishing of Irwin House, purchasing the Covia Building, renovating the old Police Station (or repurposing it as housing), selling the Vine Cottage and renting the Outback. These options are interrelated and now we know the costs. Some of these initiatives should be put in the Capital Plan and others removed. We need to get serious and specific about our priorities and make sure they are accurately reflected in the Capital Plan and this year’s budget, reflecting the towns people’s appetite.

The Library was put in the 5-Year Capital Plan for $5 million by First Selectman Robert Mallozzi. It would help the Library board secure additional private funding and allow them to “think big” if we put the Library in the plan for $10 million. That is incredibly hard to do during the revaluation, but if we were to plan for a matching gift, 2-1 behind private donations, and stretch that commitment from three years to potentially five years it works within current Board of Finance guidance. I believe a $10 million earmark has the support from the majority of the selectmen and Town Council. If the Library cannot raise $20 million then Town Hall is not committed. But, by signaling a cap of $5 million in the capital plan, the Board of Finance is essentially killing the project. If you feel strongly that a new library will be transformational to the health of our downtown, let the Town Council and Board of Finance know.

Chairman's View: Not to Eliminate Buildings, But to Eliminate Expense (Jan. 22, 2019)

Chairman’s View: ‘Not to eliminate buildings, but to eliminate expense’

JANUARY 22, 2019 BY JOHN ENGEL, CHAIRMAN, TOWN COUNCIL

In the fourth week of a federal government shutdown it’s a good time to reflect on the state of Connecticut and town government. There is cause for optimism.

Newly elected State Sen. Alex Bergstein announced the State is pursuing a policy of “shared risk.” I asked “Shared between whom?” because last year’s plan was to add a $4 million burden onto New Canaan.  The senator clarified she meant shared between the union workers and the State. If Gov. Ned Lamont agrees and the renegotiation and restructuring is finally underway, then this is great news.

Our grand list went down 7%: First Selectman Kevin Moynihan says he can bring in a town budget growing 0% to 1%. Is this because of a 1-year anomaly in the debt service? Does this assume only 5% rise in health care costs? Or, are we making the hard choices? It should be 0%. 

The Brick Barn: A relatively minor building in our portfolio, it has taken on outsized proportions for our citizens. We cannot ignore the fact that Town Council and two selectmen demanded to see alternatives to demolition. We owe it to the electorate to explain why we must spend $65,000 on demolition when the New Canaan Preservation Alliance says it is fully funded and ready to restore now at no cost to the town. The Board of Selectmen is at a stalemate until the first selectman convinces his fellow selectmen or they convince him. If a stalemate then the demo money is returned.

The Police Station: It feels reckless of us to talk about a new $16 million to $20 million police station between Saxe and the YMCA when there is only $7.8 million in our capital budget. And, that is the absolute worst location. Where is the money coming from? What other locations are being considered? Will this spending come at the expense of library or Waveny renovations? How far does $7.8 million get us?

Irwin House: First, it was to be a museum. Then, offices for nonprofits. Then Board of Finance members asked for demolition costs. The Town Council was understandably anxious to hear that we were talking about amendments to the deed with no explanation. Russ Kimes made an excellent case that it be repurposed as the school administration building, saving us $300,000 per year.

Vine Cottage: Make this charming building part of the historic district. Put out a Request for Proposals by May 1. There are businesses that will sign a long-term ground lease and fix it up. Any proposal that preserves Town Hall parking and which transfers restoration responsibility to the tenant should be considered.

Keep these buildings at no expense and with benefit to the public. The most important thing is not to eliminate buildings, but to eliminate expense.

Chairman's View: Improve our Planning for Town Building Maintenance (Oct 18, 2018)

Chairman’s View: Improve our planning for Town building maintenance

OCTOBER 18, 2018 BY NEW CANAAN ADVERTISER

New Canaan Town Council Chairman John Engel’s weekly guest column. New Canaan Town Council Chairman John Engel

First, let’s talk about the 100-point Pavement Condition Index (PCI). When a road scores above 86% PCI it’s excellent, requiring only corrective maintenance: crack sealing at about a $1 per square yard. Between 85% and 75% PCI a road is “good” and requires micro-thin overlays and cape seals at approximately $5 per square meter. When a road falls below 75% the road shouldn’t merely be patched, it must be repaved or reconstructed at a price of between $22 and $60 per square yard. “Very good” roads should be maintained for minimal investment and stretched to over 30 years of life.

In 2003, New Canaan’s roads scored 77% and in danger of needing reconstruction. Our Public Works department presented a 20-year plan in order to get our score back to 85% with the greatest efficiency. Unfortunately, between 2004 and 2008 the price of asphalt rose with the price of oil from $50 to $92 per ton and even with steady investment New Canaan’s average pavement quality declined to 74% below which roads need complete rebuilding.

And yet every year we challenge Tiger Mann, the head of Public Works, with questions designed to cut that road budget. Every year he patiently explains the math behind our most efficient system to get the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) from a score of 74% in 2009 to a score that is currently 81%. Every year our roads naturally deteriorate 2.5%. If we spend $2 million then the road quality stays about the same. Spending $2.5 million per year has allowed our PCI to rise about a half-point per year toward that goal. The Eversource road-paving investment amounts to about $3 million over five years and allows us to finish our 20-year plan in about 18 years, hopefully by 2021.

We have not managed the maintenance of our buildings with the same discipline and consistency we have applied toward our roads. This has caused some of us on Town Council to ask the obvious question, “Can we put together a building maintenance program, consistently funded at $1 to $2 million per year, that allows us to chip away at our $20 to $40 million obligation to repair and restore the 56 buildings that the Town owns?” 

First, 50% of that budget is Waveny House. If we are serious about Waveny we must wrap our heads around $1 million per year for the next 20 years. The second step is to identify the buildings that the Town should not own. Legally protect (with conservation easements) and then sell those buildings which are inefficient and inappropriate for a town to own and maintain: the Vine Cottage, the Police Station, the Outback, the Irwin House and Irwin Barn, the Gores Pavilion and the New Canaan Playhouse head that list.

Chairman's View: Do The Projects that Do Not Increase Debt (Aug 23, 2018)

Chairman’s View: Do the projects that do not increase debt

AUGUST 23, 2018 BY NEW CANAAN TOWN COUNCIL CHAIRMAN JOHN ENGEL

Affordable housing, senior housing, workforce housing are all needed in New Canaan. Should housing be a concern of the Town Council? Yes, repurposing old buildings as housing begins an intricate calculus getting the Town out of the restoration business. Restore buildings to the tax rolls. Sell Vine Cottage.

To borrow from an old joke, “How fast do you need to run to survive a charging bear?” New Canaan Town Council Chairman John Engel

What can we afford? Our assessor will soon announce the Grand List based on this past year’s sales. Values decreased by at least 7% and will probably be offset by a 7% increase in the mill rate. Nobody wants to see the taxes increase from $17,000 to $18,000 on a million dollar assessment, but it is coming. Given that New Canaan’s per capita level of indebtedness is highest in the state and at a ten year high it seems odd that Town Hall is considering any new projects. Some make sense if they don’t increase debt.

Affordable housing. We have a proposal by our Housing Authority and New Canaan Neighborhoods to grow Canaan Parish by 40 units. The objections are aesthetic, not economic, and overblown. The proposal is self-funded from the housing fund and a mortgage in order to maximize efficient use of the property. We need 100 nicer, larger units. Expect this to pass after more public hearings on design details.

Unimin. On the table is a proposal to spend $10 to $12 million purchasing and repurposing the Unimin building as both police station and school administration offices. Consider savings of $3 million from the BOE lease and $7 million in police renovation costs — the math could work. If the economics are even close this is a very good idea. Sell the old police station to a developer for affordable, senior or workforce housing. It’s a natural extension of the Schoolhouse Apartments. It retains seniors. If a private developer cannot make his numbers work maybe our Housing Authority can. The town wins in two ways: we add a much-needed affordable or senior housing choice on walkable South Avenue and we get an efficient office building as offices. Give it a chance.

Parking. Deck the lumberyard? We wanted this when it was estimated at $8 million. Now, decking is estimated at $12 million. At $48,000 per spot it will take 40 years to pay for it. We can’t afford that. We can’t afford to do nothing. Our Grand List depends on reliable transportation and parking. Sell the development rights to the street front of the property to get estimates back under $8 million. Sell the frontage, hide the deck. Decking the Locust Lot at $4,125,000 for 89 spots ($46,348 each) is not viable. Acquire more spots at the Talmadge Hill and Locust lots for half the price of decking. Do this while working the Lumberyard plan.