The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘RIGHT TIME IS NOW’
Manager defends town hall/police complex
EAST HAMPTON » In an open letter to residents, Town Manager Michael Maniscalco has offered a forceful defense of the proposal to building a new town hall/police/educational complex.
The letter published the Rivereast on Friday addresses the need for the new $18.9 million project despite the continuing certainty involving the state budget.
Maniscalco’s staunch defense of the proposal is matched by deep disdain he did little to hide for the action — or inaction — of the state and federal governments.
This past Monday, Maniscalco chaired an informational meeting during which a range of officials, including the chairman of the building committee and the project architect, outlined the project in detail to more than 80 residents.
During a question-and-answer period that followed the presentation, a number of residents raised the issue of the potential for deep cuts in state aid as a reason to hold off moving forward with the municipal complex project.
Maniscalco’s letter touched on that issue in depth.
“Over the last few days I have been asked about the impact of the state budget, or lack thereof, and the Police Department/ Town Hall/Board of Education
“Just because the Federal and/or state government is completely dysfunctional this does not mean East Hampton is.” — East Hampton Town Manager Michael Maniscalco
project,” Maniscalco said in the opening sentence of his letter. “Let me make this as clear as possible: the right time is now.”
“Just because the Federal and/or state government is completely dysfunctional this does not mean East Hampton is,” Maniscalco said.
The challenges the state is facing in 2017 “should have no impact on a decision that we will not begin paying for until 2022,” Maniscalco continues.
The first bill for the project won’t come due until then, Maniscalco said.
“Additionally, due to today’s very favorable interest rates (approximately 3.5 percent) and East Hampton’s strong credit rating (Triple A) it makes sound fiscal sense to start this project now,” he said. “Lastly, it is important to note that every year we delay this project it costs approximately $350,000 more as a result of increased material and labor costs. Using that estimate, if we wait three years, we have just lost $1 million — and
for what?”
One of the goals of the project is to group all town offices in one site. The human and social services and parks and recreation departments now occupy rental space.
During the presentation last week, Director of Finance Jeffrey M. Jylkka said combining the town offices in one facility would save $1 million in rent “over a fairly long duration.”
Maniscalco also made reference to buildings that “will continue to deteriorate around us” if the project is delayed.
During the informational meeting last week, images of the present town hall — which is 70 years old — were flashed on screens located throughout the T-Bell Room in the high school. They included scenes of rebar poking through cracked or deteriorating concrete foundations, termite damage, corrosion already showing on new pipes.
Maniscalco also recalled flooding at the police station last year and water leaking into the vault in the town clerk’s office which contains documents that, in some instances, predate the American Revolution. He also pointed out the town has been debating the issue of a new town hall for 35 years.
In closing, Maniscalco said, “We are fiscally sound, interest rates are low and the need is clear .... For the future of East Hampton, the right time is NOW.”