What’s going on in your part of Greenwich

Greenwich

Work on the 2019-20 municipal budget is ramping up, and part of that work is deciding what new capital projects, if any, will get funded.

To make that decision, the First Selectman’s

Capital Improvement

Project Committee will present a draft of the capital budget to the public at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Cone Room on the second floor of Town Hall. A public hearing will follow so residents can have their say about what should or should not be included.

Documents for the 201920 budget can be accessed at www.greenwichct. gov/460/BudgetDocuments-Schedules.

The CIP Committee, chaired by First Selectman Peter Tesei, will hold a series of meetings. Commissioner of Public Works Amy Siebert, Director of Planning and Zoning Katie DeLuca, Parks and Recreation Joseph Siciliano and Interim Superintendent of Schools Ralph Mayo are expected to take part.

The committee will evaluate and rank potential projects, then make a recommendation to Tesei before he presents the next municipal budget plan early next year.

Previous capital projects funded by the town include a study for a possible field at one of the town’s middle schools, a project that has created immense debate in town, as well as a facility study that could lead to a new municipal ice rink to replace the Doryear, othy Hamill Rink. Additionally, the town continues to look at options for the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center. Tesei is expected to make a Northwest Fire Station a priority in the next budget. Work is continuing to evaluate possible sites for the station, which backcountry residents have supported for years. In the past, the project has run into difficulty getting all the needed town approvals.

The town is looking at a tight budget for next fiscal leaving open the question of how many new capital projects can be included. According to guidelines passed by the Board of Estimate and Taxation, the range for a mill rate increase is set at between 2.25 percent and 3.25 percent, which means there will be property tax increases for residents next fiscal year.

In this fiscal year, there was no increase in the mill rate.

BET members said they want to keep the mill rate increase as low as possible. According to BET Budget Committee Chair Leslie Moriarty, a level services budget for 201920 would come with a 4.43 percent mill rate increase due to fixed costs on health care, benefits and contractually agreed upon salary increases.

Tesei will unveil his proposed 2019-20 municipal budget in January, and the Board of Estimate and Taxation’s Budget Committee will begin its work with hearings in February. The town budget will be considered by the Representative Town Meeting in May.

Downtown

A controversial project to build a synagogue and preschool on Mason Street is expected to go before the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission again on Tuesday night.

The commission will hear updates from the project developers at the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Meeting Room. Under the current proposal, Chabad Lubavitch of Greenwich would build the synagogue and preschool partially using the site of the old Greenwich Armory at 226 and 230 Mason St.

The plans call for a three-story building with a parking garage.

No decision was made at the Dec. 4 meeting, where many residents said the plan would generate traffic and cause parking problems downtown. Chabad has a building up the street at 75 Mason St., but residents said by a bigger synagogue and preschool would attract more people and create bigger traffic and parking headaches.

Old Greenwich

The holidays are in full swing with decorations brightening the town. In Old Greenwich, the Garden Club of Old Greenwich took on the task of decking the halls.

Volunteers went out on Sound Beach Avenue in early December to decorate the streets, including ornaments, wreaths and even a few boughs of holly. Club members provided the festive touches, which will be on display throughout the holiday season.

Many citizen groups take the lead in creating the festive atmosphere in town for the holidays. The garden club has been decorating Old Greenwich for years.

The holiday lights have returned to downtown Greenwich thanks to business leaders and residents who paid the costs, and Greenwich Green & Clean decorates Greenwich Avenue with handmade baskets every year for the season.

Downtown

Be on the lookout for sharks at Town Hall — and that’s not a metaphor for the sinister machinations of municipal politics. There is a display of sharks in Town Hall to promote an exhibit set to open in the spring at The Bruce Museum about the mysterious aquatic beasts.

Though December, a display case on the first floor Town Hall will show original artwork by Sean Murtha, the museum’s exhibition preparator for “Sharks.” The exhibit, which will run from April 20 to Oct. 27, will highlight shark evolution, biology and behavior while delving into “many myths and misconceptions” that surround sharks, according to the museum.

“Preparations are going swimmingly and we look forward to a feeding frenzy of shark education and enthusiasm,” said Kate Dzikiewicz, the Bruce Museum’s Paul Griswold Howes Fellow.