City boards put brakes on federal COVID money
Planning, Finance officials want next mayor to weigh in first on stimulus spending
STAMFORD — When the Planning Board and Board of Finance met this week to decide how the city should spend millions of dollars in federal aid, the big changes that lay ahead sobered talks of the funding decisions before the two boards.
During the almost-three-hour meeting, the two boards parsed through 19 projects
The upcoming election’s specter loomed large over all the Board of Finance’s decisions, given the realities of an administrational change.
that the current Mayor David Martin’s administration wants to finance through federal COVID-19 stimulus money and disaster relief money obtained after Tropical Storm Ida.
And even though the two entities moved to make substantial repairs across city schools and roads, the Board of Finance ultimately voted down more comprehensive reforms and updates in favor of waiting for more detailed plans from future administrations and the school district.
To date, Stamford has received $24.5 million from the COVID-19-related American Rescue Plan, $1.6 million of which is still unallocated. The city expects to receive another $24.5 million next spring, which it must spend by the end of 2026.
Martin pitched about $18.2 million worth of HVAC and stormwaterrelated projects to the two boards, leaving more than $7 million unallocated for the next administration to dole out. On top of that, Martin pitched for $4.95 million worth of FEMA money to manage the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, which resulted in infrastructural devastation across Stamford.
Both boards fully backed financing the slew of roadway-related projects with FEMA money even though the city expects the agency to pay for 75 percent of the projects. The litany of improvements includes drainage repairs on at least 13 roads and parks, a road reconstruction project on Farms Road, renovations to a dilapidated culvert in Springdale and updates to two water pump stations.
While final approvals for the FEMA projects will move on to the Board of Representative’s Fiscal Committee on Nov. 1, the future of COVID-19 stimulus funding created more friction among the Board of Finance, especially in regard to more multi-site line items, what with a pending November mayoral election.
“Things are going to change Dec. 1, and there may be other priorities,” Board of Finance member Mary Lou Rinaldi said in response to a bid to automate heating and cooling systems across Stamford schools.
Board member David Mannis also pushed back on separate plans to undergo HVAC equipment repairs at several schools, including Scofield Magnet Middle School, Julia Stark Elementary School and Rippowam Middle School.
“No one is more emphatic than I am that the HVAC issue should be at the heart and core of any master plan,” Mannis started. But the timing is all wrong, he argued.
“I believe that if we allocate this money now, when it’s time to address a larger plan,” Mannis continued, “These things ...would have had a place in the plan, but this money will be out the door, and we’ll have that much less of our known resources to bring to bear.”
Both HVAC proposals expressly excluded schools that the district expects to demolish or significantly repair, like Westhill High School or Roxbury Elementary School. But both Rinaldi and Mannis alluded to waiting for results from the pending facilities master plan. That document, which officials said they hope “will be completed and approved by April of 2022,” will broadly define the future for each of Stamford’s school buildings.
Stamford will hold a municipal election on Nov. 2, where voters will decide on who will be mayor of Stamford — Democrat state Rep. Caroline Simmons or unaffiliated candidate Bobby Valentine, the entrepreneur and former athlete.
The upcoming election’s specter loomed large over all the Board of Finance’s decisions, given the realities of an administrational change.
“I would like to leave it to the next administration to make a decision on this,”
Rinaldi said while debating whether the Board of Finance should approve money for a citywide stormwater management study.
By the end of the meeting, the Board of Finance rejected funding requests meant to automate ventilation systems at the schools and to conduct a citywide drainage study.
The rejections, several board members said, were meant to safeguard the city’s funds against a shifting docket of priorities to come.