East Granby Town Meeting Approves Nearly $300K in Capital Requests

An East Granby town meeting voted to allow almost $300,000 in appropriations from the town's capital non-recurring fund and open space fund Wednesday night.

The meeting, attended by approximately 20 residents, moved through the nine requests in about an hour. Discussion by attendees included questions about the funds appropriated for new curtains and associated mechanical components at as well as suggestions related to the new computers and smart boards for the school system.

The funds appropriated at the meeting were previously approved in the 2011-2012 fiscal year's budget process, a point noted by board of finance vice chairwoman Tami Zawistowski among others.

The East Granby Board of Selectmen's single request, $158,649 for road repair, will pay for paving on 1.36 miles of Horseshoe Drive, Saddle Drive, Surrey Drive, Carriage Lane, Kripes Road and possibly a few other small streets, according to a document presented at the meeting. The town's own department of public works will perform curbing and catch basin work as part of the process. Those repairs will save funds and allow the contracted repair services to perform more work on the actual road.

The planned repairs, along with the paving of 5.26 miles of road performed in 2011, means more than 50 percent of town roads rated as "poor" have been or will soon be upgraded.

"We've made an awful lot of progress on roads [during] the last couple of years," said First Selectman Jim Hayden.

Following a question from the audience, Superintendent Christine Mahoney said replacing stage curtains and related mechanical elements at the high school, at a cost of $29,692, needed to be addressed.

“We had a safety issue involving both the curtains and the mechanicals,” she said, also pointing out the serious liability issues of the deteriorated curtains and components possibly falling and hitting someone on or near the stage.

Town resident Faith Burns questioned the replacement process, noting that only two bids were received. Mahoney said that few local companies perform the work required of the project and one area company eventually pulled out of the bid process.

The new laptops, desktops and smart boards, at a cost not to exceed $50,000, passed as well, although resident Walter Rebenske suggested that school officials consider using certified used equipment to create savings for the town. He said there are reliable options for used computers pointed out the relatively rapid devaluation of computers and other technological items.

Upgrades to the high school’s downstairs science labs at a cost not to exceed $25,000 passed as well. The upgrades are significant because the New England Association of Schools and Colleges specifically requested them as part of the school’s educational accreditation process.

The school system’s other requests – $5,000 for band instruments, $5,000 for furniture, $5,319 for new exterior gym and library doors at the high school and $9,968 for a heavy-duty carpet cleaner – also passed by a voice vote.

The final request, $10,00 from the town’s open space fund for a new parking lot at East Granby Farms, was passed and the meeting adjourned shortly thereafter.