South Windsor Town Council to Vote on School Board Budget, CT Studios Extension

The South Windsor Town Council is expected to vote on two major resolutions at tonight’s special meeting: the Board of Education’s proposed $68.12 million 2013-14 budget and an extension to the reverter clause on the Connecticut Studios project.

The Town Council has held two joint meetings (one of which was a public hearing) with the school board, which is requesting a $2.6 million - or 3.97 percent - increase over current spending.

Much of the proposed increase - some $1.35 million - would go to cover the escalating costs of special education outplacements.

The spending increase also contains funds for additional programming, such as full-day kindergarten, new mathematics textbooks for grades 3 and 4, seven new courses at the high school (including AP Spanish Language and Culture, Engineering and Design and Italian II), and the addition of boys and girls swim teams and boys junior varsity volleyball.

Additional funds would be used to meet contractual obligations.

Members of the council during the first joint meeting with the school board appeared to support the addition of full-day kindergarten.

It was unclear, however, whether the entire proposed spending increase enjoyed the support of a majority of the council members.

The school board has had its last two budget requests approved by the Town Council without any reductions, something that is believed to be, at least in recent history, unprecedented.

The streak, however, will be put to the test tonight, as the previous two budget requests called for spending increases of 2.1 and 2.4 percent, respectively.

The Council is also expected to vote on a resolution that would extend the reverter clause of a deed that saw the town provide 20 acres of land to the developers of Connecticut Studios for $1.

If approved, it would be the fourth extension the developers have received on the reverter clause, which originally stated that the parcel would revert back to the town if construction hadn’t started by October 26, 2012.

In a possible effort to satisfy the reverter clause, Connecticut Studios began construction on a 600-square-foot security building in October 2012, though only a foundation was laid and no apparent efforts have been made to continue work on the shack. It is unclear - and disputed - whether that work satisfies the reverter clause.

Still, on April 1, after a lengthy discussion, the Town Council ultimately acceded to a third extension in a 6-3 vote, giving Connecticut Studios LLC until 11:59 p.m. on April 25 to pull building permits on the proposed $55 million project.

While patience has run thin with some councilors on the project’s delay - it was originally proposed nearly five years ago - the developers recently secured $14 million in executed commitment letters from First Niagra Bank, according to Mayor Tom Delnicki.

The Town Council’s work session will begin at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, with the special meeting set to start at 8 p.m.