Wethersfield, The land of "Study" Habits

[SenatorBlutarsky]

Hey great idea, let's study it. We can't do that project it,wasn't studied for 20 years.

Let's see how many study's come out of The Silas Deane Hwy.

[SittingBull]

To the good Senator: You are right , this town does study everything to death. And we wonder why we are always chasing our neighbors. Let's get back to other towns chasing us, because we should be on the cutting edge.

[oldetowne]

You have a point, but there IS a time when something should be considered for more than an hour before we toss a couple million dollars into it. The Councils in the 90s were notorious for "seven member, ad hoc committees" to study whether we had enough seven member ad hoc committees. Keep in mind that public discussion of issues (like what we are doing here - and much more civilly than when it was anonymous on the old site) is still a great way to get to the best solution.

[LightItUp]

You do have a good point. I was wondering how much money we spend during the course of a year on these studies by so called experts. $20,000 here $20,000 there, it starts to add up quick.

[oldetowne]

It really depends on what you're referring to. Often it's part of a project that has been bonded and the "study" is just a review of alternatives by the architect or the engineer. The rest of the time it's generally done by staff or private citizens.

[LouS]

Some studies are good, especially when the ground breaking is new information. However, qualified oversight committees, containing qualified residents is much more cost effective, efficient and timeworthy.

[hodiddly]

Maybe Mary Daversa should consider a run at public office, because "Mikey's Place" was one of the most efficient, cost effective and well run projects I have ever seen in this town.To this day that group continues to raise funds and maintain & improve that beautiful park.

[LouS]

Absolutely!
We have been saying the private/business sector often manages these things better.

[oldetowne]

It sounds like some people think that we need to have study committees so that the members of the committee can arrange the specifications in a way that allows them to be the low bidder. Even if nothing there was wrong or unethical, it makes me uneasy and doesn't smell good. I am not going to go along with any accusations or anything like that yet, but in this day and age where every single thing that those in power do is scrutinized under a microscope, it seems like very poor judgment to allow oneself (bad grammar, I know, I had a public school education in the olden days) to get into that position.

[LouS]

I understand and although I do not have the information first hand, it appears that everything was run by the town manager and town attorney.

The group that was awarded the bid was not the low bidder.

And finally, one of the biggest wrongs with the last field renovation is that no local taxpaying professionals, other than the attorneys, were part of the process. To have a legitimate firm as part of this installation and to have those experts on the committee that chose the contractor, this goes a long way towards making sure things are done correctly.

[oldetowne]

I don't disagree for a second that it's important to have knowledgeable professionals on a committee. That old high school committee had something like 20 members, all meaning well but unfamiliar with what they were doing, and it was a fiasco from the word "go".

What I am trying to say is that it's critical to public confidence in a high profile project that things appear to be on the up and up. (Sorry for the lame cliches) Unfortunately, this "issue" just provides unnecessary ammo to the nay sayers and could unfairly tarnish the reputation of a person and a firm that have been exceedingly generous to this town.

[SittingBull]

I'm sure Rocco and his bunch of "minions" are starting the spin machine.