One Year and Counting - Town Hall/Library Project

[standish]

oldetowne said:

probably because nobody from the press cares about Wethersfield.

Au contraire. The Courant deeply cares as to whether Wethersfield would be willing to dissolve its boundaries, transfer tax & spend authority and give up self-government in order to accommodate State and regional public/private agencies populated by insiders who really don't care about Wethersfield.

[cruzrt]

This is serious stuff. I don't really care if the library phones dont work, but the Public Safety phone systems are vital. A few months ago, a private citizen questioned such outages during a Council meeting and was told that they did not happen. I expect that the Town Manager will provide a full report to the citizens soon about last weekend's phone problems (which really did happen). I expect to see that report in TOMORROW's Weekly Management report.

[oldetowne]

Don't kill the messenger, but it's not in there as far as I could see. It does mention the phones at the Community Center which had apparently been malfunction for several years....

[cruzrt]

The taxpayers need a public report on the current status of the Town Hall & Library Renovation Project. Joe Coombs has made only 2 brief appearances before the Council during year 2006; he used to be there at least once a month reporting on status. All the Council/BOE television woes are being blamed on this project, we need to know when everything will be back inside the Town hall building. I'd suggest that interested citizens go over to the buildings during the weekday daytimes. See if you see any construction work underway. See if you hear andy construction work underway. Most of the time there's ZERO activity or at best 1 or 2 lonely workers wandering around. SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG.

[oldetowne]

Cruzrt - You are correct, but don't expect anything like that to happen in the near future. And even if it does, it won't be on TV (at least not so that anyone can bear to watch it) and it won't be covered in the paper. Since posting of the minutes of the building committee is about five months in arrears, your best bet on status reports is the weekly town manager's reports. And they show an undeniable pattern of incompetence.

[cruzrt]

The minutes of the most recent Library Board meeting include a very puzzling discussion. It says that the Library does NOT KNOW how much the book shelving for the renovation will cost. Just how is it possible that a project that's been in planning for 1 or 2 years and that is scheduled to completely open in around 4 months would not know the costs for such a significant part of the project? After all, libraries have lots of books that sit on shelves. Whos' in charge of this project? Is there oversight? It appears to this taxpayer that the ball has been dropped. Comments, please!!!

[cruzrt]

Interested residents should look at the Minutes for the Library Board and for the Town Hall Renovation Committee for those December 2006 meetings. They are talking about "construction to begin in the Spring". They are talking about using the Library for Swing Space during the remaining Town Hall reconstruction. What is going on? The Library was supposed to be Closed for 6 months starting September 06. These minutes make it very clear that the Library space is not going to be used for use as a Public Library for a long time to come.

[cruzrt]

Just why is the Town Hall & Library renovation project taking so long? Well, our town officials did not include any kind of penalty clauses in the contract with the general contractor. So, there's no incentive for the work to get done. Does anyone know why it was omitted? Seems to me that's a serious flaw.

[oldetowne]

What are you talking about? Didn't you see the article in the Courant that said it was on time and on budget? Or do you think that Mayor AA and Chairman Coombs are misrepresenting the facts? Horrors.

[ironrod]

Phase I Library & Town Hall renovations on time and budget?

Bonding approved in 1999 and more than 7 years later Mayor AA (or triple A - you can add 3rd A of your choice - I have mine) is delighted with progress??? Good luck citizens...phase II should be completed "on time" sometime in 2012. Feeling scammed?

For those diehard citizens who remain in town for the 2012 ribbon cutting expect that your taxes will triple by then. Anyone want to volunteer to form a taxpayers association? Oh yeah, we already had one but nobody wanted to listen to them, even for 5 minutes. Isn't it ironic now how the town manager is seeking input on spending and how to control the budget? Perhaps they should have listened more carefully before.

Chooo, Chooo...train wreck ahead.

[oldetowne]

I think the heading on this thread should be changed to seven years and counting since the bond was approved in 1999.....

If the Council had any interest in completing this project, they would demand the resignation of each and every member of the building committee as a condition to approving the contract for Phase II. Some of them may be doing a good job and might be worth reappointing, but at this point the project is a money pit, a fiasco, an embarrassment to the town, and there is no end in sight. I guess the chance of starting fresh is essentially zero when the chairman of the building committee is also the vice chairman of the Democratic Town Committee.

If the press covered any meetings of the Council or the various boards, the public (at least those who are interested) would be astonished to hear the expense and time projections for the "completion" of this task. Our insurance rates have gone up because there was a 66K claim from when the town hall flooded last spring. The roof needs to be replaced and it isn't part of the bond. The new library is unlikely to be open until late 2009. The entire parking lot behind the town hall is likely to be closed to the public for several months. The cost overruns from initial estimates are in the seven figures. There are hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of renovation expenses which are being proposed for the general fund capital budget because they weren't able to be included in the bonding.

How much longer will the Council be able to hide this ineptitude and mismanagement?

[RGarrey]

I think that most of us know how poorly that project is going. If you visit the Town Hall on any type of a regular basis you can see how slow the progress is. How then can there be an article in the courant with Town Officials saying how well the project is going? I believe someone was quoted saying the project was on budget. Maybe under budget for the entire project without figuring Phase 2? Having been a project manager for large commercial construction and renovation projects I can honestly say that I would have been replaced a long time ago if this were my project. I also believe that we are going to see more problems as the project goes forward due to the fact that interior renovations were completed before the roof and windows were replaced. Any renovation project I have been involved in we always made sure the building was weatherproof before spending any time on interior work. If not you know you are going to be redoing some of your new work when the weather inevitably gets in.

[oldetowne]

I love this..... The March 26, 2007 meeting minutes for the building committee show that it is day 900 (yes, 900) of the project. The last item on the agenda is the following:

"Chairman Coombs requested a motion to add an expense item to the agenda. Motion made by Raymond Grasso seconded by Stuart Temple to add an expense item to the agenda. All members voted in favor. Tony Martino then submitted invoices totaling $109.88 requesting reimbursement for tonight's meal. Motion made by Raymond Grasso seconded by Stuart Temple to approve payment. All members voted in favor."

Three years into the project and all we have to show for it are some new urinals and a $110 bill for the committee to have dinner.

[cruzrt]

I've heard that the Mayor's TV program on Channel 14 tonight June 13th will be about the Public Library issue. There is call in section of the show at 721-8814. People that have opinions about the renovation delays for the Library and the Town Hall ought to let their views be heard via TV.

[cruzrt]

That TV show I just mentioned is on from 7PM to 8PM