Toni Simonetti — a 23-year Westport resident — is a retired global corporate communications public relations executive, with degrees in journalism and an MBA.
She is also a University of Connecticut Master Gardener, a consulting rosarian, and a longtime member of the Westport Community Gardens, where she serves on its Steering Committee. She writes:
At last night’s Board of Education meeting, chair Lee Goldstein asked the golden question: Who is directing the scope and activities of the Long Lots School Building Committee?
She is understandably confused. The Long Lots School Building Committee is a misnomer. It should be the “Westport Parks and Rec, Public Works, Finance, Zoning, Conservation, Community Garden and Long Lots School Building Committee as directed by the First Selectwoman.”
I’m joking. But as my husband is fond of saying of my jokes: not funny.
The very serious subject of building a new Long Lots Elementary School is getting caught up in a web of irreconcilable differences. The LLSBC of tried-and-true volunteers is very good at what they do. But it seems they are victims of what we corporate types call scope creep: trying to do too much outside the project’s original scope.
Their stated mission: Come up with a plan to remediate the current school or build a new a school.* The BOE has made their preference crystal clear: Build a new school to include a Stepping Stones facility. They’ve supplied the committee with crystal clear education specs. They call for outdoor spaces such as playgrounds and fields in close proximity to the school building, presumably for the exclusive use by Long Lots students.
Toni Simonetti
Here is the rub: also on the town property, on which the school sits, are other town assets not related to Long Lots school — specifically Parks and Recreation resources such as soccer fields, a baseball field, the Westport Community Gardens and Long Lots Preserve.
Parks and Rec hasn’t (won’t?) talk publicly about its role in the process. The appointed Parks & Rec Commission won’t respond to my emails or requests to discuss the matter at their meetings.
The LLSBC says they’ve asked P&R for a study of potential other locations for athletic fields and the Community Gardens. This “study” is expected within days. I’ve got a Freedom of Information Act request ready to go, because if past behavior is any indication, it is not likely to be made publicly available.
The BOE was astute in questioning the committee reps at the meeting. I’ll paraphrase:
Are you going to wall off the entire property during construction, shutting down access to the gardens, preserve and athletic fields, and for how long? (Yes; anywhere from 18 to 30 months.)
Why didn’t you engage the community gardeners and neighboring residents in your deliberations? (No answer.)
Are any of the schematics made public? (No, not by the town — but photos were taken and posted on social media by yours truly.)
Toni Simonetti took this photo, at a Long Lots School Building Committee meeting. The plan — one of 6 being considered — shows a new school on the site of the current Community Gardens (left).
What is the process you are following? (Something like this: the BOE reviews for compliance to specs; recommendation to selectwomen; request to fund design work to Board of Finance and RTM; various P&Z reviews and permitting; back to BoF and RTM for construction funding.)
When will the LLSBC deliver the 6 options and their recommendation? (Sometime in October).
The appearance and statement of Board of Finance chair Lee Caney at the BOE was prescient. In not so many words, he noted that the decisions to be made by the town’s deciders must be good for the town as a whole, and not skewed to any one small [albeit passionate] group of interested citizens.
I appreciated the discipline of the BOE meeting, their interest in citizen viewpoints, and the no-nonsense leadership of Lee Goldstein at the helm of the meeting.
Last night’s Board of Education meeting. Don O’Day (far left) and Jay Keenan (blue shirt) presented information from the Long Lots School Building Committee to the BOE (left and center) and Westport Public Schools officials (right). (Photo/Toni Simonetti)
In the end, the BOE is not the decider of the plan that will go forward. The deciders will be elected officials of Westport (Selectwomen, BoF, P&Z, RTM). This is not Tammany Hall. But still, the fight is daunting to the average Joe Gardener.
Save the gardens and build the school. Do the impossible!
*Here is the stated mission of the LLSBC:
“Upon the request of the First Selectwoman, a Long Lots School Building Committee (the ‘Committee’ or ‘LLSBC’) is hereby established in order to meet the following goals (the ‘Goals’):
- In consultation with Building Envelope Engineers, MEP Engineers and other available information (i.e., Antinozzi, Colliers, Tools for Schools, Maintenance Committee reports, etc.), evaluate the existing conditions of the Long Lots Elementary School building envelope, MEP systems and site conditions.
- Provide feasibility studies for both a new build and renovate as new options inclusive of cost and schedule.
- Provide a recommendation to the First Selectwoman regarding a course of action for either a new build or renovate as new (the “Project”).
- Execute the Project as approved by the Town Boards.”