Poll Sees Ballot Question Vote to be Close
By David Huck | Correspondent at October 31, 2023 | 10:15 am | Print
Residents appear to be split over November’s ballot question that will ask them to weigh in on borrowing $21 million to build a new and expanded police station on Farmington Avenue.
Several residents—interviewed by the New Britain City Journal along Farmington Avenue and at the town hall complex—said they had concerns about the cost and location of the proposed police station. Supporters say that the town’s police force deserves a better working environment. Some local business owners dodged the question, saying they didn’t want to comment on a divisive issue. Opponents say the location is prime real estate and note the likely added tax burden, among other reasons.
The current police station at the town hall complex was built in 1974. Police officials say a larger police station would allow for storage space for equipment, a better area for evidence storage, an improved dispatch center, discreet rooms to interview persons, and separate juvenile holding cells, among other reasons. The 40-year-old facility is obsolete and poses numerous health, safety, and privacy concerns, they say.
When the station was built, the town had 18 police officers and one part-time civilian employee. Now, the department has 13 civilian employees and 42 employees working in the same sized space. The proposed facility will be built to accommodate up to 56 sworn officers and 14 civilian employees.
The three-story, 31,000 square foot police station would be built at 899, 903, and 913 Farmington Avenue, near the site of the former Kensington Furniture.
Republicans distributed a full-page flier in a local newspaper, asking residents to vote against the police station. Among the reasons they cited: a private developer could build on the sites and contribute upwards of $150,000 in annual taxes to the town, a proper traffic study hasn’t been done, and that based on square footage costs, the design is considerably higher than in neighboring communities.
The Republican Town Committee, which paid for the flier, said the police department should look at its needs for the next 20 years, not 50, as is currently proposed, look at using satellite offices or substations, and explore building at an alternative town owned site.
Signs both for and against the project have also sprung up around town. One sign asks residents to vote against the project, citing the $21 million price tag. Another sign urges residents to vote in favor and keep Berlin safe. One resident said of that sign, “Buildings don’t protect people, cops do.”
When asked to comment on the police station proposal, several other local business owners declined to comment. One owner said, “I still have to do business in this town.”
Bob Marut, the owner of Vital Signs and Graphics, located at 873-B Farmington Avenue, said he had concerns about how the construction might negatively affect his business and questioned the location. “I don’t think it’s the best place for a police station in town,” Marut said. He said that during the three-year project of replacing the overpass near Dairy Queen, his business was negatively impacted due to traffic congestion.
Republicans on the council had pushed to have the vote in January to allow for more information to be gathered, but Democrats said more residents would turn out to vote during an election year.
Democratic Council member Peter A. Rosso noted that while opponents of the project say the area is prime real estate, he says no one has done anything with it in the last 20 years. One of the buildings that is in the process of being torn down in the area of the proposed police station was built in 1948 and doesn’t meet any current building code regulations.
“This is going to be the cornerstone of this whole development,” Rosso said as he watched the demolition one late October afternoon. “This is going to the hub of the revival of downtown.”
Matt Butera, a resident for 60 years, said that while he has heard opposition to the project, he thinks it will pass. He intends to vote “yes.” Asked to comment on the potential tax increase, he said, “If you want services, you’ve got to pay for it, right?”
Town officials have been apprehensive about providing figures on how the project might impact future tax bills, as a number of factors go into determining the figure, such as the value of the Grand List, revaluation of real estate, financing rates, and other variables. But based on current mill and bond rates, in the fiscal year 2015-16, borrowing for the police station would add just under $2 to the tax bill of a resident who has a house assessed at $175,000; $35 in 2016; and close to $135 in 2017.
Rosso said, “We don’t know what the taxes are going to be. From year to year we don’t know what the taxes will be will.” He noted that there are new businesses coming into town and that their presence will increase the town’s Grand List—the total amount of taxable property in town—and possibly decrease taxes.
Supporters of the project say that if the station isn’t built soon, millions in dollars in added costs will be added every year it is delayed due to inflation and other increases.
The $21 million in bonds would be paid off over 20 years. Assuming a 3 percent interest rate, residents would end up paying $6.6 million in interest over two decades, combining for a total project cost of $27,615,000.
Butera called the location “not bad,” and said town officials should start negotiating with Berlin Steel to purchase their property, as well.
“You gotta give those guys some room to breathe. They’re too cramped,” he said. “That was suppose to be a temporary thing. They should never have even been there.”
One resident, a registered Democrat who only gave her first name Sheila, said she wants the police department to have a larger facility, but said she and her husband intend to vote “no.” She said officials should have fully analyzed other locations that the town owns, such as the former Pistol Creek golf course. “We already have the high school agenda on the plate,” she said. “It’s not so much the tax increase, but if you can get the same thing accomplished for less, then it behooves us to check that out and that hasn’t been done.”
Another resident, who gave his name only as Gordon, said he also planned to vote against the project saying that “it’s too much money” and that the location is “a prime location for growth other than a police station.”
A third resident, who wished not to be identified because he said he was receiving negative feedback after writing an editorial in a local newspaper comparing the police station to the high school, said the referendum question “will probably be the most decisive, controversial referendum of our time in this town.”
