An emergency radio system, a walking and biking path, a plow truck and an ambulance, building repairs and erosion work, improvements to school heating plants and computer systems are among $6 million in capital projects and purchases that will come before voters in Tuesday’s referendum.
The capital projects are in Questions 4 to 9 on the referendum ballot, following questions on the town, school and road repair budgets. The voting is Tuesday, May 12, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Yanity gym.
Radio project
Of the capital spending proposals, the one most discussed by town officials is Question 4, seeking $3.7 million to build a new “public safety radio system.”
Dick Aarons, town deputy emergency management director, leads the task force that has worked for two years on the radio upgrade.
The new system, he said, would allow emergency responders — police, firefighters, ambulance crews — to communicate with each other and back to their headquarters from inside any house in town. They can’t do this now from many neighborhoods, including parts of Ridgebury, the Bennetts Farm area, Farmingville, and West Mountain.
There’s a safety concern for police and firefighters, and also for residents, he said.
“The Board of Selectmen supports this completely,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi said.
“Our existing radio system, although functional, is spotty at best in its coverage and has many dead areas where there is no coverage at all.
“We are far behind in the replacement of this antiquated system, and an investment that not only covers the health, safety and welfare of employees from the police department, fire department and EMS to highway and parks and recreation personnel, but brings all of our software and hardware into the new millennium.
“The life of this system is easily 15 to 20 years, and we urge all voters to vote ‘yes’ on this badly needed improvement.”
Walking trail, bike path
The “Farmingville walk/bike path” in Question 5 would cost town taxpayers less than what’s spelled out in the ballot wording, according to Marconi.
“The rec trail, although we’re asking for $1.4 million, of that $1,250,000 is in grants from the state of Connecticut. We’re really only requesting $150,000 of Ridgefield taxpayers’ money, for the engineering services that we’re required to pay for,” he said.
“This is the trail that will eventually connect the bridge over the Ridgefield Brook, located at the Parks and Recreation Center, to the rail trial,” Marconi said.
The $1,250,000 walk-bike path would go along Farmingville Road, and into the Great Swamp property toward the town transfer station — and $1,100,000 of that is to be covered by a state grant, Marconi said.
There’s also $150,000 for sidewalk work that would connect the bridge over Ridgefield Brook, off Route 35, with the Farmingville/Great Swamp trail.
“This hopefully will get us across the swamp into the back of the transfer station,” Marconi said. “Then we will install a path around the perimeter of the transfer station, up to the Goodwill trailer, which will then connect with a path up to the rail trail — that portion to be completed by the purchaser of the 10-acre Schlumberger property.”
Plow truck
The $176,500 Mack truck in Question 6 would be a replacement for one in the highway department’s fleet of 18 dump trucks.
“These are the largest of the trucks that the town owns and are used to plow our streets and to haul whatever material is necessary for a drainage job or any other department work,” Marconi said.
“The average truck is, upon retirement or trade-in, 15 to 20 years old. I believe this one is 17 or 18.”
Ambulance
The ambulance in Question 7 would cost $230,000.
“This will replace the oldest of the three that we have,” Marconi said. “The trade-in is usually based on mileage, and when an ambulance gets into the $100,000-plus area is when the trade is made.
“Our EMS calls continue to grow, and we need to be sure that we continue to provide the level of care that the Ridgefield Fire Department has delivered over the years.”
Construction projects
Three construction projects, totaling $415,000, are rolled into Question 8.
One is a new roof at the town hall annex, beside Yanity gym, costing $190,000.
Renovations to an elevator in the south end of the Venus building would cost $125,000.
“We need to make improvements to an elevator that has not been upgraded since its installation by Boehringer Ingelheim in the 1980s,” Marconi said.
The third project is to battle erosion at Lake Mamanasco, for $100,000.
The money is for erosion stabilization of streams that run down a steep hill on the west side and dump sand and silt into the water.
“That will help reduce the amount of nutrients that are reaching the lake,” Marconi said. “You look up and you see where that erosion has taken place, and then you can see, out in the lake, where it’s been deposited.”
School projects
The last proposition on the ballot, Question 9, is $497,000 for school projects.
“Out of that, $356,976 is for energy conservation measures that will reduce annual operating expenses, which have already been cut from the Board of Education’s budget,” Marconi said.
School Business Manager Paul Hendrickson said the energy would be saved by putting “variable-speed drives and control units” on pumps in Ridgefield High School’s hot water heating loop.
“The variable speed of the pumps decreases electricity consumption,” he said.
The other energy savings come from taking out an electric heating coil for the RHS auditorium and gym, and replacing it with a propane boiler and hot water system.
“The calculated annual savings for this project is between $145,000 and $155,000,” he said. “The calculation was done by an independent third party.”
Question 9 also includes $140,000 for school technology infrastructure.
It would “expanded Internet access for both redundant/backup service and large-demand initiatives,” Hendrickson said
There would be “improved connectivity and reliability at East Ridge Middle School and Ridgefield High School,” and network components would be replaced.
Plan includes creating a disaster recovery location at East Ridge Middle School.
“There is currently one at Scotts Ridge Middle School,” he said. “However, if something happens to SRMS, the network is in jeopardy.”
Increased bandwidth for the schools’ “Bring Your Own Device” program would allow more students to use their own computing devices.
“This provides the capability to handle more users simultaneously,” he said.