Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Roof And Roads topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
East Granby officials discuss using roof-and-roads bond surplus to repave streets and replace fire radios
Summary
Board members reported roughly $500,000 in leftover roof-and-roads bond proceeds and proposed using the funds to repave East Gran Farms and parking at Grand Brook Park and to replace an outdated fire radio system estimated at $219,000; the bond committee will reconvene and any changes would go to town meeting.
Jason, a town staff member, told the board the roof‑and‑roads project came in under budget and left “about 500,000 and change” available after keeping roughly $100,000 in reserve for audit contingencies. He said bond counsel advised the bond committee may amend the project scope and confirmed he would seek the committee’s approval to add two parking lots and repave East Gran Farms and Grand Brook Park.
Why it matters: the leftover funds would address multiple capital needs without immediately raising new taxes, but the board said it will follow the bond committee’s guidance and then seek voter approval at town meeting for any reallocation.
Jason said the board’s first priority is a replacement radio system for the fire department, which he put at $219,000. “Those numbers come in at $219,000 to replace that entire system,” he said, adding the current radios — legacy equipment originally from the Air National Guard — will stop working once the Guard migrates to the state radio system.
The town’s proposal, as described by Jason, is procedural: the bond committee will vote to amend the bond scope, the board will ask the Board of Finance to return any remaining bond money to the general fund, and those funds would be shifted to capital for a town‑meeting warrant article. Jason said he would bring the request back to the board after the bond committee acts.
Fire department context came during public comment. Perry Flity, who identified himself as the town’s fire chief in his remarks, pressed urgency on radios and apparatus replacement. He said the town’s early adoption of the Air Guard radios was economical but warned that “if we do not move to the state system … East will not have a radio system and then will be scrambling either to build its own radio system for millions of dollars or getting on the state system at a higher cost than what it would be today.”
Flity also called for a standing capital plan for apparatus replacement and an annual set‑aside for personal protective equipment, estimating the first‑year cost to outfit a new firefighter at about $15,000.
Board reaction: members asked procedural questions and signaled they will reconvene the bond committee. No final reallocation was approved that night; Jason said he would return with formal motions and a town‑meeting request after counsel and the bond committee complete their review.
Next steps: bond committee reconvenes next week to consider amending the bond scope; if approved, staff will request the Board of Finance reclassify the residual bond funds to capital and place articles on a town‑meeting warrant for voter approval.
