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Island Nursing Home seeks town help as restart plan raises funding questions
Summary
Representatives of the Island Nursing Home asked Stonington selectmen for $100,000 to restart residential care, citing a larger operating deficit. Selectmen questioned whether the budget assumptions included recent inflation and noted any town funding would need a petition and a town-meeting vote.
Representatives of the Island Nursing Home told Stonington selectmen they need financial support and housing planning after the facility halted services.
At a November meeting, Island Nursing Home board members Skip Greenlaw and Leon Weed asked the board to consider a $100,000 contribution to restart the facility as residential care only. "We petitioned them to open the facility," Leon Weed said while outlining the request; the board recorded that the facility faces an estimated $500,000 budget deficit. Town Manager Billings said the town would require a formal petition and a town-meeting article to place any funding request before voters.
Selectmen pressed for clarity on the figures. Billings asked whether the budget numbers reflected 2019 costs or had been updated to include recent inflation; board members said the town could not assume recurring responsibility without firmer financials and a plan for sustainable operations. Board members and attendees also raised housing as a connected issue: the INH representatives and community members said additional housing units would be needed for staff and to support care operations, and that the board should consider coordinated housing solutions alongside any funding request.
The board did not approve immediate funding. TM Billings advised that the proper procedural route is a petition to put a funding article on a town meeting warrant, and several selectmen said they needed clearer, updated financial statements and a plan for ongoing operations before committing taxpayer money.
Next steps recorded in the meetings include continued outreach by INH representatives to the towns and a possible petition process to place a restart appropriation on a future town meeting warrant. The selectmen recorded interest in hearing more-detailed budgets and the results of any additional due diligence before considering formal action.
