Government
Resident Pursues Referendum for ‘Lower Cost Proposal’ at Saxe Middle School
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A New Canaan man is on the verge of kickstarting a process which, if ultimately successful through its several steps, would see the recently approved $18.6 million appropriation for the Saxe Middle School building project kicked back to the Board of Finance for “reconsideration and a recommendation of a lower cost proposal.”
Michael Nowacki said he has garnered 41 of the required 50 signatures needed to file a notice of intent to petition for referendum—the very first step in a process outlined in chapters 4-15 and 4-16 of the Town Charter. Nowacki, known to many in New Canaan as a petitioning candidate for first selectman this local election season just past, said he “absolutely” expects to get the signatures he needs by a deadline this Thursday. “There is no question about whether we will get there or not,” Nowacki said. In order to force an actual referendum vote, Nowacki would need within 30 days of the public notice of the appropriation (which officially was last Thursday, Dec. 3) to have 5 percent of the electorate on the last completed registry list—that amounts to some 600-plus people, according to Town Clerk Claudia Weber—sign a petition for referendum which includes the following language (approved by the town attorney):
“We the undersigned electors of the Town of New Canaan, acting pursuant to Section C4-16 of the New Canaan Town Charter, hereby petition for a referendum regarding the action taken by the Town Council on November 30, 2015 to resolve the following question:
‘SHALL the action taken by the Town Council at its meeting on November 30, 2015, which approved the ‘Resolution Authorizing an Appropriation of $18,600,000 for Additions and Renovations to Portions of the Saxe Middle School and The Financing of Said Appropriation by the Issuance of General Obligation Bonds Of the Town And Notes in Anticipation Of Such Bonds in the Amount Not To Exceed $18,600,000’ be repealed and returned to the Board of Finance for reconsideration and a recommendation of a lower cost proposal?’ ”
Asked why he’s pursuing this, Nowacki said: “Because we discovered evidence that was not shared with the Board of finance and the Town Council relating to enrollment projections that were in fact faulty, and in talking to the guy that runs [the New England School Development Council] that did a report on projections, I found out that they did not give all the proper information to the company that did the report.”
Specifically, Nowacki said a Nov.