Board of Selectmen Meeting November 14, 2024
The Greenwich Board of Selectmen held their monthly meeting recently at Town Hall.
Of interest within the minutes:
2. New Business
a. Discussion and vote on Board of Education vacancy First Selectman Camillo said the meeting was being held because the Board of Selectman is statutorily permitted to take action if a vacancy is not filled within 30 days. He noted the Town is now in day 94 or 95 of having a vacancy on the Board of Education and said several members of the Board of Education, both Republicans and Democrats, had come to him over the last few months to ask him if he was going to take action and when he was going to do it. Camillo said he had told everyone from the beginning he would rather the Board of Education members handle it themselves. He said he was hoping until a few days ago that the Board of Education could work it out since several candidates were being considered. Camillo said he was informed a few days ago by Republicans that they had agreed on a candidate and were open to compromise. Camillo said the Board of Education Democrats then went and nominated “somebody that is not acceptable” to the three Republican members of the Board of Education. Camillo added there is a precedent in Town, noting that in the last few years the BET has had resignations where the opposing Party caucus recognized the intent and wishes of their colleagues and voted to approve that person. Camillo said the action taken by the Board of Education Democrats on Monday “completely undoes that.” Camillo then discussed the history of the debate of whether the Board of Education and BET should be majority rule and recalled a meeting from six or seven years ago where people objected to a majority rule system and said they wanted to keep the four/four split between Republicans and Democrats on the Board of Education and the six/six split on the BET. Camillo called the Board of Education’s Democrats’ actions “an attempt to subvert the will of the three remaining Republicans on that board and the will of the voters who did not vote for Democrats last year.” Camillo said he had spoken to counsel and said “extensive research” had been done on it. He said the Board of Education Democrats’ actions were “embarrassing” and that the meeting that had been held by that Board on Monday was “illegal.” He asked his colleagues for their thoughts while reminding all in attendance that this was a public meeting, not a public hearing. Camillo then announced that the Board of Education Democrats have retained counsel and said they were now in an adversarial position with the Town.
4. Selectwomen’s Updates
Selectwoman Rabin said she would be putting something on the Nov. 14 Board of Selectmen agenda for the Central Middle School Building Committee. She said they were out to bid for construction, and they had heard from concerned contractors about a 7 a.m. earliest start time. She said a lot of the tradesman “do not want to live anywhere near Greenwich” and wanted to be able to leave the site by 2:30-3 p.m. and avoid traffic. She said the project “was starting to lose some bidders” because of the 7 a.m. start and she wanted to consider a 6 a.m. start time, which would require a variance under the noise ordinance.
Selectperson Stone McGuigan thanked Camillo for covering “all the very many events between now and our next meeting.” She then gave an update from the Old Greenwich School Building Committee and said they continue to make progress on preparing to start the renovation next summer with construction documents 95 percent complete and working to have the project estimate complete in the next few weeks. She said the Building Committee expects to ask the Board of Education, BET and RTM for additional funds to ensure the project has “an appropriate contingency” in place prior to the start of construction. She reported that the three forums the committee held, one for parents, one for teachers and one for neighbors, were well attended and allowed the committee to brief people on the construction phasing project and the safety measures that would be in place during the project. She said the committee expected to have additional settings for the public ahead of the start of construction.
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