Groton City may reconsider proposed improvement projects
Groton — Groton City residents may be asked to reconsider whether to use $800,000 of unspent city bonds on new projects.
On Monday, City Mayor Marian Galbraith and the City Council decided to schedule a future public hearing on the three projects, which would improve the City Municipal Building, repair the Mother Bailey House and create a parking area at the Costa property.
The projects would be considered separately so residents could vote on them individually. On Feb. 16, dozens of residents attended a freeman's meeting and rejected a request to use $800,000 in bonds for all three projects.
Residents denied the request by a vote of 18-66, with one abstention.
The council also considered at a separate meeting on Monday night whether to spend up to $10,600 to have CME Associates Inc. prepare a bid request to stabilize the historic Mother Bailey House and administer the repair contract. But the measure didn't pass.
The decision would have allowed the city to get the bid package ready and oversee the work, but not to actually fix the house, Galbraith said.
The walls of the house have bowed, and the city is responsible for the property, Galbraith said. Even if the city decides to sell it, which it may not, she said the walls need to get repaired before they deteriorate further.
"We want to get it stabilized," she said.
But resident Robert Zuliani said there was no mention of structural problems when the city bought the house for $349,000 in 2010.
Since then, the city has spent more money on an engineering study and residents just rejected another request for spending, he said.
"I am not sure if the city government should be spending taxpayers' dollars on running or establishing a historic building or museum," he said. "This all is at the expense of the city taxpayers."
Resident and former City Councilor Jay Dempsey said the city can't afford to repair, maintain, staff and provide utilities to the property. A 2012 report estimated repairs would cost $351,500 then, he said.
City Councilors Conrad Heede and Stephen Sheffield voted in favor of entering into the contract with CME for construction services.
Councilors Andrew Ilvento and Jill Rusk abstained on the vote.
Councilors Keith Hedrick and Lawrence Gerrish were absent from the meeting.
Galbraith supported the measure and initially thought she cast the deciding vote to pass the measure with a majority of three of the five members present.
But City Clerk Deb Patrick determined after consulting the City Charter and Robert's Rules of Order that the vote failed with two votes in favor, no votes against and two abstentions.
"There was no tie breaker since an abstention is not a vote," Patrick explained in an email. "The two votes in favor were not a majority of the councilors present as required."
Editor's note: this version reflects the failed vote Monday night.
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