3‑Building Swap Explored

A special committee will be formed to help determine the fate of a much-debated three-way building swap that has enormous implications for senior citizens, the downtown business community and the school district. 

The Representative Town Meeting (RTM) voted almost unanimously Wednesday night to authorize the first selectman to appoint a nonpartisan committee to review the swap issues.

“Let’s take it out of the hot political arena and give it to a committee…and get an unbiased view,” said Sandra Reiners as she introduced a resolution calling for a special committee. Meetings about the swap and the senior center have become contentious, including the meeting last week of the Commission of Services for the Elderly. 

Reiners, a former RTM moderator, said the swap should be discussed by people with expertise who could deal with it promptly and make a recommendation to the RTM. ​“We need to move forward. We can’t leave these issues in limbo,” she said.

However, there was disagreement Wednesday as to whether a new committee would streamline the process or cause further delays.

The swap involves moving the Board of Education (BOE) offices, now at a prime location across from the town Green to the Canoe Brook Senior Center on Cherry Hill Road; and renovating a building at 175 N. Main St. to become a new senior center. The North Main building, which is owned by the Giordano family’s Queach Corp., would be swapped for the BOE building at 1111 Main St., which is owned by the town.

The Giordano family’s proposal to renovate and use the BOE building for retail was approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission last month. The building once housed a post office. 

What began as a possible solution to space problems at the BOE and the Canoe Brook buildings has escalated into a political clash with wrangling on several fronts. The selectmen are at odds as to who should occupy a building gained in the swap.

First Selectman ​“Unk” DaRos and Second Selectman Fran Walsh are in favor of the three-way swap. Republican Third Selectman John Opie and those who follow him want to build a brand new senior center at a yet unknown site and permit a two-way swap that excludes the Canoe Brook center. Opie’s idea is to move the Board of Education and not the senior center to the 175 N.Main Street building. That way the Giordano family would still get the corner building on Main Street for retail business. 

Frank Carrano, chair of the Board of Education, said the board fears that administrators could become homeless in the process.

“You can’t swap the building unless we have a place to go,” Carrano said. ​“You own it but we’re squatters and you can’t kick us out. You have to find a place for us.” 

“It’s become a very political hot potato and it really shouldn’t be,” Reiners said.

According to the resolution, the committee would be chaired by ​“a person with expertise in economic development and real estate and shall include the Superintendent of Schools, the Director of the Senior Center, one Democratic and one Republican member of the RTM and up to three private citizens with appropriate expertise.”

Some members of the Republican faction of the RTM said they favor the concept of a new committee but voiced concern that it might be ​“stacked” one way or another.

The motion was approved on a voice vote, with the only clearly audible ​“nay” coming from Frank Twohill Jr., the RTM minority leader. The RTM typically does not announce the numerical results of overwhelming voice votes.

Prior to the vote, Twohill suggested the decision remain with the RTM and the Administrative Services Committee, which has been reviewing the swap issues. He said if a new committee is created, the ​“deal would be dead” because the new panel wouldn’t move quickly enough.

Vincent Giordano Jr. was asked to explain the family’s deadline for a decision. ​“Our timeframe was September to have this consummated,” he said. ​“We’ve been entirely disheartened and disappointed” at the length of time taken and the ​“lack of process” to make a decision, he said.

“This should be looked at from a business deal prospective,” Giordano said, adding that he and his brother agreed that they need a decision before the end of December.

Third Selectman Opie said forming a committee would slow the process. ​“If you want anything to take forever, send it to a committee,” he said.

Opie said that swapping the 175 N. Main St. building with the 1111 Main St. building should be looked at as a business deal. ​“It should be dealt with on its own merits,” he told the RTM. ​“What we’re doing is very unfair” to the Giordano family to have dragged on for months. ​“How long is this going to take? This man (Vincent Giordano) is losing money” because he’s trying to do business with the town.

Opie asked the RTM to consider the swap separately and to authorize moving the BOE offices to the North Main Street site, instead of using that site for the senior center.

“The senior center is another whole bag of worms,” Opie said, adding that asking seniors if they want a new center is a moot question. ​“Of course they want a new facility. They’re older, they’re not stupid,” said Opie. He suggested forming a separate committee to make plans for a senior center.

Second Selectman Fran Walsh asked that the original proposal for the swap remain on the table. ​“This plan was a good plan — to move the senior center to North main and move BOE here (to Canoe Brook),” he told the RTM, adding that it would be too costly and time-consuming to construct a new building for the senior center. ​“I think the seniors are going to be hurt in that it takes three to four years to build a new center,” he said.

DaRos did not attend the RTM meeting. He said in an interview today that he is now in the process of contacting people to serve on the committee. ​“They should be able to move pretty quickly,” he said. ​“A lot of the legwork is already done.” DaRos said this is a unique opportunity to solve space problems at the senior center and the BOE. ​“The decision should be made for the good of the community,” he said.

Carrano, the BOE chair, said if the process moves too quickly the BOE could be left in the lurch.

“We’re not necessarily against moving, the (current) building is too small for us,” Carrano said, adding that the concerns of the BOE have not been addressed. 

“Decisions are being made by town bodies about the building we live in,” Carrano said. ​“Where will we go? How long will it take? Who will pay for it?” he asked.

Carrano said the superintendent of schools does not want to move the offices more than once.

“There are issues that are very, very specific to us…. We have needs that need to be addressed,” Carrano said. ​“We near a clear plan… we want to sit at the table.”

Reiners said that’s what the committee would do. ​“The purpose of this is to involve the board of education,” she said.

Giordano said that although the family needs approval by the RTM before the end of December, that doesn’t mean the move would occur right away. ​“Nobody is going to displace the BOE before they have a legitimate place to go,” he said.

Following last month’s Planning and Zoning meeting, Giordano told the Eagle that if the family acquires the BOE building it could lead the way for further economic development in the Town Center. The Giordano family owns the Branford Building Supply store and lumber company, which is adjacent to the BOE site. Giordano said if the lumber business relocates, the whole area could be converted to retail and in-town residential use.

It is anticipated the new committee would make a recommendation to the Administrative Services Committee, which would also discuss the issues and then make a recommendation to the full body of the RTM, possibly at its December meeting. It is the RTM that will decide the issue. 

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