Thomas Breen photo
Youth Services Director Jason Bartlett at Thursday night’s budget workshop.
Two years after the city planned to open a youth activity center and homeless shelter on Orchard Street, the director of the project said that the new open date is just three months away.
Well, three months away from a date in the near future.
If the project receives some new cash in this coming year’s capital budget.
Youth Services Director Jason Bartlett offered that update during a budget workshop in the Aldermanic Chambers on the second floor of City Hall about the mayor’s proposed $547 million operating budget for Fiscal Year 2019.
Bartlett told members of the Board of Alders Finance Committee that the Escape, a drop-in center for New Haven teens that will also provide 15 beds for homeless young men between the ages of 17 and 24, is at least a few months away from opening its doors.
To be located at 654 Orchard St., a former community outreach center owned by Bethel AME Church, the Escape has been mired in delays since the project’s inception in 2015.
After signing a 15-year lease in 2016, the city discovered a number of structural problems with the 30,000 square-foot space, including a broken HVAC system, a leaky roof, and an electrical system in need of major updates.
On Thursday night, Bartlett said that the roof and the electrical system are the two major remaining concerns that stand in the way of the city opening this project.
He said that the $200,000 in sequestered capital funds that are scheduled to carry over from the current fiscal year’s budget, as well as an additional $50,000 that his department is requesting in next year’s capital budget, should cover the necessary costs to fix up the site.
“We are going back to the landlord to negotiate a giveback on the lease,” Bartlett said, “and have them contribute to some of the capital improvements, as well as seeking warranties on some of the work, specifically the roof.”
He reported that the church that owns the land has given the city permission to send in a building inspector who specializes in roofs. That inspector will provide the city with an estimate for how much work needs to be done to ensure that it no longer leaks, Bartlett said.
Then City Engineer Giovanni Zinn will request the release of the $200,000 in sequestered capital funds from the Board of Alders and coordinate the repairs to the roof and the electrical system. Bartlett said that he expects that repair work to take three months to complete, though he did not share when he thought the roof inspection would take place or when the repair work should begin.
He said that he is currently in negotiations with Bethel AME about getting some kind of reduction in the city’s $4,000-per-month lease to cover some of the cost of the capital improvement.
Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison
“This is a project that went from costing a couple of dollars to a couple of more, to more and more and more,” Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison said. “My constituents are always asking me about the Escape, and they feel like we are putting money constantly into it, but we have no product.”
Bartlett said that the original capital outlay for the project were surplus dollars left over from a federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and, at least to start, didn’t come out of the city’s capital fund. He said that $250,000 in capital funds, $200,000 of which was budgeted for this current fiscal year but sequestered until next fiscal year, should be enough to complete the renovations.
The center will consist of three primary spaces: a grand ballroom that will host after school programs, community group meetings and other social functions; a smaller ballroom will serve as a drop-in center for youth, and will include board games and video games consoled; and a third space with 15 to 20 beds for homeless youth.
The youth homeless shelter component is the highest priority of the project, but also the most complicated, Bartlett said. He said that the ballroom and the drop-in center would likely open before the homeless shelter, if only because the latter involves further regulations and inspections from state agencies like the Department of Children and Families (DCF).
Board of Ed Liaison
Bartlett (right) and Youth Services Program Manager Gwendolyn Busch Williams.
Westville Alder Adam Marchand also asked Bartlett to give an update on his role as the mayor’s liaison to the Board of Education.
Bartlett said that, in addition to his responsibilities administering the Youth Stat student support program, the Youth at Work summer jobs program, and other initiatives overseen by the Youth Services department, he serves as City Hall point person for any public concerns about the Board of Ed.
When members of the public want to bring concerns to the mayor about the school lottery system or busing, he is the person they talk to, he said.
When the mayor announced two years ago that she wanted all New Haven students to be able to read at grade level, Bartlett organized a reading commission, set up meetings, and facilitated discussions at those meetings.
Marchand asked if his work as Board of Ed liaison takes away from the time he needed to dedicate to his Youth Services responsibilities.
Bartlett responded that the extra assignment certainly takes time, but also affords new opportunities for interdepartmental collaboration. He said that he serves as a bridge between Youth Services, the Board of Ed, Parks & Rec, and various community groups, and that his knowledge of Board of Ed budget allocations helps ensure that the city doesn’t accidentally duplicate payments to the same service provider.
“There’s a lot of strategizing and orientation that we benefit from and a lot more efficiencies that we get just by having” me in this role, he said.
Bartlett’s raise from three years ago continued to be an issue, as it has in previous years’ alder hearings on the budget.
Bartlett said that the $20,000 raise he received in 2015 has been covered by special fund money, as the alders have thus far refused to increase the general fund line item for his salary. He said that the mayor’s newly proposed budget includes his entire annual salary of $105,000 in the general fund line item for his position, so as not to rely on leftover special fund money to pay for his position going forward.
The Board of Alders must approve a final version of the budget by the first week of June.
The next budget workshop, during which the Finance Committee will interview more department heads about their respective allocations in the mayor’s proposed budget, is on Tuesday, March 27 at 6 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers on the second floor of City Hall.