City officials are considering delaying a referendum scheduled for this month until November.
The Board of Aldermen and the tax board had planned to ask residents to approve borrowing $4.9 million for capital improvements. The vote was planned for June 25.
The money would be spent on items ranging from school security to replacing water-damaged roofs on several city-owned buildings.
Click here for an earlier story.
A public hearing on the plan was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tonight (Tuesday, June 11).
However, that public hearing will likely be canceled at the start of the meeting, according to an e‑mail from Ansonia City Hall.
While the bonding plan had bipartisan support when it came before the Aldermen in May, that stopped Monday with the publication of a guest column penned by Alderman John Marini, who represents the city’s Seventh Ward.
Marini is a local Republican. Della Volpe is a Democrat, as is the majority of the Board of Aldermen.
Marini was critical of the way in which the referendum was being presented, claiming it had been “cooked-up by the BOA President and a small group of city officials in closed-door meetings.”
Click here to read the guest column.
Della Volpe said the $4.9 million bonding plan is important for the city’s future and that elected officials need to be on the same page.
“I agree that the process needs to be slowed down,” Della Volpe said Tuesday. “We should have bipartisan support on these issues.”
The mayor said any lingering questions the Aldermen have will be answered by the city’s bond counsel.
“We’re talking about school security, improvements to public safety and recreation facilities, energy and road improvements,” Della Volpe said. “This should not be a Democratic or Republican issue. These are issues the City of Ansonia will face together. It’s for our future.”
Della Volpe said that the process of how to move the bond question forward would likely be discussed at tonight’s meeting (now, without a public hearing, is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.).
Marini said via e‑mail Tuesday he’s happy the process appears to be slowing.
“It should have been taken at a more prudent pace from the beginning. I am encouraged that the mayor shares my view on this botched bonding effort, but but he should have intervened earlier. This has been an embarrassing little episode for the city.”
