Seymour Board Of Selectmen Meeting Highlights

SEYMOUR — Celebrating a town centenarian, cutting a tax break to a burned-out business and potentially moving the Board of Education’s home base to the high school topped the talk at last week’s Board of Selectmen meeting.

The board held its virtual meeting via Zoom Tuesday (Jan. 18).

Here are some of the meeting highlights:

FOI Misstep?

Town officials accidentally forgot to post the agenda for the Jan. 18 meeting on the town’s website 24 hours prior to the meeting — a COVID-19 pandemic rule.

Town officials acknowledged the error after being contacted by The Valley Indy and scheduled a special meeting Monday to redo some of the votes taken in the Jan. 18 meeting.

Click here for a guide to COVID-19 open government guideline authored by lawyers for the state’s Freedom of Information Commission.

100 Years Young

The Selectmen on Jan. 18 issued a proclamation to honor of longtime resident Gladys DeLisa, who celebrated her 100th birthday Jan. 15. 

First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis and state Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria paid DeLisa a visit at her residence at Smithfield Gardens, the town’s assisted living facility on Smith Street. Drugonis told the Selectmen that DeLisa barely looks 70, and is an avid fan of ​“lying on the beach in Bermuda, watching basketball and playing cards.”

​“We are so thankful that Gladys has chosen to make Seymour her home,” Drugonis said.

Rebuilding from the Ashes

The owner of the former Greenwich Workshop Art Gallery, which was located at 151 – 153 Main St. before an accidental electrical fire in August 2020 burned it down, is rebuilding. 

Michael Meskill submitted a request to the selectmen for a tax break on a $3.4 million restoration he began last spring on the 10,000-square foot art gallery/studio.

Meskill’s plan includes retail rental space on the first floor, with an estimated six employees; 3,000-square-feet of office space for rent on the second floor, with five to 10 employees and about 4,000-square-feet of warehouse space for an art publishing business, employing four full-time people, and three or four part-time staff on the building’s third floor.

Meskill told the Selectmen he expects occupancy of the building by September.

Drugonis said Meskill applied for a tax break under the town’s tax incentive program. She said the Selectmen will review the request and determine at a future meeting the amount of tax incentive Meskill may be eligible for.

The buildings involved in that fire were 143 Main St. and 151 – 153 Main St. which fire officials had said bore the bulk of the damage. They date back to the early 1900s and were separated from each other by less than two feet. The building at 143 Main St. had retail on the first floor and about 10 apartments on the upper two floors. No one was injured. Fire officials determined the cause and origin of the fire was a problem with the electrical service.

Committee Formed

It’s been bantered about for at least a decade but moving the Board of Education’s Central Offices may actually become a reality. The offices are located at 98 Bank St., and shares space with Naugatuck Valley Health District. The town-owned building once housed the former Center School.

Drugonis said informal discussions have taken place with the new Superintendent of Schools Susan Compton, Facilities Director Tim Connors, Director of School Security Richard Kearns and others about moving the offices to under-utilized space at Seymour High School on Botsford Road.

The selectmen voted in favor of establishing a design/building committee to make the move a reality.

Longtime former Board of Education member — who served for 32 years — turned Selectman Fred Stanek said the move has been a long time coming.

​“There’s been discussion about this for the last decade, and previously there was some resistance from former superintendents and board members, but that resistance is gone with the current superintendent and Board of Education,” Stanek said.

Stanek said his biggest beef with the 98 Bank St. location is its lack of handicapped accessibility, calling it ​“disgraceful.”

Stanek said a classroom wing in the north end of SHS, built in 1969, is being considered to house the Board’s Central Office. Stanek said that part of the building is under-utilized, especially since the school’s population has declined from a high enrollment in the 1970s of about 1,250 students to 600 students today (in part due to Oxford now having its own high school).

Drugonis said the 98 Bank St. building costs the town “$600,000-$800,000” a year in operational expenses. She would like to see the space freed up for other businesses to move in and contribute to the town’s tax base.

If the move to the high school happens, Stanek said central office would have a separate entrance in the back of the school, and the public would not be allowed to enter the space through the school’s main entrance. There would also be parking designated specifically for central office staff and the public. This would be done in the name of student safety.

Drugonis said the committee will come up with a renovation plan and costs, and will have police, fire and school officials work together to ensure the issue of security is a top priority.