Politics & Government

Letter: 'Setting the Record Straight on the Ellington Senior Center – The Facts!'

First Selectman Maurice Blanchette responds to a letter to the editor last week challenging his record on the Ellington Senior Center project.

The following letter came from a post by First Selectman Maurice Blanchette in our "Speak Out" section. It is a response to a piece published last Thursday, Oct. 31, on Ellington-Somers Patch titled "Setting the Record Straight on the Ellington Senior Center."

In a letter published here on October 31 concerning the development of the Ellington Senior Center, statements and innuendo were made that are contrary to the facts. To set the record straight, I offer the following response:

1.  After receiving an allocation of $15,000.00, approved by the Board of Selectmen (BOS), including me, the Senior Center Steering Committee (SCSC) developed a preliminary proposal which they brought to the BOS at its meeting on 17 October 2011. During that meeting and the discussion that followed, Mr. Reynolds went on record that “the Committee will apply for grants and will assist in other ways to raise money, including a capital campaign.” I am aware that the Committee has raised some money, but to date much less than the claims at that meeting. At this time the Committee has yet to secure any grants.

2.  Mr. Reynolds and the SCST petitioned to expedite the project. There were different opinions on the timing of the project. However, once that was resolved, the BOS and I fully supported the project. This is evidenced in the number of votes that followed that were unanimous for the project (i.e., minutes of BOS meeting 27 Oct. 2011; minutes of BOS meeting 14 Nov. 2011; minutes of BOS meeting 9 Jan. 2012). In addition, the record shows no BOS opposition at Town Meetings (7 Dec. 2011; 31 Jan. 2012) to this subject.

3.  Unfortunately, expediting the project created some problems. The budget for the project was projected at under $2.4M by the SCST selected architect. $2.5M was generously approved by the BOS and BOF. When the construction bids came in nearly 30% over the projected costs, Selectman Ron Stomberg and I recommended that the Permanent Building Committee recommend to the BOS increasing the total appropriation for the project to $3 million. The minutes show that on 25 February 2013 the BOS unanimously approved that revised appropriation. Some follow-up was required to accommodate the Board of Finance approval of $2.9M. In addition, the record shows there was no BOS opposition at Town Meeting (25 March 2013) to this subject.

4.  Another casualty of expediting the project was the loss of opportunity to apply for either STEAP or Small Cities Grants for the project. The timing of the grant process, application and review, did not fit the time frame for expediting the project. On 26 February 2013, I testified before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Aging in favor of House Bill 6397, an “Act Authorizing Bonds of the State for a Senior Center in the Town of Ellington” introduced by State Representative Chris Davis. Representative Davis and Senator LeBeau also testified in favor of the bill.  Unfortunately, the bill did not come out of Committee.

The Senior Center Steering Committee worked hard to get the project approved and underway. I personally appreciate their dedication and hard work.        

Anyone who wants to verify my information can go to the Town of Ellington’s website, click on Government, click on Meeting Agendas/Minutes, click on Board of Selectmen, and then choose minutes by date to view.  And that’s the truth.



Maurice Blanchette
First Selectman
Town of Ellington


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here