To the editor:

Westport taxpayers repeatedly hear the mantra that their new middle/high school project will be built “on time and within budget.” However, when voters approved a $96.8M debt exclusion last year, they were convinced that approximately $40M from an MSBA grant would be subtracted from that almost $100M. What a deal! Too good to pass up! 

Buried in the quickly read motion to Article 1 on January 23, 2018, by the unelected School Building Committee chair, were the words “the Town of Westport acknowledges that the MSBA grant program is a non-entitlement, discretionary program based on need, as determined by the MSBA.” That same chair admitted the reimbursement from the MSBA will be a percentage of eligible costs, not total costs, at the selectmen’s meeting prior to the February 27, 2018, referendum vote. No comment from any selectmen according to the minutes of that meeting.

We hear the word “collusion” bandied about by progressive representatives, media, and celebrities. Why were Westport officials conspicuously silent when voters approved the almost $100M debt exclusion, allowing them to believe the new school project would only cost us about $60M in local taxes? 

Does anyone in Westport still think their new school Big Dig project is the bargain they voted for? Are you shocked when construction bids came in $10M over the estimates solicited by outside consultants and architects only a few months ago? Now do you understand why there was no dollar amount on the ballot? Won’t redesigning the building hinder the time frame for completion and reimbursement from the state? What kind of changes will Westport end up with compared to the bill of goods we were sold? Hang onto your wallets, folks. This is only the beginning … 

Marilyn Pease

Westport