FARMINGTON – A day away from a vote on a new multi-million dollar Farmington High School, community members are zeroing in on a video that surfaced from a previous town meeting.
The surveillance video from the meeting on June 5, shows Farmington building committee member Justin Bernier placing a flyer on a table among town documents.
The flyer titled, “Are We Makin the Most of FHS?” supports his concerns for the project. For example, it points out areas of the school that were renovated in 2004, and some he notes haven’t been paid off.
Bernier said he put out the flyer to offer community members a different perspective, but some are calling the move deceptive.
Chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, Brian Noe, was one of several community members that took to the podium at a town meeting, Tuesday, to ask town council what is being done to address this.
He said he was at the June 5 meeting and got a copy of the flyer. The only attribution on the flyer is the source: “FHS Facility Report, Tecton Architects, February 2015.”
“I thought this was an official building committee town council document, I found out after the fact it wasn’t,” he said pointing to the document. “These comments in these boxes here are not from the building committee, they’re not from the town council, it’s from an opposition group there’s no affiliation, there’s no disclosure on this document that was the case.”
Noe said he wants the town council to investigate the actions. Council Chairwoman Nancy Nickerson said following Tuesday’s town meeting, council would go into executive session to discuss this.
In an email to FOX61, Town Manager Kathleen Eagen wrote:
“It appears a member of the Farmington High School Building Committee placed information on a table at the June 5, 2017 Town Meeting with other informational material that were provided by the town. This was without the town’s knowledge or permission. The town is in the process of reviewing the situation and the town council was updated in executive session last night. The town council will work to conduct a full and careful review of the situation.”
Bernier told FOX61 over the phone that he went into the June 5 meeting thinking he’d be able to give a short presentation sharing his research on the project. He said he was given the opportunity to share his viewpoint at a town council meeting before. He said he asked Eagen for five minutes to present at the meeting but she told him he would have to wait until public comment.
“I thought I’d be able to give a presentation to draw out some questions and to show why I voted against it, just to raise awareness,” he said. “At the town hall meeting they only got one side and are supposed to see the big picture.”
Eagen said she was told the chairman of the building committee would be the only member of the committee to be part of the formal presentation.
“Justin had an opportunity to talk in public comment,” she said. “Every member of the public and or building committee could speak during that time if they chose to.”
He said he did not speak at public comment because the line was too long and he couldn’t stay the full meeting for personal reasons. Instead, he placed his documents on the table, thinking nothing of it. Bernier feels the focus on this video is taking away from what’s actually important, Thursday’s vote.
The building project, approved by town council the end of May, comes with the price tag of $135 million. This price doesn’t include an anticipated grant from the state, or interest rates.
The project includes ADA updates, updated gymnasiums and auditorium, an expanded cafeteria, a new learning common area and library. It would also be home to the board of education.
If the project is passed, construction would take place in phases beginning in fall of 2018 through summer of 2022. The referendum is on June 15 at your regular polling place.
A full look at the project can be found here as well as plans and renderings.