Message from the Ridgefield Board of Finance on the sale of 12-acres of Schlumberger property

For the following financial reasons, the Ridgefield Board of Finance unanimously supports a Yes vote on November 4th on the sale of 12 acres of the Schlumberger property for $3.45 million to Sky Dome LLC as proposed by the Board of Selectmen.

This sale will allow Ridgefield to decrease its long term debt obligations. Without the sale of the properties, long term debt will have to be increased and additional interest costs will be incurred. So far, the purchase has been financed with very low interest short-term Bond Anticipation Notes with the expectation that sale proceeds will retire those BANS.
Absent this sale, Ridgefield will need to incur substantial additional expense to maintain the property. We will have to either continue demolition of the remaining buildings (the Philip Johnson building, the library, and the auditorium) or make significant repairs and maintain them. Demolition will be much less expensive. Maintenance expenses over the past two years have already been well over budget.
Repurposing the buildings to any potential municipal use will be prohibitively expensive due to State ADA (and possibly other) requirements.
There is no current allocation of funds for further expenditures on the property. Any such funding would require approval by the Board of Selectmen, then the Board of Finance, and then a Town Meeting or Referendum. A Referendum could also follow a petition according to the Town Charter, but any expenditure would still have to be approved by the voters. Such expenditure would require further addition to our long term debt, another increased burden on Ridgefield’s taxpayers.
Any future sale of the property for commercial use is highly speculative as it has been on the market for almost a decade.
Any future rental of the property is also of highly speculative value based on current town rentals. The Town should not be in the Real Estate rental business.

Signed:
Jill Bornstein
Marty Heiser
Jessica Mancini
Paul Sutherland, Vice Chair
Dave Ulmer, Chair
 

R
Submitted by Ridgefield, CT

Become a Local Voice in Your Community!

HamletHub invites you to contribute stories, events, and more to keep your neighbors informed and connected.

Read Next