KENT, Conn.—The Board of Finance voted last week to terminate the completed Kent Center School roof project and to transfer $521,477 to the school’s paving project. Of this, $494,477 would be allocated for paving and $27,000 for engineering costs.
The roof project was completed in 2024 and the school board asked that the remaining funds be used for an “add-on” project to pave roads and sidewalks along Judd and Elizabeth Street around the school.
Region School District No. 1 business manager Sam Herrick put the project out to bid in December and received four proposals ranging from $494,447 from winning contractor Waters Paving up to $700,332 from S&S Paving.
The Board of Finance voted unanimously to close out the roof account and transfer the funds to a new paving line item in the capital plan.
Board of Education Chairman Heather Brand reported to the finance members that the school board is working on its proposed budget for 2026-’27 and will make its presentation next month. It is scheduled to meet with the finance board on Wednesday, March 25.
She said Kent Center School expects to have 184 students enrolled next year. She was asked to determine the projected enrollment at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, and the number of tuition students enrolled at KCS. In the past, finance members have encouraged the school board to increase the amount charged for tuition.
Treasurer Barbara Herbst gave an upbeat report about town finances. She said there are currently no town departments that are overbudget. Additionally, the town’s investments have produced about $90,000 more than anticipated.
The capital plan investments have had similar success, adding $31,000 in revenues to its bottom line. “By the end of the year it will probably be $81,000, which we can appropriate as off-setting revenue or put directly to a project,” she said
And there was more good news. Permit fees for Planning and Zoning have yielded about $15,000 more than expected. “There has been a lot of permit activity,” Herbst reported.
The permits reflect some $22 million in construction value, she said. Ironically, the figure is driven by large projects such as the library’s $7.7 million expansion, so, while the figure is higher than last year, there are fewer projects driving it.
Added to that, the town has about $99,000 more from the state than was expected at the time the 2025-’26 budget was crafted. Herbst explained that the town’s budget is voted on before the state legislature completes its spending plan so exact revenue figures cannot be factored in.
“I think we need to expand [the current] budget when we have the May budget meeting so it can be spent and not returned,” she advised.
Town Aid Road funds can only be used for local road maintenance.
She reported that in the capital plan there are some projects that are being outpaced by inflation. She referred specifically to the acquisition of new trucks for the Public Works Department.
“Equipment costs are escalating faster than we can appropriate money,” she reported, and suggested that residual funds from completed projects be transferred to those line items “so we can buy the trucks.”
She noted that the bids for the new highway garage doors came in higher than the $72,000 estimated for them but said DPW foreman Rick Osborne has money left over from roofing and siding the garage that can be transferred to help pay for the doors.
But it was not all good news. First Selectman Eric Epstein said that additional funding will be needed for legal fees to oppose federal recognition of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation and/or the Schaghticoke Indian Tribe. The rival groups are both seeking federal recognition of their sovereignty. The STN is seeking permission to re-petition (it was previously denied), while the SIT is starting Phase II of its first petition, having successfully negotiated Phase I.
The town is working with the same legal counsel as Kent School, which sits on land that was formerly part of the Schaghticoke reservation.
Epstein also reported that Kent has been asked to allocate $20,000 as its proportional share for staffing a decontamination station on Lake Waramaug. The station would try to prevent the highly invasive plant, hydrilla, from establishing itself in the lake.
Kent, which has the shortest shoreline of the three towns bordering the lake, would pay 20 percent of the cost, while Washington and Warren would each pay 40 percent.
Finance member Jason Wright suggested that because Kent does not have a public beach, Epstein should try to negotiate a lower non-resident fee for Kent residents to use Warren and Washington beaches. “They want a lot out of us, but we are not getting the benefits other towns are,” he said.
