In a lengthy and sometimes acrimonious meeting Monday night, the School Site Selection Committee overwhelmingly voted for the Ippoliti property on Rt 35 as the premier site for the new lower middle school. The result of this vote will be a detailed report to the Board of Selectmen recommending further engineering and architectural studies of the site.
(Left) Local architect Chris Moomaw highlights his analysis of the school site proposals.
The meeting started at 7:30 pm and broke up slightly before midnight. In previous meetings, the Committee had already reduced a roster of 120+ properties down to a short list of five town-owned sites and two sites which were available for purchase. Monday night, in open session, the Committee conducted a final review of the town-owned lands. Mr. Chris Moomaw and Mr. Mike Violante both presented their analyses of the High School site and the Scotland School expansion concepts from an architecural and engineering perspective. The Prospect Ridge site was debated with some passion. The Committee then moved into executive session to discuss the two sites which might be purchased by the town. After about an hour in executive session the Committee returned to open forum and then proceeded to vote twice on each site, first as a location for the proposed Lower Middle School and then as a possible site for a new elementary school should one be required in the near future.
(Right) Joseph Heyman presented persuasive statistical evidence that the Ippoliti property on Rt. 35 will be burdened with what may become the worst traffic congestion in town.
The recommended site consists of about 60 acres of undeveloped lands, about 28 of which are buildable. The remainder are wetlands and waterways. The primary advantages of the site were seen as the central location, the availability of public utilities, the lack of deed restrictions and the size of the site making land available for other uses.The disadvantages of the site were the terrible traffic congestion on Rt. 35, the fact the town would have to pay $5 million or more for the property, and the loss of tax revenues to the town.
Ridgefield School Site Selection Committee
The final votes on alternative school sites were:
| Site | Lower Middle School Site | Elementary School Site | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| Ippoliti Property | 12 | 1 | 10 | 3 |
| High School | 7 | 6 | 10 | 2 |
| Scotland School | 7 | 6 | NA | NA |
| Prospect Ridge | 6 | 7 | 2 | 11 |
| Richardson Park | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Notre Dame | 0 | 12 | 13 | 0 |
| McManus Property | 0 | 12 | 2 | 11 |
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Ed. note: Regular visitors to www.ridgefielddems.org will not be surprised by the overwhelming popularity of the Ippoliti property. They read our December 10, 1997 report on the Selectmen's action moving to purchase this well-situated piece of land, and itemizing its favorable qualities as a Middle School site.
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