After hours of listening to the public and town officials about which course of action the town should take on its future public safety building during a special meeting Monday night, the Board of Finance denied a request to bond an additional $2.17 million to complete plans to renovate and remodel the building. Finance board members voted 3-3 on a motion to approve the $2.17 million request. But because the board did not cast a majority vote on the matter, the motion failed. The vote came shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday, after hours of tense deliberation between board members over what the best course of action would be for both the town’s police force and taxpayers during what some argue has become uncertain financial times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the public, as well as some finance board members, against approving the additional allocation questioned the honesty and integrity of some town officials who first presented the idea in the fall of 2018 and later promised the project could come within the $5 million budget. They also questioned whether allocating an additional $2.17 million made fiscal sense during uncertain financial times and whether the town should be spending money on its police while communities nationwide are actively debating whether to defund theirs.
https://www.theday.com/local-news/20200721/east-lyme-board-of-finance-turns-down-217-million-needed-to-complete-police-building