After a two-hour discussion, the Board of Finance (BOF) approved the Board of Selectmen's (BOS) recommendation to send a $372,000 bond proposal for renovations to the Gurski Homestead to a town meeting. The BOF was split down the middle, 3 to 3, with the deciding vote cast by ex-officio member First Selectman Bill Davidson, who was naturally in favor of the proposal, as the BOS voted unanimously to recommend a town meeting at their July 12 meeting.

The BOF tabled discussion at their July meeting awaiting more information on the planned renovation and the future of the Gurski property.

Judith Heise, chair of the Gurski Homestead Commission, was on hand to explain their vision for the property and answer the board's questions. "This is one of the crown jewels of Brookfield," she said, wanting to make the property a "showpiece" for the town. "Imagine something along the lines of the Sullivan Farm property in New Milford."

Work on the first phase of renovations to the barn is almost complete, pending a structural rafter, and the farmhouse has a new foundation, according to Deborah Choma. The approved town meeting is to consider the second phase of work on the house, ultimately turning it into a museum and administration center for the property. Once the house is complete and the second phase of the barn is finished, the plan is to use the property as an education center for the community, including demonstrations of historic farming and smithing and modern agriculture in the community gardens.

This final vision for the property is a few years off, as the cost is being split by the town and the state through a matching 50 percent grant offered annually, and subsequent grants cannot be applied for until the previous phases are complete and closed out. If approved by the town and state, construction on the farmhouse will begin next spring and the final phase of the barn will be started in 2012. (The resolution approved by the BOS and BOF is contingent upon obtaining state funding.)

In the downtime between the completion of the farmhouse and the barn, the Commission is considering renting the house to generate additional income and help stave off further deterioration of the building.

"The $372,000 is the proposed spending for the house, but another $300,000 is proposed for the barn," BOF Chairman Bill Tinsley said. "What we're really asking the community for is $672,000, because that's what it would take to do the full project."

Tinsley was uncomfortable bringing the project to the residents in a piecemeal fashion. "The plan for this property is much bigger than what we are putting in front of the public at this point in time," he said. "It seems to me like we ought to be disclosing that entire plan."

Board member Irv Agard pointed out that, "If you add up al the dollars that have been spent on this project, it's $1.7 [million]. It would have been real nice if this had come in as one project all at once, at one-seven."

As a matter of prioritizing capital expenses in town, Tinsley suggested adding the Gurski project to the November 2 referendum on renovations to the town's recreational facilities, which failed in an April referendum. "We have a lot of things that we want as a town," he said, "We got the town to approve $10 million for repairing our roads and already tried to get $5.2 million for our parks, and that failed."

Heise and Choma were quick to reject that idea, as the application for the state grant has to be submitted by October 31 and must be an approved town project beforehand. If the house is not restored, Choma warned that the building will continue to deteriorate and become more expensive to renovate.

"After the $300,000 [for the barn], that is probably going to be the end of our request for large chunks of money," Choma assured, answering questions about future expense to the town. "After that, everything will be $10,000 to $20,000, and that we can do through fundraising."

"We're talking $25,000 a year [in debt service] with both projects," BOF Vice-Chair Bob Belden said, referencing quick numbers crunched by Controller Jay Wahlberg stretching the town's half of the $672,000 across a 20-year bond, "and once we've passed that, there's really no major capital projects."

Belden voiced his reticence in approving lots of small projects in this way, as they can add up quickly, but eventually voted to approve the resolution, along with board members Ron Jaffe and Jennifer Tomaino. Tinsley, Agard and Jerry Friedrich dissented, with Davidson acting as the tie-breaker.

"I like this property and I like this project," Tinsley said, "I just don't like doing it in this way."