Subsequent to a 208-signature petition, the Gurski Homestead renovation project was removed from the agenda of Tuesday night's town meeting and will be put to the voters in a town wide referendum, scheduled for Tuesday, September 7, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Gurski Homestead Commission is requesting funding from the town and state to complete Phase II reconstruction of the old Gurski farmhouse, which the Commission plans to utilize as an administrative center for the property in the future. The project is estimated to cost $372,000, up to half of which would be matched by a state grant, however the Commission cannot apply for the grant without the financial backing of the town for the entire project. (A provision in the resolution dissolves the town's commitment if the grant falls through.)

The petition was turned into the Town Clerk's Office at 3:30 p.m. on Monday and was verified by Town Clerk Joan Locke and town attorney David Grogins. Under section 7-7 of the CT General Statutes, any petition of more than 200 signatures (or 10 percent of the voting populous, whichever is less) can force a referendum, rather than being decided by a majority vote at a town meeting.

Opponents to approving the project through a town meeting were concerned that the Gurski renovation would be given unfair priority over other capital projects in town.

"We have a lot of projects that will be voted on in November," Rolf Enger, one of the signature-gatherers said, "Why did we separate this out into a town meeting?"

"We have a town meeting form of government, that's our charter," Selectman Howard Lasser explained, as under the town charter, any appropriation between $50,000 and $1 million goes to a town meeting. "I haven't heard a groundswell for changing that," Lasser said, noting that several major projects have been approved through a town meeting, such as the original purchase of the Gurski property and the upgrades to the senior center.

"I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with the Gurski Foundation," Enger clarified later in the discussion, "I'm looking at what's going on with the economy. What I'd like to see is a list of all the projects, what is A priority, B priority, C priority."

"I think that both the Selectmen, former and current, and the Board of Finance measures carefully the debt obligations of this town and we are conscious and aware," First Selectman Bill Davidson said, addressing Enger's statement on the economy. "That doesn't mean that you stop the world. We have to be careful about spending, but I think we have to spend appropriate amounts of money for appropriate projects."

Board of Finance Chairman Bill Tinsley agreed with Davidson that debt service should be and will be maintained at 9 percent of the budget, but "would reinforce something that Rolf Enger just said — is that we have a lot of things that we want to do in the Town of Brookfield and we can't do them all now and stay inside that 9 percent." While the Gurski Homestead renovation is less expensive than other projects (less than $16,000 a year in debt service), "Handling individual projects like this one in and of itself outside of the context of priorities allows projects such as this one to go to the top of the priority list," Tinsley said.

After much discussion, the 69 residents in attendance approved a motion to hold the referendum on Tuesday, September 7, between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. at Brookfield High School (BHS) and Huckleberry Hill Elementary School (HHES), whichever is the voters' usual polling place.

This referendum will all but max out the Registrars' budget for the year, as this is the fourth scheduled town wide vote for the year (the August 10 Primary, November 2 Election and the 2011-2012 budget vote). The Registrars' budget includes $46,000 for referendums, used to purchase ballots and pay poll workers, and each vote costs between $10,000 and $11,000 according to Jeffrey Dunkerton, the Republican Registrar of Voters.