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Sam Kilpatrick walked the Farmington Planning and Zoning Commission through four elementary schools, eight rooftop units, three courtyard condensers, and roughly $14.3 million in construction estimates on Monday night. He did it in under ten minutes. The commission voted unanimously to send the whole thing to Town Council with a positive referral. That part took less than one.
Kilpatrick, the director of school facilities for Farmington Public Schools, told the four commissioners present — five of the nine were absent, including Chair Liz Sanford and Secretary David St. Germain — that the ventilation upgrades have been in some form of proposal since 2021. "This is probably the fifth year we brought forward some variation of these projects," he said.
Four schools, four years, one per summer: dedicated outdoor air systems and variable refrigerant flow air conditioning at Noah Wallace, Union, East Farms, and West District elementary schools, starting with West District next year. The project costs break down as follows: East Farms at $2,817,780, Noah Wallace at $4,335,583, Union at $3,639,749, and West District at $3,546,040 — totals that include escalation costs across the four-year build.
The Town Council is expected to package the four projects as a single bonding referendum question, with each school listed on its own line. Commissioner Robert Canto, serving as Chair Pro Tem for the evening, asked whether voters would decide school by school. They will not. "It'll be one question, but each school will have its own line," Kilpatrick said. "It won't be a yes or no per school."
The Mercury reported in March that the HVAC bonding was part of a broader capital request that included the Town Hall Annex renovation. The Town Council passed the $143 million operating budget last week; the HVAC projects would be funded separately through bonding. The referendum, if approved by Town Council, would go to Farmington voters later this year.
The Sign That Can't Be Lit
The evening's second act belonged to Mark DeTulio, vice president of SIGNLite Inc. in North Haven, who appeared remotely to present a fabricated aluminum letter set for Progressive Insurance at 30 Batterson Park Road. The sign — 51.25 square feet on the south-facing short wall — was approved unanimously.
The catch: it cannot be illuminated.
DeTulio had proposed halo-lit letters, a warm white LED glow behind each character. He noted that SIGNLite had installed three illuminated halo-lit signs in Farmington "four or five, six months ago." Town Planner Shannon Rutherford acknowledged the discrepancy. "It was an error in my interpretation of the regulation," she said.
The commission has not yet drafted an amendment to address halo-lit signs. Rutherford said she hopes to begin work on the draft before the April 27 meeting, but offered no firm timeline. DeTulio took it in stride, more or less. "I guess I'll leave myself a reminder at some point to reach out before I retire to see if we're going to get this sign lit or not," he said.
Progressive's sign will be installed wired for future illumination — low-voltage connections behind each letter, conduit run through the ceiling — but no power will be connected until the regulation changes, if it does. The alternative, Rutherford noted, is external illumination: a light bar mounted above the sign. DeTulio doubted his client would want to spend that money twice.
Two Signs and a Hearing Date
Tushar Patel of Signarama presented a 15-square-foot non-illuminated wall sign for Active Health at 270 Farmington Avenue in the Farmington Exchange complex. The applicant requested a last-minute location shift — from near the UConn Health Pharmacy sign to near the Sunrise Cafe sign on the same building face. Rutherford confirmed there was ample sign area remaining. Approved unanimously.
The commission also scheduled a public hearing for May 11 on a special permit application for an expanded home at 27 Oakland Avenue in the R9 zone. The addition exceeds both the 30-percent expansion threshold and 1,600 square feet of living area.
The Arborvitae Get a Second Life
At 1451 New Britain Avenue, a commercial property just up the road from the Metro Realty apartment development at 1600 New Britain, 114 arborvitae planted on berms in 2006 — a screening condition for tractor trailer storage — are mostly dead. "I drive by it every day and anything will help it, I can tell you that," Commissioner Rob Ingridsson said.
The problem, Rutherford explained, was structural from the start: three-foot spacing on two-to-four-foot berms that shed water faster than roots could drink it. Twenty years of crowding and poor drainage did the rest.
The property owner, who was on the phone for the discussion but let Rutherford and the commissioners do the talking, proposes removing the berms and replanting 55 Spring Grove arborvitae — 35 along the New Britain Avenue frontage, 20 along the driveway island — at roughly double the original spacing. Canto gave her credit for the approach. "I'll actually give her a little bit of credit for understanding that it's going to cost and hey, I can't do it right now, give me a minute," he said.
The commission agreed to let the project proceed under staff direction.
The RFP, the Gas Station, and the Minutes
Rutherford updated the commission on two ongoing items. The Plan of Conservation and Development RFP was posted April 1, with consultant questions due April 17 and proposals due May 1. The selection committee — ideally three commissioners and four staff members, including Economic Development Director Rose Ponte — is expected to be set at the April 27 meeting.
Commissioner Canto asked about the Five Corners gas station property, where activity has picked up. Rutherford said a chain link fence is being reinstalled to secure the site, with additional remediation required before any construction can proceed. The project has been at a standstill for roughly a year.
The commission approved the minutes from March 23 and adjourned.
— Jack Beckett has covered Farmington's Planning & Zoning Commission long enough to know that a five-year HVAC proposal is, by local standards, moving at a brisk pace. He is on his second coffee. The arborvitae are on their second life. ☕
The Farmington Mercury covers the meetings nobody else covers — the zoning hearing that wrapped before 9 p.m. for once, the sign that can't be lit, the arborvitae that finally got a reprieve after two decades of slow death on a berm. We publish slowly, deliberately, and without apology. By the time you read this, the dust has settled and the facts are checked. Find us at farmingtonmercury.com and tell your neighbors. #WeAreFarmington 📰