Norwalk: Financial Details On Historical Commission Action
The Rogers-Ritch-Merritt-Incerto-House-in-a-trailer project now has some financial details thanks to mull over thanks to a Robert Koch article.
A recommendation by the Norwalk Historical Commission last week to close out the city’s Rogers-Ritch-Merritt House project account has left private donors wondering what will become of money they contributed toward reassembling the historic structure at Mill Hill Historic Park.
“We donated $10,000 with the stipulation that the money would be used only for the reconstruction of that home. We made it very clear our $10,000 should come back to us,” said Joseph T. Robidoux, president of The Friends of the Norwalk Museums, Inc. “We’re disappointed that the city is not going to follow through with the commitment to reconstruct the house. (Now) we’re waiting for them to return (our donation) to us with interest.”
The Friends of the Norwalk Museums is one of more than two-dozen individuals and organizations which contributed anywhere from $100 to $10,000 toward reassembling the Rogers-Ritch-Merritt House.
The structure, also known as The Incerto House, dates back to the late 18th century. It was disassembled at the corner of Harbor Avenue and Commerce Street in January 2002. Its beams and bricks are in trailers.
In recent years, under a reshaped Historical Commission, the project has lost momentum and stands several hundred thousand dollars shy of funding needed to see it to fruition.
Last Wednesday night, Historical commissioners recommended, on an 8-1 vote, to reallocate $150,000 in city capital funds set aside for the Rogers-Ritch-Merritt project toward The Norwalk Museum, Lockwood-Mathews Museum, existing Mill Hill buildings and other commission projects. The Common Council will have the final say on whether to close the account and redirect that amount toward the other projects.
The council allocated $150,000 in the city’s 2002-03 capital budget for the Roger-Ritch-Merritt project. The money stands apart from $55,415 in private donations received for the project. Of the private donations, $35,570 has been spent and $19,844 remains available, according to David W. Park, Historical Commission chairman.
“We did not vote on the private donations. The $150,000 is pure capital money, taxpayers’ dollars. It’s got nothing to do with the private donations,” Park said. “If the ($150,000) reallocation gets approved by the Common Council, at that point we will ask Corporation Counsel (how to handle) all the private donations.”
“It sounds as if the Kiwanis Club or the Friends may not want to put (their donations) toward the other projects that need work. And if they don’t want to spend it on other projects, my guess is we’ll probably have to return it to them,” Park said. “But that’s up to Corporation Counsel.”
So far, it’s unclear what the law department will recommend, as the department has not yet received a request for a legal opinion on the matter.
“Nobody asked for any advice on this, and I don’t know what the circumstances are,” said Robert F. Maslan Jr., head of the law department. “I don’t know if they’re going to request any guidance. I haven’t received a request for an opinion or any guidance.”
The Friends of the Norwalk Museums is not the only organization which donated a large amount of money toward the Rogers-Ritch-Merritt project. Robidoux made his case to commissioners earlier this month.
On Wednesday night, Walter Robinson, past president of The Norwalk Kiwanis Club, reminded commissioners that the club also contributed $10,000 the project. He said the club members do not “want our hard-earned money to be used to put paint on another one of our buildings.” If the matter cannot be settled amicably, he continued, “then we’ll take whatever means necessary to protect our money.”
Like The Friends of The Norwalk Museums, the Kiwanis Club also wants its money returned with interest.
That poses another legal question, as more than half of the $55,415 in private donations has been spent. The dollars have gone toward property surveys, a restoration analysis and other pre-reassembly work.
The Historical Commission should have sought corp counsel opinion on donor refunds before recommending the action of moving capital funds associated with funding the project upon which those donor dollars were raised. Which beings me to ask why are donors seeking refunds when monies were expensed to advance the project? Sometimes the financial feasibility of a project can only be determined after plans and surveys are drawn up. Who funded that?
The heart of the problem as I see it is a lack of professionalism being sought by this commission. So much time and energy is spent by commission members either covering for or exposing the [work activities of] the curator that no one is putting time into finding a professional credentialed individual to structure Norwalk’s historic properties into a self sustaining cultural assets.
source: The Hour, Donors wonder about fate of money for Incerto House project, By ROBERT KOCH, April 28, 2008
