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After a series of private meetings between school officials and members of the council in the ensuing weeks to re-establish communication and allow the school the opportunity to develop another offer, Headmaster Edward Shanahan sent an e-mail to council Chairman Michael Brodinsky on Sept. 21 asking the council to "confer with each other and arrive at an agreed counter-offer to what we have put on the table."
Brodinsky, a Democrat, said that could very well happen at Tuesday's meeting, but that he is not in favor of that course of action. Councilors already have expressed their interests to school officials in private meetings.
"I personally don't think a counter-offer is appropriate," Brodinsky said. "Choate already knows where it stands to make an offer that would be acceptable to this council."
Brodinsky said there have been no further discussions between school officials and himself since Shanahan's Sept. 21 e-mail, but Vincent Testa, the council's Democratic vice-chairman, said Thursday that he has had several conversations with Shanahan recently, which he termed "just ideas" being discussed.
"I'm hopeful that we're closer to a resolution ..." said Testa, "but I don't know; we've been going back and forth."
Shanahan referred calls for comment to the school's communications office. Lorraine Connelly, a spokeswoman for the school, said that representatives from the school plan to attend Tuesday's meeting, but offered no further comment.
But not all councilors seem to share Brodinsky's view that the council should not make a counter-offer to the school. With the exception of Democrats Vincenzo DiNatale, who has recused himself from the issue, and Michael Spiteri, who told the school he has no interest in closing the road under almost any circumstances, no one on the council has publically expressed opposition to the idea.
In fact, Robert Parisi, a Republican, said he expects the Republican minority to caucus before Tuesday's meeting and possibly come up with a potential offer acceptable to the four Republicans on the council.
"It would be nice to go to the meeting with a plan that we can all agree on," Parisi said.
Testa said the council's five Democrats have discussed the issue amongst themselves on several occasions, but have yet to arrive on a joint course of action.
"Everybody knows where everybody else stands," Testa said. "Whether or not the Republicans can come to an agreement - and we can come to an agreement, and from there we can all mutually come to an agreement - remains to be seen."
Only Republican John LeTourneau has publically revealed his private demands to the school: the deed to the boathouse, $615,000 for the road, and some sort of written commitment from the school as to how the facilities could be utilized by students in the Wallingford school system, which Choate has repeatedly said would be the case. But several have indicated that they would be interested in Choate making a sizable donation to help refurbish the planetarium at Mark T. Sheehan High School.
dmoran@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224
