By Jack Kramer

Courier Correspondent

When members of the public finally had their chance on Jan. 12 to say what they think the town of East Haven should do with the old Tyler Street high school building, they gave officials an earful.

The 200 Tyler Street Blue Ribbon Committee had held several meetings prior to Jan. 12 to discuss the disposition of the building that has been closed for close to two decades, but at those meetings, the public wasn’t allowed to comment.

When they got the chance to talk on Jan. 12, the jam-packed room of 100 East Haven residents at the East Haven Senior Center, almost to a person, said they weren’t happy with the two options currently under consideration.

Linda Hargrave is spokesperson for the 200 Tyler Street Committee, a group made up of residents concerned with how the town is handling the property. Hargrave said the public’s comments should have been heard prior to the Blue Ribbon Commission meetings.

“I feel that the Maturo administration has always done what they want to do with total disregard for what the people want,” Hargrave said.

Her comments were met with loud applause.

Committee members have discussed turning the building in a municipal and community center, or, possibly using the 240,000-square-foot building as a senior housing facility.

Blue Ribbon Commission Chairman Paul Carbo insisted the town has not shut out residents. He said although there was no public comment at previous meetings, residents could present written proposals for what to do with the old high school.

“From the beginning we had a schedule that [Jan.] 12 and 20 would be for public comment,” Carbo said. “We didn’t want to get caught up in minutiae of, ‘What about this’ and ‘What about that.’”

Several residents angrily stated that they believe there is already a town plan to convert the building to senior housing and that it’s only a matter of time before the Town Council approves such a plan.

“A lot of people think there’s a conspiracy theory here and there’s not,” Carbo insisted.

The commission has a Feb. 2 deadline to come up with a recommendation for the old school. That recommendation, Carbo said, will be presented to the Town Council, which he said will have the final say on what happens with the building.

Speaker after speaker, limited to three minutes by Carbo, ridiculed both plans the committee is considering recommending to the mayor. Speakers repeatedly said they felt town officials were ignoring the results of a 2012 referendum vote on what the town should do with the school.

In that tally, East Haven voters said they preferred using the facility for community recreation purposes.

Speakers also criticized the tight six-week timetable Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr., has given the committee to make a recommendation on what the building should be used for.

Resident Bob Fox seemed to speak for a majority of the residents when he said, “This is a farce to try and do this in six weeks. We’re talking about one of the biggest projects in the history of East Haven.”

His comments were met by loud applause from the audience.

The 200 Tyler Street Blue Ribbon Commission will hold another public hearing at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at East Haven Senior Center.