Town Council Taps Local Broker to Market Former Schools, Adjusts Capital Plan
By Cheshire Connecticut Phoenix News Staff
CHESHIRE, CT —
In a productive session on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, the Cheshire Town Council Budget Committee moved decisively on municipal real estate and fine-tuned the town’s long-term capital improvement strategy.
Heading the evening's agenda was the unanimous authorization to execute a commercial brokerage contract with local firm ONL Commercial LLC to market two vacant school facilities: Chapman Elementary School and the Darcy School.
ONL Commercial Selected for School Property Sales
Following a competitive RFP process that included interviews with Coldwell Banker and ONL Commercial LLC, the Planning Committee recommended ONL based on their extensive local real estate track record and direct experience repurposing former educational facilities.
"They are a local company with lots of experience here in town," noted Council Member Greg Wolf. "They had a great presentation, and we are very confident that they will find something that serves the community well."
Under the terms negotiated by town staff, ONL will take both properties to the open market at an initial rate of $60 per square foot. This sets prospective listing targets at approximately $4.1 million for Chapman School and $2.3 million for Darcy School.
Town Manager Sean M. Kimball was authorized to execute the contract immediately. To ensure smooth transactions, the town is concurrently initiating A2 property surveys and securing cost estimates for potential building demolition or hazardous material abatement to eliminate unknown variables during negotiations. The Board of Education will maintain formal control and storage access at the buildings through December 2026, after which Public Works will handle security and minimal winter heating.
Capital Expenditure Budget Refined
Following the real estate authorization, Town Manager Sean Kimball and Finance Director Jim Jascott led council members through a detailed review of the proposed Fiscal Year 2026–2027 Capital Expenditure Budget and the accompanying five-year capital plan.
With significant long-term commitments—most notably the new school construction projects—already on the books, council members focused on pruning non-essential debt service to keep town expenditures near the target 10% debt threshold.
Key adjustments made during the session include:
High School Turf & Track Consolidation: The council recombined the athletic field turf and track resurfacing projects into a unified $1.9 million line item. The project will be heavily offset by a $1.5 million state grant, $65,000 from existing field revenue funds, and potential youth organization contributions.
Sidewalk Funding Realignment: The council shifted $250,000 away from a specific proposed extension on Lane Drive, placing it instead into a general townwide sidewalk repair and loop-closure account. The shift allows town officials time to review and update Cheshire's formal sidewalk petition policy.
Municipal Facilities Space Assessment: A $120,000 line item previously designated for Waterbury Road renovations was repurposed into a broader $150,000 town facility space assessment. This initiative will fund expert consulting to evaluate future municipal uses for several town structures, including the Arts Place, the Yellow House, and the Harmon Leonard Youth Center.
Open Space Preservation: The council re-established $1 million allocations for open space land acquisition in years three and five of the capital plan.
Public Input & Next Steps
During the public comment period, resident Kathy Devlin of Lane Drive spoke regarding local traffic patterns, property lines, and sidewalk construction standards, urging town leaders to maintain clear communication with property owners before initiating structural neighborhood changes.
The adjustments made during Tuesday’s meeting reduced the first-year gross capital bonded requests to roughly $17 million ($14.8 million net after anticipated grant reimbursements).
The Town Council will gather additional details regarding school maintenance accounts and grant matches over the coming weeks. A tentative follow-up work session is scheduled for Tuesday, October 6, 2026, with formal adoption of the final capital budget resolutions slated for the regular Town Council meeting on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.
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