The Town Council on Monday unanimously approved sending a $3.7 million capital improvement plan to referendum on May 8. The plan would involve improvements to schools, the library, Town Hall, and the bridge over Jones Crossing Road. Town Finance Director Amanda Backhaus said that if the referendum passes, debt payments would begin during either the 2019-20 fiscal year or the 2020-21 fiscal year. The referendum will be held on Tuesday, May 8, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., the same day as the referendum for the $40.8 million fiscal year 2018-19 budget. Voting will take place at the Coventry Volunteer Fire Association firehouse at 1755 Main St. and the North Coventry Volunteer Fire Department at 3427 Main St. Backhaus said the town would see a decrease of $677,000 in debt service at the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year, allowing town officials to invest in new improvement projects. Major projects that would begin if the referendum is approved would include $711,140 for code work for upgrades at schools and town buildings, including fire doors at Coventry High School, removal of oil and propane tanks at various schools and town buildings, and removal and replacement of asbestos flooring at the high school. Energy, air conditioning, and mechanical repairs at various school buildings is expected to total $2,109,625, including exhaust and fresh air modifications and replacement of a ventilator at the high school. Replacement of the culvert and improvement of the road and intersection on and around the bridge over Jones Crossing Road is also in the plan and is expected to cost $700,000. An additional $157,235 is budgeted for design fees and $75,000 for bonding fees. In a related vote, the council voted 5-2 on the approval of explanatory text that will go with the referendum. Voting in favor of the text were Democrats Jonathan Hand, Carolyn Arabolos, Lisa Conant, Joan Lewis, and Republican Michael Sobol. Voting against it were Republicans Julie Blanchard and Matthew O'Brien. Both Blanchard and O'Brien said that they had not been informed that the referendum question was going to be proposed and that was why they initially voted against the explanatory text, but then voted to approve the referendum question. Town Manager John Elsesser said he was surprised that Blanchard and O'Brien didn't know that a vote was going forward as one referendum. "If they were not aware, I understand, but there was no subterfuge here," he said. "Anyone at the Finance Committee would have known." He said that, unfortunately. the record of the committee's minutes doesn't detail any discussion on combining the projects into one referendum, but that it was discussed. Neither Blanchard nor O'Brien is on the Finance Committee. "The feeling was that it should be one question," Elsesser added. "The town budget is voted in one referendum ... why should this be different" O'Brien and Blanchard said they are not opposed to the capital improvement plan going before the voters, but would have liked to have seen the projects split up in a way that voters could vote for one project and against another if they wanted. O'Brien said there had never been a discussion with the council about the projects being grouped together, and if the committee had discussed it, it should have been brought to the attention of the council before a vote was called. "We hadn't received any information that it was going to be presented in one question," he said. "It was, 'here's the question, what do you guys think' "In my opinion the decision was already being made by the majority," he said.