The Powerless Town Hall
Passing the Buck on a $42.8 Million Crisis
When First Selectman Don Lowe didn't like a drone legally photographing the Sherman School, he had no problem asserting his authority—dispatching the State Police and pulling federal FAA agents away from their desks.
But when taxpayers ask Town Hall to regulate actual safety hazards and blatant zoning issues on that exact same $42.8 million construction site, the administration suddenly claims it has absolutely no power.
Behind the scenes, top Sherman officials are systematically putting in writing that they have no jurisdiction, no authority, and no courage to oversee the largest and most expensive public works project in town history.
The Building Inspector Punts to Hartford
As we previously reported, the school renovation has been plagued by an exposed roof and emergency, holiday-weekend panic repairs. Naturally, residents assumed the Sherman Building Department would be closely monitoring these structural hazards.
They aren't.
When pressed about the safety and compliance of the site, Sherman Building Inspector William Murphy sent an email effectively washing his hands of the liability. His official advice to residents? "Contact the state."
By explicitly deferring to the State Building Inspector, Murphy confirmed a terrifying reality: The local Building Department is not actively guarding the $42.8 million henhouse. Town Hall has punted the oversight of Sherman's most expensive asset to bureaucrats in Hartford.
The Zoning Loophole
If the Building Department is powerless, what about Zoning?
For weeks, the Sawmill Road neighborhood has been held hostage by the "White Lantern" anomaly—blinding, industrial construction lights blasting from the school's interior into residential homes all night long. First Selectman Don Lowe remained adamant that he was not going to fix it.
So, an official zoning complaint was filed. On February 16, 2026, Zoning Enforcement Officer John Cody responded with a formal letter confirming that he, too, is powerless.
Because the blinding lights are technically located inside the unfinished building, Cody stated:
"Our lighting regulations are for exterior lighting only."
He went on to admit a stunning defeat before even trying: "If I try to issue a Notice of Violation (NOV) I am positive it will be shot down when appealed at the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA)."
The Rogue Tarps and the "CEO" Illusion
Town Hall's official position is now a matter of public record: They won't inspect the building hazards, and they can't enforce the lighting violations.
Yet, within days of these complaints, gray tarps suddenly appeared over the specific school windows facing the homes of the complaining neighbors. The industrial lights are still inside. They are still clearly visible to traffic on Route 37. But a localized blinder was hung just to block the view of the critics.
If the First Selectman refused to fix it, and Zoning claimed they legally couldn't fix it, who hung the tarps?
The answer reveals the darkest truth of the Sherman School project: Don Lowe is not in control of his own job site. The construction contractors are making up the rules as they go, throwing up cheap plastic blinders to perform localized damage control and keep the press off their backs.
The First Selectman likes to project the image of a town CEO. But real CEOs don't let their contractors run wild while their department heads cower behind zoning loopholes and state agencies.
Sherman doesn't have a CEO. It has a $42.8 million blank check, and absolutely no one holding the pen.
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