NEWINGTON - A telephone exit poll conducted in the aftermath of the failed Newington Town Hall renovation proposal--a $30.3 million project that would have involved the construction of a new Mortensen Community Center on 1.6 acres of Mill Pond Park--indicated that the chosen location was the primary factor behind the 5,807 to 1,050 landslide vote against the plan.

       The 14-question poll was conducted by Triton Polling, an independent polling agency, over the course of two days following the Sept. 9 referendum. Around 10,000 households were called in an effort to accumulate a 400-person sample. The agency’s volume of responses was slightly larger, totaling 416 residents, according to Town Manager John Salomone.

       More than 38 percent of respondents who said that they voted against the proposed project cited location as the primary reason. More specifically, 12.9 percent of ‘no’ voters said that preserving open space drove their decision.

       â€�"I think the 12.9 percent can be combined with the location,” Salomone said during his Sept. 23 Town Council meeting presentation of the exit poll results.

       For residents and public officials, that probably did not come as much of a surprise. The preservation of open space has been the central rallying cry for those against the project throughout a series of Council meetings and rallies held by â€�"Save Mill Pond Park,” the 1,500-member Facebook group that has pointed to the town’s 2020 Plan--a guide to land use--and Newington’s scarcity in undeveloped land.

       There are 726 acres of dedicated open space, 433 acres of uncommitted open space and 173 acres of managed open space in Newington, according to the 2020 Plan.

       But there were other issues associated with the chosen location. Members of the Newington Soccer Club spoke out during public meetings in an effort to keep the town from building on the two soccer fields that make up the space. There was also concern regarding potential damage to nearby wetlands.

       Either way, the Council is going back to the drawing board--most likely with a brand new project building committee. The exit poll was held in order to give public officials a better idea of what drove the referendum result.

       Sixty-two percent of those surveyed reported having voted in the referendum, but Salomone said that outside the polling process, 38 percent of Newington residents actually participated Sept. 9. That’s because the most opinionated people are more likely to answer a survey request, he said.

       â€�"That’s about reverse of the actual turnout,” Salomone said. â€�"Those people who voted are more motivated, so that’s why that number was [about] double.”

       The ‘no’ to ‘yes’ respondents--77 percent to 16.7 percent--were more reflective of the actual referendum results. The rest of the sample--4.5 percent--said that they â€�"couldn’t remember” how they voted.

       Amongst ‘yes’ voters, 43.3 percent pointed to the condition of the existing Town Hall building as the primary reason for their support of the proposal, Salomone said. Heating and electrical issues were big amongst the factors that prompted consideration of the project, which would have reconfigured the current building to accommodate an atrium and additional office space.