As we finish another year, each of The Newtown Bee’s reporters is looking back on the year to consider their biggest and best stories, and the events that have been changing Newtown over 2024. In seeing where we’ve been, we hope to inform where we are going for 2025, may it be a happy and healthy year for all.

New Finance Director

Following the announcement of the retirement of former Finance Director Robert Tait, Glenys Salas was hired on as the new finance director on March 6, and started April 1.

With a specialty in digitized processes and data analytics, Salas, the finance director and treasurer of the City of Saco, Maine, will be the new finance director of Newtown.

“Glenys is very qualified and is a great fit to replace Bob Tait as Newtown’s finance director when he retires in mid-April,” First Selectman Jeff Capeci told The Newtown Bee in March. “[Salas] will start April 1 and spend her first two weeks with Bob to ensure a smooth transition. I look forward to her onboarding and the success of Newtown under her financial leadership. I wish Bob all the best in his retirement.”

Salas moved from Saco which, in spite of being the 10th largest city in Maine, has less population than the Town of Newtown, with her husband, two children, and their dog.

Tait departed from his position of 16 years on April 12. Salas, who met Tait during the interview process, said Tait was “really great and a smart guy.”

“Newtown was lucky to have him,” said Salas. “I’ll be walking into a situation where I’ll be inheriting a great department and will have the privilege of continuing the great work he’s been doing.”

Salas said her first few months on the job are expected to be a “learning process” and she’s looking forward to attending Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, and Legislative Council meetings as Tait did.

“That’s a lot of evening meetings, which is a great development opportunity,” said Salas. “I’ll be sitting with the elected bodies, which will help me get up to speed on the Town’s policies and processes. It will help me understand how the Town runs.”

Salas grew up in Newburgh, N.Y., and went to college at Elmira University. She earned her master’s degree in business analysis from Villanova University.

After earning a Bachelor of Science in Business with a focus in marketing, she moved into marketing analytics roles with Unilever, NUK USA, and Ai Media Group. Salas said her interest was in how to use data to make businesses run smoother.

In 2017, with a newly kindled interest in electoral politics and local government, she joined the City of Saco as finance director and treasurer.

Using data was the “lens” she used in her first role in government.

Castle Hill

The development at 20-60 Castle Hill Road is a story The Bee has been following since June 2023, when developer George Trudell gave a presentation to neighbors to discuss his proposed 117 home cluster development that would leave 92 of the 132 acres undeveloped. And this story will continue into 2025, as the Borough of Newtown’s Zoning Commission did not make a decision at its final meeting of the year on December 18.

The development has seen opposition since it came before the town at large at Inland Wetlands Commission meetings in March of this year.

The opposition to the 117-home cluster development on 40 acres of the 132 acre property largely centers on two concerns — the large amount of homes, and the presence of the Rochambeau Trail on the property, lying along Reservoir Road.

The homes will be built in a cluster using a specific town regulation, 4.05.1, which allows residential open space developments. The homes will be clustered in one 40 acre area of the development to maximize the open space surrounding it and would be a “multi-generational” development with homes between 1,800 and over 3,000 square feet. There will be “large setbacks” around the homes from the surrounding roads. This would leave 85 acres near Taunton Lake as open space.

The path the development has taken through town approvals has been long and rocky, with it being set back to square one when the approval of a road discontinuation was revealed to possibly have not been done properly by town statute, and then approvals it needed being gained by one-vote majorities not once but three times. The development had its wetlands permit approved by the Inland Wetlands Commission on a 4-3 vote in March, and the Planning & Zoning Commission approved an 8-24 referral finding the Reservoir Road discontinuation was in compliance with the Plan of Conservation and Development on a 3-2 vote in late June, and then the road discontinuance itself being approved by the Board of Selectmen on a 2-1 vote.

The controversial road discontinuation of Reservoir Road, a paper street that is part of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Trail (often referred to as the Rochambeau Trail), was requested by developer George Trudell and 20-60 Castle Hill Road owner Joseph Draper so that they could cluster the proposed homes all on 20 Castle Hill Road and leave 60 Castle Hill Road, the area closest to Taunton Lake, as open space. A paper street is a street that exists solely on maps and is not considered an official part of the town road system.

The development now has been before the Borough Zoning Commission since September, with three meetings dedicated entirely to an extended public hearing, during which most public sentiment opposed the development, with the fourth meeting being the first of deliberations among the commission members themselves.

The Bee will continue to cover this story as it develops.

6 Commerce

Another development-related issue facing the town is one of how to develop 6 Commerce Road — for economic development or as open space? It was conveyed to the Town in 2003 for economic development, along with 8 Commerce Road, which was slated for open space.

In 2006, the town asked the state to reallocate a $500K STEAP grant from 6 Commerce and use it towards the Fairfield Hills property. In 2011, the Conservation Commission learned that paperwork from the Connecticut legislature, intended to convey the 34.44 acre property at 8 Commerce Road for open space, had been in the town’s possession since 2009. In 2014, the 34.44 acre parcel was conveyed to The Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation for a sanctuary.

The Conservation Commission this year wrote a recommendation that said the group felt that the economic development parcel, located at 6 Commerce Road, should have been given to the CVH sanctuary, since it could count as economic development.

“In our view, the Hubbard Foundation should have received a parcel properly designated as economic development,” states the recommendation. “It cannot be considered open space since it does not have the protections given to open space and is not town-owned property. It is a fact that our town lost out on the 34.44 acre open space parcel as originally intended by the state. It is also clear that the state gave serious consideration and direction that this parcel should be preserved as open space by inclusion of a requirement that the parcel would revert back to the state if not used for this purpose.

It ends by recommending that the town ask the state to reverse its decision designating 6 Commerce as economic development and use it for town open space for recreational purposes.

The Board of Selectmen has reached out to the state to see if the requirements for economic development could be removed, but the final decision and fate of the property is still up in the air.

Flooding

Newtown received 10 inches of rain and Sandy Hook received 12.17 inches, as rivers overflowed, roads washed out, some homes were flooded and a few destroyed, and motorists became trapped in flooded vehicles over the course of Sunday, August 18, into the early hours of Monday, August 19.

By late Sunday afternoon, First Selectman Jeff Capeci declared a State of Emergency for Newtown due to continued flooding and sewer capacity issues. That declaration, he said the following afternoon, will allow the Town to secure state and federal aid. Capeci had been in touch, he said, with Governor Ned Lamont, State Representative Mitch Bolinsky and State Senator Tony Hwang, “who are mobilizing state resources to assist us.” Lamont also declared a state of emergency for the state.

Newtown Emergency Communications Center Director Maureen Will issued multiple CodeRED announcements on Sunday, warning recipients of the dangers of the rain and subsequent flooding. Will repeatedly asked people to remain at home or where they were, and to not drive into any standing water.

Many roads quickly became impassable due to flooding and/or debris causing damage. First responders and Town officials were inundated with calls for help once homes and buildings became flooded.

Additionally, vehicles began getting stuck on roads after operators drove into water that was deeper than they realized. Botsford and Newtown Hook & Ladder firefighters, and Newtown Underwater Search And Rescue (NUSAR) members were among those called to the area of 220 South Main Street to perform multiple high water rescues after operators drove into high waters there. NUSAR, Botsford and Dodgingtown Fire were also dispatched to a water rescue near the area of South Main at Button Shop Road. NUSAR was also dispatched to assist with water rescues in Bridgewater and Redding on Sunday.

At daybreak Monday, multiple vehicles were still being fished out of streams, including a series of vehicles that had been washed to the north of South Main Street/Route 25 opposite Bryan Lane by the surging Pootatuck River.

In the immediate aftermath of the storm, 23 roads were closed and impassable due to structural damage/washouts: Currituck Road at Signal Post, Berkshire Road/Route 34 from Jordan Hill Road to the town line, Bradley Lane, Jordan Hill Road, Pond Brook Road, Great Ring Road at Sand Hill, Stony Brook, Mile Hill South, Sugar Loaf at Sherman Street, The Boulevard at Hall Lane, Taunton Lake Road, Meadow Brook at Huntingtown, Bennetts Bridge Road, Town End Road, New Lebbon Road, Lakeview Terrace Extension, Great Quarter near #77, South Main Street at Bryan Lane, Berkshire Road/Route 34 near #111, 100 Wasserman Way, High Bridge Road, Hattertown Road, and Turkey Hill Road.

Some roads were added and others removed as repairs were completed over the following few days, with South Main Street/Route 25 near 220 South Main Street and Berkshire/Route 34 at the Monroe line being major town arteries that remained closed into Monday morning. South Main Street was reopened by mid-Monday morning, after the water receded and the last of the vehicles removed from the area. One lane of Berkshire Road remained closed as of midday Wednesday, with DOT crews directing the alternating lanes of traffic.

Just over the town line, Roosevelt Drive/Route 34 at the Stevenson Dam had been completely washed out.

FirstLight, the owner of Stevenson Dam, which creates Lake Zoar, reported on August 21 that following the rain and associated flooding that impacted Southwestern Connecticut and the lower Housatonic River, “both man-made and natural debris made its way downstream and collected above the Stevenson Dam. Starting Thursday, August 22nd, FirstLight will begin a phased effort to safely address the debris field.

The storm impacted areas well beyond Newtown. Among the hardest hit were Southbury, Oxford, and Seymour.

School Budget Voted Down For First Time In Over A Decade

For the first time since a budget failure in 2013, a budget failed to pass muster with the voters, as the education budget failed, 1,701 No votes to 1,194 Yes votes in April. The school budget did pass on its second vote in May, however, 2075 Yes to 1198 No, an 877 vote margin.

The town budget narrowly passed, 1,465 Yes votes to 1,424 No votes on April 23, so the town’s budget of $48,834,506, a $1,308,366 or 2.75% spending increase, was official and would not face a second vote.

The first proposed Board of Education budget stood at $88,817,373, a $3,747,722 or 4.4% increase over last year. The approved bottom line is $87,409,066, a $2,339,415 or 2.75% spending increase over the 2023-24 budget.

With the previously approved town budget, this gave an overall bottom line of $136,243,572, a $6,087,137 or 2.67% spending increase.

The mill rate will increase from 26.24 to 26.97 mills, a .73 mill or 2.77% tax increase.

The Registrar of Voters reported 15.1% of Newtown’s registered voters participated in the first referendum, with 2,952 people showing up at Newtown Middle School to vote and another 47 turning in absentee ballots. The turnout for the second try was 17.4%, with 3,281 total residents casting a vote, 3,190 in person and 91 via absentee ballot.

In 2023, Newtown saw increased participation at its April budget vote with a turnout of approximately 8.8 percent, the first year of increased participation after years of waning participation, especially following the COVID pandemic. In 2022, participation was only 7.7 percent; in 2021, the turnout was 8.98 percent; in 2020, there was no budget referendum due to the pandemic; in 2019, turnout was 17 percent; in 2018, turnout was 15.7 percent; and in 2017, turnout was 19.9 percent.

This year’s participation close to doubled the participation in 2023, but the results seemed indicative of discontent with the proposed budget after years of relative apathy.

Capital Tax Recovery

It’s been a long time coming, but the Legislative Council at its May 1 meeting approved a $100,000 appropriation to cover the costs of Capital Tax Recovery’s (CTR) efforts to locate vehicles residing in Newtown but registered out of state.

The vote passed 9-3, with Democrats Keith Alexander, Jordana Bloom, and Heather Dean voting against.

CTR is a company that sends out private investigators with plate readers who check plates around town, on the roads, in driveways, and in parking lots, with a purpose of finding cars garaged in town that are registered out of state. In addition to catching cars registered out of state, they catch unregistered vehicles as well. Brookfield and Danbury currently contract with CTR for its services, and Newtown was attempting to “piggyback” onto Danbury’s contract.

The town’s contract with CTR will pay CTR a $50 fee per car plus 45% of the first year’s taxes. The original contract before CTR withdrew only called for 40%.

In November, CTR reported that it had found 71 vehicles for a total of $768,000 in tax assessments.

Superintendent Departs For Darien

Former Superintendent of Schools Chris Melillo left his position in Newtown after the Darien Board of Education announced his hiring as the next principal of Ox Ridge Elementary School on April 10.

He has taken a new position, being appointed as the next principal of Ox Ridge Elementary School in Darien during the April 10 Darien Board of Education meeting.

Melillo left his position as Superintendent on June 30, following the end of the school year.

Darien Superintendent of Schools Dr Alan Addley announced at the meeting that he was naming “a colleague” to the position, the superintendent of Newtown Schools, and that Melillo would be “returning to his roots as an elementary school principal.”

“He brings a wealth of experience pre-K through K, through graduate,” Addley said.

In a letter to the Newtown community issued shortly after the meeting in Darien, Melillo stated that it was “with mixed emotions” that he was resigning.

“I want to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to the entire community for your support and collaboration; it has been a privilege serving as your superintendent,” his statement said in part. “Together, we have worked tirelessly to advance the educational goals of our district and ensure that every student receives the quality education they deserve.”

Melillo expressed pride in the progress the district made during his tenure, noting “innovative programs” that were implemented.

Melillo came to Newtown in June 2022; he was previously an assistant superintendent in Hamden.

He was later replaced by Assistant Superintendent Anne Uberti.

Historic Credits Approved

Development of vacant buildings at the Fairfield Hills campus is finally moving forward with the long-coming approval of historic credits at the site in mid-November. This will allow WinnDevelopment to begin its work on mixed use retail/residential buildings as first mentioned several years ago.

First Selectman Jeff Capeci reported to both the Board of Selectmen on April 1 and the Board of Finance on April 8 that the town’s application for historic credits to allow renovation of two Fairfield Hills campus buildings is “going well.”

The application was before SHPO as the campus is on the state historic register. SHPO would be the same organization that would review changes should the campus be placed on the federal historic register, according to Stacey Vairo, of Preservation Connecticut.

The main change beyond allowing Winn Development to renovate Shelton and Kent houses would be that the town would not be able to demolish any buildings during a certain period of time.

The federal process would designate the campus and all buildings currently standing as historically significant, and the town would not be able to demolish any of the buildings during the time the project is being worked on and for five years after, or the federal Parks Service, which would award the historic credits, can “claw back” the money. The current time line from Winn estimates that Kent and Shelton would be renovated by the end of 2025 and the claw back period would end at the end of 2030.

Town officials currently believe none of the buildings on the campus are so structurally unsound that they may become compromised before 2030 and need to be demolished.

Sources of funds for this project include federal Historic Tax Credits, state Historic Tax Credits, and Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). It is expected that historic tax credits will make up 25% of total project funding.

The rest of the project will be paid for by WinnDevelopment, with no cost to the town. The town would sell the buildings to Winn but would lease them the land that the buildings are on.

For buildings receiving credit, the exterior space must remain the same and the interior space must still have the same look and feel as the original. For example, a school building would keep the lockers and classroom doors, and may not change the general layout of the building.

If the mixed use project moves forward, it is estimated that it will have a $25.3 million positive impact to Town of Newtown’s direct cash flow from now until the demolition bonding payments are completed, over the next 35 years. If the mixed use buildings are renovated, it is estimated that the town will bring in $20,070,555 in revenue, with $31,659,976 in expenses, for a net cash loss of $11,589,420 over those 35 years.

If the mixed use buildings are not renovated, it is estimated that the town will bring in $1,612,814 in revenue versus $38,477,451 in expenses, for a net cash loss of $36,864,638.

The difference between the two is the $25.3 million positive impact, as the town will see a much smaller cash loss on the Fairfield Hills property with the mixed use buildings. The expenses are mostly in the cost of demolishing the unused buildings, and are estimated to be larger without the mixed use buildings as Kent and Shelton houses would eventually have been demolished as well.

The company completed its most recent adaptive reuse project in Connecticut in 2020, when it transformed the former East Haven High School building into mixed-income housing — an effort that earned multiple national awards for development, environmental sustainability, and community impact.

Pool Deck Deterioriating

“I never want to hear the words ‘value engineering’ again,” Community Center Director Matt Ariniello told the Board of Selectmen on an April 1 meeting while reporting that the pool deck in the Aquatics Center has been developing fissures, and the pool itself has been cracking.

“We’re paying for it later,” said Ariniello, who noted that the community center has paid $700,000 in projects after the construction.

Value engineering is a process during a capital project in which items are removed, efficiencies are sought, and other cost-cutting measures implemented to keep a municipal project under the approved dollar figure.

The Aquatics Center was already experiencing difficulty; back in January, Ariniello came to the BOS seeking to add $500,000 to the current year’s Capital Improvement Plan for the center’s HVAC system. The current unit serves the pool area of the community center, and the town just finished a legal settlement with the construction company. The 50 ton unit installed “underserves” the needs of the pool area, and the center had spent $50,000 out of its special revenue fund on the project. The town is looking at whether it can add a second 50 ton unit or what other options will solve the problem.

The community center, finished in 2019, cost $15 million, with $10 million of that being paid for by GE and the rest being bonded by the town. Newtown Bee articles from 2018 detail the town’s process to keep the project under that amount using value engineering, including the removal of an exterior deck and bocce court, and one article mentions an unspecified list of 30 items that could be “value engineered to downsize costs.”

Whether the value engineering led directly to the current problems is unknown, but will be part of an investigation that the selectmen appropriated $40,000 to fund. Ariniello said he didn’t think the investigation would cost the full amount. The investigation will require test boring of the soil underneath the pool area, so that means tearing up tile and other structures, which will have to be repaired.

The current problems include “significant movement” of the pool deck, shifting and rising of the deck, separation of the lips of the pool deck, and tiles cracking and popping up.

“It’s creating liability,” said Ariniello, as the damage creates significant risk of tripping by pool goers.

Ariniello noted that “you could fit a full hand” between the pool deck and the coping stone, an area that was first filled in with deck seal and then later, when it continued to split, with rubber insulation.

“This is not something you want to see in a five-year-old building,” said Ariniello.

Ariniello said that the first fear was that the pool itself was moving, possibly due to settling, or popping out from water movement, but that turned out to not be the case — “there was no movement of the pool.”

“By process of elimination, it is something structural around the pool deck that is causing the movement,” said Ariniello.

The Public Buildings and Site Commission, which is already assisting in looking into the HVAC system, was also tapped at the BOS meeting to oversee the pool deck investigation.

Money for engineering was later added to the Capital Improvement Plan, but repairs have yet to be made.

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Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.