Hoping To Overcome Delays At Fairfield Hills In 2009

By Kendra Bobowick

& John Voket

Public Works Director Fred Hurley told the Board of Selectmen Monday he has never seen the level of scrutiny on the part of state agencies being devoted to ongoing development projects at Fairfield Hills. And upon learning the state may take weeks, not days, to decide on appropriate testing procedures to determine the level of asbestos in buildings slated for renovation and demolition on the town-owned campus, Mr Hurley declared he has had enough.

“No one can say I am not supportive of the professional process, but this is taking too long,” he said Tuesday. Since September the state has been reviewing the town’s past and current work revamping Bridgeport Hall, for one, and he is tired of waiting for the okay to finish up.

“The town has done its part, now we need to move head,” he said. Per the state’s request, and by mutual agreement after a September meeting between the state, Mr Hurley, and others involved with Fairfield Hills, paperwork confirming manner and scope of work on various projects went from the town to state departments of public health and environmental protection for review.

With those requirements fulfilled, the state continued to delay the projects by responding with seven questions that environmental consultant R.W. Bartley & Associates addressed in a 16-page memo last month. But until the state agencies involved review the data and indicate they are all satisfied with the answers, Mr Hurley and the town must wait.

Since September town crews and contractors have completed all but certain aspects of renovation at Bridgeport Hall, for one, and done what they could to prep for Greenwich House demolition — both of which now await the go-ahead for completion. Mr Hurley said Tuesday, “We’re getting to the point of an impasse we can’t overcome.”

By avoiding areas containing possible hazardous materials such as walls and ceilings in Bridgeport Hall, most of whatever work could be done to prepare the new municipal office space has been finished.

“We need to get this environmental stuff behind us. We don’t understand the problem,” the public works chief lamented. He told selectmen this week the situation was becoming “critical.”

“We are getting frustrated. We need the answers now, or we will have to put on real pressure,” Mr Hurley said. “We are willing to understand, to a point.”

He questioned whether or not certain concerns justified putting construction and demolition on hold indefinitely.

“Latex paint [stored in the building by the high school] drama club is not a good reason to hold up a multimillion-dollar project,” Mr Hurley said.

Mr Hurley referenced the seven follow-up questions from DEP Sanitary Engineer Ross Bunnell. He asked about “…a number of items that are not accounted for in the [information] provided by Mr Hurley. In particular…this [list] identifies latex paint…as items that do not appear to be accounted for in the close-out document.”

Town environmental consultant R.W. Bartley’s reply: “The latex paint belonged to the high school drama class/club. They constructed and painted play settings and backdrops in the Bridgeport building for an upcoming school play. They removed the paint…”

“That’s what we’re talking about?” Mr Hurley asked rhetorically. “We’re holding up a $10 million project because of latex paint?”

Mr Hurley still has a reserve of patience, however. “We have to move in concert or this doesn’t work. I have been supportive of this process, but we have got to step it up.” Mr Bunnell, who had been out during recent holiday weeks, expects to reply by the end of this week.

“I can live with that,” Mr Hurley said.

Mr Bunnell told The Newtown Bee the town’s latest replies “provided detailed information. I have to check and see if it clears up [the state’s] issues or not.”

He also had sent e-mails inquiring about windows that had been removed for repairs. Did they have lead paint? He needs to be sure materials were properly handled.

 

Greenwich House

A reply to The Bee’s inquiries to another state office angered Mr Hurley, however. Regarding the hold-ups to demolish Greenwich House while the state reviews a recent round of retests for asbestos, state Department of Public Health spokesperson William Gerrish answered, “Discussions continue between representatives of the town and the DPH regarding the characterization of the asbestos content of the plaster in Greenwich House.”

Mr Hurley was particularly riled by Mr Gerrish’s reply: “That additional sampling was conducted on December 22. The results of the analysis of those samples are pending at this time. It is likely to be a couple weeks before the results of the analysis of all samples are available.”

 “A couple weeks. That’s ridiculous. It almost seems deliberate,” Mr Hurley replied. “To tell me now it’s weeks to get answers when we have a multimillion-dollar economic project that even the state is interested in…”

Letting his sentence taper off he began again, “The [state health department] commissioner and deputy commissioner might be interested to hear that.”

First time, now money, are at the center of Mr Hurley’s concerns.

He will begin to “make calls” to hopefully move the process along this week if he sees no results. Rent for the Kendro building on Peck’s Lane where several town department and the Board of Education offices now take up space is just one point of concern. Delays also add up to increased building costs. What once may have been an expense of “tens of thousands is now hundreds of thousands of real money,” he said Tuesday.

What Went Wrong?

As site work had progressed throughout last year, Public Works Director Fred Hurley learned from state officials that misinformation regarding Fairfield Hills projects had reached Hartford.

How? Anonymous phone calls, according to town attorney Dave Grogins. By people who “do not wish the Fairfield Hills project well,” as Mr Hurley would later elaborate.

Questions raised required the state’s due diligence, however, as Department of Environmental Protection Sanitary Engineer Ross Bunnell said. The state DEP and Department of Public Health personnel began reviewing the work and remediation steps taken on a host of items, including the remodeling of Bridgeport Hall, demolitions of Greenwich House, and removal of underground tunnels to make way for upgraded infrastructure.

As the year wound down, Mr Hurley confirmed that his office and other sources resubmitted necessary verifications to Hartford. After a review, Mr Bunnell had seven remaining questions. After submitting them to town officials, he received a reply on December 30 from environmental consultant R.W. Bartley & Associates, Inc.

Did the answers satisfy Mr Bunnell?

With the new year barely begun, he has not had time to thoroughly review the roughly 16-page reply due to time off from work during the holiday weeks.

Other Prospects At Fairfield Hills

Although he did not call them resolutions, Fairfield Hills Authority Chairman Bob Geckle has hopes for the former state hospital campus in the coming new year.

Seeing tenants reshape Newtown and Stratford Halls topped his thoughts this week.

“We’ll just keep working on them,” he said. Extensions of Danbury Hospital services are slated to move into Newtown Hall, but no lease agreement has yet been signed. Stratford Hall, which sits at the center of Fairfield Hills at a four-way intersection, was in the past eyed for a restaurant/pub, but negotiations never got beyond a letter of intent to lease the building.

Is it still a possibility? Mr Geckle says the conversation is still open.

Looking ahead tentatively toward the next 12 months, Mr Geckle said, “A lot will depend on the economy. It’s a tough environment, honestly.”

Thinking back on old school notes, he retrieves a name: John Maynard Keynes. Decades ago the economist had used the term “Paradox of thrift.” Although a mouthful, the phrase has a simple meaning.

“In an economic downturn people stop spending money; it’s the worst thing they could do.” Mr Geckle explained. “If you don’t spend money it exacerbates the downturn, there is no demand for goods or services.”

One proposed development, a lease agreement with a veterinarian surgical and specialty practice, is ready for signing. But even this good news met with complications and opposition during the Board of Selectmen meeting January 5.

Dr John Roumanis of the Berkshire Veterinary Hospital in Sandy Hook questioned whether any similar type of practice could sustain itself given the extensive amount of square footage in the Fairfield Hills building. He also took issue with a reported “confidentiality agreement” between the prospective tenant and the Fairfield Hills Authority, which kept the identity and terms negotiated by the lessee secret until after a letter of intent was signed.

First Selectman Joe Borst could only reply that he knew nothing about a confidentiality agreement, and that he would look into the matter.

A public hearing that would have paved the way for selectmen to deliberate and possibly act on the lease agreement January 5 was stymied because a legal notice, which was apparently designed to also serve as a public notice of the hearing, was never posted in the town clerk’s office, or listed on either the town’s or Fairfield Hills Authority’s website as of Monday.

Mr Borst said he expects to reschedule the public hearing for January 20 at the Newtown Senior Center before the selectmen’s first budget deliberation session.