Fairfield Hills Authority Proposes

No Budget Increase

By Kendra Bobowick

The Fairfield Hills Authority proposed budget total of $385,000 for the 2011-2012 fiscal year matches last year’s approved funding. “It’s a flat budget,” said authority Chairman John Reed.

With a spending plan that has steadily decreased since the 2008-2009 sum of $515,239 to nearly $100,000 less for 2009-2010 with a budget at $409,663, the number dropped roughly $25,000 again for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. A large part of savings this year show a “major reduction” to the private DeMarco Management Corporation, he explained, as its role in everyday operations at the former state hospital campus is phased into town departments.

Preparing to bring his department’s budget before the Board of Finance, the Board of Selectmen, and to the Legislative Council, Mr Reed said, “The ball is in their court now. It’s up to the [Board of Selectmen].”

He described anticipated funding adjustments, which would be initiated by the selectmen as a “phasing-in process,” to transition some work now in his budget over to the Parks and Recreation Department, for example, for items including contractual grounds maintenance and snow removal. Highway Department Head Fred Hurley’s budget may eventually accommodate the utility line items now in the Fairfield Hills Authority budget. “We carry a lot of electrical. I think most will go to [Mr Hurley’s] budget,” said Mr Reed.

Mr Reed had explained that officials are “trying to integrate Fairfield Hills with the town administrative structure. We’re looking at it as a transition.”

He also expects that the Newtown Police Department will be showing more of a presence and responsibility for Fairfield Hills, which has been handled mainly by DeMarco Management Corporation. First Selectman Pat Llodra has held discussions with the police commissioners “about the police providing more assistance with supervision,” he said. How will money be resolved for the private security? Looking ahead to selectmen’s decisions, he said, “We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out.”

Mr Reed said this week, “We hope to transition some day-to-day activities at Fairfield Hills into the town structure.” Officials seek a “common sense way to consolidate.”

Regarding the former state hospital campus, he said, “No one wants Fairfield Hills to be a town within a town with its own budget, but to be incorporated into the town.”

Already adopted by the Fairfield Hills Authority, the $385,000 proposal will soon go before other boards for final approvals.