The Board of Selectmen approved a $610,000 grant to replace the roofs on the four empty duplex buildings on the Fairfield Hills campus at its March 3 meeting.

“Obviously this is good news,” said Selectman Dan Cruson.

Governor Ned Lamont in early December 2024 announced that Newtown had received a $610,000 grant for hazardous materials abatement of a 0.28-acre duplex building site at the Fairfield Hills Campus. The buildings, which have been vacant since 1995, will house the Newtown Parks and Recreation Department and be leased for commercial use.

The five duplex buildings have long been thought of as having high potential for renovation and use for commercial and other development, but four have sat vacant, with the fifth one currently housing Newtown Parent Connection. The duplexes have been envisioned as a thriving opportunity for economic development in town and hopefully a grant for hazardous materials abatement will help increase the value of the buildings by reducing the cost of potential renovations and making these spaces more attractive to businesses.

The grant is part of an annual program by the state to help rehabilitate brownfields and contaminated sites and turn them into positives in the state for economic development. The grant is part of a total of $20 million that will be used to support the remediation and redevelopment of 21 blighted properties consisting of 150 acres of contaminated land in 18 municipalities across Connecticut. The funds will be used to support the costs of cleaning up these vacant properties so they can be redeveloped and put back into productive use to support economic growth and housing needs.

Selectman Michelle Embree Ku asked if the project would just be used to replace the roofs or if other work would be done, such as remediation of lead paint.

First Selectman Jeff Capeci said the roofs would definitely be done, and if any money was left over, other work such as remediation would be done.

Finance Director Glenys Salas said there was also some money in the Capital Improvement Plan, with the hopes that the duplexes could be made “broom ready” for prospective tenants.

Lawsuit Against Legislative Council

In other Board of Selectmen news, the board also heard about a recently filed suit against the Legislative Council over its recent approval of an application to name Stone Bridge Trail a scenic road.

The council is being sued by MD285 Berkshire, LLC, alleging that the approval was “not by the process of adoption of an ordinance,” that Newtown ordinances had “illegally delegated power to designate scenic roads using a process other than adoption of an ordinance,” and that the “decision was not based on substantial evidence in the record demonstrating compliance with requirements of the ordinance.”

MD285 Berkshire, LLC, is owned by developer Mike D’Amato, who is building a seven home subdivision at 3 Stone Bridge Trail.

The scenic road designation, approved in late February, allows the road to be no wider than 20 feet wide, which is below the Newtown standard of 22 feet wide. Stone Bridge Trail is currently 14 feet wide. The scenic section would be 1,049 feet of the road, or about 43% of its total length of 2,383 feet, and represents the section to not be paved by the developer.

According to the application, the section of road includes “a stone bridge which crosses over a stream that cascades down the mountain in a stunning scene — believed to be the road’s namesake dating back to the Revolutionary War era.” The road is “lined by stone walls and mature trees, several of which are native species.”

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