Will Seek Legal Advice –

Council Puts Off Decision On

5/6 School And Fairfield Hills

By Steve Bigham

The Legislative Council Wednesday night reassured the public that it favors two separate votes at a single town meeting to decide the fate of the proposed 5/6 school and the purchase of Fairfield Hills.

The town meeting is tentatively scheduled to take place in early June. If a referendum were needed, that would be held on or around June 21, before families departed for their summer vacations.

A large crowd turned out for this week’s meeting as the council was expected to make some major decisions on the proposed bonding resolution for the two projects. However, all decisions were put on hold after First Selectman Herb Rosenthal made an 11th hour request to have the council meet with its attorneys first.

“We need to know we if ought to be protecting ourselves with the state, the dangers of passing certain types of authorizations before you have a deal worked out,” he explained. “I was worried they were going to stampede into some decision here without hearing all the stuff they need to hear.”

That meeting will take place in executive session next Wednesday.

With all voting tabled, the council instead held a general discussion on the overall plan. On Monday, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to recommend a $21 million spending plan for Fairfield Hills and municipal facilities to be considered by the council. The plan is a conceptual one. In the interest of time, the selectmen were asked to recommend a plan that lacked specifics but provided a general outline with best cost estimates. So far, council members appear to be on board with the plan, although some appear apprehensive about asking the town for such a large sum of money without having all the details

“We’re just shooting in the dark as far as that number. I don’t think we’re in a position to ask the town for $21 million because we just don’t have all the facts,” council member Don Studley said.

Mr Rosenthal said he hoped to have tighter dollar figures over the next month.

Peggy Baiad believes voting on both projects at one town meeting is ideal, but may not be possible. She, like many others, is against holding up the school for Fairfield Hills.

Will Rodgers said he hopes the first selectman can put pressure on the state during negotiations to get things going so that both projects can be voted on at one time.

“I always hear people say we need to know what we’re going to do with Fairfield Hills before we buy it. I disagree. We need to know what will happen if we don’t buy it,” he said. “There’s ways to frame it so that we’re not just buying a pig in a poke.”

Both Brian White and John Kortze said they favored having the 5/6 school and Fairfield Hills put to the public as one question.

“It’s time to vote together. It’s time for everyone to pull together,” Mr White said.

That may be a moot point, however, since any voter can request the vote be split.

Council Chairman Pierre Rochman explained that the town meeting vote would not be “an authorization to buy Fairfield Hills. It is an authorization to spend the money if we do decide to buy Fairfield Hills.”

The Board of Education, anxious to move forward with its new school, has requested the council hold a special meeting May 9 to set a town meeting. Mr Rochman said the meeting would likely take place May 16 to give his board more time to digest all the facts. Bids for the school will be opened May 2.

Mr Rochman said the meeting was significant despite the fact that no decisions on bonding resolutions were made.

“We had several agreements that were important,” he said. “Everyone is on board and in favor of building the school and purchasing Fairfield Hills. The other major item is that everybody is on board and would like the two bonding resolutions be at the town meeting, but not necessarily the same question.”