Fairfield Hills Authority Chair To Resign

By Kendra Bobowick

Fairfield Hills Authority Chairman Bob Geckle will resign as of May 31 from the appointed body of volunteers overseeing the former state hospital’s plans for reuse. He has been part of the process to redevelop the buildings and grounds since the state purchased the more than 180-acre core portion of the state’s land in 2001.

Cathy Geckle answered the Geckles’ phone this week and relayed a question to her husband, “How many years Bob?”

“Nine years,” he answered.

“It’s enough!” she said.

Coming to the phone Mr Geckle agreed, “Yes. And it’s congratulations.”

He said, “I am moving into my tenth year and I decided that it is time to move on and do something else. This will open a slot for new eyes and ears.” With less than 30 days remaining in his tenure as the authority chair, he said, “I need a little time off for now. It’s been a labor of love.”

During a Board of Selectmen’s meeting Monday, May 3, First Selectman Pat Llodra said, “There is a vacancy.” The empty seat will be filled by either a Republican, like Mr Geckle, or an “undesignated” resident, Mrs Llodra said Monday. During this month’s regular authority meeting on May 19 at 7:30 pm in the C.H. Booth Library, Mr Geckle anticipates that members will select a new chairman. In coming weeks the Board of Selectmen will interview and appoint a new authority member.

Looking forward to May 31, Mr Geckle said, “I have always contributed and believed in giving to the community in which I live.”

Another longtime volunteer who has been with the group that evolved from conceiving a master plan for redevelopment to an ad hoc committee and eventually to the Fairfield hills Authority, John Reed will miss his colleague, saying, “I have a great deal of respect for Bob. No one has any idea of the hours of time he put in.”

Newtown did a “unique and difficult thing when it bought Fairfield Hills,” he said, and although no one believed that implementing the master plan would be easy, Mr Geckle “demonstrated leadership in a difficult time period,” said Mr Reed, adding, Mr Geckle has been the chairman because “he has the trust of the authority members. I am grateful for his service to the town.”