Fairfield Hills Management Plan Considered

By Dottie Evans

The Board of Selectmen listened to suggestions from Danbury Attorney David Grogins of Cohen and Wolf on Monday night, concerning a draft management plan for Fairfield Hills to be put into effect once the state’s sale of the 186-acre property to the town of Newtown is completed.

Local officials want to close the deal before summer.

“This is a very special piece of property with municipal, open space, and commercial components,” Mr Grogins said.

A plan was needed, he explained, whereby commercial or private leases of certain properties at Fairfield Hills could be more readily sought, contracted, and managed by a separate entity that would be acting under the direction of the town through its approved Fairfield Hills Master Plan, but where the town would not be acting as developer.

To introduce these concepts, Mr Grogins presented a two-page document titled, “An Act Creating A Fairfield Hills Authority In The Town Of Newtown” to the three selectmen and lengthy discussion followed concerning terms and wording of the document, which was called a special act.

Mr Grogins said the purpose of the special act was to establish a Fairfield Hills Authority, and that it would first have to be approved by the Board of Selectmen and the Legislative Council. Then the special act would have to be enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives at an upcoming session of the legislature.

“As it stands, the process [of leasing properties to private interests] would be very cumbersome,” Mr Grogins said, because current charter provisions concerning sealed bids would make it very difficult to negotiate with private entities.

“The process does not lend itself… for example, the charter says we must advertise in the newspapers 30 days ahead of time. In this case, someone could come in on a property at the last minute after seeing a notice in the newspaper.

“Also, the town wants some maintenance of the present character of the facility,” he added, “and we have been looking at lots of ways to do this. Something like a port authority is needed,” he said, to carry out the directives of the Fairfield Hills Master Plan.

Although it is a “mixed-use property,” he added, “there needs to be a redevelopment statute to the charter and the special act could allow for that.

“Any uses beyond what is specifically stated in the Master Plan would require an amendment to the plan,” Mr Grogins said.

As for who would carry out the dictates of the special act, the first selectman would appoint six members (electors) with the approval of the other two selectmen, who would be called the authority. The authority would constitute a governing body similar to the group of six that manages Edmond Town Hall.

“We’ve got a precedent for this with the Board of Managers established in 1931,” Mr Grogins said.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal asked whether the authority would legitimately supercede the Home Rule Act provision of the town charter, and Mr Grogins said that State Representative Julia Wasserman and Senator John McKinney would have the state’s lawyers look at that issue.

Mr Grogins added that during the process of reaching out to developers, the proposed authority would be bound and directed by and “must follow,” the Master Plan as approved by the Board of Selectmen. The plan has yet to be approved by the Legislative Council, Planning and Zoning, and the townspeople by a town meeting vote.

Furthermore, the authority could not operate outside of the Master Plan, but they would need to have some license to go out to the marketplace for the purposes of negotiation.

“Would municipal properties like the proposed new town hall building planned for Fairfield Hills fall under the control of the authority?” Selectman Joe Bojnowski asked.

“No, the municipal areas would be carved out and managed by the town except in the case of shared facilities like parking for businesses, or baseballs fields, or sidewalks,” Mr Grogins answered.

First Selectman Rosenthal also saw the authority acting as landlords for buildings that are owned by the town but leased to private concerns. He said they could be marketing managers, as it were.

Mr Grogins pointed out that they would also have oversight of the mothballed buildings that are being held for possible future development.

“But there would need to be an amendment to the Master Plan before any of these mothballed sites were brought on line,” he advised.

How To Control              The Controllers

Mr Bojnowski wanted to be sure there would be no confusion as to the control exerted by the proposed authority.

“We don’t want the authority changing the Master Plan. They should [only] implement it,” he said.

The selectmen wanted it made clear, however, that there needed to be flexibility on the town’s part to enter into a contract with the authority, if it chose, to do repair and maintenance on municipal buildings. This might happen if the authority turned out to be especially efficient and effective in these areas.

Mr Grogins said he would rework the document so it was clear the authority would have no power to amend the Master Plan.

He and the three selectmen finally agreed on the following wording in Sections 3 and 4 of the Special Act:

The Authority shall adopt the “Master Plan” for the Fairfield Hills Campus, as approved by the Newtown Planning and Zoning Commission, which may be amended, from time to time, by the Board of Selectmen and the Legislative Council of the Town.

The Authority shall have all the powers necessary or convenient to undertake and carry out the Master Plan, including, without limitation, the power to clear, demolish, repair, rehabilitate, construct or insure real property while in its possession, to make site improvements essential to the preparation of land for its use in accordance with the Master Plan, to install, construct or reconstruct streets, utilities and other improvements necessary to carry out the objectives of the Master Plan, and to lease all or any part of the land and buildings comprising the Fairfield Hills Campus in the name of the Town in accordance with the Master Plan.

At the end of the evening, the selectmen voted unanimously to endorse the special act with the changes agreed upon during Monday night’s meeting.

“Now we’ve got a blueprint for contingencies,” Mr Rosenthal said.

“The control is with the selectmen and the council, not the authority.”

Although Mr Grogins had first suggested there be five members (electors) of the authority, Selectman Bill Brimmer preferred having six members, similar to the Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers.

“I like that number better, in order to preserve political balance,” Mr Brimmer said.