There are two weeks remaining until the deadline for taking the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee’s survey on the future of the Fairfield Hills campus. The committee has been working for the past year assessing the current master plan for the town-owned property, exploring options for improving it, and making certain that it reflects a community consensus. Finding that consensus is a high priority for the panel, so if you wish them well in their mission, we urge you to take 20 minutes sometime before May 27 to fill out the survey. It is available online at www.FairfieldHillsSurvey.com, and paper copies are available at the Senior Center at 14 Riverside Road in Sandy Hook.

Everyone’s busy, and no one — even those of us whose job it is to keep track of these things — finds it easy to keep all the twists and turns of the issues surrounding the development of Fairfield Hills in mind long enough to formulate a coherent vision for the site right off the top of our heads. Fortunately, the survey includes an excellent overview of key issues that may affect your opinions and inform your answers. Like the committee that designed it, the survey considers Fairfield Hills not as a discrete entity but as an integral part of the town as a whole, so be prepared to weigh in with your view on some overall goals for the entire town.

While the prospect of housing at Fairfield Hills has been a main point of contention both in hearings before the Planning and Zoning Commission and in information-gathering sessions of the master plan committee, the purpose of this survey is not only to help pinpoint where the town stands on that issue, but to identify other uses — from pubs, coffeehouses, and restaurants to corporate office suites, multi-plex theaters, and big box stores — that the people of Newtown might want to see at Fairfield Hills. If you have any preference, this is the time and place to let the town’s leaders know.

Unfortunately, there is plenty of evidence in our recent history that the public interest does not always align with the interests of our elected representatives at all levels of government, especially when “special interests” invest heavily in their campaigns. Those who would lead us always claim to represent the will of the public, but we never know how valid those claims are until after the votes are counted and the governing begins.

This survey on Fairfield Hills gives Newtown’s electorate the rare opportunity to quantify the will of the people on these issues before this year’s local election. It will frame the debate and serve as a guide for judging which candidates best represent the town. More importantly, it will form the basis of the revision of the Fairfield Hills Master Plan, which will guide what actually happens at Fairfield Hills in the critical years ahead. In this regard, registering your opinion in this survey may be just as important as your vote in November. Don’t miss this opportunity.