The Other Side Of The Story

To the Editor:

Regarding last week’s article titled “Selectmen Back Survey On Fairfield Hills Issues,” I was surprised and disappointed to find that you did not share with your readers the other side of the Fairfield Hills story.

Many months ago, during public meetings when our selectmen discussed paying $10,000 to survey public opinion on the Fairfield Hills plan, taxpayers spoke up and cried foul. They reminded the Board of Selectmen that a survey had already been conducted by the town, along with another by The Newtown Bee, another by the Friends Of Fairfield Hills, and another (the largest) conducted on behalf of the town by its FFH planning firm.

Over 1,000 of Newtown’s taxpayers had taken the time to express their opinion. After all the surveys were completed and analyzed, the majority opinion on the primary question in each of the four different surveys was the same. Despite this, our leadership put its ill-fated FFH plan to a town vote. It was no surprise that the plan was defeated because it did not reflect the wishes of the majority of the people who will be paying the $20 million dollars to build it.

With the recent election now behind him, our first selectman and the Board of Selectmen have chosen to undermine the public process required for FFH to suit some other agenda. Do you remember a few years ago when he asked the taxpayers to agree to fund $20 million for the FFH project? And when the public insisted that it be involved in the planning process, our first selectman agreed and added that the final development plan would be put to a town vote.

Today, the first selectman argues that when the town voted to defeat the project, he had technically met his commitment of “a town vote” and was therefore no longer bound to getting approval from the taxpayers.

So he and the selectmen have decided to make their own minor modifications to the plan that the town has already defeated and spend $10,000 or more on 400 phone calls to appease the public.

And this, Mr Editor, is the other side of the Fairfield Hills story.

Kevin Fitzgerald

24 Old Farm Hill Road, Newtown                                 May 21, 2004