Date: Fri 05-Feb-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

edink-Fairfield-Hills-purchase

Full Text:

ED INK: Should The Town Buy Fairfield Hills?

Last October, an advisory committee charged by the Board of Selectmen to

review issues associated with the possible town purchase of the 185-acre core

campus of the state-owned Fairfield Hills conluded that it would not be a good

deal for the town. Now citizen petitioners are finding significant public

support for a second look at the issue. Hundreds of townspeople have signed a

petition that asks that the selectmen appoint a new committee comprised of

members of various local organizations to more closely examine the issues that

would arise if the town were to acquire the Fairfield Hills property.

To be sure, the issues that discouraged the original selectmen's advisory

committee last year have not magically disappeared. There are significant

expenses associated with the maintenance of Fairfield Hills as it now stands,

with estimated annual costs ranging as high as $1 million. Also, with a

million square feet of vacant space at the Fairfield Hills campus, there would

be significant liabilities for the town. If some of the buildings were to be

refitted for new uses or torn down, asbestos removal costs would inflate the

normal cost of construction or demolition. And the initial purchase price of

the property is daunting. (Estimates range from $3 million to $12 million,

depending in part on the amount of asbestos removal the town is willing to

undertake.) If the town chooses to market the property at some point, there

will be expenses associated with that as well.

These costs, when coupled with the growing list of capital projects the town

anticipates in the coming years, would lead any prudent study panel to balk as

the selectman's advisory committee did last October. Even without the possible

purchase of Fairfield Hills figured in, the town's planned projects, including

new or expanded municipal office space and a new school for grades 5 and 6,

could cost the town as much as $50 million over the next several years.

Yet we agree with those signing the petition circulating in town that the Town

of Newtown shouldn't completely rule out the purchase Fairfield Hills without

fully considering the advantages along with the drawbacks.

The state's Office of Policy and Management is currently considering a dozen

proposals for the development of the 185-acre core campus at Fairfield Hills.

So far, details of the proposals have been hard to come by, but what we have

seen so far indicates that the more serious plans under consideration call for

a mixed use of the property with significant components of residential and

commercial development. While these uses will add to Newtown's tax base,

generating revenue for the town, they will also increase the demand for

municipal services.

In considering this question, Newtown must understand that plans afoot for

Fairfield Hills are likely to establish an engine for continued, even

accelerated, growth in the heart of the town. Any firm that takes on the

development of Fairfield Hills will want to realize profits as soon as

possible, and the development there will move quickly. Given the rate of

growth, particularly residential growth, already seen throughout the rest of

town, the effects of this pending transformation of Fairfield Hills could

further strain the town's ability to keep up with the demands of its own

populace. If Newtown needs $50 million in capital projects now, what will it

need after Fairfield Hills is fully developed?

Instead of creating a new engine for growth at Fairfield Hills, perhaps the

town would be better served by having the campus remain as an island of

stability in the center of town. Before the town exercises its right of first

refusal on the state sale of Fairfield Hills, it should determine which course

will better serve Newtown. This will require a second serious look at whether

or not the town should buy the campus outright.