Authority Legislation Dropped

By Jan Howard

Without a master plan in place for Fairfield Hills, State Rep Julia Wasserman and State Sen John McKinney will withdraw the Special Act Creating a Fairfield Hills Authority from inclusion in a state budget implementer bill.

Voters rejected the master plan for Fairfield Hills, 1,238 to 1,084, in an advisory referendum on August 12.

The special act has been languishing in Hartford pending approval of the state budget. The two legislators had hoped to attach the special act to a budget implementer bill, but first there had to be a budget. The voters’ rejection of the master plan, however, made passage of the special act moot at this time.

“Without the plan, the special act is not needed right now,” Sen McKinney said on August 13. He noted the town should work on the plan and seek passage of the special act in the next legislative session.

“Next year’s session is just around the corner,” he said.

“I have no trouble withdrawing the authority from the implementer bill. Without a plan there is no authority,” Rep Wasserman said.

“I had recommended six months ago that the town go the direction of charter revision, and that advice was not taken seriously. I don’t like to see this entire Fairfield Hills issue become political,” she said. “I think we should put down the issue of the authority until Newtown decides what its leadership is going to be after the election.”

“Charter revision always has been an option,” Sen McKinney said. “What is the most important thing right now is agreement on the master plan.”

Sen McKinney noted his concern about the low turnout of 15 percent for the advisory referendum. “The 85 percent need to show up to public hearings and to vote,” he said, noting that residents of Newtown also need to have a better understanding of what the master plan is.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said he is not concerned if the special act does not go forward at this time because there is no master plan in place.

“The authority would not go into effect until we own the property and a plan is in place,” he said.

He said a special act was sought because the bidding process in the charter would need to be changed in regard to Fairfield Hills. Charter revision can take a long time and often fails, he noted.

“Many have failed over the years, and there are many ways charters can fail,” he said.

Charter revision is not an easy thing to do, he said. “It’s difficult because of the time it takes. We thought this was the easiest way to get it done.”

Mr Rosenthal said waiting until the next legislative session to have the special act approved would “cut down on the time for an authority to get up and running.” However, he added, “It’s not critical if it didn’t happen now.”

Rep Wasserman told Republican Town Committee members at their meeting August 11 that she had met recently with officials of the state Office of Policy and Management regarding the Fairfield Hills sale, and they hope to finalize the sale before the end of the year.