Ambulance Association

Still Considering FFH

By Kendra Bobowick

The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association members are still hoping to build a roughly 12,000-square-foot facility, potentially located in the vicinity of Norwalk Hall on the corner of Wasserman Way and Mile Hill South in Fairfield Hills.

Board of Trustees member Bruce Herring continued a conversation with Fairfield Hills Authority members and town officials recently, which began months ago when authority members unanimously approved a motion to welcome the town’s volunteer ambulance service to the former state hospital campus.

Reiterating this week the three stipulations that members had stressed at that time, authority Chairman John Reed still believes the ambulance association needs Planning and Zoning Commission approvals and an idea about whether the building can conform to the site, financing, and a construction timeline.

Both then and now, the authority is supportive of welcoming the ambulance members and facility to the Fairfield Hills campus, Mr Reed said. As of late September the authority has seen informal plot plans, said Mr Reed, who feels that the next key step would be the selection of an engineer and architect to secure schematic plans, he said.

Mr Herring is concerned about having enough space to support roughly 50 parking paces and the 12,000-square-foot construction. Norwalk Hall would need to come down, he said.

The association is currently fundraising, accepting donations, and will rely on operating income to cover new construction and associated costs.

First Selectman Pat Llodra and other town officials, including former Fairfield Hills Authority member Walt Motyka, liked the idea of making room for all of Newtown’s emergency services to “share acreage” at Fairfield Hills, she said. The ambulance association could be the first facility to relocate to Fairfield Hills, while the Newtown Police Department would come in the future, she said. Regarding shared acreage for emergency services, she said, “We still want to provide for that option.”

Regarding a lease for the eventual ambulance facility, she said that negotiations between the association and authority must be completed before going to the Planning and Zoning Commission and selectmen. “There is quite a bit of process” to be completed Mrs Llodra explained.

While the ambulance group’s plans for a new facility could work at their current 77 Main Street location, Mr Herring confirmed that they are still looking at the Fairfield Hills site, and whether it will fit their space needs.