Date: Fri 13-Aug-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Fairfield-Hills-Rosenthal

Full Text:

Rosenthal Will Make Key Decision On Town's Interest In Fairfield Hills

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Newtown taxpayers will have a say on whether they want to pay for Fairfield

Hills, but First Selectman Herb Rosenthal gets to decide whether or not

townspeople even get to consider the question. He could simply tell the state

that Newtown is not interested in buying the land.

According to the town charter, any appropriation over $100,000 must be

approved at a town meeting. However, a first selectman could easily snuff out

any spending proposal long before it even reaches the Legislative Council. Mr

Rosenthal has no intentions of doing that, however.

"Chances are, I'll indicate interest," he said. "If nothing else, it buys us

more time. It doesn't bind us to anything."

The selection team in Hartford is expected to make a final decision on one of

the three prospective developers by early October, according to Mr Rosenthal.

From there, the state will then negotiate with that developer. Once an

agreement is reached, the state will carry out its duty to offer

right-of-first-refusal on the property to the town.

First, the state's Office of Policy and Management (OPM) would send a letter

to the first selectman's office offering the right-of-first-refusal. The town

will then have 45 days to respond. If Mr Rosenthal checks the "yes" box, the

town would then have another 60 days to negotiate a purchase price with the

state.

"Presumably that offer would need to be similar to what they had (from the

developers). I don't know if we'd have to match the offer, but pretty close,"

Mr Rosenthal figured. "We might make the argument that there are benefits to

the town buying it."

Once an agreement is made, the issue would then go to the town boards for

approval. The Planning & Zoning Commission may have some say, but the decision

on spending will be made by the Legislative Council. From there, the proposal

moves on to a town meeting where it must be approved by a majority vote.

Residents who do not like the results of the town meeting have the right to

petition for a town-wide referendum.

The three developers will present their plans to the public September 9 in the

Newtown High School assembly room.