See Fairfield Hills

As Money In The Bank

To the Editor:

On October 18, I attended a Legislative Council meeting to hear about the proposed plan by the Collins Company for the economic development of Fairfield Hills. The Collins proposal seems to be the favored plan of Herb Rosenthal, assuming that our first selectman can and does negotiate a sale of the property for the town.

Mr Collins presented a slide show of 30 years of work and it was very impressive. His plan for Newtown is essentially to use five of the central buildings and 40 acres and make a technology park. He believes that the location, type of building, and need for software or dot.com space is very adaptable to Fairfield Hills. Mr Collins states that people will not live here, but will commute to Newtown; they will use Route 84 and Route 34, and they expect to employ 2,000 to 2,500 people. He says that Newtown will receive approximately $4 million from personal property tax from these companies. Sound good?

In essence, Mr Collins wants to purchase only one building at a time. He will retrofit and lease one building prior to purchasing another. No time line was given for this procedure. The costs of the four other buildings would remain Newtown’s responsibility until Mr Collins needs them. Can he fill these buildings? Will dot.coms become steady employers? It has been my experience that dot.com enterprises are young entrepreneurial folks who like urban settings. Will Mr Collins sell a bedroom community to this demographic? If he does, they will be young folks starting families and wanting to move to a community like Newtown for our excellent schools and rural life style. How long before we actually see revenue from this project in tax dollars, or is it possible that the revenue will be spent on supporting these employees with additional schools, roads, and services? Can we keep the project full? If he can’t, we will have tied up these buildings and land for years and lost their value for the town’s use. And, is it wise to put all our eggs in one technology basket? Isn’t there truth in keeping a portfolio diversified?

While we are waiting for these possibilities, the reality is that the town has diverse needs, now. We need additional space for the town hall offices; we need spaces for a new fire station and 5/6 school; we need adequate facilities for the Police Department; we need additional ball fields and gyms; and as Newtown grows, we will need space and accessibility for future town government and town facilities. We cannot afford not to keep Fairfield Hills for Newtown. I see Fairfield Hills as money in the bank for our future growth. For those of you who say, “We can’t afford it,” I  say, “Pay it now or pay more later!”

I propose that we give Mr Collins’ plan a pass and use the recent 35-acre “gift” in Commerce Park for future economic development. We need the Fairfield Hills property to fill Newtown’s present and future needs, now!

Sincerely,

Margo S. Lopez-Cepero

Toddy Hill Road, Sandy Hook                                     October 25, 2000