Selectmen To Consider Survey On Fairfield Hills Issues

By Jan Howard

A possible survey regarding the rejected Fairfield Hills Master Plan will be discussed at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday, November 25.

Through a completed survey, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said he hopes a clear picture would emerge as to what elements of the plan need to be modified.

“I know we would make some modifications,” he said. “The areas of most concern were pretty basic.”

He said people who have talked to him about how they voted on the plan have indicated concerns about private sector commercial uses of the property, number and cost of playing fields, and a new versus renovated town hall.

Commercial uses of the property were the most controversial, he said. Some people told him there was not enough revenue-producing uses proposed for the property while others told him there was too much.

“Some said there were too many playing fields and that they were too costly,” he said.

While some people have told him the timing was not right for the town hall, most concerns were voiced about whether a new building should be constructed or an existing building renovated.

Some others told him they could have supported most of the plan but voted against one or two aspects of it.

“There’s no way you could ever accommodate too little or too much,” Mr Rosenthal said, noting some compromise would have to be reached.

Mr Rosenthal said that he has had several discussions regarding a survey with representatives of the Center for Survey Research and Analysis, the polling unit of the University of Connecticut. The center has conducted 300 survey projects over the last 20 years, including surveys of town services for municipalities such as West Hartford, Groton, and Avon.

“I want to talk to them once more before I discuss it with the Board of Selectmen,” Mr Rosenthal said.

“They have done all types of surveys,” Mr Rosenthal said, “either general or specific to a topic.”

He said the center’s staff has qualitative, quantitative, and statistical backgrounds to analyze results.

Mr Rosenthal said he has given the center a copy of the master plan on which to base their questionnaire.

If the selectmen give the nod to a survey, Mr Rosenthal said the center would prepare an actual proposal for the town. He estimates the survey would be in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, which would be paid from the budgeted Fairfield Hills account. The center offers municipalities a 28 percent discount, he said.

He said once he gets the go ahead from the selectmen, the survey would be conducted as soon as possible.

Mr Rosenthal said the center completes all facets of the survey. “It’s all done in-house,” he noted, from design of the questionnaire to the final report.

The center has recommended a random telephone survey of at least 400 residents as a representation of the community. “It would be a broad sampling of the community,” Mr Rosenthal said, “of people who voted and those who didn’t.”

The center would also conduct two press events to make residents aware of the upcoming survey. “They want the public to be aware they will be calling,” he said. Publicity prior to the survey would bring more successful results, he added.

The telephone interview would be fairly lengthy, he said, about 12 to 15 minutes. “You have to have people who are willing to spend the time answering the questions,” he noted.

Once the town owns the Fairfield Hills property, the number one priority there would most likely be demolition of buildings for which there would be no future use. He noted, however, nothing can be done until a master plan is in effect.

“Unless Planning and Zoning (P&Z) changes the zoning of the property, we can’t do anything until there is a plan,” he said.

Mr Rosenthal said once a master plan is in the hands of the P&Z members, they would hold hearings on what they would approve as uses for the property.

“There will be an opportunity for the public to be involved [at that time],” he said.

In the future, projects proposed for the Fairfield Hills campus would also go through a hearing process where people could have their say, he said. Funds would have to be approved in the planning and implementation stages.