Council Starts To Talk About

Conciliation As It Takes Up Fairfield Hills

By Steve Bigham

There’s nothing like the holidays to bring people together, and members of the Legislative Council are hoping this week’s Council Christmas party will go a long way towards smoothing over some of the differences that have emerged among council members this year.

For this social event, however, the topic is more likely to be “peace on earth, good will toward men” instead of the usual council contention. The much-talked about Fairfield Hills issue continues to remain at the forefront and town officials are now saying they expect the upcoming budget season to be more challenging than ever. Members are suggesting that this would be a good time to put personal differences aside and put the best interest of the town at the forefront.

“We definitely will not be talking business I can assure you,” noted council chairman Pierre Rochman of the Wednesday night party to be held at the home of council member Peggy Baiad. “It does sort of get everybody to look at each other more as fellow workers instead of people with opposing views sitting on opposite sides of the table. Hopefully it will make the job a little easier down the line.”

Vice chairman Melissa Pilchard says everyone on the board needs to bury the hatchet, so to speak.

“Usually the council people truly like each other and learn from each other. With this council, it was obvious that some people didn’t like others and would let that interfere with their better judgment,” she said this week. “We have an enormously tough budget coming up in addition to Fairfield Hills. I hope people put their private differences aside and work in concert under Pierre’s leadership.”

Will Rodgers said he sees the council leadership trying to work closer with the rest of the members toward a more positive end.

“It appears that those people who have been in the minority on some votes and who have been sources of friction are trying to make an effort to be more cooperative,” he said.

Council member John Kortze is not concerning himself with past council quarrels these days. He predicts the upcoming budget process will be a major challenge. Nevertheless, he sees the council continuing to work together for the good of the town.

“When it comes time to getting things done, I think we will. I think the council always works well together and will continue to do so,” he said, pointing out that a slowing economy will make decisions that much tougher.

On Thursday, the council was slated to get back to the serious business of Fairfield Hills. It planned to continue its discussion of the Board of Selectmen’s proposed request for proposals (RFP), which is designed to attract builders who may be interested in making a bid to develop the 185-acre site.

Two weeks ago, Mr Rochman halted all talks on the document because it was 10:30 pm at that point, too late for the council to have any substantive discussions on the issue. His decision to discontinue the meeting came just minutes after referring to the RFP as a “Trojan Horse” with a process that allows the selectmen to set the agenda and keeps the Legislative Council out of the Fairfield Hills planning process.

In response to Mr Rochman’s decision to halt the discussion, Mr Rosenthal accused Mr Rochman and Mrs Pilchard of “stonewalling” the process, pointing out that they do not have the votes to stop the RFP from getting council approval.

This week, Mr Rochman indicated a willingness to go forward. “Up to now, everyone on the council was very impatient with respect to Fairfield Hills. Now that we’re out of the gate with it, I think we are working together at refining the RFP. I do think from here on forward we’re going to get progress and come together much better.”

Nevertheless, Mr Rochman appears to be moving ahead somewhat reluctantly.

“We do have this RFP and short of saying, ‘no we don’t want to deal with it,’ we need to take this RFP and try to make it as good as can be,” he said.

This week, Mr Rochman, with the help of council member Doug Brennan, is compiling council members’ comments on the proposed RFP.

Mr Rochman noted that the RFP asks developers to propose a master plan to the town. The council chairman will suggest an independent group be hired to develop a master plan from a different perspective, someone who is non-profit motivated. He pointed to the landscape architectural school at the University of Connecticut, which, for $5,000, has offered to take on Newtown and Fairfield Hills as its project for next semester.

“I would expect I would get a different kind of development scenario. I will broach the subject Thursday night,” Mr Rochman said. “Maybe both can be merged somewhere down the line.”