First Selectman: Taxpayer Costs For Fairfield Hills Complaints ‘Close To $1 Million’

By John Voket

Newtown officials are chafing at the price the town has had to pay to address complaints and concerns about suspected labor, health, and environmental violations on several Fairfield Hills development projects that were lodged with state officials by local individuals who have opposed the way Fairfield Hills is being developed.

Accounting for the time put in by volunteers whose work would have otherwise been done by paid consultants, by public works staff, and work done by his office, First Selectman Joe Borst told The Newtown Bee this week that he expects the final taxpayer costs resulting from Fairfield Hills opponents’ complaints to various state agencies alleged violations will come “close to $1 million.”

Fairfield Hills Authority Chairman Robert Geckle has reported to the Legislative Council and Board of Selectmen that the “conservative taxpayer costs” incurred by the authority, the town, and its taxpayers after a number of citizens, including Councilwoman Po Murray, questioned state officials about Fairfield Hills issues would top $662,217.

“Since we didn’t get anything for it, the town might as well have taken the [money] and flushed it down the toilet,” Democratic Selectman Herb Rosenthal said after hearing the report.

Following his July 1 report to the council, Mr Geckle said all the incremental expenditures might have instead been put to work bolstering the authority’s surplus — which he reported was down to just $130,000 at the fiscal year’s end — for demolition, infrastructure, or for matching grant funds.

The authority chair said the single benefit of all the protracted testing and vetting of data by state health and environmental agents was achieving a benchmark standard for asbestos testing that will be accepted by those state agencies going forward on all future demolition and construction projects on the campus.

Regardless, the authority chairman said it was unfortunate that taxpayers had to bear such a weighty penalty for tips and theories dispatched to state agencies. He said that besides the accountable costs, hundreds of additional volunteer hours were spent by authority members and others during the course of sometimes concurrent inquiries by state officials.

Mr Geckle said there was also an apparent revenue impact to the Newtown Youth Academy, which was scheduled to open last November 1 with a permanent parking lot in place where the former Greenwich Hall still stands, albeit in a state of partial demolition.

“We could have met that November 1 deadline if we weren’t bogged down in these investigations,” Mr Geckle said. “Look how fast the original Youth Academy building went up.”

 

Unprecedented Scrutiny

At the height of the multiagency inquiries last fall, Public Works Director Fred Hurley said he had “never seen the level of scrutiny on the part of state agencies being devoted to ongoing development projects at Fairfield Hills.” Mr Hurley further questioned whether certain concerns justified putting construction and demolition on hold indefinitely.

Council Chairman Will Rodgers said he had no doubt that the campaign was spurious, and in the case of Councilwoman Murray’s letter questioning prevailing wage practices on demolition and parking projects at the town-owned campus, he publicly characterized the memo as “whistleblowing on your own town.”

“It’s a shame,” Mr Rodgers said. “I remain unconvinced that the efforts were altruistic in terms of their concern for fair labor or environmental practices. It’s pretty clear now that they were simply delaying tactics.”

Mr Rodgers predicted that the news of additional costs and delays would surface as future points of criticism among residents who have been long opposed to the plans and progress being made on the campus.

“It’s pure hypocrisy,” Mr Rodgers concluded.

Councilwoman Patricia Llodra, who is a Republican candidate for first selectman, said even the conservative cost estimates of $662,217 are “significant.”

“This money could have been used to take down Litchfield Hall,” Ms Llodra said of another former Fairfield Hills hospital building slated for demolition. The councilwoman said that most, if not all, the answers to concerns articulated in anonymous or documented complaint letters to state agencies were, or could have been made, available. But, she said, preliminary answers to opponents of Fairfield Hills projects, including the development of a new government center, lacked either “sufficient depth or quickness.”

Ms Llodra said she cannot fault state officials who were bound to react to even nameless complaints with “an abundance of caution because of health and safety concerns” that were articulated. Ms Llodra said in the case of Ms Murray’s letter in which she evoked her council status, the complaint would have been taken even more seriously “than if it was registered by an average citizen.”

Democratic first selectman candidate Gary Fetzer, who attended the selectmen’s meeting, said the expenditures for reacting to the Fairfield Hills complaints “could have filled a lot of need locally.”

“This is proof that every action has a reaction,” Mr Fetzer said. “It also illustrates that people need to be careful when their special interests outweigh the needs of the community, especially in the current economy. In this case these people cost the taxpayers $700,000. And the taxpayers got absolutely nothing for that money.”

Ms Murray, who was contacted via email for comments while away on vacation, responded to the FFH Authority chairman’s report saying she was reviewing the memo and that she has “many questions regarding the financial analysis provided by Mr Geckle.” 

Relenting that the town is making some progress in responding to questions and complaints about its practices, Ms Murray said, “It has not been easy finding and receiving information in Newtown. Questions from residents (or some town officials) are often dismissed. We have [a] significant amount of work remaining to continue to work to become more transparent and to improve our communication.”

In her written response to critics of her letter to the Department of Labor, Ms Murray said, “The town must always abide by the law (whether it agrees with the law or not). I am a firm believer that the end does not justify the means.” She added that “any attempt to skirt the law will add unnecessary cost, time, and energy.”

Ms Murray said the time invested in the thorough investigation of the applicable federal and state laws and regulations related to FFH redevelopment with the guidance of the Department of Health and the Department of Labor will prove to be beneficial. The councilwoman also took umbrage with critics, including council Chairman Rodgers, referring to her letter as “whistleblowing” on her own community.

“The term ‘whistleblower’ implies there is either corruption or wrongdoing,” Ms Murray said, referring to the definition of the term. “I support the town correcting any wrongdoing to put Newtown on the right track. I will continue to encourage the town to work to improve its credibility and to build trust during our quest to redevelop the Fairfield Hills property.”

Independent Party of Newtown Chairman Bruce Walczak defended Ms Murray’s actions, saying: “The town ultimately negotiated a compromise with the Department of Labor as I understand it, to isolate Newtown Youth Academy parking from public parking, which does not seem to be in compliance with the master plan strategy for parking at Fairfield Hills. Naturally the glass can be either half full or half empty, depending on your point of view.”

Mr Walczak said he does not share the premise that the cost incurred to abide by the law, state statutes, and environmental procedures was due to “whistleblowing,” rather than simply a byproduct of the town being obligated to follow the law, both labor and environmental.

“The town not following the procedures, or its questionable interpretation of prevailing wage regulations, should not be blamed on anyone who may have questioned the town’s interpretation. That’s like blaming a police officer for catching someone breaking the law,” Mr Walczak said. “We all have a moral obligation to question and report potentially illegal practices, including The Newtown Bee.”

Mr Borst balked at Ms Murray’s and Mr Walczak’s contentions saying that answers to every concern brought up to the state level were available locally.

“It’s just that those were not the answers they wanted to hear,” the first selectman said. “They just wanted to slow or stop progress at Fairfield Hills, which ended up delaying our work up there by more than four months.”