Focus Group To Discuss Fairfield Hills Plans This Weekend

By Kendra Bobowick

He is “absolutely” looking forward to the results of a small group discussion regarding Fairfield Hills this weekend, said Master Plan Review Committee Chairman Mike Floros.

Referring to a small microcosm council of potentially as many as 18 people that will meet privately this weekend from 9 am to 5 pm Saturday and 10 am to 2 pm Sunday, Mr Floros is eager to learn “what that group comes up with” on topics including commercial and housing development, economic opportunities, arts and recreation, educational uses, and more. The participants were selected from a round of cold calls to registered voters in past weeks.

Professional group moderator and community discussion leader Rosa Zubisarreta noted that an abundance of background material is available for review. Despite what might appear to be a daunting amount of information, she said Monday during a review committee meeting, “The most important thing is please show up!”

Although committee member Ben Roberts hopes participants at least look at “points to ponder” listed in the handful of documents available on the committee’s page on the Newtown-ct.gov website, he said, “The most important thing is that we have you there.”

Already posted on the town website are documents — works in progress — that can help inform the group of volunteers before they meet. “They can read the summary pages to get themselves up to speed — it has taken us months — and look at them if they want,” Mr Floros said. Noting that the research and discussions that went into compiling the documents has produced some “in-depth” information, Mr Floros said the reading is “not required,” but it “could help.” Participants can read briefly the summary pages, or “dive deep and spend hours” reviewing Fairfield Hills background materials.

Regarding the available information, Ms Zubisarreta said, “It’s wonderful that we have this …”

Members plan this week to make confirmation calls to the volunteer participants and to include details to the online information. The meeting is not open to the public. Ms Zubisarreta also said Monday, “The rationale is to have a protected space where people can explore issues creatively. The point of a microcosm council is to have a group that is diverse and work with them to come up with something outside the box.”

She presented committee members with a worksheet that she will also distribute to the microcosm council members. The page includes the challenges and opportunities that have faced Fairfield Hills since the town purchased the more than 180 acres, including: A recent economic downturn, potential leases that had fallen through, high costs of demolition, polarization around the relative priority of education, commercial, and municipal uses, desire of greater accountability and transparency of local government.

The worksheet explains, “The [review] committee has convened the microcosm council as the first stage in its public engagement efforts.”

The sheet states: “We expect that the microcosm council may wish to address related questions” such as: how to finance demolition on the Fairfield Hills campus, how might the town benefit — if at all — from converting some buildings into multiuse or diversity housing, what kind of development do residents want to see?

In past weeks, the review committee members had called a number of residents randomly seeking volunteers to devote a weekend to collectively discussing the former state hospital’s potential. “This is a unique opportunity for people to be involved in Fairfield Hills,” said review committee member Paul Lundquist.

Mr Roberts said, “It’s an open process to find out what matters most to the people that gather and have them work through whatever comes up.” The weekend work will be a structured process that he hopes will produce “a diversity of views.” Considering Fairfield Hills, Mr Roberts added, “It’s an asset and should bring us together, rather than push us apart.”

Mr Lundquist noted, “It’s a great process. There are polarized positions and with this process we can work through opinions to a consensus.”

The upcoming forum will inform a larger, communitywide conversation on the evenings of Wednesday, March 16, and Wednesday, March 23, between 6:30 and 9 pm, at the Edmond Town Hall. Mr Roberts asks that people arrive promptly, “as we will have a full agenda.” All are welcome, he said. “It will be engaging and positively focused, with lots of smaller group work so people will have plenty of opportunity to speak their minds.”

From the microcosm council and the larger community discussion, information will contribute to a townwide survey that Mr Lundquist hopes will circulate as soon as April.

Background

“It’s time for the public participation to kick in,” Mr Lundquist had said in past weeks. “Part of our charge is to make sure the public is engaged,” he said..

The committee had hoped to find at least 12 people to form the microcosm council — essentially a focus group of residents to discuss Fairfield Hills planning.

Mr Roberts imagines that individuals will soon see different perspectives and see diverse possibilities. Considering Fairfield Hills, he said, “We’re all in this together. We’ll talk about what matters and what happens at Fairfield Hills.”

The group may naturally “converge around one piece of the [Fairfield hills] puzzle,” Mr Roberts said. That piece is often a point of tension or disagreement. He would like to come out of the process with something that will “inform us on how to work together for something we love.” He wants an “inspired process” and a “creative spirit of collaboration,” he said. The process should “explore possibilities, get people excited.”

In a past interview he had explained, “This can be a great opportunity to help us deal with what we have to deal with. [Fairfield Hills planning] is not going to go away. We have to turn this into something for all of us.”

Consulting And Community Planning

Ms Zubisarreta works with Diapraxis, a firm hired for $7,500 per the Board of Selectmen’s recent approval. Based on the group’s website, Diapraxis.com, its efforts are for “organizational and community leaders: listening deeply to your own hopes and visions, for your community and your organization.

“And, listening carefully to all of the divergent perspectives in the larger whole …”

Her consultation firm handles a variety of actions, including the community planning process.