Review Committee Readies Summary For Selectmen

By Kendra Bobowick

Moving to accept the executive summary of their final report and pass it to the Board of Selectmen in coming days, Master Plan Review Committee members reached a significant moment Wednesday, August 3.

“It took a lot of hard work and discussion, but we are in a better place than we were weeks ago,” said Chairman Michael Floros.

With a unanimous vote to forward the summary to the Board of Selectmen, members will do so as soon as the document receives final corrections. The report will be made public once it is presented to the selectmen, confirmed member Deborra Zukowski.

The executive summary offers an outline of recommendations that will be detailed in a full report that members hope to complete by the end of August and present to selectmen in early September.

Past weeks’ discussion found the group refining and agreeing upon specific language in various executive summary sections, which they concluded this week with a nearly two-hour back-and-forth regarding the idea of selling portions of land on the Fairfield Hills campus.

Working to find wording acceptable to the majority of committee members in attendance Wednesday, six of the seven volunteers eventually approved the following executive summary recommendations on the sale of land:

“We do not recommend the consideration of sale of parcels of land unless guidelines are met. Guidelines include language specifying that a parcel sale would: be in support of a cohesive theme for the campus; see a robust public engagement process that leads to public support; be limited to certain areas such as those that are not land banked open land, which should not be considered; that present a clear economic benefit to the town; and be an open and transparent deal.”

Adding a last sentence to the discussion, members agreed to write: “For a full list of potential benefits and concerns, see full report.”

Review committee members were charged in the last year to review the master plan for reuse of the Fairfield Hills property. The current plan of 2005 includes specifications for a review process. Members have sought public comment, solicited participation both in communitywide forums, discussions, and in-depth surveys. Members have researched various pieces of the master plan, reviewed the town’s overall economic status, viewed the potential uses at Fairfield Hills, considered it from economic, community, recreational, rural, and cultural arts perspectives, among others, and have met as often as three times in one week on occasion to refine the report they will present to selectmen.