The current Fairfield Hills Management Committee is the latest incarnation of a lineage of panels, ad hoc and otherwise, that have been trying to wrestle a diffuse Fairfield Hills vision into viability over the past decade. The experience Newtown has accumulated on the Fairfield Hills issue through its various false starts, missteps, and changes of heart along the way is beginning to pay dividends in the work of the committee. Now that the facility finally belongs to the town, the campus is far more secure from the elements and vandalism than it has been in years, and a master plan for its long-term development that generally reflects the public will is about to be enacted.

So it is time to relax and enjoy the fruits of all this hard work, right? Not just yet.

While the Planning and Zoning Commission works out the fine points of the master plan and its related Fairfield Hills Adaptive Reuse (FHAR) zone, the Fairfield Hills Management Committee and the town officials it advises have one more important detail to work out: Who will be in charge of Fairfield Hills?

In June of 2003, Newtown came very close to creating a powerful and largely autonomous Fairfield Hills Authority that had little or no direct accountability to the public. The legislation that would have created the authority was attached to a state budget implementer bill that fortunately was thwarted by a budget stalemate in Hartford. That authority would have had the power to demolish, repair, rehabilitate, or construct real property, make site improvements, tear up or construct streets, and lease all or any part of the land beneath the buildings under its control, hire employees and private contractors, and to spend whatever funds it was able to raise through leases and fees at its own discretion.

Once again a seeming setback on the road to realizing Fairfield Hills’ best potential has given local officials the time for further reflection and consideration of alternatives — better alternatives. The Fairfield Hills Management Committee is now prepared to recommend an entity to oversee day-to-day affairs at Fairfield Hills with more responsibilities and duties, but with far less autonomy. Elected officials, who in turn would have to answer to the public, would still make policy decisions with regard to Fairfield Hills.

Whether the long-term management of Fairfield Hills is established through state legislation, charter revision, or a combination of the two, the process now promises to unfold with full public participation. For the town to realize Fairfield Hills’ best potential for improving local life, the community needs to remain at the center of the process. So when we ask, “Who will be in charge of Fairfield Hills?” the answer must always be, “The people of Newtown.”