Rosenthal On Fairfield Hills

To the Editor:

I have anticipated receiving a formal asking price from the state for the former Fairfield Hills property since an August 29 meeting that Julia Wasserman and I participated in at the Office of Policy and Management. It had been my intention to make the asking price public at the same time that I announced the process that the Board of Selectmen proposes to follow for the purchase and reuse of the property. Last Wednesday, November 15, the Board of Selectmen met with the Legislative Council to discuss the process. I finally received the letter from Commissioner Anson of the Department of Public Works on Friday, November 17.

The Board of Selectmen plans to utilize the request for proposals process to find out if there is a market for the reuse of the Fairfield Hills Hospital campus as envisioned by the residents of Newtown. The RFP is designed to address the town’s needs and interests while allowing some flexibility for the creativity of the professional development community. Our RFP is specific and much more targeted to Newtown’s interests than the state RFP process was two years ago.

The framework of the RFP is based on the general recommendations of the Fairfield Hills Advisory Committee with the addition of limited residential uses. That committee report was the unanimous decision of 18 citizens after months of hard work and considerable public input. That report calls for town ownership of all land in perpetuity and mixed uses such as municipal offices, recreation facilities, playing fields, open space, and commercial uses such as offices and small shops. It is very similar to the plan offered by the Save Fairfield Hills for Newtown group, differing primarily in degree; i.e., the number of buildings for commercial offices and which buildings are for town use.

For over a year now the town has been gathering information; conducting environmental tests and reviews; working with professional planning consultants, consulting engineers, licensed environmental professionals, and three law firms to support our negotiating position and to assist in assembling a process and plan for acquisition and reuse.

The Board of Selectmen appointed an advisory committee consisting of Legislative Councilman Donald Studley, Fairfield Hills Advisory Committee Chair Michael Floros, Town/State Selection committee member Charles Wrinn, and staff including Director of Community Development Elizabeth Stocker, Finance Director Ben Spragg, Town Attorney David Grogins, environmental consultant Russell Bartley, representatives of our consulting engineers, Fuss & O’Neill, Inc., and Richard Harrall, a professional planning consultant. The advisory committee has been meeting with the Board of Selectmen to assist in devising the process that we plan to utilize. Upon advice of our attorneys, these meetings were conducted in executive sessions to protect our negotiating position with the state and to put the town in the strongest position possible to work with any developers in the future. A draft request for proposals was prepared by our professional planning consultant, Richard Harrall of Harrall, Michalowski Associates of Hamden, following input from the Board of Selectmen and the advisory committee.

After considering any modifications recommended by a consensus of the Legislative Council, the Board of Selectmen will formally request bids from the development community in the form of this request for proposals to assist the town in acquiring and reusing Fairfield Hills.

It is the goal of the selectmen to conduct this RFP process at the same time that our agreement is negotiated with the state so that we can present the Legislative Council, other town agencies, and the people of Newtown with our recommendations for the purchase and redevelopment of Fairfield Hills.

Sincerely,

Herbert C. Rosenthal

First Selectman

45 Main Street, Newtown            November 21, 2000