Date: Fri 02-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Zoning-Frenette-adoption

Full Text:

'98 Has Been A Good Year For Newtown's Zoning Officer

(with cut)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Having spent the past five months as the town's zoning enforcement officer,

Gary Frenette is settling into his job of interpreting and enforcing the

municipal zoning regulations.

Gary and his wife, Linda, who live in Woodbury, go back a long way at

Fairfield Hills, where the town's land use offices are temporarily located.

Married for the past 15 years, Gary and Linda worked at Fairfield Hills when

it was the state's psychiatric hospital for western Connecticut. Gary served

as a police officer at the former Fairfield Hills Police Department. Linda was

a nursing supervisor at the sprawling institution.

It's hard to believe that Fairfield Hills has been closed for almost three

years, Linda said.

In August, the Frenettes marked a major milestone in their lives. Gary

journeyed to China where he met and brought back the couple's newly-adopted

daughter, Julianna. Gary and Julianna returned to the US on August 21.

Gary and Linda had started the lengthy and complex process of adopting a

daughter in January 1997.

The adoption process includes physical examinations, police checks, references

and financial disclosures to ensure the couple will make suitable adoptive

parents for the child.

Gary and Linda did some networking to learn how overseas adoptions are made.

The Norwalk Family and Children Agency served as their agent in adopting

Julianna, Linda explained. Susan Baron of that agency was the adoption

coordinator.

After months of work, Gary and Linda received Chinese approvals for the

adoption last June.

"They left no stone unturned," Gary said of the extensive background checks

which were done before he was able to go to Souzou, China, to get Julianna.

Chinese adoption officials decide which child a couple will adopt, Gary said.

The Chinese allow orphaned girls to be adopted, but not boys, he said.

Linda described her daughter as very friendly, intelligent and inquisitive.

As Linda spoke, an animated Julianna walked on a lawn at Fairfield Hills, with

seemingly limitless energy. Her second birthday will be October 9.

When only an infant, she was found abandoned on the steps of a police station,

after which she was placed in an orphanage.

Julianna speaks some Chinese and English.

"She eats like a horse," Linda said of her daughter, noting her favorite food

is Cheerios.

Julianna will have much more of an opportunity in life in America than she

would have had in China, Gary said. She will grow up as a member of a family,

he said. "We want to provide a typical childhood for her," Linda added.

A pediatrician who has examined Julianna found her to be very healthy,

according to Linda.

Linda said she has looked into placing Julianna into a pre-school education

program when she becomes a bit older, noting that socialization will be good

for her.

ZEO

The town hired Mr Frenette last spring to serve as the municipal zoning

enforcement officer.

Of his work as ZEO, he said "I know many people in town. It's not an easy job.

I always try to deal with people in a way I would like to be treated. I'm

flexible. I'm willing to meet people half way. I think things are going along

at a good clip."

In the course of enforcing the town's zoning regulations, disagreements may

require court proceedings, he noted. "In some cases, you go to court. But you

try to avoid it," he said.

Before coming to work for the town, Mr Frenette was employed as a security and

safety associate at Heritage Village, an age-restricted condominium complex in

Southbury. From 1991 to 1995, Mr Frenette attended Naugatuck Valley

Community-Technical College where he learned to be a paralegal.

Mr Frenette worked in the state's office of the public defender in Litchfield

in 1993 and 1994. From 1982 to 1990, Mr Frenette served as a police officer

and acting shift supervisor for the former Fairfield Hills Police Department.

That police department went out of existence after the patient population of

the psychiatric institution dropped so low that law enforcement personnel were

no longer needed. The hospital closed in December 1995.

In April 1989, Mr Frenette received an Emergency Lifesaving Award for saving a

woman's life at Fairfield Hills.