Stalled Fairfield Hills Issue Starts To Move Again

By Steve Bigham

With the release of last week’s request for proposals (RFP), the town made its first significant move on the Fairfield Hills issue in months. And, in doing so, the town showed a clear indication of where it plans to go with it, when and if the town buys the campus from the state. Despite being long anticipated, the town’s move was not welcomed by all. That became perfectly clear at last week’s Legislative Council meeting as two groups with opposing views on Fairfield Hills went toe-to-toe for the first time in nearly a month. Much of their discussion centered on the RFP, which was released by First Selectmen Herb Rosenthal after a request from The Newtown Bee.

Mr Rosenthal had been reluctant to make the document public for fear it might have an adverse effect on the town’s ability to negotiate with potential developers. We would be showing our hand, he argued. But, as he points out, the RFP has nothing to hide. The document simply directs prospective development bidders to propose a plan that best fits the needs of the town, while allowing some flexibility for the creativity of the professional development community, he said.

“The Board of Selectmen plan to utilize the RFP 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,” he said.

There’s no secret, Mr Rosenthal says, responding to those who wondered what was going on all this time. He said he planned to release the RFP sooner, but had been delayed by the state’s delay in presenting him with an asking price, which did finally come in late last week (see related story). In addition, he wanted to discuss the RFP draft with the council first before moving forward.

But the leadership of the council halted any discussion on the RFP last week in executive session. All talks were delayed until November 30 when the council will have had more time to study the document. Having already committed to releasing the document to the press, Mr Rosenthal did so despite the lack of discussion with the council. However, he said the document may no longer have any relevance. An angered first selectman accused some members of the council of “stonewalling” the issue, pointing out that the majority of the people on the council want to “cooperate” on this.

The council leadership is made up of Chairman Pierre Rochman and Vice Chairman Melissa Pilchard, the two longest-serving members of the council. They argue that Mr Rosenthal has forced the RFP on the council without allowing the council to play a part in the process.

Mr Rochman last week referred to the document as a “Trojan Horse.”

“I don’t have a problem with the details, but with process. I thought the Legislative Council would be more involved in the process. Also, it seemed like Herb expected us to make up our minds right then and there,” Mr Rochman said this week.

Among those observing from the sidelines at last week’s council meeting was Newtown resident Barry Piesner of the Newtown Property Owners Association. He said he sees a “rush to judgment” and a lack of concern or interest to educate or inform residents about the issues.

“Fairfield Hills must become the mandate of Newtown’s residents, not a private project of the selectman’s office,” he said.

Council member Peggy Baiad said she was confused as to why the whole process has been stalled by the council. “People are always telling Herb to move along, move along,” she said. “He seems to be doing what he was supposed to do, but it’s always with opposition.”

As Mrs Baiad sees it, the town leadership needs to have a starting point and the selectmen have done a good job of creating that. “If it took us an hour to discuss whether or not we should go into executive session, how many hours would it take us to draw up this document?” she wondered.

The council is scheduled to reconvene next week to further discuss the selectmen’s proposal. This time, however, it will deliberate on the RFP separately and then make its recommendation back to the selectmen, according to Mr Rochman, who said he sees more agreeable days ahead.

“We didn’t cooperate very well between the Board of Selectmen and Legislative Council, but I think we are going to get together and do what’s right for the town in the end,” he said.

Selectman Bill Brimmer agreed. “From this point forward, I think you’ll see the Board of Selectmen and Legislative Council work closely together. It has to for the good of the town. We plan to forge ahead with this thing. The selectmen can’t do it alone and the council can’t do it alone.”