The Board of Selectmen accepted a Conservation Commission proposal for the maintenance and upkeep of the High Meadow at Fairfield Hills during a regular meeting March 20.

On that evening selectmen also affirmed numerous ways the town was reaching out to residents to best inform them about the planned new community center, and a related referendum authorization to fund a proposed addition that will house a new senior center.

As a result of a charter revision, this year's April 25 budget ballot will not only include requested authorizations for the municipal and school district budgets, but several capital spending authorizations, including a $3 million request for the planning and construction of a new senior center. Former Community Center Commission member Kinga Walsh told selectmen that she was concerned that confusion was brewing over the senior center vote, because its planned integration with the community center was not being adequately communicated.

Ms Walsh said the communication "path" was difficult to follow when the only information was being provided through "print media." She feels the diverse demographics of the town demanded a multipronged approach that includes web, social networks, as well as print coverage like what she said is available in The Newtown Bee.

"The objective is to take whatever is being communicated and put it somewhere else," she said, adding that articles could or should also be linked through a community center Facebook page.newtown-ct.gov), and has been there for months.

First Selectman Pat Llodra reminded Ms Walsh that an approved information link is prominently featured on the new municipal website (

"I understand that people feel uninformed, and I'm willing to do whatever is appropriate, but honestly I've hijacked the entire Newtown [home page] and dedicated it to this and I don't know what else to do to make sure everybody needs to know," Mrs Llodra said. "I don't know how much more I can do."

Ms Walsh suggested using Facebook as a clearinghouse for information, and offered to assist if town officials were agreeable.

Ballot Material Concerns

Ms Walsh also took issue with the timing of ballot materials that were designed to clarify that the referendum question going before voters on April 25 is requesting $3 million for the design and construction of a senior center - especially since the ballot question does not stipulate the senior center is a planned component of the community center.

"You're doing a two-month process in two weeks," Ms Walsh said.

Mrs Llodra replied that the ballot question was "very straightforward."

"What I'm trying to do is leverage that [appropriation] to maximize the use of that money while we're building the community center," Mrs Llodra said. "If we design infrastructure to accommodate both we get better use of that money."

The first selectman said she also wanted to dispel concerns around a 6,500-square-foot estimate fixed to the senior center proposal. She was able to clarify through a spokesperson for the design firm that the estimate was plugged in as a placeholder so the senior center component could be illustrated in proposed community center site and floor plans.

"Nobody has determined that this would be 6,500 square feet, and nobody should have said that," Mrs Llodra said. "That has taken on a life of its own."

Former community center adviser John Boccuzzi said no matter what, it is incumbent on town officials to communicate the split between the $15 million already approved for the new community center, and the added $3 million on the April ballot that would provide funds to build a senior center, presumably attached to or abutting the planned community facility.

"Ten million of that came from GE; $5 million was contributed by the town, and that money is being used to build an aquatic component and flexible space," Mr Boccuzzi said. "And we need to totally disconnect that from the idea that we'd like to pass a bond for $3 million to build a senior center. Hopefully we can build that attached to the community center so we can enjoy some savings."

High Meadow Plan

In attendance representing the Conservation panel were James Ryan, Dottie Evans, Karlyn Sturmer, Holly Kocet, and Mary Gaudet-Wilson. Mr Ryan handled the presentation.

According to an executive summary provided by the commission to The Newtown Bee, grasslands and meadows are among the most threatened and rare habitats in Connecticut, so the commission believes it is important to protect these lands as they support a wide range of wildlife including birds, insects including many pollinators, snakes, turtles, and small mammals.

The High Meadow is of particular importance because it is part of a larger significant swath of habitat stretching across Wasserman Way through the Governor's Horse Guard property, along with agricultural properties owned by the state and the town along Deep Brook and up to Queen Street. The importance of the High Meadow has been documented in the Town Plan of Conservation and Development, the Fairfield Hills Master Plan, and the Habitat Management Plan.

The report states that in May 2016 George Benson, director of planning, issued a memorandum directing the Land Use Agency staff develop a management plan for the future of the High Meadow with a goal of protection of native wildlife. A five-acre plot (Site A) was designated to be used as a test plot. The Conservation Commission was requested to appoint an ad hoc committee, mandated for three years, which would manage the five-acre plot.

That committee consists of Ms Gaudet-Wilson, Ms Kocet, Ms Sturmer, and Ms Evans along with experienced birder Renee Baade assisting in field observations.

In addition, the Study Group for Restoration of the High Meadow (SGHMR) consulted with Peter Picone, wildlife biologist, CT DEEP Habitat Management; Leslie Kane, director, Audubon Center at Bent of the River, Southbury; Patrick Comins, director of bird conservation, Audubon Connecticut; and Mary Ellen LeMay, coordinator, Fairfield County Regional Conservation Partnership.

Original discussions centered around a possible seeding project in an area identified as Site A, with Mr Picone kindly offering use of a commercial seeder and operator at no cost to the town.

After consulting with the above noted experts, it became evident that a better plan would be to retain Site A for a study, keeping it unmowed for three years, while implementing a seeding project on a six-acre parcel along a trail parcel identified as Site B.

Advantages & Recommendations

According to the proposal, advantages of planting at Site B are:

*Trail walkers will enjoy the beauty of a wildflower meadow along the trail.

*Such a meadow will also be visible from the Fairfield Hills campus.

*Interactions with the public can be encouraged here through signage, publicity, etc.

*Although different in plantings, such a meadow is consistent with some goals of the Fruit Tail already established on the West Meadow.

*This site is slightly wetter than Site A and has the potential for greater success for seed germination and growth.

*The establishment of pollinator habitat is consistent with the goals of Connecticut's Pollinator Health Act.

The three major recommendations to the selectmen include:

*Allowing Site A to remain unmowed for three years and doing a quantitative study at the site to determine any changes of plant species diversity over the course of three years. A written document will result that may be helpful to the town in managing the balance of the meadow or for other meadows within in the town. At this point the commission is considering options for implementing this study.

*Planning a Site B seeding project planting warm season grasses and wildflowers in mid-June this year. Supplemental plugs of butterfly weed will be planted probably in the second year after seed planting. Help from Parks & Rec will be requested for mowing once in early June and again in the fall. Parks & Rec will also be asked to store the seed and deliver the seed on the day of the planting. Signs will be posted for benefit of the public. The town will buy the seed but the state will provide the tractor, personnel, and the seeder.

*It was requested that a managed mowing schedule be instituted such that mowing takes place once a year after August 15.

The total cost for the recommended project - primarily for the seeds, plugs, and signage - is $4,500.

While the proposed mowing restriction was felt to be most amenable to ground nesting birds and other wildlife and is consistent with the Fairfield Hills Master Plan, that element did not sit well with Selectman Herb Rosenthal, as well as Mrs Llodra and Selectman Will Rodgers, who both said they grew up on farms in neighboring Massachusetts.

The selectmen learned that a new contract had recently been negotiated with a Middlebury farmer who has been cultivating hay from the High Meadow and other area fields for many years prior, and said that stipulating a no mowing period in other areas of the High Meadow besides Site A is not practical.

"This has always been farmland going back 200 years, but Fairfield Hills came from farms, which are hayed every year," Mr Rosenthal said.

Mr Ryan said it was more about the risks of early mowing, and the diminishing areas for nesting, and the ideal conditions the High Meadow presents for particular nesting birds.

"Putting my farmer hat on, timing for haying a field - when the hay is ready to be mowed, it has to be mowed. The condition of the hay can be greatly diminished in a matter of days after it is ready to mow," Mrs Llodra said.

The selectmen agreed to permit Town Land Use officials to speak to the contract farmer about his scheduling of mowing across the permitted area of the High Meadow. Selectmen also agreed to ask Parks & Rec officials to assist in the project where required.