Timeline For Town Vote On Fairfield Hills Master Plan

By Dottie Evans

Following receipt of the Master Plan Executive Summary at Monday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal has said he expects the board to review the plan then vote on it within the next month, “probably during one of our next two to four meetings.”

At that point, the Master Plan would be sent on to the Legislative Council in April, a time which Mr Rosenthal considers “better for them,” since it would be after they had finished reviewing the 2003–2004 town/school budget.

The budget vote is slated for the fourth week in April.

Once a budget is passed, the Fairfield Hills vote can be held in May or early June. Mr Rosenthal had originally hoped to have the vote in February, he said, before the budget process began, but now has decided it is better held after the budget vote, “so people can focus on Fairfield Hills.”

“I’ve asked the town attorney about having a machine vote and he’s looking into it.”

During the period for public comment at Monday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, Berkshire Road resident Owen Carney asked whether people would be voting on the master plan as presented by the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Committee. He also asked whether townspeople would be voting on the entire package and whether the vote result would be binding, he asked.

First Selectman Rosenthal replied “Yes” on all three counts. He later added that the vote would certainly be politically binding “as far as I’m concerned.”