Fairfield Hills Panel Endorses Utility Consolidation

By John Voket

On Tuesday evening, the ad hoc Fairfield Hills Management Committee heard a request from Public Works Director Fred Hurley to consolidate and upgrade utility services on the Fairfield Hills campus. In an interview following the meeting, ad hoc committee Chairman John Reed said that any future development on the campus would be limited unless there was dedicated electrical, water, and sewer services.

“The electrical service is still going to state and town facilities,” he said. “We heard from Mr Hurley about installing the necessary electrical, sewer, and water utilities that would be both available and flexible enough to accommodate whatever modest development activities that occur on the grounds.”

Dr Reed said that any projects that may eventually occur on the town-owned Fairfield Hills grounds would be consistent with guidelines set forth in the facility’s master plan for conservation and development.

“We want to see the necessary equipment and services in place so we can easily upgrade and adapt depending on whatever future uses are determined for the campus,” he said.

According to Dr Reed, electrical service now tied to both the campus and the state-owned buildings, including the Garner Correctional facility, would soon be split to create an exclusive line for the Fairfield Hills property.

“We think a new substation for electrical service will be developed adjacent to the engineer’s station at the entrance to the campus,” Dr Reed said. “We will also need to create a metering system so eventual tenants can manage their own water use.”

During Tuesday’s meeting, Dr Reed said the committee unanimously endorsed asking the Board of Selectmen to put out a request for proposal (RFP) for a professional assistant to help prepare and proceed with limited private development as identified in the master plan.

“I envision that the firm we select will help structure and close transactions with developers, renters, and other users to maximize both economic and quality of life benefits for all Newtown residents,” he said.

Dr Reed said that if a single, large-scale developer were to come in with a comprehensive proposal, ad hoc committee members would not have the appropriate experience to enter negotiations that would ultimately benefit the town.

“We’ve got no horse in this race,” he said. “But we need to be prepared for whatever limited development may occur as defined in the master plan.”

To that end, the committee also endorsed forming an interview subcommittee possibly including other town officials including Board of Education facility manager Dominick Posca, town Finance Director Ben Spragg, and Mr Hurley.

“This subcommittee would be charged with interviewing applicants for the project manager position,” Dr Reed said. “And we’ve got to move quickly on this. We’ll have shovels in the ground by mid-May for soil remediation around building slated for demolition, and in fact, asbestos remediation may begin even sooner.”

In their final piece of business, the ad hoc committee voted to support enabling legislation that, if approved, would allow for the formation of a legal, non-policy-making authority to manage the Fairfield Hills facilities and grounds.

“It’s important for residents to be reminded that if the enabling legislation is approved in Hartford, there will still be plenty of opportunities for local public input before a non-policy-making authority is considered,” Dr Reed said. “The legislation on its own is good for the entire state. It gives Newtown, and every other town in Connecticut, an opportunity to do something like form these kinds of quasi-governmental operating authorities if they want to.”