Council Unanimously Backs Purchase Plan

By Steve Bigham

There was excitement in the air Wednesday night as the Legislative Council unanimously approved a resolution to spend $21.8 million to pay for several large projects, including the purchase of the 185-acre Fairfield Hills campus.

Applause rang out from the large crowd in attendance at Town Hall South as council members – some of them emphatically – voted in favor of the spending plan, which had been presented to them following a recommendation by the Board of Selectmen Monday night. A June 6 town meeting to vote on both the proposed 5/6 school and the Fairfield Hills package is looking more and more like it will take place.

“I think we now have come together as a community for our vision for Fairfield Hills and how we want our community to grow. It will be a great recreational area, a great place for future schools and to satisfy town needs for many years to come,” said council member Ruby Johnson, who has long been credited for her efforts in getting town officials to consider buying Fairfield Hills. There was a time when many in town did not share Mrs Johnson’s vision, believing the town had no business buying the former state mental health hospital.

Many of those people may still be out there, especially those who say they will not vote in favor of Fairfield Hills without a detailed plan of where every penny will go. The plan proposed by First Selectman Herb Rosenthal and approved by the council is not an exact science and some costs are still just estimates. But the plan does provide an outline for the future of the campus. A master plan is still down the road. This may be Newtown’s last chance to acquire Fairfield Hills and town officials now appear to be united in the cause.

 “Now we need the people of Newtown to share the vision with us,” Mrs Johnson said. “They need to buy into the vision that it’s a work in progress and when we finish it will be a unique asset for a New England town.”

Mr Rosenthal wrapped up negotiations with the state on Monday and unveiled his three-phased plan for the re-use of the campus later that day (see related story).

The $21.8 million resolution approved Wednesday night includes $3.9 million to purchase the campus, $7 million for asbestos remediation and demolition of buildings, and $6 million for the renovation of Shelton House. The resolution also includes $1 million for code updates at Edmond Town Hall, $600,000 for fields at the high school, and $1.4 million for playing fields at Fairfield Hills, all three of which were capped to ensure that spending for each does not balloon out of control.

Other costs included in the resolution can be seen on the table on page A-8.

Next Tuesday, the council is expected to also approve a resolution to spend an estimated $20 million for the construction of the proposed 5/6 school along Wasserman Way. Also at that meeting, the council will authorize the sale of eight town-owned homes along Queen Street, with deed restrictions.

Legislative Council Chairman Pierre Rochman said Wednesday’s meeting was a historic one. The meeting went until 10:30 pm, but Mr Rochman said he was willing to stay all night if he had to.

“How many times in one’s life do you have the opportunity to buy 185 acres in the center of town for the future of Newtown? In essence, we did that last night,” he said.

Earlier in the evening, Mr Rochman reminded council members that once the resolution was approved, the council does not have a yea or nay decision on which buildings do get taken down.

“We’ve been shown a map and have been told that we’re going to propose spending $21 million with the understanding that this is conceptually what we would like to do. That $21 million can be used to demolish all of the buildings or none of the buildings, for that matter,” he said. “In effect, the council will have no control over the specifics, which was one of my concerns all along.”

Mr Rosenthal said the Board of Selectmen has always tried to remain in consultation with the council and he pledged to continue that practice. Council member Don Studley agreed.

“There has to be a certain amount of trust that we will all do what we set out to do,” he said.

The written recommendations submitted to the council by the first selectman, prepared with consultants Harrall-Michalowski Associates, Inc., however, call for separate votes on a “master plan” for Fairfield Hills down the line. The recommendations specify that all components of the work planned for Fairfield Hills be done within the context of a master plan designed to give the town overall control of the campus.

The recommendations state: “If the town proceeds with the authorization to purchase Fairfield Hills, the initial task will be the preparation of a detailed master plan for re-use of the property. This master plan for re-use of the property would go through all appropriate approval processes including approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission, Board of Selectmen, Legislative Council, and town meeting prior to implementation of the plan.”

On Thursday morning, Mr Rosenthal qualified his commitment to this process of master plan approval by noting that the town charter does not require anything other than a Planning and Zoning Commission approval for a master plan. He said he was uncertain whether the charter offered any prohibitions to such a process, adding, however, if there were no such prohibitions, he would commit himself to bringing the master plan to a town meeting vote. He said he would seek a legal opinion on the matter from town counsel. “If it is not legally possible to do this,” he said, “at the very least I would be committed to having an advisory town meeting to solicit a non-binding town vote on the plan.”

 At one point, Doug Brennan moved to reduce the resolution package to $7.8 million (for the purchase of Fairfield Hills and a few other items). He felt a less figure might sit better with voters, especially since there are still so many unknowns.

“We can go back for the rest of the money at a later date,” he proposed. His suggestion was defeated, 8-3.

As the votes for the $21.8 million resolution came in, someone happily yelled out, “It only took us two hours and 20 minutes to make the biggest decision this town has ever made.”

Newtown State Rep Julia Wasserman, who has worked on the acquisition of Fairfield Hills from the very beginning, pointed out this week, however, that the process took ten years.