Financial, Legal, Political Approvals

Fast Track Fairfield Hills Improvements

By John Voket

If all aspects of a first-of-its-kind proposal between the town and a private nonprofit developer come to fruition as planned, visitors to Fairfield Hills will be enjoying permanent parking facilities and extensive landscaping improvements by late fall of this year.

A final roadblock to completing a deal with Newtown Youth Academy developer Peter D’Amico was removed this week when Newtown’s financial auditors said a unique capital lease proposal to fast track the demolition of Greenwich Hall, construct permanent parking and the installation of a broad landscaped greenway, lights, benches, and other improvements was permissible.

On the legal front, local officials also learned this week that the Connecticut Department of Labor (DOL) has ruled prevailing wage statutes would not apply to the demolition and construction work being proposed by Mr D’Amico. Legislative Council Chairman Will Rodgers told The Bee Wednesday that he spoke with Town Attorney David Grogins, and that concerns about the D’Amico proposal possibly violating fair labor and wage laws were unfounded.

Mr Rodgers had previously admonished Independent Party of Newtown (IPN) co-founder and council member Po Murray for “whistleblowing” on her own town after she wrote a letter to the Department of Labor, requesting a ruling on whether or not the D’Amico proposal violated the state’s prevailing wage law.

On the political front, the Board of Selectmen unanimously approved entering into an amended lease agreement with Mr D’Amico June 18, which would permit the local developer to contract demolition, permanent parking and other landscaping improvements. Mr D’Amico had been seeking the opportunity to step in, and with his own capital, fund the improvements through a lease-back program with the town.

In doing so, the town would be in compliance with terms of a separate long-term lease with the nonprofit Newtown Youth Academy to provide parking by the facility’s planned opening date of November 1. At the same time, the lease-back arrangement would prevent the unnecessary use of town funds to construct temporary parking, which would only be demolished at some point in the future and replaced with permanent facilities.

According to the transcript of that June 18 selectmen’s meeting, Mr Grogins explained that to achieve Mr D’Amico’s ultimate goal of removing Greenwich Hall and installing permanent parking, the developer would have to pay for the work himself and the town would reimburse him the costs. Currently the town has enough funds to construct temporary parking, which would surround a vacant Greenwich Hall.

Mr D’Amico has said during numerous exploratory meetings and a previous presentation to selectmen that his ultimate concern with the temporary measure would be the safety of children and residents who would be forced to negotiate a more precarious parking layout. Mr D’Amico has prioritized a “do it once, do it right” philosophy, and has offered to provide the capital financing to accomplish that goal, provided the town could legally and financially strike a lease-back agreement.

The collateral benefit would be the removal of Greenwich Hall, which currently and almost fully blocks views of the new multiuse sports facility being erected in the rear of the town-owned campus.

Town Finance Director Robert Tait said the arrangement with Mr D’Amico would be a capital lease, because at the end of the lease payback, the town would in effect, acquire a capital benefit — the parking and landscape construction.

The auditors agreed that the annual appropriation process was permitted as long as the details and proper documentation was fully disclosed in the financials.

Mr Tait said that because of the town’s requirement to fulfill the contractual stipulations of the Youth Academy lease, some parking arrangement would have to be completed by November 1, 2008. He said since there was not enough time for the town to undergo the special appropriation process to achieve a permanent parking solution, a capital lease arrangement would build lease payments into the annual budget appropriation.

“The only choice because of the Youth Academy lease was to build temporary or permanent parking. The arrangement as proposed means we do not have to go through the special appropriation process at this time,” Mr Tait said. “The payments [however they may be structured] will become part of the annual budget.”

Mr Tait said selectmen agreed to work to payoff the D’Amico lease arrangement by eventually going through a special appropriation process, which would lower the overall cost to the town because of lower municipal bond interest rates.

On June 18, Selectman Herb Rosenthal said he concurred with Selectman Paul Mangiafico that the town should consider taking out a loan to prepay the full term of the lease-back arrangement in two years or less. An amendment to the lease-back arrangement stipulating no prepayment penalties would be included before the agreement to fund the demolition and permanent parking was finalized with Mr D’Amico.

First Selectman Joe Borst told The Bee that he was happy to see a permanent parking plan moving forward.

“It’s the only common sense way to go, so obviously I support it,” Mr Borst said. The first selectman said that his next goal would be to determine the best way to see neighboring Litchfield Hall razed.

The removal of that structure would pave the way for a recently approved senior center and Parks and Recreation Department facility.

Mr Rodgers said that while longstanding opponents of certain developments at Fairfield Hills might criticize the process by which demolition and permanent parking is being achieved, a publicly approved process set in motion years ago is finally being achieved.

“If we focus on the present, procedure dictates that we implement [projects] that the public acted upon and approved,” Mr Rodgers said. He said that there is such a groundswell of support that the town “get on with something at Fairfield Hills, it becomes more important than what particulars,” the town uses to reach the best solution.