Reed To Head FFH Panel

By Jan Howard

Former Superintendent of Schools John Reed was elected chairman and Robert Geckle, former chairman of the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Ad Hoc Committee, was elected vice chairman during an organizational meeting of the newly formed Ad Hoc Fairfield Hills Management Committee.

The meeting, which was chaired by First Selectman Herb Rosenthal prior to the elections, was held Wednesday at Canaan House on the Fairfield Hills campus.

The committee is charged with adopting written procedures for the conduct of its business with regard to managing the Fairfield Hills property and implementing the master plan, subject to approval of the Board of Selectmen.

Other members of the committee are Moira Rodgers, Amy Dent, Don Studley, Richard Sturdevant, Andrew Willie, and William Lavery. State Rep Julia Wasserman will serve as senior advisor to the committee and Mr Rosenthal as an ex officio member.

Discussion on Wednesday centered on many issues regarding Fairfield Hills, including maintenance, security, demolition of buildings, use of housing units, and others.

Dr Reed said he was “happy” to serve as chairman “based on the people in this room. I have no allusions this will be an easy task.” He said it was his hope the committee members would be successful in reaching consensus, based on diligent discussion and in the best interests of the town.

Dr Reed and Mr Lavery volunteered to serve on a subcommittee to establish a set of by laws.

Mr Rosenthal noted that the committee’s major responsibility would be to determine how to effectively manage “this giant elephant we’re taking control of.

“The state has not managed the property well,” he said. “It was difficult for the state because the property managers had not done a good job.”

The current managers of the property, DeMarco, Miles and Murphy, Inc of Hartford, have been much more responsive, he said, and are willing to stay on a month-to-month basis once the town owns the property.

“They have gained knowledge of the property over the past three months, and are willing to continue to help us,” Mr Rosenthal said. He said the property manager, Marie DeMarco, has a broad background in property management and would be happy to meet with the committee.

He said the town is just weeks away from closing on the property. Water issues and contracts have been resolved, and the Water Pollution Control Authority has selected Aquarion to operate water and sewer systems for the exclusive service area of the main campus, Garner Correctional, horse guard, Nunnawauk Meadows, and Commerce Road. The Legislative Council would be responsible for setting water rates.

“The master plan must be approved [by the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z)] before anything can happen here,” Mr Rosenthal said.

He said following its approval by P&Z, the ad hoc group would oversee implementation of the plan and function as a management entity to keep the campus running effectively. Its budget for the 2004-05 fiscal year is $1.25 million.

One of its major concerns would be security for the campus, Mr Rosenthal said.

The committee later voted to go into executive session to discuss how to secure the campus and to review recommendations by Jim Mooney, a security consultant. Mr Rosenthal said there have been numerous break-ins that provide access to tunnels and to other buildings on the campus.

“We have to figure out what to do with [the tunnels],” he said.

Discussion by the new committee members included whether the board should have eight regular members, five regular members and three alternates, or six regular members and two alternates. Further discussion will take place at the committee’s next meeting.

Committee members also requested budgets for the campus for the last two fiscal years to see what was actually spent. Rep Wasserman said the state Department of Public Works would have those records.

Discussion also centered about maintenance of the campus buildings and grounds and who should do it, use of residential buildings on the property, and sale of five houses on Mile Hill Road recently donated to the town.

Mr Rosenthal said eight houses on the campus would be included in survey questions planned by the UConn Center for Survey Research and Analysis to see whether the public would favor keeping and using them for affordable housing. “The public has been antihousing on the campus,” he said.

The survey would also determine if people approve of modifications made recently by the Board of Selectmen.

Mr Rosenthal said the plan is to sell the houses on Mile Hill Road and to use those funds to address additional remediation costs on the campus. Recommended uses for duplexes on the property include small offices or craft shops, he noted.

The committee also discussed potential uses for buildings not scheduled for demolition. Mr Rosenthal said it might be possible for the Public Building Committee to oversee demolition or construction of buildings on the campus.

He said mothballing of buildings is expensive. Because the state did not mothball empty buildings, but just closed the doors, there has been “tremendous deterioration.”

The next meeting is planned for July 20 at 7:30 pm at Canaan House.