Date: Fri 07-Jul-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Fairfield-Hills-OPM-Nuclo

Full Text:

OPM STARTS NEXT PHASE OF PLANNING FOR FAIRFIELD HILLS FUTURE (A1)

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

The state Office of Policy and Management (OPM) is starting to organize a new

ad hoc committee intended to monitor future uses of the Fairfield Hills

Hospital campus.

Richard Nuclo, an OPM planner in state assets management, said July 5 that OPM

is informing the state officials who are responsible for appointing people to

the new committee to make their selections.

The state legislature last month approved forming the committee. Other panels

were approved for Norwich Hospital and Connecticut Valley Hospital in

Middletown. Psychiatric patients from Newtown and Norwich will be moving to

Middletown where the state will consolidate the three major psychiatric

hospitals into a single institution. Closing Fairfield Hills is targeted for

January, Mr Nuclo said.

State planning for the care of Fairfield Hills psychiatric patients is the top

priority in terms of closing the institution and putting Fairfield Hills to

new uses, Mr Nuclo said.

The panel will be known as the Fairfield Hills Implementation Oversight

Committee. It will operate out of the offices of OPM, the state agency which

coordinates the activities of other state agencies.

The oversight panel will work to ensure that the future uses of Fairfield

Hills meet the social, economic and environmental needs and concerns of the

surrounding communities, the region, plus the economic needs of the state. The

panel is intended to provide a forum for addressing the issues, needs and

concerns of the users of the campus facilities.

The new committee will use the report of the former Fairfield Hills Task Force

as a ½schematic¾ for its work, according to Mr Nuclo.

Mr Nuclo said he expects the transition of Fairfield Hills from its current

use to future uses to take two to five years.

Future uses of the property aren't yet clear, Mr Nuclo said.

The state would like to lease out the property to a private concern as a unit,

but because finding a single tenant isn't simple, the state is willing to

consider leasing out portions of the campus facilities, according to the

planner.

To carry out the recent legislation, the state will be doing the paperwork to

transfer approximately 200 acres at Fairfield from the Department of Mental

Health (DMH) to the state Department of Agriculture (DOA), he said.

Task Force

In its recommendations on future campus uses made after a year-long study of

the topic, the Fairfiled Hills Task Force stated: the preservation of open

space at the campus is a high priority and open space land should be

transferred in perpetuity to the DOA; several campus buildings should be used

as general administrative office space; work should be done to bring

businesses into some of the existing vacant or future vacant buildings; land

adjacent to existing industrial development along Commerce Road, as well as 25

acres given to the town by the state as part of the Garner Correctional

Institution lawsuit resolution should be reserved for future economic

development; a regional educational presenece on the campus should be

encouraged; affordable housing and expanded housing for the elderly should be

provided beginning with the use of existing buildings; and a buffer zone

should be created to separate open space areas from developed areas.

Merryhill Center

Mr Nuclo said the state isn't now able to determine the long-term future of

the Merryhill Child Care Center on Queen Street.

Created as part of a labor agreement between the state and the hospital

workers' union, the center is intended to provide child care for the staff of

the hospital and for campus-based agencies. The center also accepts children

from the community. More than half of the 32 children now attending are from

the Newtown community. The non-profit child care center leases a house from

the state.

Mr Nuclo said the OPM is working to extend the child care center's lease until

June 1996.

Therese Hychko, the child care center's director, said Merryhill wants to stay

on at the site indefinitely. Ms Hychko said the center would like to remain at

its present location at least until June 1996. During the coming months, the

center could preferably negotiate another lease extension with the state, or

if that's not possible, could find some nearby location for its operations,

she said.