Date: Thu 02-Jan-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

1997-year-in-review

Full Text:

1997 Was A Year Of Dramatic Change For Newtown

(with cuts)

To say that 1997 was a year of transition for Newtown doesn't tell the half of

it. Change in these times and in this part of the state is constant, but in

Newtown, in 1997, the change was especially dramatic.

Private housing construction in town continued apace this year, but at times

the public construction projects seemed to overshadow every other enterprise.

With projects at the high school, Hawley School, and with sewer installation

throughout the central sections of town, the construction vehicle back-up

warning signal threatened to become the town song. One construction project,

the renovation of the Booth Library, itself seemed to be going in reverse as

construction deadlines arose and fell with regularity.

And amid the drumbeat of new construction, the town went to the polls to pick

its leaders, as it does in every odd-numbered year.

People are still talking about the 1997 election season nearly two months

after it came to a sudden halt November 4.

That was the day Democrat Herb Rosenthal ended all discussion by soundly

defeating Republican candidate Russ Melita to become the town's 113th first

selectman.

Bob Cascella had announced over the summer that he would not seek a third term

as first selectman.

The '97 campaign was action-packed from the start. The preliminary run-offs,

back in the summer, may have been more exciting than the general election

campaign in October.

All the excitement early on took place within the Democratic party as Mr

Rosenthal and Gary Fetzer waged an intense, sometimes nasty battle during the

summer. Despite losing at a caucus (along with candidate Chris Spiro), Mr

Fetzer opted to force a September primary. In August and September, the two

candidates traded barbs. In the end, Mr Rosenthal was victorious at the

September 9 primary. He then joined up with running mate Joe Bojnowski to

defeat Mr Melita in November.

In December, Mr Rosenthal, the former chair of the Board of Education, was

sworn into office before a packed house in the new lecture hall at Newtown

High School. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Jack, who led the

town from 1975-1987.

The new Board of Selectmen included Democrats Rosenthal and Bojnowski and

Republican Bill Brimmer, a former member of the Legislative Council.

As it turned out, the November election was especially sweet for the

Democrats. In addition to winning the first selectman's seat, they also gained

a seat on the Legislative Council (Tim Holian and Peggy Baiad pulled off big

wins) and added two more on the Planning & Zoning Commission.

Like any campaign, Newtown's '97 election helped bring out the issues.

However, like never before, this debate had people wondering about the future

of their town.

Fairfield Hills

Nothing has a greater potential to shape that future than the eventual

disposition of Fairfield Hills.

The state is continuing its efforts to either sell or lease Fairfield Hills,

the former state psychiatric hospital that once served more than 3,000

patients. The hospital closed in December 1995 in line with the state's policy

of patient "deinstitutionalization." The town is now using Canaan House for

municipal offices which formerly were housed at Town Hall South.

The state will give the town 22 acres at Fairfield Hills, including the former

dormitory known as Watertown Hall and a large garage. The state has agreed to

provide a low-cost, long-term lease to the town for 37 acres near Commerce

Road for industrial development.

P&Z members are considering rezoning the land at Fairfield Hills, the 650-acre

state-owned property which formerly served as a psychiatric hospital. The

state wants to sell much of that land to raise revenue. If a sale occurs, the

rezoning would limit the type of land uses permitted there.

In April, the Legislative Council voted to accept 22.6 acres, Watertown Hall

and an old garage at Fairfield Hills from the state. The deal was part of a

1991 settlement over a lawsuit the town brought against the state for building

the Garner Correctional Institute in Newtown. The town is still trying to

determine what value there is in what it received.

In February, the town signed a two-year lease with the state for the housing

of several town employees. The deteriorating Town Hall South had been ravaged

by flooding, forcing First Selectman Bob Cascella to seek drier conditions for

his employees. They were hastily moved into the massive Canaan House building.

Though some of the employees like their new, more institutional surroundings,

the lease runs out 13 months from now.

In June, the state finally began construction of the long-awaited east-west

connector road at Fairfield Hills, also known as the bypass road. When

completed in 1999, the road will provide an additional east-west link between

Route 34, Interstate 84 and Route 25, allowing heavy truck traffic to bypass

the congested town center.

Preserving Open Spaces

In 1997, residents continued their efforts to preserve open space in Newtown

with the purchase of the 13-acre Amaral property on Elm Drive in May. The land

abuts Dickinson Park and is expected to be used for ball fields. The town paid

the $400,000 price by using up the remaining funds in the Iroquois Gas

Transmission System.

The Newtown Forest Association also received a big boost when it received a

large parcel of the Holcombe property on Great Hill Road. Josephine Holcombe,

who died in January, left behind 86 acres of land full of trails, ponds and

birds. Mrs Holcombe's charity over the years prompted some forest association

members to put her into the category of some of Newtown's other great

philanthropists like Glover, Edmond, Hawley, Strook and Nettleton.

Preservation has always been a theme in Newtown, so it came as no surprise to

see a handful of residents take advantage of a recently enacted scenic road

ordinance, which was designed to help Newtown's most picturesque roads stay

that way. Mae Schmidle of Echo Valley Road was the driving force in getting

the ordinance passed. She hopes that scenic road status will give residents

another tool in their efforts to keep development out of their backyards.

Budget & Library

Rise Slowly

Newtown's taxpayers voted to accept a budget proposal that rose to nearly $50

million last April, the highest in town history. Despite its immensity, town

officials still managed to keep the tax increase to just a little over one

mill.

Six months after it was supposed to be finished, the newly renovated Cyrenius

H. Booth Library is finally ready to open later this month. The much-maligned

$4.1 million project was originally slated to be finished in June, but

problems arose at every turn, including the discovery of asbestos. As each

month passed, the massive project moved along at a snail's pace. Finally in

November, the Board of Selectmen fired general contractor Building

Technologies, Inc (BTI) for its inability to get the project done. BTI's Keith

Crumb blamed many of the problems on difficulties brought about by Mr Cascella

and other town officials. He left Newtown promising to file a lawsuit.

Newtown's favorite general contractor, O&G Industries, was brought in to

finish up the job, which it finally did just before Christmas.

O&G headed the massive $26 million project at Newtown High School, which was

expected to finally be complete in January. The new-look NHS now features a

70,000-square-foot addition and a major face-lift to the existing building.

Controversial Development

In November, after lengthy public hearings and extended consideration, the

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) rejected the controversial proposal to

build 96 homes near the Exit 11 interchange of Interstate 84 in Sandy Hook,

known as Newtown Village. P&Z members cited a host of reasons for rejecting

the project which would contain 24 houses designated as "affordable housing."

Traffic congestion, extensive excavation, and the project's need for its own

small-scale sewer system were among the reasons listed by P&Z members for

rejecting the project. The proposal was staunchly opposed by people living in

the neighborhood. The developers have filed a lawsuit, seeking to have a judge

overrule the P&Z and allow the complex to be built.

In sharp contrast to the controversial Newtown Village, the P&Z quickly

approved the 49-unit complex known as Riverview Condominiums in October.

Thirteen of those units will be affordable housing. Observers believe

Riverview's relatively isolated location behind Sand Hill Plaza is the reason

the project sailed through town land use agencies, gaining approvals with

relatively little opposition from people living in that area.

As the developers of Walnut Tree Village complete the 80-unit age-restricted

condominium complex on Walnut Tree Hill Road, they are considering the condo

construction potential of acreage adjacent to the site.

Coalition Continues

The Newtown Neighborhoods Coalition, an ad hoc group which formed in 1996 in

the face of rapid residential development, continued its efforts to put the

brake on growth in 1997. Besides backing a program of more restrictive town

land use regulations to curb growth, the coalition supported former selectman

Gary Fetzer when he ran in a Democratic Party primary for first selectman. Mr

Fetzer, however, lost the primary election. Though, more and more members of

the P&Z appear to have a sympathetic ear to the coalition's concerns.

During 1996, the P&Z handled a host of subdivision applications which have

been controversial, including The Estates on Taunton Hill, Rollingwood,

Tamarack Woods, Whispering Pines, Wedgewood, Avalon, and Watch Hill, among

others.

To prevent the land from being radically reshaped at house sites in

subdivisions, P&Z members in March approved modified land use regulations

which limit the amount of earth which can be removed or placed on those

building lots.

Individual development projects which either have been completed, are being

built, or are in the planning stages include: the redevelopment of Newtown

Shopping Center with the addition of a Big Y supermarket; the construction of

a new factory and office complex for Neumade Products Corp. on Pecks Lane; and

the expansion of Newtown Savings Bank on Main Street. The owners of Sand Hill

Plaza have twice sought approvals to add a new store there, but to no avail.

Sonics and Materials, Inc, a technology firm from Danbury, is renovating the

former Churchill Business Forms building on Church Hill Road to consolidate

its operations there.

P&Z members are considering whether to adopt a planning study on Hawleyville's

potential for economic development and consequently rezone the area to make

the plan's developmental suggestions possible. The Housatonic Valley Council

of Elected Officials (HVCEO), which is the regional transportation planning

agency, has endorsed the development study and has called for the P&Z to do

likewise.

Sewers Go On-Line

After decades of discussion and almost three years of construction, the town's

$32.5-million sewer system is finally functioning. The new sewage treatment

plant started working in September. Though traffic was disrupted as the sewer

system was installed in the Borough, Sandy Hook Center, and Taunton Pond

North, all trenches have been filled in and the landscape restored.

Homeowners, businesses, and public buildings are now in the process of having

their properties connected to the system that channels wastewater to the new

sewage treatment plant at the end of Commerce Road. The state ordered the town

to build the system to rectify longstanding groundwater pollution problems

caused by failing septic systems.

Police Dept. Woes

Members of the police union, unhappy with the management style of Police Chief

James E. Lysaght, Jr, in a September poll registered a vote of "no confidence"

in his leadership, bringing to the surface a sense of discontent which had

been simmering in the police department. In October, the town and the union

negotiated a settlement to a grievance which the union had filed over the

police department reorganization. That settlement marked a truce in the

conflict between rank-and-file police officers and the chief.

A Milestone For The Bee

And finally, The Newtown Bee celebrated its 120th anniversary this year. The

newspaper marked the occasion with a 12-page special section published at the

end of June detailing the Bee Publishing Company's long history.

A popular feature of the section was the photographs of all The Bee's staff

members in this, its 120th year.

This fall, Bee publisher R. Scudder Smith also created a small park at 1 Main

Street, called The Pleasance, including a 19th Century fountain, a gazebo, and

a bocce court. Mr Smith invited the public to use and enjoy the park.