BETHEL — Current and past attendees to many events, classes, and meetings held at the Fairfield County UConn Extension facility at the Stony Hill Preserve were dismayed to learn that a lease termination notice was issued in February providing current users and the university six months to vacate.

The eviction notice was issued one year before the current lease was set to expire.

Barbara Stauder, a local master gardener who attended her certification program at the extension, is leading a group of “concerned master gardener volunteers” to investigate “why, after 60+ years, UConn would be forced to leave the premises at 67-69 Stony Hill Road.”

She explained that the UConn Extension has been at that location since the early 1950s, providing free services for Fairfield County through its many programs, including 4H, the Master Gardener Program, home horticulture, nutrition programs, and urban agriculture.

More recently, a 3,000 square foot vegetable demonstration garden was developed and is used for public education, Master Gardener training, and also provides over 1,200 pounds of fresh organic produce to the local food pantries annually. These programs and the hundreds of volunteers who work with these programs provide countless hours of community service to the area, Stauder explained.

Stauder took the Master Gardener certification program in 2015 and is one of the two coordinators of the demonstration garden. She said the property’s 11 acres of minimally developed land on Route 6 has allowed the Extension to serve thousands of Fairfield County residents for over 60 years.

“This property is irreplaceable in kind, considering the current state of real estate in Fairfield County,” said Stauder.

Its location provides ease of access for county residents being near I-84 and Route 7. It has been known to the public as the Fairfield County Extension since the 1950s.

Stauder characterized the eviction as “a land grab by the Stony Hill Preserve,” the owners of the property.

According to Stauder, on May 22, 2017, Stony Hill Preserve (SHP) became the owner of the Bethel property on which the UConn extension is located through a transfer from the Fairfield County Agriculture Extension Council (FCAEC). This 501(c)(3) was incorporated in 1955 and chartered to cooperate with the UConn Extension and US Department of Agriculture to purchase and maintain suitable property for the conduct of Extension educational programs in Fairfield County and to support such educational programs.

“It is not certain what the intent was of this land transfer and why it was done,” said Stauder, who said SHP has refused to give the “reasoning for the eviction” and “refuses to communicate” with them.

Madeline Bunt, vice-president of SHP, told The Newtown Bee August 17 the FCAEC voted to bifurcate in 2017 because it “realized it was not able to serve both the building and grounds and the extension to its full capacity.” She said the building and grounds had become “run down terribly” under the management of the previous board.

“It was a disgrace,” said Bunt.

Bunt has worked in the Stony Hill area and called it her home for 15 years. In addition to serving on the volunteer SHP board, she has volunteered in food drives, pancake breakfasts, fundraising for Hawleyville Fire Department and volunteered with The Newtown Fund, among others.

The vote to bifurcate was unanimous, and some money was transferred to each part of the board. Bunt noted that there were no restrictions on the land deed requiring the FCAEC or any other organization created from it to keep the extension on the property, and that the FCAEC and the extension were “two completely separate entities.”

“Our relationship with UConn is that they are our tenants,” said Bunt. She added SHP spent $30,000 renovating the grounds and building, with all but $2,000 coming from donations or volunteers.

“Never in my life have I experienced such a remarkable sense of community,” said Bunt. Additionally, last year a Newtown farmer was asked to bring goats on the property to help clear invasive plants.

“They did a great job,” said Bunt, who noted that unfortunately the goats were unable to be brought onto the property this year.

Decision To Terminate

Bunt said the SHP board made a decision to terminate the lease with UConn in February, and did it “to the letter of the lease.” She classified that decision as between the landlord, SHP, and the tenant, which is UConn, not the master gardeners opposing the eviction.

The reaction on social media, and what she described as incorrect information being spread, was a surprise to Bunt.

“It’s very disheartening to have people attack us and say things about the volunteers,” said Bunt. “I’ll never understand how people can get to that point and speak without any information.”

Bunt said that for the future of the building that currently houses the extension, the only plan they have so far is for “UConn to leave” the location.

Since the lease termination notice was issued to the UConn Fairfield County Extension with its six-month notice, UConn has formally asked for a three month extension.

“We hope this extension is possible,” Stauder said.

In late February, a small electrical fire occurred in the building that houses the extension offices. Stauder said SHP delayed in providing repairs and clean-up, “preventing the Extension personnel from using their offices and adequately running their programs and continuing their mission in the community.”

She said they have finally starting working back in the building, even though repairs have not been completed by the landlord.

“Since we received the news regarding the lease termination, I and a small team of volunteers have been working on the determining and executing what we believed was the best strategy for dealing with this situation,” said Stauder. “Our first task was to be sure we understood everything that led up to this termination notice and whether we thought we were justified in protesting it.”

Stauder said she has been deeply involved obtaining and reviewing numerous documents and talking to a number of people.

“We are not lawyers but we now believe that some actions should be investigated as to their legality,” said Stauder, who said the UConn extension has been contacting different government officials to see if they could offer assistance. “The wheels of government sometimes turn slowly. We have received some positive feedback from government officials but as you say it is approaching the 11th hour.”

While a lease extension may be provided, the UConn extension will have to commit to at least some alternate office space in case no positive resolution at the Bethel site can be achieved. In the meantime, a group of master gardeners is starting a petition of support to go to the State Attorney General’s Office.

Their long-term goal is to return the property and associated funds to the Fairfield County Agriculture Extension Council.

The petition can be found at change.org/p/help-save-land-to-keep-bethel-extension-master-gardener-offices-open.

Stauder said that the extension’s offices are also open Saturdays from 9 am to 1 pm while the Bethel Farmer’s Market is open, which is conducted on the property at 67 Stony Hill Road.

The Extension Program

The Fairfield County Extension Program is part of the wide-reaching US Cooperative Extension program, established in 1914 by the US Department of Agriculture and is one of eight County extension programs in Connecticut. Since 1978, Extension, through the Master Gardener/Home Horticulture Program, has also been offering free community services at the Bethel site to help identify insects and plant problems.

It is visited by over 500 local residents per year and receives over 700 specimens to evaluate per year. In addition, Fairfield County Master Gardeners volunteer over 5,000 hours of community service annually.

The nutrition program has served 1,120 participants through 128 educational sessions from May 2021-April 2022, including 478 families, 105 seniors and 537 youth. Annually through the 4H program, 320 youth have increased their skills in leadership, civic engagement, public speaking, and life skills such as goal setting, decision making, teamwork and record keeping.

The Urban Agriculture Program at the site trains urban farmers and supports community gardens, in addition to addressing land reuse opportunities and food insecurity in our urban areas.

Newtown Master Gardener Nicole Christensen curates the extension’s master gardener insect collection and speaks to local schools and children’s groups, educating them about insect identification and the value of insects in our ecosystem. She said the eviction was “heartbreaking.” Christensen did her internship in the demo garden in 2015.

“So much hard work and volunteer hours, by so many people, for so many years, have gone into the garden there, and all the veggies are donated to local food banks,” said Christensen. “Master Gardener volunteers have done garden fairs, we do classes open to the public, and help with any gardening or insect advice the public needs, right in the office. I can’t fathom the loss of that location!”

Christensen said the loss also affects the 4H. Her 20-year-old daughter was part of the 4H in school, joining the Dogs Rule club. She learned leadership and public speaking, and served there on the teen board for the 4H fair held at the Beardsley Zoo.

“This will be such a great loss to the community, with such great programs being forced to move, as the current location is what the public knows and is so central to all the surrounding towns — Bethel, Newtown, Brookfield, Danbury and Southbury,” said Christensen.

Another Newtown Master Gardener, Travis Tietjen, who graduated the program in 2018, said it would be a “really unfortunate situation to lose the location.”

“It provides invaluable resources to the community, such as insect identification, plant identification, and information on lawns, gardens and taking care of them,” said Tietjen. “It’s an area where master gardeners can go and share their gardening knowledge with the community, through the demonstration garden and the classrooms. The location has everything we need as a small community to gather together.”

Tietjen said, “hopefully they’ll figure it out,” as there are a “lot of requirements” for the extension to move to another location.

“It’s a great central location that has everything we need,” said Tietjen.

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Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.