Hearing On FFH Authority Ordinance Set For July 6

By John Voket

After only brief discussion, members of the Legislative Council agreed to set a July 6 public hearing on a proposed ordinance creating a nonpolicy-making authority to manage the day-to-day operations, development, and demolition projects at Fairfield Hills. Except for one minor change to language in two paragraphs of the proposed ordinance, the measure appeared to be acceptable to most, if not all, council members.

The extent of those changes was to add a qualifying addendum to paragraphs five and six of the ordinance, specifically addressing how members of the authority were to gain approval for the hiring of contractors, and making budget expenditures. The council agreed to add a line at the end of each of the aforementioned paragraphs compelling the authority to act only, “at the discretion of the Board of Selectmen, the First Selectman, or the purchasing authority of the town as deemed appropriate by any or all of the above.”

Following the July 6 public hearing, the council is expected to pass the ordinance, which received the endorsement of the council’s ordinance committee May 25. The ordinance was produced after enabling legislation was passed in Hartford and signed by Governor M. Jodi Rell May 17.

The bill enables Newtown to authorize such an authority at the former state hospital, which is now owned and operated by the town. According to First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, a state authorized an independent authority would not be stymied in its attempt to lease property on the campus because of a stipulation in the town’s charter.

Speaking at Wednesday’s Council meeting, former school superintendent John Reed, who currently chairs an ad hoc management committee at Fairfield Hills, said that project management on the campus should not be the sole responsibility of the first selectman.

“With all due respect to the office, and the first selectman, he shouldn’t be expected to take on what will quickly become an all-consuming full-time job,” Mr Reed said.

Mr Rosenthal said the establishment of the authority permitted by legislative action enabling the local ordinance is the best possible solution for future campus management.

“The committee could have asked for the legislature to create an authority, but this would have taken away most of the opportunity for local public comment,” Mr Rosenthal said. “And while there are existing examples of this type of authority operating successfully here in town, we felt that in this case legislation would make [a Fairfield Hills] authority too powerful.”

The public hearing on the Fairfield Hills Authority Ordinance is tentatively set for 6:30 pm, July 6. But that date, time, and the location of the hearing will only become legal once it is officially posted and advertised by the council.