The Fairfield Hills Authority held a Regular Meeting on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 in the meeting room at the Cyrenius H. Booth Library, Main Street, Newtown, CT. John Reed called the meeting to order at 7:33p.m.
Present: John Reed, Andy Willie, Ross Carley, John Madzula and Mike Holmes.
Absent: Jim Bernardi, Brian White and Renata Adler.
Also Present: Maria DeMarco, (DeMarco Management) and Elizabeth Stocker, Director of Economic and Community Development.
Public Participation: None.
Acceptance of the Minutes: Mike Holmes made a motion to accept the minutes from the September 21, 2011 Authority meeting. Ross Carley seconded the motion. All in attendance voted to accept the minutes.
First Selectman: John Reed informed the Authority that the First Selectman was unable to attend this meeting because of other commitments.
Property Manager: Maria DeMarco, DeMarco Management gave an update to several projects planned for the Fairfield Hills Campus and an overview of her monthly Property Management report.
Ms. DeMarco informed the Authority that she did receive an estimate for the Porch Removal project from Norwalk, Stamford and Woodbury Hall. Iif there are funds available to move the project forward then the Town would go for a formal bidding process. This estimate was $79,000.00 for the removal of all hazardous materials, asbestos abatement and demolition of the seven porches.
Ms. DeMarco stated that she discussed the project list that was compiled by Jim Bernardi with the Director of Public Works and there are 18 items that still need to be completed. Most of the items are metal objects that need to be removed with torches. The highway staff that has this certain skill set have been extremely busy with repairs around the town but are slowly addressing all of these issues.
Ms. DeMarco informed the Authority that after the major storms that have come through the town in the past months Plymouth Hall has been filling with water. The stairwells outside the building were completely full so the fire department came to pump it out but found that this was futile task. Temporary fencing has been placed around the stairwells to avoid any possible injuries.
Ms. DeMarco reported that the siding on the white staff houses had been removed for lab testing of the buildings by the Newtown Ambulance Association. Ms. DeMarco has requested that they repair the siding and they have agreed to do so.
The Security Camera and Lighting project is still in the planning stages. Ms. DeMarco has coordinated with the Director of Public Works and the Director of GIS that the placement of electrical hook-ups will be done from the Emergency Operations Center to Cochran House. There are utility poles outside of Cochran that call also be used for power. The Director of Public Works will also re-install the temporary power source to Washington Square.
Ms. DeMarco made the following recommendations to spend funds from the Special Revenue Funds to complete these projects:
- Removal of the Porches on Stamford, Norwalk and Woodbury Hall.
- Bring Power to several of the buildings for the security lighting and security cameras.
- Install the amount of lighting and camera’s that funding would permit.
Ms. DeMarco suggested that the porches should all be taken down at the same time so that the demolition company will only have to mobilize once to the campus saving money in the process.
Motion: At this time John Madzula made a motion to proceed to address the following matters for safety and security: Porch Demolition on Norwalk Hall, Stamford Hall and Woodbury Hall and to start Phase I of the security camera project and continue Phase II of the security lighting including the installation of electrical utilities for said projects with expenditures not to exceed $105,000. Andy Willie seconded the motion. All in attendance voted in favor of the motion.
John Reed stated that the fund will come from the Fairfield Hills Authority’s Special Revenue Fund account.
Ms. DeMarco discussed the removal of the old antennae’s on some of the buildings with the Fire Chief. The Fire Chief recommended she discuss this with the Hook & Ladder Company to have them taken down.
Chairman: John Reed gave a quick update to three items:
- CIP – Dr. Reed informed the Authority that he discussed with the First Selectman the fact that no request for funding in next year’s CIP was made but should have been. He did submit a sheet to the Director of Finance with additional funding requested for the fifth year of the CIP. Selectman Llodra told Dr. Reed this request would be added to the CIP the selectmen will be taking on.
- Procedure for Development of the Fairfield Hills Campus (DRAFT) – Dr. Reed mentioned that a draft that is being worked on by the First Selectman and the Director of Land Use. This is an outline giving direction to anyone that wants to present a development project to the town. The goal is for the Authority to approve this procedure at the meeting in November.
Economic Development: Elizabeth Stocker, Director of Economic and Community Development gave an update the EPA Grants she will be working to attain in the next few months.
The EPA Grant is a $200,000 Assessment and will be a town-wide grant allowing the funds to be used for buildings on the Fairfield Hills Campus and also possibly around the Town. The Grant will require a 20% match of in-kind funds.
Ms. Stocker stated that a consultant will be helping to write the application for the grant and there will be a $3,500. fee for this service and she was hoping the Authority would be able to supply the funds. John Reed stated that because this would be a town-wide grant he did not think that the Fairfield Hills Authority should finance the entire cost for the consultant but could share in the cost.
Ms. Stocker informed the Authority that the Broker for the campus attended the Economic Development Commission’s October meeting where he introduced the proposed development of the Danbury Hall area. Ms. Stocker said the EDC was very supportive of this plan and would help in any way to move the project further.
Broker Selection: The Authority discussed the need to begin a formal process for the selection of a Real Estate Broker in 2012 for the Fairfield Hills Campus to see if there is anyone else interested. The current Broker Agreement is finished October 30, 2011. After their discussion the Authority decided it would be best to extend the current Broker Agreement until December 31, 2011 while the process of the RFP is underway.
Motion: John Madzula made a motion to extend the Broker Agreement with Advantage Realty through December 31, 2011 while the Request for Proposal process is underway. Ross Carley seconded the motion. All in attendance voted in favor of the motion.
EVENT: Ross Carley introduced the idea of the Shriner’s 1000 Auto Show being held on the Fairfield Hills Campus. Mr. Carley will begin the process to see if the event is plausible.
Adjournment: Ross Carley made a motion to adjourn. Mike Holmes seconded the motion. All in attendance voted in favor of the motion.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
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