The Ad Hoc Fairfield Hills Management Committee held a meeting on Tuesday, July 20, 2004 in the meeting room at Canaan House, Fairfield Hills, Newtown, CT. Chairman John Reed called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
PRESENT: John Reed, Robert Geckle, William Lavery, Moira Rodgers, Donald Studley, Richard Sturdevant, Andrew Willie ABSENT: Amy Dent
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal, State Representative Julia Wasserman, Selectman William Brimmer, Police Chief Michael Kehoe, James Mooney, Sr., Maria DeMarco (DeMarco, Miles & Murphy), Legislative Council Chairman Will Rodgers, Jan Andras (clerk), one member of press, one member of public
Public Participation: Ms. Ruby Johnson, 16 Chestnut Hill Road, - distributed copies of article from NY Times regarding increase in costs for building materials. She suggests utilizing the Public Building Committee rather than hiring outside consultants in order to save money. She feels there should not be any affordable housing on the Fairfield Hills grounds because taxpayer money is being used to purchase the property. She suggested that this committee do something to “protect themselves” against any possible corruption charges when awarding contracts. Dr. Reed advised that this is an ad hoc committee that has no power to award bids. That would be handled by the Board of Selectmen.
Dr. Reed stated that at future meetings, public participation will be for agenda items for that meeting. Speakers will be asked to use three minutes as a guide for their remarks.
Acceptance of Minutes: Upon motion by Mr. Sturdevant, seconded by Mr. Lavery, the minutes of the June 30, 2004 were unanimously accepted.
Security Issues
Mr. Studley moved to enter executive session for the purpose of discussing security issues at Fairfield Hills and to invite Police Chief Kehoe, James Mooney, Maria DeMarco, William Brimmer, Jan Andras (clerk) and Council Chairman Will Rodgers (when he arrives) to attend. Motion seconded and unanimously carried.
Meeting entered executive session at 7:45 p.m. and returned to open session at 8:45 p.m. Committee member Moira Rodgers and Council Chairman Will Rodgers arrived and entered the meeting during executive session.
Dr. Reed stated that as a result of the discussion and information presented, he feels that the most immediate issue to be confronted by this committee is security. There is a range of problems and challenges. We need to have in place a short term solution for the management and security as close as possible to the date of the town taking title to the property.
It was decided that Mr. Geckle and Mr. Sturdevant will meet this week with the First Selectman, Police Chief and public works representative to discuss ways to secure buildings and then report back to this committee.
Ms. DeMarco gave a brief overview of the management responsibilities of her company. She advised that they took over the management of the property on 2/28/04 when the previous company’s contract expired and was not renewed. DeMarco, Miles and Murphy is one of five companies managing properties for the State of CT. The company was told just to keep the property operational until it was transferred to the town. They take care of the facility needs at Canaan House for town and school employees. She feels that they are always reacting to problems because there has been so much deferred maintenance. The priorities right now should be security, providing heat to Canaan House for the winter and making sure the buildings stay
functional for the public access. The buildings should be properly attended and here should be some preventative measures taken in the buildings we intend to keep to protect their value.
By Laws: Judge Lavery distributed copies of By-Laws that he has drafted for review by this committee. Members will look these over and contact him before the next meeting with any comments.
Upcoming Meeting: The next meeting will be held on Thursday, July 29, 2004 at 7:30. The items to be discussed will be Security and Committee By Laws.
Having no further business and being duly moved and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m.
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Dr. John Reed, Chairman
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