The Ad Hoc Fairfield Hills Management Committee held a meeting on Thursday, August 19, 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, Amy Dent, William Lavery, Moira Rodgers, Donald Studley, Richard Sturdevant, Andrew Willie
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal, State Representative Julia Wasserman, Maria DeMarco (DeMarco, Murphy & Miles), Legislative Council Chairman Will Rodgers, Jan Andras (clerk), two members of public, one member of press
Approval of Minutes – Upon motion by Mr. Lavery, the minutes of the 7/29/04 meeting were unanimously accepted as presented.
REPORTS
Facility Manager Update – Ms. DeMarco reported that to date, signs have been posted at entrances to the property notifying the public of hours the campus is open. Town work crews have been methodically going through each building and boarding up first floor windows and welding shut the doors that access the tunnels, immediately after police officers insure that no one is inside. As of today, they have completed Yale and Litchfield and are working on Greenwich House. They have also completed tunnel doors that lead to Bridgewater, Fairfield, Canaan, Bridgeport and Shelton. Her firm is looking at measures to reduce costs to operate the campus and to improve services. They plan to re-bid the cleaning services. Snow removal has been done as if the campus were fully operational,
at a cost of $232,000/year. Town crews will now take care of only that snow removal that is necessary for buildings in use. This will represent a substantial savings. Landscaping has been done at a cost of $102,640/year. This will now be combined with Parks & Recreation maintenance.
Officers – None at this time
Committee – Ms. Dent reported that she and Ms. Rodgers are working on a policy for public uses of the campus. They are waiting for information from CCM. Ms. Dent spoke to Danbury and is expecting information about Tarrywile and Richter Park. Chairman Reed stated that for the short-term, we will not be looking to approve any new engagements at the property but existing uses will be allowed to continue.
First Selectman – Mr. Rosenthal reported that Mr. Russell Bartley, who prepared the Remedial Action Plan will be supervising the environmental phase of the project. Mr. Bartley is preparing a contract and will help put together all necessary RFPs. We are meeting with CL&P to find the best way to get power to Canaan House since the power plant will soon be discontinued.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – None noted.
OLD BUSINESS
Security and Safety – Mr. Sturdevant and Mr. Geckle have attended several meetings with town staff members. Mr. Sturdevant reported that the public works crews are making progress on securing the buildings. We will be going out to bid for the installation of the gates at the old main entrance and at Cochran House. At this time, the Public Works Department will hold off on putting up the bar gates near the planned security building
Ms. DeMarco added that her firm has changed the specifications for the security personnel. The Newtown Police Department has stepped up and is now responding to calls at the campus and has made arrests. The police are working with the security personnel and is helping with training.
Other – Committee members will meet at Canaan House on 9/11/04 at 9:00 am for a security tour.
NEW BUSINESS
Heating and other financial factors related to utilization of Canaan House
First Selectman Rosenthal advised that eight years ago the Town entered a lease with the State when we needed room for our land use, building and health departments and this option was reasonably priced. The State has been paying $85-$90,000 per year for the heat alone, and has done no preventative maintenance. As a result, the steam traps in the heating system are malfunctioning and the building is always either too hot or cold. It is not a good environment for employees or the public. In addition, there are odors in the building. The Town did purchase the boiler that was being used at Greenwich House which could be moved to Canaan for approximately $100,000, with another $100,000 to get the system in the building functioning. We occupy less than 25% of the building and would need an
engineer to find out if there is a way to shut off the rest of the building from heat. It has been suggested that rather than spending a lot of money for a boiler, we should look into a temporary set up for employees, such as a modular building. If purchased, a building of the necessary size would run approximately $1.3 million. Costs to lease would depend on the length of the lease. An alternative could be a commercial lease of office space off of the Fairfield Hills campus.
Ms. DeMarco will get information about steam system at Canaan House and should have some preliminary numbers by early next week. After a lengthy discussion of options, it was decided to hold a special meeting on 8/26/04, 7:30 pm after information is gathered.
Strategy for long-term management
Mr. Sturdevant stated that the former Fairfield Hills Master Plan Advisory Committee did recommend the formation of an Authority, in order to have continuity from one administration to the next. This has been successful in other communities, i.e. Richter Park and Tarrywile. There is also a need for someone to be in charge of the day to day issues now being handled by the First Selectman’s office.
Mr. Rosenthal stated that the Charter did not accommodate the management of the property. Our attorneys felt that if we were going to be taking over the campus and do what was proposed by the Master Plan, the only way to supercede the Charter would be by Statute. Now that we own the property, we have the time to implement a Charter revision. Ms. Wasserman will contact the Office of Legislative Research to request a report on similar experiences with similar types of authorities. This will probably take 2-3 weeks.
Mr. Rosenthal reminded that the Town already has an authority in existence, the Water Pollution Control Authority, which has broad powers and was established by Ordinance. In addition, we have the Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers that was created by a Special Act of the Legislature. Chairman Reed advised that we will be looking for volunteers of this committee to begin looking into this soon.
Request for Proposal for On-site, Daily Management
Mr. Rosenthal advised that under the state contract, the Town can continue for an indefinite period to utilize the services of DeMarco, Miles and Murphy on a month to month basis. Chairman Reed feels it will take several months to prepare an RFP.
Mr. Willie moved to recommend that the First Selectman continue with the existing arrangement with DeMarco, Miles and Murphy for management of Fairfield Hills under the state contract laws, for a period of up to six months. Motion seconded and unanimously carried.
Having no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m.
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John Reed, Chairman
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