The Fairfield Hills Authority held a regular meeting on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 in the meeting room at Town Hall South, 3 Main Street, Newtown, CT. Chairman Robert Geckle called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
PRESENT: Robert Geckle, Amy Dent, John Reed, William Lavery, Walter Motyka, Donald Studley ABSENT: Andrew Willie, Moira Rodgers
ALSO PRESENT: Scott Baillie (O&G), representatives of Tai Soo Kim Partners, Ed Marks (Parks & Rec. Commission), two members of public, one member of press
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Upon motion of Judge Lavery, the minutes of the January 17, 2006 meeting were unanimously accepted as presented.
Public Participation: Ms. Ruby Johnson, Chestnut Hill Road, feels that Cochran House would be a more “dignified” location for the town hall and would be away from other activities such as ballfields. She also feels that there is a concern that there is not a good financial plan for recovering costs. She submitted a draft of her ideas of costs to develop the property and when we can receive expect to receive revenue and cash flow.
Finance Committee:
Mr. Studley distributed copies of the Operating Expenses Report and the Proposed Operating Budget for 2006/2007. Mr. Reed stated that is concerned about the $4,500 figure for gas since the Security Building is the only one being heated.
Judge Lavery moved to approve the Proposed Operating Budget for 2006/2007. Motion seconded and unanimously carried.
Operating Committee:
Members were in receipt of the Utility Update report from Public Works Director Fred Hurley. Mr. Baillie asked to be a part of any final negotiating on the utility contract.
Mr. Geckle reported that a local group would like to submit a proposal for a community garden at Fairfield Hills in the greenhouse between Plymouth Hall and Cochran House and they would like a commitment of 3-5 years. Mr. Geckle informed them that the Authority cannot assure any area for that period of time. Mr. Motyka is concerned about construction going on in that area but Mr. Geckle has informed the garden group that their proposal is not likely for this growing season but may be considered in the future.
Mr. Reed reported that he is ready to submit an application for a grant for recreational trails on the property. Judge Lavery moved to endorse the submission of a grant application for the Recreational Grants Program. Motion seconded and unanimously carried. Mr. Reed reported that he met with the Bridle Lanes group regarding the compatibility of horse trails and pedestrian trails and it was agreed that is not a good idea to have the same trails for both uses. He would like to ask the engineer to include horse trails in the plan. The Bridle Lanes group understands that there is no money for horse trails at this time. The Bridle Lanes provided an overlay map of Fairfield Hills showing the existing horse trails which was
given to Mr. Baillie to forward to Vollmer Associates.
Mr. Russell Bartley had submitted a written remediation activity report showing that work is on schedule.
Mr. Ryczcard Szczypek and Mr. Jerry Waters of Tai Soo Kim Partners were present to report on design of a new town hall and on mothballing of buildings. Mr. Szczypek reported that schematic design of the town hall is scheduled to start now and will take two months. They hope to be able to show some sketches of Bridgeport Hall at the next meeting. They are working from the space needs study done by Kaestle Boos in 1999 and numbers prepared by O&G.
Regarding mothballing of buildings, Mr. Waters reported that the basement in Bridgeport Hall is dry and the foundation is in good condition. The windows are okay and many can be restored. Plymouth Hall has major roof problems and some structural damage including cracking and brick settlement, in addition to mold problems. They would recommend demolition of this building. Stratford Hall is in bad condition but he feels it can be redeemed and would recommend it be mothballed, scraping and painting the woodwork and adding storm windows. In addition, the roof needs some repair, the attic needs ventilation and he recommends that all mothballed buildings be cleaned out. Newtown Hall is in good condition with no roof leaks. This building
has storm windows but needs a vent in the basement and new fans. He would recommend shrink-wrapping the cupola to protect it. Woodbury Hall has damage, needs roof repair and has mold. He recommends draining the water from the basement, finding and repairing the leak, plus adding storm windows and fans.
The question was raised about mothballing the duplexes. O&G will find out the cost to increase the scope of work. Regarding the timeline, Mr. Baillie advised that the mothballing project is a few weeks behind but everything else is on schedule. We should have estimates within the next few weeks.
Mr. Baillie advised that Vollmer has an early rough estimate of $1.65 million to provide demolition of Fairfield House and construction of a 90’ baseball field plus 48 parking spaces and 3,800 feet of paved walking trail. This does not include any lighting. Mr. Geckle stressed that these figures are still very preliminary.
Judge Lavery moved to approve moving forward on architectural/engineering work for design development in order to obtain hard costs. Motion seconded and unanimously carried.
Planning Committee: Ms. Dent addressed Ms. Johnsons remarks made earlier and advised her that a cost analysis is being prepared. Sheadvised that the committee has reviewed the Master Plan and looked for elements that might possibly be funded by state departments. They contacted State Representative Julia Wasserman who feels that there is only one potential item which they will continue to pursue. There is no funding available for demolition. North American Realty has asked to provide background information in order to provide an RFP for lease rates.
Having no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
Jan Andras, Clerk
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