The Fairfield Hills Authority held a regular meeting on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 in the meeting room at Town Hall South, Main Street, Newtown, CT. Bob Geckle called the meeting to order at 7:33 p.m.
Present: Bob Geckle, John Madzula, Michael Holmes, John Reed and Amy Dent.
Absent: Don Studley, Walt Motyka, Andy Willie and Julia Wasserman.
Also Present: Maria DeMarco, DeMarco Management, Ed Marks, Park & Rec., two members of the public and one member of the press.
Public Participation: No Public Participation.
Acceptance of Minutes:
Correction to the July 15, 2008 Minutes: Amy Dent stated that a correction to the Minutes from the July 15 Authority meeting should read “election of officers” not “election of members”.
A motion was made by John Reed to accept the minutes from the July 15 and the July 30th, 2008 meeting. Amy Dent seconded the motion. All in attendance voted unanimously.
Financial: Bob Geckle gave an update to the campus expenditures in the absence of Don Studley. (See Attached). Mr. Geckle reported that the expenditures are well under budget. Do to timing, and year end is still projected to be on budget.
Operating: Maria DeMarco gave an overview of her monthly Operating Report. (See Attached).
Ms. DeMarco informed the Authority that the Newtown Youth Academy was in the process of choosing a concrete color for the walkways around the building. There was some confusion over the color that was chosen for the project. Members of the authority did not feel comfortable not knowing exactly what the final color of the concrete was going to be. Ms. DeMarco suggested that maybe the project manager could do a mock-up area for the Authority to see so they could have a better understanding. Ms. DeMarco said she would follow-up with Claris Construction (project manager) to discuss this with them.
Ms. DeMarco discussed the removal of Hazardous Materials from several of the buildings that was left behind by the State of Connecticut. The materials need to be removed before any renovations can begin. Ms. DeMarco will present the Authority with the information from the company that comes in with the lowest removal bid.
Ms. DeMarco informed the Authority that the weathervane and lighting rod from atop Greenwich Hall has been removed and is now secured in storage. The Fire Marshall was a big help in completely this project.
Ms. DeMarco gave an update regarding the repair of the entrance gate to the Fairfield Hills Campus. It will take 6 to 8 weeks to complete the repairs. The repair costs will be covered by the insurance of the driver of the vehicle that caused the damage.
Ms. DeMarco gave an update to the Botsford Fire Department’s possible use of the Fairfield Hills Campus for their annual carnival fundraiser. They are going to talk to the Board of Education to see if they could possible use either the Newtown Middle School or the Reed Intermediate School. The Botsford Fire Chief will get back in touch with the Authority if the Board of Education does not have a usable sight.
Ms. DeMarco discussed the Police Activity Report. John Reed stated that because of the amount of incidents in such a short amount of time a possible “brainstorming session” would be prudent to come up with additional security measures to avoid any potential accidents. Bob Geckle requested that Mr. Reed have a meeting with Chief Kehoe and Ms. DeMarco to see what the was the best actions could be taken. The Authority endorsed this suggestion. Ms. DeMarco will set up the meeting.
Ms. DeMarco stated that she met with Fred Hurley (Public Works) and they came to the conclusion that it is prudent for the town to salvage the copper downspouts instead of paying an outside source. Mr. Hurley will put it on the work schedule.
Planning Committee Report:
Newtown Youth Academy: Bob Geckle brought up for discussion the possibility of the Newtown Youth Academy installing a Flagpole in the front of Academy building and a water feature to be built behind the Newtown Youth Academy.
Several members were concerned about the safety and the liability of a water feature existing where children would be assembled and requested that a sight plan and drawings be presented to the Authority. Bob Geckle said he would address that with the developer and will have them present their designs to the Authority at a future meeting.
The discussion of the Flagpole caused the Authority to realize that guidelines needed to be created so that current and future developers will have exact specifications and directions from the Fairfield Hills Authority. Amy Dent stated that she would work on that and have it added to the Landscape Guidelines for the Fairfield Hills Campus.
Website Design: The next discussion was regarding the final website design choices. Four members of the Authority voted for design #4, one member voted for #3.
Motion: A motion was made by John Reed that the Authority have a vote to move forward on the creation of the Fairfield Hills Campus Website using design #4. Mike Holmes seconded the motion. All in attendance voted unanimously.
Capital Improvement Plan: John Reed brought to the Authority’s attention that the sub-committee that was put together has not been doing its due diligence in reporting its findings to the board. Bob Geckle requested that the sub-committee meet before the next scheduled Authority meeting. John Reed agreed.
Mr. Geckle also made the point that the original bonding was not planned to cover the entire cost of the Fairfield Hills project. Mr. Reed concurred.
Executive Session: Amy Dent made a motion to break into Executive Session to discuss Real Estate negotiations. Mary Jane McNamara (clerk) was invited to remain for the Executive Session of the Authority Meeting. The motion was seconded by Mike Holmes. All in attendance voted unanimously.
The meeting went into Executive Session at 8:45 p.m.
The Authority came out of Executive Session at 9:00.
John Reed made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Amy Dent seconded the motion.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:01 p.m.
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