The Fairfield Hills Authority held a Regular Meeting on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 in the meeting room of the Cyrenius H. Booth Library , Main Street, Newtown, CT. John Reed called the meeting to order at 7:33 p.m.
Present: John Reed, Andy Willie, Brian White, Walt Motyka, Ross Carley, John Madzula and Jim Bernardi.
Also Present: Maria DeMarco, (DeMarco Management), Elizabeth Stocker (Economic & Community Development), Mike Struna (Advantage Realty), three members from the public and two members from the press.
Absent: Mike Holmes.
Opening Remarks: John Reed started the meeting by welcoming Ross Carley who is the newest member of the Fairfield Hills Authority. John Reed gave an overview of Mr. Carley’s resume and stated that he would be joining the Operation Sub-committee. John Reed also stated that Mr. Carley will be taking the special project of digitizing all of the architectural drawings of the campus buildings.
Public Participation: Nancy Roznickey, 169 Hanover Road, Newtown, CT is a member of the Fairfield Hills Campus Review Committee asked about the reference in the Master Plan about reusing Kent House for educational purposes. It was explained that at the time the building was put in as a “placeholder” for future Board of Education needs. Dr. Reed stated that he would be willing to continue this discussion with Ms. Roznickey later
Acceptance of Minutes: At this time Walt Motyka made a motion to accept the minutes from the June 16, 2010 meeting. Andy Willie seconded the motion.
All in attendance voted unanimously to accept the minutes.
Walt Motyka then made a motion to accept the minutes from the July 21, 2010 Fairfield Hills Authority meeting. Andy Willy seconded the motion.
All in attendance voted unanimously to accept the minutes.
Recognition: At this time John Reed requested that the planned recognition of the Newtown Rotary Club be moved up in the Agenda. All Authority members agreed to this change.
Jim Bernarndi and Ross Carley presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Bill Calderara for their generous donation of $25,000.00 to the restoration of the Center Green on the Fairfield Hills Campus.
Mr. Calderara thank the Authority and stated that the Newtown Rotary Club was happy to do this project.
Reports and Recommendations:
Broker: Mike Struna, Advantage Realty, gave an update to the status of the Economic Development of the Fairfield Hills Campus.
Mr. Struna stated that the interest in Stratford Hall has diminished because of the high cost of renovating this building.
Andy Willie asked if this developer looked at the building before it was remediated and Mr. Struna said they looked at it before and after the building was cleaned up.
Mr. Struna stated that the cost of an individual building does not make economic sense costing approximately $200.00 per square foot for renovation.
Mr. Struna stated that because this is such an expensive endeavor that it is possible the only way this reuse is feasible is to have a developer undertake a project involving at least one of the larger buildings and two or three other buildings.
John Reed stated that this was something that the Authority needed to hear.
Property Manager: Maria DeMarco, DeMarco Management gave an overview of her monthly report.
Ms. DeMarco stated that the financial report that the Authority received in their information packet has been changed do to some last minute expenditures. The new reports will be e-mailed to the Authority members. Ms. DeMarco stated that the expenses did not change that much and that the budget is still tracking on schedule.
Ms. DeMarco stated that she met with Brian White, the Authority member who handles the financial updates, to discuss the bill paying protocol and budget review process.
Ms. DeMarco stated that the Directional Signage contract was awarded and the signs should be installed by mid-October. This process took a little longer because the lowest bidder sent their product and it was reviewed and rejected.
Ms. DeMarco also reported to the Authority that the fencing around Kent House has been completed. She also informed the members that the green house that was inquired about for use by a local organization was checked out and the only part of the structure that could be re-used is the concrete slab
Andy Willie asked how the Farmer’s Market was working out. Ms. DeMarco stated that it was doing very well with only a few minor problems along the way.
Finance: John Reed asked Brian White if he had anything to add to the financial report. Mr. White stated that he and Maria had worked out a system that they are very comfortable using.
Economic & Community Development: Elizabeth Stocker, Director of Economic and Community Development gave an update to the clean-up project at Stratford Hall and the Duplexes. Ms. Stocker stated that the remediation company came back to finish up the clean-up after a walk-through was done and a punch-list was created with area’s that needed work done.
Ms. Stocker also stated that the deadline for the round of EPA Grants is near and because the town was disqualified from this process last year on a technicality Ms. Stocker was hoping that the Town would be looked upon more favorably for this next round of grants. Ms. Stocker also stated that the EPA likes to see successful projects and that is why Stratford Hall and the Duplex clean-up should really help with this process.
Andy Willie asked if the EPA would be coming to look at the buildings to see the progress that has been made. Ms. Stocker stated that there was no planned visit at this time.
Walt Motyka stated that maybe a comparison between Norwich Hospital and the Fairfield Hills Campus could be done to show what can be accomplished with these refurbished sites. Ms. Stocker stated that she would not have time to put a comparison study together prior to the grant due date.
Ms. Stocker then informed the Authority that one of the stumbling blocks for receiving up to $400,000.00 per building is that the campus is zoned as one property instead of having each building set-up as individual properties.
Walt Motyka stated that the Master Plan Committee set battery limits around each property to establish that they are separate entities.
Mike Struna stated that the Fairfield Hills Campus is considered one parcel of land with one Tax Identification Number.
Ms. Stocker stated that she is now working on a $75,000.00 grant from the Valley Council of Governments that will probably be used to clean up two more duplexes.
Ms. Stocker invited all of the Authority members to attend a reception she is holding for the Connecticut Economic Development Association on September 21, 2010.
Trails: At this time John Reed gave an overview of the Fairfield Hills Campus Trails Rules and Regulations proposed by the Parks and Recreation Department. This version is much more abridged version and a recommendation was made that a rule stating that “No Camping or Camp Fires” be added to the list. John Reed made the recommendation that this item be deferred to next month and that the Operating Committee will work to finalize their recommendations by next month’s meeting.
Volunteer Ambulance Association: Bruce herring and Fran Pennarola, from the Board of Trustee’s for the Volunteer Ambulance Association came to explore the possibility of this association moving to the Fairfield Hills Campus. They would require space for a 12,000 square foot building. This organization averages 2,000 rescue calls per year and have been research the possibility of expanding their current location without success. Fran Panarola stated that they would probably need approximately two acres and considerable parking.
John Reed stated that there are several variables that need to be considered prior to a final decision. The location need to be researched and thought must be given to the relationship of space for the Ambulance Building and the location of a possible Police Building. One area that needs to be researched is what intersection could be used for their vehicles to depart from. Another point for discussion is if the Newtown Police Department is planning to move to the campus what impact that will have.
John Reed asked the Authority members Walt Motyka and John Madzula of the Long Range Sub-committee if they could look this over and give a recommendation at the next meeting.
John Reed asked for a show of hands from anyone that was not in favor of exploring this concept. All members favored the concept of the Ambulance Association to be located on the Fairfield Hills Campus.
CIP: At this time Walt Motyka gave an overview of the Capital Improvement Plan. Mr. Motyka pointed out that the final amounts for improvement that were approved by the Legislative Council were very disappointing. Mr. Motyka stated that all of the long term work and planning has been put to the wayside.
Campus Security Analysis: John Reed introduced Chief Mike Kehoe from the Newtown Police Department who would be giving an overview of his Fairfield Hills Campus Security Analysis during Executive Session.
John Reed stated that Jim Bernardi would in charge of formalizing a timeline for the recommendations to be possibly implemented.
The Chief gave a brief overview of why the study was undertaken and stressed that the Department focused on budget conscious recommendations.
Motion: Brian White made a motion for the Fairfield Hills Authority to go in to Executive Session for the purpose of hearing about possible improvements to security on the Fairfield Hills Campus. Andy Willie seconded the motion. All members voted unanimously. The Authority asked that Chief Kehoe, Officers McCarthy and Figol be invited to attend the Executive Session. Maria DeMarco was also asked to attend.
The Meeting went into Executive Session at 9:00 p.m.
At 9:50 p.m. Walt Motyka made a motion to end the Executive Session. Andy Willie seconded the motion. The Authority came of Executive Session for further discussion.
Election of Vice Chairman: At this time Walt Motyka made a motion to re-elect Andy Willie as Vice Chairman of the Fairfield Hills Authority. John Madzula seconded the motion.
Andy Willie withdrew his name from nomination for the position of Vice Chairman.
Andy Willie made a motion to elect Jim Bernardi as Vice Chairman. Brian White seconded the motion. All in attendance voted unimously.
Andy Willie urged all Authority members to support Jim in his endeavor as Vice Chairman.
Other Business: At this time there was a discussion about future uses for the Duplexes. No action was taken.
Motion: Andy Willie made a motion to Adjourn. Walt Motyka seconded the motion. All in attendance voted unanimously.
Meeting adjourned at 10:15 p.m.
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