The Fairfield Hills Authority held a Regular Meeting on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 in the Council Chamber of the Newtown Municipal Center, #3 Primrose Street, Newtown, CT. John Reed called the meeting to order at 7:32p.m.
Present: John Reed, John Madzula, Jim Bernardi, Andy Willie, Ross Carley, and Mike Holmes.
Absent: Brian White.
Also Present: Maria DeMarco, (DeMarco Management), Elizabeth Stocker, (Director of Economic and Commercial Development), Mike Struna (Advantage Realty), Jeff Capeci (Legislative Council) two members from the press and four members of the public.
Public Participation: John Reed introduced the Public Participation at the beginning of the meeting and made the suggestion that there be a Public Participation at the end of the meeting for anyone that wanted to make comments about any of the evenings discussions. All of the Authority members agreed to that change in the Agenda.
Ruby Johnson, 16 Chestnut Hill, Road, Sandy Hook, 06482. Ms. Johnson handed out two studies to the Authority Members and gave an overview.
Acceptance of Minutes: At this time Andy Willie made a motion to accept the minutes from the January 19, 2011 Authority Meeting. John Madzula seconded the motion. Mike Holmes requested that a correction be made because Ross Carley was listed in attendance of the meeting and also absent. Andy Willie accepted the corrections and the minutes were unanimously accepted.
First Selectman’s Report: First Selectman Llodra was not in attendance but Jim Bernardi, as Vice Chairman and Maria DeMarco both met with Ms. Llodra earlier in the week so they gave a quick overview of that meeting.
Property Manager: Maria DeMarco (DeMarco Management gave an overview of her monthly Property Manager report. (See Attached).
Ms. DeMarco stated that the move of the Fairfield Hills Office from 28 Trades Lane to the Newtown Municipal Center was almost complete.
Andy Willie asked if the heat was still on in the building and Ms. DeMarco confirmed that it will remain on but at a much lower temperature. The Campus Security is still using the building so they will keep checking to make sure there are no problems inside the facility.
Ross Carley asked if the 28 Trades Lane building can still be used for storage of maps and site drawings. Ms. DeMarco stated that yes it could be used temporarily but that the files that are currently in the building will be moved over to the Newtown Municipal Center within the next month.
Ms. DeMarco reported that the solar lighting is working extremely well.
John Reed asked Ms. DeMarco to finalize the plan for the expansion of the lighting for the March Authority meeting.
Ms. DeMarco stated that she is working with several Town Departments to coordinate security cameras in all of the buildings on the campus. She will give a follow-up report at the March meeting.
Ms. DeMarco also informed the Authority that she is in price negotiations with the person that wants to hold a craft show on the campus possibly in June.
Economic Development: At this time Elizabeth Stocker, Director of Economic and Community Development gave a report.
Ms. Stocker stated that she had “good news”. The duplex clean-up quotes came back and the town realized that it was going to be approximately $20,000 short in the estimation so Ms. Stocker asked the Valley Council of Governments for additional grant money and they agreed. This money will cover the cost for all three duplexes to be completely remediated.
Ms. Stocker stated that when the EPA visited the Fairfield Hills Campus last they stated that they can offer $200,000.00 per property. Ms Stocker stated that she is hoping to present each building as a separate property so they can receive $200,000.00 per building.
Ms. Stocker also informed the Authority that the Economic Development Commission is still advertising and marketing the Fairfield Hills Campus.
Other: At this time John Reed reported that Deborra Zukowski from the Review Committee is putting together an overview of the Master Plan and would like it forwarded to all of the past and present Authority members for their review and comments.
Broker Report: Mr. Struna stated that the good news is that the general economy is showing signs of improvement. Mr. Struna stated that he has had an increase of prospective calls and so has the First Selectman’s office and Elizabeth Stocker.
Mr. Struna went on to list some of the groups that have contacted him about possibly using the campus for their place of business.
Ms. Struna stated that most of the calls he is vetting have some type of residential attributes to them – such as Alzheimer’s three stage care facility.
Mr. Struna went on to say that a very small prep school also inquired about the campus but that it too would have residential needs.
Another group was a Hospice Care facility.
Mr. Struna went on to say that he has had the opportunity to introduce the campus to several developers to get their feedback about what would work on this property. He stated that they all felt that the only way they see this campus getting developed is with a mixed use concept.
Mr. Struna stated that one of the hardest reasons when promoting the property is the cost of renovation of the buildings. He used the Newtown Municipal Center as an example: The square foot cost to renovate that building was approximately $225.00 per square foot. Mr. Struna is working on another project that is a brand new building in Newtown that is only costing $125.00 per square foot.
Andy Willie asked if Mr. Struna was asking for the entire cost of the lease upfront. Mr. Struna stated he was not. Mr. Willie stated that he thought that was good because that could have been a deterrent to anyone inquiring about the property.
Legislative Council: At this time John Reed asked that the Authority move ahead in the Agenda to open up the discussion about the resolution sent to the Authority by the Legislative Council. (See attached resolution).
Jeff Capeci, (Chairman of the Legislative Council), gave an overview of the background to the resolution. Mr. Capeci stated that the Council thought a proposal to renovate Cochran House was worth taking a look at. This was not a request that the Authority deviate from the Master Plan just that perhaps the residents of Newtown should be able to review the facts of the proposal.
Jim Bernardi asked if the Legislative Council wanted to hear about every proposal that went through the broker.
Jeff Capeci stated that he was not.
Dr. Reed stated that no formal offer has been forthcoming.
Andy Willie suggested that if the Legislative Council wanted to hear about the proposal they could invite the broker to their meetings and that the charge of the Fairfield Hills Authority is to work within the guidelines of the Master Plan and that the Master Plan does not allow housing on the Fairfield Hills Campus. Mr. Willie stated that before this resolution was sent to the Authority Brian White made the suggestion at the July Authority meeting that “he felt that this would give the impression that the Authority was either for or against a project and he did not think that was the Authorities place.”
John Madzula stated that in his opinion the proposals should be presented to the Authority even if they include housing.
Jim Bernardi was trying to figure out the best way to respond to the resolution and felt that because the Legislative Council members are the elected officials of the town it was possibly best to send the broker to the Council every time there is a proposal.
Jeff Capeci stated that possibly the Authority could vet a forum for a review of any proposals.
Mike Struna stated that it would be very difficult for a broker to present a proposal in a public forum because of the negotiation involved.
Andy Willie asked Mr. Struna if he had a proposal at this time to present or are they talking about something that doesn’t exist?
Mr. Struna stated that they were talking about something specific and went on to outline the Cochran House project. Mr. Struna stated that the developer has identified that the project makes economic sense. Mr. Struna said that the developer would like to in the future present it to the town.
Motion: Jim Bernardi made a motion that in response to the Resolution from the Legislative Council dated January 25, 2011 that the Authority send the real estate broker to the Legislative Council with any and all proposals for development on the Fairfield Hills Campus.
Ross Carley seconded the motion.
A discussion followed.
Mike Holmes stated that for a matter of correction that the Authority was appointed by the Board of Selectmen and takes direction from the Board of Selectmen – not the Legislative Council.
Mr. Holmes also stated that the charge of the Authority is to execute the Master Plan not to look into changing it. Mr. Holmes said that there is a Review Committee now looking at the Master Plan to see if changes are possible.
Ross Carley said they should kick the proposal upstairs and let the Legislative Council make the decision to move forward.
Jim Bernardi stated that the Authority is not making a decision about residential on the campus therefore it should go before the elected officials of the town for discussion.
Andy Willie stated that the Authority should look at the proposal and it can be voted on in executive session. That is what has been done in the past.
At this time Jim Bernardi withdrew the original motion and made another motion as follows:
Motion: Jim Bernardi moved that regarding the Resolution dated January 25, 2011 to Dr. John Reed from the Legislative Council it is the recommendation that the Authority send the Broker to the next Legislative Council meeting to discuss the proposal with regard to any possible residential development in Cochran Hall.
Ross Carley seconded the motion.
A vote was taken:
Ross Carley – Yes
John Madzula – No
Andy Willie – No
John Reed – No
Mike Holmes - No
Jim Bernardi – Yes
The motion did not carry.
Motion: At this time Andy Willie made a motion to have all proposals presented to the Fairfield Hills Authority in Executive Session.
Ross Carley seconded the motion.
Mike Holmes stated that any proposal should be presented to the Authority.
A vote was taken:
Ross Carley – Yes
John Madzula – Yes
Andy Willie – Yes
John Reed – Yes
Mike Holmes - Yes
Jim Bernardi – Yes
The motion was accepted unanimously.
Public Participation: At this time John Reed introduced the second Public Participation section of the meeting.
Ruby Johnson took this opportunity to say that the town needs to consider using this land for services i.e. Ambulance, Fire and Police Departments. Ms. Johnson stated that she understands the cost to tear down the buildings is very high but just think of how expensive it will be to try to find the land for all of these needs.
Andy Willie asked Ms. Johnson if she knew that the town was set to lease 3 acres to Newtown Ambulance. Ms. Johnson said she was not aware that a lease was in the process.
John Reed said that a lease will be completed when the identified conditions were met.
John Reed then asked everyone if there was any update to the Requested work to be done on the Fairfield Hills Campus.
Jim Bernardi stated that there was no update because the projects have been put on the back burner because of the heavy winter weather the town has been dealing with.
The goal is to be back on track by March 15th.
Motion: Andy Willie made a motion to adjourn. John Madzula seconded the motion. All voted to adjourn. Meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
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