The Fairfield Hills Authority held a Regular Meeting on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 in the meeting room of the Cyrenius H. Booth Library, Main Street, Newtown, CT. John Reed called the meeting to order at 7:31p.m.
Present: John Reed, Andy Willie, Mike Holmes, Jim Bernardi, Renata Adler, John Madzula.
Absent: Brian White and Ross Carley.
Also Present: Maria DeMarco, (DeMarco Management), Bruce Herring, (Newtown Volunteer Ambulance), Deborah Zukowski, (Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee) and one member of the press.
Public Participation: None.
Acceptance of the Minutes: John Madzula made a motion to accept the minutes from the November 16, 2012 meeting. Andy Willie seconded the motion. All in attendance voted in favor of the motion.
First Selectman: John Reed reported that due to a scheduling conflict with the Legislative Council the First Selectman has requested that, if possible, the night of the Fairfield Hills Authority meetings be changed and if that is not a possibility then the start time of the meetings begin a half an hour earlier, 7:30p.m.
Property Manager: Maria DeMarco gave a quick overview of her monthly report. (See Attached.)
The most important item it the demolition of the porches on the buildings around the campus. Ms. DeMarco reported that the Town consultant was in the process of scheduling a preliminary walk-through with contractors to see what the best approach for the removal of the materials would be. Ms. DeMarco stated that the town would be receiving quotes two different ways - Unit pricing or Total removal.
John Reed reported that because the Town is now looking to install security fencing around most of the buildings on the campus there might not be a need to remove the porches at this time. John asked Maria to evaluate pricing for the porches and the fencing to see if it was more cost effective to install the fencing. The funds for both of these projects will be used from the Special Revenue Funds.
John Reed also informed the Authority that the security camera project that was planned has been tabled at this time and that the funds that would have been spent for the camera’s will be used for additional security lighting around select buildings.
Maria said she would bring the expected costs to the February Authority meeting.
Broker: The Real Estate Broker was not available to attend the meeting but John Reed gave a quick overview of a project that was mentioned in the Newtown Bee about the possibility of Woodbury Hall being renovated for business and retail. This was a project that was discussed by the broker for Danbury Hall.
John Reed also brought up the possibility of renewing the Broker’s exclusive contract with the Town of Newtown. The Town had extended the contract an additional 90 days in October, 2011 and that time was up in December.
John Madzula, who is part of the sub-committee that did the initial search for the Broker suggested that the Town not commit to a formal contract but let the Broker bring any development projects to the town as any independent broker would. No action was taken.
Chairman: At this time John Reed asked Jim Bernardi to present a Certificate of Appreciation to Harvey Pessin for his profound civic contribution for the creation of the Fairfield Hills Campus Victory Garden.
Mr. Pessin thanked the Authority and stated that the garden was a wonderful thing for the Town of Newtown to have and that all of the volunteers were a great help.
John Reed stated that the garden is currently in a location which could be impacted by the newly proposed location of the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance and wanted to assure Mr. Pessin that if the gardens location is modified water supply will be provided.
At this time the John asked Bruce Herring from the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association to show to the Authority the photo of the proposed new location for the Ambulance Garage. (See Attached).
Mr. Herring explained that his group will be meeting with the State Traffic Commission to confirm that they will be able to make a left turn out of the campus from the newly created entrance has been developed.
Motion: Jim Bernardi made a motion that the Fairfield Hills Authority will approve site #2 as a possible location for the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association garage subject to the same provisions contained in the original motion which approved the relocation of Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association to a site on the Fairfield Hills Campus.
Andy Willie seconded the motion.
All in attendance voted in favor of the motion.
John Reed introduced for discussion the Procedures for Fairfield Hills Development Proposals. John asked if anyone had any changes they would like to suggest.
Renata Adler suggested that a member of the Fairfield Hills Authority should be present at the start of the vetting process instead of waiting until Step 2. John Madzula agreed that a representative from the Authority should be present during Step 1 of the development process.
Motion: John Madzula made a motion that the Authority approved the procedure for the Fairfield Hills Development contigent upon the inclusion of the Chairman of the Fairfield Hills Authority or a representative of his choice to be a part of the review team in Step 1.
Renata Adler seconded the motion.
All in attendance voted in favor of the motion.
Elections of Officers: John Reed stated that he was stepping down as Chairman of the Fairfield Hills Authority effective January 19, 2012.
Motion: Andy Willie made a motion to elect Jim Bernardi as Chairman of the Fairfield Hills Authority.
John Reed seconded the motion. All in attendance voted in favor of the motion.
Jim Bernardi took over the meeting as Chairman. Mr. Bernardi stated that his first order of business was to thank John Reed for his dedication and hard work on behalf of the Town of Newtown. Mr. Bernardi went on to say that John been instrumental in pushing hard for the safety and maintenance of the buildings on the Fairfield Hills Campus while looking towards future development.
Andy Willie also thanked John for working the hardest and pushing to bring the Fairfield Hills Campus Trails to fruition making them an asset to the town that all residents benefit from.
Jim Bernardi turned to the task of electing a new Vice Chairman and stated that this person would be counted on to fill in on a number of occasions when Mr. Bernardi’s position as a prosecutor caused him to work long hours on a case to case basis.
Motion: John Reed made a motion to nominate Mike Holmes as Vice Chairman of the Fairfield Hills Authority. Andy Willie seconded the motion. All in attendance voted in favor of the motion.
Jim Bernardi’s second order of business was to request that the night of the Authority meetings be changed to accommodate the First Selectman’s availability.
Motion: Jim Bernardi made a motion that the time of the Fairfield Hills Authority meeting be changed from 7:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. until a more suitable day in the month can be confirmed.
Andy Willie seconded the motion. All in attendance voted in favor of the motion.
The clerk will change the time for the meeting immediately while trying to secure a new date for the meetings to be held.
Public Participation: Deborra Zukowski, 4 Cornfield Ridge Road, is a member of the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee and asked if there could be Public Participation at the end of the Authority meeting. Chairman Bernardi stated that this is not the usual format but would allow it.
Ms. Zukowski stated that the Fairfield Hills Authority and the Master Plan Review Committee should work together and that the Master Plan should be revisited.
Motion: John Reed made a motion to adjourn. Mike Holmes seconded the motion. All in attendance voted to adjourn.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
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