By Sarah Opdahl

On Thursday, October 9, the New Fairfield Board of Selectmen (BOS) had a strained discussion regarding Town expenditures for surveillance of an employee under the former administration. The current iteration of the BOS are no strangers to disagreement, however this particular topic is fraught given the timing of its advancement. As the election is less than a month away, there were frustrations expressed that this line of discussion amounts to pure “politics,” while others were surprised about the particular topic and that surveillance was a tactic the town used.

As this is a personnel issue regarding a current employee, it was explained that the person was investigated for leaving their desk for long stints. Selectman Ms. Pat Del Monaco explained, “there were multiple credible allegations of serious employee misconduct, and it was my obligation to investigate. The investigation was conducted under the advice and supervision of town attorneys and in accordance with all applicable statutes, I did what I had to do. The case is closed.” She said, “This is nothing more than political theater. Four weeks before an election, you’re attempting to take a legitimate investigation and try to turn it into a scandal. All administrations have Human Resources investigations from time to time, managing Town personnel is part of the job, and discipline comes with that responsibility.“

First Selectman Ms. Melissa Lindsey countered to say, “This has nothing to do with politics. So, I actually am quite annoyed that you accuse me of that. This comes as an answer to an FOI (Freedom of Information) [request] that I am trying to get the answer to. So, as I am trying to put together all of the information, I find that there are gaps in the information.” Lindsey is questioning why there were no executive sessions held in the months preceding the private investigation surveillance, which would prompt concerns that full BOS approval was not sought. Heated public comment bookended the meeting, with this topic being chief among concerns.

In other news, Lindsey explained that she was part of a meeting regarding Candlewood Lake’s island issues—which reached a peak of unsafe and unsanitary conditions earlier this summer—at which it was agreed “the islands will stay or remain closed for the 2026 season.” The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), FirstLight, Candlewood Lake Authority (CLA), and the heads of towns surrounding the lake all agreed that closing the islands “this past summer was a great success.” She went on, “we got a statistic sheet…infractions were down 81% from a Labor Day weekend comparison of last year. So that’s a huge success in our book.” With the islands being one of the major concerns of the  CLA and towns, this was positive news. There was also a discussion about possible new boating laws, especially in relation to boat launches. She said, “we’re working very hard to continue to work together with one message and one voice and work as a unit, all five towns together…we will be reaching out to our state delegates, our state representatives, and state senators for help. We will also be looking into more communication, as far as the DEEP individuals that are at boat launches,” in addition to those on the water.

A transfer request for $19,300 was made for an “uncollectible grant reimbursement,” which

related to a grant that was used to fund the installation of an elevator at the Squantz Engine Company. The grant was for just  over $200,000 and the majority of those expenditures were reimbursed through this grant. Referring to Mr. Vladimir Kan, who left the top finance position after a short period following a spate of missteps, Town Finance Director Mr. Adam Lawrence noted, “Unfortunately, my predecessor did submit a final report, thereby closing this grant prior to requesting reimbursement for this balance of $19,300. When we discovered that this account receivable was still on the books, I reached out to our grant contact at the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection [and] tried a few different avenues with them, and working with their leadership, to see if there was any way that they would reopen the grant, so that we could settle this outstanding balance.” He went on, “Unfortunately, the response from their leadership was that the grant had been formally closed. The funds were unencumbered at the state level, and there was no way that they could reopen the grant. Since that AR is still on our books, we are now obliged to write that down and provide the replacement funding for that uncollectible grant revenue.” Del Monaco noted, “That’s really a shame that we had grant money and it essentially went back to the state,and now it’s coming out of our unappropriated cap and non balance, which is helpful in keeping taxpayer required cap and non funds down. So that’s very unfortunate.”

The next regular New Fairfield Board of Selectmen meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 23, 7:30 p.m.