By Sarah Opdahl

At the Thursday, October 22 New Fairfield Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting there were a series of capital project updates shared on behalf of the Town Engineer Mr. Tony Iadarola. First Selectman Ms. Pat Del Monaco reminded taxpayers, “We did budget quite a bit of capital in this year’s budget, so I just wanted to update everyone on some of the larger projects, so you know how those are moving along.”

The first update was on the Library Retaining Wall project, which is the retaining wall that holds up the parking lot behind Town Hall and the New Fairfield Free Public Library. Del Monaco explained, “It was showing signs of deterioration, and it was further exacerbated over the summer with those heavy rainstorms that we got. So, under the direction of our Town Engineer, a licensed structural engineer has inspected the wall and developed a plan to repair and stabilize the wall. So, we anticipate that work being completed this fall.”

It was explained by Del Monaco, “all of our State-required inspections of bridges under 20 feet long have been completed, and now the Town Engineer is reviewing the inspection reports and putting together a plan for repairs of those bridges.” Also, there was an update on the Senior Center Dam Project, one of two dam projects that the town has discussed and worked on for many years. The Senior Center’s dam is a larger project and “is showing signs of potential failure,” Del Monaco said. She went on to say, “if that dam were to give way, that would be quite an environmental disaster downstream because of the amount of sediment that’s actually behind the berm and the spillway.”

With the state inspection complete, the town now knows that three foundational features of the dam are going to be repaired, including replacing the spillway along the length of the dam and creating a more even flow of water across the dam. Del Monaco described the process in greater detail, saying, “to prevent further deterioration of the berm, the stream is going to be slightly redirected and slightly widened. So the old rubble wall that is there will also be reinforced with some large riprap, and the idea there is to prevent that old berm from collapsing.” She went to say, “the Town engineer is confident in this plan,” and that work is about to begin on the project. There was a brief discussion about possibly being able to create an ice rink after the work is done, which is what used to happen in this space in the mid-1900s, but it was noted that it is no longer suitable for that  activity. Del Monaco added of the smaller dam project, “The Ball Pond Dam is a very small dam that is located near Weldon Woods and was recently inspected. We’re waiting to see if the State is going to require any type of repair to this dam.”

Another project that will move to the next phase is the Streetscape Project, which originally began with the sidewalks that were created several years ago. Del Monaco explained, “This is a Local Transportation and Capital Improvement Program (LOTSIP) funded  from the state that comes through the Council of Governments (COG)…. you present a project to the COG, the Western Connecticut Council of Governments, and they administer State money through this program. If your project is accepted, it gets placed on a list.” The next phase of the project, “involves the area that’s around the Veterans Park in the center of town. So, we’re going to be building more sidewalks in that area and a road crossing that goes from Veterans Park over to the Stop and Shop Plaza.” She went on to explain that there will be another crosswalk with flashing beacons located at High Winds Road that goes over to the Senior Center. In addition, there will also be more sidewalks added to go along Sawmill Road to the Birch’s Senior Housing Complex. Del Monaco said, “part of that project will also be to renovate the Veterans Park with updated lighting, seating, sidewalk, parking, and plantings. So, that project is expected to go out to bid, we just received our project agreement letter this week from DOT, and construction is expected in 2027.”

Of the  Town Green Project, which was funded by a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant received in 2022, Del Monaco said, “we expect  to begin construction in early 2027 as well.” Phase one includes a bandshell and seating area on the Town Green with some sidewalks, lighting, and space for a future play area.

The last project that she had an update on is the bus lot construction project. “We did meet with DOT, which is the agency that is administering the $1.7 million dollar earmark from Senator [Julie] Kushner…and we are now awaiting just their final project agreement letter. They do understand that we have the design, and that we have been out to bid, and we’re ready to go. So they have been very accommodating in terms of working that through their system.” Del Monaco said, “we expect that construction will begin this fall with completion in the spring.”

When asked about the Annex Project, Del Monaco explained that the study is complete and the town is ready to plan for moves. The entire Business Department will  be located upstairs, while the first floor will provide space for Land Use. She went on to note that the Selectman’s office will swap places with the Town Clerk to allow space for a  new vault in the future, “one of the goals here was to be able to accommodate the new vault for the Town Clerk. So that was kind of the determining factor because of its size and weight. There’s really only one place in Town Hall where it can go, and that is in the Selectmen’s area where the storage room is now,” she said. 

Once Land Use moves across the street, the Town Hall’s lower level will be reworked for the registrars and Parks and Rec. There will also be space for a community room, which would be perfect for a multitude of uses, including early voting. “There is also a lot of storage down there for all of the registrar’s voting equipment, and it can be locked and meet all of the requirements necessary,” Del Monaco said.

Administratively, the BOS  approved  an intradepartmental budget transfer of $5,000 from the Public Works Road Repair line to Public Works Equipment for the  lease of an excavator. Del Monaco said that the staff are “working on a drainage project and need an excavator that we don’t own, so it should get us through the project. At certain times in the year, we lease these pieces of equipment that we do not use often enough to own.” She mentioned another tool in this category is the pothole filler.

The BOS was happy to announce the winners of the Voting Sticker Contest that the town ran in the lead up to the midterm election. It was noted that there were over 75 “lovely” entries for the contest, “we were really thrilled about that,” Del Monaco said. The winners, who  were blindly judged, included for the New Fairfield Middle School, Brenna McDermott; for New Fairfield Elementary, Aleena Seeley; The Best 250th theme winner was Lily Knox; New Fairfield Pride was Caroline McEntee; and Best Use of Color was Parker Beckett-Flores.

The next regular New Fairfield Board of Selectmen meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 12, 7:00 p.m.