By Sarah Opdahl

New Fairfield’s Permanent Building Committee (PBC) held a brief meeting on Tuesday, December 9. Colliers International’s Mr. Scott Pellman explained that a meeting will occur to bring First Selectman Ms. Pat Del Monaco “up to speed” on all ongoing legal matters, including for the prolonged propane and elementary playground failures. Though the details were sparse regarding the cause of the lengthy propane failure at New Fairfield High School, Pellman said, “We have heard back from O&G on the propane and from their contractor, and that’s the big issue that we’ve got to discuss. We’re still trying to put together a timeline.” He also said, “We’re really going to need to talk with an attorney and try and get a little bit or better of a handle on an understanding of the playground and why it failed. There are multiple parties that may all have a part in the culpability of the issue.”

Conversation ensued about the status of construction document designs for the bus lot that is planned for 302 Ball Pond Road. Colliers International’s Mr. Mark Schweitzer explained that he had comments on the designs for Langan Engineering, plus PBC member Ms. Maureen Clegg  submitted comments that need addressing. The designs are now with school district officials for review. 

Schweitzer noted that once Langan “ties up any loose ends,” they are planning to submit the designs to New Fairfield’s Zoning Commission for their January meeting, which will mean they will be sending them through at the end of December, ideally by Christmas. They are hoping the documents will be accepted at the January meeting, which will be followed by a public hearing.  

PBC member Mr. Mike Del Monaco said, “I don’t think we should necessarily submit the current bus lot plans until there’s a discussion with Zoning, because I am not in favor of those plans.” He went on to say, “I am in favor of saving whatever land we can and not putting in another driveway. So, I don’t know how we want to move forward with that, but that’s just my position,” referring to the plans that were just created that are closer to the design that came out of third-party consultant Mr. Ben Doto following a joint board review. PBC Chair Mr. Don Kellogg replied that he would “reach out to the Zoning Commission and see if I can have a conversation with them about that possibility and whether we can arrange some sort of official meeting, but to speak unofficially about the application, just to talk about the site plan…”

Monitoring will continue on elementary school’s fire tanks, which are undergoing tests for leakage. Schweitzer shared, “as we reported at the last meeting, they were going to pull the plug on one of the two interconnected pipes. They did that on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and they checked it last week…there has been no elevation change in the water in any of the three tanks.” He explained that the “next step is to pull the second plug,” after a couple of weeks of monitoring. 

The next regular New Fairfield Permanent Building Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 23, at 7:30 p.m.