Town of Fairfield News
2/10/2020 - Weekly Update from the First Selectwoman
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Dear Residents,
Happy Friday! With another productive week in Town Hall behind me, I want to provide you with some updates.
At Monday afternoon's Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting, we approved several items that were then approved by the Board of Finance (BOF) on Wednesday evening. One of those items included funding for new software for land use and permitting, which will better serve our community. This system will provide our residents and businesses with the ability to apply for permits online, upload documents, communicate with departments and receive updates. 
The BOS and the BOF also approved the authorization of $22 million to refund certain of the town's outstanding bonds, which is essentially a refinance to realize a 6% savings, or $1.2 million over the life of the bonds.
For agendas, minutes and back up documents from the Board of Selectmen meetings, please visit www.fairfieldct.org/bos and for the Board of Finance, please visit www.fairfieldct.org/bof.
Last night, the Town Plan and Zoning (TPZ) Commission, wrapped up its third and final workshop. These workshops, which were held in different locations throughout town, aimed to get the public's input on updating the local Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). Residents brainstormed different ideas with regard to open space, economic development, infrastructure and transportation to help update the town's master plan. It was great to hear from residents about how they think our community can move forward. I want to thank the residents who participated in these workshops and I look forward to sitting down with our Town Plan & Zoning Commission to review the input from these meetings. 
I also finished up the remainder of my budget meetings with department heads and had an extensive meeting on the fill pile with our environmental attorney, Health Director, Town Attorney, and Conservation Director to receive an update on their meeting with DEEP and next steps. We chose Weston & Sampson as our licensed environmental professionals and they will begin the process of preparing a remediation action plan for the fill pile which will require sign off from DEEP and the EPA. As soon as this report is complete, I will host a town hall meeting. My hope and expectation is that I will be able to schedule this forum in March.
I made the decision this week to close the ball fields at Gould Manor Park. The fill pile related contaminants have been remediated but in the process some historical contaminants were discovered. I have asked Tighe & Bond to perform more testing so we can have results of the extent of this historical contamination. I can't reiterate enough that the safety and welfare of our residents remains my top priority when assessing next steps.
I hope you find this information helpful and as always, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely Yours,
Brenda L. Kupchick
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