First Selectman Rudy Marconi has a lot on his desk for 2014, from working on further Schlumberger land sales to finding a new fire chief. —Macklin Reid photo
Continuing efforts to recover some of Schlumberger’s $7-million purchase cost by selling off parts of the property is a major priority for First Selectmen Rudy Marconi in 2014.
Other tasks on his to-do list include hiring a new fire chief, and finishing work on the proposed town blight ordinance.
He anticipates step-by-step progress toward a bike path envisioned as eventually connecting the trail at the Recreation Center site to Branchville, by using the Rail Trail, and will continue working with the state on plans to smooth Main Street traffic flow, with more turning lanes.
On the budget, Mr. Marconi expects town boards will collaborate in an effort to hold taxes to about a 2% increase. And he’ll unveil a request for a new $3-to-$4 million radio system for police, fire and emergency services.
The year 2014 will be distinguished by Ridgefielder Tucker West representing the United States in luge competition in the Winter Olympics, Mr. Marconi noted. It will see the 100th anniversary of the Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association, as well as the 50th anniversary of two distinguished arts organizations, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art and the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra.
The anniversary of the orchestra’s founding is near the end of the year, he said, so the organization plans to celebrate 2015 as its 50th year.
Schlumberger
The 45-acre Schlumberger property consumes attention.
“We closed on this property in 2012,” Mr. Marconi said. “We need to continue to work on that.”
A town meeting has approved a $1.24-million sale of five acres to developer Steve Zemo, so the selectmen are focused on trying to sell 10 acres off Sunset Lane for residential development.
“We have solicited bids and are currently negotiating with at least one and as many as possibly four different bidders for the 10-acre parcel,” Mr. Marconi said.
The selectmen are continuing talks about selling parts of the former scientific research campus as a storage site for an art collection, and Schlumberger’s environmental clean-up in the area continues.
But some residents, most persistently Chuck Hancock of North Street, have lobbied to get townspeople more opportunity to discuss the plans, offer ideas, raise objections.
“Any time a resident is concerned and feels there hasn’t been enough transparency is a concern to me,” Mr. Marconi said.
“But at the same time I responded to Mr. Hancock that what was proposed as a vision for the use of the property over two years ago continues to be exactly how the property is being divided and sold.
“Suffice it to say at this point I will be asking the Board of Selectmen to consider Mr. Hancock’s request that we slow things up — I don’t know how much slower we could go — and get a little more input from residents,” Mr. Marconi said.
“That doesn’t mean the Board of Selectmen would agree that we stop negotiations, because this what we told the public we’d be doing from the beginning,” he said.
Blight law
The proposed blight law has been months in the works — and a draft was headed for a public hearing Wednesday.
A town meeting would be the next step to be considered.
It’s the second time in Mr. Marconi’s tenure as first selectman that the board has worked on a blight law, though the previous effort never got to a town meeting.
“We’ve been working on this for several years,” Mr. Marconi said.
Main Street traffic
The Main Street traffic redesign aims to reducing congestion — no easy task.
“This is a project that has been ongoing for the last three years with the State of Connecticut,” Mr. Marconi said. “For overview, the hope is to create traffic lanes allowing cars heading north from the fountain, when they get to the center of town there will be a left-hand turn at Catoonah Street and a separate right-hand lane to allow those cars to bypass cars making a left onto Catoonah Street.
“What delays traffic now is, if you have more than two cars waiting — or one car — making a left on Catoonah Street, traffic is stalled completely, to the south, sometimes missing an entire rotation of the traffic signal lights.
“Additionally, heading south, when approaching town hall, there will be a left-hand turn into Bailey Avenue, with a direct travel lane through on the right side, thereby eliminating the necessity of cars having to stop to wait for the left-hand vehicles to make their turn.”
Governor and Catoonah streets will be “nominally” widened to three lanes, so traffic onto Main will have two stacking lanes, one for turns in each direction. The third lane is for cars turning off Main onto the side street.
“In addition to the lane realignment, the parking area in front of the Addessi and Ridgefield Hardware block will be constructed of a different material than asphalt — possibly Belgian block — to differentiate the parking area from the travel portion.
“The loading zone is being eliminated completely, and other arrangements will need to be made with stores, and the delivering companies,” Mr. Marconi said. “That’s up to them. But trucks will no longer be allowed to park in the middle of the street.
“We attempted a multitude of solutions, all of which met with rejection by one or more of the parties.”
And another cross-walk would be added, going from near Town Hall and Century 21, across the street to Neumann Real Estate, creating a fourth crossing at that light.
“And, finally, given the removal the elm tree at the intersection of Prospect and Main Streets, we will be asking the DOT to review the realignment of that intersection, and the synchronization of that traffic light with Catoonah and Governor, allowing for a smoother flow of traffic,” Mr. Marconi said.
“Of course, the project would take into consideration all the amenities — landscaping plantings, sidewalk improvements, drop curbs for handicapped accessibility,” he said. “Some of the landscaping would be the removal of some of the overgrown trees that need to taken down and replaced.
The work is to be done with federal and state money — but not soon.
“We’ve probably got a good two or three years prior to the work beginning,” he said. “We’ve already discussed the work taking place during the evening hours.”
Bike trail
Mr. Marconi cited another long-term project should make some progress: “The Bike Path, the beginning of which is evidenced with the installation of the walking bridge over the Ridgefield Brook at Route 35, adjacent to the Parks and Recreation Center.”
The planned route would go from the footbridge down Route 35 to Copps Hill Plaza with a sidewalk, cross to Farmingville Road, then go through the Great Swamp to an area near the Goodwill trailer, and through the Schlumberger property to the connect to the Rail Trail.
Connecticut Light Power, which owns the Rail Trail, will change policy to allow bicycles to use it. “They have agreed to that, considering the town is willing to sign an agreement on liability,” Mr. Marconi said.
“There is no intention at this point in changing the current surface,” he added. “It’s stone dust.”
The idea is to do the project over several years, without using town tax dollars.
“We have groups that have organized already to begin soliciting of funding contributions, as well as exploring grants,” Mr. Marconi said.
“This next calendar year, we’d hope to have our sidewalks completed — from where it currently ends, it would extend south to Copps Hill Road,” he said. “And perhaps some work on the Rail Trail in addressing safety concerns along some steep embankments.”
Fire chief
Finding a new fire chief to replace Heather Burford, who led the department for seven years and left for a job in Florida, will involve several levels of review. There be the screening of applications, a questionnaire step with applicants’ responding in essay format, then interviews by a panel of fire chiefs from other departments. They’d recommend some candidates for interview by town department heads, and the volunteer department.
The decision will be made by the Board of Selectmen.
“You’re going to be looking at two to three months,” Mr. Marconi said. “Kevin Tappe, our acting chief, will continue to oversee the operations of the fire department.”
Charter revision
The recently appointed Charter Revision Commission starts its process tonight, Thursday, Jan. 9, with a “kick-off public hearing” at 6:30 in town hall.
“This will be the first of several public hearings,” Mr. Marconi said. “Each department, commission, has been asked to review their specific area of the charter and to make any recommendations that they may have.
“It is the responsibility of the Charter Revision Commission to collect, digest and in the end file a report to Board of Selectmen, with its recommendations for any changes,” he said.
“The Board of Selectmen then reviews and votes on what to send forward to the public to be voted on in the November 2014 election.”
Tight budget
Mr. Marconi wants to keep budgeting tight, he said.
“The unemployment rate in Ridgefield continues to hover at the 5.8% level; normally about 2%. So we need to keep that in mind,” he said.
He recalled that Finance Board Chairman Dave Ulmer suggested that if town and school requests were held to about 3% spending increases, the finance board could look for non-tax revenue in the fund balance and try to present voters with a tax increase in the 2% range.
“I feel we need to continue to be conservative in our spending,” Mr. Marconi said.
The selectmen’s budget meetings start in February.
A substantial request Mr. Marconi anticipates is for “a new town-wide radio system for police, fire, emergency services” proposed by a Radio Communications Task Force, which has representation from the police, fire chiefs and emergency management departments.
“The last time we did this was 12, 13 years ago,” Mr. Marconi said. “This is an antiquated system.”
The new system may total close to $4 million, he said, which would use nearly all of what the selectmen like to allow for capital budget spending a given year.
“A $4 million request for radio communications improvements on the heels of a $5 million allocation for the library is not coming at a good time,” Mr. Marconi said, “and we may have to hold off on that for a few years.”
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