Inland Wetlands Commission Attempts to Intervene on Metro Center Litigation

The town's Inland Wetlands Commission is trying to intervene on litigation between Gary Weddle, wetlands compliance officer on the Fairfield Metro Center, and seven residents who sued to get Weddle removed because he wasn't under Town Conservation Director Thomas Steinke's supervision.

Bridgeport Superior Court Judge Richard Arnold on July 6 ruled in favor of the seven residents, who are known as "Concerned Citizens," but Weddle is appealing that ruling.

On Tuesday, a motion by George Bisacca, the Concerned Citizens' attorney, to terminate an "automatic stay" that comes with Weddle's appeal will be heard in Bridgeport Superior Court. The hearing is at 2 p.m.

The Inland Wetlands Commission didn't discuss the intervention attempt in public, nor did it vote to approve the intervention attempt. The commission, on July 15, did vote to support Weddle in an appeal and to have Town Attorney Richard Saxl file an "amicus brief" in support of Weddle.

Russell A. Green, a Milford attorney representing the commission, said Monday that a motion to intervene wasn't the same as an amicus brief because the commission was attempting to become a party to the litigation and was not simply filing a brief in support of Weddle's position.

Saxl said Monday that the commission held a closed executive session Thursday night and that no votes were taken. "There was not a vote in the closed executive session, but you can ask people what they think about things," he said.

Green and David A. Slossberg, who's also listed as an attorney for the commission on the motion to intervene, say in the court filing that the commission "continues to maintain that its hiring of Mr. Weddle was legal and appropriate in all respects, and that it has in fact resulted in advancement of the Metro Center Project, pursuant to the permits issued by the Commission, all to the benefit of the citizens of Fairfield."

The motion to intervene says the commission does not share Concerned Citizens' view that "the administration of justice requires that the stay be terminated."

"Any change in oversight of the Project during the pendency of this appeal will cause unnecessary delays, jeopardize other state and local permit approvals, and potentially subject the Town to contractual liability for work on the Site. Continuity of the current oversight is in the best interests of the citizens of Fairfield," the motion to intervene says.

Redniss & Mead, the site monitor on the Metro Center, monitors activity on the Metro Center property and provides periodic reports to the commission, according to the motion to intervene.

The motion further says that Concerned Citizens' attempt to terminate the automatic stay - which would result in Arnold's ruling taking effect immediately - "will substantially interfere with the progress of the Project, jeopardize commitments going forward, and interfere with the Commission's ability to carry out its fundamental duties."

Steinke is not part of the oversight of the Fairfield Metro Center and hasn't been since First Selectman Ken Flatto removed him and his staff from the project in December 2007.

Arnold's ruling says the Town Charter requires Weddle to be under Steinke's supervision and for any other environmental consultants on the Metro Center also to be under Steinke's supervision.

On July 15, the commission voted to give Steinke "general supervision" over Weddle, but to have Weddle report to the commission and not to Steinke. The question of how Steinke can supervise Weddle when Weddle doesn't report to Steinke - and how Steinke can set foot on the Metro Center property when the Board of Selectmen stripped his town-provided legal defense in December 2007 should he be sued by Blackrock Realty, LLC, the Metro Center's private developer - has never been answered.

Members of the commission also disagree about whether they can restore Steinke to the project. Some believe Flatto has the authority to restore Steinke, especially due to the Board of Selectmen's action from December 2007.

Flatto had removed the Conservation Department from oversight of the Fairfield Metro Center after Blackrock Realty threatened to sue the town, alleging that the department was holding up the project.

The Fairfield Metro Center would include the town's third train station, from 1,300 to 1,500 parking spaces for rail commuters and nearly 1 million square feet of commercial development on 35.5 acres at 21 Black Rock Turnpike.

The seven Concerned Citizens are Edward Bateson, a Representative Town Meeting member from District 3; Alexis Harrison, an RTM member from District 2; Jeanne Konecny, a member of the town's Land Acquisition Commission and founding member of the Friends of Open Space; Pamela Ritter, a former member of the Inland Wetlands Commission; Les Schaffer; Jocelyn T. Shaw, founder of the Mill River Wetland Committee; and Jane Talamini, a founding member of the Friends of Open Space.