Community Corner

Town Attorney Was Source of Allegations Against Steinke

Stunning Revelation After Conservation Commission 'Corrects' Minutes of July 15 Meeting to Nix Request That Flatto Reinstate Conservation Department on Fairfield Metro Center

In a stunning revelation Thursday night, Town Attorney Richard Saxl was revealed to be the source of the Fairfield Metro Center developer attorney's "upon information and belief" allegations against Town Conservation Director Thomas Steinke that said Steinke, if reinstated on the Metro Center, would delay the project and replace officials now overseeing it.

Saxl's letter to Inland Wetlands Commission Chairman Stanton Lesser, which Lesser provided after the commission's Thursday night meeting, did not include the third and most damning "upon information and belief" allegation from Gary S. Klein, litigation counsel to Blackrock Realty, LLC - that "Steinke and/or his staff has stated that their intent is to prevent construction of the Project."

Steinke late Thursday seemed surprised and confused to hear that Saxl was the source of the first two allegations made by Klein and said he hadn't read Saxl's letter. "I don't know," Steinke said when asked if he wanted to comment.

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After Klein's allegations against Steinke became public, Steinke denied the allegations and, ironically, said he was sure Saxl would demand to know who had made the incorrect statements about him and his staff.

First Selectman Ken Flatto Thursday night, in a phone interview, indicated that Klein came to hear of Steinke's alleged comments because Saxl had informed Kurt Wittek, managing director of Blackrock Realty, LLC, the private developer on the Metro Center.

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Saxl made some inferences on Steinke's comments, based on Saxl's letter to Lesser. In the letter, Saxl said Steinke, if reinstated on the Metro Center, told him he "would be compelled to retrace and verify each and every action taken since Dec. 19, 2007, the date he and the staff were removed from the project."

"Tom explained that this meant double-checking all documents, easements, violations, drawings and reports submitted since that date plus property inspections. He indicated that it 'would take at least two or three months to get up to speed,' " Saxl's letter to Lesser says. "Based on my prior knowledge of staff procedures, I inferred that this would mean that no work could take place and no sign-offs would be given until the staff was 'up to speed' and any objections they had were subsequently resolved."

Saxl said Steinke was critical of Gary Weddle, who was hired by the commission to be the wetlands complaince officer on the Metro Center after Flatto removed the Conservation Department from its oversight role, and Redniss & Mead, the site monitor. Saxl said in the letter that Steinke thought a "Request for Proposals" should be issued for a new site monitor and new designated agent and suggested several names.

Saxl doesn't mention anywhere in his letter that Steinke and/or his staff stated that their intent was to "prevent the construction of the Project," as Klein had alleged.

The conversation between Steinke and Saxl came about because the Inland Wetlands Commission on July 15 had asked Saxl to recommend to Flatto that the Conservation Department be restored on the Metro Center. Saxl said in his letter that he talked with Steinke to determine "what he thought would be his concept going forward should he and his staff be reinstated."

Earlier Thursday night, Frank Rice, an Inland Wetlands Commission member, said minutes of the July 15 meeting were incorrect. The minutes said the commission voted 4-3 to have Saxl recommend to Flatto that Steinke and his staff be reinstated on the Metro Center "and to charge them with full oversight, responsibility and authority on the Black Rock project."

Rice, who is identified in the minutes as voting in favor of the motion, said Thursday night that he did not vote. That meant the vote would be 3-3 and the motion would fail. The commission voted unanimously to approve the revised minutes.

Bridgeport Superior Court Judge Richard Arnold on July 6 had ordered that Weddle be removed as wetlands compliance officer on the Metro Center because he wasn't under Steinke's supervision. Arnold's ruling said the wetlands compliance officer and other environmental consultants on the project had to be under Steinke's "general supervision" under the Town Charter.

The commission on July 15 had approved a motion saying Weddle would be under Steinke's general supervision but that Weddle would report to the commission and not to Steinke. The question of how Steinke could supervise Weddle when Weddle reported to the commission, and not to Steinke, wasn't cleared up Thursday night.

Nor was the question of whether Flatto would reinstate Steinke to an oversight role on the Metro Center as Arnold had ordered. "I am very concerned with the alleged statements Mr. Saxl said he made, and, in my opinion, there are issues that need to be looked into," Flatto said. "If he made statements that are wrongful and that show bias, that may be a problem."

George Bisacca, the attorney for seven residents who sued Weddle to get Steinke and his staff reinstated on the Metro Center, filed a motion to terminate the "automatic stay" that comes with Weddle's appeal of Arnold's ruling in favor of Bisacca's clients. A hearing on that motion is at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Bridgeport Superior Court.

Bisacca issued subpoenas to find out the source of Klein's "upon information and belief" allegations against Steinke. He said Thursday night that the subpoenas had been issued to Saxl, Flatto, Steinke, Weddle and Rice. A subpoena for Klein had yet to be served because Klein is on vacation.

If Arnold rules in favor of Bisacca's motion to terminate the automatic stay, Steinke would be restored to a supervisory role on the Metro Center. If Arnold rules against Bisacca's motion, the stay would remain in effect until Weddle's appeal is resolved.

The Fairfield Metro Center includes 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.

Flatto had removed the Conservation Department in December 2007 after Blackrock Realty threatened to sue the town, claiming that Steinke and his staff were holding up the project.


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