Dueling Memorandums Argue Over Who Needs to Show Harm

Fairfield Patch is presenting memorandums from the plaintiffs and defense in a court case involving the Fairfield Metro Center, a development more than 10 years in the making that 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 if fully built out.

The post-hearing memorandums are from George Bisacca, the attorney for seven plaintiffs known as "Concerned Citizens" who want Bridgeport Superior Court Judge Richard Arnold's July 6 order removing Gary Weddle as wetlands compliance officer to take effect immediately, and Russell A. Green, an attorney for the town's Inland Wetlands Commission who wants the order "stayed" while Weddle's appeal of Arnold's ruling is pending in court.

Bisacca won litigation to have Weddle removed, arguing that he was illegally appointed by the commission because Weddle wasn't under Town Conservation Director Thomas Steinke's general supervision.

First Selectman Ken Flatto in December 2007 had removed Steinke and his staff from their oversight role on the Metro Center after Blackrock Realty, LLC, a private developer on the project, complained that Steinke and his staff were holding up the project and threatened to sue the town.

Flatto hired Weddle in January 2008 in a role that had the same functions as a wetlands compliance officer, and the commission hired Weddle in March 2008 to be the project's wetlands compliance officer.